Mom's anniversary 5

"Splash-"

The water sphere burst, spilling across the floor. Outside the door, however, there was nothing.

Lu Mi pursed his lips. At least he was starting to get a feel for his special ability. As for that sneaky thing, it was just as well it had run off. A fight would only have delayed his meal.

By the time he returned to the dining room, only crumbs remained of breakfast. Smelling the lingering aroma, Lu Mi shed sorrowful tears from the corner of his mouth.

"Aw, you poor thing. You know, lunch is pretty rare in horror game worlds. You'll be going hungry until tonight, young man."

Ning Zhuangzhuang looked at him sympathetically, then produced several meat buns as if by magic. "Here, take them. I can't finish them anyway. It'd be downright embarrassing if you got killed here because you hadn't eaten enough."

"Thanks, Sister Zhuangzhuang!" Lu Mi beamed, though he wondered why the buns were still steaming hot after all this time.

At that form of address, Ning Zhuangzhuang smacked him on the head with a blank expression. "I'm only a high school junior!"

Lu Mi hurriedly finished eating. A gentle voice drifted in from outside the dining room, making everyone who heard it bristle with fear.

"Children, come here."

They exchanged glances. Nobody wanted to approach that terrifying monster. Brother Xu set down his teacup and headed for the dining room door first.

The others understood that staying here was no different from waiting to die. Pale as corpses, they followed him out, looking as reluctant as prisoners being marched to their execution.

"Mom" stood in the middle of the living room, smiling gently. Her apron bore years of grease stains, along with fresh spatters of blood.

Everyone huddled together, keeping at least three meters away from her.

"Mom" didn't seem to mind. A camera sat on the coffee table in front of her. "Sorry for the trouble. Just take a family portrait, one we can hang on the wall."

A chill ran through everyone-who was she talking to?

The next moment, the camera that had been sitting quietly on the coffee table rose into the air, as though someone had picked it up.

"Mom" turned toward them. "Children, get into position. Let's take a few pictures."

Nobody knew what she was up to, or what excuse she would use to take someone's body parts-or even their life.

Brother Xu reacted quickly, calmly directing everyone to move the sofa aside. "Tall people in front, taller people in back."

Ning Zhuangzhuang whispered to Lu Mi, "His name is Xu Zhi. I met him in my last instance, back when I was still a newbie. He made a pretty good impression on me."

Within minutes, the nine people, who barely knew one another, had been neatly arranged into three rows.

"Mom" took her place at the very front and put on a smile. It actually looked rather convincing.

"Mom" said, "Children, strike a few poses."

Xu Zhi answered calmly. "Make hearts."

They cautiously formed all kinds of hearts: some crossed their thumbs and index fingers, while others curved both hands into a heart shape... It looked heartwarming, yet there was something indescribably eerie about it.

Lu Mi reached behind himself, intending to try a different pose, when he suddenly noticed that the person behind him had damp clothes. He instinctively turned to look. That one glance made his eyes widen, and he wanted nothing more than to punch the man behind him a few times-

The masked man had been making a standard two-handed heart in front of his chest. Noticing Lu Mi's gaze, he tilted his head and offered the heart to him.

Lu Mi turned away, refusing to engage. The camera clicked, and the flash made him want to close his eyes, but something quickly occurred to him:

Back in the dining room this morning, the masked man's clothes hadn't been wet, had they?

Xu Zhi gave another instruction. "Those in the back rows, put your hands on the shoulders of the people in front of you. Those in the front row, raise your hands."

Oh no, Lu Mi thought, just as a pair of hands landed unexpectedly on his shoulders.

He turned slightly and looked into the masked man's eyes, speaking quietly. "Tell me. What did you sneak in here for?"

The shutter clicked, and Xu Zhi spoke again. "Now cradle your faces in your hands."

The masked man obediently cupped his face in both hands and blinked innocently. "To pick something up." After a pause, he added, "Oh, by the way, nice body."

Remembering last night's humiliation, Lu Mi was furious enough to hit him. "You saw?"

He halfheartedly struck the next pose, his attention almost entirely on the man behind him.

"Who else do you think covered you with those clothes? The little kitten in my arms suddenly went poof and turned into a person. Gave me quite a scare. Boo-hoo."

Lu Mi: "..." Yeah, like I'd believe that.

The young man standing to Lu Mi's left gave them a curious look. "What are you two whispering about?"

The masked man's expression instantly turned cold, and he said nothing. Lu Mi brushed the question off with a few vague words.

Once the four pictures had been taken, "Mom" walked over to the floating camera and gave instructions about the print dimensions, when to collect the photos, and so on.

The family portrait session ended without any casualties, much to their surprise. While everyone anxiously wondered what would happen next, "Mom" smiled and said:

"Children, your father and I will soon be celebrating our twentieth anniversary. Thank you so much for volunteering to help Mom prepare. Today's task is a thorough housecleaning."

Ning Zhuangzhuang discreetly rolled her eyes. "I bet there's more to those family portraits than meets the eye. This cleaning job might not be safe either."

"Mom" assigned everyone an area to clean. Lu Mi was responsible for the kitchen, Ning Zhuangzhuang and Xu Zhi for the living room, and the others for the rooms on the second floor.

Seeing that Xu Zhi wouldn't be joining them, those people looked worried. Xu Zhi reassured them. "There are plenty of you. As long as you clean properly, nothing will happen. Relax."

After watching them head upstairs, Xu Zhi's gaze instantly cooled, and a contemptuous smile curled his lips. Then his eyes met Lu Mi's.

That contemptuous smile immediately filled with concern. "You don't need to worry about being on your own either. Just clean properly."

Lu Mi silently turned his head away, collected his cleaning supplies, and headed for the kitchen.

He kept feeling that something was off about Xu Zhi. And it seemed everyone had forgotten something...

The moment he pushed open the kitchen door, his expression darkened.

He knew what everyone had overlooked.

At first glance, there was nothing strange inside. The kitchen window stood wide open, facing the back garden.

The masked man stood outside the window, holding the black cloak in one hand and giving him an obnoxious little wave with the other.

Expressionless, Lu Mi raised his mop and swung it at the man's face. "Why do you get to skip cleaning?"

The masked man dodged easily. "See you tonight, kitten. Make sure you don't die~"

The moment he finished speaking, he vanished in a cloud of black smoke.

Sure enough, this guy wasn't an ordinary player.

Pulling a miserable face, Lu Mi began scrubbing the greasy stovetop, unable to stop wondering what exactly was going on here.

He had lost his memories and could be brutally killed at any moment by a female ghost calling herself "Mom." She said they were preparing for some wedding anniversary, but...

Where was this supposed husband?

With that thought in mind, he stared at the constantly running refrigerator, lost in thought.

That woman never went out, so where had the fresh meat in the breakfast soup come from?

Could it be...

Lu Mi glanced through the open kitchen door. Only Ning Zhuangzhuang and Xu Zhi were in the living room, cleaning in silence. "Mom" didn't seem to be on the first floor.

Very gently, he placed his hand on the edge of the refrigerator door, ready to open it.

"Aaaah-"

One bloodcurdling scream after another came from overhead. Lu Mi's heart lurched-

Something had happened to someone upstairs.