Lost and found

Everyone was stunned by what they saw.

What was going on?

She threw up beef porridge, but not plain porridge?

After feeding the old woman the rest of the porridge, Ning Qiushui handed the bowl to Liu Chengfeng and left the room.

"Hey, buddy, what... what was that about?"

Liu Chengfeng asked in a curious whisper.

Ning Qiushui shook his head.

"It's complicated. We'll talk later... By the way, where's Yamo?"

Only when he asked did everyone realize that Yamo, who had run downstairs in terror earlier... had vanished at some point!

"Yamo!"

Liu Chengfeng bellowed.

But no answer came from inside the villa, only an eerie, deathly silence.

A sense of foreboding spread through them.

They went downstairs and searched everywhere for Yamo.

Finally, Ning Qiushui stood before the open front door, looked out at the curtain of rain, and told the others:

"Stop looking."

"She ran outside."

"Huh? She ran outside?"

Liu Chengfeng, who stood closest to him, glanced out at the hazy wind and rain and couldn't help shivering.

For some reason, the first thing everyone thought of upon hearing the news... was the fat man who had jumped out of the bus window, only to be skinned by something unknown!

Their task was to care for the bedridden old woman in the villa for five days.

What would happen if they left the villa... during that time?

Ning Qiushui was about to return to the ground-floor living room when his gaze fell on the shoe cabinet by the door.

An idea struck him. He crouched and rummaged through the cabinet.

"What are you looking for, buddy?"

Liu Chengfeng eagerly trotted over.

Ning Qiushui narrowed his eyes.

"There aren't any men's shoes."

Liu Chengfeng said:

"Huh?"

Ning Qiushui's mind raced.

Even he hadn't realized why his mind... worked so well.

"The woman who owns this villa mentioned earlier that her husband was away working."

"But there... aren't any men's shoes in this house!"

Liu Chengfeng stiffened.

"Buddy, you mean..."

A sharp gleam flashed in Ning Qiushui's eyes.

"There are two possibilities."

"First, her husband... moved out for some reason."

"Second, she doesn't have a husband at all."

Liu Chengfeng frowned.

"She doesn't have a husband?"

"That can't be right! If that's true, her daughter..."

Before he could finish, Ning Qiushui looked up into his eyes and slowly asked a question that sent an icy chill through Liu Chengfeng's skull:

"What makes you think... that little girl is her daughter?"

"Just because... she was holding her hand?"

After meeting Ning Qiushui's gaze for a few seconds, cold sweat seeped onto Liu Chengfeng's forehead.

He swallowed, realizing how serious the problem was.

That was right.

There was no evidence whatsoever that the child whose hand the woman had been holding... was her daughter!

"...Let's head back first."

Ning Qiushui fell silent for a moment. Looking out at the hazy curtain of rain, he felt an inexplicable chill, as though something terrifying were watching him from deep within it!

He immediately shut the front door. Only after checking it several times did he return to the living room with Liu Chengfeng.

Everyone looked grim.

The villa was huge. With seven of them there originally, it had at least felt somewhat alive.

Now Wang Yuning had died horribly, and Yamo had fled into the rain, leaving only five people in the room.

"Ning Qiushui, what... did that old hag say earlier?"

Xue Guize's face was pale.

So far, he had remained relatively calm.

But that was only because he had once worked as a mortuary makeup artist. He had seen so many horribly mangled corpses that he could stomach more than most people.

Seeing everyone turn their eyes toward him, Ning Qiushui said bluntly:

"She said... the meat wasn't cooked."

Everyone froze.

The meat... wasn't cooked?

"What a load of rainbow-colored, corkscrew-shaped dogshit!"

Liu Chengfeng immediately bristled, glaring as he cursed.

"Wouldn't I know whether the meat was cooked?"

Seeing Liu Chengfeng so worked up softened everyone's expressions a little.

The bearded man's loud voice and vigorous spirit were just what they needed to drive some of the gloom out of this deathly silent villa.

Unlike the fear on everyone else's faces, Ning Qiushui was unnaturally calm, as though... he had been through scenes like this countless times before.

"So those three words... weren't 'meat isn't cooked.'"

The others abruptly stopped talking.

"What do you mean?"

Xue Guize frowned.

Ning Qiushui raised his eyebrows.

"The old woman upstairs... is very old, in poor health, and mentally unstable."

"She doesn't pronounce her words clearly."

"And we made an assumption, led astray by what Wang Yuning said before she died."

"We instinctively assumed the first two words the old woman said were 'meat isn't.'"

"But actually... I don't think those were the three words she was trying to say."

Beidao scoffed.

"Who cares what that murderous psycho said?"

"Didn't you see the knife and fork on the table beside her this morning?"

"Obviously, she was the one who killed Wang Yuning last night!"

He paused and glanced fearfully toward the second floor. Only after making sure no one was there did he lower his voice.

"Maybe... she ate all the flesh missing from Wang Yuning's body!"

His tone was sinister. The moment he finished, Yan Youping was so frightened that she threw her arms around Liu Chengfeng beside her!

Startled by Yan Youping in turn, Liu Chengfeng shuddered and snapped:

"Beidao, are you fucking telling ghost stories here?"

"Look how badly you've scared the poor girl!"

Beidao looked just as grim. He twisted his fingers together, muttering almost neurotically:

"I don't want to die..."

"Especially not like Wang Yuning..."

"Did you see her... Someone clearly ate her..."

"It's horrifying... absolutely horrifying..."

His words made Xue Guize bristle with irritation, and he snapped impatiently:

"Enough!"

"Quit yapping!"

"Who wants to die? Huh? Who wants to die?"

"Aren't we all trying to figure something out?!"

Liu Chengfeng turned his attention back to Ning Qiushui, who was deep in thought.

There was no denying that his calm composure steadied everyone. He had quietly become their anchor.

"Buddy, have you thought of anything?"

Ning Qiushui lifted his eyes and glanced at him.

"I have a theory. Tonight, I'll need someone brave... to help me test it."

Hearing that this had to be done at night reminded everyone of what had happened the night before, and they immediately fell silent.

After a long while, Liu Chengfeng gritted his teeth and asked:

"Buddy, why do we have to go at night... Can't we do it during the day?"

Ning Qiushui shook his head.

"No."

Liu Chengfeng froze.

He had intended to keep his mouth shut, but after seeing the calm in Ning Qiushui's eyes, he somehow found himself saying:

"All right, I'll go with you!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Liu Chengfeng wanted to slap himself!

Fuck!

Why couldn't I keep my damn mouth shut?!

"Good. Stay with me tonight."

Just then, a piercing scream suddenly rang out from upstairs:

"No! Don't!!"

"Please... I know... Aaaah!!!"

The screams sent goosebumps rippling over everyone!

They looked at one another and saw the terror in each other's eyes-

They knew that voice all too well.

It belonged to Yamo... who had fled the villa only a short while ago!