Time

Night fell.

Inside a resident's home in a residential complex in Mingzhou.

The clatter of a spatula in the kitchen drifted into the living room, where the television was on, playing a variety show.

A girl with delicate brows and almond-shaped eyes wore thick pink loungewear and sprawled gracelessly on the sofa, watching short videos on her phone and bursting into laughter now and then.

Beside her head, a rooster with brilliantly colored plumage bent down to peck at the nuts on a plate, thoroughly enjoying the feast.

A middle-aged woman who bore a strong resemblance to the girl carried a plate of washed fruit out of the kitchen and set it on the coffee table before her.

She patted the rooster's back. The bird hopped off the sofa, took a few steps, then jumped back up into the crook of the girl's arm. The girl hugged the rooster and vigorously ruffled those feathers.

"What are you watching? You're laughing so hard."

The middle-aged woman tilted her head to look at the girl's phone. After watching the short video for a while, she joined in, rocking back and forth with laughter. "Oh, isn't that the-that influencer who's been really popular lately?

"How is he so funny?

"Hahaha..."

"Yes, yes, that's him.

"He makes these funny little videos. He already has over a million followers!" The girl nodded repeatedly and reached for the fruit on the coffee table.

But the middle-aged woman gave the back of her hand a light smack. "Your hands are covered in germs. Go wash them before you eat."

"I only petted Emergency Can.

"The rooster isn't dirty. Emergency Can takes a bath every day!" The girl pouted, but still climbed off the sofa and slipped into her slippers to go wash her hands.

She happened to turn and glance out the window-

Red lanterns had risen into the night sky, which had always been so desolate and deep.

The red lanterns stained the heavens crimson, shining over the towering buildings and countless neon lights below. The sight was breathtakingly beautiful, as though she had fallen into a dream.

"Mom, look outside!"

The girl patted her mother's shoulder as she sat on the sofa. "There are so many red lanterns outside! They're beautiful!"

"Red lanterns?"

"Are people releasing sky lanterns?"

The middle-aged woman spoke and was about to get up to look with her daughter when the sounds of cooking in the kitchen suddenly stopped.

A dark object floated out of the kitchen,

and came to a halt before the woman and the girl.

Flap, flap, flap-

Emergency Can, the rooster sitting quietly on the sofa, suddenly beat those wings and flew onto the girl's shoulder.

Mother and daughter stared blankly at the "thing" hovering before them.

It was the head of the girl's father, the woman's husband.

Sweat still beaded his face, and the glasses perched on his nose were fogged over. He said to the woman on the sofa, "Honey, go downstairs and buy a bottle of soy sauce."

The severed head spoke as though nothing had happened.

The woman's shoulders shook violently. She abruptly rose and reached out to cradle the man's head.

His head floated higher and farther away.

Her mother chased after it.

The distance between her and the girl widened from just two or three steps to more than ten.

Then,

her head flew up as well.

"Dad!"

"Mom!"

Piercing cries rang out from the home.

The night deepened.

Peaceful Garden.

Inside a dark room, Su Wu put away his knitting needles, along with a finished sleeve and the ball of yarn.

He checked his compatibility with the Corpse-Strider Fiend once more.

Compatibility with the Corpse-Strider Fiend: 31.9%.

From day into night, Su Wu had done nothing but knit, stopping only to eat and use the bathroom.

His hard work had paid off.

With such focused training, his compatibility with the Fiend Hand had surged by 5.1%.

Even though his compatibility was now nearing forty percent, it still could not guarantee that he could successfully use Fiend Hand Enlargement to punch through the area shrouded by the Trapped Corpse fiend.

But at least he could see a glimmer of hope.

Until his compatibility reached its maximum, he could stay in the Little Temple and keep practicing in various ways to raise it all the way!

For now, though, he could no longer continue knitting.

Su Wu's intuition warned him that the supernatural upheaval was about to begin.

It was time to prepare his escape.

He tidied everything on his desk, shouldered his backpack full of emergency supplies, hung the Imperial Bell around his neck, and tucked a High-Powered Flashlight into his pocket.

Then he left the room and sat down on the living room sofa.

The second hand of the clock on the wall ticked steadily. The time was 20:57.

Countless previous simulations had firmly etched one critical time into his memory.

21:37.

The young couple upstairs would be killed by the Shadow Fiend.

Their deaths signaled that the Shadow Fiend had truly encroached upon this building.

That time had not yet arrived. Although the Shadow Fiend was already affecting the building, walking through it would most likely be safe, just as before.

Still, there was no guarantee that nothing unexpected would happen.

And even if leaving the building, or even the entire complex, was relatively safe right now, the Eye Fiend had already awakened outside.

-The Eye Fiend appeared earlier than the Shadow Fiend.

Beneath the red lanterns, anyone could be killed at random.

To avoid having his head plucked off by the Eye Fiend, he had to hide in the Little Temple as soon as possible and keep the fire burning inside. Only then could he carry out the rest of his plan smoothly.

There was no way to determine when the Little Temple would appear.

It might already be on the Commercial Street outside the complex, or it might not have appeared yet.

If Su Wu left the complex now and entered the area shrouded by the Eye Fiend, he would have to take a chance, betting that the Little Temple had already appeared on Commercial Street.

But he had a safer option.

There was no need to gamble with his life.

In every previous simulation, whenever he set out around 9:50 p.m., he had been able to find the Little Temple on Commercial Street and enter it safely.

So this time, in reality, Su Wu would choose to set out at the same time.

Darkness enveloped the living room.

His vision was only slightly impaired in the dark, so he could still see the hands moving on the clock on the wall.

At last, they pointed to nine o'clock.

It's nine. The scheduled message I set up should have been sent to the Tenant Group Chat by now, right?

I hope it helps.

A few thoughts flashed through Su Wu's mind.

Then he snuffed them out himself.

Now was not the time to think about other matters.

Nine o'clock sharp.

A message appeared in Peaceful Garden's main Tenant Group Chat, breaking nearly two hours of silence.

Biscuit-Eating Young Master: "Attention: over the next few days, please make absolutely sure you keep your doors and windows shut, cover every light source in your rooms, and turn off all electronic devices!

"Stay quietly inside your homes. After looking through some literature, I discovered that an unidentified substance transmitted through light has now spread throughout Peaceful Garden.

"If you rashly open a window to let in light or use any light source now, this unidentified substance will kill you outright!

"Please cut off every light source. Your life is priceless!"

Su Wu's scheduled message arrived in the Tenant Group Chat right on time.

He had simply made a few changes to the official notice he had seen earlier in the simulator, then sent it directly.