A Ghost! Dad, Help! (Continued)

Just then, the feathers were almost dry, so Tao Qiu used the ashes to bury the remaining embers to save time for relighting the fire the next day. Then she picked up the cubs and comfortably lay back down in the grass nest.

As the weather grew colder, Tao Qiu transformed back into her bird form while sleeping, sheltering her chicks under her feathers to keep them warm.

Today, however, besides feathers, the cubs are also covered with a thick outer coat.

There's a man's presence here, which means it's like another father is here with the children, protecting them.

Before they fell asleep, the baby birds were still chirping.

Second Cub: "Chirp, chirp."

--The fried meat was delicious; I want more tomorrow.

The Third Cub: "Chirp chirp."

I like them both.

Eldest Cub: "Chirp chirp chirp, chirp chirp."

--I won't do so much tomorrow, Dad will get tired.

Second Cub and Third Cub: "Chirp chirp."

--My brother is right.

Second Cub: "Chirp, chirp."

--If we could turn into humans, we could cook for Dad.

The Third Cub: "Chirp, chirp?"

--Brother and sister, when will we become human?

Eldest Cub: "Chirp chirp, chirp chirp..."

--I don't know, maybe tomorrow...

The conversation got increasingly incoherent; I bet even the kids themselves didn't know what they were saying anymore.

Gradually, their voices grew fainter and fainter until they disappeared.

All three baby birds are asleep.

Tao Qiu looked down at the three round, fluffy balls of fur, her eyes filled with tenderness.

Goodnight, my darlings.

The weather showed no signs of warming up in the following days, and it's uncertain whether the sun will come out a few more times before it snows.

After acquiring a lighter and experiencing the benefits of fire, Tao Qiu added another item to her winter supplies—firewood.

That was easy enough. There was plenty of dry firewood lying on the ground that no one wanted in the woods. Tao Qiu was strong, so he carried back a large bundle at once and built a mountain of firewood in just three days.

In addition, Tao Qiu cut down a bunch of mature bamboo, split it into lengths that were taller than the cave entrance, and then used resilient vines to tie the bamboo into a row, matching the width of the cave, to serve as a makeshift gate.

In the winter, when the wind and snow were fierce, Tao Qiu used to live a rough life. One meal was enough to last him a week. He didn't care if the cave entrance was blocked by snow. Anyway, he was strong and would just push his way out of the snow.

There are several ventilation openings in the cave, the kind that the snow can't bury, so he won't suffocate.

We can't continue like this this year. He can withstand the cold, but the kids are still small and weaker than him, so we need to make sure they're kept warm.

When it snows, he will block the entrance to the cave with a bamboo door and prop it up with stones. He will then go out to shovel snow every day. He should be able to get through the winter.

The forest was full of materials, and Tao Qiu made it simply; the bamboo door was finished in a day and placed in the cave.

The children looked up at the bamboo gate, which was many times taller than them, and marveled at it.

This bamboo door was made by Dad, and only Dad can push it. The kids don't even dare to touch it, for fear that it will fall down and crush them into little bird cookies.

A wind picked up in the evening. After dinner, Tao Qiu led the children around the fire to warm themselves, and read to them the collection of books her husband had given her.

"... Every night after A-Yang died, I dreamed of him. Sometimes he was headless, sometimes he was missing his limbs and internal organs, and sometimes he was just a few bones. But no matter what form he took, he would always lunge at me, desperately questioning why I pushed him into the monster horde."

"Besides the dreams, I always feel like there's a pair of eyes watching me from the shadows in my daily life. This makes me paranoid and I've become very haggard. Everyone around me thinks I'm grieving over A-Yang's death. After all, people who know A-Yang and me think we're childhood friends who grew up together and are inseparable. A-Yang must have thought so before he died."

The feeling of being spied on grew stronger and stronger, as if one pair of eyes had become countless, seeing every inch of my flesh and blood from head to toe, inside and out. I couldn't sleep at night, and I had no appetite. Every time I looked in the mirror, I would doubt whether the emaciated, ashen-faced, living dead-like figure in the mirror was really me.

"I suspect it's A-Yang's ghost returning. He hates me for killing him and wants to drag me down to hell too."

"I was scared, but I don't regret it, because if A-Yang were alive, it would cause me even more pain than it does now."

"A-Yang has been dead for a month, and I've been suffering from insomnia almost every night. But tonight I actually felt sleepy, and I'm so happy. I think I'll soon be able to get rid of this shadow."

"I fell asleep quickly and didn't have any nightmares, but in the middle of the night I suddenly heard a rustling sound."

"I was startled awake, my eyes snapping open. The bedside lamp had gone out sometime ago, and everything was pitch black. Except for my eyeballs, the rest of my body was as stiff as stone; I couldn't move at all."

My heart was racing, I was drenched in cold sweat, and fear gripped my entire body.

Suddenly, a chill crept up the back of my hand, down my wrist and arm, and finally to my ear.

"Hoo. Something is breathing in my ear, like winter frost, making my hair stand on end."

"At this moment, I thought of A-Yang. He also liked to breathe close to my ear like this."

"Is it A-Yang's ghost returning? Am I going to die?"

"Just when I was in despair, a familiar voice rang in my ears. He said...?"

Tao Qiu stopped and turned to look at the three baby birds beside her.

Immersed in the story, the baby birds, eager to hear more, chirped, "Chirp, chirp."

"Dad, please continue."

"That's it." Tao Qiu showed the book to the children. "It ends here. The note below says it's to be continued. If you want to read it, you'll have to buy the July issue."

Tao Qiu forgot that her children couldn't read, and the children themselves forgot too. Regardless of whether they could understand it or not, they all eagerly crowded around to look, only to sigh in disappointment after seeing it.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp chirp." The Second Cub was very unhappy.

--How annoying, all the previous stories were complete, only this one wasn't finished.

Most of the articles in this collection are essays or poems, and they mainly praise humanity and life on the base. After all, it is an official publication of the base, so it is natural to guide positive emotions.

There are very few interesting stories similar to "Ghost Friend" in the book; there are only five in total, four of which are short stories, and only "Ghost Friend" is a serialized story, and even then, only the first three chapters are available.

The main story revolves around the protagonist and A-Yang, who are considered best friends by everyone. The protagonist lost his family at a young age and was adopted by A-Yang's parents, growing up together with A-Yang.

The protagonist is gloomy and introverted, while A-Yang is warm, generous, and likable. Even though A-Yang's parents both passed away in an accident, A-Yang remained cheerful and lively, facing life with a smile.

The protagonist is jealous of A-Yang's ever-present sunny and happy life, and his mentality gradually becomes distorted. In the end, when he and A-Yang are on a mission outside the base, he pushes A-Yang right into the mouth of a mutated monster.

The style of these stories is quite different from other prose and poetry, and they were probably published to attract readers.

Life is hard enough as it is; who wants to read these same old sycophantic articles every day?

Tao Qiu comforted her, "These are articles from June of this year. July is long gone. Next time I make an exchange with that human, I can ask him to give us the articles from the following months."

The Second Cub cheered up a little, chirping softly, "Chirp, chirp."

Thank you, Dad. Dad is the best.

After resolving the questions about the story's continuation, the children began to raise their own doubts.

Third Cub: "Chirp, chirp, chirp chirp?"

A-Yang helped me, and we were good friends. Why would I be jealous and want to kill A-Yang?

This is a first-person narrative, and the protagonist's name is not mentioned, so "I" is used to refer to the protagonist.

Tao Qiu said, "Most normal people think that if a friend is good to me, I will be good to my friend in return; if a friend is outstanding, I will be happy for him. Perhaps I might feel envious or jealous because of my own inferiority complex, but I would not harm anyone."

"But there is a small group of people with dirty minds. When their friends are nice to them, they feel that their friends are mocking them. When their friends are outstanding, they feel that they are just there to make up for it. The better their friends are, the worse they feel. They think that they will only be happy if their friends disappear from this world."

The Third Cub shook their heads. "Chirp chirp chirp."

Why would I think that? I don't understand.

Tao Qiu patted her and said, "You're still young, and you're not the protagonist of a story, a villain who's ungrateful and treacherous. It's normal that you don't understand the thoughts of villains."

Third Cub rubbed against Tao Qiu's hand, indicating that he understood.

"However," Tao Qiu cautioned, "If you encounter friends like this when you grow up, remember to stay away from them as soon as possible."

The children obediently nodded.

The Eldest Cub's question was different; he asked, "Chirp chirp? Chirp chirp."

Do humans hate us? Are we all villains in stories?

In all the articles Tao Qiu had read, whenever mutated monsters were mentioned, they were all described as utterly heinous and deeply hated by humanity.

Tao Qiu did not shy away from this question, even though the children's other father was human, while he was a half-human, half-mutant monster.

"From a human perspective, mutated monsters are obviously bad, because they like to eat people, and they are too powerful, hindering human development. Therefore, humans hate mutated monsters."

The Second Cub exclaimed in surprise, "Chirp chirp chirp?"

--Then why would any human be willing to make a trade with us?

"Because my father has never eaten a human; on the contrary, I have saved humans. Therefore, in the eyes of some humans, I am an exception among mutated monsters."

The Eldest Cub pondered for a moment, then asked, "Chirp chirp?"