......
Evening approached in Dongshan Village.
Seeing that it was getting late, Dong Wenrui said, “Blind Granny, it’s getting late. I’ll take Grandma ho now.”
The old woman grabbed her wrist.
Speaking warmly, she said, “What’s the rush? You’ll just have to cook when you get back. Co on, co on, co to Granny’s place for dinner.”
The mont she heard the words “co to Granny’s place for dinner,”
Dong Wenrui’s throat bobbed.
Just a few days ago when she had first returned, she had already eaten at Blind Granny’s place once.
Even though mooching als off soone wasn’t ideal—
that cured at had slled so good.
Impossible to refuse.
She didn’t even think.
Her eyes curved as she smiled: “Thanks, Granny.”
She turned to go help her grandmother up. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but in that hazy mont, it looked like a thin film flashed over her grandmother’s eyeball.
It happened so fast she didn’t get a clear look.
Her heart filled with suspicion.
Could she have seen wrong?
Hmm… no, sothing’s off!!!!!!
The last ti she’d had this kind of hallucination was back at the Dinghao Complex.
She’d thought she was mistaken then too!
But it had been a monster.
Because she’d been through this before, she was now especially sensitive to these things.
Even those other grannies hadn’t noticed anything wrong with their husbands, right?
Dong Wenrui thought hard about the odd behavior her grandmother had shown these past few days.
It all seed mostly the sa on the surface.
But Dong Wenrui couldn’t shake the feeling that sothing was off.
She just couldn’t put her finger on what.
So with suspicion in her heart, she moved to support the old woman.
“Let’s go, Grandma. We’re going to Granny’s for dinner.”
The mont her hand made contact—skin to skin—Dong Wenrui had a sudden flash of insight!
The pulse!
The pulse again!
Those monsters before had dead people’s pulses—it was freaky.
But now, her grandmother’s pulse was so healthy it was absurd. Wasn’t that freaky too?
You had to understand—her grandma was over ninety. Dong Wenrui’s father was her sixth child.
A woman over ninety with a pulse this steady, this perfect—no signs of any issues at all.
Sure, the world’s full of strange things, but with everything she’d been through before—and this spirit tablet business today stirring up those old mories—
In that mont,
Dong Wenrui said, “Oh no, my phone’s out of battery. Blind Granny, can you take Grandma ahead?”
“It’s getting dark, and she walks slowly in the dark.”
“I’ll go back to grab a charger and be right there.”
“Go on, go on. Be careful on the road—don’t get bitten by a dog.” Blind Granny took the old woman’s hand and led her off.
Though Blind Granny had one blind eye, she’d lived in the village for decades—she’d walked that path countless tis.
She could get ho with her eyes closed.
Dong Wenrui turned and ran.
Once she was out of sight,
Blind Granny’s kindly smile instantly turned cold and sinister.
“You beast! If you can’t sit still in that skin any longer, I’ll skin you alive!”
The old woman opened her mouth, lifted her head, lowered it, and let out a low, guttural “awoo…”
Blind Granny squinted in the direction Dong Wenrui had run off.
“So… what was she thinking just now? She must have seen sothing……”
...
On the other side.
Dong Wenrui ran back ho, deliberately tossed the place into disarray, then turned and ran to the outhouse, lifted the lid,
and forced herself not to gag as she jumped straight in.
The sewage ca up to her waist.
Dong Wenrui took shallow breaths, holding back the gasps that wanted to escape.
Scenes flashed through her mind.
Back when she’d been at the Dinghao Complex in Yunhai, she’d asked what to do if she ever encountered sothing like that again.
The cleanup staff had told her:
“If a normal person runs into one of those things, whatever you do—don’t face it head-on.”
“Hide if you can.”
“The dirtier the place, the better. Like a village outhouse. Don’t be afraid of the filth—as long as you don’t drown, just get in.”
“Ninety-nine percent of monsters won’t look there. Or they’ll subconsciously ignore it.”
“Even if they check, there’s a high chance they won’t see you.”
“Because human waste disrupts magical senses, creates visual interference.”
At the ti, Dong Wenrui had asked, why only ninety-nine percent?
The 749 staff told her that so monsters were born of filth—or weren’t affected by it.
Like…
feral dog-type beasts.
The mont she thought about what dogs ate, Dong Wenrui imdiately understood.
She unlocked her phone and opened the chat with the 749 staff.
She’d added it after the Dinghao Complex incident.
She’d thought she’d never need it—just a backup for peace of mind.
But now, it looked like she might have stumbled into another one of those situations.
Dong Wenrui understood—out here in the middle of nowhere, pitch-black all around—if her grandma really had beco a monster,
she had no way out but death.
No way she could outrun a monster.
Better to hide and alert the 749.
If it was a monster, it ant her grandma was already gone.
If it wasn’t—then even better, a happy ending for everyone.
But that possibility… wasn’t worth gambling on.
[Sister Wang, I think I ran into a monster again. Can you send soone to help ? I’m in Longyang City, Dongshan Village…]
A few seconds later, the reply ca.
[You hide first. I’ll check if there are any investigators nearby. If not, I’ll notify the local 749 Bureau team in Longyang to co over.]
anwhile.
Yunhai 749 Bureau’s Dispatch Departnt.
A woman tapped on the special operations map and input Dong Wenrui’s location—
Two glowing red-purple dots were rapidly closing in on Dongshan Village.
She clicked them open.
[Formal Investigator: Lu Ding]
[Formal Investigator: Bai Hen]
At that mont, another ssage ca in from Dong Wenrui.
[Sister Wang, I hear footsteps coming in.]
[I hear my grandma calling .]
[I don’t hear Blind Granny’s voice. With how slow my grandma walks, there’s no way she could’ve co this far this fast…]
This ssage almost directly confird—
Dong Wenrui’s grandmother had already turned into a monster.
[Don’t be afraid. They’ll be there any second.]
Staring at the ssage on her phone,
Dong Wenrui felt a surge of joy. Under the dim light, a hint of relief and hope lit up her face—like soone surviving a catastrophe.
She didn’t know who they were,
but having soone co to save her—was enough.
Suddenly,
the footsteps stopped.
The voice calling her—stopped.
A chilling fear crept through Dong Wenrui as she slowly looked up.
That once-kind face now wore a twisted, bone-chilling smile.
The neck twisted at an unnatural angle, the head tilted,
and sharp, worn-down fangs poked out from the corners of the mouth.
Under the faint glow, the age spots and wrinkles on the old woman’s face had multiplied out of nowhere.
“Rui Rui, Grandma found you.”
Terror surged from her heart, rising like bile up her throat—
when suddenly—
BOOM!!!!
The outhouse ceiling was shattered open.
User Comments
0 comments from readers