n

n

n

nTranslator: Yuzu

n“Is he back?”

n“Not yet.”

n“Is he back yet?”

n“Hmm, he’s back.”

nThe mountain road was a bit bumpy. There were many rocks and large potholes mixed with mud and water on the road, which made it a bit difficult to ride with a simple tricycle.

nXiao Chen wore a turtleneck sweater with a collar covering his nose and mouth, matched with a close-fitting khaki jacket. He sat on the tricycle and simply carried a knee-high suitcase in his hand.

n“Young man, look at how bad the road is, you say the price…” The man on the bike spoke, and his eyes that were initially glued to the front couldn’t help but look back a few times.

nXiao Chen raised his head, “You just drive in front. The price is negotiable.” His tone was cold and clear, and his temperament was a bit sullen.

nThe man got the approval and stopped talking, but was still muttering in his heart.

nIn such a deserted countryside, the mountain road was so difficult to travel. How come people came for days on end, and all of them were going to that almost abandoned town.

nAlas, forget it, what does it matter to him? He just cares about getting money.

nXiao Chen looked at the scenery along the way with an icy expression. If you looked closely, you could see some disgust in his eyes.

nIf he could, he would rather not return for the rest of his life!

nXiao Chen’s hand could not help but squeeze into a fist. The back of his nearly sickly white hand shows his veins popping out.

nHe would never forget the ugly mouths of those in this town and the way these demons were raving.

nXiao Chen clenched his teeth and closed his eyes.

nIt was probably too windy, plus Xiao Chen was a bit weak, so when the wind blew, he coughed, and his whole body was in a fragile state.

n“Young man, do you have a cold? Put on more clothes!” The man on the bike couldn’t help but speak when he heard Xiao Chen’s cough.

n“Mm.” Xiao Chen responded politely, but he was still somewhat absent-minded.

nIt was already late autumn, and the weather was cool. Xiao Chen wasn’t wearing very little, but at a glance, he was really too thin.

nAs the tricycle drove into the entrance of the town, it was slowly enveloped by a layer of white fog that came out of nowhere. Xiao Chen frowned at the sight of it.

n“Young man, it’s fine. I’ve been here a few times, and the fog will be gone when we go in a bit more.” The man patiently explained to Xiao Chen.

nXiao Chen remained silent.

nThe wind blew gently, ruffling the nearly yellowed leaves.

nHe’s back…

nI saw him…

nHis baby is back…

nThe town has somewhat deteriorated. It was more of a deserted living tomb with hardly any people, just these mud buildings of unknown age.

nThere weren’t even the most common roadside daisies, and there were hardly any other plants except for the dying trees.

nAt a glance at the fields, all of them were overgrown with weeds and didn’t have much vitality.

nIf it weren’t for the few older people sitting blankly at the entrances basking in the sun, it would really not seem like a place where anyone lived.

nBut strangely enough, all the way over, besides the old people, there was not a single strong man, let alone children, to be seen here.

nFrom the moment the tricycle rode into this town, a strange atmosphere was faintly revealed.

nXiao Chen’s body began to sweat and tremble as he looked at the scenery in front of him.

nIt was as if he was once again hearing the cries of children, the sound of knives being sharpened, and the sound of pots and bowls colliding.

nXiao Chen felt his stomach turning over, but there was nothing in his stomach, so he could only barely spit out the acid.

n

n

nXiao Chen covered his chest, feeling a little bit frightened. He had mild anorexia. He was always nauseous and wanted to vomit, and even his chest felt tight.

n“Boy, here we are!” The man parked the car and helped Xiao Chen take down his suitcase.

nXiao Chen nodded and pulled out twice the originally agreed-upon price from his pocket. The man smiled at the sight of it. While stuffing the money into his pocket, he politely took out his phone number and said, “Alright, alright, if you need to go downhill, contact me anytime, haha.”

nXiao Chen gave a soft “hmm”, his tone was still lukewarm.

nHe took out a letter from his pocket. He confirmed the address written in the letter before slowly looking up at the dilapidated house.

nThe door was old and had many knife marks on it.

nXiao Chen took out his gloves from his pocket and put them on without making a sound before pushing the door open. The door made a creaking sound, which made all the people inside look at him in unison.

nXiao Chen squinted his eyes and looked around.

nThe people sitting inside didn’t look too far off from his age. There were both men and women, and with himself, there was a total of seven people.

n“It looks like you’re all here!” An older man, who looked to be in his eighties, was holding on to his crutches as he walked down the stairs. His voice was a bit hoarse, as unpleasant as if he had been burned by fire, making everyone in the room shudder at the sound of it.

nInside, a woman who was wearing heavy makeup and revealing clothes, and whose age must have been around thirty, cocked her head and said with an impatient expression, “Can’t you just say what’s wrong? Why did you call us back? Do you think plane tickets don’t cost money?”

nThe old man’s face did not change, and he did not feel sad because of the woman’s attitude. The look in the man’s eyes actually revealed a bit of affection, “You are Zhang Daniu’s daughter, I didn’t expect that you are already so old!”

nBut his voice was too awful to hear the goodwill in his tone.

nXiao Chen stood alone in the corner with his suitcase in silence, not even willing to put down the luggage in his hands. There was still a bit of disgust in his face as if just touching anything in the house slightly could make him sick to his stomach.

nThe old man sat down and sighed, “You should have seen the current situation in the village.”

nEveryone was silent, but there was a strange tacit agreement.

nThe old man continued with a bit of self-deprecation, “Our village has become a village of old people, without a single strong man or child.”

nHaving said that, the old man was agitated for a few moments, and even his body began to tremble. He spoke with some effort and felt like he could pass out in the next second. Xiao Chen watched the scene with cold eyes.

n“The seven of you are the only young people left in our village!” The old man lowered his eyes with a bit of grief.

nXiao Chen sneered inwardly.

nRetribution.

nHearing the old man’s disgusting speech, he felt no inner turmoil, only disgust.

nPeople have done it! Heaven is watching! Retribution is not impossible, but the time has not yet come.

nThe old man still wanted to say something; his gaze swept a glance at everyone present. When his eyes touched Xiao Chen’s figure, the words he originally wanted to say directly came to a halt. His face became somewhat fierce, and his eyes revealed some disbelief. Then, he sat up violently from his seat, and his fingers trembled as he pointed at Xiao Chen, “You, you are that child? ”

nThe moment the old man pointed at Xiao Chen, everyone’s eyes unconsciously cast towards him. Xiao Chen stood there with a blank expression, his collar blocking half of his face and his eyes cold. Standing in this dilapidated house, his entire person seemed out of touch with the world.

nThe old man wanted to examine his face, but before he could get close to Xiao Chen, his pupils shrank dramatically, and his body shook violently. His legs weakened, and he fell to his knees as if he had seen some horrifying scene. His mouth opened wide, but before he could scream, his eyes crossed, and blood flowed out of his eyeballs, then his nose, mouth, ears… The seven orifices were bleeding.

n

n

nHe fell straight to the ground in front of the horrified eyes of the crowd, bleeding to death!

n“Aaaaahhhhh!!!”

n“Ahhhhh!!!”

nThe people began to cover their ears and scream. They got up from their chairs and rushed out towards the front door like madmen.

nAt once, the whole house was a scene of chaos.

nSomeone got their feet stepped on by the people around them, and someone else fell to the ground because they were in too much of a hurry…

nBut Xiao Chen stood there motionless. Before his eyes widened due to the sudden death of the old man, he felt something directly climb up his shoulder, rubbing the position of his shoulder blade repeatedly like it was teasing him. It even poked his collar intentionally or unintentionally, as if it wanted to leap directly into the collar and touch his skin. Still, more than that, it was trying to please him.

nThis touch was a bit cold, especially in the late autumn, causing Xiao Chen to shiver.

nXiao Chen cast his gaze to the ground. Through the shadows that hit the ground, he could vaguely see a figure standing behind him. This shadow did not resemble a person, and there were no limbs but only a mass.

nXiao Chen directly covered his chest with his hand, his heartbeat began to accelerate wildly, his lips that were trembling was a little pale, his voice was lost, and his brain seemed to flash.

nBefore Xiao Chen could think about it, his brain throbbed, his entire body became weightless, and he fell to the side, directly passing out.

nAh!

nYou’re finally back! I’ve been waiting for you!

nIt’s been too long! It’s been too long! What took you so long!

nDo you know how long I’ve been waiting for you?

nBut it’s okay!

nYou’re finally back!

n–

nThe author has something to say:

nNew World! Hehe, I hope you like the Xiao Chen of this world!!

n

n