Chapter 36

Chapter 36: In the Darkness

After tearing apart several cunning monsters that approached them, no more creatures attempted to assault them.

The shredded monsters and the two creatures thrown in with Black Egg became the feast for the remaining monsters. Within half an hour, they were completely devoured. One of the monsters from their batch, though not dead, was severely injured and unable to move. It was eventually bitten to death.

With his last bit of strength, Grandfather dragged Black Egg to a shadow and fixated his gaze on the gruesome feeding scene across the darkness. His stomach rumbled loudly.

Little Hei raised his tiny head and offered his little paw to Grandfather.

A growling stomach meant hunger, a concept that Black Egg understood. At this moment, a small, oval-shaped egg was in his little black paw.

He had somehow managed to hide this egg without it being discovered, and it had survived. Holding the egg up, Black Egg gestured for Grandfather to eat it.

Unable to speak, Grandfather gently licked the eggshell. Then, he continued to stare motionlessly across the darkness, holding Black Egg tightly in his arms.

Believing that Grandfather had fallen asleep, Black Egg withdrew his paw and nestled under Grandfather's neck. Feeling hungry himself, Black Egg also cautiously licked the egg.

One lick, then another.

Hei Dan is unable to peel an egg, you see!

Thus, he could only lick it instead.

The sounds of eating soon faded away, and silence returned to the darkness. Little by little, "lanterns" lit up around them. If someone were to enter and glance at the corner where Hei Dan and Grandfather dwelled, they would notice that Grandfather's eyes also shone like two tiny lamps in the darkness.

The monsters were keeping watch over one another.

This was the life that monsters ought to lead. They would never fall asleep when others of their kind were nearby, always remaining vigilant so as not to become someone else's meal while dozing off.

At first, Hei Dan was unable to sleep as well. He would spend the entire night with his eyes wide open, fixated on Ji Huan – a manifestation of his instinctive vigilance.

Now, however, Hei Dan has learned to "sleep." His life has been regulated by Ji Huan: he wakes up around six in the morning, has breakfast, and then Grandpa takes him outside for a stroll, to gaze at the sky and the earth, even dipping his little paws into a stream. Around nine, he has another meal, followed by lunch precisely at noon alongside Grandpa. After filling his belly, Hei Dan begins playing on Grandpa's kang (heated brick bed), especially when there's sunlight, which bathes the kang warmly during this time of day. As he plays, Hei Dan eventually dozes off. He has a habit of taking naps, and Grandpa also rests for a while, basking together in the warm sunshine.

Monsters actually don't dislike the sun at all; on the contrary, most of them yearn for its warmth.

With his white-ringed eyes intently staring ahead, Hei Dan feels sleepy. He misses his uncle and his frog toy.

Every night, it's Uncle who keeps him company while he sleeps, and the little frog doll sits right across from Hei Dan. Their white-ringed eyes meet – Hei Dan's on the frog, the frog's on Hei Dan – and as they stare, Hei Dan drifts off to sleep.

Indeed, Hei Dan had fallen asleep. In his dream, he found himself back in his own little bed, with the frog doll opposite him. Suddenly,

a round creature pounced from the foot of the bed, pinning Hei Dan and his uncle down!

Hei Dan jolted awake.

He was genuinely being pressed down upon. Instinctively, Hei Dan wanted to cry, but soon he realized it was Grandpa's large head. Struggling to stretch his tiny body, he tried to create more space for both of them in the cramped area. He then noticed that Grandpa had dozed off.

The severely injured goat-horned demon could no longer hold on.

Before he lost consciousness, he used his claws to protect the area in front of his chest, placing Hei Dan in the safest spot. Even if he was devoured by other monsters while unconscious, these small creatures would likely take some time to consume a body of his size. Hopefully, Hei Dan could escape during that period.

But... what about Little Hua?

Thoughts of his grandson and great-grandson unwillingly filled his mind as the goat-horned monster sank into darkness.

Extending his tiny claw, Hei Dan gently touched his grandpa. When he saw no response after a while, he lightly patted his grandpa's body.

Just like how his uncle would soothe him to sleep, he softly patted his grandpa.

Then, Hei Dan's white-ringed eyes met the watchful monsters outside.

The tiny body trembled slightly, and his white-ringed eyes narrowed. Gradually, Hei Dan seemed to calm down. With his small black paws gripping Uncle's arm, he took over Uncle's role, staring intently at the monsters across from them.

Back home, Hei Dan slept with both Uncle and Grandpa.

But when they were out, neither Uncle nor Grandpa ever slept. Whenever Hei Dan dozed off, he would wake up to find them both still awake, which made him feel safe.

Innocent monsters instinctively imitate the behavior of adults, and thus, he learned "protection."

Without fully understanding its meaning, Hei Dan instinctively acted in a protective manner.

Silent and stealthy, he fixed his white-ringed gaze upon their surroundings, unblinking.

A monster's eyes seemed unfocused, like a lamp, as if locking onto a target while seeing everything else. Whoever blinked first would lose.

On the night Grandpa first fainted, Hei Dan spent it locked in a staring contest with the hunters.

Soon, accompanied by rumbling sounds, the monsters grew hungry once more.

The lingering threat of the ram-horned monster, coupled with Hei Dan's relentless warnings, kept other creatures at bay this time. Thus, Hei Dan and Ayeh were fortunate enough to survive the second round of the hunting phase unscathed.

Hei Dan licked his paw where the egg had been, longing for milk even more. However, his little green milk bottle was no longer there.

Lapping at the egg twice, Hei Dan then held it up to Grandfather's large mouth for another gentle nudge. Grandfather showed no intention of opening his mouth, so Hei Dan carefully hid the egg away once more.

He then continued to focus intently on the feeding process of the creatures outside, his attention entirely captivated by the mesmerizing spectacle.

Fixing his gaze unwaveringly, Hei Dan endured until the third feeding session of the monsters, the rumbling of Grandpa's stomach accompanying him.

This time, their luck couldn't hold out any longer: a monster was approaching them!

It was a small creature, its round body concealed within the black fog, indistinguishable from head to tail, with no visible limbs. Two will-o'-the-wisps served as its eyes, peering from the top where one might expect a face. Its size disadvantaged it in battles against its kind; it dared not approach too closely, for fear of becoming a meal itself.

But it was cunning.

It remembered the motionless Horned Demon over here.

As the other monsters engaged in fierce combat, it stealthily crept towards Hei Dan and Grandfather, its approach unnoticed until Hei Dan, ever vigilant, caught sight of it.

Hei Dan attempted to nudge Ah Ye, but Ah Ye remained still. Right at that moment, the monster landed on Ah Ye's body, covered in hard scales, aiming for the gory wound on his chest. It abruptly opened its mouth wide -

Its large, white, ringed eyes stared in terror at the rows of sharp teeth. Before that terrifying maw could sink into Ah Ye's wound, Hei Dan also abruptly opened his mouth -

He let out a loud wail!

Ji Huan jolted awake from his dream.

"Ji Huan, what's wrong? Were you having a nightmare? You're all sweaty..." His sudden movement was so great that it roused Wang Xiaochuan, who was sleeping beside him.

"...I heard the cries of Hei Dan." The usually stern-faced youth revealed an expression of shock for the first time, and after a long while, he said this to Wang Xiaochuan.

The earthquake had struck two days prior in the afternoon, and they had already relocated once since then. Currently, the disaster victims were temporarily housed within the gymnasium of the elementary school in town. The worst-hit area was the East District of Baode Mountain where Ji Huan lived. The affected townsfolk mainly resided there, whereas Wang Xiaochuan's home in the West District had been spared relatively unscathed. The population over there was more concentrated, and the area was more prosperous. In truth, the majority of households in the town hadn't suffered significant damage.

However, due to concerns over aftershocks, the majority of people had been relocated to seismically resistant public facilities for their safety.

With his mouth agape, Wang Xiaochuan ultimately said nothing.

The leader of that search and rescue team was an extremely trustworthy person. Upon learning about the situation at Ji Huan's place, he promptly came to inform Ji Huan personally. Wang Xiaochuan had been accompanying Ji Huan these few days, so he naturally overheard their conversation.

"...No elderly man or infant was found at your family's residence. The rescue team searched extensively, but to no avail. However, they did find a few surviving mountain dwellers. But... all of them claimed that the Jiji family had no grandfather and no baby. There was only a teenage boy, currently attending high school in the town..." The team leader spoke with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

The rescued villagers also mentioned that there used to be a girl, who later moved to the city for work and, unfortunately, perished in a car accident. They only learned about her demise last year when a group came to inform them and seek directions. After that incident, the family was left with just the boy...

However, the colleagues responsible for the search on the mountain did discover numerous baby items and three memorial tablets at the site.

This situation had started to border on the surreal.

Colleagues speculated that the teenager might have been so grief-stricken that he imagined his family by his side. Initially, the team leader accepted this explanation. But using his position, he delved deeper and discovered that the male and female heads of the household had died in a car accident fifteen years ago, leaving behind two children.

At that time, one child was two, and the other was less than five. With no adults to care for them, how had they managed to survive until now? Unless, as the teenager claimed, there was indeed a "grandfather" in the house. But, according to neighboring villagers, no other voices were heard from that residence, nor had anyone seen anyone other than the teenager emerge from it!

The situation had become utterly inexplicable.