City A got foggy at night occasionally, but never in his life had Li Xiu seen fog like this.

Looking outside through the building’s floor-to-ceiling windows, all that could be seen was endless drifting white.

Qiao Yang tugged the glass door tentatively. There was only a small gap, but a layer of white fog could be seen slowly flowing inside like a living thing, drifting endlessly on the marble floor.

When the fog touched one’s skin, it brought with it an indescribable chill.

Qiao Yang’s hand shook, and he immediately closed the door.

Everyone’s expressions became extremely ugly. After experiencing so much, they weren’t foolish enough to regard such nighttime fog as an ordinary phenomenon. Qiao Yang took out his cell phone and dialed 110, but it was a brick in his hand, without any cell service at all.

The young man put the phone back in his pocket and grabbed his hair, asking: “Teacher Xu, what should we do next?”

Teacher Xu was chanting something, but something in the dark seemed to have heard Li Xiu’s question. The moment he finished speaking, there was another dull crashing sound from the security door not far behind them.

They all turned their heads, only to find the thick door shaking precariously.

No one dared to think about what was behind the security door.

Teacher Xu took a deep breath.

The older man said in a deep voice: “We definitely can’t stay here. We need to get to the car. There are still some things inside it that can suppress evil.”

Fortunately, the car had been parked in front of the building when they arrived. Now, they only had to rush down a long staircase to get to it.

Teacher Xu said: “Even if a ghost is muddling our perception, we can still reach it from such a short distance with our eyes closed.” 

In the next second, a clearly audible electronic sound came through the white fog, and the car’s headlights could be faintly seen as they turned on.

The car was indeed not far. When they realized this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. When its location was confirmed, Teacher Xu instructed everyone to hold hands. Then he took the lead and pushed open the door, leading the others to the car through the fog.

Everything was fine for the first two steps.

But in the next second, the thick, cold fog, like a wet hand reaching out from the darkness, suddenly stuck to Li Xiu’s face.

Li Xiu never knew that fog could be so thick. Intense moisture struck him, catching him off guard. He felt as if he was drowning, his mouth and nose filling with cold liquid.

He coughed uncontrollably.

And as he endured the tightness in his chest and suppressed his coughing, he found that his hands were already empty.

Qiao Yang and Fang Qian’an, whose hands he was holding, had vanished.

There was only the lingering fog around him.

Endless fog.

It was as if a cold finger was slowly stirring up his stomach. When he found that he was alone, Li Xiu immediately stopped breathing and was so frightened that he almost retched.

Terrified, Li Xiu called in a whisper: “Teacher Xu? Fang Qian’an? Qiao Yang?”

Fortunately, as soon as he called out, a clear voice sounded from nearby: “Damn, this way, Li Xiu! Come over here!” 

As if to direct him, the car lights came on in front of him to the left.

Not daring to delay, Li Xiu hurried in that direction. 

“Teacher Xu, I—”

After only two steps, the yellow lights were already close at hand.

However, Li Xiu stopped abruptly.

Cold sweat soaked the youth’s back as he stared in the direction of the lights in disbelief.

That wasn’t Teacher Xu’s old Honda at all, but instead…..

There was an emaciated old woman holding a flashlight.

It was his grandmother.

His grandmother held up the flashlight and the yellow beam of light shone directly upon Li Xiu.

Li Xiu’s heart beat wildly. He didn’t even dare to blink, and could only stare blankly at that familiar face.

He could clearly feel the wetness on his face, but he could no longer tell if it was because of the fog or if he was crying again, weak and helpless. 

“Grandmother,” Li Xiu called in a choked voice. “Don’t scare me, okay?”

“…..I’m so scared.”

In such thick fog, his grandmother’s form was extremely distinct. Completely different from the ugly and deformed reanimated corpse he had seen before, his grandmother was currently closer to the old woman in his memory.

She was even slightly younger than the last time he had seen her alive.

Li Xiu clearly remembered that at that time, they had just moved into the shantytown in the city.

For a young child, the intricate alleys of the shantytown were incredibly long, with no street lights or signs. If one wasn’t careful, they could get lost.

And when he moved there, it happened to be winter. With a mere moment’s delay, it would be dark.

If Li Xiu took one wrong step, he would be greeted by terrifying darkness.

The most unfortunate thing was that he and his grandmother were new arrivals. Moreover, Li Xiu’s lame foot was very obvious. In the shantytown, children who lacked parental education would deliberately mock Li Xiu. Sometimes, they would even release their dogs to chase Li Xiu so that they could watch him cry and fall down as he ran.

When that happened once, Li Xiu went home with a high fever.

The first day he returned to school after recovering from a serious illness, he was fine during the day, but when he was about to head home after school, it felt like his feet were too heavy for him to move forward.

Just as he was terrified, thinking that he would have to walk down those long alleys alone again, he saw an elderly figure at the alley’s entrance. It was his grandmother.

In the early winter dusk, this old woman, who was hardly amiable on a typical day, carried a flashlight with shaky hands and stood guard at the mouth of the alley, waiting silently in the cold wind for Li Xiu to return from school.

Unlike other older people, she didn’t make a big show of affection, but just gave a slight nod and motioned for Li Xiu to follow her.

Li Xiu’s grandmother was always taciturn in front of him. Apart from urging Li Xiu to deliver food to his gege, she barely communicated with him.

However, at that moment, Li Xiu clearly felt his grandmother’s silent doting.

In such a way, after picking up and dropping off Li Xiu for a semester, the young child finally adapted to the alleyways in the shantytown.

Moreover, the dogs that once chased him died, and for some unknown reason, the wicked children in the shantytown also moved out of the area one by one.

Li Xiu was no longer afraid of going home alone, and his grandmother never picked him up again.

And now, Li Xiu once again saw the old woman holding an old-fashioned flashlight, silently standing guard in an alley to take him home.

He heard his grandmother murmur to him: “A-Xiu, ah…..”

The old woman’s face was still pallid, but her expression was one of sadness. 

“Don’t be afraid, Grandma doesn’t want this…..”

“How could Grandma hurt you?”

As she spoke, he lurched one step forward.

Li Xiu unconsciously stepped back, the tearful tone in his voice intensifying.

“Don’t come over here!” Li Xiu shouted, but his voice was extremely weak.

Unexpectedly, his grandmother actually stopped.

The old woman watched Li Xiu with all her attention, tears streaming from her cloudy eyes.

“Grandma never wanted to scare you. Grandma just doesn’t want to let you go…..” The old woman said mournfully, “You’re still so young, and have no mother or father. How could Grandma be willing to leave you alone in this world…..my A-Xiu, ah, you’re so pitiful, Grandma can’t bear it!”

Li Xiu violently gasped for breath.

Every whisper from his grandmother was like a knife piercing his heart.

Yes, ah, what should he do?

Could he really live a good life all alone?

After hearing the news of his grandmother’s death, this thought had been lingering in the depths of Li Xiu’s mind.

“Come, A-Xiu, come with Grandma. Grandma will protect you. With Grandma here, it’s better than you continuing to remain alone in this world…..”

Li Xiu’s grandmother raised her hand toward him again. For a moment, he seemed to have lost control of his body.

He couldn’t help but take a step in her direction. If he followed his grandmother, he wouldn’t have to be alone anymore, right?

In the next second, a strong force came from behind Li Xiu.

It was like being hit by a bull. Before Li Xiu could react, something slammed directly into his shoulder.

He only had time to let out a brief scream.

“A-Xiu, what are you doing now! Fucking look closer, that’s not your grandmother at all!”

A familiar voice exploded in his ears, and Li Xiu gasped. He looked intently and realized that where his grandmother was standing, there was clearly a tall, slender, thin-limbed monster with a bright red body.

The figure’s head was concealed by a familiar paper mask.

It still had its hand raised, its dark eye sockets looking at Li Xiu blankly. It was extremely bizarre.

“…..And why would you be alone? You still have me!” Fang Qian’an yelled while running away with Li Xiu on his back.

A few steps later, Li Xiu belatedly heard the roar of a car engine within the white fog.

With the faint, rapid chanting of a mantra, a breeze arose out of nowhere and blew away the fog around Li Xiu and Fang Qian’an.

The youth looked up again and realized that Teacher Xu’s car was right next to them. Teacher Xu was already sitting in the driver’s seat. The man rolled down the window and shouted at them: “Quickly, get in the car—”

Without delay, Fang Qian’an opened the door and threw Li Xiu inside, then rushed inside and slammed the door.

The dispersed fog gathered again as soon as the door closed, seeming to have a life of its own as it was stuck outside the vehicle.

Accompanied by a surge of wind, blurry faces appeared one after another in the fog, peering through the car window at the people inside.

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The Author Has Something to Say: 

Who is knocking on your window~

Dog Qian’an is gradually walking into Li Xiu’s heart.

Gege: Everything is going as planned.

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Chapter 52 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 54