Within the span of a single breath, its soaked fur had completely dried.
It was far too strange.
The dog looked toward the well-protected Shen Muyan, tilted its head as if remembering something, then lowered itself to the floor and slowly crawled toward Shang Qi. Its amber eyes sparkled with excitement and anticipation.
Pet me… pet me… pet me…
Shang Qi didn’t move.
The wolfdog inched even closer, rubbing its head against his leg.
“Ah Qi, does it want you to pet it?” Shen Muyan asked.
Yes! Yes!
The dog’s tail wagged even harder.
Shen Muyan crouched down and gently poked one of its fluffy ears.
Its ears twitched wildly with delight.
The wolfdog immediately tried to burrow into her arms, squeezing toward her insistently.
Until it bumped into a hand.
Confused, it looked up.
Seeing that it was Shang Qi, it assumed he wanted to pet it instead and simply changed directions to squeeze past him.
It completely failed to notice the obvious look of disdain in Shang Qi’s eyes.
“Whine… whine…”
Both my humans love me. I’m so happy.
Aside from Shen Muyan, everyone else remained grim.
The dozen mutilated corpses outside…
The dog inside, now acting cute and begging for affection…
Both pointed to one undeniable fact.
The world was changing.
How could a dog tear apart more than a dozen grown adults…
…or pass straight through a wall?
There was one thing Shang Qi had overlooked from the very beginning.
In his previous life, why had the summit of Qinglan Mountain been reduced to a wasteland?
Logically speaking, even if survivors had taken refuge on the mountain, there was no reason for the mountaintop itself to have been obliterated.
In his previous life, humanity’s changes had begun after the torrential rains.
Some people suddenly transformed into monsters.
Some awakened supernatural abilities.
Others remained completely ordinary.
“Ah Qi, don’t worry so much.”
Shen Muyan wrapped her arms around him from behind.
Because of the difference in their height, she could only reach his shoulders.
She looked tiny in comparison, making her all the more precious.
Ever since the appearance of the silver wolfdog, the atmosphere in the guesthouse had remained heavy for two straight days.
Shang Qi sighed before turning around and pulling her into his embrace.
“Muyan… I’ve changed my mind.”
“As soon as the rain stops, we’re leaving.”
There were dangers on this mountain far beyond anything he had anticipated.
He couldn’t risk Muyan’s life.
Shen Muyan had always trusted his decisions.
“Alright.”
Before everyone could relax over that decision, something even stranger happened.
Little Gray kept barking toward the darkness outside.
The first time was in the middle of the night.
The second was before dawn.
The third came the following evening.
After three incidents in a row, everyone became increasingly alert.
On the fourth night, Zhou Mo decided to stay downstairs and keep watch.
At two o’clock in the morning, Little Gray suddenly lifted its head from the sofa.
Its ears stood upright.
It leaped onto the floor and barked furiously.
“Woof! Woof!”
Zhou Mo walked over and followed the direction the dog was staring.
The forest beyond the courtyard had vanished beneath floodwaters.
Rain poured relentlessly.
Violent winds howled.
The night sky was so dark it resembled an enormous curtain pressing down upon the earth.
Then—
Lightning split the sky.
For the briefest instant, Zhou Mo saw a figure crouching inside the courtyard.
His expression changed dramatically.
It had an utterly horrifying face.
Its eye sockets were empty.
Its flesh was shredded beyond recognition.
Although it crawled on all fours, it moved with terrifying speed.
In the blink of an eye, the creature had reached the glass entrance.
Little Gray instinctively stepped back and bared its teeth.
Only then did Zhou Mo get a clear look.
It had no eyes.
No ears.
Its entire body writhed with unknown parasites.
Its elongated limbs bent unnaturally like a spider’s as it crawled across the ground.
Everywhere it passed, thin thread-like worms were left wriggling behind.
The sight made his scalp crawl.
The worms began squeezing through the crack beneath the door.
Zhou Mo drew his knife.
But Little Gray reacted even faster.
It spat out a stream of fire.
The worms were instantly burned to ashes.
As though sensing the flames, the creature retreated.
Then, without warning, it leaped upward.
It clung vertically to the exterior wall.
Its twisted head slowly turned as it sniffed around the upstairs windows.
It possessed a monster’s body…
Yet retained a human shape…
And seemed capable of thought.
When Shang Qi looked into those hollow eye sockets through the glass, even he froze for a moment.
The worms crawling across the creature’s face suddenly became restless, wriggling toward the window.
They pressed against the glass before shrinking back, leaving streaks of milky-white slime behind.
The rain quickly washed everything away.
The worms stopped moving and disappeared back beneath the creature’s exposed flesh.
Another flash of lightning illuminated the night.
Only then did Shang Qi realize—
The creature had no skin at all.
Its “face” was nothing but countless worms twisted tightly together.
The source of them all was its empty eye sockets.
More worms continuously poured out, crawling downward without end.
It was revolting.
The darkness swallowed everything once more.
Shang Qi never moved.
By the time the next flash came…
The creature had vanished.
Downstairs, Little Gray stopped barking.
The entire encounter had lasted barely two minutes.
Yet it felt like an endless night.
Shang Qi stood beside the window with his pistol until dawn.
Zhou Mo sat in the living room all night with his own gun resting across his lap.
Both men arrived at the exact same conclusion.
They had to leave.
As soon as possible.
At six in the morning, Jiang Hao came downstairs.
He was the best cook among them, so preparing meals had largely become his responsibility.
“Brother Mo… what’s wrong?”
The moment he saw Zhou Mo sitting there with a gun and a grim expression, even Jiang Hao hesitated to approach.
“Nothing.”
Zhou Mo holstered his pistol and rubbed his temples.
“From today onward, no one uses the water here.”
“I’m going upstairs to get some sleep.”
“Tell everyone.”
Watching him leave, Jiang Hao frowned.
Something was definitely wrong.
Little Gray lifted its head and quietly followed Zhou Mo upstairs.
“Why are you following me?”
The wolfdog gently rubbed against him.
Then it spat out a small ring of fire that completely enveloped Zhou Mo.
The flames passed harmlessly over his body.
Not even a single strand of hair was singed.
Only after that did Little Gray tilt its head contentedly and trot away.
Its flames…
…could apparently be controlled with astonishing precision.
“This little guy…”
Zhou Mo couldn’t help smiling.
“It even knows how to comfort people.”
Three hours later, Zhou Mo returned downstairs.
Everyone had gathered in the living room.
Shen Muyan was playing with Little Gray, teasing it until the wolfdog scratched anxiously at its own head.
“This…”
Zhou Mo handed over a sketch of the creature.
“…is what Little Gray’s been warning us about every night.”
Looking toward Shang Qi, he asked,
“You saw it too last night, didn’t you?”
It sounded like a question.
But it was really a confirmation.
Shang Qi hated seeing Shen Muyan getting too close to Little Gray.
Since he hadn’t stopped her this morning, there was only one possible reason.
Xie Rao and Du Ming studied the drawing before passing it to Jiang Hao.
His eyes widened.
“What the hell is this thing?”
“I’d like to know too,” Zhou Mo muttered.
“It looked human…
“…but it wasn’t.”
Just thinking about it made him feel sick.
It was revolting.
Hearing their discussion, Shen Muyan reached toward Jiang Hao.
“Can I see?”
She still had a lingering cold, and her voice was thick with congestion.
Jiang Hao was about to hand it over before instinctively glancing at Shang Qi.
“Be careful, Sister-in-law.”
Shen Muyan only glanced at the picture before immediately folding it shut.
“Ugh…”
“So creepy.”
“No eyes… no nose…”
“Brother Mo’s drawing skills are incredible.”
Xie Rao got straight to the point.
“So…”
“Do we leave or not?”
“We can’t.”
Shang Qi and Zhou Mo answered in perfect unison.
Setting the creature aside for the moment…
The mountain roads themselves were now even more dangerous.
Traveling during the ongoing storm posed a greater risk than the monster did.
“So what do we do?” Du Ming asked.
“Starting today,” Shang Qi said, “everyone trains.”
He looked toward Zhou Mo.
“You’ll teach firearms.”
“Jiang Hao will handle close combat.”
“We’ll rotate night watches.”
“I’ll take two—”
“Enough.”
Zhou Mo cut him off.
“We all know Sister-in-law’s condition.”
“Why are you trying to act like a stranger?”
“One person takes one night.”
“There are five grown men here.”
“We’re not about to let a sick girl protect us.”
Besides…
They were eating Shang Qi’s food.
Using his supplies.
Living under his roof.
The plan was settled.
From then on, Zhou Mo, Jiang Hao, Du Ming, and Xie Rao devoted themselves to strengthening their combat skills.
Meanwhile, Shang Qi focused on teaching Shen Muyan how to use a gun…
…and training Little Gray.