They called that terrifying man-eating monster “Clan Deity,” and also said he had now “fallen asleep.” Then did that mean that even if she hid inside that shrine for the time being, she wouldn’t be discovered by that “Clan Deity”?
Thinking of how she had been on the brink of death last night, thinking of how “Clan Deity” had been unable to eat her, a bit of relieved, grateful emotion suddenly rose in Luo Yuan’s heart.
It’s fine, it will definitely be fine.
She kept silently repeating this in her heart, quietly listening to the sounds of those people outside. They scattered into the rooms to search; if they couldn’t find her in the rooms, they would soon think of the gap under the end of the corridor. But she didn’t know whether going out now would make her be seen. After hesitating for quite a long time, she felt she couldn’t keep delaying any longer.
Lifting her hand, she took off her shoes that would create obvious footsteps when walking, rapidly craned her head to look outside. Besides the back of one old woman, everyone else had gone into the rooms. It was a good opportunity!
Don’t see me, don’t see me, don’t see me!
She darted out swiftly, her heart pounding wildly but making no sound at all. Her eyes were fixed only on the slightly swaying shrine curtain. She had never moved so agilely and quickly before. The moment she lifted her foot onto the corridor at the edge of the shrine, the curtain was already right before her!
At this moment, the old woman turned around. Luo Yuan’s heart skipped a beat, and she plunged into the curtain. She didn’t know if that movement just now had been seen, only felt that someone might lift the curtain to check at any second. She stiffly and urgently lifted her head, scanning inside the shrine for any place she could hide. She caught sight, at a glance, of the area wrapped in layers of drapery at the center, and without thinking rushed in and hid herself behind the many layers of hanging cloth.
The interior floor of the shrine was made of dark, smooth wooden planks, seemingly emitting a faint special fragrance. She sat on the floor, yet felt no chill from it at all. Her eyes stared fixedly at the curtain hanging motionless before her.
The indistinct voices outside became extremely distant. The light filtering in also fell inch by inch. Someone spoke softly outside; it wasn’t very clear.
“Time… late…”
“No choice… outside waiting… will eventually… come out…”
Hearing the word “leave,” Luo Yuan instantly relaxed a little. Just as she moved her foot, footsteps entered the shrine. She immediately stopped moving, holding her breath. Fortunately, the person who came in had no intention of lifting the drapery. They only bowed and knelt outside the curtain, then quickly withdrew.
It took Luo Yuan quite a while to confirm they had truly all left. She still couldn’t quite believe they had given up on looking for her so quickly. But thinking about it, perhaps to them, it was like a mouse had scurried into the courtyard— even if they wanted to catch it, if they couldn’t find it right away, they wouldn’t dare disturb the owner of this place too much just to catch a tiny mouse.
After all, to him, a single mouse couldn’t possibly pose much harm.
The danger was temporarily lifted. Luo Yuan’s shoulders were instantly crushed by heavy exhaustion— exhaustion from not sleeping the whole night before, and being mentally tense the entire day today. During this time she hadn’t eaten or drunk anything. This condition made her reactions sluggish; only now did she realize the “Clan Deity” was right behind her.
Night fell once more. In the silent air drifted the same faint fragrance as last night. A red lamp abruptly lit behind her. Luo Yuan instantly recalled everything she had seen last night, the hairs on her back standing on end.
When she had rushed in earlier with her head down, she hadn’t been able to see clearly what was inside. Now, staring at her shadow cast by the red lamp, she slowly, inch by inch, turned her head.
Countless terrifying images uncontrollably appeared in her mind — such as turning around and seeing two white sleeves hanging before her, or the “Clan Deity,” turned into a monstrous form, staring at her from behind.
But when she truly turned her head, nothing frightening happened. The red lamp was the light of a red candle, looking like an ordinary candle stand, full of an ancient aura. Even more massive and ornate than the candle stand was the… altar in the center of the drapery.
It could probably be called an altar. Luo Yuan didn’t know how to describe it. It was in the same style as the shrine building, but countless times more splendid. The dark wood tinged with red had been carved with all sorts of patterns and designs, forming a three-layered exquisite pavilion. The outermost layer held many incense burners, marked with traces of countless burned incense; the middle layer held many offerings, such as fruits and pastries; the innermost layer resembled a small separate room, padded with cushions. At this moment, countless red threads were hanging inside it, and at the very center hung a red cocoon.
For a moment, Luo Yuan forgot her fear, stunned by the exquisitely crafted work of art before her and the atmosphere filled with solemn, mysterious air.
The moment she came back to her senses, her gaze did not linger on the red cocoon in the innermost layer. Instead, it unconsciously wandered over the offerings on the second layer. This was the most instinctive reaction, because at this moment she was truly thirsty and hungry, her stomach burning, her limbs weak. Counting yesterday as well, she hadn’t eaten since she was in prison, and now she had gone two days without a single drop of water. Even just licking her lips, she could taste the blood seeping from her cracked lips.
She hesitated as she stepped forward a few paces, wanting to get closer to the food on the second layer. After a few steps, she looked nervously at the red cocoon, then she sat upright and knelt down properly, just like worshipping Buddha in a temple, carefully bowing once to this “Clan Deity.”
The large red peach felt cold in her hand, releasing the unique fresh fragrance of fruit. The pastries were small and delicate, giving off a sweet aroma. Luo Yuan sat at the edge of the drapery, eating the food bite by bite, constantly paying attention to whether the red cocoon showed any movement.
She was a woman with little courage. Before that incident, she had always treated everyone kindly and tolerantly, disliked arguing, and was easy to talk to, so she often suffered losses.
The boldest thing she had ever done in her life— the only thing she had ever fought to the end over— was that killing. Yet even after killing someone, she was still the same timid person, living on in ordinary struggle.
With her stomach filled, she finally felt relaxed.
The red flame of the candle burned quietly, yet the red candle did not seem to diminish. Once she got used to it, Luo Yuan felt that the red light didn’t seem that frightening after all. She stretched her body and walked out. Even if the cocoon didn’t move, she still didn’t dare stay inside all the time.
Outside was not completely submerged in darkness. The round moon, half hidden by clouds, cast enough light for her to clearly see everything in the courtyard. When she arrived here at dusk yesterday, she had been too nervous to look around. Who would have thought that after all those terrifying events, she would instead be able to calmly observe every corner of the courtyard here.
She suddenly noticed a row of plants growing on one side of the shrine. Red flowers peeked out faintly among the branches and leaves. They were over a dozen single-petal red camellias planted in a row. Drawing closer, one could smell their faint fragrance— so it turned out the scent she had noticed since last night was coming from these red camellias.
Luo Yuan lay down on the corridor on this side. She was too exhausted; once she lay down, she drifted into sleep in a daze.
A person’s dreams are always elusive, and when dreaming, one never realizes they are dreaming. In the dream, Luo Yuan forgot she was in danger, forgot the night of terror. She returned to the home she had lived in for more than twenty years. It was an old residential building decades old, and the third-floor balcony with pots of small flowers was her home.
Her younger sister, in her teens, had just returned from school. She helped her pick vegetables and told her about the things that happened at school.
“Jie, when I start working in the future and earn a lot of money, let’s move somewhere else. We’ll get a villa, and we can plant flowers and grass in the yard.”
“Alright.”
“Jie, do you think I could be an actress in the future?”
“Sure, Xiaojing is pretty.”
Her sister smiled, her beautiful young face full of youthful light.
Later, that radiant light disappeared. She left behind a suicide note and jumped from the rooftop. From then on, the sister who had depended on her became forever frozen in a black-and-white photograph with a raised smile.
The dream shifted from happiness to despair in just the blink of an eye. Luo Yuan woke up with her whole body cold, realizing dawn had not yet arrived. Her whole body was stiff from the cold. She also found she was quietly sobbing, her cheeks wet with tears— she had cried herself awake.
It had been a long time since she cried herself awake from a dream at night. Probably because her nerves had been stretched too tight these past two days.
The temperature outside was very low. Shivering, she went back into the shrine. Only a layer of curtain separated the inside from the outside, yet they felt like two completely different worlds. Inside was warm like spring; the moment she entered, she felt as though bathed in warm sunlight. Luo Yuan looked toward the red candle and discovered the warmth inside seemed to come from that strange red candle.
She lay on the warm floor, trying to rest again, but no matter what, she couldn’t fall asleep. From where she lay, she could just see the red cocoon. The cocoon hung there without any movement. She began imagining what might emerge from it. Generally speaking, a cocoon should produce a butterfly.
Then she began thinking about what she should do next. She couldn’t hide here forever, but she also couldn’t go out. Yet no matter how she thought, all that lay before her was a fated ending of death. She couldn’t think of a single way to survive, and she couldn’t help falling into a dazed, listless despair. The road ahead was unclear; she could only continue living one step at a time.
On her second day hiding in the shrine, she ate some of the offerings on the second layer.
On the third day, she did the same.
During this time, the courtyard gate was never opened again. She had tried approaching the gate and heard faint footsteps moving outside. There was nothing in the courtyard she could climb, and even if she could climb out, she could already predict that outside the courtyard would surely be filled with people waiting for her to walk straight into their trap.
She looked at the red cocoon, clearly knowing in her heart that once that “Clan Deity” emerged from the cocoon, the day of her death would arrive.
But she hadn’t expected that this god would “break the cocoon” so quickly. On the night of the third day, she once again woke from her sleep. In the haze of half-dream, she saw the red cocoon lying on the cushion. On the red silk–wrapped surface of the cocoon appeared a streak of white— it was a white sleeve.
Luo Yuan jolted awake, her mind instantly clear. She stared like that, eyes wide open, watching until dawn, and then saw black hair emerging from the silk cocoon.
After being shut for three whole days, the courtyard gate finally opened. Someone stepped in on the rays of the rising sun. They headed straight for the shrine. Hearing the noise, Luo Yuan scrambled into the back of the drapery, rolling and crawling. She saw two old women lifting up all the outer square curtains, and they continued to move inward, hooking up each layer of the hanging drapery, letting sunlight filter through the shrine.
Luo Yuan was forced into the innermost layer, but even that couldn’t hide her figure. Just as the last layer of drapery was about to be lifted, Luo Yuan, utterly terrified, rushed to the side of the red cocoon. The “Clan Deity,” not yet fully emerged, had most of his body exposed. The red silk threads that formed the cocoon piled up as they unraveled, stacking like quilts by his side. Luo Yuan dove straight into them.
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