Doomsday Wonderland

Something suddenly exploded in Wu Yiliu's mind. He grabbed the edge of the thin blanket and yanked it off his shoulders, his heart nearly bursting from his chest. Could it be that Abby wanted to harm him? She was right behind him, and he had exposed his back to her. Just as he was about to turn around, he caught a faint sound that was almost an illusion.

The sound was so soft that for a moment, he couldn't even identify what made it. The thin blanket was thrown down from his hand, its blue pattern streaking across the dark glass, like a curtain that was inadvertently pulled open. As it fell, a blurry shattered shadow suddenly flitted across the glass.

With a heartbeat like the pounding of drums, Wu Yiliu's body stiffened, and the intention to turn around dissipated deep within him. He stared at the place on the glass where the shadow had appeared, recognizing in the vague reflection the porch, a corner of the living room leading to the bedroom, and... the half-open door of the first bedroom.

Behind that half-open door, all was pitch black.

It took a great effort for him to slowly turn around.

The murmuring voice was now completely inaudible, and behind him was still the empty living room, with Abby asleep not far away. No, it couldn't be her wanting to harm him; otherwise, she wouldn't sleep so unprotected by his side. Since he hadn't thought that the fourth item would be a blanket, Abby might also have not considered it.

Wu Yiliu didn't wake the sleeping woman; he just swallowed and tiptoed forward a few steps. He moved away from the window and came to a wall in the living room. From the bedroom's angle, he effectively hid his silhouette behind the wall, making himself invisible from the room.

But he had a way to see into the bedroom.

Wu Yiliu fumbled twice in his prop bag, his fingers finding something shaped like lightning, and pulled it out. It was a piece of glass, used like a lens, allowing him to see with a curved vision. He took a shallow breath and held it up to his eye.

His gaze went out, the view turning ninety degrees at the corner of the wall, following the hallway, across two steps, and reached the doorway of the first bedroom. Behind the half-open door was nothing but darkness, except for a small patch of wooden floor immersed in dimness. Wu Yiliu stood motionless by the wall, his breathing barely audible.

After waiting quietly for nearly half a minute, something stirred slightly in the dark behind the bedroom door.

As if growing impatient.

A few seconds later, the door was pulled back a bit, opening slightly wider. Rain was falling outside the window, and the room was dark, almost as if night had fallen. Wu Yiliu dared not even blink, his eyes practically glued to the glass, staring intently at the shadow emerging slowly from the room's gloom.

The shadow, afraid of making a noise, stealthily and quietly poked a face out from behind the door.

Wu Yiliu's stomach tightened, and he nearly vomited. All his strength went into not screaming, his body trembling slightly. In the corner of his consciousness, he vaguely understood that the shadow might be Pence.

Might be because all the recognizable details on his face were gone. The only thing that allowed Wu Yiliu to recognize him was the pullover he wore, the same one Pence had worn two days before.

The man's entire skin seemed to be melting and sliding off his face, forehead drooping into a thin, shiny layer, eyebrows, eye sockets, and nose all sagging down. Only the two round eyeballs still clung in place, as if trying to hold back the melting skin like ice cream. They were mostly covered, swaying left and right, obviously looking for Wu Yiliu's whereabouts.

Has Pence been back for a while now?

Wu Yiliu looked at the figure behind the door whose face had slid down to its chest. Aside from clenching his teeth, he didn't know what else to do. Pence slowly stepped outside the door, gesturing behind him.

From the darkness behind the door, the face of Cuining appeared beneath a hat, silent and unnoticed.

This time, Cuining's face hadn't changed shape, and at a glance, it was still her face. But somehow, it seemed more fearful than Pence. Compared to usual, her eyes were slightly too close, her lips almost gone, as if her face had been sliced horizontally. When she scratched her forehead, Wu Yiliu almost whimpered. Cuining's hand dropped quickly, still hanging on her facial bones.

He had witnessed countless nightmares in his birthplace. Here, it was merely an illusion... right?

Wu Yiliu suppressed his breath, forcing his brain to think again.

They had come back long ago but pretended not to be back, hiding in their rooms silently, letting the two people in the living room continue to sleep. What were they waiting for? What were they planning?

Pence turned his head, his face floating in midair, spinning leisurely. Cuining looked on, her face unchanged. She opened her mouth and silently mouthed, "Where did he go?"

Pence shook his head, stopped to think, and pointed in the direction behind the wall. Cuining nodded, making a gesture that looked like an attack sign.

Wu Yiliu tensed up and looked around. The cabin's only door was right in front of him. If he ran straight towards it, he could be out of the house in three to five seconds. However, the biggest problem was that when he reached the door, Pence and Cuining would be on his right side.

Still holding the mirror, he quickly looked back. When he focused on the mirror again, he found the two had silently entered the corridor.

Wu Yiliu didn't dare to delay, hurriedly retreating a few steps as silently as possible. He came to the single sofa, pushing Abby hard twice. As soon as she opened her eyes, he covered her mouth, signaling her to be quiet.

Facing Abby's wide-open eyes, he pointed in the direction of the bedroom. From the mirror, those two were behind the corner, probably listening for noises in the living room. Abby seemed to trust Wu Yiliu completely; she took a glance at the corner, didn't ask anything, and jumped up from the sofa — but in the dim light, she stepped on something, making a soft "bang" that resonated in the living room like a thunderclap despite the heavy rain.

"Run!" Wu Yiliu whispered, grabbing Abby and darting towards the living room window. At the same time, the two shadows representing Pence and Cuining rushed out from behind the wall like hungry tigers, leaping over sofas and overturning tables, surrounding Wu Yiliu and Abby, blocking their way to the door.

They moved quickly, clearly doing everything not to let Wu Yiliu and Abby go, but no one spoke.

Wu Yiliu reached the glass window first, smashing it with his elbow, but the glass seemed elastic, absorbing the impact and remaining intact. 'Right, this is a pocket dimension,' he cursed in his mind, shouting without looking back, "Abby, hold them off! I'll open the window!"

Abby, who was both alarmed and bewildered from being suddenly attacked after being woken, grabbed the single sofa and threw it at the two figures, shouting angrily, "Pence, Cuining? What are you doing? When did you get back?"

She didn't seem to notice anything wrong with Pence's face, so was it truly a hallucination?

A thought flashed through Wu Yiliu's mind, but there was no time to dwell on it. He hurriedly opened the window lock and shoved the window all the way open. "Come over here!" he roared, turning his head just in time to see Cuining twisting up like a water snake, lunging at him with fingers spread wide. If he let Cuining's limbs touch him, it wouldn't just be the danger; the mere thought of that melting face was enough to make his scalp tingle. As he leaped backward onto the windowsill, he hooked his leg around a thin blanket on the ground and flung it at Cuining.

As Wu Yiliu took the opportunity to lean back and roll out into the downpour, Abby also lunged forward. She flipped in mid-air and landed on her feet, nearly slipping due to the heavy rain. Behind Abby, both Cuining and Pence popped their heads out, startling her into blocking with her hands, all the while shouting, "Wait for me, please!"

Wu Yiliu had no intention of leaving her behind. Though it might be unwise to take her with him, he still grabbed Abby by the back and pulled her out of the window at the same time as he threw a small smoke grenade into the room. Abby nearly slipped in the rain, but Wu Yiliu quickly steadied her, shouting, "Into the woods!"

Once they reached the woods, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack for their pursuers.

Using the brief moment the smoke grenade afforded them, they ran through the rain towards the dark and gloomy forest. The daylight had been shredded and blown away by the rain and wind; countless branches swayed and shook in the storm, splashing rainwater in every direction, obscuring and darkening the world around them.

They didn't know if it was the unfavorable light or a head start, but after they rushed into the forest, soaked and slipping, there seemed to be no sign of pursuit. They could no longer see the cabin, and they didn't even know if Cuining and Pence had followed them out. When they felt they could finally catch their breath, Wu Yiliu suddenly became aware of the heavy rain pounding on his body.

Abby bent over, gasping and wiping her face. "What's going on?" she said, raising her voice to be heard over the rain. "Why did they suddenly attack us?"

Even though Wu Yiliu was almost certain it was because of his birthplace that he'd had a hallucination, he still couldn't help but ask, "When you saw them just now, were their faces... normal?"

"What? Faces?" Abby said, then hesitantly added, "I didn't look closely. What do you mean by not normal?"

If she had to ask, that meant she hadn't seen the hallucination he had. Wu Yiliu shook his head and sighed, ready to change the subject, but Abby asked again, "Did you see something wrong with their faces? Is that why you were alert?"

Wu Yiliu hesitated for a half-second. "Yes, and no."

"What do you mean?"

"I did see something wrong with their faces... but I knew that probably wasn't real. It must be my own hallucination."

Abby's expression changed as she stood up straight. "Your hallucination? Are you... is it you who has a problem?"

"No..." Wu Yiliu bit his lip, thought for a moment, and sighed. "The fact that I had that hallucination may itself be a warning."

"I don't understand." Abby flung some rainwater from her hand in irritation.

Wu Yiliu gave a bitter smile. "It's a long story... In my hometown, if you don't see what I just saw, you're either already dead, or you've become a duoluozhong."

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