At least they had gotten key information from the carpenter, which put everyone’s mind at ease, so they decided to head back and tell the others about it.

Although it was daytime, a thick layer of dark clouds covered the sky. There was no snow, but a biting wind howled through the air. Grace Cooper wore her long dress with two thick cotton jackets over it, following behind Eric Bennett, looking so fragile and delicate that she seemed as if she could be blown away by the wind at any moment.

Eric Bennett couldn’t bear to see this, so he reached out and took her hand, letting her walk in front of him so he could shield her from the wind behind.

Grace Cooper was quite moved. She blinked her beautiful eyes and asked Eric Bennett, “You’re so nice.”

Eric Bennett replied, “You’re welcome.”

Grace Cooper asked, “Are you this nice to everyone?”

Eric Bennett: “…Do you see me treating Adam Grant like this?” He joked, “It’s only because you’re good-looking.”

Adam Grant, walking in front: “I heard that, you know.”

Grace Cooper looked thoughtful at his words: “So being good-looking is all that matters?”

Eric Bennett just thought she was joking, so he replied casually, “Of course, you also have to be tall.”

Grace Cooper: “Oh…”

Author’s note:

Grace Cooper: *Whimper whimper whimper*

Eric Bennett: Stop whimpering, you always make me think of a phrase.

Grace Cooper: What phrase?

Eric Bennett: Old eagle catching chicks

Grace Cooper: So you’re the chick?

Eric Bennett: …

Chapter 3: Bitter Night

Braving the wind and snow along the long road, the four of them, at least, didn’t encounter any strange incidents on the way and made it back to their lodging safely.

But as soon as they returned, they sensed that something was off in the house. Several people sat in the living room, faces deathly pale, motionless. The air was filled with a dead silence, and the atmosphere was even worse than when they had first arrived.

Eric Bennett glanced over everyone, quickly counting heads. After confirming that no one was missing, he let out a slight sigh of relief.

“What happened?” Adam Grant asked.

A man sitting inside, trembling, said, “Upstairs, the corpse upstairs is gone.”

“The corpse is just gone?” Adam Grant said. “Are you all newbies? What’s so scary about a missing corpse?”

“It was eaten.” The girl beside him sobbed, tears streaming down her face. “There’s blood everywhere…”

Adam Grant and Little Scott exchanged a glance, knowing they wouldn’t get any useful information from these people, so the four of them decided to go up to the third floor to check things out.

They climbed the stairs, and when they reached the second floor, Eric Bennett noticed something was wrong—there were bloodstains on the walls of the second floor as well.

Since the house was made of wood, the walls were a brownish color. Eric Bennett saw some black spots on the wall, as if something had splattered there.

“Be careful, there might be something up there,” Adam Grant said, leading the way.

When they finally reached the third floor, Eric Bennett finally understood what they meant by “eaten.”

The spot where the corpse had been was now empty. If that was all, it wouldn’t have been so bad, but the corpse was gone and something else was left behind. The floor was littered with bits of flesh and bone, as if the corpse had been savagely torn apart and gnawed to a pulp, leaving only broken fragments behind.

Seeing this, Eric Bennett turned pale, his stomach churning with nausea.

“They sure cleaned it up,” Little Scott said, apparently used to it. “I wonder what it was.”

“Sigh.” Adam Grant sighed. “Let’s go, lock up the third floor. Tonight, we’ll all stay on the second floor.”

“Okay,” said Little Scott. “I’ll go ask them for more details.”

They went back down to the first floor and asked in detail what had happened.

Only then did the people downstairs tell them what had happened in the house.

It turned out that after Adam Grant and the others left, the group searched the house. When they got to the second floor, they heard very strange noises coming from the third floor—like someone chewing on something, accompanied by the sound of gulping.

Then they counted heads and, after confirming that none of their people were on the third floor, they started to break out in a cold sweat.

No one dared to go up. They stiffly observed from the second floor, and only after the chewing sounds disappeared did they muster the courage to go up to the third floor—only to find the floor covered in bits of flesh and bone.

“It’s too terrifying.” Another older girl in the group looked dazed. She said, “This is only my third time entering the door, how did I end up in a world like this? Can we even make it out alive? What on earth was that thing…”

No one could answer her. The house was silent.

Adam Grant sighed softly, said he was hungry and wanted to find something to eat, and asked if anyone wanted to go to the kitchen with him.

Eric Bennett said, “I’ll go with you.”

Grace Cooper, sitting next to Eric Bennett, said softly, “Qiushi, I’m hungry too. I want some noodles.”

Eric Bennett: “I’ll see if there are any. If there are, I’ll cook you a bowl.”

“Okay.” Grace Cooper curved her eyes, looking at Eric Bennett gently. “Be careful, okay?”

Eric Bennett nodded.