Chapter 18 Blood Mist

In no time, the meal was prepared.

Chen Mu and Liu Ziming sat on separate benches, staring at the food before them, their Faces grim.

The bowls contained raw rice, and the plates held raw meat.

Blind Li picked up his bowl, helped himself to a piece of raw meat, and put it into his mouth, chewing with gusto.

The crunching sound of raw meat and the rustling sound of crushed rice constantly emanated from his mouth, yet his expression was exceptionally satisfied.

"Delicious... truly delicious, the Old Woman's cooking is getting better and better."

Liu Ziming's Face was deathly pale, his clothes soaked through with cold sweat. He gripped Chen Mu's arm tightly, his fingers trembling uncontrollably.

Chen Mu also furrowed his brows, his gaze sweeping over the raw meat and rice on the table before finally settling on Blind Li.

Seeing the look of enjoyment on his Face, it didn't seem faked; he appeared to be genuinely eating some rare delicacy.

Truly bizarre.

After a while, Blind Li finished his meal, wiped his mouth with satisfaction, and set down his bowl and chopsticks.

His blind eyes stared straight at the two of them, yet his tone was exceptionally kind.

"Why aren't you two officers eating? Is the food not to your liking? Sigh, it's just coarse fare; I've truly neglected you both."

"It's nothing, we aren't hungry. You needn't worry, sir," Chen Mu replied calmly.

"Oh." Blind Li did not press them further.

"I see it's getting late. The night roads in the village are difficult to travel; why don't you two stay here for the night?"

Liu Ziming shook his head repeatedly, desperate to escape this eerie place immediately, and gestured frantically to Chen Mu with his eyes.

Chen Mu, however, acted as if he hadn't seen it and nodded directly, "Then we shall impose on you, sir."

Being blind, he naturally had no need for candle fire, yet he still found a lantern from the corner, lit it, and groped his way to lead the two.

The candlelight flickered slightly within the paper-covered lantern, reflecting off Blind Li's pale pupils, which was truly eerie.

The two said nothing and followed silently.

Blind Li led them to a side room. It was not large, drafty on all sides, and had a large hole in the roof that looked as if it might collapse at any moment.

Inside, there was only a clay kang, covered with a straw mat that was blackened at the edges.

"Officers, this room was renovated at the beginning of the year. It's warm and comfortable, though it's not very well-ventilated usually."

The two were not surprised; one always had to listen to this blind man's words in reverse.

"Oh, thank you for taking us in, sir," Chen Mu said politely.

"Ah, rest early, you two officers. I won't disturb you any further."

Blind Li bowed slightly, closed the door for them, and then tottered back to the main house. After a flurry of rustling, there was no more sound.

Seeing him leave, Liu Ziming finally breathed a sigh of relief and sat heavily on the kang. When he looked at Chen Mu again, his voice couldn't help but carry a hint of anger.

"Chen Mu, are you crazy! Can you even live in a place like this?"

"Did you see that? That old man was eating raw meat and chewing raw rice!"

"There isn't anyone else in this house! What 'filial children,' what 'Old Woman'? I haven't seen a ghost of a shadow; it's all nonsense!"

"I know."

Chen Mu remained unhurried, sat cross-legged on the kang, and looked up at the moon through the large hole in the roof.

A blood moon, ominous...

I fear tonight will not be easy to get through.

"Then why do you dare stay here! While that old man is asleep, let's get out of here quickly. Are you really going to sit here and wait for death?"

Liu Ziming was both shocked and afraid, wishing he could slip away immediately.

"We can't leave. If this matter isn't resolved, I'm afraid we won't be able to get out."

Chen Mu raised an eyebrow, tossing out that inexplicable sentence without further explanation, and instead turned to another topic.

"Are you hungry?" His voice carried a hint of banter that was almost negligible.

It wouldn't have mattered if he hadn't said it, but once asked, Liu Ziming suddenly felt his stomach was completely empty.

He was already thin and weak; he had only eaten a few deep-fried dough sticks early that morning, and he had vomited them all up as soon as he entered the village.

Just before, seeing Blind Li devouring raw meat had made him both nauseous and nervous, barely suppressing his hunger. Now, with such a prompt, he felt his stomach sticking to his backbone.

His stomach also gave him some 'Face' by growling loudly.

"Let's go, to the kitchen."

Chen Mu waved his hand, signaling Liu Ziming to hurry and follow. He wanted to see if there was actually anything normal in this old man's house.

The two walked into the kitchen one after the other.

Calling it a kitchen was a stretch; it was actually just a dilapidated shed made of a few wooden poles and thatch. The stove was old, and a small bundle of firewood was piled to the side.

Liu Ziming reached out and touched it; it felt damp. He pulled one out and snapped it gently, and it broke with a sound.

It had been sitting there for too long and was already rotten inside.

It likely wouldn't light.

Suffering one setback after another in a single day, Liu Ziming had nowhere to vent his anger and just kicked the firewood hard to let off steam.

"Getting angry is useless. It would be more practical to go outside and pick up some dry branches to start a fire."

Chen Mu glanced at him, his tone indifferent, but his hands didn't stop. He searched back and forth by the moonlight, wanting to find something to eat.

"I... I go?"

Liu Ziming pointed at himself, his voice trembling.

"Otherwise? Should I go?" Chen Mu crossed his arms, watching him with calm composure.

"And you stay here to keep that old man with the peculiar taste company, along with his Old Woman who has such unique culinary skills?"

"Hey! Don't! I'll go, alright!"

Liu Ziming immediately caved. Thinking of the blind man inside chewing raw meat and devouring raw rice, he couldn't help but shiver.

Compared to the one inside, the rats outside were much cuter.

He opened the door on tiptoe and poked his head out.

There was no more sound from the main house; Blind Li seemed to have fallen asleep.

He skirted around the old dog on the ground, walked towards the courtyard gate, and gently pulled the latch.

"Creak—"

The wooden door made an unpleasant sound, which was particularly noticeable in the dead of the night.

Liu Ziming was startled and immediately turned back. Seeing no movement from the main house, he let out a long sigh of relief and stepped over the threshold.

The next moment, he froze in place.

I don't know when the mist had risen in the village; it was so thick it couldn't be dispersed, completely blocking one's line of sight.

Even more bizarrely, the color of this mist was not the usual grayish-white, but a rare blood-red. It felt almost tangible and emitted a thick, rusty smell.

Even a fool could tell something was wrong.

Liu Ziming's legs went weak, and he almost collapsed on the spot. After realizing what was happening, he bolted toward the kitchen, "Chen Mu, Chen Mu, something's wrong! Outside, that fog, it's red!"

His speech was somewhat incoherent.

Chen Mu's searching motion paused, and he immediately walked to the doorway, looking thoughtful.

Interesting.

This mist was not only strange in color but also strangely sentient.

It actually stopped at the gate of this small courtyard, blocked outside by a single door.

He knew this household was not simple; otherwise, they wouldn't have survived so long in this place where the population had almost died out.

It's just that...

Chen Mu looked down at the old dog lying in the corner, which turned a blind eye to everything. His confusion deepened, and then he spoke slowly, "This mist... hmm, let's go together..."

Liu Ziming was just a dabbler, with very little skill.

In such an eerie environment, if he were really left alone to pick up branches, something might go wrong.

Liu Ziming nodded repeatedly, following behind Chen Mu with tearful gratitude as they stepped out of the courtyard gate together.

After leaving the small courtyard, the mist looked even thicker than it had from inside.

Having taken only three or five steps, when he turned back, the previously clear earthen wall was now just a patch of dark red, obscured from view.

Instead, that nauseating, fishy sweetness became even more pronounced.

His feet stepped onto the damp soil, making squelching sounds that were particularly grating in the dead silence.

"Which way are we going?"

Liu Ziming's voice was trembling.

"To the head of the village. There was a mulberry grove there when we arrived; there will surely be dry branches."

The two walked slowly along the dirt road they had come from.

The mist drifted past them, sometimes thick, sometimes thin.

Chen Mu was cautious, listening intently to the surroundings, but there was only dead silence, an eerie dead silence.

Strange!

How come even the sound of that group of rats gnawing during the day had disappeared?

Could it be that they, like the old man, had eaten their fill and gone to sleep?

Something is wrong.