“Eaten by monsters..” We exchanged glances. It was Su Xiaoyun who apparently thought of something and asked in a rush.

“Can it be that you were the family of three travelling together in a car?”

The young girl paused for a moment, then nodded with tears in her eyes. “Mom and dad originally wanted to take me out for a holiday during the break. When they were driving through the mountain road, the car suddenly stopped moving. My dad got off the car to check out the situation but.. there was a pained scream. After that, my mom covered my head but was still taken by the monsters. There was blood everywhere! I was so, so scared and I managed to wait until all those monsters went away, but there was no one around anymore. I didn’t stop running away, but no matter where I went, I couldn’t escape this forest. Sob..”

“Alright, alright, it’s okay now.” Su Xiaoyun patted the young girl’s back in reassurance. “Little sister, what’s your name?”

“Li Qiao.” The young girl said, sniffling.

“Don’t be scared Xiaoqiao. Do you still remember what the monster looked like?” Su Xiaoyun asked gently.

“Was it a wolf-like beast?” Shi Yitong interrupted.

“No, no, it wasn’t.” Xiaoqiao shook her head like a rattle, stating with conviction, “It wasn’t a beast, it was a monster! I saw it clearly!”

“Y-you’re lying! How is it possible for there to be a man-eating monster in this world!” Liang Kaifeng was still terrified, nevertheless he forced himself to comment. “It’s utterly impossible!”

Bai side-eyed him. “Three minutes ago, you didn’t believe that there would be a talking ferret in this world.”

Liang Kaifeng was foiled once again, unable to form any words.

“Big sister.” Xiaoqiao shook Su Xiaoyun’s arm, her voice soft and holding back tears. “Let’s think of a way to leave here fast. Those monsters could still be nearby!”

“Oh..” Just when Su Xiaoyun was at a loss for what to say, Bai suddenly cut in, his expression serious as he looked at the young girl.

“But it’s very strange. If this girl is the one from the news, one of the three people missing from that family. From when she was taken from the car until now, it’s been at least four or five days. How did you survive for so long?”

“There was still food on the car.” The young girl seemed to be scared by Bai’s attitude, shivering once. “Originally my mom and dad were taking me camping, so there was still water and food on the car. But I’ve just about run out as of today.. and also at night, there are monsters around.”

“Speaking of monsters.” In a flash, Bai made his way in front of the young girl. “Do you still remember what those man-eating monsters you saw looked like?”

The young girl showed a terrified expression, backing up two steps and throwing herself into Su Xiaoyun’s arms.

“Can you not scare her?” Su Xiaoyun immediately rebuked Bai bluntly.

“I did no such thing. That girl’s too easily scared for her own good, alright?” Bai muttered.

Xiaoqiao cried quietly. Just as we all thought she wouldn’t say anything else, she actually started talking in a quiet voice.

“The monsters.. they have really large green eyes. When they pressed up against the car window, their eyes were half the size of the glass. Their fur is black and they also have really big, really sharp claws. If you’re clawed by them, you’d immediately die.”

“Is that so.” Bai mumbled. “If that’s the case, then it’s not possible for it to be wolves.”

“Then, are they demons?” I asked out loud.

“It’s very likely.” Bai said.

“What? Demons?” Liang Kaifeng immediately cried out loud.

Su Xiaoyun raised her head to look at the sky. She sighed and said, “It’s already very dark now. It’ll be dangerous to wander around the forest without any bearings. Ah, if only we had Coo with us right now! What a pity..”

I looked towards Xiaoqiao and asked, “Xiaoqiao, do you think you can still find the location of where your family car is?”

Xiaoqiao nodded. “I marked it so I can find it again! Come with me.”

As night fell, the forest became even colder. Not only this, it was as if the entire forest was exuding a dark energy that made everyone uncomfortable. Our surroundings were terrifyingly silent. None of us spoke, so what we could hear was only the soft sound of our shoes stepping on wild grass.

“We’re here. Look.” Xiaoqiao pushed aside a leaf, and we leaned over to look. There was indeed a white car parked in the middle of the road. The car door was already twisted out of shape but it could still be forcibly closed. One of the car windows was broken, as the young girl had described, there were blood stains on it.

“This car is quite classic.” Liang Kaifeng walked around the car once, his expression one of surprise. “This car is a model produced in 2000 right? Your family kept it in pretty good condition.”

“Is there something wrong with your mind, rich kid?” Shi Yitong reached out and slapped Liang Kaifeng’s head once. “Do you know what of situation we’re in right now? You’re still thinking about useless things like that!”

“You hit me! Shi Yitong, you dare to hit my head!” Liang Kaifeng glared at Shi Yitong. “Not even my father’s hit my head before!”

Neither Su Xiaoyun nor I could be bothered to pay attention to the two arguing beside us. We turned on the flashlights on our phones and directed it into the car.

“Maybe there’s still something of use in the car.”

However, unfortunately, apart from the clear signs of a struggle within the car, it was basically completely empty. There was nothing there, let alone the food and water Xiaoqiao spoke of.

“There’s nothing..” Su Xiaoyun mumbled. “Now we’re in trouble.”

It was then that the young girl screamed, then forcibly swallowed the sound, clamping her hands across her mouth like her life depended on it. Her entire body started shivering.

Both Su Xiaoyun and I were confused, looking towards her. “Xiaoqiao? What’s the matter?”

Xiaoqiao’s entire body shook so badly that she couldn’t talk. She only reached out with one finger, pointing behind us shakily.

Now Su Xiaoyun and I froze completely. Following that, both Liang Kaifeng and Shi Yitong started yelling out loudly.

I slowly turned around.

In that moment, I found it hard to describe my feelings. Before the terror hit, there was shock first, followed by every cell in my body freezing entirely, as if they were unable to move at all. I could only stand there staring, completely frozen.

An enormous monster was directly behind us. It was hard to describe what exactly it was, and it seemed like you could only think of the word ‘monster’ to describe it.

That monster was as tall as a one-storey building; it was covered in stiff bristly black fur and the putrid smell of rot emanated from its body. It had a large, bloody mouth and half of its lips were torn open, showing the rotting flesh beneath. One of its massive eyes glowed with an eerie pale green light, its eyeball spinning within its eye socket before it fixed on us.

“Why are you all still standing there! Run!” In that crucial moment, Bai hollered loudly, pulling us back to reality.