"Dad, Mom, look, I rescued an outsider brother!" Xiao Xi lifted her head, proudly holding her father's icy hand like she was presenting a treasure, while her other hand pointed toward Bai Yu inside the house. "His name is Bai Yu. He was floating on the water before, almost drowned, and I saved him."
That middle-aged man—Xiao Xi's father—slowly lowered his head and looked at his daughter with those pitch-black eyes, then stiffly raised his hand and extremely slowly stroked Xiao Xi's head. There was no trace of affection or gentleness in his movement, only programmed precision.
After that, he and the woman beside him walked into the house with stiff steps. As they entered, a sinister cold mixed with the fishy smell of rainwater and some unknown rot swept through the entire house like a corporeal wave, pressing the bean-sized flame of the oil lamp to flicker unsteadily, nearly extinguishing it.
"Out... sider..."
The man spoke. His voice was hoarse and sticky, like swollen rotten wood rubbed together after being soaked in water, each word seeming to be forcibly squeezed out from the depths of his already rotted throat.
His pitch-black eyes stared unblinkingly at Bai Yu, and the rigid curve of his smile seemed to widen slightly. That was not welcome, nor was it friendliness, but rather the gaze of a butcher sizing up a lamb about to be placed on the sacrificial altar.
Bai Yu's muscles tensed instantly. The weakness from deep within his soul intertwined with the lethal sense of threat from the outside world, making him almost unable to stand steady. He was clear about his current state—let alone fighting, he probably couldn't even escape. The only things he could rely on were his own brain, and... the seemingly harmless yet utterly peculiar little girl beside him.
"Yes, yes," Xiao Xi didn't notice her parents' strangeness at all, or rather, she had long grown accustomed to it. She pulled her mother's hand and chirped, "Brother Bai Yu is such a good person, and he even said my name sounds nice. Mom, what are we eating tonight? Brother Bai Yu must be starving."
Xiao Xi's mother sized up Bai Yu from head to toe with those pitch-black eyes, then slowly turned her head and said in a hoarse voice identical to the man's: "Eating... Rain... Fresh..."
After speaking, she released Xiao Xi's hand. Like two machines programmed with instructions, she and the man turned together and walked toward the inner kitchen.
Bai Yu's heart sank heavily.
Rain Fresh?
Just hearing the name made him feel a chill from the bottom of his heart. Connecting it to what Xiao Xi had said before about "the rain eats people," he was almost certain that this so-called "Rain Fresh" was definitely not normal food.
"Brother Bai Yu, don't be afraid. My dad and mom just don't like talking, but they're not bad people." Xiao Xi seemed to sense Bai Yu's nervousness, ran over to tug at his clothes corner, and quietly comforted him. "Rain Fresh is delicious, and you can only get it when it rains. It's slippery and tender, you'll definitely like it."
Looking at Xiao Xi's eyes, which held not a trace of impurity, Bai Yu's vigilance not only didn't relax but rose to the maximum. A child who could remain safe and sound in this environment, who had even grown accustomed to her parents' strangeness, and who thought that terrifying food was "delicious"—her very existence was a massive riddle.
He sat back on the long bench without showing any emotion and began rapidly thinking of countermeasures. A head-on confrontation was a path to death, and escape was absolutely impossible. The only thing he could do now was play the role of a weak, harmless guest, wait and see, and look for an opportunity to break the deadlock.
Very quickly, the woman walked out of the kitchen. She carried a rough black pottery basin in her hands and slammed it heavily onto the small square table in the center of the room.
"Time... to... eat..."
The man also walked out of the kitchen, holding three sets of bowls and chopsticks, similarly made of that heavy black pottery. He arranged the bowls and chopsticks, then stiffly sat down on either side of the table with the woman. Two pairs of pitch-black eyes once again turned simultaneously toward Bai Yu.
That was a silent invitation, even more so an irresistible command.
"Brother Bai Yu, hurry up!" Xiao Xi had already impatiently climbed onto her small stool, clapping her hands excitedly.
Bai Yu took a deep breath, suppressing the surging nausea in his heart, and slowly walked to the table to sit down. When his gaze fell upon that so-called "Rain Fresh" in the basin, even his heart, which had long been tempered to be incredibly resilient by countless terrifying sights, couldn't help but violently contract.
That black pottery basin contained half a basin of turbid, viscous liquid. The liquid had a greenish-black hue, like the filthiest stagnant water in a sewer. Soaked in that viscous liquid were over a dozen snow-white, worm-like creatures. They were about the length of a finger, with no eyes, no fins, only circular mouths opening and closing. Their bodies slowly wriggled in the viscous liquid, tangling with each other—they actually looked alive.
A strange odor mixed with the fishy smell of rainwater and a faint scent of rotten meat wafted from the basin, assaulting Bai Yu's sense of smell and making him nearly vomit.
This was... Rain Fresh.
"Eat..."
The man stared at Bai Yu with those pitch-black eyes and slowly spat out one word. He himself picked up his chopsticks, picked up one of the still slightly wriggling white worms, expressionlessly sent it into his rigid mouth, and then swallowed it directly.
The woman made the same movement.
And Xiao Xi beside them was eating with great relish. She didn't even need chopsticks, directly grabbing one with her small hand and stuffing it into her mouth like candy, a satisfied smile appearing on her face.
"Brother Bai Yu, why aren't you eating? It won't taste good when it gets cold." Xiao Xi said indistinctly, the corner of her mouth still stained with a trace of greenish-black mucus.
Three pairs of eyes focused simultaneously on Bai Yu.
That invisible pressure nearly solidified the air. Bai Yu was standing at a crossroads. Eat, or not eat. Each choice could lead to an entirely different ending.
If he ate it, he would very likely be thoroughly assimilated like those villagers and become a walking corpse.
But not eating meant openly defying the hosts' "hospitality." In this strange place that valued "rules" and "propriety," the consequences would likely be equally fatal.
His brain ran wild within a thousandth of a second. He noticed that although Xiao Xi was urging him, there was no malice in her eyes, but rather a simple joy of "sharing delicious food." And while her parents' eyes were cold, they didn't seem to have any immediate intention of acting out; they were just waiting, waiting for him to make his choice.
The breakthrough might lie with Xiao Xi.
Bai Yu forced out a pale and weak smile on his face. He didn't look at that nauseating food, but instead directed his gaze toward Xiao Xi, speaking in a gentle tone carrying apology: "Sorry, Xiao Xi. It's not that Brother doesn't want to eat, it's just... Brother is an outsider, and his stomach has been poor since childhood. He can't get used to things from outside his hometown. Once he eats... his stomach will hurt so much he'll roll around."
As he spoke, he appropriately covered his stomach, cooperatively furrowing his brows and revealing a pained expression. His acting couldn't be considered superb, but under this strange atmosphere, this sudden "showing weakness" appeared exceptionally real.
"Huh? Your stomach will hurt?" Xiao Xi indeed took it seriously. She immediately stopped the motion of stuffing Rain Fresh into her mouth, a worried expression appearing on her face. "Then... then you can't eat it!"
She immediately turned her head and loudly said to those statue-like parents: "Dad! Mom! Brother Bai Yu can't eat our Rain Fresh! His stomach will hurt! Let it be if he doesn't eat!"
The man and woman's pitch-black eyes still stared at Bai Yu, seemingly distinguishing the truth in his words. The entire house fell into silence lasting over ten seconds.
In the end, the man's rigid mouth corner seemed to move, and he slowly spat out two words: "Not... eating... hungry..."
The crisis seemed to have been temporarily resolved.
Bai Yu let out a long sigh of relief in his heart, his back already soaked in cold sweat. He had gambled correctly. In this family, Xiao Xi's existence seemed to be some kind of "privilege"; her will could influence and even change her parents' "rules" to a certain extent.
This strange dinner slowly concluded with the terrifying sight of Bai Yu not consuming a single drop while Xiao Xi's family of three shared a basin of wriggling worms.
After the meal, the woman expressionlessly cleared the bowls and chopsticks. And the man pointed toward the direction of the second floor, saying to Bai Yu: "Guest... room... sleep..."
"Brother Bai Yu, I'll take you!" Xiao Xi volunteered, pulling Bai Yu's hand and walking toward the creaking wooden stairs.
Pulled by her, Bai Yu subconsciously looked back before going upstairs. He saw that Xiao Xi's parents hadn't returned to their room, but were still sitting stiffly in the main hall.
Those two pairs of pitch-black eyes were like two bottomless whirlpools under the dim oil lamp light, still... unblinkingly staring at his retreating figure.
The guest room on the second floor was very small, with only a wooden plank bed and a desk missing a leg. The air was filled with a heavy musty smell from long lack of ventilation.
"Brother Bai Yu, you'll sleep here tonight. The blankets are all clean." Xiao Xi helped him make the bed, then as if remembering something, ran in front of him, stood on her tiptoes, and said in a very mysterious tone: "Remember, no matter what sounds you hear at night, absolutely don't come out. Especially... when it's thundering."
After speaking, she waved at Bai Yu, hopped and skipped out of the room, and conveniently closed the door.
Bai Yu stood in the dark room; Xiao Xi's final warning echoed in his mind like a warning bell.
He didn't immediately go to bed to rest, but first carefully inspected this small room.
Other "outsiders" had very likely stayed here before, and those people's fates went without saying.
His gaze was quickly drawn to that legless desk leaning against the corner. In the faint light of the flashlight, he saw that the dust-covered desktop seemed to have some tiny characters carved into it with some sharp tool.
He immediately squatted down and carefully wiped away the dust with his sleeve. Rows of writing filled with despair, fear, and madness, like last words from another world, presented themselves before his eyes.
"...Day nine, the rain is still falling. I can't get out. This village is a living hell."
"...They're not human! They're shells! Empty shells filled with rainwater! Xiao Xi... that girl... she isn't either... She keeps smiling at me, but there's no light in her eyes..."
"...Water! I discovered it! The water in the well! I secretly drank a mouthful of water from that well in the backyard, and my head doesn't hurt anymore! I can think! The rain outside is poison, the water in the well is medicine! Why? Why is it like this?!"
Seeing this, Bai Yu's breath suddenly stalled!
As expected! His guess was correct! The well water was the antidote!
He couldn't wait to continue reading.
"...I eavesdropped on the village elders' sleep-talking... They've been murmuring a name... 'The Drowned Saintess'... They said the village wasn't called Luoshui Village before, but 'Saintess Village.' Long, long ago, a saintess appeared in the village. Her tears could purify everything, and her tears were the source of this ancient well..."
"...The Mountain God! It's all that damned Mountain God! It brought the plague, it brought the never-ending rain! It polluted the Saintess's village! It's jealous! It hates that pure power! It wants to drown the Saintess's 'tears' with its own 'rain'!"
"...I understand! I understand it all! 'Luoshui'... doesn't refer to a flood, but to that Saintess who threw herself into the well, using her life and tears to transform into well water, always protecting this village... the 'Drowned Saintess'!"
"...I'm going to that well, I'm going to drink all the water! I can definitely get out! I..."
The writing stopped abruptly here.
The final character "I" was carved extremely deep, nearly penetrating the wooden board, and at the end of the stroke was a long scratch filled with despair.
Bai Yu stood silently in place, but monstrous waves surged in his heart.
The riddles were all connected at this moment.
The truth of Luoshui Village, the secret of the rainwater and well water, and the true origin of this tragedy... everything pointed to that long-forgotten "Drowned Saintess," and that Mountain God hidden behind the scenes!
He now had a clear goal—find that ancient well! That was his only hope for repairing his soul and leaving this damned place!
"BOOM—!!!"
At this moment, a clap of thunder suddenly rang out outside the window, the sound heavy as if it came from deep underground.
Bai Yu's heart jumped violently. He remembered Xiao Xi's warning: "When it's thundering, absolutely don't come out."
He immediately extinguished the flashlight, soundlessly came to the window, and carefully looked out through the crack.
He saw that in the torrential thunderstorm, Xiao Xi's parents—those two husks that were like walking corpses—were slowly walking out of the house and arriving in the center of the courtyard.
They didn't hold umbrellas.
They just stood there in that cursed curtain of rain, slowly raising their heads, spreading their arms, expressions of near-pious smiles on their faces.
They were "bathing" in this people-eating rain.
As the rainwater washed over them, even deeper darkness seemed to slowly flow within their already pitch-black eye sockets.
Bai Yu held his breath, completely hiding his body in darkness.
He knew this night had only just begun. And he had to find a path to leave this cage and reach that well of salvation under the surveillance of these two "monsters."
He glanced at that last line of desperate last words on the desk, yet his gaze became incomparably firm.
"The road you couldn't walk out of, I will finish it for you." He silently made a vow in his heart to that unknown predecessor.