The woman gazed at her gently, a faint smile curling at the corners of her lips. Her calm, tender voice finally echoed once more in Ci'an's empty mind.

"Do you remember what I told you? Today, we're going to pick up a family member and bring them home."

Ci'an thought carefully for a long time before nodding.

"I remember."

The woman smiled with satisfaction and praised her.

"Good girl."

Because of those words of praise, the corners of Ci'an's lips lifted into exactly the same smile.

Throughout the journey, Ci'an kept staring at her mother's face, as though long, long ago, when she had still been a baby, she had also stared so intently at a face whose features she could barely remember.

She had long since forgotten that face, but she still remembered the reassuring presence of it, as though she had returned once more to the warmth of her mother's embrace.

Slowly, she fell asleep.

She did not know how much time had passed before a hand gently shook her awake. Her mother looked at her with tranquil eyes and said,

"We're here."

Her mother led her out of the car.

Ci'an stood before a white building enclosed on both sides by towering walls. The surroundings were so quiet that it seemed she could hear the clouds calling out.

She looked up.

A small, dusty-gray bird landed on top of the high wall. Bare cables intertwined overhead, producing tiny flashes of lightning. Under the sunlight, they reflected dazzling sparks that wrapped around the little bird in an instant.

The glare made Ci'an blink.

When she looked again, the bird was gone.

A faint smell of roasted meat drifted through the dry air.

Ci'an sniffed lightly, and the smell grew stronger.

The scorching summer heat mingled with the rich, searing aroma of cooked meat, like a flower blooming to its fullest before beginning its descent into rot and decay.

It was so fragrant that it made her want to vomit.

While she was distracted, the building's doors slowly opened.

Footsteps approached, accompanied by that dizzying, nauseating smell.

Until, on the gravel-covered ground, a pair of women's legs appeared out of nowhere.

Long.

Pale.

Hidden beneath the hem of a black dress, their whiteness seemed untouched by sunlight.

Her mother placed a hand on Ci'an's shoulder.

Her voice came down from above.

"Ci'an, say hello to your aunt."

Ci'an raised her head.

And froze.

She saw a female ghost crawling out of a sacrificial burial tomb.

She wasn't very clever to begin with, and now she looked even more foolish.

Fortunately, the female ghost wasn't looking at her, giving her a chance to try to become a little smarter.

"Auntie," she said.

The female ghost still didn't look at her.

Ci'an followed the direction of her gaze and saw her mother's silent face.

Her mother had always been gentle.

Yet at that moment, her eyes were utterly cold.

Her mother lowered her head and looked at Ci'an, her face once again wearing her usual smile.

"Let's get in the car. It's time to go home."

Ci'an returned to the car.

She wanted to sit beside her mother, just as she had on the way there.

But the female ghost's figure reached the seat before her, occupying the place that had been hers—and taking her mother's side as well.

Ci'an paused.

She had no choice but to sit across from her mother.

The car began to move.

Ci'an looked out the window.

Dense, intertwined metal bars covered the white walls. She could no longer smell the nauseating scent of meat, but the smell of something burnt still filled her nose.

Like flowers in a garden buried beneath the soil, their roots being torn apart by insects and ants while butterflies kissed their petals, giving off the fragrance of decay.

She withdrew her gaze.

She couldn't find another bird anywhere.

Her quiet eyes returned to her mother.

And Ci'an froze again.

Her mother was looking out the window, helping her search for the missing bird.

But somewhere beyond Ci'an's sight, the female ghost was pressing her mother's hand firmly against the seat.

Her five fingers dug into it with tremendous force, as though she intended to drag her mother straight into the grave.

Ci'an opened her mouth.

She wanted to call, "Mom."

The female ghost suddenly turned her head.

Her icy gaze fixed on Ci'an.

She raised one pale, slender finger and gently pressed it against her strange, eerie lips, silently warning her: Shh.

In a daze, Ci'an seemed to see smoke rising from a grave.

A gust of wind scattered it.

But rough, cheap, garishly colored flowers clustered tightly together, somehow suppressing it.

And so the word Mom that Ci'an wanted to call out was suppressed along with it.

She saw the female ghost smile triumphantly.

Wrapped in gusts of cold wind, the ghost drifted away toward a distant, hazy horizon.

Yet she never let go of her mother's hand.

Ci'an even thought that hand would never be released.

Until the car stopped.

Her mother easily pulled her hand free.

Then she reached it toward Ci'an.

For an instant, Ci'an felt as though tears had streamed down her face.

But her eyes were dry.

Her cheeks were not wet.

A moment later, she remembered to reach out and take her mother's hand, holding it protectively within her own small palm.

Before getting out of the car, she looked back.

The female ghost's sinister gaze was fixed upon her mother, so terrifying that it seemed she wanted to devour her.

Ci'an stepped in front of her mother, blocking the ghost's view with her own body.

She tightly gripped her mother's fingers.

From this day forward, she would protect her mother from being eaten.

She had only just made this resolution when two large hands suddenly lifted her into the air, forcibly carrying her away from her mother.

Her father's voice said something beside her ear.

Ci'an heard none of it.

Her eyes were fixed solely on her mother, who was being watched by the female ghost.

Only she could protect her mother now.

Only she could see the female ghost.

She had seen the ghost emerge from the grave, her smile like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.

Her father was smiling.

His smile was almost identical to the female ghost's.

The father she had always held in her heart was unknowingly covered by a shadow.

A question arose in Ci'an's mind:

Could the female ghost possess Father?

She couldn't find an answer.

Her father took her hand and turned to walk away, leaving her mother alone with the female ghost.

Ci'an looked back.

She saw the female ghost leaning over her mother's shoulder, laughing.

Her mother's gaze remained calm.

So calm that it drove the female ghost mad.

The female ghost began laughing wildly.

And as she laughed, her expression suddenly twisted into one of overwhelming hatred.

Her fingernails dug into the flesh of her mother's shoulder.

Fiercely.

Like a vengeful demon reborn from the depths of hell, she shrieked a curse:

"Feng Jiang, you'll never escape me for the rest of your life!"