As Qu Yang listened to the fading screams, he swallowed the words he wanted to say. Those snakes must have been brought over by Shekh. He decided not to ask the stupid question of whether he could be released.

No one had ever tied up like this before; today he was incredibly lucky to experience this treatment.

Unaware of Qu Yang's inner turmoil, Shehe said to Shi Jinzhe, "Chai Anan must really want to leave here."

"Such a mother is too depressing. She can treat her own child like a commodity to be sold. I just can't understand it."

“You were very unhappy just now.” Shekh lowered his head. “I sensed a change in your aura.”

She admired the wildflowers by the roadside, saying, "You were like a thorny rose just now. You smelled wonderful, but the scent was sharp and unpleasant to behold."

"..." Shi Jinzhe didn't know where to begin his rant about this short sentence.

"Actually, I've never understood what you mean by 'aura.' I've never noticed any particular scent on myself."

“Sometimes it’s there, sometimes it’s not.” Sher’s hand, which was around his shoulder, twitched, and his fingertips traced the back of Shi Jinzhe’s neck. “It’s there right now.”

"...Don't touch me like that." Shi Jinzhe felt uneasy being touched like that. "This kind of behavior is inappropriate."

"You can hug me, why can't I?"

“Once you learn to walk, you won’t need me to carry you anymore. That’s unavoidable, but what happened just now wasn’t. That’s not how you should behave with me.”

"Why."

"Too intimate, our relationship can't be like that," Shi Jinzhe added in his mind, "and neither can our species."

Shekh, like a walking encyclopedia of questions, asked again: "What counts as intimacy? Does holding hands every day count?"

"Holding hands was unavoidable, you know that."

"I can choose not to pull."

"...I can't."

"Then let's sleep together."

"...That's because the situation here is special."

"Pfft."

Qu Yang, who was walking in front, couldn't help but laugh out loud. He could tell something was wrong with what the man said; he was being incredibly irresponsible.

He was at a loss for words, and if he continued, he would feel like a jerk making excuses.

However, Qu Yang's words reminded him of another detail: "That mirror can see inside. If the other rooms are also two-way mirrors, then the original purpose of this building is worth pondering."

Qu Yang said, "I heard my grandfather say that the building was actually not finished. It was completed hastily. The house layout and design were completely different. Even the kitchen was not installed."

"I see, no wonder the kitchen is located separately in the yard."

"They want a bedroom, not a kitchen." Combined with Chai's mother's words, a bad feeling began to surface in Shi Jinzhe's mind.

He gazed at the distant, layered mountains. The precipitous green hills surrounding them blocked the way forward, while the short-sighted and ignorant mountain in the villagers' hearts blocked their own retreat.

Chai's mother remembered the volunteers giving her money, so how could she not know where that money came from? She was just pretending not to know.

He silently walked through the fields, and on his way back, he saw a group of villagers running towards the grove of trees from the day before. One of them was being supported by someone as he ran while crying.

Shi Jinzhe asked Shehe, "What will happen to Lin Xiaohe if she knows she's dead?"

"Let's see how much resentment she harbors."

If the resentment is strong, then he's like the murderous ghost in the small building; if the resentment is weak, then perhaps like Li Xin, he can still retain some rationality.

"It's a pity that a girl who dared to stand up and fight back is gone."

Sheh recalled the old lady she saw at the Lin family's house last night. She was hunched over, with a high mattress behind her when she slept, and she was calling out Lin Xiaohe's name in her sleep. She said, "Lin Xiaohe will take revenge."

The broken branch she left behind can temporarily receive Lin Xiaohe's soul. As long as she can leave the mountains, she can go find Shao Dong.

The temperature rose a bit in the afternoon. When Shi Jin returned to the small building, it was only a little past two o'clock. There was no one in the building; none of the survivors had returned yet.

He and Shekh checked the mirrors in each room and found that they were indeed two-way mirrors. However, apart from their own room, the peeping rooms behind the other mirrors had not yet been built.

Part of the conjecture was confirmed, and Shi Jinzhe inexplicably started to have a headache. He didn't know if it was because he was overworking his brain or because he was tired, hungry and sleepy.

He glanced at the time and decided to go back to his room to rest for a while, waiting for Meng Chengxi and the others to return in the evening so they could reassemble the information.

Sheh went to the Lin family last night and also needs to rest. She loosened Qu Yang's rope and said, "Come back tonight. If you don't come, you'll have to bear the consequences."

"Come, come, come, I'll definitely come." Qu Yang made his promise like a chick pecking at rice, and quietly left the small building.

It's 6:30 in the evening.

Meng Chengxi, who was with two newcomers, didn't dare to be careless and returned to the small building half an hour before dark.

"I'll wait for them here. You guys go upstairs first and see if Qi Yin and Xie Man have returned yet."

Chen Shu and Li Jiaoyang had just gone upstairs when Shao Dong followed them in, carrying dinner.

His expression was no longer as honest as it had been on the first day; a shrewd glint appeared in his eyes. "Too many people have died. I suggest you don't leave the building. This village is really dangerous. Don't wander around or go off on your own."

Meng Chengxi nodded while sitting on the stool. "Sure."

Ever since he learned what Shao Dong had done, he had come to see Shao Dong as a despicable and hypocritical person.

"Remember to tell others not to go out tomorrow. I can't afford to compensate you if something happens to you."

After he left, Chen Shu came down from the second floor. "The bathroom mirror was smashed. The door handles also looked like they had been corroded."

Upon hearing that the doorknob was corroded, Meng Chengxi knew that Shi Jinzhe and the others had returned.

He carried the dishes and directed the two people, "Come on, let's go upstairs to eat, we can talk while we eat."

On the second floor, Shi Jinzhe tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt stuck together. When he opened them, his eyes were dry and uncomfortable, as if fine sand had gotten into them. Rubbing them made his eyes irritate.

He forced himself to sit up, but Sheikh was still sitting by the bed, and it was unclear whether he was awake or not.