The lightning sword in his hand suddenly pointed automatically at the ceiling.
I looked up and saw viscous liquid seeping from the cracks in the cement, slowly outlining the shape of the fifth offering.
The shadowy figure let out a triumphant screech, and the entire room began to turn upside down.
Li Xiulan and I were hanging upside down in the air.
Tiger Cub's transparent body floated toward the shadowy figure. The red mark on his wrist had turned into a complete lock, and half of a blackened finger was inserted into the keyhole.
"That's...my wedding ring!"
Li Xiulan suddenly screamed loudly.
That's when I noticed that the ring the figure was clutching was the same one her husband was wearing in the photo.
The shadowy figure pressed the ring into the keyhole, and the carved cabinet emitted a deafening roar. At the same time, the names of all the missing persons lit up in red.
At the critical moment, I reached into my pocket and pressed the five-emperor coins against Tiger Cub's forehead.
The dark figure let out a painful roar.
Hurried footsteps came from downstairs.
A group of elderly people rushed in, carrying burning mugwort.
They were all the neighbors from the gazebo.
They stuffed mugwort into the shadowy figure's body. Amidst the burnt smell, I saw the shadowy figure gradually reveal its true form.
A mummified corpse nailed to a cabinet, its hands clutching a tattered ledger, the title page of which reads "Old Zhou's Woodware Shop Goods Register at the West Alley Entrance".
The ledger in the mummy's arms suddenly burst open, and the yellowed pages fluttered like butterflies.
Each page is printed with the birth date and time of the person who was devoured.
Li Xiulan suddenly grabbed my arm, her voice trembling with tears: "My nephew's name is on this! He said he was coming to help move the cabinet last month..."
The dark figure let out a shriek and transformed into thousands of black mists that seeped into the cracks in the floor.
Just as I was about to chase after him, Huwa suddenly struggled out of Li Xiulan's arms and pointed to the corner of the wall: "There it is!"
Following the direction of his finger, I saw a cloud of black mist moving along the base of the wall toward the fire escape, leaving a damp black trail in its wake.
"Don't separate!"
I dragged Li Xiulan into the corridor.
Just as I turned the corner, I heard the creaking sound of wooden planks pressing against each other overhead.
Looking up, the dark shadow on the ceiling was twisting into the shape of a giant lotus flower, with countless pale arms hanging down from between the petals.
Li Xiulan covered Huwa's eyes in fright, but the child suddenly broke free from her grasp, picked up half a brick from the ground, and threw it at the dark figure.
"careful!"
I pulled the mother and son into the stairwell.
A strange scene was reflected in the mirror of the fire hydrant.
The once empty corridor was now packed with more than a dozen people.
They were wearing outdated clothes, with dark marks around their necks, and staring at us blankly.
When I turned around again, those figures had vanished without a trace, leaving only a faint stench of decay in the stairwell.
We followed the trail of black fog to the third floor, only to find that all the room numbers had changed to "402".
Scratching sounds came from behind each door.
Some look like fingernails scratching a wooden board, while others look like heavy objects dragging on the ground.
Li Xiulan suddenly stopped and pointed to one of the doors: "This is Grandma Wang's house across the hall from mine. She went there last month..."
Before he could finish speaking, a sharp meow came from inside the door, followed by a thud as something heavy fell to the ground.
I gripped the lightning sword tightly, its tip pointing at the ever-changing black mist.
Suddenly, all the lights in the building went out, and the sound of chains rattling echoed through the darkness.
Tiger Cub's little hands gripped my trouser leg tightly, his voice trembling: "Grandpa, it's laughing..."
Sure enough, children's laughter echoed in the darkness, sometimes near, sometimes far, mixed with the soft sound of tearing fabric, sending chills down one's spine.
"Over here!"
Li Xiulan suddenly grabbed me and pointed to the base of the wall in the fire escape.
There was a trail of fresh slime winding there, gleaming with an eerie phosphorescence.
"In the basement!"
Li Xiulan shouted loudly.
"Walk!"
I called out to her and followed the trail to the basement.
The iron gate was ajar, and a stench of decay wafted out.
The beam of the flashlight swept across the wall, revealing old furniture plaques nailed to the entire wall. One of them read, "Lotus Pattern Cabinet, Li Residence in the West of the City, acquired in the 23rd year of the Republic of China."
Just then, a tremor suddenly came from beneath my feet, and rows of old cabinets creaked at the same time.
The carved cabinet at the deepest part slowly opened, revealing a little boy in a school uniform curled up inside.
A faded red silk ribbon was tied around her wrist.
His empty eyes and the lotus-shaped birthmark on his neck revealed that he was just an empty shell.
Damn it!
I cursed inwardly.
"The real tiger cub is upstairs!"
“Then this is…” Her voice trembled, and her Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.
I gripped the lightning sword tightly; the blade was still slightly warm.
Suddenly, the tiger cub in front of me tilted its head, its empty eyes staring straight at me, and a mechanical smile tugged at the corners of its mouth, revealing its neat baby teeth.
That smile was exactly the same as the expression on her face when she was holding the doll when we first met.
"It's just an empty shell."
I lowered my voice.
“But he can call me Mom…” Li Xiulan’s tears fell onto Huwa’s shoulder.
The child in my arms did not react at all, his gaze fixed on the five-emperor coins at my waist.
I suddenly remembered the densely packed names in the basement ledger, each birthday marked with a lotus flower symbol.
The sound of light footsteps came from around the corner, like countless pairs of small leather shoes pattering on the floor at the same time.
The second tiger cub emerged from the shadows, the same lotus birthmark on its neck glowing eerily, clutching half of a rag doll's arm in its hand.
Then the third, the fourth...
They lined up in a silent queue, mechanically repeating the calls of "Mom" and "Grandpa," their voices coming out intermittently like an old-fashioned cassette tape.
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