The village where Apu's family lives is relatively peaceful.

Firstly, the population here is not large, but there are many temples here, and years of practice have protected this place when the nightmare came.

Although everyone had to rely on the local temple and even be ruled by it, life was quite miserable.

But at least the situation is much better than in other areas.

"It is said that some places have become no-man's land. Everyone has died."

Candles were lit in Apu's house, and the family was sitting around in the simple house, eating dinner.

Because part of all the daily necessities had to be offered to the temple every week, Apu and his family lived a very tight life.

On each person's plate, there were only some boiled potatoes, pickled beans, and some green leafy vegetables.

That's all.

Because of long-term malnutrition, Apu looks thinner than other girls of the same age.

He is sixteen years old, but looks younger than his actual age.

The person who just spoke was Apu's father.

He was the opposite of Apu. He was only in his forties, but looked like he was in his fifties or sixties. He had short hair, half of which was gray, dark skin, rough hands, and one of his eyes was blind, which looked cloudy, like a frosted lens.

Apu's mother sighed, but the woman had no way to deal with her current life.

Only Apu's six-year-old brother is still happy, but this happiness is based on innocence. In a few years, I guess the whole family will only be sighing.

That is, assuming they can live to that point.

The sky outside was already extremely dark. Due to the geographical location, at this season, nightfall was actually very late. Although it was only dim and not completely dark, it was already past eight o'clock in the evening.

After dinner, the family members went about their own business.

Looking out the window, there were sporadic candle lights in the village.

As for electricity?

Don't even think about it.

After the nightmare fully took hold, there was a complete power outage.

In other words, the official system here has completely come to a standstill and is almost in name only.

The ones who really take charge are the temples in various places.

After the nightmare came, the masters in the temple seemed to have a way to resist the nightmare, and this is absolute hard power at this stage.

No one dares to go against the masters.

Not to mention doing it right, even words cannot be disrespectful.

If you don't respect him, you won't get the protection of the masters.

If you don't get protection, you will be attacked by nightmares after falling asleep, and your end will be miserable.

So here, the masters in the temple are the most honorable beings.

From Apu's house, you can see a large temple in the distance.

Even at night, the lights are bright.

It seemed that there was only one place around that was bright and safe.

"Mom, I heard that Aling's family goes back to the temple to spend the night. They say it's the safest place." Apu said to his mother at this time.

Mom nodded.

You are right, at this stage, big temples are indeed the safest.

"No horrible nightmare dares approach the great temple!"

"But why can't we go?" Apu's younger brother asked the question in his heart. Mom and Apu understood this truth, but the six-year-old brother didn't quite understand it.

My brother doesn’t know that people are different from the moment they are born.

Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouths, while others are destined to suffer.

In the past, there might have been a small possibility to change class and life, but now, unless one had a fortuitous encounter in the nightmare world, gained powerful strength, or controlled some terrible nightmare.

Otherwise, the possibility of changing your fate is zero.

Everyone should try to reduce the time of dreaming.

The same thing happened at Apu's house.

They have an alarm clock.

Dad is the pillar of the family, so he goes to bed first, from about eight o'clock to twelve o'clock, when other family members start to sleep. At four o'clock in the morning, Mom will take over Dad's sleep, and Apu and his brother can sleep until dawn.

Because if you encounter a nightmare, you can tell from the expression and breathing when the person is sleeping. If you find something is wrong, you should wake up your family immediately.

This can avoid some deaths.

This is how Apu's family gets by these days.

Although they had already paid offerings to the temple on a weekly basis, it was still a good idea to be cautious.

For example, Aqin’s family in the village just held a funeral.

Aqin's family also paid tribute every week, but their youngest son still died.

Although the masters came to take a look, they said it was a natural death.

But who would believe it? Do you really think we are fools?

But there is no way to find a conclusion on this matter. Even if he was killed by the nightmare, no one has any evidence, because this matter has to be handled by the masters in the big temple?

No one wants to be the first to stand out.

So, in the final analysis, you have to be careful.

"Mom, I don't want to sleep!"

It's already twelve o'clock.

Apu's younger brother didn't want to sleep yet. He kept pulling at his mother's clothes, with fear in his eyes.

"How can you not sleep? Although sleeping will lead you to that scary place, but you have your mother and sister with you, so what are you afraid of?"

Mother comforted her brother.

But today my younger brother was obviously a little abnormal. He refused to sleep and said that he had seen a terrible thing in his dream.

"There's nothing scary about it. We are together every day, so how come I haven't seen it?" Apu immediately refuted his brother.

She felt that her brother was simply ignorant.

"Really? I really saw it. It was hiding in the corner of our house. Sometimes, it would hide behind you."

My brother's words were obviously a bit scary.

When Apu heard this, he got goosebumps all over his body.

Hiding behind yourself?

Is this possible?

"Brother, stop talking nonsense and go to bed."

Apu said.

As for the mother, she obviously didn't believe it at all and just thought it was just childish nonsense.

Finally, Mom and Apu coaxed their brother into bed.

"Apu, you should go to sleep too."

"Okay mom, good night!"

"Goodnight, baby!"

Apu fell asleep.

This was not her first time entering the nightmare world. To her, the nightmare world was both familiar and unfamiliar.

She was familiar with it because she dreamed about it every day.

The reason why it was strange was that she had never left her room in the nightmare world.

This is mom and dad's rule.

It is said that the master in the temple gave them some kind of exorcism item, which is placed on the front door and bedroom door of their house to prevent monsters from the nightmare world from coming in.

So every time after falling asleep, Apu would do his own things in the house.

Sometimes I would be in a daze, sometimes I would chat with my brother and mom and dad, or I would secretly look out the window, trying to figure out what was outside.

But most of the time, it was pitch black outside and nothing could be seen.

Maybe you can see some outlines of the house, but they are just outlines, like the urine stains left by my younger brother when he wet the bed as a child.

Apu has thought it through today.

She told stories with her brother.

Telling and listening to stories is one of the most effective ways for them to pass the time.

Of course, Mom said she would find a way to get some candles so that they could read in the house.

"younger brother?"

Apu started looking for his brother.

Usually her brother would wait for her in bed.

It was mainly because my little brother was very timid. Every time he fell asleep, he would curl up in his quilt and sometimes, he would shiver.

In this case, you need to coax them well.

Mom didn't come into the dream this time, so Apu had to do the job of coaxing his brother by himself.

She walked to her brother's room and saw that the quilt on the bed was bulging and was shaking.

Apu smiled and prepared to go over and lift the quilt.

She walked over, reached out and grabbed the quilt. At this moment, she suddenly wanted to tease her disciple.

So instead of lifting it up, he put his hand into the quilt.

Sure enough, he touched a small hand.

Just at this moment, Apu suddenly heard someone calling her sister in a low voice.

She was stunned.

The voice came from behind, it was my brother's voice.

Apu immediately looked back.

I found my brother hiding behind the door, looking at the bed with a look of horror on his face.

Apu was completely stunned.

My brother is hiding behind the door. Who is on the bed? A cool feeling comes from Apu's hand.

She found that the little hand she was touching seemed very cold.

Like a dead man's hand.

In an instant, Apu got goosebumps and wanted to scream, but she remembered what her mom and dad had told her.

In the nightmare world, no matter how scared or terrified you are, you must not scream.

Because you don’t know what will happen after you scream, and nine times out of ten, something more terrible will happen.

Apu was about to cry.

She wanted to pull her hand back, but the thing under the quilt was holding her hand tightly.

It seemed that he didn't want to let her go.

That's the trouble.

At this moment, Apu's mind was blank. She could only hold back her tears and pray that someone could save her.

That's right.

Didn’t Dad fall into a dream?

Apu suddenly thought of this, and a glimmer of hope ignited in his heart.

She turned around and gestured to her brother, whispering to him to go find their father.

My younger brother understood and now he mustered up the courage to run out from behind the door.

Apu was still trying to pull his hand away.

Without hesitation, she turned and ran.

I was so nervous that I almost tripped.

Running to the corridor, Apu immediately ran towards his father.

Now, her father is her only hope. Only when she sees her father can she feel safe.

Suddenly, she heard her brother screaming.

The voice was filled with fear.

Apu became even more frightened, and she almost stumbled to her father's room. Then, she saw her brother looking at the room in horror.

In the room, Dad's head was hanging on the door frame, as if smiling at them.

This is too exciting.

Apu couldn't help but scream.

Then she realized that she couldn't scream.

Dad is dead!

Obviously, he was killed by something, perhaps the thing on his brother's bed.

Apu looked at his younger brother, mustered up the courage to pick him up, and while comforting him, he hurried out.

But at the gate, my father's headless body was standing there.

At this moment, he was waving at them.

Apu was almost scared to death.

She turned her head and saw the toilet.

I immediately carried my brother into the bathroom, closed the door and locked it.

But even with a door between them, Apu did not feel safe at all.

The younger brother stopped crying at this time and asked if his father was dead.

Apu didn't know how to respond.

Because she herself knew nothing.

Her mind was in a mess now, and she could only breathe deeply out of fear.

But I was afraid of making any sound, so I could only suppress it as much as I could.

Now Apu's own mind was full of questions.

What happened? Why did the safe home become like this? The person on the bed must be a ghost, it was the ghost that killed Dad, but why was Dad's head laughing, why was Dad's body blocking the door, not letting them out?

Apu felt that the only reason he hadn’t collapsed was because of his younger brother.

My brother still has to rely on her.

Her duties as a sister forced her to be strong.

She suddenly thought of something and hurriedly reached to the side. She remembered there was a mop in the toilet that she could use to protect herself.

If a ghost came in, all she could do was fight with all her might.

"Sister, I'm so scared."

My brother wanted to cry again at this time.

Apu could only hold his brother in his arms and keep comforting him in a low voice. At the same time, he also learned from his brother what happened after he fell asleep.

From the younger brother's perspective, after falling asleep, he looked towards the corner.

Because last time, my brother saw something scary in the corner.

Only this time, it's more direct.

The figure in the corner actually walked out.

My brother was so scared that he ran out of bed and hid under the bed.

The thing didn't chase after him, but instead got on the bed and hid under the covers.

Later, the younger brother carefully ran behind the door, and then Apu came into the dream and the previous scene happened.

Fortunately, my younger brother reminded me at the critical moment, otherwise, no one knows what would have happened if Apu had lifted the quilt.

The two of them stayed together and hid in the bathroom waiting for a few minutes.

These few minutes seemed like several years to them.

Suddenly, I heard my mother's screams outside.

Apu panicked.

She forgot that her mother would appear in her dream later.

So, my mother has fallen asleep? And she was caught by a ghost.

Otherwise there wouldn't be such a scream.

Apu rushed out immediately.

But at this time, there were words mixed in with the mother's screams outside.

"Apu, take your brother and hide, don't, come out, don't..."

There is no more words after that.

Because my mother’s screams were gone.

The outside suddenly went from noisy to eerily quiet.

Tears flowed freely from Apu's eyes. She was now wrapped in fear and self-blame, which made her feel suffocated.

Mom is dead?

Definitely.

Just like dad.

I should have gone out to save my mother.

But her mother wouldn't let her go out.

Although Apu is not very old, she knows that if she goes out in the face of such a strange thing, not only will she fail to save her mother, but she and her brother will also die.

If you hide, maybe there is still a chance of survival.

Now Apu didn't dare to make any sound. She hoped that the ghost outside would kill people and leave, so that she and her brother could survive.

But this possibility is relatively small.

Because the ghost must know that they are hiding in the bathroom.

My brother remained silent.

Apu was worried and asked with his head down, and his younger brother whispered that there was an older brother behind him who was smiling at him.

Apu's head buzzed.

Could it be that a ghost came in? You know, there was nothing behind them except a dressing mirror.

Oh, right, the mirror! She remembered that the master in the temple gave them black cloth and asked them to seal all the mirrors in the nightmare world.

How did the younger brother see it? Apu looked back.

She really saw the mirror.

I don't know when the black cloth on the mirror fell to the ground.

The bathroom was originally pitch black, but at this moment, a hint of light could be seen from the mirror.

In addition, there was indeed a person in the mirror, looking at them with a smile.

The man was wearing a black sweater and seemed to have a knife hanging around his waist. The knife was very simple and although it was hidden in a sheath, one could still feel the danger of the knife.

Apu knew that it was impossible for a normal person to be in the mirror.

Except ghosts.

The man in the mirror is a ghost.

Apu immediately protected his brother behind him.

She has thought it through.

If anyone had to die, she would be the first to die.

Even though she was so scared that her legs became weak, she still had to protect her brother.

At this moment, she looked at the man in the mirror.

It can be described as the stubbornness of the weak.

The man in the mirror didn't move, but looked at the brother and sister curiously.

This kind of brotherhood seemed to remind him of something.

At this time, footsteps were heard outside the bathroom.

From far to near.

Finally, the footsteps slowly stopped at the door.

It can be imagined that there is a person standing at the door of the bathroom at this moment.

Who is it?

Who else could be out there except a ghost?

Apu was going crazy.

The current situation is like there are wolves in front and tigers behind. It is very dangerous outside and the bathroom is not safe either.

In the end, they are all dead.

She rolled her eyes, lay down, and said, "You two ghosts, do whatever you want."

Next, Apu heard a strange noise.

There was also a sound of "get out".

This is not the local language of the Falkland Islands, but Chinese.

Coincidentally, Apu’s ancestors were Chinese, who later immigrated here, but their language and culture were preserved.

So she could clearly hear the word "get out".

The next moment, there were crackling sounds, as if something was destroyed, like a rhinoceros rampaging through the house.

Apu didn't dare to open her eyes, and at the same time, she covered her brother's eyes with her hands.

I was afraid that my brother would see something terrible.

Even if you have to die, you should die peacefully, not die in fear and terror.

But the death that Apu was waiting for did not come.

The strange sound soon disappeared.

The surroundings fell into silence again.

But the silence this time was different from the previous ones.

When she mustered up the courage to open her eyes, she discovered that the toilet door had been kicked open at some point.

And it's torn into pieces.

It can be seen that the thing that hit the door has incredible strength and destructive power.

Then she saw the body on the ground.

That's a ghost.

It must be a ghost.

It doesn't have that pale, bluish skin like humans do. This thing is like a skinned frog, with no eyes, no nose, and only a mouth on its head, without lips, and with sharp teeth exposed.

However scary it is, this ghost is dead, truly dead.

Because the other person's heart was pierced.

This should be the ghost outside, the one that killed Mom and Dad.

What about the ghost in the mirror? A Pu looked over and saw that the mirror had returned to its original state, only vaguely reflecting her and her brother's shadows, but the man was gone.