"Uh, uh, uh." The silhouette munched on something as it stood up and turned to look at them.
"You came too early, I’m not ready yet," Dubian Che complained.
His hair was still intact, yet the right side of his skull was missing,
his mouth smeared with blood, one eye bulging out immensely, devoid of eyelids.
Yet by his figure, and by his voice, it was unmistakably Dubian Che.
The girls relaxed and stepped forward.
"What, you’re here early."
"Mr. Dubian, you really look the part; we’d definitely be in for a shock if we waited for you to get ready."
Their fear receded, and their courage grew.
"Mr. Dubian, what are you eating?" one girl asked.
"Oh, this," Dubian Che handed over a finger.
"It looks so real, it’s still bleeding."
"Even the fingernails are delicately done."
"Does it taste good?"
Dubian Che said, "It’s delicious, it’s Meiji’s."
"Ha ha ha, Jiutiao, you’re too unfortunate, even sacrificing your fingers for the courage test."
The three laughed and took turns playing with the finger.
One of the girls asked, "Does it taste like candy?"
As she spoke, she bit into it.
"How is it? What does it taste like?" Ichiki Aoi asked curiously.
The girl slowly took the finger out of her mouth.
White skin on the finger now bore a ring of bite marks, just like a real finger had been bitten.
Gazing at the finger, a chill suddenly ran through the girl.
The other two girls quietly watched the scene.
"Aren’t you going to eat?" Suddenly, Dubian Che had moved close by.
"Ah!" The three jumped in fright.
"Why scare us like that?" saying this, Kunii Shuichi was about to reach out and grab Dubian Che.
"Kunii! Run!" Suddenly, a shout came from the forest.
Looking toward the sound, far off, a person leaning against a tree trunk was looking this way.
"Is that Mr. Dubian’s voice?"
The four looked at Dubian Che next to them.
Brain matter pulsating, blood dripping from his mouth.
"Hiss—" Like a mechanical release of gas, a cold blast of icy breath sprayed out from his mouth.
"Run!" The distant silhouette, bending over, shouted again.
"What... what’s going on?"
"Why are there two Mr. Dubians?"
Silently, Dubian Che walked towards a huge rock and slowly lifted it.
He turned around and said to the four:
"This time, I won’t smash the brain matter again."
Blood dripped from the massive rock, beneath which lay a slender figure in a skirt.
The upper body was indistinct, palms still bleeding, fingers gone.
"Ah—" the girl holding the finger threw it away.
The three were too frightened to move.
Dubian Che came over, carrying the massive rock.
Meanwhile, from the start, an intermittent laughter suddenly grew loud.
Piercing laughter came from all around, scratching eerily, echoing through the silent forest.
A red lantern suddenly lit up.
Ksitigarbha appeared again, looking over with a benevolent smile, yet blood also stained the corners of his mouth.
"Quick... run..." Dubian Che’s distant voice sounded weak, as if swallowed by the wind.
With a thud, he fell down in the jungle.
Nearby, Dubian Che stiffly stopped, set down the massive rock, and strode towards that place.
"Fingers... fingers..."
The red lantern went out, and lit up again near where the distant Dubian Che had fallen.
Ksitigarbha, with a fierce face, greedily stared at the ground.
"Run!" Kunii Shuichi pushed the three towards the exit.
In their dizzied consciousness from fear, they finally gained a bit of clarity.
Unable to think, they screamed in terror and ran towards the exit.
The nearby Dubian Che, heading towards the distant Dubian Che, stopped, turned towards them, and
"Fingers... fingers..." he muttered, chasing after them.
Meanwhile, one red lantern after another lit up, chasing the four.
The nearby Dubian Che moved swiftly like a shadow, quickly catching up to the four, standing in front of them.
He had lost his reason, thick red fluid sliding from his mouth, he advanced on one of them.
Ichiki Aoi, stared down by a cold, snake-like gaze, had long lost the courage to run, and stood there dumbfounded.
"Stop!" Kunii Shuichi charged over, wrapping his arms around Dubian Che’s waist.
The next second, he was thrown out like a rag.
"Kunii!" Ichiki Aoi was about to run to him when Dubian Che took a step forward, then froze in place.
"Fingers... fingers..."
"Ichiki!" Kunii Shuichi roared as he charged again.
This time he didn’t confront Dubian Che; instead, he opened his arms wide, and fiercely hugged Ichiki Aoi, shielding him with his back from the monstrous seeker of fingers.
A deathly silence fell over the forest, only accompanied by the rustling of leaves stirred by the wind.
Then, there came the sound of gnawing flesh, of molars crushing bones.