A dilapidated Wuling Hongguang sat parked by the roadside in the Wilderness.
Dark red moonlight poured down, illuminating the twisted shadows of the surrounding trees.
The temperature inside the van was very low. Little Frost was huddled together with White Night, who was in her bicycle form, while Mu Yingying curled up in the passenger seat. Because they had to store supplies, the space inside the van was quite small.
Little Frost held White Night’s cold frame tightly, her brow furrowed as if she were trapped in a nightmare.
Her hand unconsciously gripped the handlebars, her knuckles turning slightly white from the force.
Tuk… tuk… tuk…
A faint tapping sound abruptly shattered the deathly silence.
[‘Someone?’]
As a motorhome currently in Sleep Standby Mode, White Night was jolted awake immediately.
Following that, Little Frost and Mu Yingying also snapped their eyes open. In this place, danger was everywhere, and they never slept soundly.
“Shh—”
Mu Yingying made a silencing gesture. Her eyes, which usually held a playful glint, were now filled with gravity.
She slowly reached into her coat and gripped that Companion Gold Coin.
The three of them held their breath, staring intently at the source of the sound — the right-side window.
“Tuk, tuk, tuk.”
The tapping rang out again, clearer than before and more rhythmic.
Through the dust-covered and cracked glass of the window, they saw a face.
It was a pale little face.
She looked to be about 7 or 8 years old with delicate features. She wore a pitch-black Lolita-style dress with two bows tied in her hair.
But no one thought she was cute.
Because her body was floating.
The little girl was suspended in the air outside the window, her feet at least 0.5 meters off the ground.
What was even more hair-raising were her eyes.
They were two spheres of pitch black, devoid of any whites, deep and hollow.
“Hiss…”
Little Frost sucked in a cold breath, feeling a chill surge from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head.
She subconsciously moved a step forward, shielding White Moon.
The air in the van seemed to freeze.
The little girl was in no hurry to attack, nor did she scream.
She simply pressed against the window quietly, her obsidian eyes staring fixedly at the three inside. The corners of her mouth slowly curled into a stiff smile.
“Big sister…”
A childish, milky voice drifted clearly into everyone’s ears.
“Do you… need anything?”
the voice was sweet and soft, yet it carried a cold aura of death, lacking even a hint of a living person’s warmth.
None of the three dared to make a sound.
Little Frost’s hand tightly gripped White Night’s crossbar, her palm drenched in cold sweat.
Mu Yingying held the gold coin between her fingertips but didn’t dare to throw it. Her intuition told her that the thing in front of them was exceptionally powerful — not something she could handle.
Seeing no response from inside the van, the smile on the little girl’s face seemed to fade slightly.
She tilted her head with a stiff motion.
“Big sister…”
She spoke again, her voice tinged with a hint of grievance and stubbornness. “Do you… need anything?”
As her words fell, an invisible pressure instantly enveloped the entire van.
Crack.
A crisp snapping sound was exceptionally ear-piercing.
White Night discovered with horror that a tiny crack had appeared out of thin air on the window glass.
Centered on the little girl’s fingertip, the crack rapidly spread outward, covering half the window in the blink of an eye.
[‘Not good.’]
White Night’s soul trembled.
If this glass shattered, this seemingly safe space would be breached, and this eerie little thing would come straight inside.
[‘She isn’t coming in directly… could she be a Rule-based Weirdness?’]
White Night’s mind raced.
The little girl had the power to shatter the glass, yet she hesitated to enter, choosing instead to ask over and over if they needed anything.
This meant she was following a specific set of killing rules.
She was waiting for permission or an opportunity for a trade.
If they didn’t answer, she would view it as a refusal to communicate and then forcibly break through the barrier.
If they said they needed something… heaven knew what the price would be.
The window glass groaned under the heavy pressure, sounding as if it would explode at any second.
[‘I can’t wait any longer.’]
White Night made her decision.
Hum —
A white light glowed within the dim interior.
White Night no longer hid herself. Her translucent soul floated directly out of the bicycle’s body.
Though her form was ethereal, her black twin-tails and cold gaze were exceptionally clear.
She floated in front of Little Frost, staring directly into those pitch-black ghostly eyes through the nearly broken glass.
“We don’t need anything.”
White Night’s voice was cold and resolute.
The spreading cracks stopped instantly.
The little girl outside the window froze.
Her hollow black eyes lingered on White Night’s Soul Body for a moment, appearing slightly confused by this fellow non-corporeal being.
However, she did not leave immediately.
“Really… not needed?”
The little girl’s voice became even more seductive.
“Big sisters… you look very hungry, and very tired…”
“I have fragrant, delicious food here…”
“I have an endless supply of power…”
“I can even… make you powerful Awakened, so you’ll never have to fear the monsters outside again…”
“I can give you anything you want…”
“So many things… if only you speak…”
Following her whispers, the eyes of Little Frost and Mu Yingying even showed a momentary daze.
They weren’t short on food for now, but power was exactly what they needed.
[‘Wake up!’]
White Night let out a sharp mental shout.
Little Frost and Mu Yingying snapped out of it, their backs instantly drenched in cold sweat.
Terrifying.
In that moment just now, they had almost blurted out that they wanted it.
“We don’t need it!”
Little Frost bit the tip of her tongue, using the pain to keep herself conscious as she shouted.
“Right. Not needed. We don’t need anything at all!”
Mu Yingying followed up with a roar, the gold coin in her hand deforming under her grip.
The smile on the little girl’s face vanished.
She floated silently outside the window, her delicate face becoming expressionless and even tinged with a sinister coldness.
She stared deathly at the three pieces of prey inside, remaining silent for a full 5 seconds.
Little Frost felt as if her heart was going to stop. She gripped White Night’s arm tightly, prepared for a desperate struggle.
“Then… that is a pity.”
The little girl sighed softly, her voice filled with regret.
“Goodbye.”
She gave a stiff wave of her hand.
Then, the petite figure in the black dress slowly floated backward, vanishing into the night and the red mist.
Only after the figure disappeared did the pressure in the van recede.
“Hah… hah… hah…”
Little Frost slumped into her seat, panting heavily. Her clothes were soaked through with cold sweat, sticking clammily to her body.
“She’s… she’s gone?”
Mu Yingying’s voice was trembling. She glanced at the cracked window with lingering fear.
“She… she just left like that?”
“She’s gone.”
White Night’s soul slowly drifted back into the frame, possessing the bicycle once more.
Though her voice remained calm, it carried a trace of exhaustion.
[‘That thing just now… isn’t something we can deal with yet,’] White Night said in their minds. [‘That was a Rule-based Weirdness. Its killing logic isn’t brute force; it’s a trade.’]
“It’s a good thing you reacted quickly, Little White Night.”
Mu Yingying wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and looked at White Night.
“If we hadn’t answered just now, or if we said we needed something, what would have happened?”
[‘I don’t know.’]
White Night paused.
[‘But based on my understanding of the System, the gifts of such Weirdnesses usually come with an equivalent, or even excessive, price. Perhaps what we would have had to give up… would be our souls, or our bodies.’]
Hearing “bodies and souls,” Little Frost couldn’t help but shudder.
She remembered the little girl’s pitch-black eyes. That feeling of being scrutinized like merchandise made her feel nauseous.
“Regardless, we survived.”
Little Frost sat up straight and reached out to gently stroke White Night’s handlebars, her eyes full of dependence and gratitude.
“It’s all thanks to you, White Night. If you hadn’t been the first to stand up just now, we might have really…”
She didn’t dare finish the thought.
“Yeah, Little White Night is just too smart.”
Mu Yingying in the front seat also recovered her composure, returning to her usual carefree self.
She turned around, her eyes darting naughtily toward White Night’s seat as her hand reached out mischievously.
“Aiyoo, big sister was scared to death just now. Come, let me give you a rub to calm my nerves. I’ve heard that petting a cat relieves stress, so petting a bike should be about the same, right?”
As she spoke, her hand moved toward White Night’s seat.
Slap!
A fair hand slapped Mu Yingying’s hand away.
Little Frost’s beautiful eyes widened as she stared fixedly at Mu Yingying.
“Don’t just touch her whenever you feel like it, okay?”
She threw her arms around the front of the bike, blocking the path between Mu Yingying and White Night, her tone fierce.
“You haven’t even asked the driver’s opinion. This is my bike; only I can touch her.”
“White Night used up so much energy to save us. Don’t mess with her.”
Mu Yingying rubbed her reddened hand, looking aggrieved.
“President Su, you can’t be this stingy. I’m a teammate too. A little touch won’t hurt.”
“No means no.”
Little Frost was resolute.
“Especially the seat. That’s White Night’s stomach; it’s a private area.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk…”
Mu Yingying looked at Little Frost’s protective behavior and couldn’t help but roll her eyes, muttering under her breath, “Fine then, Big-butt Su. You’re the one who holds her so tight while sleeping, rubbing against her… The officials can set fires while the commoners can’t even light a lamp.”
“What did you say?”
Little Frost’s face turned red.
“Nothing, nothing. I said the moonlight is beautiful tonight.”
Mu Yingying quickly changed the subject, pointing toward the window.
[‘Alright, alright, stop arguing.’]
White Night watched these two “Aunties” who would bicker at the drop of a hat and sighed helplessly in her mind.
Although the crisis had just passed and the world outside was still terrifying, watching these two teammates grow jealous over who got to touch her caused White Night’s cold mechanical heart to feel a long-lost warmth.
[‘Rest while you can. I’ll keep watch. I think we need to move as soon as it’s light. Since that girl appeared, it means the Weirdness in this area is spreading. This place… is no longer safe.’]
Hearing White Night’s words, the two finally quieted down.
Little Frost readjusted her position and hugged White Night tightly, drawing a sense of security from her.
Mu Yingying also wrapped her clothes tighter around her and closed her eyes to doze.
The cracked window, reflected in the red moonlight, looked like a blood-colored spiderweb — and they were caught right in the center of it.
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