4. Lurking Evil

Mao Yin was led far outside the village by the children. They surrounded him in a ring so he couldn't escape. As they walked, Mao Yin's gaze was unconsciously drawn towards the forest.

The chubby kid saw his gaze linger there and misread his look as one of reluctance.

The chubby kid hid his smile. "How about we go play in the forest instead? I'm sure we'll have lots of fun there."

One of the kids looked uncertain. "My mother told me that it's forbidden to go in there. She said that once you go in, you can't come out."

The chubby kid rolled his eyes dramatically and retorted in a sharp tone. "If you don't want to come then don't!"

I'd rather not, Mao Yin replied in his head. His expression remained the same as usual as he was led into the forest. They went deeper and deeper in. The kids around them became visibly frightened by their surroundings.

The dead and still forest made no noise. The eerie silence made the children, who have never experienced being alone, feel quite unsettled.

The chubby kid looked on with a seemingly indifferent expression, but upon closer inspection, Mao Yin could see his hands trembled in fear and his face had blanched.

"H-h-hey, what's wrong with these trees?" One of the kids asked.

The chubby kid replied haughtily. "Are you all stupid? There's nothing wrong with these trees. Just hurry up and do what we came to so we can go home."

The kids seemed to snap back to reality and once more circled Mao Yin.

The chubby kid stepped forward while tossing a rock that he had previously picked up. "Mao Yin, although you are stupid, I know you can understand what I'm saying. Give me the thing you stuck in your robes yesterday and we can all go home in time for dinner."

Mao Yin first looked at his outstretched hand and then at his face with a pitying look.

The chubby kid didn't take that well. "Hand it over!"

Mao Yin didn't budge.

His round face became red in anger. "Beat him up! Look in his clothes! It's not in his house so it's definitely with him!"

Mao Yin brought his thin arms up to protect his head as they rained punches and kicks down on him. The kids were unusually vicious in their attacks. They made sure to aim at his head and soft areas. One of the kids had a twisted look on his face as he repeatedly kicked Mao Yin in the stomach as hard as he could. Stomping, kicking, punching, pulling, they had no mercy whatsoever. Mao Yin coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood.

He tried to fight back, but his arms were too thin and weak to compare to the arms of the well-fed village boys. They had merely held him down before continuing to stomp on him as if he were a disgusting bug.

Mao Yin felt as if he was going to lose consciousness.

Deep down, although he knew that he was unliked in the village, he had hoped to become friends with some of the kids. After all, he was only eight years old and had no one around him. However, it was during this incident that he lost that secret wish for the companionship of another.

Upon seeing the true faces of these village kids, he was quite shocked at the sight of their deranged expressions. These kids are devils, he thought.

This is what evil looks like in its simplest form.

Suddenly, a loud crack was heard in the distance. The kids who were already somewhat on edge jumped in fear. No one spoke as they listened closer to try and figure out what the sound was.

Nothing.

"L-look at the trees!" One of the kids whispered. "T-t-there's blood coming off of them!"

Another loud crack came from a different area.

The children stared on with widened eyes. They wanted to run away but their bodies were immobilized by fear. Blood poured off the trees in torrents, washing and clearing away any obstructing variables including the blood that had dried and crusted over to form most of the trees 'bark'.

Mao Yin propped his heavily injured body up and watched on in wonder at the scene playing around him.

Right to their side, another tree made a cracking sound.

The blood pouring off of the trees began to lessen and on the bark of the tree, a face began to be unearthed. The eye sockets seemed to be scratched out by something, only leaving two gaping holes with maggots squirming around them. The mouth was torn unevenly, showing yellowed and broken teeth and blackened gums. Pustules and lesions covered any intact flesh, giving it a terrifying and inhuman look. The nose and ears were both completely bitten off and squirmed with maggots as well.

Crack!

Again, they heard the sound. Many of the kids pissed in their pants, and others, including the chubby kid fainted immediately upon seeing the many similar faces in the trees. Twisted and deformed limbs stuck out of the trees at odd angles. It was almost as if several people became absorbed in the trees.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The kids were screaming and crying in absolute terror. Snot and tears streamed down their cheeks.

The roots beneath the trees continued to make cracking sounds as they began to stiffly unearth themselves from the ground. One after the other, loud cracks echoed throughout the forest and the ghastly looming figures of the repulsive trees began to grow closer to them.