Chapter 14

While doing this monotonous absence, the warm water in Teddy's hand began to cool, its temperature no longer providing warmth in his hand.

"Lily." Call Teddy, continuing his absence.

No one answered his call.

Teddy froze a bit, he raised his head and called out again while staring at the tourists in front of him, "Lily? Is Lily here?"

There was still no answer, and the tourists who were sitting on the benches looked at each other and then a woman slowly raised her hand.

"Are you Lily?" Teddy's eyes brightened.

"No, I'm not Lily." The woman shook her head, "The Lily you're talking about went to the back, she said something about wanting to go to the toilet for a while, but as far as I know there's no toilet in this rest area, so she probably went out." Said the woman to Teddy.

Teddy's water glass fell to the floor, "How long has she been gone?" Teddy asked.

"About fifteen minutes." The woman answered.

The smile on Teddy's face quickly stiffened as he looked at Rino. Between the three of them, Rino was considered as their team leader. "Now what?"

"There is no other way, we have to find her." Rino sighed. "Right now the only people who know this place better are the three of us. Today, you take care of the tourists here. Try to calm them down, Steve try to search further to see if you can find any traces of Lily. I'll look for her down there." Rino said.

"Okay." answered Steve.

Steve and Rino left the stop to rest. One walked up and the other walked down, they walked on separate paths, and not long after, they disappeared from the gate. Steve moved towards the mountain, advancing step by step. The wind was so strong, even if there was a single trace it would be swept away by the strong wind now. Steve tried to call out the name of the missing person with every step he took, looking for traces of the woman around him, in the place where the woman had gone.

As long as she doesn't fall from the abyss, there's still one chance to find her.

The wind was getting stronger at this time, Steve's hat fell off from being blown, his white hair on his head became messy. Steve could barely walk forward against the wind, he closed his eyes and spread his arms out to feel his surroundings to move forward, and when he took a step forward, he froze a little.

His hand touched a place where there was no wind at all. He could even feel the warmth of the sun. Steve frowned and stepped forward, and sure enough, moments later, he stepped into a place where it was completely windless.

'This... what happened?' Steve thought confusedly.

Hearing a cracking sound, Steve stopped in place. He lifted his leg, which caused the sound, and under his foot was a broken piece of ceramic. The ceramic was the exact same color as the one he found under the mountain.

Steve reached up to pick up the ceramic shards, then he lifted his head, looking a little confused. There were no more mountains and trees that had finished dropping their leaves in front of him, but there was only a white tile that looked like a wall. Steve looked around and realized that now the ceramic wall was around him.

"Do you know how to make a pot?" A crisp sound rang out from his ear, and Steve jerked his head to look at his feet.

On his right leg, a Paper Man that only reached his knees gripped the corners of his jacket, and his voice came from his red-drawn mouth.

"Do you know how to make a pot?" Repeated the Paper Man.

"Pots? I can make pots if needed, but why should I make them?" Steve tried to wrench the corner of his jacket out of the Paper Man's hand.

The Paper Man's face was pasted with white paper, black paper lines formed his hair and eyes, and his clothes were also made of paper with floral patterns. Seeing this paper man, Steve recalled the paper man who was at the funeral. When he received the news of Ricky's death and asked his superiors for permission to go home, Ricky's parents told him that they had burned his body, leaving only a piece of paper man they had bought earlier lying around.

"Can you help me build a pottery ship?" The Paper Man waved his hand, which was made of white pulp, "It's easy, come on, help me!" Ask the Paper Man.

Steve took two steps back, but the Paper Man was firmly attached to his jacket, tugging at the same time as his movement.

"Why do you want to make a pot?" Steve asked the Paper Man.

The Paper Man, who actually didn't really listen to Steve's words, kept asking him to make a pot, and his originally calm voice gradually became shrill. Due to continuous screaming, it caused Steve to have a headache.

"Are you afraid of fire? Let me go." Steve grabbed the lighter he had brought with him from the backpack on his back, and he lit it.

The Paper Man should be afraid of fire. The paper man placed in Ricky's yard had also been turned on. Ricky's parents seemed to be doing it just to keep up appearances, but then kicked the Paper Man in an instant, even letting the rumors about him being an orphan spread even more. His parents died, he had no blood relatives, his aunt's family disappeared, and even his only friend and boyfriend had died of an illness.

Steve was completely rejected by the village.

At this moment, sparks from the match jumped onto the Paper Man, and with a crackling sound, the Paper Man instantly burst into flames. Steve slightly froze, he hastily pulled the corner of his jacket from the Paper Man's hand.