In an elevated area of the underground cave, which one could reach only by passing through several narrow paths, lay the "secret chamber."
This was the girl's home,
where a bonfire built from wood was burning, emitting sounds similar to creaking joints. Some pieces of wood even writhed in the flames, as if they were living limbs.
As for the source of the wood, it was just a matter of walking over three hundred meters along the stone corridors outside the chamber to reach the forest outside the village.
The light from the bonfire strove to illuminate the entire stone chamber,
while water seeping down from the carbonate layers dripped down the stalactites of varying lengths, collected in a handcrafted wooden basin for drinking and washing.
Yi Chen and the girl sat opposite each other in front of the bonfire, with the pig head mask that had been cut by claws temporarily set aside.
"Besides drinking water, what do you usually eat?"
"Most of the time I eat this..."