Chapter 1 An 'Ordinary', Warm Evening

"Happy Birthday!"

The living room lights shone on the light yellow tablecloth, creating an incomparably warm atmosphere, as Dad and Mom entered the room carrying the cake.

They never brought the bad mood from work home, their faces full of smiles, and although they had been busy the whole day, there was no sign of fatigue.

Lifting the curtain from the kitchen, Gao Ming carried out the freshly cooked dishes. He didn't speak to his parents and sat alone on one side of the dining table.

"This child..." Dad shook his head helplessly, took off his raincoat and galoshes, and placed the slippers by Mom's feet.

Dad, stylish in a crisp suit and handsome in his stature, and Mom, gentle and efficient in her white shirt and jeans, commended Gao Ming's cooking skills, then tossed her dirty clothes into the bathroom.

The sound of running water started, and after washing her hands, a few drops of dark red stains remained on the basin.

"It's your birthday today, no matter how busy we are at work, we will rush back to be with you."

Gao Ming seemed not to hear his parents' voices as he hung his head low, carefully listening to the news report on the TV.

[The Rainy Night Murderer strikes again! The third murder case has happened in our city's Old City District!]

[The police have identified the suspect! Citizens, please do not panic, lock your doors and windows, and try not to go out late at night!]

The torrential rain pounded against the window glass, creating a stark contrast with the steaming hot meals inside the house.

"Why do you always watch these news?" Dad picked up the remote control, a bit worried, "Some media just like to increase their attention by focusing on insecurity and misfortune."

Gao Ming didn't respond. He stealthily shifted his gaze, surveying this warm little house.

All the walls were fitted with soundproof layers, coated with sound-absorbing paint, ensuring that unless something too violent happened inside, the neighbors would never know what was going on.

The living room had a brand new air-cooled refrigerator. This type of refrigerator used a fan to blow air inside to cool it, the meat stored doesn't spoil easily, and there's no odor.

The kitchen had a large amount of ziplock bags, just right to fit fist-sized chunks of meat, convenient for carrying. Under the counter was a heating agent that, when mixed with water, could accelerate the decomposition of meat. So...part of the meat was hidden in the refrigerator, part was taken out to bury and disperse?

Behind the bathroom door, there was a plastic leak-proof film, enough to cover the entire bathroom. It seemed like 'the meat' had been processed there.

Of course, 'the meat' that needed processing in the bathroom wasn't any ordinary meat.

Just by looking at the clean and tidy floor, Gao Ming's mind was already conjuring certain unpleasant scenes.

The room's overall decoration style was cozy, but his hands trembled slightly.

"Come, eat the cake, your dad and I braved the heavy rain to bring it back." After washing her hands, Mom opened the cake box and meticulously inserted eighteen candles on top.

"Eighteen candles..." Gao Ming was twenty-six years old this year; the number of candles was wrong.

"Make a wish?" Dad lit the candles, and Mom turned off the lights.

The darkness enveloped the living room, the flames flickering and reflecting on Dad and Mom's faces, who stared at Gao Ming, their smiles identical in the dim light.

Truly identical, even the angle at which the corners of their mouths curled was exactly the same.

Gao Ming could feel his parents getting closer, their bodies seemingly mutating in areas not reached by the light of the flames.

"I hope that Dad and Mom can stay with me forever." Since his parents had come home, this was the first time Gao Ming had spoken. Actually, Gao Ming loved his dad and mom very much, and they loved him too, no matter how busy, they always came back to see him every night.

The lights turned back on, and Gao Ming's back was soaked with cold sweat. He took the candles off one by one, wiping them clean before placing them into a tin box, which already contained many candles.

"Wishes won't come true if you say them out loud, next time just wish in your heart," said Dad, who seemed famished and ate voraciously, while Mom doted on Gao Ming and used her chopsticks to serve him some food.

Gao Ming didn't touch the food he had prepared, placing a piece of cake in front of himself instead. He silently counted his heartbeats, gently rubbing the calluses on his fingertips.

["We interrupt for an urgent news update! The Rainy Night Murderer may have possibly fled into a residential area! We remind citizens in the Old City District once again to lock your doors and windows, and never open them for strangers!"]

["Based on clues provided by the police, the Rainy Night Murderer is between the ages of twenty and thirty, and stands from one meter seventy-five to one meter eighty-five tall..."]

About fifteen minutes later, after observing his parents' condition, Gao Ming scooped a piece of the cream with a spoon and put it into his mouth.

The creamy flavor was rich, the sweetness melting in his mouth as if he had swallowed a whole fairy tale.

"Bang!"

Mom, preparing to get up to serve soup, collapsed to the floor. Her arms flailed unconsciously, and her eyelids slowly grew heavy, unable to stay open.

Seeing his wife fall, Dad tried to help her up, but he felt as if his body was filled with lead, even moving his feet was difficult.

"I might have used a bit too much, although it's not the first time I've done this, I still get nervous." Gao Ming's hands stopped trembling, he looked at his parents, who lay on the floor, with a strange expression on his face.

"I still can't understand why things turned out this way. Is it me who's insane, or is it the world?" Gao Ming opened the wardrobe, took out the restraints used for binding psychiatric patients, and expertly tied up his dad and mom.

The news about the Rainy Night Murderer continued on the TV, the storm raged on, but it all seemed irrelevant to Gao Ming.

He strained to drag his unconscious father and mother, pulling them to the bedroom door.

Gao Ming loved his father and mother dearly, and they loved him just as much, coming to see him every evening no matter how busy they were, but...

He pushed the bedroom door open with force, and the chains clattered, unfamiliar yet familiar faces staring straight at Gao Ming with eerie smiles on their faces!

The bedroom was filled with fathers and mothers!

Their bodies were entwined and intertwined!

The expressions on their faces were nothing like those a human could make!

Gao Ming's father and mother would return every night, but the ones who came back didn't seem to be his real father and mother. Even if he tied them up, new father and mother would still return at night!

"Are they humans? Or monsters? Or monsters that look like humans?"

As their mouths slowly opened wide, the fathers and mothers tied up in the bedroom saw Gao Ming, veins bulged in their eyes as if they were fish thrown ashore, desperately shaking their bodies. As they struggled violently, a hoarse voice began to emit from their throats—Stay here!

Stay here!!!