He peed…

The middle-aged man looked at the trembling old dog cowering under the bed, a puzzled expression on his face.

His first reaction wasn't to scold it, but to look towards the owner's residence through the glass window.

Slowly, a mix of confusion and oddness surfaced in his eyes.

A few seconds later, as if he suddenly realized something, his pupils contracted sharply, and his trembling eyes were filled with fear.

Inside the fortress-like attic, in a dim corner, a burly figure tried to shrink himself into a small ball.

He curled up his knees, hugging himself tightly, just like… what that person used to do to him when they were still around.

Tears slid down silently, his swollen eyes staring intently at the wall in front of him.

He was waiting, waiting for the only warm person in this world to return.

"Jiejie…" he sobbed in a hoarse voice.

If the middle-aged man on duty in the guard room were to see this, he would find that the burly man's pitiful appearance was strikingly similar to the old dog under the bed, except that it lacked a sense of fear.

"Buzz…"

Just before the iron gate was about to disappear, it reopened amidst swirling gray mist.

A thin, small figure emerged from the iron gate.

In an instant, the man huddled in the corner's eyes lit up, and he abruptly stood up, staggering towards the figure.

Only when he embraced the figure, truly feeling the warmth of the petite body in his arms, did he feel at ease.

"Jiejie…"

The figure seemed extremely tired, but still raised a hand, affectionately rubbing the burly man's face, ears, and the corners of his hair, smiling and saying, "Don't cry, Jiejie… is back."

The bear-like giant cried even harder.

The woman's expression became somewhat helpless. Every time they reunited after leaving the nightmare, this was the scene that played out between the siblings in reality.

"If you don't let go," Su Xiaoxiao said with a wry smile, "Jiejie won't be able to breathe."

Hearing this, Su An immediately released her, squatting in front of his sister with a serious expression, staring at her with undisguised concern in his eyes.

The contrast between his burly frame and the timid look in his eyes was striking.

Far from being fierce, the man was almost adorable.

She smiled and reached out, first poking his nose, then ruffling his hair with both hands.

Shaking his head, Su An grinned, revealing a simple, honest smile.

Su Xiaoxiao's love for her younger brother was undeniable. After their parents passed away, the two siblings depended on each other in the large mansion.

This was true in life and in nightmares.

"Jiejie," Su An, leaning on Su Xiaoxiao's shoulder on the night the biker girl disappeared, secretly leaned in and told her something mysterious.

He took a long time to explain before Su Xiaoxiao understood. He meant that the old woman represented white with a hint of gray, while her shadow was pure white, even transparent.

The old woman and her shadow… were separate, two different entities.

Soon after arriving here, Su An noticed the abnormality in the old woman, but Su Xiaoxiao still found it difficult to accept such a direct statement.

A shadow… how could it be?

Most importantly… her brother said that he didn't sense any malice from the transparent shadow.

This was why she finally decided to leave her brother alone.

However… what truly shocked and even despaired Su Xiaoxiao was her brother's next statement.

He stared at her weakly, then secretly expressed something else.

Su Xiaoxiao looked at her brother with a strange expression, until the latter nodded in confirmation.

Immediately, Su Xiaoxiao felt a chill run down her spine.

She was frightened by her brother's statement.

Unprecedented fear spread through her body. She lowered her head, staring intently at the ground beneath her feet, her slender, taut calves trembling erratically.

She tried her best to suppress it, hoping to regain control of this body before anyone noticed her abnormality.

But she obviously failed, and it was at this moment that she was targeted by Chen Ran, who was squinting in the darkness.

According to her brother's description, they were currently sitting on a huge object.

And the most terrifying thing was that it was alive, conscious, and had a life of its own!

Because… in her brother's subconscious, it represented black.

The same black as that man named Hao Shuai…

When she barely managed to suppress her emotions and asked her brother in as steady a tone as possible how big this object, no, this… living thing, actually was.

Her brother was unusually silent, and then he seemed to fall into some kind of contemplation.

Until finally, he slowly raised his head and made a strange gesture with his hand.

A moment later, Su Xiaoxiao, blinking her eyes, felt a chill rise from her feet and then rush to her head.

Because Su An couldn't normally interact with the world, a large part of his understanding of the world came from television documentaries.

According to her brother's description, he was talking about an iceberg.

A huge iceberg floating on the water.

And by extension, what he was really trying to express was that even the entire island that was visible above the water was just the tip of the iceberg of that thing.

Terrifying…

Whenever she thought of that mysterious behemoth, countless fragmented images flooded Su Xiaoxiao's mind.

Some were like video clips, while others were just meaningless wails and roars…

But without exception, they all gave Su Xiaoxiao a strange sense of vicissitude.

Gasping for breath, she felt as if she was drowning in deep water, suffocating.

All around was dark, deep water.

Confused, helpless, and silent… she could even feel the heavy, mountain-like gaze from behind her.

That thing was watching her…

Infinite darkness enveloped her, invading her, destroying her from spirit to flesh, and then rebuilding her. She seemed to have lost something, and something new began to… open its eyes within this shell.

She staggered backward, and her brother Su An instinctively reached out to grab her, but she rudely pushed him away. She leaned alone against the wall where the iron gate had just disappeared, covered in sweat.

"Jiejie," Su An stared at her anxiously, like a child who didn't know what was happening.

"I… I'm tired," Su Xiaoxiao said quickly, stumbling towards her bedroom.

Before Su An could react, Su Xiaoxiao had already pushed open the bedroom door and slammed it shut.

In the large attic, only Su An's figure remained…

No!

He wasn't the only one!

Su An's originally dim eyes suddenly lit up.

He stared intently at the spot where his sister had been standing, then slowly shifted his gaze to the wall beside him… a thin, small shadow, seven or eight points similar to his sister, lingered there.

The next moment, the shadow shattered into pieces.