Seeing Lauren’s abnormally strong reaction, we all felt a strange unease and turned to look at the statue. We discovered, to our shock, that a trickle of blood was seeping from a small hole in the statue’s forehead.

This blood flowed out of the tiny aperture, trickled down the statue’s weathered nose, ran along its chin, and then dripped down the neck. We all found this blood deeply unsettling; perhaps it was simply the bizarre nature of seeing a stone sculpture bleed at all.

Once the initial astonishment subsided, curiosity drew us back. We approached for a closer inspection of the “blood.” Nobita squatted down, dabbed some onto his finger, sniffed it near his nose, and let out an emphatic curse.

When we asked what was wrong, he wiped his finger on the ground and declared, “This isn’t blood, for Christ’s sake—it’s mud. It stinks to high heaven.” Hearing this, we became puzzled and crowded around for a look.

Upon closer inspection, we all recognized it as sludge, not blood. But why was mud leaking from the statue’s forehead?

This only deepened the mystery. We attempted to climb the statue again to examine the hole in the forehead, even trying to push the structure together as a group, but made absolutely no progress.

It was then that André glanced at the sky and announced, “We’re wasting too much time here. My best guess is that these stone figures are part of some drainage system; that’s why this is happening.” Clearly, André’s explanation didn’t hold water.

Draining sewage from such a height onto the street would not only splash pedestrians but cover the entire thoroughfare in filth—a truly disgusting prospect. However, no one had a better idea, as we couldn't afford to spend any more time investigating peripheral details.

So, we had no choice but to follow the tracks left by * and see where he had ultimately gone. Yet, as we exited the dead end, Lauren continued to bark incessantly toward where we had come from.

I couldn't decipher what Lauren was trying to convey, but I instinctively felt it signaled no good news. Following *’s footprints, we retraced our steps to the previous area.

Looking ahead along the tracks, *’s subsequent direction was the same as ours—toward the lighthouse. The footprints disappeared into a narrow gap between the houses.

Without pausing, we too followed that crevice forward. Lauren led the way.

Even though the thin mist hadn't completely lifted and the dog could vanish at any moment, I had no intention of restraining him. Because Lauren’s objective differed from ours; he only needed to find his master.

As I was thinking this, Lauren suddenly barked again ahead of us. We hurried to catch up, but Lauren was nowhere in sight.

Glancing around frantically, I muttered to myself, “Talk about coincidence! The moment I thought Lauren might get lost, he actually disappears!” I called out Lauren’s name a few times, but there was no response from the surroundings.

Lauren’s vanishing act was as instantaneous as the appearance of *’s footprints. I grew anxious, worried that something might have happened to the dog.

Then, Nobita pointed to the ground and exclaimed, “Look, look! There seem to be new footprints here, probably made very recently.

The mud is still wet!” I crouched down to examine the spot Nobita indicated. Sure enough, a few fresh prints were pressed into the dirt.

The mud on these tracks was not just damp but distinctly sticky, indicating they were very new. It was obvious that the appearance of this set of footprints was directly connected to Lauren’s disappearance.

Could it be that * had quietly spirited Lauren away? The moment that thought surfaced, a more terrifying possibility struck me: perhaps the owner of those tracks wasn't * at all.

There was no point in guessing wildly here, so we all cupped our hands around our mouths and shouted. Some called out *’s name, others yelled for Lauren.

But after only a few calls, André leaped out from behind us and made a sharp silencing gesture toward each of us in turn. Then, he whispered urgently, “Look at these few houses before us—they’re barely damaged.

What did I say earlier? You cannot speak loudly near the underground tunnels or next to well-preserved residences!” Seeing André’s tension, I lowered my voice.

“What should we do? We can’t just let Lauren vanish like this, can we?” As soon as I finished speaking, Liang Qian, standing next to me, tapped my arm and whispered with the utmost restraint, “Look over there!

Something seems to be happening.” I turned my head in the direction she indicated and saw one of the houses in the alley to our right. Its door was slowly being pushed open by some unseen force, and an incredibly thick plume of fog began to flow out.

Within that mist, a dark silhouette seemed to be struggling to emerge. I stared, utterly transfixed.

What on earth was this? Was it truly a ghost or one of those Sea Wives André had mentioned, residing in the intact houses?

I kept my gaze fixed on the door as it opened further, curiosity overriding caution. At that moment, Nobita voiced the exact thought I’d been suppressing: “Is that ugly Sea Wife about to come out?

Perfect, I haven’t seen a live one yet. Let me go take a look!” With that, Nobita snatched the tool André was holding and strode toward the door.

Just then, the dark-clad woman behind us cursed the fool who didn't know his limits and grabbed Nobita’s sleeve from behind. Nobita turned, recognized her, and asked bluntly, “What’s wrong?

Don’t stand in my way, Old Man Nobita.” The dark-clad woman replied, “You can’t handle this thing. If Lauren was taken by creatures like this, then going after him now would be meaningless.” Nobita shook his arm free of the young woman’s grasp and marched toward the house, declaring, “I don’t believe in *s or any of that nonsense.” With these words, Nobita reached the doorstep of the house.

The door was already halfway open. Nobita gripped the handle and pulled with sheer force, ripping the entire rotted door off its hinges.

We all held our breath for Nobita, but he merely tossed the door onto the ground and burst into laughter, pointing back at the floor. “Is this the thing you said I couldn’t afford to provoke?” I knew that if Nobita was laughing, everything was fine, so I let out a sigh of relief.

Then, Nobita made two sharp sounds—"Yo, yo?"—and quickly stepped back two paces, muttering, “You little squirt, are you trying to rebel?” It was then that we all clearly saw the occupant: a large, black crab inside the doorway. The crab’s body was easily half a meter long, and its two claws, held erect, probably reached Nobita’s knees.

It was currently tilting its head back, preparing to strike. I recognized this type of crustacean; it was a common fiddler crab found near the coast, just much larger than usual.

But precisely because it was so large, it looked incredibly appetizing. However, I couldn’t focus on catching it for a meal now.

I urged Nobita, “Since you’re fine, let’s go. It’s getting late.” I actually directed this comment toward the dark-clad woman and André, as they were too quick to believe legends and were easily frightened.

I intended to tease them slightly for their superstition, but when I turned around, only Liang Qian remained. André and the dark-clad woman had vanished.

A wave of panic hit me. I urgently asked Liang Qian, “What happened?

Where are the two people behind you?” Liang Qian had also been watching Nobita. She turned back, her expression mirroring my own shock, and after a long pause, managed to say, “They… they were just here a moment ago!” Faced with this bizarre occurrence, we all felt a jolt of fear and immediately spun around to search, shouting their names everywhere.

But like Lauren, these two had disappeared without a trace. Nobita returned from the house, carrying the large crab in his hand, and asked, “What’s going on?

Where are André and the others?” I turned to explain, but as I did, I saw an extremely grotesque face appear right on Nobita’s abdomen. It was the face of a pale, fanged ghoul, with enormous eye sockets, its mouth seemingly chewing on something.

Most unsettling were the strands of hair on its head—four braids on each side, writhing like snakes. I recoiled in fright, taking two quick steps back, and exclaimed to Nobita, “Y-Your stomach has a face on it!” Nobita looked down at his own stomach in confusion, then let out a sharp yelp, relaxing his grip so that the giant crab scurried free.

It was only then I realized that the face we had just seen was merely the underside of the fiddler crab. But for a crab’s belly to manifest into such a monstrous, human-like visage was utterly bizarre, instantly killing any appetite I had.

Seeing the crab dart rapidly into the nearby ruins, I sighed in relief and explained to Nobita the sudden disappearance of André and the others. Nobita was equally bewildered and turned back with us to search.

However, I noticed that the surrounding mist was growing thicker, perhaps due to the onset of night. The reduced visibility greatly hindered our search efforts, but despite this, we spotted what seemed to be several more muddy footprints on the ground.

This time, the strange mud tracks were not moving from one fixed direction to another; instead, they radiated outward in all directions. Our party was now at a standstill.

We could only stand in place, shouting and scanning the surroundings, hoping André and the others would suddenly reappear. But the result was disappointing; André and the others were truly missing.

“Look over there!” Just as we were feeling utterly helpless, Liang Qian suddenly cried out. We turned to ask what was wrong, but instead, we witnessed an extraordinary sight.

Through the intensifying fog, a colossal form was traversing the very street we had just walked down. Because of the dense mist, all we could make out was a massive, dark ridge, stretching over ten meters in length, passing silently by.