Though charcoal can be preserved for a millennium without spoiling, the island's climate was damp after all, and this charcoal had taken on moisture.

I exerted tremendous effort, yet I couldn't get the charcoal lit.

At this moment, the sky outside was slowly darkening; night was fast approaching.

The nights on Durban Island were always the same: the dimmer the light grew, the thicker the fog became.

The fog, dense as cream, seemed to seep out from the cracks in the walls, making one think, if they didn't know better, that a fire had broken out somewhere outside.

Watching this mist, my heart clenched with anxiety, for it felt like an omen that what happened with Andre on the island that other day was about to repeat itself.

We’ve already lost one person, and the remaining two are paralyzed. If any real danger were to strike now, we would surely all end up dead right here.

Seeing the fog endlessly pouring in through the doorway, I knew the most urgent matter was to get a fire started.

Even a small flame would at least offer me some psychological comfort.

It was then that I remembered I had a box of strike-anywhere matches in my backpack.

Ever since that experience in Black Bamboo Valley, I had developed a peculiar attachment to matches, carrying a box with me everywhere.

This time, I had specifically purchased a waterproof, tin-cased box.

Matches wouldn't light the damp charcoal that the lighter couldn't ignite.

But I could pour the lighter fluid out and then use the lighter to ignite it, eliminating the risk of failure.

Indeed, as soon as I tried it, a flame sprang to life.

As the flames flickered, a subtle warmth instantly filled the room, and in the firelight, the faces of the two women appeared considerably better.

Only Da Xiong, lying stiffly in the distance, remained unchanged.

Logically, I should have been frightened, but knowing it was Da Xiong—even in death—I felt no fear at all, only a strange melancholy.

I decided to let Da Xiong lie there for the night; tomorrow, I would first find firewood and then arrange for his passage.

I didn't know if the two women were hungry, but I was starving.

So, I took out a can, warmed it over the fire, and began to eat.

This was my favorite canned soybean, filling better than fruit preserves, tastier than eight-treasure porridge, and wonderfully savory and soft, never growing tiresome no matter how much I ate.

I couldn't afford to be squeamish. Though Da Xiong was dead, I still had to conserve my energy to carry on the responsibility he hadn't fulfilled.

Just as I was savoring my meal, a sudden burst of white light flashed at the doorway.

With a soybean still hanging from my lip, I was stunned by the sight before me.

Could it be...? A cold sweat instantly broke out on my forehead, and I scrambled toward the door.

Bursting out the door, I saw, not far down the street, a ball of white light hovering twenty or thirty meters above the ground, moving slowly.

Beneath the sphere of light, a shadow, more than two meters tall, was advancing slowly in my direction.

I knew this was the thing that had captured Liang Qian and killed Da Xiong; I hadn't expected it to be capable of moving freely.

Seeing the dark silhouette methodically searching from house to house made my heart sink.

In this situation, if it spotted us, we would all die.

Never mind the terrifying black shadow; if that sonic wave attacked again, we would be instantly vibrated to death.

Realizing this, I understood the situation was utterly critical.

I rushed back inside, kicked the stove over, and stomped out the embers one by one.

Then, I slung Liang Qian onto my back, climbed to the second floor, set her down, and returned for Long Jia, hoisting her up as well.

By this time, the light outside was drawing closer.

I glanced at Da Xiong on the floor, knowing it would be too late to move him to the second floor now.

But surely the black shadow wouldn't be interested in the dead?

Thinking this, I gritted my teeth, abandoned the idea of moving Da Xiong, and ran up to the second floor.

The white sphere was approaching fast; white light was already stabbing through the window opening on the second floor, and I could make out the outline of the white light ball.

I crouched down behind the low wall beside the bed and moved the two women closer as well.

With my heart hammering against my ribs, the white light drew ever nearer to our house.

And the eerie black shadow, projected by the white light onto the thick fog, was now visible—like a movie playing—casting a giant silhouette in the mist.

Seeing the shadow flicker across the white light filtering through the window, I knew that thing was now on the street, just one wall away from us.

I assumed the light sphere and the shadow would pass by our house slowly, just as they had with the other buildings.

But the thing I least wanted to see happened.

The light sphere paused outside, motionless, as if it had sensed something within our house.

My heart began to pound wildly, and I silently prayed, "Don't find Da Xiong, don't find Da Xiong..."

But after only a few muttered words, that piercing, grating noise sounded again.

I froze, almost forgetting to cover my ears.

Fortunately, the noise lasted only a few seconds this time, but I still had a stream of blood running from my nose.

Then I heard a commotion downstairs—like someone moving a heavy object, or perhaps smashing things carelessly—it was bone-chilling.

"Da Xiong... what did they do to Da Xiong?" I jolted upright from the floor, ready to descend the stairs.

Just then, a slender hand grabbed my trouser leg.

I turned to see Liang Qian, who had woken up at some unknown point.

She spoke to me in a weak voice, "Don't go. Da Xiong... is already dead."

I gritted my teeth and replied, "It's precisely because he's dead that I can't let his body be defiled."

Liang Qian held fast to me, shaking her head violently, her face frighteningly pale.

It was then I realized Liang Qian had woken up because the sonic wave had disturbed her, and her physical condition must be even worse than before.

So, I quickly helped her sit down to rest properly.

But just at that moment, the white light outside began to dim, and the black shadow seemed to recede.

Only when the ball of white light had moved far away did I recklessly charge downstairs.

Then I saw that Da Xiong’s corpse was gone; only the military knife he carried remained on the ground.

I ran madly out the door, but the white light and the shadow had vanished, leaving only muddy footprints on the road surface.

I followed the footprints forward, but after only a few steps, I heard a scream erupt from Liang Qian on the second floor.