NOVPUBThe blood-red glow gradually pervaded everything.
The footsteps from behind had disappeared without a trace.
The world seemed to have fallen into a silent abyss.
Daniel swallowed hard, mustering the courage to take a step forward.
There was no stir within his line of sight.
He leaned slightly, listening intently to the left and right, but no sound reached his ears.
Advancing further, Daniel quickly reached the location from where the red glow emanated.
The fog remained as thick as ever, and even with his face nearly touching the source of the red luminance, he couldn’t discern what it truly was.
Daniel hesitated slightly, murmuring, "It doesn’t look like an eye... Could it just be a light bulb?"
He extended his hand, tentatively touching the spot radiating the red light.
Hiss!
A piercing pain forced Daniel to retract his hand instinctively.
The touch was cold, yet strangely soft.
He couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but he was certain it wasn’t a light bulb.
What?!
To Daniel’s horror, he realized that the ’light bulb’ had stuck to the palm of his hand.
Even more terrifying was the clear sensation of the soft ’light bulb’ ceaselessly twisting and writhing, having pierced through the skin on his palm and burrowing into his flesh.
A chilling agony swiftly engulfed him, a pain far surpassing the cumulative anguish of hundreds of deaths.
Daniel clutched his injured right hand, his face distorted with pain as he fell to the ground.
The pain caused his body to convulse uncontrollably.
The red object delved deeper into his flesh, beginning to invade other parts of Daniel’s body.
It felt as if hundreds and thousands of worms were wriggling forward along his right arm, eventually reaching every corner of his body.
The pain throughout the process was intolerable; veins on his forehead bulged violently and several teeth shattered from the pressure.
It was as if even his soul was being deep-fried in a vat of oil.
Had it not been for his endurance, honed through countless painful deaths, he would have been unable to bear it.
Soon, Daniel realized that something seemed to have changed in his body.
The fog enveloping his surroundings started dissipating swiftly.
His field of vision gradually expanded, allowing him to see everything around him with startling clarity.
It felt as though the fog had completely retreated, yet it lingered still.
It was his vision that had undergone a massive transformation, seeming to bestow upon him the ability to see through everything.
The pain ebbed slowly amid Daniel’s ceaseless anguished groans.
In the span of a few short minutes, he felt as if he had endured thousands of deaths all over again, if not more horrifically.
He lay nearly depleted on the ground, gulping large breaths of air.
Every part of his body continued to twitch faintly, subtly.
After a good while, he regained his composure.
Lifting his right arm to inspect it, he found it unharmed, showing no signs of abnormality — even his palm bore no marks of injury.
The soft red entity seemed to have evaporated entirely.
"What on earth just happened? Was it another illusion?" Daniel pondered as he sat up, taking a moment to catch his breath, the atmosphere dense with uncertainty and the echoes of lingering pain.
The next moment, his pupils suddenly focused, leaving him stunned once again.
Under the special alteration of his vision, he could grasp the full scope of the surroundings in great detail.
He realized he was situated in the very courtyard where a coffin was positioned in the living room.
Before him stood a tree, its trunk in a state of decay, resembling rotting flesh.
However, its crown was unusually grand and lush, seemingly harboring potent life force.
From the tangled, disorderly branches hung desiccated corpses, the branches functioning like living tendrils digging into the bodies, exhibiting a slight writhing motion.
Daniel could see the blood being drained drop by drop from the bodies, traveling along the branches and nourishing the trunk.
The previously decaying tree began to regain a hint of vitality.
He had a vague sense that this tree was a living entity, possessing a self-consciousness akin to humans.
Furthermore, he noticed that the empty eye sockets of the dried corpses hanging from the branches appeared to be staring directly at him, invoking a hair-raising sensation.
Daniel lifted his hand, taking another look at his palm.
His throat moved involuntarily, swallowing hard as he saw his right hand — the flesh split open from the wrist to below the middle finger.
A red spherical object wriggled out, rolling around for several rounds before revealing itself —
A red eyeball!
Simultaneously, a strange perspective emerged in Daniel’s mind.
Astonishingly, he could see his own face; the image perceived by the eyeball in his palm could be transmitted into his mind.
It was eerie, bizarre, and somewhat nauseating.
Anyone would find an eye growing in the palm of their hand revolting.
However, Daniel quickly regained his calm.
Looking up at the strange tree before him, he suddenly understood.
Perhaps, this tree was the Blood-eyed Monster Wes had spoken of.
He could faintly feel that the life force of this tree was extremely weak, dissipating at a rapid pace. Perhaps, for this very reason, it chose to parasitize its eye onto him.
But... why specifically him?
Daniel couldn’t understand.
He looked again at the red eye that had emerged in his hand, unsure whether to greet it with joy or sorrow.
He couldn’t tell if this entity harbored malice towards him; a shadow of uncertainty and apprehension enveloped his heart, an unease that refused to be dispelled.
Just then, the large tree in front of him collapsed thunderously.
The dried corpses that had hung from it were now pinned beneath its massive girth, driven and crushed under its fall.
Through the eye in his palm, he could see it still harbored a sliver of life force.
Daniel stepped forward, preparing to take action.
Yet, the eyeball in his hand persistently transmitted a train of thought to his mind, dissuading him from destroying the tree.
Daniel calmly observed the fallen tree, then turned his gaze to the shattered, crushed corpses that once hung from it.
He didn’t know whether this decision was right, yet chose to turn away and leave.
It wasn’t the influence of the red eye swaying him; rather, a persistent feeling within him echoed that keeping the tree alive was, somehow, the best course for him.
…
Inside the inn.
Alex and the others were anxiously waiting, casting frequent glances towards the door.
Mike bit his lip, saying, "We shouldn’t have let Daniel go alone. If he dies out there, we are really screwed."
Julia nodded, standing up decisively, "I’m going to find him." As she spoke, she turned to head out.
Quick to respond, Mike rose too, "Wait, I’m coming with you."
Alex promptly intervened, "Sit down, wait quietly."
The two turned back, faces ridden with anxiety, "How can we just sit at a time like this?"
Alex reasoned, "You should trust Daniel. He chose to go alone, without us, for a reason. Don’t act impulsively and make things more chaotic for him."
"But…"
Mike and Julia hesitated, before reluctantly sitting back down, not yet pacified.
As the trio exchanged words, Wes’ curiosity reached its peak, prompting him to ask, "What’s the deal with this Daniel? I can understand these two, but Alex, why are you overly confident in him?"
Alex maintained a stern face, choosing not to respond.
Mike shifted the topic, "At a time like this, you still have the mood for gossip? Better pray for Daniel to come back safely. Otherwise, we’ll be trapped in a lethal predicament."
The more it was left unsaid, the more curious Wes became.
It was apparent that there was a significant secret about Daniel.
Once back, he resolved to have his organization conduct a thorough investigation into Daniel.
Of course, that was contingent on their safe return. With this realization, Wes sighed heavily.
At that moment, a figure entered from outside.
It was Daniel.
The instant they saw Daniel, a wave of relief washed over everyone.
Mike was the first to snap back to reality, "Don’t celebrate too soon, it might be an illusion. Let me ask."
"Hold on, who am I in love with?"
Daniel walked straight to the table, looking at Mike as if he were an idiot, "In love with your mom."
He then turned to the other three, "It’s taken care of. Now only the tentacle monster remains. I searched just now but couldn’t find it. Once we eliminate it, our mission is accomplished."
Hearing these words, faces of Alex and the others brightened immensely, the looming dread within them dispersing like mist in the wind.
Mike was still discerning the authenticity of Daniel, "In love with your mom?"
"He got it wrong, he’s a fake!"
Julia rolled her eyes, "Your mom is right here, isn’t she?"
Before Mike could grasp what was going on, he saw Alex and the others following Daniel out of the inn.
He hurriedly followed, calling out, "What’s going on? He answered wrongly, he is fake, why are you following him?"
…
At this moment, the mist that had blanketed the small town had completely dispersed.
In his heart, Daniel became even more convinced that the grand tree was indeed the Blood-eyed Monster.
They scoured the small town, yet there was no sign of the tentacle monster to be found.
Daniel speculated that perhaps, with the death of the Blood-eyed Monster, the tentacle monster had gained its freedom and left.
The others felt there was some merit to this theory.
Yet, to be absolutely certain, they meticulously searched every home, leaving no stone unturned.
Not until nightfall, when they confirmed that the tentacle monster had indeed left, could they declare that the supernatural events plaguing the town had temporarily come to an end.
The elders in the town had all been illusions crafted by the Blood-eyed Monster, their real forms being the dried corpses hung upon the great tree.
And with the death — or perhaps more accurately, the disappearance — of the Blood-eyed Monster, the illusions had vanished as well.
Isaac town had descended into a profound silence. 𝘯𝘰𝑣𝘱𝑢𝘣.𝑐𝑜𝑚
A silence marked by the absence of a single soul.
