A bloody rain poured down in sheets, shrouding the entire town.
The ruined buildings glistened with a crimson sheen, and the bloodstains that covered every corner made the place resemble a giant internal organ.
Whispers drifted from the dark alleys, the strange sounds of crawling things echoed through the streets, and the piercing screech of beating wings filled the sky.
All these sounds echoed in Lu Li's ears.
The Head Balloons danced on the wind, terrifying Night Demons soared through the air, and from the dark windows of the houses, black silhouettes observed the scene.
Lu Li's dark eyes reflected the scene on the street.
A light breeze stirred, and the streams of bloody rain slanted.
The Head Balloons turned away, the Night Demons flew off, and the black silhouettes in the windows vanished.
Splash.
A rubber boot stepped into a puddle.
Lu Li, who had been watching from a dark alley, stepped out onto the street. JoJo and Frank hurried after him.
Frank was hunched over, trying to make himself as small as possible, but he soon noticed Lu Li walking with his back straight—like a gentleman on an errand, not a fugitive trying to hide.
Following his lead, JoJo straightened up as well, only glancing around from ti to ti.
The crouching Frank fell behind. To catch up, he had no choice but to straighten up and quicken his pace. He whispered, "Should... should we really be walking out in the open like this?"
"The street is completely exposed. Even a stone rolling across it would draw attention."
That's why Lu Li had chosen a different tactic: cross the street quickly, before the surrounding creatures could take notice.
And he almost succeeded.
The shifting wind sent the nearby Head Balloons spinning. Suddenly, one of them stopped, its painted face—twisted into a grotesque smile—turning toward the trio in the middle of the street.
Then the other faces turned as well.
JoJo, keeping watch, was the first to spot the floating heads. She tugged at the edge of Lu Li's fleshy wing.
"Don't look them in the eyes!" Frank warned.
JoJo quickly looked away, watching the balloons only out of the corner of her eye.
"Run."
Lu Li dropped all pretense and broke into a sprint toward the building across the street.
JoJo and Frank took off after him. The sound of their footsteps splashing through puddles echoed down the street.
Creak.
The door to the cafe across the way creaked open on its own, revealing a dark entryway.
The trio scrambled inside, and the door slamd shut behind them, the bolt sliding ho.
Once inside the cafe, Lu Li, JoJo, and Frank backed away from the entrance, staring at the door and breathing heavily.
Knock, knock.
JoJo flinched at the soft knock on the door and blinked.
The creatures couldn't get in.
Frank muttered bitterly, "I... I saw Aunt Sophia out there... Did she really turn into... one of those things?!"
After his parents died, his neighbor, Aunt Sophia, had often helped him.
Lu Li surveyed the ground floor of the cafe. In the gloom, the outlines of tables and chairs were shrouded in haze, as if the place had long been abandoned.
"Are those balloons the town's residents?" he asked, turning to Frank.
"They were, once... I saw them... turning into those monsters..." Frank was reluctant to relive the horrific mory, but he forced himself to tell Lu Li. "I saw Old Man Josen... after he beca a balloon, he floated over to his neighbor and his son, little Josen. The neighbors ran away screaming, but little Josen just stood there, staring up at his 'father'—a floating head with a sad face. The boy reached out to touch it, but the head dodged, and the 'string' attached to it wrapped around little Josen's neck. And then... then..."
Frank’s eyes flew wide, his body shaking in terror. "...little Josen’s head also floated up into the air, his spine stretching out to beco the balloon's string..."
For an ordinary person, such a sight would be enough to shatter their perception of reality and drive them insane.
After the cataclysm began, many townspeople had gone insane after witnessing things beyond their comprehension, only to be killed by the monsters.
Frank finished his story and noticed that Lu Li was looking away.
At that mont, JoJo gasped.
"Like that?"
A wave of anxiety washed over Frank. He turned to look where Lu Li and JoJo were staring and saw a sight that made his heart sink into his boots.
Crowded outside the window beside the door were the Head Balloons, their grotesque smiles fixed on the people inside. Among them was a woman's face with a sorrowful expression, staring directly at Frank.
"Aunt Sophia..."
Frank took an involuntary step toward the window. The balloons outside stirred like startled spirits. But in the next instant, Frank caught himself, took a step back, and shook his head, muttering:
"No, she's dead. You're just using her body!"
The "Aunt Sophia" outside the window didn't react, continuing to watch in silent sorrow.
"You're right, she's dead. And those things outside are just monsters," JoJo said soothingly to the weeping Frank.
Suddenly, the balloons outside the cafe parted and drifted away, "Aunt Sophia" among them.
Frank stood still, staring out at the street with reddened eyes.
"They're gone...?" JoJo asked quietly.
Apparently not.
The Head Balloons appeared at the side window of the cafe.
JoJo imdiately understood. She looked at Frank, who was standing in the middle of the room, and said, "They're following you... Can they still recognize you?"
"Perhaps not."
Lu Li took off the fleshy wing he was wearing and tossed it to Frank. "Put this on."
Frank caught the wing out of reflex. Coming to his senses, he imitated JoJo and draped it over his shoulders.
The effect was imdiate. The Head Balloons once again crowded around the window, this ti the one closest to Lu Li. The sorrow on "Aunt Sophia's" face was gone, replaced by the sa grotesque smile as all the others.
The Head Balloons and the Night Demons didn't attack each other. They served the sa evil god.
Certain of this, Lu Li continued his line of reasoning.
The followers of the Mother of the Swamp had reacted strangely to the touch of a Night Demon's fleshy wing. Given the conflict between the two evil gods, it was safe to assu the Head Balloons and Night Demons served a different, unknown evil god.
The six-limbed creatures and the Shadow People that inhabited the Shadow Swamp served the Mother of the Swamp.
The nature of the Faceless Shadows was still a mystery, as was that of any other creatures they had yet to encounter.
Knock, knock.
The Head Balloons tapped softly against the window before the wind caught them and carried them away.
"They've vanished."
JoJo breathed a sigh of relief. Being watched by a crowd of severed heads wasn't pleasant, even if she hadn't been their focus.
Lu Li didn't share her relief. He lifted his head to stare at the dark ceiling, his dark eyes seeming to pierce right through the wooden floorboards to the second story.
CRASH!
As if to confirm his suspicions, a loud crash echoed from the floor above, as though sothing heavy had just fallen.
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