"Uncle,"
Outside the flower shop with the shutter door closed, a polite little boy about seven or eight years old, carrying a backpack, asked the clerk of the neighboring flower shop, "Did my dad come back today?
"No, didn't your dad say he was going to Yunnan to buy stock? That's very far away, and I don't know how many days it will take."
The clerk shook his head, "You can go home and ask your mom."
Mom.
Upon hearing this word, the expression of the little boy suddenly stiffened. He politely bid farewell to the clerk, dragging his heavy steps, wandering beneath the patchy shadows of the airborne floral waterfalls in the flower market.
His mom was not human.
Or rather, his mom had been replaced by something that was not human.
From about a week ago, Mom had started acting abnormally. She no longer picked him up from school, stayed at home all day with a green facial mask on, and never took it off.
There was no cooking at home; he and his four-year-old sister had to eat bread, milk, and cereal for three meals a day.
In the middle of the night, he saw Mom burying her head in the refrigerator, from which the sound of chewing meat could be heard.
Until three days ago, Mom finally took off the green facial mask and revealed a broad smile.
In his terrified expression, she realized for the first time that when people smile, they are not supposed to stretch their lips all the way down to below their ears.
Mom went back to normal.
On the surface.
She began cooking, going out, caring for him and his sister, and started getting up in the middle of the night to tuck them in.
But she couldn't remember her own birthday, forgot her allergy to shrimp and crabs, and forgot their pinky promises.
The little boy wandered aimlessly, his expression dazed.
Over the past three days, he tried staying in school after classes, but he ended up being taken home by his mom.
When he stayed over at a classmate's home, she would call to rush him home.
Even once, when he took his sister and ran to the police station to report that there was something wrong with his mom, she boldly came to the police station, showing her household register and ID, told the police officers that her son was under a lot of study pressures, didn't know better, and then took him home.
Ding-dong.
His Genius Phone Watch in his pocket vibrated; it was a call from her.
"Xiao An, when are you coming home? Mom made your favorite fatty char siu today," a tender female voice came through the phone, "It's really delicious."
Lies.
He used to love eating fatty char siu, indeed, but since visiting his grandparents a year ago and eating char siu for a month, he had stopped touching fatty meats—his real mom knew this.
He tried to make his voice sound more cheerful, "I'm playing at the Youth Palace with classmates, I'll come back later."
The tender voice said, "You should hurry up then, the sun is about to set. Your sister can hardly wait to eat."
"Brother! Save—"
The call abruptly ended.
He stared blankly at the phone, shivering.
Yes, Dad was about to return; if she didn't act now, she would lose her chance.
He made some kind of resolution, touched the dinner knife at the bottom of his backpack, and started walking towards home.
————
"As time rushes by, I only care about you~"
Just as he opened the door to his home, he heard his mom pleasantly humming in the semi-open kitchen.
The dining table in the living room was filled with dishes; his sister sat at the table with a terrified face, almost about to cry when she saw him.
"Is Xiao An back?"
Hearing the door open, Mom called out, "Just wait a bit, there's still one more dish of braised pork ribs."
"Alright."
He sat down at the dining table with his backpack, slowly shaking his head signaling his sister to keep silent.
"This batch of scallions isn't very fresh, so I won't sprinkle them on when the dish is done."
The sounds of cooking from the kitchen continued non-stop, and suddenly, mother poked her head from behind the living room's glass door, smiling cheerily at her children and asked, "Is that okay?"
He nodded subconsciously, and only after his mother retracted her head did he suddenly realize something, feeling a shiver down his spine.
There are about two meters from the open kitchen to the living room.
But when mother just poked her head out of the living room, the sound of cooking in the kitchen was still ongoing! It hadn't stopped! Nor had it moved!
"Right, your father is coming back tonight."
Mother's voice sounded especially jovial, "If I calculate the time, he should be arriving soon..."
Before she finished her sentence, the sound of the door opening was heard.
Dad walked in wearing the same clothes as when he left, all smiles and carrying two gifts in his hands.
"Dad!"
He and his sister were just about to jump off the dining table and run over when mom pulled dad into the kitchen first, "Honey, see the ribs I made, how are they? Tasty?"
"Yes, it's delicious."
Dad tasted it and then poked his head from behind the glass door of the living room, smiling at the children with the same creepy, stiff posture as mom just did, "An, go serve the rice. You and your sister can eat now."
"..." He felt as if he had plunged into an icy abyss.
————
[The world's first fifth-generation nuclear power plant has been completed on Hainan Island, marking our country's leadership in the research and development and application of fifth-generation nuclear technology.]
[The United States reports that its troops in Jordan have been attacked by a drone, resulting in three U.S. soldiers dead and at least 34 injured. New York State Senator has called for U.S. overseas military bases to be contracted to Prometheus Laboratory Company.]
[Israel's second largest city, Tel Aviv, has been hit by an unidentified biochemical Weapon attack. Gen-Sys Biotech Company announces that it will provide medical support.]
The television's news program reported on major world events. Mom and Dad were eating and occasionally laughing and commenting on current affairs.
He hung his head, watching the rice in his bowl gradually cool, his eyes vacant and murmuring, "Why aren't they letting us leave?"
The room's security door was already locked from the inside, and his cell phone had been taken away. He could not contact the outside world.
"An, what are you talking about, aren't we a family?"
Dad smiled and gently patted the back of his hand, which felt icy cold with no warmth.
"Yes, a family is supposed to be together forever," Mom chimed in, reaching out to touch their faces.
Snap!
He suddenly erupted, his left hand smashing the plate heavily against Mom's head, his right hand pulling a dinner knife from his bag and stabbing it into Dad's hand.
The dining table was a mess, the soup seeping into the tablecloth and spreading rapidly.
He grabbed his sister's wrist, pulling her off the stool and dashed toward the front door at the fastest speed he had ever managed, while shouting, "Fire! Help!"
He unlocked the door, his palm pressing down forcefully on the handle, right before he managed to open the door to escape to safety, he was pulled back.
Mom's body sat in her original position, but her neck had elongated immensely, wrapping around his and his sister's waists and violently yanking them back to their original spots.
"An, you're being naughty."
Dad still maintained his smile, pulling out the knife stuck in his hand without a drop of blood, "Naughty children need to be punished."
Mom and Dad both opened their mouths wide, the corners splitting all the way to their ears. In the light, their throats revealed layers of sharp teeth.
They lunged at the siblings, their mouths about to snap shut, when two stones flew in from the window, striking Mom and Dad in the head.
The force of the stones was so great that they caused the non-human couple to jerk their heads back, nearly falling off their chairs.
Step.
A dark figure climbed in through the window from ten stories high.
He was dressed in a black night suit, wearing sunglasses, a head cover, and gloves. Even the shoes were wrapped in several layers of black cloth and taped around with duct tape, forming a peculiar attire.
As all gazes met, this dark-clad figure, or rather Li Cheng, surveyed the scene, twisted his neck and said hoarsely, "Have you heard of the Master of Insects?"