“Don’t worry about whether it’s normal or not, I’ll record a video first!”

That person said this, picked up their phone, opened the door, and started filming the scene outside.

“The snakes on the other side of the quarantine fence are all gone!”

The king ratsnakes, usually extremely brazen even at night, had disappeared without a trace; all around, there was only the rustling of leaves as the wind blew through.

The wind gradually picked up.

Raindrops slammed into their face, stinging painfully.

The fog did not dissipate, and the moisture in the air did not all turn into raindrops.

The air was so humid that breathing became noticeably uncomfortable.

Unable to bear it, the person retreated back into the house, unwillingly.

Soon, the rain intensified, driven by strong winds, beating against the windows with a crackling sound.

The phone signal dropped from full bars to just one.

In places they couldn’t see—

The ever-thickening clouds in the sky pressed down from above!

Thunder rumbled like a giant beast stomping overhead.

The fierce wind swept up the mist, rampaging through the mountains, wild and violent.

Chapter 7 Hungry

Henry Clark woke up to find the “family register” had already closed.

The upper layer of the stone platform had returned to its original state, sealing the “family register” inside.

The stone pillar slowly sank until it became flush with the ground.

Henry Clark crouched down to take a closer look, even worried that his eyes might be playing tricks on him. He took out his phone and used the high-definition camera to zoom in, wanting to see every detail of the ground clearly.

However, whether with the naked eye or the phone’s high-definition camera, all he could see and capture was a single, flawless piece of ground—no fine lines, let alone cracks.

It was as if everything he’d experienced before had been a hallucination.

He searched the room thoroughly several times, but still found no suspicious traces.

Henry Clark checked the time on his phone.

He had actually stayed here all night!

It was now seven o’clock in the morning!

He might have been standing here the whole night! Yet his body felt no stiffness or discomfort at all!

Unable to find more clues, Henry Clark had no choice but to give up and walked toward the spot on the wall where the door opened.

The door slid open automatically.

As he approached the door, the lights in the room went out one by one. By the time he had fully stepped out and the door closed behind him, the secret room was already pitch black.

After leaving the house, he heard movement in the small courtyard outside.

“Good morning, Uncle Silent. Is it foggy?” Henry Clark said.

“It’ll clear up soon.” Uncle Silent’s phone played a voice message.

The fog blocked the sunlight, but the morning glow was already visible. Through the gradually thinning mist, one could see the orange-red and golden rays of dawn.

All kinds of flowers, plants, and trees in the old courtyard were covered with droplets of water, both large and small. The soil, which had been dry and hard yesterday, had now either turned to mud or changed shape due to the moisture.

“It rained last night?” Henry Clark was surprised. He had checked the weather forecast—it clearly said it would be sunny these days!

But someone had told him before that mountain weather was unpredictable and could change at any time; the local forecast often changed several times a day.

So, Henry Clark just asked casually.

Uncle Silent quickly typed on his phone and converted it to speech: “Breakfast is buns and noodles, left for you in the kitchen. It’s all for you, don’t go hungry, eat it all! I’m going to the tea garden to pick some tea leaves.”

“There’s a tea garden here? Need any help? I’m not hungry yet,” Henry Clark asked.

“No, you’re hungry!” Uncle Silent replied.

Henry Clark wanted to say more, but Uncle Silent waved his hand, slung the bamboo basket over his back, and left.

Seeing this, Henry Clark had no choice but to give up. He’d been hoping to gather some information while helping out.

The kitchen was easy to find, but the things on the kitchen table were beyond his expectations.

A large porcelain bowl—or rather, a large porcelain basin, almost as big as a washbasin for adults, he had no idea where it was bought. It was filled with hand-pulled noodles.

A large steamer basket, steaming with ten big, thin-skinned, generously filled buns, each about the size of his palm, all stuffed with meat.

Henry Clark stared blankly.

What kind of misunderstanding did Uncle Silent have about him?

Why did he think he could eat so much?

Back when he worked part-time shooting commercials at school, he had to manage his figure and had certain dietary requirements. His appetite hadn’t changed much since then.

For him, a normal bowl of noodle soup and one bun—two at most—would be enough.

He couldn’t waste food!

So, with a clear sense of self-awareness, Henry Clark took a normal-sized noodle bowl from the cupboard, served himself a bowl of noodles from the big basin, grabbed a bun, and started eating.

As he ate, he realized he’d finished it all.

He actually felt a bit hungry.

He served himself another bowl, grabbed another bun, and continued eating.

The hunger only grew stronger.

Fifteen minutes later.

Henry Clark looked at the big porcelain basin, not even a spoonful of soup left, and the empty steamer basket, and fell silent.

On the other side.

Uncle Silent carried the bamboo basket to the tea garden.

Overnight, many new buds had sprouted on the tea bushes.

The large leaves were covered with water droplets.

Dew slid down the edges of the leaves, gathering and swaying at the tips.

The morning glow shone through the thin mist, creating strange bands of light on the clear droplets.

Uncle Silent’s aged eyes watched the fog gradually lift from the tea garden. He grinned, took a specially made basket from the bamboo basket, slung it over his chest, and moved among the tea bushes.