Mary was truly afraid of this Grandpa, not just because she and her husband were now “living under someone else’s roof,” but simply because her Grandpa himself was… inexplicably frightening, even though he was still the kindly Father at Mink Street Church.

Dennis waved his hand,

and asked:

“What just happened?”

“I… it was Karen who suddenly fainted, and I broke his nose to wake him up, I…”

“Karen fainted?”

“Yes… yes.”

“And then, Paul came in, right?”

“Paul?” Mary was momentarily stunned before realizing that was the name of the family’s black cat. She never understood why her Grandpa had given the cat such an awkward and unpleasant name.

“I think… I…” Mary tried her best to recall, “It was Karen who woke up on his own, Paul, Paul didn’t come in.”

Mary hadn’t noticed whether the black cat was outside the studio earlier, but she was certain that the cat hadn’t appeared in front of her—at least, it hadn’t come in.

“No?” Dennis seemed to be pondering, “Karen woke up on his own?”

“Yes, Father.”

“Where did he die?”

“This is the welfare slip, Father, he probably froze to death by the roadside last night.”

“Welfare slip? Call your husband back.”

“Mason went to the Huashui Bay Sanatorium…”

“Call him back.”

“Yes, understood, Father.”

Even though she had lived in this house for quite a while, Mary still felt a certain pressure when facing her Grandpa. In many families, daughters-in-law would call their parents-in-law by name, but she would never dare to do so.

The title “Father” had taken on a somewhat religious meaning for her.

The daughter-in-law left the studio a bit flustered.

Dennis reached out and closed the door,

then walked over to the stretcher and sat down on the chair where Mary had been sitting earlier, looking at Jeffrey lying in front of him.

The studio quieted down, with only the occasional flicker of the light bulb’s brightness due to voltage fluctuations.

Dennis reached forward,

grasping at the air in front of him,

and from beneath his feet,

streams of black shadows began to spread out, like wildly growing vines, quickly covering the tiles and the surrounding walls, “enveloping” everything in the room;

At this moment,

Dennis spoke:

“Tell me, how did you die?”

It was an absurd scene—he was actually questioning a dead man.

But what happened next was even more absurd:

Jeffrey, who had long been dead on the stretcher, actually began to slowly sit up on his own…

Chapter Four: Identity Crisis

“Brother, what are you thinking about?”

Having just finished tending to Karen’s nose, Mina saw her cousin staring blankly out the window and asked curiously.

In the past, her cousin had been a bit withdrawn, probably because his parents had passed away. After finishing middle school, he didn’t go to high school, just stayed at home, and rarely interacted with people;

After this recent serious illness, although Brother sometimes seemed a bit “absent-minded,” he was much more cheerful than before, and she was more willing to talk to Brother.

“Oh, I was thinking about whether I should continue going to school.”

Karen gently rubbed the tip of his nose. The pain was no longer as intense as before, and with cotton stuffed in his nostrils, it shouldn’t be long before it could be removed.

Earlier, he had actually been thinking about what happened in the basement and the scenes in his dream—was it just a random occurrence related to his “body” and “mind,” or had he really encountered a “supernatural event”?

After all, in the case of the latter, the basement earlier had already included most of the possible triggering conditions.

But in the end, it was just a dream. No matter how terrifying a nightmare, after waking up, that sense of dread would quickly dissipate.

After that, Karen spent more time thinking about his future path.

He didn’t believe that, just because he was a “transmigrator,” he could easily make a fortune and start a successful life;

But in his previous life, as a self-made “striver,”

he had enough confidence in his own abilities and qualities to carve out a respectable life in this “new world.”

After all, no matter what, whatever “burdens” the identity of “Karen” brought him—well, there were none to speak of.

That was enough.

“Brother used to hate going to school the most,” Mina said with a smile.

The old Karen was a bit like someone with autism, so naturally he didn’t like crowded places like school.

“School is very important, especially when you’re young,” Karen said seriously. “Most people, after they grow up, regret not working harder and enduring a bit more hardship when they were young and studying.”

“Brother, you sound just like Mom when you say that.”

“Heh.” Karen shrugged. “Mina, could you get me a glass of water?”

“Okay, Brother.”

His sister obediently went to pour him some water.

Karen then opened the window in the room. Fresh air rushed in, and he took a deep breath. Then, Karen closed the window again—the wind was so cold.