I hung up the phone and looked up at the window of my family's 10th-floor apartment. I always felt like a layer of black mist was shrouding my home.

My mom sent me more than ten voice messages in a row. I closed my phone after only listening to half of the first one.

Other than scolding me, she just kept on scolding me. The curse words never changed, just the same few sentences over and over.

With a sense of worry in my heart, I decided to go home first and see what was going on.

At this moment, my cousin called.

"Xiaodou, why can't I reach your dad on the phone?"

"My dad might be asleep. What's wrong, Aunt?"

"I want to ask your dad if the food at the banquet is not clean. Xuanxuan and Yaya have been vomiting and having diarrhea all afternoon. They have already passed out and are in the ICU."

My cousin burst into tears. Xuan and Yaya are the twin grandchildren she dotes on, who are usually as precious as her own eyes. Now that both of them are sick, it's like taking away her life.

After comforting my cousin, I hung up and prepared to go upstairs to talk to my dad about this matter.

The family group chat was buzzing with messages. I quickly scanned through them and felt like something big was happening.

Everyone who went to the banquet and had children at home, all their children were sick.

The symptoms were exactly the same as Xuanxuan and the others, and they all fell ill at the same time this afternoon.

It may be a coincidence if one or two children are sick, but with so many children, adding up to eighteen, this is not a small matter.

Someone in the group has already called the police, but my parents have remained silent, and my mom even left the group chat a minute ago.

This is serious. The group is in chaos, with all kinds of insults flooding in like a torrent.

I walked upstairs heavily, preparing to open the door, when Ji Banshen sent me a message.

"Ten grams of cinnabar, ten grams of god's sand, mixed with a drop of child's urine, rub it on the purple mink statue, it can temporarily protect your sister from death."

"Alright."

These two things are not difficult to buy, they can be found in a pharmacy. I searched for same-city delivery, with a note to leave it in the downstairs parcel locker, not to deliver it upstairs.

Opening the door, a mix of floral and animal smells, accompanied by a stench, came wafting in. I suppressed the urge to vomit.

"You brat, you took so long to buy food, are you trying to starve your sister?"

My mom snatched the plastic bag from my hand, muttering curses as she headed straight to the kitchen. I could hear the sounds of chickens being slaughtered and meat being chopped. My sister's eyes lit up as she sat at the dining table, waiting to be fed.

"Sister...shall I cook the meat well for you to eat?"

"Raw meat tastes better."

I looked at my sister's confused and lost expression.

Is this really my sister?

I walked to the bedroom door to look at my brother-in-law. He was lying on the bed, looking at the ceiling. When he saw me approaching, he turned his head and grinned, with a lewd and sinister look on his face.

His mouth and teeth were all black, like blood, or something else.

I was shocked. Is my brother-in-law actually awake now?

I heard movement from the kitchen. My mom came out with the meat, and when I turned back to look at my brother, he looked like a vegetable again.

It seems...he doesn't want my mom to know that he's awake? But why?

My dad was still asleep in the room, quietly. He used to snore so loudly that it shook the heavens.

Everything was indicating that something was not right.

I tried to tell my mom about the relatives in the group chat, wanting to communicate with her about what to do.

But before I could finish speaking, she grabbed a plate of chicken and smashed it on my head, spilling the blood all over me.

My sister seemed oblivious, eating chicken by herself without even looking up.

Dimly, I even heard what sounded like a man's light laughter, not from my dad or brother.

The laughter came from inside the refrigerator in the kitchen.

Pretending to dodge my mom's violent attack, I ran out of the door, down the stairs.