That night, the heater was still burning hot, and in a daze, I seemed to see Bai Sanshui's daughter turning into my daughter's figure, running away on the snowy mountain, with Bai Sanshui chasing after her in terror.

The daughter fled all the way into the cave I dreamed of last time.

The eyes inside the cave lit up, and the writhing mass of infant flesh made the sound of meat rubbing against meat.

Countless hands and feet were folded, crushed, and reset in the meat mass, while countless umbilical cords pulled the hands and feet back into the flesh mass, bringing out countless faces.

Each face had no facial features, but each face was screaming, shouting "Save me, let me out".

That was my daughter's voice!

At that moment, I seemed to become Bai Sanshui, chasing my daughter into the cave.

I wanted to save her, shouting her name, and the next second, I ran to the cave's entrance.

It was a deep cave, right next to a cliff, the entrance very small, the walls smooth as if man-made, bottomless, with only the sound of waves of cries for help coming from within.

I was scared, standing at the entrance, trembling all over.

"Dad, what are you doing?"

It was my daughter's voice.

I turned around, and my daughter seemed to have grown up overnight, looking about fifteen or sixteen years old.

She was wearing a torn cloth dress, with blood flowing down her legs.

Her eyes were clear, very innocent.

"Daddy, Daddy's here." I hadn't finished speaking when her expression changed, becoming resentful and terrifying.

"Go to hell!"

Then she reached out and pushed, "thud," and I was pushed off the cliff.

I suddenly opened my eyes; another nightmare.

The photographer in the bed next to me was also awake, but not because of my nightmare, but because of the noise outside.

"Did it wake you up too?"

"Huh? What?"

"There's been noise outside for a while now, I don't know what's going on. I was thinking about waking you up."

I looked out the window; the curtain wasn't fully drawn, facing a small path. It was pitch black because there were no streetlights, but now headlights and flames occasionally flickered.

I opened the window,

stuck my head out, and asked what was happening.

A person, bundled up beyond recognition, replied enthusiastically, "The Bai family's kid has been found!"

Upon hearing this news, I reacted for a while and quickly called the photographer to go have a look.

Having had such a dream, I had to see for myself if the child had been abused.

On the way, we heard villagers say that Bai Sanshui's daughter was in Mamu Niangniang's cave. Somehow, she survived the extreme cold, relying on some offerings left by villagers, enduring for so many days.

But she was scared, her mind unclear, babbling nonsense, even mistaking herself for her brother. It would take some time for her to recover.

She was now taken to the forest farm's clinic. When we arrived, there was already a crowd of people gathered, even children hanging onto the infirmary windows to look inside.

For a small place, this was a once-in-a-decade big event, and winter left people idle, drawing many to gather.

We hadn't even entered the ward when we heard a woman's cries. As we walked closer, we saw it was Bai Sanshui's wife.

She was sitting in the hospital corridor, crying loudly, saying, "My child is gone, my child, you killed my child!"

Before we even entered, we saw Director Li and his assistant sitting by the bed, with several middle-aged men with goatees standing at the head of the bed, probably Bai Sanshui's relatives.

Bai Zhaodi was sitting at the head of the bed, wearing a hospital gown, hugging her knees. Her face was clean, with no visible external injuries, just a somewhat fearful expression.

In the room, Bai Zhaodi was clearly and logically answering the director's questions: "I just saw my sister holding my hand, walking for a long time, not cold, very warm, with my sister hugging me. Then all kinds of food grew from the cave. Then you came to save me."

The director sighed and said, "That's it, we probably can't get more from her. It's good that she's back."

A middle-aged man standing next to him sighed along and said, "This child was traumatized, now she's saying she's Bai Haoyu."

"Don't worry, Director. Her father is still on the mountain looking for her. We can't reach him now. When he returns, we'll talk to him seriously and have him take good care of this child."

The director nodded, "What's the difference between a boy and a girl anyway? She's so young, it's really tragic. When Bai Sanshui comes back, have him see me. Alright, let's go."

No sooner had these words fallen, the girl suddenly sat up and shouted, "I'm Haoyu, I'm Haoyu! What have you done to me? How did I become a girl? Where is this? Uncle, where is this?"

Then her voice changed, becoming even finer: "Mom, save me, I'm Zhaodi! I don't want to die, don't take me away. I won't cause trouble, I'll be good. Don't let the goddess take me, please. It's so dark here, I don't want to die."

Upon hearing this, Bai Sanshui's wife outside the door cried even harder, slapping the ground: "Damn it, let me die instead of my child!"

For a moment, the corridor was filled with crying and talking.

Someone tried to squeeze in but was stopped by the doctor.

Someone outside said, "She changed, she really changed."

"Really went mad, Bai Sanshui really dared."

"Why not? A daughter for a half-grown son, worth it."

"So young, it's tragic."

"Lower your voice, there are journalists from outside here."

Seeing the scene suddenly chaotic, the relatives of Bai Sanshui guarded by the bed quickly comforted the girl.

"We're here, we're here. Your uncles are all here, protecting you, don't be afraid."

The girl's cries softened due to the comfort, eventually returning to the state of a little boy, hugging her knees and sitting at the head of the bed without speaking.

Only then did the director start walking out again. Seeing us at the door, he said, "You guys came too, huh? It's not the right time now. Let her rest well."

Although I had a thousand angers, a thousand thoughts, I knew it was indeed excessive to rush in now and check if the girl was abused.

So I gathered a few hundred-yuan bills, went in, greeted Bai Sanshui's relatives, and before leaving, I looked at the dazed face of the little girl, feeling extremely uneasy.

Then I told Bai Sanshui's relatives, "I am a newspaper reporter. If the child needs medical care or needs to go to school later, you can come to me."