Hao Yunsheng’s face grew paler. Denggao, behind him, whispered encouragingly, "It’s not a huge deal. Your Fate Grid is strong, so there’s bound to be a way to make up for it."
Hao Yunsheng nodded.
"Keep moving," the Captain said with a sigh.
The Book Listener walked over to where the melon had been smashed, bent down, and scooped up some dirt to cover it before standing up and moving on.
The group proceeded with even greater caution, watching their every step. After a long while, they finally reached the open area around the melon shed.
Everyone let out a long sigh of relief. Some of the Night Guards looked at Hao Yunsheng with pity.
"Hao Yunsheng, you misspoke the name earlier, and now you’ve stepped on a melon. You need to be extra careful," the Captain’s voice was much colder than usual. He also stood at a distance from Hao Yunsheng.
Hao Yunsheng froze for a moment, then lowered his head deeply, gritting his teeth.
"You go knock on the door and ask for Mr. Gua," the Captain ordered.
"What?" Hao Yunsheng snapped his head up, glaring at the Captain in fury.
The Captain’s expression was placid.
Many of the Night Guards looked away.
Denggao, standing behind Hao Yunsheng, forced a smile and said, "Captain, sir. Hao Yunsheng is still young, and he has the strongest Fate Grid among us. This kind of dangerous task isn’t suitable for him."
"Then you go?" the Captain retorted.
Denggao froze on the spot. His usually honest and simple face was now exceptionally wooden.
The Captain looked at Hao Yunsheng and said, "Don’t blame me. I don’t want you to go either. However, knocking on the door shouldn’t be dangerous. Even if there is a risk, it’ll be a small one. It’s fitting that you go."
’As expected of a leader,’ Sunshine Boy thought. ’So full of sunshine.’
Hao Yunsheng sighed, looked at Denggao with a pleading expression, and whispered, "Uncle..."
Denggao looked utterly astonished. He stared at Hao Yunsheng for a long moment before his gaze turned cold. Gritting his teeth, he gave a sharp nod and strode toward the gate of the melon shed.
The other three men who had been following Hao Yunsheng stood frozen, staring at him in disbelief.
Hao Yunsheng lowered his head and said nothing.
Denggao summoned his courage, walked to the door, and said in a trembling voice, "By order of the Matriarch, we have come to collect a melon."
There was no answer from within.
The shed’s windows were thickly pasted over with white paper. A dim, yellow light flickered gently inside.
Denggao raised his voice. "By order of the Matriarch, we have come to collect a melon."
Still no answer. Denggao turned his head and looked at the Captain in despair.
"Again," the Captain said.
Denggao steeled himself and shouted, "By order of the Matriarch, we have come to collect a melon!"
"Such a racket!"
A deep voice, like the impact of a massive log, boomed from within, causing Denggao’s face to turn deathly pale.
"The melons are in the field. Just take your time and find one," the person inside said, and then there was silence once more.
"I’ve finished calling," Denggao said with a wooden face, slowly walking back to stand behind Hao Yunsheng, half a step farther away than before.
The Night Guards stared at each other, unsure of what to do.
Suddenly, a faint mist rolled in from all directions, instantly blanketing the Gua Field.
"We have no choice but to search the hard way. Do we go together or split up?" the Captain asked.
"Let’s stick together."
"Yeah, this mist is a bit strange."
"It’s safer together."
"Alright. We’ll form a line. Don’t wander off. Search slowly." The Captain scanned the crowd, drew his Yanling Saber, and walked into the mist.
The others also drew their weapons. Sunshine Boy opened his Nine-Flower Umbrella, fixed it to the book box on his back, and grabbed a handful of Thunder Talismans in each hand instead of drawing his saber.
The group formed a single file line and slowly advanced.
As they walked, the Book Listener warned, "The Gua Field has changed. Everyone, be careful."
The Captain said, "He’s right. The melon patch has grown sparse. It’s like... the area has gotten bigger. This must be a Demon Technique. Be careful."
As Sunshine Boy walked, he suddenly said, "Stop."
The Book Listener, the Foodie, and the Blacksmith all stopped. They took one look, and their faces paled.
The others were gone.
"We got separated?" the Blacksmith asked in a panic.
"No. I suspect the further we walk, the more we’ll be split up. We should tie ourselves together to avoid being separated. If we’re attacked, we can cut the strips of cloth," Sunshine Boy said. He pulled a spare set of clothes from his book box, tore it into strips with a RIIIP, tied them into a long rope, reinforced it with Magical Power, and linked the four of them together.
"Should we wait or keep searching?" the Foodie asked.
The Book Listener said, "We have no idea what’s going on with this Gua Field and the mist. But since we were told to get a melon, there must be a melon here. It’s better to look around than just stand here."
Sunshine Boy said, "Let’s keep searching for now. We can reassess after a while."
"I can’t see very well. Should we light a torch?" the Foodie said.
"We can’t light a torch and reveal our position at a time like this. Sunshine Boy is Tenth Grade. His eyes are sharp. Just stick close to him," said the Book Listener.
Sunshine Boy nodded. "I can see farther than you. Stay with me."
In the misty darkness, the four of them moved forward, searching for a ripe watermelon.
Time passed slowly. All they found along the way were watermelon flowers or small, fist-sized watermelons.
After an unknown amount of time, the mist suddenly began to thin rapidly.
A gust of wind blew, and the white mist vanished completely.
The eighteen people looked around and found that the Gua Field was just as it had been. They were all close to each other, yet they hadn’t been able to see one another before.
"Did anyone find a melon?" the Captain asked happily.
No one answered.
Just then, a loud THUD came from the melon shed, like the sound of a wooden mallet pounding rice cakes in a stone mortar.
Everyone started in alarm and looked toward the melon shed.
The silhouette of a burly giant appeared on the paper-covered window. From its shape, it was far taller than a human, at least ten feet high.
The silhouette raised something unknown and slammed it down hard.
CRACK!
It sounded like snapping firewood.
They couldn’t see what it was holding, nor what it was smashing. Everything was blocked by the wall.
Then, the person inside began to sing a folk song in a strange, off-key tune.
"The moon is round... the melon is round..."
The silhouette raised its arms again and smashed them down.
THUMP!
It sounded like the muffled thud of hitting rice cakes.
"The pot is round... the melon is round..."
It raised its arms again, and again it smashed them down.
SPLAT!
It was the sound of smashing something into a mushy pulp, as if liquid were splattering.
"The bowl is round... the melon is round..."
The shadow raised its arms and slammed them down once more.
PUFF!
It sounded like something hitting cloth.
"The flatbread is round... the melon is round..."
The eighteen people stood stunned in the melon patch, staring blankly at the silhouette on the window, listening dumbfounded to the strange, off-key folk song.
The figure inside repeated the smashing and the singing, over and over.
At first, the smashing produced all sorts of different sounds, but eventually, the sound became uniform, growing more and more like the muffled thud of pounding rice cakes.
Under the moonlit night, a cool breeze whispered past. The hairs on everyone’s arms stood on end, and no one dared to move a muscle.
After an unknown stretch of time, the silhouette inside suddenly raised its arms high and brought them down with great force.
BANG!
"Every family reunited... the melon is round! The melon is round... every family reunited!"
On the paper window, the silhouette bent down, picked up an oval-shaped shadow, and walked toward the door.
CREAK...
The door to the shed opened.
Everyone looked over. Inside the doorway was pitch-black, without a single speck of light, as if black oil were flowing within.
A pair of hands emerged from the black curtain, holding a large watermelon with a yellow rind and green stripes. It was over a foot long. The hands slowly placed the watermelon outside on the threshold.
The fingernails on those hands were an inch long, as sharp as a beast’s claws. Its ten fingers were twice the length of a normal person’s, each with five knuckles. The hands themselves were a stark silver-white, covered in swirling patterns. Faintly, beneath the skin, what looked like blue blood seemed to flow.
"The melon is round... every family reunited!"
This time, the voice was not as deep as before, and it carried a faint trace of joy and laughter.
Though the doorway was utterly dark, everyone felt a monster staring at them from within.
The two hands slowly withdrew back into the darkness, and the door closed.
The light went out.