When the Cannon Fodder Male Supporting Role Picks Up the Script - Chapter 75

When the prompt appears that Ruyi Pavilion has been cleared, the group scattered throughout the building searching for the little island master of Penglai simultaneously discovers that the pavilion’s main gate has opened. Ruyi Pavilion sits at the edge of the western city. Once through the trial, three paths extend from its entrance, just like at Peony Garden. One path leads back the way they came, toward Peony Garden. Directly opposite, heading north, is a straight blue-brick street. The third path extends directly from the front of Ruyi Pavilion’s door and leads toward the center of the floating city.

Several people rush to the entrance and look in surprise at the two unfamiliar streets beyond the door.

The heart demon, rubbing his slightly bloated belly, staggers out and finds the others frozen in place. He steps casually over the threshold, and behind him, the door to Ruyi Pavilion closes with a puffing sound.

The lantern hanging at the entrance goes out.

Heart Demon staggers out while rubbing his slightly bloated stomach, only to find the group outside staring blankly. He steps over the threshold without a second thought, and the gate behind him promptly closes with a thud—

The lantern by the gate goes out with a soft pop.

Startled by the sound, everyone turns around and jumps at the sight of the extinguished lantern—all of them are shocked. The lantern at Peony Garden didn’t go out when they left!

Of course, that’s because the ghosts and monsters in the Peony Garden are hidden well enough and haven’t been completely eaten by someone. But Ruyi Pavilion is different. What they don’t realize is that, now that the lantern has gone out, Ruyi Pavilion has become an empty shell. It won’t be possible to challenge it again until the lantern lights back up.

Back to the present—none of the five, including the heart demon, can guess what just happened.

Still, they have successfully cleared Ruyi Pavilion, even if they’re left a bit bewildered. More importantly, all eyes are now on the little island master who has just walked out. Li Jianming and Jiang Zhibai immediately surround him. Seeing that the little island master is completely unscathed—not a hair out of place—they exchange a glance, both visibly shocked.

They’ve followed the little island master here to protect him, thinking he’s still a child, a sweet and innocent kid. Who would’ve thought his strength isn’t just passable—it’s formidable.

Thinking back, from Peony Garden to Ruyi Pavilion, every victory is thanks to the little island master!

Li Jianming doesn’t know exactly what happened inside Ruyi Pavilion, but the prompt on the Floating Order doesn’t lie. The weasel monster inside was killed by the little island master. Incredible!

Escaping Peony Garden might’ve been a matter of luck, but clearing Ruyi Pavilion takes real strength.

After realizing this, Li Jianming and Jiang Zhibai can no longer treat the little island master as a child. From the bottom of their hearts, they now hold genuine admiration for him.

“No wonder he’s Yun Zhuoran’s younger brother,” Li Jianming says sincerely. “The elder brother can suppress Qingyang Peak’s master even at the Integration stage. The younger brother is just as amazing!”

Jiang Zhibai makes no effort to defend his own master. He looks at the heart demon with admiration in his eyes and says, half-laughing, “Seems we were worrying for nothing. The little island master is truly incredible.”

Hearing them bring up Yun Zhuoran, Shen Lingshu frowns subtly.

Praise for Yun Zhuoran was widespread twenty years ago—back before Gu Shenshu died. Back then, Yun Zhuoran was a favored genius, his light so bright even Shen Lingshu, his senior brother, was overshadowed.

Now Shen Lingshu has fallen to this point, while Yun Zhuoran, who once deceived him, is still flourishing…

He can’t help but feel resentful.

Whether the compliments are sincere or not, the heart demon accepts them without issue. In a rare good mood, he looks at their injuries and asks, “I’m moving on. Are you two coming?”

Earlier, both men took pills to restore their qi and blood and are mostly recovered, though their external wounds haven’t fully healed. In their rush to find the little island master, they didn’t even clean the blood off themselves.

 Now that he reminds them, they finally remember to use spells to clean up before nodding firmly.

“Since we’ve come this far, we’ll escort the little island master to meet Junior Brother Yun, and then we’ll take our leave,” Jiang Zhibai says.

Li Jianming nods—he clearly agrees.

The heart demon replies with a casual “oh,” then lowers his head and pulls out the gray map within his Floating Order.

He doesn’t care whether anyone accompanies him, and he doesn’t particularly dislike Li Jianming or Jiang Zhibai either. He stares at the terrain in the western part of the city for a while, then looks up at the three green-brick avenues outside the gate.

Back inside the Ruyi Pavilion, the yellow weasel was terrified of being eaten by Heart Demon, so it lured him to its lair, coaxing him with lies, saying there was a treasure there to help pass the trial. In truth, it just wanted to trap Heart Demon inside and ambush him with the other thirty weasels living there.

Unfortunately for them, things backfire—it’s like inviting a wolf into the henhouse.

When the group of yellow weasels tries to devour Heart Demon, he tries to eat them right back.

These weasels look alike and have bizarre traits—Li Jianming and the others describe it as, “facing strong opponents makes them stronger.” In reality, they simply absorb the enemy’s power during battle and use that power against them. This gives Heart Demon a sense of déjà vu, but they’re far inferior to Ji Wuwang.

The Ruyi Pavilion doesn’t require overwhelming combat strength. As long as one can surpass their previous self, they can pass. The simplest way? Don’t use spiritual power—then the enemy can’t absorb anything.

Back to the point.

Before being eaten, in a last-ditch attempt to survive, the weasel tells him about a place across from Ruyi Pavilion—Shuanglu Zhai. It’s said to be home to the two strongest demons in the west: a fox demon and a tiger demon. They’ve secretly hidden a teleportation array there that can instantly send someone to a destination of their choice.

That teleportation array is exactly what the heart demon wants—so he happily swallows the weasel in one gulp.

By the time Li Jianming and Jiang Zhibai finish tidying themselves up, Heart Demon has already located the Shuanglu Zhai the weasel mentioned. It’s at the far end of the street directly in front of the Ruyi Pavilion.

The group lets out a breath of relief and pushes open the doors of Shuanglu Zhai.

Strangely enough, although Shen Lingshu knows the little island master dislikes him, he still follows at a distance. Gu Jinping, of course, follows right along behind him.

At this point, the heart demon completely ignores the presence of Shen Lingshu and Gu Jinping as he steps through the doors of Shuanglu Zhai first.

It is a quaint and peaceful chess house, yet there are already other cultivators inside.

As soon as the group enters and reveals themselves, everyone sitting by the tea table stands up.

“Brother Jiang!”

“Yun Zhuoran!”

Two clear, distinct voices—one filled with joy, the other with anger—ring out simultaneously.

Gu Qiuming immediately turns around, cautiously looking toward Ji Ruo, who is staring at the red-clad young man by the door. His expression shifts from anger to surprise, then to confusion, before he calms himself down. Only then does he walk toward the others.

The group by the door is equally surprised to see Ji Ruo in Shuanglu Zhai. After hearing the name Ji Ruo just called, they think he has mistaken the Penglai Little Island Master, who resembles Yun Zhuoran, for Yun Zhuoran himself.

The heart demon stops in front of the door and looks up at the second floor. A young, handsome man leans against the railing, casting a slow glance at the group with fox-like eyes. His gaze is playful and captivating, and as he slightly parts his red lips, he gently holds a pipe in his mouth. Smoke swirls around, and the heart demon senses a faint demonic aura—he knows the figure is a fox demon.

The weasel demon has mentioned that this fox demon and another tiger demon are a pair. They are both powerful—one at the Nascent Soul stage and the other at the Out-of-Body stage. Both have bad tempers and enjoy eating meat, including human flesh.

The heart demon observes the fox demon and, recalling the taste of the weasel, silently licks his lips.

The fox demon notices his gaze, smiles, and shoots him a look full of allure.

The heart demon tilts his head in confusion. Just as he is about to step forward, a hand suddenly blocks his path—it’s Gu Qiuming.

Noticing the heart demon’s questioning expression, Gu Qiuming quickly lowers his hand and says, slightly embarrassed, “This fox demon is skilled at charming people. It’s best if the little island master doesn’t look at him… Senior Brother Jiang, did you come from the Ruyi Pavilion?”

Li Jianming, attempting to caution the heart demon, adds, “The little island master is still young, so he shouldn’t let himself be charmed… ahem.” He barely finishes the word “charmed” before his arm is nudged by Jiang Zhibai. Seeing the stern look on Jiang Zhibai’s face and then looking at Xin Mo’s clear, innocent eyes, Li Jianming suddenly feels guilty, as if he is corrupting a child. He awkwardly corrects himself, “It’s fine, just don’t look.”

The heart demon remains puzzled and slightly frowning, not fully understanding their warnings. He’s more concerned with eating the fox demon, but the floating city’s restrictions make that impossible. Of course, he doesn’t say that out loud.

Shuanglu Zhai is a small teahouse. Compared to the grand Peony Garden and Ruyi Pavilion, it’s no more than the size of a kitchen in Ruyi Pavilion. Downstairs, there are only a dozen small tables, each with a mahogany chessboard and black-and-white pieces, as well as various other types of chess. The fox demon is the only one on the second floor.

It’s a humble, quiet place—nothing like the grand teahouses elsewhere.

Everyone instinctively avoids Ji Ruo, leaving him to sit alone in the distance.

Gu Qiuming whispers to Li Jianming and Jiang Zhibai, explaining how he comes to Shuanglu Zhai. After listening, Li Jianming and Jiang Zhibai are both surprised. “You’ve been with Ji Ruo since you came in?”

The heart demon scans the room and notices Shen Lingshu, standing far behind Jiang Zhibai and the others, but sees that he isn’t reacting. Following the line of sight, the heart demon sees Ji Ruo sitting across from him.

Suddenly, it dawns on the heart demon—so Shen Lingshu wanted to take Ji Ruo into the backyard! 

This is fate. They’ve met earlier and now both end up in Shuanglu Zhai in the floating city…

And Gu Qiuming is also here.

Ah! They should be locked away so they wouldn’t disturb his brother anymore!

The heart demon silently wishes for this.

Gu Qiuming’s helpless voice breaks the silence, “Master Ji said that since I’m a disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect, if he captures me, he’ll be able to see people from the Tiandao Sect… Maybe he’ll meet the person he’s looking for. He’s stronger than I am…”

Gu Qiuming leaves the sentence unfinished, and the others understand—Ji Ruo has used his higher cultivation to bully the younger cultivator, Gu Qiuming.

But now in Shuanglu Zhai, with Li Jianming, Jiang Zhibai, and others present, Ji Ruo, the little demonic cultivator, can no longer bully anyone.

The heart demon’s eyes wander as he quietly observes Shen Lingshu, Ji Ruo, and Gu Qiuming, who are all separated at different spots in the room. He notices that there’s no interaction between them.

When Gu Qiuming explains to Li Jianming and the others how he was caught by Ji Ruo, the heart demon sees that Shen Lingshu’s expression seems oddly pleased.

Wait a second—why is Shen Lingshu so pleased when Gu Qiuming, his future partner, is being bullied? The heart demon is perplexed.

Gu Qiuming and Li Jianming are old acquaintances, and as they exchange stories of their previous experiences with the trials, it turns out that Gu Qiuming encountered Ji Ruo during another task. Both of them struggled to catch a particular chicken—a chicken that ran extremely fast—and ended up as the last ones to clear the level. Ji Ruo even stole a chicken from another young righteous cultivator, which violated the rules. Eventually, both of them had to complete the task before they could pass.

When Li Jianming hears that the young master of the Demon Palace had to personally catch a chicken, he can’t stop laughing.

Ji Ruo, having heard the conversation, isn’t pleased. He snaps angrily, “Gu Qiuming, shut up!”

Li Jianming’s laughter grows louder.

The heart demon, unable to relate to either Ji Ruo’s anger or Li Jianming’s amusement, grows bored and starts to drift off mentally.

Why hasn’t the task been released yet?

At that moment, the door to Shuanglu Zhai opens again, and someone walks in. He is a demonic cultivator, holding an iron fan, and wears a smiling expression.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Ji Ruo immediately stops caring about Li Jianming and frowns.

The demonic cultivator, noticing Ji Ruo, walks over with a smile, “Isn’t this Young Master Ji?”

The two seem to be old acquaintances.

With the entrance of the demonic cultivator, everyone in Shuanglu Zhai—except for the heart demon—becomes alert. This new arrival is Young Master Yin of the Demonic Star Sect, a far more troublesome figure than Ji Ruo.

Ji Ruo is still young and somewhat headstrong, and his subordinates likely haven’t killed many people. Young Master Yin, however, is a cold-hearted demon, capable of killing without hesitation. His cultivation has already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.

Before Shen Lingshu’s spiritual veins are destroyed, he could fight Young Master Yin. But now, the cultivators in Shuanglu Zhai are mostly at the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core stages.

There is, however, one exception: the little island master of Penglai. The group has yet to determine the heart demon’s true cultivation.

Fortunately, just as the door to Shuanglu Zhai closes, the fox demon upstairs stands up and interrupts Young Master Yin’s greeting to Ji Ruo.

The fox demon’s voice is soft, with a hint of seductive charm. “Everyone is here. Let’s begin.”

Once he speaks, everyone involuntarily starts counting the number of people in Shuanglu Zhai. Initially, there are Gu Qiuming and Ji Ruo, and then the five people who come later, plus the newly arrived Young Master Yin. Indeed, there are eight people in total.

So, this must be another group task?

Everyone vaguely senses a pattern forming.

After the green fox demon upstairs stands up, everyone notices he has four large, furry tails behind him, and a pair of light yellow fox ears hidden in his hair.

Holding the pipe, he gently releases a white puff of smoke.

The white smoke descends and brightens, and suddenly, all the ornaments in Shuanglu Zhai vanish, transforming into a vast open space. The wooden floorboards turn into cold white jade, divided into large squares with a radius of three meters.

These squares, arranged seven rows horizontally and nine rows vertically, resemble a chessboard. In the center, there are two pools—three rows horizontally and two rows vertically. The fox demon stands between them, in the central square of the entire chessboard, leaning against a white marble bridge’s railing as he gently blows out a smoke ring.

“Shuanglu Zhai is a chess hall. If you want to pass the level, you naturally have to play chess,” the fox demon says slowly. “Today, we’ll be playing Beast Chess. You should have heard of it.”

At this, everyone starts to think.

Beast Chess involves a total of sixteen pieces, with both sides each having half. The pieces are identical, consisting of elephants, lions, tigers, leopards, wolves, dogs, cats, and mice, arranged in descending order of size.

The game is played in turns, with each move consisting of one square. The larger beasts can capture the smaller ones, but the elephant cannot capture the mouse, whereas the smallest piece, the mouse, can capture the elephant.

Of course, if two pieces of the same type meet, the latter can capture the former.

The chessboard is designed with the beast caves of both sides shaped like the Chinese character “品”, with three traps on each side. The first player to break through the trap and reach the opponent’s beast cave wins, but a player can also win by eating all the opponent’s pieces.

Among the eight, most of them know the rules of Beast Chess. However, this does not include the heart demon.

Weiran raises his hand and says, “I don’t know.”

The fox demon, ready to start the game, frowns when he hears this, but when he sees the little boy in red who is even prettier than he is, his expression softens. He smiles and says, “What don’t you know, little one? Just ask your brother. Before the game begins, feel free to ask if you don’t understand anything.”

Hearing “brother,” the heart demon becomes somewhat irritated, and his fair face darkens.

“I don’t understand anything.”

Seeing the boy frown, the fox demon finds him even more adorable. He feels that if he doesn’t make his move now, he might regret it for the rest of his life. His tone becomes gentler.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Just explain the rules! Why ask for my name? It’s boring!” Ji Ruo retorts impatiently, not afraid at all. He rolls his eyes, clearly showing his disgust at the fox demon’s obvious intentions.

The fox demon smiles at Ji Ruo. “So fiery. How about you take a dip in the pool to cool off first?” he teases, then turns his head and throws a flirtatious glance at the heart demon. “Have you thought about how to answer, kid?”

Ji Ruo, now even more annoyed, can’t hold back his frustration. When they first enter Shuanglu Zhai, the fox demon is polite to him, constantly staring at his face and drooling. But now, upon seeing someone more beautiful, he turns his back on Ji Ruo.

Unable to contain his frustration, Ji Ruo speaks first: “I’ll tell you, he’s Yun Weiran! The Yun Weiran who was just warned by the Floating City Lord for secretly eating monsters in Floating City not long ago!”

“Ji Ruo, stop talking nonsense!” Li Jianming quickly intervenes, worried the fox demon might create trouble for the island owner.

The fox demon’s flattering smile freezes for a moment. He slowly turns his gaze away, seemingly losing interest in Yun Weiran completely. He no longer looks at anyone else and simply announces coldly, “The game begins.”

Li Jianming and Ji Ruo are both stunned. “It’s starting already?”

The rules haven’t even been fully explained!

The heart demon also raises his voice. “What about the rules?”

The fox demon’s expression darkens. He instinctively looks toward the snow-white space outside the chessboard, and then, as if steadying himself, says coldly, “The rules are simple. The eight of you will work together to oppose me. Each of you will represent one piece, and the drawing of lots will decide which piece each person takes. As for who moves first, we’ll go by the order in which you entered Shuanglu Zhai.”

Jiang Zhibai, already familiar with the rules of Beast Chess, is taken aback by the new twist—having the eight of them actually represent pieces and enter the chess game themselves. The fact that they need to draw lots to decide the order makes him look at the fox demon with disbelief.

“This rule is unfair!” Jiang Zhibai protests.

The fox demon glares at him proudly. “I set the rules. I won’t change them.”

Jiang Zhibai, infuriated, nearly curses.

Without further delay, the fox demon raises his hand, and the eight chess pieces fly toward the eight people on the opposite side. Everyone hesitates for a moment, but the heart demon immediately grabs the first piece. He spreads his hands and sees a red mouse painted on it.

At this, the others take their pieces one by one, each drawing a different piece.

Meanwhile, the fox demon has already flown back to his own beast cave and reminds them, “The game is best of three, first to two wins. Red side goes first. I’ll let you move first. Step forward if you entered Shuanglu Zhai first.”

The eight people exchange uncertain glances.

Among them, there are both demon cultivators and righteous cultivators, who shouldn’t be in the same formation. However, now they have all been arranged by the fox demon, and there is nothing they can do about it. They quickly discuss and then take their respective positions.

Ji Ruo, being the first to enter Shuanglu Zhai, makes the first move. However, at that moment, he is completely clueless. He has no idea how to play this chess game. He stands there in confusion, glancing around and moving slowly, unsure of what to do.

The heart demon, similarly unsure, is fortunate to have Jiang Zhibai by his side to explain the rules. However, Li Jianming doesn’t quite grasp it either. Since his turn comes before the heart demon’s, Jiang Zhibai takes care of him first.

On the opposite side, the fox demon has prepared eight large chess pieces, each occupying half a square. They are carved from blue crystal, resembling various animals. The details are lifelike enough for everyone to clearly see which pieces they are.

In silence, the game begins.

Ji Ruo, who is pushed to take the first step, doesn’t encounter any immediate danger. The fox demon then controls the chess pieces, and the two sides continue taking turns.

About a cup of tea later, Ji Ruo and Gu Qiuming, who have drawn the leopard and the dog, find an additional blue chess piece in the adjacent grid. Both can capture it, but it won’t be theirs in the next round. This means the piece is about to be eaten. The two of them are fully immersed in the game, sweating nervously.

At that moment, it is the fox demon’s turn. He glances at the board and smiles. Turning to Ji Ruo and Gu Qiuming, he says, “You still have one chance. If you don’t want to be eaten, you can resist, but time is running out. You have only one hundred seconds. If you lose, you’ll be kicked out of the game. And,” he pauses, his smile turning malicious, “whether you resist or not, if you’re kicked out of the game three times in total and the red side doesn’t win in the end, you’ll be punished. What the punishment is, well, that depends on what I feel like eating today.”

Ji Ruo and Gu Qiuming are horrified.

The next moment, the fox demon’s blue chess piece advances to the square where Ji Ruo is.

Ji Ruo instinctively tries to retreat, but he quickly steadies himself and stays put. The leopard chess piece moves into the square and suddenly transforms into a massive leopard, charging toward him at lightning speed!

Ji Ruo is shocked.

A moment later, Ji Ruo finds himself standing outside the chessboard, his face pale with anger. When the leopard appears, he doesn’t have time to fight back, and he forgets to track the time to resist. In his panic, he steps outside of the square and is kicked off the board by a surge of demonic force. His heart still aches from the experience.

The Young Master of the Demon Palace has never suffered such a loss, except when dealing with Yun Zhuoran!

After Ji Ruo, the next person to be kicked out is Gu Qiuming.

Gu Qiuming, with lower cultivation, spits out a mouthful of blood after being eliminated, and he seems seriously injured.

Seeing this, the expressions of the remaining players turn solemn, and they dare not underestimate the fox demon on the opposite side.

As time passes, Gu Jinping, who has drawn the wolf, Li Jianming, who has drawn the cat, and Shen Lingshu, who has drawn the lion, are all eaten by their respective chess pieces and kicked out of the game. By then, the game is halfway through, and only Master Yin, Jiang Zhibai, and the heart demon remain on the red side.

The fox demon’s blue side has also lost a few pieces, but since he isn’t hurt by losing them, his growing advantage only fuels the players’ frustration.

This fox demon is far too cunning, and the rules seem to only favor him!

The elephant, drawn by Master Yin, and the tiger, drawn by Jiang Zhibai, are both close to the blue side’s beast cave. The heart demon, however, is still hovering by the pond in the middle. It isn’t that he doesn’t want to take the initiative; he has figured out the rules, but the fox demon keeps avoiding him. No one can tell what the fox demon is planning.

Soon, it is Jiang Zhibai’s turn. His tiger piece is right next to the blue side’s tiger piece, and with one more move, he can capture it. He moves forward, but suddenly, the tiger piece comes to life!

Jiang Zhibai is shocked and stumbles backward just in time, inadvertently stepping outside the grid.

As a result, Jiang Zhibai is kicked out of the game.

The tiger transforms into a muscular man, occupying Jiang Zhibai’s previous position.

The others are puzzled, as the other pieces have been able to be captured!

The fox demon, however, is unfazed. He smiles at the strong, handsome man, then turns his gaze to the others and says, “Brother Tiger and I are the masters of Shuanglu Zhai, but I never said that I’m the only one here. Besides, since you have the opportunity to resist, I can resist too, right? What, is there a problem?”

This rule seems flawed at every turn!

Everyone has suffered enough to realize that the fox demon is far more wicked than they ever imagined!

Now, on the chessboard, only two red-side players remain.

They are Master Yin and the little island master.

Young Master Yin has already approached the beast cave on the fox demon’s side, only to walk straight into the trap.

As the onlookers expect, the fox demon indeed does not miss this trap. With a combination of fire attacks and storm ice blades, Young Master Yin has to endure five hundred counts before the attacks pause. After ten counts, the attacks resume, continuing until the next round before he can leave. As one can imagine, if the fox demon deliberately stalls, the person in that square can be worn down and killed.

As for the time limit for placing a piece?

This is a normal game of Beast Chess for ordinary players, but now the rules are being controlled by the shameless fox demon. Can he not disregard the original rules? Of course, he can!

Young Master Yin endures nearly 500 strikes. Under the constant barrage of attacks, he finally covers his injured arm and withdraws from the square, his face cold and grim.

With Young Master Yin out, only the little island master remains on the red side.

The heart demon has long been overlooked by the fox demon, whether by design or by accident. Bored, he sits in the square, chewing on a demon core, crunch, crunch, crunch…

The sharp, loud chewing can be heard clearly by everyone inside and outside the chessboard.

Next, it is the fox demon’s turn. He makes no move, but simply looks at the heart demon with a faint, almost mocking gaze. “Little friend, if you don’t want to suffer, you can give up. You can always try again in the next game.”

His tone has a coaxing quality to it.

The heart demon raises his eyes and gives a brief glance.

Outside the chessboard, the others who have been kicked out remain silent. After enduring this round, they realize just how difficult the game is. Instead of letting the little island master fight alone, it might be better to just start the next game.

The heart demon ignores the fox demon. He lowers his head and pulls out the shining floating order from his waist.

It displays only one message:
— Yun Zhuoran, the owner of Penglai Island, has lit the Xinglan Bridge and received a mysterious package.

A smile spreads across the heart demon’s face, his eyes sparkling.

The fox demon glances at the tiger demon and asks, “What are you laughing at? Are you giving up?”

The heart demon’s smile is because he is pleased that his brother has crossed the Xinglan Bridge and is now closer to him.

Hearing the fox demon’s words, the heart demon tucks away the floating order, stands up, and with faintly bloodshot eyes, glances at the tiger demon in the distance before turning his gaze to the fox demon.

When their eyes lock, the two demons feel a chill run down their spines and look at each other uneasily.

The red-clad boy on the opposite side touches his stomach and grins. “I’m hungry.”