Cave Refuge

"Nobody came looking for me!"

Mr. Thompson had just casually answered Old Taylor's question before he realized the situation at his end. Instead of saying no one had come looking for them, it was more accurate to say that Mr. and Mrs. Thompson were hardly ever home. As soon as they woke up, they'd go out for a walk, and because they were often not at home, their house remained unfinished.

While several people were chatting in the yard, someone stood outside and called to Old Taylor, "Old Taylor, my son just came back from outside, and this kid somehow got his hands on some fine tea.

Come on, let's go to my house and see how that tea tastes?"

Everyone in the yard followed the voice and looked outside, seeing the man standing there with sunglasses blocking his eyes. After the recent conversation, a chill ran through Old Taylor's heart, but thinking of the weaknesses of the monsters that Zachary had mentioned, Old Taylor tentatively said, "Old pal, didn't you see I have guests over?

I can't leave right now; why don't you bring some tea leaves over? We could have a gathering here, and I can introduce you to everyone. It's good to have more friends, more paths!"

Old Taylor's proposal was outright declined by the other, "No, no, next time perhaps; it's not that I'm stingy, but my darn son didn't bring much tea. You stay busy, and we can catch up some other time."

Hearing the refusal, Old Taylor instead became bolder and immediately opened the yard gate, grabbed the other person, and, very enthusiastically, grabbed his arm to pull him inside.

While holding the man's arm, he said, "I'm just joking with you; what's our relationship, think I'd swindle you for tea leaves? Don't worry, if there's no tea, my house won't miss that pair of chopsticks of yours. Come on in; one of my pals brought a fine bottle of liquor. It's better to arrive timely than early, come inside."

The fact that Old Taylor held his arm firmly didn't seem to please the man, who looked as if he had been frightened by something and was constantly struggling to break free from Old Taylor's hands.

During the tussle, perhaps due to the excessive movements, the sunglasses on the man's face fell off as if they were knocked off by the vigorous shaking of his body.

When the sunglasses hit the floor, everyone in the yard stared directly at the man's eyes and indeed, as Zachary mentioned, noticed his eyes were tightly shut the whole time. Old Taylor, with determination, twisted the man's arm with two fingers in a sudden 180-degree turn.

As Old Taylor pinched hard on his arm, the man howled in pain, "Ow!" - the loud howl indicated the extreme force Old Taylor used.

Along with the man's agonizing cries and probably due to severe pain, a tremendous force erupted from his body and in just a flash, he broke free from Old Taylor's grip.

Afterwards, he kept massaging the area Old Taylor had pinched harshly, and while rubbing couldn't help but complain to Old Taylor, "Old Taylor, that was quite harsh, you could have just said no to the tea, why pinch me?"

Seeing the man now with his eyes open, everyone in the yard finally relaxed their tense nerves, and Old Taylor took the initiative to ask, "Mason Hart, are you back to normal now?"

Mason Hart, who had been complaining and rubbing his arm, was startled by Old Taylor's question. Surviving up to now, no one was a fool; he had known Old Taylor for a long time and understood his personality well. He knew Old Taylor liked to joke with friends, but such joking was always verbal, never physical.

So although his arm had been severely pinched by Old Taylor, he just verbally complained but harbored no anger. When he heard Old Taylor's question and then saw everyone looking at him warily, Mason Hart immediately realized something unknown to him must have happened.

He asked with a hint of confusion, "What exactly happened; why are you all on guard against me?"

Because he was familiar with Old Taylor, the responsibility to explain naturally fell upon Old Taylor, "Mason Hart, have you felt anything unusual recently? Also, I remember you never used to wear sunglasses; why did you come with them today?"

Hearing Old Taylor's questions, Mason Hart said bewilderedly, "What are you talking about? I haven't encountered anything unusual recently. And what do you mean by me wearing sunglasses here? It's not like before the Natural Disaster; not only do I dislike wearing sunglasses normally, even if I wanted to, there's nowhere to buy them now."

Listening to Mason Hart's defense, Zachary suddenly realized something he had been overlooking. After so many occurrences of Natural Disaster, while some survivors might still have sunglasses, he had encountered quite a few people wearing sunglasses since entering the camp.

Although he now realized that those wearing sunglasses were likely under the control of monsters with powerful Illusion Technique abilities, he had overlooked an important question: Where did those sunglasses on their faces even come from?