Chapter 274: Brother Goat
I stared into the man's eyes for a long moment before finally managing to utter, "Thank you, Uncle..."
"Uncle...?" He didn't seem to like that title. "Calling me 'Uncle'... you might as well call me 'Lord Vermilion Bird.'"
"Lord Vermilion Bird?" I didn't quite understand. This wasn't ancient times—why would someone call themselves "Lord"?
But Lord Vermilion Bird had saved my life.
If he hadn't shown up, I would have definitely died here.
He must be a very, very good person.
"Little girl, you made a great decision today." Lord Vermilion Bird smiled. "From now on, you won't go hungry, and no one will bully you."
"Huh?"
"It's almost evening. Come with me." Lord Vermilion Bird beckoned and walked out the door.
Only after stepping outside did I see that he was wearing a cloak made of crimson feathers.
"L-Lord Vermilion Bird, where are we going?" I hurried after him.
He pointed to an empty space nearby, where a shimmering door had appeared.
"You are now a 'Zodiac.' Every night, you must go to the 'Train.' That's the first rule." Vermilion Bird said. "I hope you make new friends."
"Zodiac... Train... Friends?" I didn't understand a single word.
But when I turned my head for just a moment, Lord Vermilion Bird had vanished.
Was he a deity who came to rescue me?
Seeing the darkness closing in around me, I had no choice but to keep walking toward that glowing door. It looked like something out of a fairy tale—floating in the air, leading to another place.
I slowly stepped inside and found myself standing in a very long corridor. On both sides of the corridor were wooden doors. At that moment, many people wearing masks were coming out of them. They didn't linger after entering; instead, they all walked toward the other end of the corridor.
I turned around and saw that the glowing door I had entered through was gone, leaving only a wooden door behind me.
"What's going on...?" Was I supposed to have come out of one of these wooden doors too?
"Move it, don't block the way." A gruff voice sounded behind me.
Startled, I quickly stepped aside and saw a tall man wearing a white tiger mask standing behind me.
"What the hell... How can someone be this short?" He glanced at me with contempt and walked off without looking back.
"Ah..." I finally snapped out of it and immediately followed him. "Uncle!"
The tall man clearly froze at those words, then slowly turned around.
"What...?" His tone suddenly softened.
"Uncle... h-hello..." I bowed my head slightly and asked, "Excuse me, where is this place?"
The tall man looked at me with a complicated expression, then slowly said, "This is the 'Train,' where the 'Zodiacs' rest."
"The 'Zodiacs' rest?" I didn't understand. "Why am I here at the 'Zodiacs' resting place?"
The tall Tiger Uncle seemed to freeze again.
I thought he would answer my question, but he hesitated for a long time before finally blurting out four words: "How... old are you?"
"Uncle, I'm almost ten." I replied earnestly.
"Ten...?" He blinked. "Are you hungry?"
"Hungry...?" I rubbed my head a little sheepishly. "I... I am a bit hungry..."
"Come on, I'll take you to eat." He reached out his broad hand and took mine, making me feel very warm.
We had only taken a few steps when another uncle emerged from a door in front of us.
He wore a snakeskin mask, and his smell was unpleasant.
"Well, well!" Snake Uncle called out. "Isn't this Little Tiger? Haven't seen you all day—found a little girlfriend?"
"Piss off." Tiger Uncle's tone was very rude toward him. "Believe I'll tear you apart?"
"Hahaha!" Snake Uncle somehow found that funny. "You want to tear me apart on the 'Train'? Come on, come on... let's see what Brother Goat has to say about that."
"Then I'll break your fingers." Tiger Uncle said fiercely. "If it weren't for Brother Goat's sake, I'd have broken every one of your fingers by now."
"Oh, come on... alright..." Snake Uncle reached out and put his arm around Tiger Uncle's shoulder. "We're practically 'classmates,' aren't we? Why are you so mad?"
"Piss off." Tiger Uncle shook off his hand. "What do you mean by 'little girlfriend'? Watch your mouth."
"Haha! Isn't she?" Snake Uncle bent down to look at me. "A loli-type little mouse? Not bad, huh?"
I swallowed nervously, looked into the man's eyes, and said, "H-hello, Uncle..."
As soon as I said that, Snake Uncle froze too.
"Huh?" His expression changed, and he quickly turned to Tiger Uncle. "Are you kidding me... That voice... she's just a kid!"
"You only figured that out now?" Tiger Uncle shook his head. "What kind of crap were you spouting just now?"
"I... I..." Snake Uncle quickly slapped his own mouth. "Damn, how was I supposed to know?! But why is this happening?"
"Enough. Let Brother Goat figure something out." Tiger Uncle pulled me in front of him, looked around, and then asked, "By the way, where's that Old Black? Dead?"
As soon as he said that, the door in front of us swung open.
A man wearing a black goat head mask walked out.
He gave the three of us a cold look, then walked off in the other direction.
"Damn it..." Tiger Uncle cursed. "Both 'goats,' but seeing him pisses me off."
"Alright, alright..." Snake Uncle patted him with a smile, then looked down at me. "Little one, you must be starving, right? Uncle will take you to eat."
I smiled sheepishly. If this Snake Uncle hadn't shown up, I would have already gone to eat.
The two of them each took one of my hands and led me forward through the crowd of masked people.
Tiger Uncle seemed pretty formidable—many people cleared the way for him along the route.
We followed Black Goat Uncle for a long time before finally stopping in front of a door.
I was curious—every door here looked the same. How did they know where they were going?
Black Goat Uncle raised his hand and knocked on the door, speaking very respectfully: "Brother Goat, we're here."
"Come in." A man's voice came from inside.
The three of us slowly pushed the door open. Inside was a room that looked like a dining hall.
The table was covered with food, and I was completely stunned.
There were roast chicken, ribs, fish, and many things I didn't recognize!
I had just swallowed my saliva when I saw the person sitting at the head of the table.
He wasn't wearing a mask—instead, he had a real, pure white goat's head, like something out of Journey to the West.
His cold gaze lingered on me for a moment, then he looked up at Tiger Uncle and said, "Tiger, what are you doing?"
This person's voice was very young—more like a "brother" than an "uncle."
"Brother Goat..." Tiger Uncle pulled me forward. "A strange thing happened. A kid has become a 'Zodiac.'"