The old man looked at them, dazed.
His gaze drifted between Eve, Vera, and Mia, his expression full of confusion.
Mia opened her mouth, as though wanting to press further, but in the end she simply threw her arms around him.
At least Grandpa was alive.
That mattered more than anything else right now.
After a moment, she wiped away her tears and turned to Eve and Vera.
"Thank you, both of you, for saving Grandpa... and for saving me too."
She bowed deeply.
Though the old man had no idea what had actually happened before, he could guess from the scene in front of him and his granddaughter's reaction that these two had saved him.
He braced one hand against the ground and tried to stand.
But the moment he put strength into his legs, his body swayed uncontrollably.
Eve quickly caught him.
"Careful."
"Getting old. Not much use anymore." Edmund Chow managed a weak smile, his voice still terribly faint.
"Thank you both. If it weren't for you, Mia and I would have..."
He didn't finish the sentence.
The black feathers scattered across the ground said enough on their own.
Mia picked up the basket that had tipped over nearby, gathering up the eggs, dried vegetables, mushrooms, and a few parcels scattered around it.
She shouldered the basket and looked at the two of them. "Our home is here in town. You can come rest there first."
Edmund nodded as well.
"You're both hurt. If you don't mind, please come to our humble home for a while, and let me properly thank you."
Eve had meant to decline.
But after everything they'd just been through, her hands were still trembling faintly, the wound at the base of her thumb throbbing dully.
The ordinary mask couldn't fully block out the mist, and that cloying sweetness still lingered in her nose, her head growing heavier by the minute.
Vera wasn't faring much better either.
"Thank you. We'd appreciate that," Eve said.
She and Vera supported Edmund between them, one on each side.
Mia walked ahead with the newly packed basket, leading them away from Everslumber Street.
The residents who'd fled earlier still hadn't returned.
The street that had been so lively only moments ago was now in complete disarray. Shops had their doors and windows shut tight, goods from the stalls scattered across the ground. Here and there, a face would peek out from a distance, only to vanish back behind a door the instant it met Eve's eyes.
No one came forward to ask what had happened.
No one asked whether Edmund was still alive.
Once they'd left Everslumber Street, Mia didn't head for the main road. Instead, she turned into a narrow side alley.
Moss crept damp along the walls on either side. They passed several abandoned houses one after another, then crossed a short path half-hidden beneath overgrown weeds.
The figures around them gradually thinned out, until only rows of low, run-down houses remained.
Eve and Vera supported Edmund between them, carefully stepping around broken fragments of stone underfoot.
"You live somewhere this hidden?"
Mia glanced back but didn't answer right away.
She led them through two more turns, checked that no one was following, then finally lowered her voice.
"No one can know where we live."
"Why?" Eve asked, confused.
Mia didn't explain any further.
A few minutes later, an old wooden house appeared behind a stretch of abandoned buildings.
The house was tucked behind a high wall and overgrown weeds, its roof worn, its doors and windows unremarkable in every way. If Mia hadn't led them there, Eve doubted she'd have ever guessed anyone still lived in it.
Mia didn't open the door right away.
She checked her surroundings first, making sure no one had followed them, before finally pulling a small key out from inside her clothes.
Click.
The door opened.
"Quick, get inside."
Eve and Vera helped Edmund over the threshold.
Mia came in last, shutting the door immediately and sliding the bolt home, then carefully checking the windows one more time.
The house was small inside, its furniture sparse, but kept neat and spotlessly clean.
Near the corner stood a bulky, heavy-looking machine.
It stood about waist-high, its metal casing covered in patches of old repairs, a thick, long pipe connecting it to the window. A low hum emanated from deep inside it, and a green indicator light on its side blinked steadily.
Not long after entering, Eve noticed that the air inside felt completely different from outside.
The lingering sweetness gradually disappeared.
The heavy drowsiness pressing against her mind eased slightly.
Breathing became easier.
Even her sluggish thoughts slowly began to clear.
Mia pulled off her special mask.
"You two can take yours off now, too."
Eve hesitated for a moment before removing her ordinary mask.
There really was no sleep mist in here.
"What is that?" She looked at the machine in the corner.
"An air purifier," Mia said. "It filters out the sleep mist that seeps in through the gaps around the doors and windows. As long as it's running properly, staying inside means you're not constantly breathing mist in."
"So it's safe to sleep in here?"
"No."
Mia answered immediately.
"It can only filter the sleep mist. It can't hide the scent a sleeping body gives off. If someone falls asleep during the Greyday, a Dreamgrave Raven can still find them."
She walked over to the machine, checking the indicator light.
"And it can't erase a dream-mark that's already appeared, either. Grandpa was already chosen by the Raven back there. Hiding in here wouldn't have made any difference."
Eve looked at the steadily running machine.
"If it can't stop a Dreamgrave Raven, why keep it so carefully hidden?"
"Because most people in town don't have one."
Mia's voice dropped lower.
"Everyone else just wears a mask, or keeps talking, keeps making noise, trying to stay awake however they can."
"This machine doesn't mean we can sleep during the Grey Day. But at least once we're home, we're not breathing in the mist the whole time."
She pressed her lips together.
"If anyone else found out, someone might try to steal it, or everyone might expect to share it. The machine's energy is limited — it can't possibly support that many people using it."
"So nobody can know we have an air purifier at home."
"We won't tell anyone," Eve and Vera said at the same time.
Mia looked at them and nodded seriously.
"You two probably haven't eaten yet, right?"
Edmund had barely straightened from his chair when his legs weakened again.
Vera immediately caught him
"Please sit down."
"It's only a meal. I can still manage that much."
"You can barely stand." Mia frowned. "No showing off."
Mia pushed her grandfather back into the chair. He could only manage a helpless smile.
"All right. I won't move. I'll tell you what to do, and you can cook."
Mia carried the ingredients from the basket over to the simple stove.
There wasn't much — a small bag of rice, a few eggs, a little dried vegetable, some mushrooms, and a small piece of meat.
Vera took charge of mincing the mushrooms and meat, while Mia rinsed the rice and dried greens beside her.
Eve had meant to help too, but Vera stopped her.
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"Your hand's hurt. You shouldn't get it wet." Vera tilted her chin toward a chair nearby. "Sit and rest. We've got this."
Eve glanced down at the split skin on her palm and sat down as told.
Edmund sat beside the stove, talking them through each ingredient, step by step.
"Don't put in too much minced meat. Fry the mushrooms first until they're fragrant, then stir them into the congee."
Even confined to giving instructions from a chair, he clearly knew the exact timing and heat for every step.
Before long, a simple bowl of mushroom-and-meat congee, a fried egg, and a plate of stir-fried greens were set on the table.
Eve scooped up a spoonful of the warm congee.
The heat slid down into a stomach that had been empty far too long, the mushrooms' savory flavor melting through the rice; the meat was sparse, but it was just enough to deepen the whole dish.
"This is really good." Eve couldn't help saying.
Vera tasted a spoonful too, a hint of surprise crossing her face.
"We only followed your instructions. I didn't think such simple ingredients could taste this good."
Mia immediately looked proud.
"Grandpa used to be a very famous chef in Everslumber Town."
Edmund smiled and waved a hand.
"I'm nowhere near as impressive as she makes me sound. Simple ingredients are fine. If you know how to handle them properly, you can still make something delicious."
"Anyway, the best meals I've ever eaten were all made by Grandpa," Mia said seriously.
Eve looked at the simple dishes spread across the table.
The ingredients were ordinary—meager, even.
Yet under Edmund's guidance, they had become a meal that left her deeply satisfied.
It had been a long time since she'd eaten something this warm.
Back in her original world, she often worked late into the night.
By the time she got home, she would either order whatever takeout was convenient or fill her stomach with cold bread.
This meal brought back, just for a moment, that world she could still go home to.
As they ate, Eve's eyes landed on a family photo on the table.
There were five people in it.
A younger Edmund sat in the center.
Beside him stood a gentle-looking man and woman.
A much younger Mia was held in her father's arms.
Behind them stood a boy who looked around sixteen, one hand resting on his grandfather's shoulder and a faint smile on his face.
"That's my brother." Mia noticed her looking.
"He's not home?"
"He's out working most of the time. He doesn't come back often." Mia stirred the congee in her bowl, eyes down. "As long as there's food or useful supplies to be traded for it, he'll take on any job, no matter how dangerous."
"Is that how you got the air purifier?"
Mia nodded.
"After our parents passed away, he risked a lot to bring it back from outside. He said at least with the machine, we wouldn't have to keep breathing in the mist while we're home."
The table went quiet.
Eve looked at the man and woman in the photo.
"Your parents were also—"
"Yeah."
Mia tightened her grip on her spoon.
"They both fell asleep during Grayday and were chosen by Dreamgrave Ravens."
Edmund let out a soft sigh.
"Everslumber Town used to be different. It wasn't always like this."
"The Dreamgrave Ravens haven't always been here?" Eve asked.
"No."
Edmund looked at the photo on the table, something nostalgic flickering in his eyes.
"Everslumber Town used to be different. There was always sleep mist, but life was still manageable."
"The mist has existed for a very long time. At first, it only made people tired and drowsy. It didn't kill anyone."
His gaze moved toward the window.
"No one knows where the Dreamgrave Ravens came from. All we know is that one day, the first one suddenly appeared in town."
Mia's fingers tightened slightly around her chopsticks.
Edmund continued.
"From that day on, anyone who fell asleep during Grayday could be found by them."
"They devour a person's dreams—and take their life along with them."
"Then there got to be more and more of them." Mia picked up where he left off. "Everyone had no choice but to change how they lived."
"At two in the morning, the Sleep Bell rings the Slumber Chime," Edmund said. "Once the bell sounds, the Dreamgrave Ravens stop moving."
"From then until eight in the morning is the only time the townspeople can sleep without fear."
"At eight, the Sleep Bell rings the Waking Chime," Mia added. "Everyone has to wake up before the bell."
"If they don't, once Grayday begins, a black feather mark will appear at the corner of their eye, and the Dreamgrave Ravens will follow that mark to find them."
Eve thought about the constant noise on Everslumber Street—the banging, the music, the vendors shouting without pause.
"Once someone is chosen, waking them up doesn't help?"
"It doesn't." Edmund's expression turned grave. "Once the black feather appears at the corner of the eye, it means the Raven's already memorized that person's dream. Unless you kill the specific Raven responsible for the reaping, it'll keep hunting them forever."
"And anyone who stops it gets marked an Interferer too." Mia looked at Eve and Vera. "Just like what happened to you both back there."
Eve glanced down at her shadow.
The raven mark was already gone.
But she still remembered the cold sensation of that shadow clinging to her own.
"Do you know why the Dreamgrave Ravens appeared?"
Edmund shook his head slightly.
"There are plenty of rumors in town. Some say they're born out of nightmares. Others say the mist itself turned into monsters."
"But no one's ever known the real answer
"Strangely enough, not long after the first Dreamgrave Raven showed up, the Nightwatch Apothecary arrived in Everslumber Town too." Mia said. "Not only does he understand the Ravens better than anyone, he also knows how to make anti-sleep masks out of the materials they leave behind."
She paused for a moment, her voice dropping lower.
"But he's never once explained to anyone where he actually came from."
〖The Nightwatch Apothecary〗
Eve committed the name to memory.
After the meal, Mia began clearing the bowls and chopsticks from the table.
Vera took out bandages and basic wound-care supplies from the backpack they'd brought and sat down beside Eve.
The skin at the base of Eve's thumb had split open; her palm and forearm were still faintly swollen red from blocking so many of the Dreamgrave Raven's attacks, and a few burning scrapes still marked her shoulder.
Vera cleaned the wound on her hand first, then wrapped it carefully in bandages.
When the antiseptic touched the broken skin, Eve couldn't help flinching her hand back.
"So now you know it hurts?" Vera asked.
"I knew the whole time."
"Could've fooled me when you charged in back there."
Eve didn't argue
Vera finished bandaging her hand, then checked the swelling along her arm.
"I know you couldn't just stand there and watch that child die."
Her movements became a little gentler.
"I'm not blaming you for saving her."
Eve looked up at her.
"But next time, at least tell me what you're about to do," Vera said. "Don't keep running off by yourself every time."
"There wasn't time."
"So you said nothing and attacked a monster we knew absolutely nothing about?"
Eve was silent for a moment.
"I just saw it about to attack Mia," she said quietly. "By the time I realized what I was doing, I'd already run over."
"Did you ever think about what would happen if you died?"
Eve looked down at the table.
Of course she had.
But in that moment, she simply couldn't convince herself to stand there and watch a nine-year-old child die.
"I'm sorry."
Vera secured the final section of bandage.
"I'm not asking you to apologize."
"We came out here together. If something happens, then we should figure it out together."
"At least let me know what you're planning. Then I'll know how to help you."
Eve looked down at her bandaged hand.
After a moment, she gave a small nod.
"I understand."
Vera studied her.
"Really?"
"Next time, I'll tell you first."
"You'd better remember that."
They held each other's gaze for a moment, and the tension between them finally eased.
Edmund and Mia, who had been listening nearby, couldn't help smiling.
Just then, Edmund's energy visibly began to fade.
He leaned back against his chair, his eyelids sinking lower and lower, his speech slowing down more and more.
Mia stopped what she was doing at once.
"Grandpa, you can't sleep!"
Edmund's eyes snapped open.
"I know... I'm just a little tired."
"Tired or not, you can't close your eyes."
Mia helped him over to the bed to lie down and rest, but she didn't dare let him actually fall asleep.
Even without sleep mist inside the house, if Edmund fell asleep during Grayday, the scent of his dreams could still draw another Dreamgrave Raven.
Eve and Vera put their ordinary masks back on, preparing to continue searching for the sustainable food source and energy core required by the hotel commission.
When Mia saw their masks, she suddenly frowned.
"You've been wearing those this whole time?"
"Is something wrong?"
"Those are just ordinary masks."
Mia pointed to the special mask lying on the table.
"Ordinary masks can only slow the mist down a little. If you stay outside too long, you'll eventually wear yourselves down."
Eve looked at Mia's mask.
"What's that one you're wearing?"
"An Anti-Sleep Mask. The filter inside blocks most of the mist. Everyone in town uses one whenever they go outside."
"Where can we buy them?"
"Only the Nightwatch Apothecary knows how to make and sell them."
Mia's gaze shifted toward Eve's backpack.
"That crystal you picked up... the Dreamgrave Raven left it behind when it disappeared, right?"
Eve didn't deny it.
"Do you know what it is?"
Mia shook her head.
"I don't."
Her eyes returned to Eve's backpack.
"But it looked valuable. It should be enough to trade for two Anti-Sleep Masks."
"Maybe even some replacement filters."
"Do you know where the Nightwatch Apothecary's shop is?"
"I do. I can take you there."
Mia looked back toward her grandfather on the bed.
Then she hesitated.
Edmund was so exhausted he could barely keep his eyes open.
Someone needed to stay with him.
If no one kept reminding him, he might fall asleep again at any moment.
After a brief silence, Vera spoke first.
"I'll stay here with your grandfather."
She looked at Mia.
"You take Eve to the apothecary."
"But—"
"We can't both leave," Vera said. "I'll keep an eye on the purifier, and make sure the doors and windows stay shut. The moment your grandpa starts to close his eyes, I'll wake him right up."
Eve looked at her.
"You'll be okay here by yourself?"
"I'm only keeping him company. I'll be fine."
Vera pulled a chair beside the bed and sat down, casually picking up the family photograph from the table.
"You used to be a chef, right?"
She looked toward Edmund.
"Why don't you tell me about the best dish you've ever made?"
Edmund understood she was trying to keep him from falling asleep, and managed a weak smile.
Only after Mia confirmed that someone would remain with her grandfather did she finally relax.
"Eve, let's go."
"I'll take you to see the Nightwatch Apothecary."
The door opened.
Pale sleep mist slowly drifted in from outside.