I stared at that man’s eyes and after a long while finally managed to say, “Thank you, Uncle…”

“Uncle…?” He didn’t seem to like this form of address very much. “Calling me Uncle… you might as well call me ‘Lord Zhu Que.'”

“Lord Zhu Que?” I was somewhat confused. This wasn’t ancient times, so why would someone still call themselves “Lord”?

But Lord Zhu Que really had saved my life.

If he hadn’t appeared, I definitely would have died here.

He must be a very, very good person.

“Little sister, you made a very great decision today.” Lord Zhu Que said with a smile. “From now on, you won’t go hungry, and you won’t be bullied by anyone.”

“Ah?”

“It’s almost evening. Come with me.” Lord Zhu Que waved his hand and walked out the door.

Only after going outside did I see clearly that he was wearing a crimson feather cloak.

“L-Lord Zhu Que, where are we going?” I hurriedly followed him.

I saw him point to an open space not far away, where a shimmering door had appeared.

“You are now a ‘Zodiac.’ Every night you must go to the ‘Train.’ This is the first rule.” Zhu Que said. “I wish you make new friends.”

“Zodiac… Train… friends?” I didn’t understand a single word.

But in just the time it took to turn my head, Lord Zhu Que had vanished.

Was he a divine being who came to save me?

Seeing the surroundings growing darker and darker, I could only keep walking toward that glowing door. This door seemed like something from a mythological story—though it floated in the air, it led to another place.

I slowly walked through it and found myself standing in a very long corridor. Both sides of the corridor were lined with wooden doors. Many people wearing masks were walking out from inside at this moment. After entering, they didn’t linger but all walked toward the other end of the corridor.

When I turned back, I found that the glowing door I’d entered through had disappeared. Behind me was only a wooden door.

“What’s going on…?” Did I also come out from a wooden door?

“Get out of the way, don’t block the path.” A rough voice sounded behind me.

I was startled and quickly dodged to the side. Only then did I notice a tall man wearing a white tiger mask standing behind me.

“What is this… why is there such a short one?” He looked at me somewhat disdainfully, then walked forward without looking back.

“Ah…” I finally reacted and immediately followed. “Uncle!”

When that tall man heard these two words, he was clearly stunned, then slowly turned around.

“What…?” His tone instantly softened.

“Uncle… h-hello…” I bowed my head to him slightly, then asked, “Excuse me, where is this place?”

The tall man looked at me with a very complicated expression, then slowly said, “This is the ‘Train,’ a place where the ‘Zodiacs’ rest.”

“A place where ‘Zodiacs’ rest?” I didn’t quite understand. “Why would I come to a place where ‘Zodiacs’ rest?”

The tall Tiger Uncle seemed to be stunned again.

I thought he would answer my question, but after pausing for a long while, he only managed to squeeze out four words: “How… old are you?”

“Uncle, I’m almost ten years old.” I answered earnestly.

“Ten years old…?” He blinked. “Are you hungry?”

“Hungry…?” I touched my head somewhat embarrassedly. “I… I am a little hungry…”

“Come on, I’ll take you to eat.” He extended his wide palm and held my hand, making me feel very warm.

We had only walked a few steps when another uncle emerged from a door ahead.

He wore a snakeskin mask, and his body had an unpleasant smell.

“Yo!” Snake Uncle called out. “If it isn’t Little Tiger! Haven’t seen you for a day, and you found yourself a little girlfriend?”

“Fuck off.” Tiger Uncle spoke to him very rudely. “Believe it or not, I’ll tear you to shreds?”

“Hahahaha!” Snake Uncle burst out laughing for some reason. “You’re going to tear me to shreds on the ‘Train’? Come on, come on… I want to see what Brother Sheep says in the end.”

“Then I’ll just break your fingers.” Tiger Uncle said fiercely. “If it weren’t for Brother Sheep’s sake, all ten of your fingers would have to break once.”

“Aiya… alright…” Snake Uncle reached out and put his arm around Tiger Uncle’s shoulder. “We’re ‘classmates’ after all. Why are you getting so angry?”

“Fuck off.” Tiger Uncle shook off the man’s hand. “What do you mean ‘little girlfriend’? Watch your damn mouth.”

“Haha! Isn’t she?” Snake Uncle bent down to look at me. “A loli-type little mouse? Nice going.”

I swallowed slightly, looking at that person’s eyes and calling out, “U-Uncle, hello…”

With this one sentence, Snake Uncle also froze.

“Huh?” His expression changed, and he quickly turned to look at Tiger Uncle. “What kind of joke is this… that voice… this is still a child!”

“You’re only fucking noticing now?” Tiger Uncle shook his head. “What kind of nonsense were you spouting just now?”

“I… I…” Snake Uncle quickly reached up and slapped his own mouth. “Fuck, how could I have thought?! But why is this?”

“Stop talking. Let Brother Sheep think of a solution.” Tiger Uncle pulled me in front of him, looked around, and asked again, “By the way, where’s that old Black? Is he dead?”

As soon as the words fell, the door in front of us was pushed open.

A person wearing a black sheep-head mask walked out.

He looked coldly at the three of us, then walked in another direction.

“Damn…” Tiger Uncle cursed. “Both are ‘Sheep,’ but seeing him makes me furious.”

“Alright…” Snake Uncle smiled and patted him, then lowered his head to say to me, “Little one, you must be starving, right? Uncle will take you to eat.”

I smiled somewhat embarrassedly. If this Snake Uncle hadn’t appeared, I probably would have gone to eat already.

The two of them each held one of my hands and moved forward among the many masked people.

Tiger Uncle seemed very impressive. Along the way, many people made way for him.

We followed Black Sheep Uncle for a long time before stopping in front of a door.

I was somewhat curious—all the doors here looked the same. How did they know where they needed to go?

Black Sheep Uncle reached out and knocked on the door, saying very respectfully, “Brother Sheep, we’re here.”

“Enter.” A man’s voice came from inside the door.

After hearing this, the three slowly pushed open the door. Inside the room was a space like a dining hall.

The dining table was filled with many foods. I was instantly dazzled.

There was roasted 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 dining table.

He wasn’t wearing a mask. Instead, he had a real pure white sheep head, looking just like a demon from Journey to the West.

His cold gaze paused on me for a moment, then he raised his eyes to Tiger Uncle and said, “Tiger, what are you doing?”

This person’s voice was very young. He didn’t sound like an “Uncle” but rather like an “Older Brother.”

“Brother Sheep…” Tiger Uncle pulled me forward. “Something strange has happened. A child has become a ‘Zodiac.'”