Chapter 6

Early the next morning, Dad took me to town.

It had an amusement park and all sorts of snack shops.

This new world utterly amazed me.

Dad even took me to a diner, ordering me sweet soy milk and delicious meat buns.

I ate, my mouth smeared with oil.

After breakfast, just as Dad was about to take me to leave, a man walked into the diner.

He wore a coffee-colored jacket, his face grim, made even more intimidating by a long, jagged scar that seemed to pull at the corner of his eye, giving him a truly fearsome look.

I instinctively shrank behind Dad, terrified.

Once we were out of the diner, I fearfully asked Dad, "Dad, that man who just came in, he was really scary."

Dad replied with some impatience, "He's a killer. If you dare make trouble again, I'll let him chop you up and turn you into dinner."

My body trembled violently again, and I didn't dare say another word.

But a child's world, no matter how terrifying the emotions, can be completely dispelled by something delicious.

I was no exception.

When Dad handed me the cheapest ice cream from the ice cream shop, I instantly forgot all about the killer.

I never imagined the ice cream I'd fantasized about would taste so incredibly delicious.

But what I didn't know was that the ice cream in my hand would be the last sweet taste I would ever savor in this life.

After I finished the ice cream, Dad prepared to take me home.

That's when I saw the "killer" from the morning again.

He was sitting by the door next to the ice cream shop, smiling as he fed buns to a stray cat.

I frowned, confused, looking at the smile on the man's face.

Dad said that man was a killer, didn't he? But why was the killer so gentle when he was feeding a cat?

My dad, whenever he saw a stray cat on the street, would always kick it away.

Before I could figure it out, Dad's impatient voice called from not far away.

"Maya, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and get over here!"

My body trembled violently, and I quickly ran after Dad.

On the way home, I kept wanting to ask about the killer.

But my father completely ignored me, rushing along hurriedly.

Until Dad led me to the edge of a steep cliff.

Looking down at the seemingly bottomless abyss, my body instinctively clutched the hem of Dad's shirt.

"Dad, why aren't we going?"

Dad knelt down in front of me.

"Maya, have I been good to you?"

Although I didn't know why Dad was asking this, I nodded earnestly.

"Dad has been very good to me."

A wide smile spread across Dad's face.

"Then are you willing to repay Dad?"

"Yes, Dad."

The moment I finished speaking, my body suddenly hung suspended in the air.

Dad had lifted me up.

But before I could even scream, Dad threw me off the cliff.

Along with the plummeting sensation came unstoppable tears.

I never imagined my own father would kill me.

Until my back slammed hard against a rock.

I grunted, crying out loud.

The intense pain radiating through my body made me instinctively grasp desperately at the wild grass growing nearby.

I don't know where I found such strength.

But I knew I didn't want to die.

I wanted to live.

I wanted to ask my father.

Why he would do this to me.

Just as I was about to scramble back to the cliff edge, Dad, who I thought had left, suddenly reappeared.

He was smiling, a truly twisted and vicious grin.

"You little brat, you're tougher than I thought!"

Before I could react, Dad powerfully kicked me in the head.