**Someone told him,** **To encounter Them...** **Is to "meet joy."** Granny told A Xiu that he had an elder brother. As a child, A Xiu could never understand why he had to call the bones in the urn "Brother," nor why he had to place bowls of rice under the bed every day as offerings, as if that thing truly were his "Brother." He thought it was all just Granny’s delusion. Until Granny finally passed away. Distraught, A Xiu collapsed onto the bed, weeping uncontrollably, when a tall, icy figure slowly pressed down on his small frame, whispering in a hoarse, distorted voice: *"Don’t be afraid... Brother is here."* At last, A Xiu understood Granny’s good intentions. Only by becoming "family" would *It* not harm him. But Granny seemed to have forgotten—becoming family with such a thing came at a price...