Chapter Two: The Carousel at 00:13

Su locked the hall. Han opened a toolbox containing bells, salt cartridges, and a knife. “Kill the small one. Its blood will close the gate.” The terrified fawn backed away. Images formed in its mist. Lu Chen saw his father trapped behind glass during the airport fire nineteen years ago—the accident in the official record and in every nightmare he had suffered since. Blackbean bit his trouser leg. “Mist deer eat silence. It is a refugee, not a key.” Lu Chen lowered the knife. He silenced announcements, advertising screens, escalators, and radios. For the first time, the terminal became truly quiet. The fawn bent its head and drank the silence. The mist thinned.