Scars
“What should we do now?” Bian Shengjian stared at the figure who walked out of the hospital slowly with its head bowed. His tone was a little irritable, “How can we make such a small child believe that there are two people in this world that only she can see? What’s the difference between this and ghosts?!”
“Don’t worry,” Lu Shen said warmly, “We haven’t figured out the reason for the resentment yet. What we need to do is to collect as many clues as possible.”
“What else should be collected?” Bian Shengjian looked at him and pointed to the direction of the hospital. “Did you not hear it just now? This child only has her mother now who is in a coma. What else is there? Isn’t it just simply waking up her mother!”
“No.” Lu Shen frowned slightly, “I didn’t feel the fluctuation, which means that the problem is not here.”
“Then what else!” Bian Shengjian suddenly reached out and grabbed his collar fiercely, “Tell me what to do! How can I go back?”
“Shengjian… calm down.” Lu Shen grabbed his hand, “I don’t care what you think now. In short, if you want to go out, you have to listen to me in everything.”
“Scram!” Bian Shengjian punched him in the face without thinking. “Isn’t it all your fault that I’m forced to do this! What face do you have to talk to me like that!”
Lu Shen was forced to take two steps back, reached out and wiped the corner of his mouth. “..hit me if that’s what you want, but I’ll just repeat it again, no matter what happens here, you must listen to me.”
Bian Shengjian didn’t say a word, only inhaled sharply, turned around and walked in one direction. “We still have to follow her now, is that right?”
“Hm.” Lu Shen quickly followed, carefully keeping a distance of less than three steps from him. “Generally speaking, the reasons for resentment are very complicated, and it may also include family factors.”
Huang Xiaomei’s home was located in a place similar to an urban village. It was composed of various alleys and old-fashioned residential apartments. Basically, one could directly feel the dilapidated and chaotic atmosphere even from a distance. Just walking around the alleys, one could at least hear the great unity of civic culture composed of more than five dialects, commonly known as insulting and swearing at others in a crowded place.
Bian Shengjian frowned and looked at the sky above the alley that had been fragmented to pieces by the dense wires and the various small advertisements posted on the walls. He couldn’t help asking, “What year is it now?”
“Sister Huang Xiaomei was fifteen years old when she died, now she is nine years old, which means we have returned to nineteen years ago.” Lu Shen said.
“Nineteen…” Bian Shengjian paused and whispered, “Fuck, I haven’t even been born yet during that time. “
Suddenly, he thought of a very important question, turned his head and stared at Lu Shen. “You…you’re also already dead, right?”
Lu Shen was stunned for a moment, then nodded slowly. “Hm.”
“How old were you when you died?” Bian Shengjian stared at him, “How did you die?”
“I…” Lu Shen’s eyes dodged for a moment.
Bian Shengjian took a deep breath and was about to step forward to ask questions, when a loud scream sounded above his head.
“Ah!” It was Huang Xiaomei’s voice.
Lu Shen’s expression changed immediately, he hugged Bian Shengjian and ran to the residential building next to him. “This way.”
There were a lot of people living in the building, and Bian Shengjian subconsciously avoided the people who were coming down the stairs. He didn’t react suddenly until Lu Shen went through an old woman carrying vegetables in a single stride, but even though he had already seen this strange scene, he couldn’t help but feel a chill behind his back. He felt a little lost.
This era was so unfamiliar to him.
Now the only person he can get in touch with was Lu Shen. The culprit behind the current situation. This feeling of being forced to rely on each other made him disgusted, but the singing in Huang Xiaomei’s ward and the haggard face of the woman kept flashing in his mind, almost touching the sharpest thorn that had been stuck in his heart.
If he can really change the past…..Then is it possible for her to not die?
“Death is an important node that cannot be crossed.” Lu Shen said.
Bian Shengjian suddenly raised his head. “You can read minds?”
“I don’t,” Lu Shen glanced at him, “but I can probably guess simply from your expression…don’t think about it, even if the past changes, the final result will not change.”
“Shut up.” Bian Shengjian gritted his teeth and said, “What do you know?”
“Why wouldn’t I understand?” Lu Shen’s voice rose up, “My parents are long gone, won’t I feel sad? Won’t I also want them to come back to life?”
Before Bian Shengjian could retort, a scream abruptly rang out again, but this time, it was of a man’s roar.
“Go to hell! You bastard!”
Lu Shen frowned, and immediately locked on one of the households according to the source of the sound. Through the door, he could clearly hear the chaotic sound of tables and chairs crashing inside, as well as Huang Xiaomei’s desperate scream.
“I won’t allow you to give up my mother’s treatment!”
When Bian Shengjian passed through the door, what he saw was such a chaotic scene–
–A man with a ferocious face was pulling Huang Xiaomei’s hair with his hands fiercely, pressing her face down on the greasy tabletop, roaring and slapping her on the back violently. “Bastard! Do you know how much I spent while your mother was lying in that fucking hospital! Now my family has been hollowed out, yet you still have a face demanding money from me here!”
Huang Xiaomei’s slender body was vulnerable under his huge palm. Shengjian could almost hear the sound of her spine breaking as the man continued to hit her, but she still struggled to raise her small face full of tears and shouted.
“You’re lying! After my father died, all the money was given to you! It’s clear that you took it to gamble and lose it all!”
“Shut up!”
The man slapped her on the arm, and the white and tender skin was immediately covered with a layer of red marks.
“I said no money, no money! Let me tell you, I have already discussed it with the doctor, and she will be discharged from the hospital this week!”
“No!” Huang Xiaomei screamed, “she will die…she will die if she is not in the hospital!”
“She’ll die if she dies!” the man roared, “However I’m still alive! Do you still want me to lend her money for treatment? Dream on!”
“Forget it, forget it. Be careful, she still has to go back to school tomorrow, what if her injuries are seen by her classmates.” The woman who had been watching coldly next to the man stopped him, who was in rage, and bent down to help Huang Xiaomei up. On her face full of fat, she squeezed out a fake smile. “Xiao Xiao, you have to understand your uncle, it’s not easy for him to make money.”
“If it weren’t for the fact that you two couldn’t have children, you wouldn’t adopt me at all, right?” Huang Xiaomei’s voice was a little weak, but her eyes were bright, as if they could penetrate into people’s hearts. “Auntie, my father must have left you a lot of money, right? How much did you spend secretly?”
“Uh…” The woman was at a loss for words for a while. She turned her head and quickly exchanged glances with the man, and then squeezed out a hypocritical smile. “Look at our family still living in this kind of place, is there any way out? We don’t want to give up on your mother. After her discharge from the hospital, we can….can do conservative treatment! This Auntie can take good care of your mother at home every day, don’t you think it’s a good idea?”
“Not good.” Huang Xiaomei shook her head, “You are lying to me. My mother will die.”
“Say it again!” The man pointed at her, looking like he was going to explode again.
“Fuck!” Bian Shengjian was stunned by the inhuman scene in front of him. Until the man was about to kick Huang Xiaomei again, he suddenly reacted, and rushed up in haste.
“Are you fucking sick! What are you beating her for? You animal!”
“Third brother!” Lu Shen grabbed his arm violently. “It’s useless, you can’t touch them.”
Bian Shengjian could only watch helplessly as Huang Xiaomei was kicked to the ground, and then was slammed into the corner of the table, making a muffled sound, which was very painful to hear.
Huang Xiaomei shrank herself into a ball and cried.
“Fuck!” Bian Shengjian roared furiously, and the blue veins at his temple kept throbbing. “Then what should we do now!”
Huang Xiaomei raised her neck and her cries were getting more and more heart-wrenching.
“Cough…”
The hand on Lu Shen’s arm suddenly loosened. Lu Shen’s face immediately became a little ugly amidst the cries, and the blue veins on his hand on the wall were bulging, as if he was trying his best to endure some kind of pain.
“…here, do you feel it?”
Bian Shengjian didn’t speak. When Huang Xiaomei cried and screamed again, his vision suddenly darkened, and then a lot of fragmentary memories that did not belong to him flooded into his mind, and he couldn’t help but groan and stagger a few steps back.
In those memories, he saw powerlessness and despair.
“She…” Bian Shengjian recovered after a long time, and his voice was hoarse as if his mouth was filled with sand. “The ventilator was pulled off while she was still lying in bed.”
“Yes.” Lu Shen rubbed his forehead with his hand, looking tired. “This is where the resentment comes from.”
Bian Shengjian did not speak.
“Damn it, how unlucky!” The man glanced at Huang Xiaomei, who was squatting on the ground sobbing with contempt, and turned over a chair in frustration.
“I’m working the night shift tonight, so I won’t be home for dinner.”
“You only say now when I’m already done cooking?”
The woman cried out in dissatisfaction.
“Don’t be so long-winded. Hurry up and clean up her whole body.” The man said impatiently.
At this moment, when Huang Xiaomei raised her head and saw the two people standing at the entrance, she seized her crying instantly.
“…It’s you!”
“What are you yelling at, stinky girl!” The man glanced back at her, then passed through Lu Shen’s body under Huang Xiaomei’s terrified gaze, and went out the door.
“Aah! There’s a ghost!” Huang Xiaomei screamed with wide eyes.
“Hey! What are you yelling for!” The woman’s face sank.
“Auntie… Can’t you see two people standing there?” Huang Xiaomei pointed to the door with a trembling voice, “the two people I mentioned whom I met at the hospital today.”
“There’s no one there!” The woman glanced at the door, her scalp felt numb for a while, and she couldn’t help but glared at Huang Xiaomei while reciting Amitabha several times in her mouth.
“What are you saying, you stinky girl! Wash your hands and eat now!”
“Don’t be afraid, come here.” Lu Shen beckoned to her from a distance, “We won’t hurt you.”
Huang Xiaomei was shocked, and immediately took a few steps back in fear. “I….I don’t want to!”
Lu Shen sighed softly. He looked directly at Huang Xiaomei and said word by word, “Do you want to save your mother?”
While Huang Xiaomei was stunned, Lu Shen continued, “We’ll be waiting for you outside.”
“Let’s go.” Lu Shen pulled Bian Shengjian’s hand, but after passing through the door, he squatted down against the wall, looking very uncomfortable.
Bian Shengjian still hadn’t recovered from the tragic memories just now. After a while, he heard the door squeak softly, accompanied by the dissatisfied reprimand of the woman inside. The little girl showed a face of fear and vigilance.
“You… What are you guys?”
“Don’t be afraid.” Lu Shen took a deep breath and stood up. After thinking about it, he squatted down again. “We met in the hospital today, do you remember?”
“I remember….” Huang Xiaomei was still scared. “What do you want to do?”
“The angels have come to save you,” Lu Shen said with a faint smile, but then his expression changed. “Xiao Mei, if you don’t do anything from now on, your mother will die in five days.”
The fear on Huang Xiaomei’s face instantly turned sluggish.
“Let’s chat in a place where there are few people,” Lu Shen looked around, “Xiao Mei, although I don’t know how to explain it to you, only you can see us in this world.”
The expression on Huang Xiaomei’s face was still dull, but after a while, she still pointed to the corridor next to her.
The wind on the rooftop was a bit strong, making Huang Xiaomei’s hair a little messy, but Bian Shengjian saw at a glance the wounds that were covered under her blown collar. Horrific large and small blue-purple blotches.
“My mother is really going to die?” she asked softly.
“En.” Lu Shen looked at her, “but don’t be afraid, we will help you.”
Huang Xiaomei’s fingernails had already drawn out blood from pinching so hard, and was still unconsciously pinching her hand when he spoke, until a slender hand gently held hers.
“Does it hurt?”
“No…it doesn’t hurt.” Huang Xiaomei jumped in fright and tried to withdraw her hand, but Bian Shengjian held her tightly.
“Those two people…” Bian Shengjian squatted down and looked at her, “Who were they?”
Huang Xiaomei paused before saying, “My uncle and aunt.”
“Did they adopt you after your parents had a car accident?” asked Bian Shengjian.
“En.”
Although Huang Xiaomei was still very scared, when it came to adoption, a strong hatred flashed in her eyes, which was caught by Bian Shengjian keenly.
“It’s all their fault.” Huang Xiaomei muttered to herself, then raised her head to look at Lu Shen. “If they hadn’t spent all of my mother’s treatment fees, she wouldn’t have died, right?”
Lu Shen hesitated for a while but did not speak.
“If my mother dies, I won’t live either.” Huang Xiaomei’s tone became a little colder. It sounded a little awkward being said with a childish voice. “But even if I die, I won’t let them go even as a ghost……how did you become ghosts? Can you teach me?”
“Uh…” Bian Shengjian was at a loss for words for a while, but when his eyes slid over the scars, he couldn’t help but ask, “They did these?”
“En, Uncle likes to beat me when he’s drunk.” Huang Xiaomei lowered her head and said, “but this is not important! Tell me, how can I save my mother?”
Before Lu Shen could speak, he heard Huang Xiaomei muttering to herself, “Should I just kill them…”
Lu Shen was startled, and before he could utter a word, he saw Bian Shengjian stretch out his hand and rub it hard on Huang Xiaomei’s head, “I can’t tell, but you are quite temperamental.”
Huang Xiaomei shrank again in fright.
“Don’t be afraid,” Bian Shengjian sighed, his tone subconsciously mellowed down, and there was a bit of undetectable tenderness. “As long as I’m here, your mother will be fine.”
