Phantom Skeleton Painting

Chapter 53.2 Sister

The woman threw her to the ground hard, and then raised the knife in her hand.

Lin Banxia’s pupils suddenly shrank, not because of fear, but because he actually felt that the scene in front of him was familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before, and those dusty memory fragments finally gathered in his mind. It became a coherent picture, and Lin Banxia suddenly remembered why he felt this scene was so familiar. He had witnessed with his own eyes that his aunt and uncle wanted to kill Xiaohua.

The ubiquitous little girl broke their fragile nerves, so one day, Lin Banxia heard a terrifying noise coming from the kitchen.

He was outside the house, standing on tiptoes and looking into the kitchen.

A man and a woman lowered their heads, waving the sharp weapons in their hands and cutting something. Their faces were dyed red with blood, and they looked terrible. Lin Banxia heard the sound of a sharp blade being inserted into flesh. He stood there blankly, listening to their conversation.

“It’s all over if I kill her. What the hell.”

“Yeah, it’s long overdue.”

“That boy named Lin, if I wasn’t afraid of being suspected…”

“He can’t die. If he dies, we will be blamed.”

The low whispers, the ferocious and twisted face, and the scene in front of him turned into Lin Banxia’s eternal nightmare. He finally saw the thing they pinned to the ground. The thing was wearing a familiar floral skirt and had two cute braids on its head. Her head happened to be facing Lin Banxia, ​​who looked at her blankly, and actually saw her blinking at him and showing a gentle smile.

However, after the aunt and uncle painstakingly disposed of the corpse, they were shocked to find that some things were not the end, but the beginning.

The little girl who used to appear occasionally now seemed to live in their home.

Whether it’s a refrigerator or a wardrobe, she was behind everything with doors. She squatted in the small space, turned her head, and showed a bright smile to the person who opened the cabinet door.

It was a pity that the brighter her smile was, the more frightened the person who opened the cabinet would be.

The only one who showed no reaction was Lin Banxia. At that time, he didn’t realize what was wrong with his body. He was very happy that he could see Xiaohua every day, his uncle and aunt no longer abused him, and his life seemed to be getting better little by little. However, it wasn’t until Lin Banxia had left for a long time that he vaguely realized that he seemed a little different from ordinary people. He was no longer afraid, or in other words, when he realized that he was afraid, a long, long time had passed since the incident happened. It was as long as the distance between him and Xiaohua.

The woman in front of her plunged the knife in her hand. Xiaohua didn’t say a word, like a pitiful animal, her life was taken away easily.

Lin Banxia bit his hand tightly, refusing to let go for a moment even if his mouth was filled with the fishy taste of blood.

The woman killed Xiaohua, and there were a few more blood stains on her body. She ignored Lin Banxia who was hiding in the firewood, hummed happily, and turned around to leave.

When Lin Banxia saw her leaving, he staggered out of the firewood pile. He ran to Xiaohua’s side and picked up her broken body. Although he tried hard to endure it, he couldn’t help sobbing. The poor Xiaohua was cut in such a mess that her original appearance was almost unrecognizable, just like a broken doll. Lin Banxia couldn’t control his body, and his tears kept falling merging with Xiaohua’s bright red blood.

“Xia Xia, Xia Xia.” The messy Xiaohua in his arms suddenly said. Lin Banxia looked down and found that she was actually talking when she was supposed to be dead.

“Are you in pain? Do you feel any pain?” Lin Banxia was at a loss. “Shall we go to the hospital right now?”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” He Xiaohua wanted to smile. There were knife marks everywhere on her face, but she was still trying to smile. She said, “I’m not in pain. Don’t worry about me. Leave quickly. You can’t get caught anymore… Once you get caught… you can’t leave.”

Lin Banxia said: “What on earth are they?”

He Xiaohua stared at Lin Banxia without saying a word.

“Are they human? Are they my aunt and uncle?” Lin Banxia said, “Where am I now?”

“Xia Xia.” He Xiaohua stretched out her hand with difficulty and wiped away Lin Banxia’s tears with her soft fingers. She looked at Lin Banxia, ​​the sadness in her eyes almost solidified, and she told Lin Banxia what he wanted to know. “Xia Xia, this is your fear.”

Lin Banxia looked at her blankly.

“This is the world you fear.” He Xiaohua said.

Lin Banxia said: “Then…how do I go back?”

He Xiaohua said: “Go home, don’t get caught, just hold on for a while, and it will be fine in a while.” She held Lin Banxia’s hand with her own hand, applying heavy force, as if she wanted to give him courage. “You can do it, Xia Xia, just like back then…leave here…you can do it, you are not alone anymore.”

After saying this, she closed her eyes. Until the moment she closed her eyes, her eyes were full of care and worry for Lin Banxia.

Lin Banxia put down He Xiaohua’s body, took a few steps, and ran out of the kitchen.

There was no home for him here, his home was somewhere far away. He didn’t know how he was going to go back. Just when his mind was in chaos, Song Qingluo’s face suddenly appeared.

Why did he think of Song Qingluo? Lin Banxia couldn’t figure it out either. He was in pain all over and one of his hands was even dislocated. He didn’t know why he thought of him. Maybe it was because he experienced many strange events with him. Lin Banxia wiped his face vigorously, trying to cheer himself up to face what was going to happen next.

The sky outside was dark, and the mountains in the distance were like the walls of a maze, trapping Lin Banxia in it. After he left the yard, he started to try another path, but before he had gone far, the clamor again came from behind him. He turned his head and looked behind him and found that the dark shadows that had followed him before appeared again. This time, their number had actually increased, and with the flickering lights, they began to quickly approach Lin Banxia.

Lin Banxia was forced to run again, but he was covered in wounds, and there was still a narrow and muddy field under his feet. How fast could he run? The distance between the two sides quickly shortened, and Lin Banxia saw those black figures again. There was more blood on their faces and bodies, and their faces became more and more distorted, and their facial features were almost unclear. They were covered with black cloaks and held an old kerosene lamp in their hands. When they saw that they were about to catch up with Lin Banxia, ​​they let out blood-curdling cheers. Seeing that he was about to fall into their hands again, Lin Banxia gritted his teeth and ran with all his strength.

However, at this time, he was just a weak and helpless child. Those things seemed to be teasing him, leisurely following his path, waiting for Lin Banxia’s strength to run out. Lin Banxia ran for a while, but finally couldn’t run anymore. He stumbled, panting heavily and fell to the ground. Those big hands stretched out towards him.

Lin Banxia sat on the ground and backed away in despair. These black figures looked down at him struggling, as if watching flying insects struggling in the flames.

“Catch him, kill him.” The black shadow was shouting.

“Kill him and it’ll be over.” Someone echoed.

Lin Banxia whimpered and moved back with difficulty, but his back suddenly bumped into something. At first, he thought someone was coming behind him, and he let out a sad cry, but the torture he imagined did not come. A pair of warm hands hugged his waist, gently picking him up from the cold mud.

Lin Banxia turned around in shock and saw a beautiful face.

The owner of the face stretched out his clean and soft fingers and gently wiped away the mud on Lin Banxia’s cheeks – just like Xiaohua did just now.

“Why did you become so stupid?” he asked him.

“Why are you here?” Lin Banxia asked blankly. He didn’t even realize that at the moment he was picked up by Song Qingluo, he held on to him with almost all his strength. His fingers almost lost their color.

“I’m here if you need me.” Song Qingluo wiped his dirty little face clean little by little, and he showed a rare smile, as if he wanted to make Lin Banxia feel at ease, “Good boy, wait a minute. I’ll take just a moment.” He turned around, trying to put Lin Banxia behind him.

Lin Banxia was still very nervous and even forgot to let go. Song Qingluo lowered his head and glanced at Lin Banxia’s hand holding his shirt, showing a slightly helpless look. Lin Banxia thought he would tell him to let go, but he just heard him sigh, as if there was nothing he could do to Lin Banxia. ​He actually sounded a bit doting.

“Forget it.” Song Qingluo said, “Just slow down.”

He said and hugged Lin Banxia again: “If you don’t want to look, just close your eyes.”

Lin Banxia didn’t know what Song Qingluo was going to do. He just saw the black shadows getting closer and closer, surrounding the two of them.

Song Qingluo put a warm hand on Lin Banxia’s back, soothing him. With the other hand, he took out a glove, bit the corner of the glove with his teeth, and slowly pulled the black glove on. Slowly inserting each finger.

The black shadow began to curse, and Lin Banxia saw a cold light shining among them that seemed to have a weapon. He was about to remind Song Qingluo but felt Song Qingluo’s body suddenly move. His speed was so fast that the surrounding scenes even turned into afterimages in Lin Banxia’s eyes. The black shadows did not react at all and watched Song Qingluo rush towards them. Raising his hand and slashing horizontally, Song Qingluo swung his right hand towards the black shadow. The next moment, there was a black, twisted cloud-like thing in his hand. The thing was struggling in his hand. Twisting and screaming like a human being.

Song Qingluo’s eyes were slightly cold, and he exerted force on his palm. With a pop, the thing was crushed to pieces by Song Qingluo. The bright red blood flowed down his snow-white wrist to the ground, dripping all over the ground.

The moment he made this move, Lin Banxia’s body shrank suddenly, and he didn’t know whether it was because of fear or something else… Before he had time to think about it, Song Qingluo leaned towards his ear and said softly: “It will be a little uncomfortable, please bear with it.”

Lin Banxia replied in a low voice.

Then, more than a dozen black shadows were quickly dealt with by Song Qingluo. These shadows all left behind that kind of unknown black mass. No one was spared, and they were all crushed by Song Qingluo’s hand.

After Song Qingluo finished handling the last one, he stopped and looked at Lin Banxia in his arms.

Song Qingluo really didn’t expect that what he would see here was actually the young Lin Banxia. At this time, the little Lin Banxia was shrinking in his arms, with his chin resting on his shoulder, not even daring to breathe too loudly. He looked like a frightened little kitten.

Due to malnutrition, Lin Banxia looked smaller than a normal child, with a slender frame and surprisingly big eyes. At this time, those eyes were looking at him brightly, full of trust and expectation. He had to admit that Lin Banxia’s eyes were very helpful to Song Qingluo. He stretched out his hand and pinched Lin Banxia’s cheek gently. There was no flesh on it, but it was soft.

Lin Banxia was puzzled by Song Qingluo’s pinching, and said vaguely: “Why are you pinching me so hard?”

Song Qingluo said calmly: “I want to squeeze it.”

Lin Banxia: “…”

The two looked at each other, and in the end, Lin Banxia felt embarrassed, grunted, and rested his chin on Song Qingluo’s shoulder, not daring to look at his face again, and whispered: “How did you get in? Can we still go out?”

Song Qingluo said: “Of course.” He looked around, briefly determined the surrounding environment, then hugged Lin Banxia, and walked towards the small house.

When Lin Banxia saw that he was going back, he immediately became nervous and said, “There are a lot of weird people over there with weapons in their hands, so be careful.”

“It’s okay.” Song Qingluo said calmly, “Since I dare to come in, I have a way to get out.”

Lin Banxia was relieved. He looked around but did not see the woman who frightened him. Song Qingluo led him into the house unimpeded.

As soon as he entered the room, Lin Banxia saw Xiaohua standing in the center of the room. When Xiaohua saw Lin Banxia being held by Song Qingluo, she was not surprised. Instead, she showed a childish smile. She waved her hand and said: “Hello.”

Lin Banxia thought she was talking to him at first, but after taking a closer look, he realized that Xiaohua was greeting Song Qingluo, and Song Qingluo said softly: “Hello.”

“Is your name Song Qingluo?” He Xiaohua said, “I know you. Are you Xia Xia’s good friend?”

“Yes, it’s me.” Song Qingluo said.

“I didn’t expect you to be so good-looking.” He Xiaohua jumped to Song Qingluo’s feet. She raised her little face with a satisfied smile, “Take him away quickly, those things will be back soon.”

Song Qingluo hugged Lin Banxia and squatted down. He said, “I will take him away. What about you?”

He Xiaohua shook her head and said nothing.

Lin Banxia was a little confused while listening to the conversation between the two. He had not yet figured out what was going on, but Song Qingluo seemed to have understood. He gently pulled Song Qingluo’s sleeve and said hesitantly: “Qingluo, Xiaohua…is she really a heresy?”

Song Qingluo turned his head and looked at him: “Do you hope she is?”

Lin Banxia said blankly: “Of course… I don’t hope, but even if she is, it doesn’t matter.” Even if the real He Xiaohua was dead, he would still regard the He Xiaohua in front of him as his real sister without any grudges. He didn’t know how she appeared, but thinking about it, she might have an inseparable relationship with him.

“There’s nothing bad here.” He Xiaohua whispered, and she tugged on her braids, “Those things… don’t come often, only when…” Her words were very vague, as if she was deliberately hiding some key clues.

Lin Banxia didn’t understand, but Song Qingluo already understood. He reached out and gently touched He Xiaohua’s head like he touched Lin Banxia: “It’s okay, I’m here.”

He Xiaohua looked at him, her face once again filled with a bright smile that was unique to her. This smile seemed to always be on her face no matter what she encountered.

Lin Banxia looked at her smile, and for some reason, he suddenly felt terribly sad.

The author has something to say:

Song Qingluo: I also went into the closet.

Lin Banxia: To save me?

Song Qingluo: No, because we can come out together.

Lin Banxia:…………

 

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