T/N: Hey guys, we had power outages again for the first time since the festive season started, and that threw off my translating. I think I will have to move Wednesday’s chapter to Thursday because currently they have a set power outage on Wednesdays after I get back form work making it very difficult to post chapters consistently. So, Wednesday’s release will move to Thursday until further notice. Sorry again that the posts have been so inconsistent, I promise not to drop the books.
Chapter 54.2 Sister (End)
The two of them were talking and unknowingly arrived at the door of the hotel. Song Qingluo didn’t think much and went in with Lin Banxia in his arms. Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered, Lin Banxia secretly noticed that something was wrong, because the girl at the front desk with a subtle smile was on duty again today. She was playing with her mobile phone listlessly with her head down. When she saw the two people coming in, she immediately became energetic and greeted them enthusiastically: “Hey, you came back so late.”
Song Qingluo said expressionlessly: “Yeah.”
“W-what’s going on?” The little girl blinked and looked at Lin Banxia.
What else could Lin Banxia say? He could only make a random excuse, saying that he was feeling unwell and couldn’t walk.
The little girl showed her signature weird smile: “Oh, do you still want some chewing gum?” She took out a handful from her pocket and slapped it on the table aggressively, “It’s free, do you want to get some?”
Song Qingluo glanced at him: “No, thank you.”
The younger sister looked regretful and said, “Okay.”
Lin Banxia almost lost his temper when he saw how smoothly the two communicated. He originally thought he was quite thick-skinned, but he was a little outshone in front of Song Qingluo. He didn’t dare to say anything, and silently buried his face in Song Qingluo’s chest, pretending that he was an ostrich that couldn’t hear anything. Fortunately, Song Qingluo didn’t make things difficult for him. After bidding farewell to his little sister, he went upstairs with a bang.
Opening the door and entering the room, Lin Banxia was finally placed on the soft bed. He stretched out his hand to rub his eyes, feeling very sleepy.
“Go to sleep if you’re sleepy.” Song Qingluo said to him.
“What about you?” Lin Banxia was indeed sleepy. He didn’t feel it just now, but as soon as he lay down on the bed, he felt tired and couldn’t open his eyes. He looked at the time and saw that it was already five o’clock in the morning. After a while, the sky would be bright.
“I’m not sleepy yet.” Song Qingluo said, “Go to sleep, I’ll be right next to you.”
Lin Banxia said ok, closed his eyes, and fell asleep almost the next moment.
Song Qingluo sat next to him. After confirming that he was asleep, he stood up and walked to the table next to him. He took out the black box from the pocket of his backpack, and with a slight movement of his fingers, he gently opened the buckle of the box.
With a click, Song Qingluo opened the box, only to see that there was nothing inside.
After two seconds of silence, Song Qingluo tentatively called out softly: “Xiaohua?”
After a while, a black mist appeared in the box. The mist squirmed for a moment, and gradually turned into the appearance of a little girl, but it was different from the Xiaohua that Song Qingluo had met. The girl in front of her was much smaller, only the size of a doll. Her body twisted in the box for a while, and then she crawled out. It was He Xiaohua, the sister Lin Banxia longed for.
Xiaohua climbed out of the box and looked around curiously. When she saw Lin Banxia sleeping on the bed, her eyes lit up and she whispered: “Is this what Xia Xia will look like when he grows up?” She exclaimed in a little girl’s tone, “Xia Xia will look better when he grows up.” She smiled happily.
However, Song Qingluo didn’t smile. He looked at Xiaohua and whispered, “How long have you been there?”
Xiaohua said: “I don’t remember.”
Song Qingluo said: “Then do you still remember when you appeared?”
Xiaohua blinked her eyes: “A long time ago…Xia Xia was still a cute little baby at that time.” She stretched out her hand and gestured, “Such a small one, so cute and fragile.” She was still in high spirits, but when she noticed that Song Qingluo’s eyes became a little unusual, her excited expression gradually faded away. She tugged at the corner of her clothes, lowered her head and said, “Why are you looking at me like this?”
Song Qingluo said in a deep voice: “You have suffered.”
As a person in the situation, Lin Banxia couldn’t quite understand it, but he had figured out the relationship between Xiaohua and Lin Banxia. He Xiaohua should be a heretic, but Lin Banxia, who could only exist as a companion, developed an unusual relationship with Xiaohua. How Xiaohua came into being was still a mystery, but the only thing that could be confirmed was that she took away Lin Banxia’s fear.
Those dark memories disappeared into Lin Banxia’s world when he left.
After Lin Banxia left, Xiaohua did not follow Lin Banxia. Instead, she seemed to be trapped in the world constructed by Lin Banxia’s fear. The people or things that appeared there were the deepest traumatic memories of Lin Banxia’s childhood. She hid in it and helped Lin Banxia deal with everything.
From this point of view, she was more like Lin Banxia’s companion.
Xiaohua smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter, as long as Xia Xia is happy, and besides, he’s out now… It’s just that I seem to be getting weaker.” She squeezed her hands and legs, seeming a little bit dissatisfied with her current situation. She puffed up her cheeks and said, “I can’t scare those bastards anymore.”
Song Qingluo smiled and touched her head and said, “It’s okay, we won’t go back again.”
Xiaohua nodded, yawned, and felt sleepy.
Song Qingluo pointed to the box and indicated that she could go to sleep inside. Xiaohua turned around and returned to the box. Song Qingluo locked the box and stared at it silently for a long time. He actually noticed something strange very early on, which was why he insisted on returning to his hometown with Lin Banxia, but now the whole thing was clear, though there was something vaguely unusual about it.
Under normal circumstances, the heretical object would usually be in a dominant position, whether it was by being influenced or infected, the ones who were changed were humans or living things. The radiation ability of heretical objects was extremely strong, and living things would be affected as long as they came into contact with it, but this rule seems to be an exception for Lin Banxia.
Xiaohua seemed to be more dependent on his existence and would even take the initiative to help Lin Banxia bear his fears. From this point of view, Lin Banxia was actually in an absolutely dominant position in this relationship.
This situation was very unusual.
Song Qingluo had been doing this job for many years and had never seen something like this before. He reached out, put the box away, walked to Lin Banxia, and looked at his sleeping face.
Lin Banxia was sleeping soundly, breathing evenly, and his soft hair was scattered on both sides of his face, making him look particularly peaceful at this time, completely unlike the terrified child Song Qingluo saw in the cabinet.
Lin Banxia was unlucky. He met a bad aunt and uncle, but he was lucky. At least when he fell into the abyss, Xiaohua stretched out her hand and pulled him up.
Song Qingluo was very grateful to Xiaohua. Without her, he would not have seen Lin Banxia like this.
As light shone in from the window, Song Qingluo turned around and saw the fiery red sun rising slowly from the other side of the horizon.
It was a new day.
During this time, Lin Banxia slept for a long time without dreaming anything. His tired body and mind were soothed in this long sleep.
When he woke up, it was already bright. Although the curtains were drawn, there was still a faint light. Lin Banxia sat up from the bed, rubbed his eyes drowsily, and heard a voice from behind: “Are you awake?”
Lin Banxia turned around and saw Song Qingluo sitting on the other end of the bed, looking at him leisurely.
Lin Banxia was a little surprised: “Didn’t you sleep?” He looked at the time. It was almost afternoon. Could it be that Song Qingluo had been sitting next to him, watching him sleep?
“No.” Song Qingluo stood up, “Are you hungry? Let’s go out to eat something?”
Lin Banxia was indeed hungry, but after he woke up, he still had something else to do. He was about to say it, but Song Qingluo guessed it: “Don’t worry about Xiaohua, she is fine. I talked to her. You can talk slowly while eating.”
Lin Banxia licked his lips: “Okay…” After he went to wash up briefly, he and Song Qingluo went out.
The two of them found some food outside. Lin Banxia was very hungry and wolfed it down. However, Song Qingluo was still calm and told Lin Banxia how he planned to deal with Xiaohua.
“I don’t plan to report the existence of Xiaohua.” Song Qingluo said, “Xiaohua is not threatening to humans, and they probably won’t notice it, but she definitely can’t go out, and she needs to be observed for a period of time… …”
Lin Banxia agreed. He was very grateful that Song Qingluo didn’t report Xiaohua. After all, he didn’t want to see Xiaohua being locked up in a weird place for research like those heretical objects, and he didn’t want her to be labelled with a cold number. In his eyes, although Xiaohua was not a human being, she was still his sister, a unique one.
“Thank you.” Lin Banxia was very grateful to Song Qingluo. If he hadn’t accompanied him back, he didn’t know how this matter would have developed.
Song Qingluo said: “Also, I suggest you stay away from cabinets for a while.”
Lin Banxia was confused: “Why?”
Song Qingluo said: “There is no basis, just a suggestion.”
Lin Banxia said: “Okay…”
Song Qingluo was currently not sure whether the world in the closet was an extension of Xiaohua. If it was, that’s fine. If not, it might be a bit troublesome. Of course, he had no intention of telling Lin Banxia about this, and Lin Banxia had no idea about it. He was stuffing himself with food happily, his cheeks bulging. He looked like a hamster hoarding food. Song Qingluo lowered his eyes and hid the smile in his eyes.
After eating, Lin Banxia asked Song Qingluo where they were going next.
“Let’s go back.” Song Qingluo said, “I don’t like it here.”
Lin Banxia said: “Yes.” He hesitated, “Then… do you want to go to the hospital to see them again?”
Song Qingluo said lightly: “That’s okay.” He put down his chopsticks, his voice sounded colder than usual, “It’s time to make a break with them.”
Lin Banxia didn’t think too much. After Xiaohua returned to him in another way, his mind regained peace again. Maybe when he met them again this time, he would let go of his resentment. After all, it was all in the past.
After the two had eaten, they went to the hospital. Unexpectedly, when they arrived at the previous ward, they didn’t see Lin Banxia’s relatives, and even his aunt was missing.
Lin Banxia found it a little strange, so he asked the nurse. Unexpectedly, when the nurse heard about the person Lin Banxia was looking for, she looked horrified and said, “Are you their relative?”
Lin Banxia said: “Forget it.”
“Then I suggest you do a check-up.” The nurse said, “The two people you asked about had mental problems and were transferred to another hospital… there may be genetic factors.”
When Lin Banxia heard this, he was a little stunned and said bluntly: “Are you serious?”
The nurse said: “They were crazy.”
Lin Banxia: “…” He didn’t expect it either and was suddenly at a loss.
However, Song Qingluo clicked his tongue and said coldly: “They are lucky.”
Lin Banxia said helplessly: “How can you call yourself lucky if you are crazy?”
Song Qingluo said meaningfully: “Sometimes, being crazy is a reward for humans.”
Lin Banxia thought about it carefully and found that it seemed to be the case.
The author has something to say:
Song Qingluo: I like you.
Fifty years later.
Lin Banxia: Hey, did you confess your love to me fifty years ago??
Song Qingluo: …He Xiaohua, do you want to explain to me why he reacts so slowly to my confession?
He Xiaohua said innocently: This really has nothing to do with me, it’s not that he’s slow, he’s just stupid.
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