Chapter 83

Chapter 83

When it came to the topic of a child intentionally abandoning her younger brother and now being unable to recognize him, even in this eerie world, Su Ximu found it hard to comprehend or endorse.

‘I have a friend…’

“If there were someone…”

Before college, Su Ximu believed such phrases. However, after being influenced by his roommates, he gradually realized that “I have a friend” usually meant “myself,” and “if there were someone” most likely referred to the narrator.

But looking at the seemingly well-behaved little girl he was holding, he was reluctant to judge the situation based solely on his assumptions.

Moreover, had the brother been missing for a long time? Otherwise, how could she not recognize him?

The little girl, when asked, looked around and then at Grandpa Niu standing behind Brother Xiao Mu. The place that had once felt unfamiliar and frightening now gave her the freedom to speak her mind.

Because this wasn’t her home, nor was it anywhere else in the villa area—this was Grandpa Niu’s house. Her parents wouldn’t suddenly show up here.

So, whatever she said, her parents wouldn’t hear it.

With this understanding, and having already told Brother Xiao Mu that it was “a child” and not herself, Du Du raised her small hand and spoke boldly: “Because home is not good.”

Home was not good, so she intentionally abandoned her younger brother.

But little eerie beings often act without thinking ahead, unable to consider the consequences. She only thought about getting rid of him, forgetting to carefully consider where would be the best place to leave him.

In any case, when the opportunity arose, she just did it. After all, anywhere was better than home.

In the worst-case scenario, her brother might have been eaten by a bigger eerie being after being abandoned.

But Du Du didn’t think that had happened.

Because she was his older sister, and if her brother died, she would be in terrible pain too.

Home is not good?

Upon hearing this answer, Su Ximu instinctively recalled many social news stories he had read and immediately pressed further: “Why is home not good?”

What kind of home could be so bad that a child would rather abandon her brother than let him stay there?

At this question, the little girl, who had just spoken so firmly about home being bad, now looked confused.

She thought for a long time but could only shake her head, unable to explain why: “Brother Xiao Mu, I don’t know.”

After saying this, she grew frustrated and hit her own head with her small hands, her eyes reddening: “Brother Xiao Mu, I really don’t know. But, but my older brother and sister said it was bad. So, I… I threw Teng Teng out.”

In her distress, she even forgot to maintain her earlier cover story.

The little girl’s sad and confused expression felt familiar to Su Ximu.

It reminded him of his older brothers when they were young, especially his third brother, who would grow agitated after injuring his arm but could only pace around helplessly and pound the wall with his arm in frustration.

People who've always been isolated, when first exposed to outside information, will try to develop their own awareness and thoughts.

But this process is difficult and slow.

During this slow process, when faced with the same kind of harm as before, they might sense something is wrong but struggle to articulate it.

Du Du’s psychological age was still too young. Seeing that she was showing signs of an emotional breakdown, Su Ximu decided to drop the topic for now and instead gave her a piece of candy.

The sweet taste of the candy and the obvious energy boost quickly calmed Du Du down, making her seem easy to comfort.

“If you can’t figure it out, let’s not worry about it for now. Since Du Du happened to come by today, how about watching the little rabbits with me?”

“Grandpa Niu is here too. Let’s ask if it’s okay for you to stay for a bit?”

With the candy in her mouth, Du Du sniffled and, following Brother Xiao Mu’s suggestion, looked at Grandpa Niu.

The old man, who had been silent all this time, watched the young boy squatting beside Du Du, who also turned to look at him expectantly. Just like a truly kind grandfather, he very amiably scooped up two rabbits from the grass, walked over, and placed them in front of the boy and the little girl: “Go ahead and play.”

Little Yellow was also lying on the patch of grass. The plump little silver hamster, seemingly fond of sleeping, had sprawled out on the little yellow dog’s back, flattening into a silver-gray hamster pancake.

Du Du reached out to pet the black rabbit in front of her. A child's emotions come and go quickly, and as she petted it, she looked up smiling and said, “Brother Xiao Mu, the little rabbit is so cute.”

“My sister once promised to give me a little rabbit, but I never got one of my own.”

This really felt like casual chit-chat with a child. Su Ximu let his guard down, and followed up: “Why? Did your sister forget?”

Du Du sniffled: “Because my brother and sister were killed by Mom and Dad together.”

???

!!!

Su Ximu wondered if he had misheard.

Who?!

Who was killed by whom?

Wait, Du Du’s brother and sister—weren’t they Qian Qian and Xiao Ming? He had just seen them during the day.

Could it be that something happened at night…

At this thought, Su Ximu’s breath caught, and he stood up, ready to run outside.

But then, Du Du added belatedly: “Mom and Dad said my brother and sister were misbehaved, but it’s okay. After killing them, they can just get new ones.”

In Du Du’s memory, she had had many older brothers and sisters.

This had been normal for as long as she could remember, so the little girl was accustomed to it.

Among the many older brothers and sisters, most were like the current ones—they played with her superficially but didn't seem to actually like her.

At first, Du Du didn’t think anything of it. She couldn't even tell the difference.

Without ever experiencing genuine affection from older siblings, the line between liking and disliking seemed blurry, as if there was no distinction at all.

Until a year ago, Du Du recalled, she opened her door and stepped out of her room, only to find that the sister living across from her had changed again.

The brother who came out of the room at the end of the hallway had also changed.

Du Du was already accustomed to such sudden changes. As usual, she tried to get close to her brother and sister, hoping they would take her and Teng Teng out to play.

That time, her brother and sister stayed home for a long time. Du Du could clearly feel that, instead of only taking her out when she dragged them along, they began to proactively taking her out themselves.

They taught her new games to play.

She really liked this set of older siblings.

So when this brother and sister once again accidentally made Mom and Dad angry, she secretly hid Dad's axe and Mom's steam iron in advance.

Mom and Dad couldn't find their things and could only temporarily hold off on punishing the brother and sister.

The next day, she took the initiative to tell the brother and sister about it, hoping to be praised.

Sister didn't praise her right away but picked her up and kissed her.

Sister's hug was very different from Mom's—it was warm.

The kiss was also different.

Mom's kiss made her feel cold, but Sister's kiss on the cheek left Du Du feeling elated for days.

She loudly announced to her little friends that she had found the greatest thing in the world!

After saying goodbye to her friends, she returned home.

Dad was putting away the axe.

Mom was cleaning the iron.

Teng Teng was sitting on the floor playing with building blocks.

The brother and sister were gone.

Dad asked if she had hidden his axe.

Mom asked if the steam iron had been buried in the back garden by her.

Then they started walking toward her.

Thinking about the brother and sister and these events, Du Du suddenly had an epiphany. She turned to Little Mu Gege excitedly and said, "Little Mu Gege, I figured it out!"

After saying that, she ran to Little Mu Gege, tugged on his sleeve, and summarized, "The reason home isn't nice is because Mom and Dad haven't died yet."

If the brother and sister could be a little more capable than Mom and Dad, if the brother and sister killed Mom and Dad, then she, the brother and sister, and Teng Teng—what a loving and happy family they would be!

Below, the hamster, lazily splayed out, emitted a few lazy squeaks, as if in agreement and support.

At that moment, Su Ximu, who had wanted to rush out to save people—or rather, save apparitions—more or less understood something from Du Du's words.

The brother and sister Du Du mentioned were most likely players absorbed into the instance. Including Qianqian and Wu Ming, they were probably players too.

There was an instance related to the family in Du Du's home.

The brother and sister who were killed were players who had failed to clear the instance.

Still thinking, he heard a voice calling from the fog: "Little Xi, it's time to go home and sleep."

Hearing the voice, Su Ximu immediately waved in the direction of the fog: "Second Brother!"

A tall figure gradually emerged from the mist, walking to the edge of the grass. Su Zouz first smiled and greeted Grandpa, then looked at the boy standing not far away, frozen in a half-running pose: "Little Xi? Is there something you still need to do?"

As he spoke, he gently smoothed the slightly messy bangs on the boy's forehead.

"Hmm..." Su Ximu, whose worldview had been shattered by the genuine supernatural family, wasn't entirely sure if he had anything left to do. He felt he needed time to process everything.

But looking down at Du Du, he still felt uneasy.

So he looked up and said to Second Brother, "Second Brother, let's take Du Du home first, okay?"

Du Du's parents were on a business trip and wouldn't be back for a few more days. He had heard Du Du mention it earlier.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be sure whether to take Du Du home now.

The little girl holding Little Mu Gege's hand showed no resistance upon hearing this. Instead, she glanced back reluctantly at the little rabbits and the two little hamsters.

Before leaving, Su Ximu temporarily left Little A Huang and the little hamsters with Grandpa Niu, so he didn't wave goodbye.

The old man walked forward, stared at Du Du for a while, then patted Su Ximu's arm lightly and said casually, "Kid, do whatever you want. Grandpa's got your back."

He might be an old man, but the three brothers next door weren't just for show.

Back in the wasteland world, such a good kid had to hide in that little tin shed every day.

Now that they were in the supernatural world, if the kid still couldn't do whatever he wanted, then he and these three brothers would have been wasting their time here.

Su Ximu didn't fully grasp Grandpa Niu's implication that even if he killed apparitions, set fires, or blew up Tanzhong City, he would cover for him. But while he might not have fully understood the meaning, he completely understood the sentiment.

The boy holding the little girl's hand now looked every bit like an adult, but in the eyes of his elders, he was still the most favored and the one who needed the most care.

The boy himself smiled at Grandpa Niu and nodded firmly: "Yeah!"

Du Du looked up at Grandpa Niu and Little Mu Gege and couldn't help but think of the brother and sister again.

Then, Little Mu Gege crouched down and picked her up.

Little Mu Gege asked her to show him the way to her home.

***

After dropping off Du Du and on his way home with Second Brother, Su Ximu tried to analyze: "Actually, apparitions aren't beings whose emotions, preferences, and pain perception are completely opposite to ordinary humans."

Most apparitions seem to have emotions and needs similar to humans.

So, apparitions who truly find joy in suffering, who are happier the more they suffer—they exist, but they're definitely not common.

He didn't doubt that Du Du was lying to him, because in the back-and-forth, he had already used his phone to browse some supernatural world parenting forums and civil forums to get a general idea.

Before this, he hadn't paid much attention to these things.

"This world is like this too..."

Thinking of those ordinary apparitions with limited power, Su Ximu felt he had seen another form of prey.

"Second Brother," Su Ximu shook their intertwined hands, "do you know what my biggest wish was when I was little?"

"What was it?" Su Zouz followed the motion, gently swaying their hands.

"I wanted to protect you all!"

When did such a thought sprout?

And when did it grow the strongest?

When the little child realized the whole world was not kind to them, when he knew exactly what his brothers were going out in their white robes to do but was powerless to stop them, when his eldest brother was taken away and missing for a very, very long time.

When there were new scars on his eldest brother, yet he was told it didn't hurt.

When he could only stay in his brother's embrace, smelling the heavy metallic scent of blood, and was told by his brother not to look back.

In those years, the frail child wondered countless times why he couldn't instantly become a strong adult.

Why could little kids do so little?

As he spoke, another relatively obvious fluctuation occurred.

Su Chuzi stopped walking and turned around: "What a coincidence, our wishes happen to be the same."

The boy's eyes brightened: "Really?"

Did this mean he and his second brother had made mutual wishes to protect each other?

Su Chuzi nodded.

Under the moonlight, the man's eerie features appeared gentle.

At the same time, the very second that fluctuation appeared, in the Su family villa hundreds of meters away from the person and the supernatural being.

In a small flowerpot placed in a shady spot on the balcony, a tiny green mushroom seemed to sense something and began spreading its cap contentedly.

As it stretched, it swayed gently. Dewdrops slid down its smooth body.

When the dewdrops dripped to the ground, a child-like voice, hard to tell whether it was a boy or girl, sounded in the small corner: "Mas... master..."

Calling out "master" seemed to please it, as the little mushroom gave its cap two happy shakes and called out several more times.