Chapter 195.1
Chapter 195.1
The boys took the money and after Bai Lixin watched them leave, he turned around to look for Miu Miu.
Miu Miu packed her backpack by herself and left the school.
There were students coming and going on the road, and they all avoided Miu Miu one by one, pointing and whispering at her from a distance.
“It’s her, the one who killed her own mother.”
“She looks so pretty and well-behaved, how could she have killed her mother?”
“Tsk, you don’t know. She’s a bad kid. She looks obedient now, but inside she’s really wicked. I heard that if she hadn’t insisted on playing with her mother, her mother wouldn’t have had an accident.”
“Really? So willful, how could she do that?”
“But now she looks so pitiful.”
“Pitiful people are often also detestable. The eyes of the masses are discerning, don’t you see that the smart kids don’t play with her.”
“Don’t try to befriend her, who knows, one day she might kill you too, then who will your mother cry to?”
“Ah, I, I understand.”
The whispering conversation was actually very soft, they deliberately lowered their voices, apparently knowing that speaking loudly would not be good as the person involved in the incident would hear.
They were young and didn’t know the difference between good and evil, and their values had not yet been established. At their age, they didn’t even know what bullying meant, and they didn’t realize that spreading rumors, labeling others, and isolating a little girl was a form of bullying called covert aggression.
Humans are social creatures, and children in particular like to form groups.
When they see most people isolating a little girl, more and more children will join in doing the same.
But there is no way to criticize and punish them like adults, because their values have not yet been established, and they don’t understand the complexity of human nature, nor do they even understand the true meaning of good and evil.
In the ‘Heinz Stealing Medicine’ experiment, children’s moral development is divided into six clear stages. These children have only reached the second stage, and with some manipulation and labeling of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ by certain individuals, their morality can be easily distorted.
Few people can smoothly reach the fifth stage later in in life, but some people’s development path deviates.
However, most people only stop at the fifth stage, and very few can reach the sixth stage, which can be said to be very rare.
Bai Lixin followed Miu Miu, who was walking silently with her head down.
She was gripping her backpack tightly with her hands, the veins on her already pale hands standing out, and her skin, which was originally fair, was now even paler than paper.
A drop of water fell from the tip of her chin, followed by a second and a third drop.
She tried to keep her head down so that the people around her wouldn’t see her messy face, to the point of not noticing the red light changing when crossing the road.
A speeding car came from a distance, and Bai Lixin instinctively grabbed Miu Miu’s hand, wanting to pull her away. “Miu Miu, car!”
However, his hand passed through Miu Miu’s wrist like air, and he frowned helplessly as he watched the car rushing towards Miu Miu.
Just as the car was about to hit Miu Miu, it suddenly skidded and crashed into the traffic light pole next to it with a loud bang, and the entire front of the car was deformed.
“Whose unruly child is this?” The driver stumbled out of the driver’s seat, shouting loudly at the startled Miu Miu, “Haven’t you been taught to look at traffic lights before crossing the road? How do you walk?!”
Miu Miu curled up into a small ball, pointing at the sidewalk with red eyes. “B-but the traffic light wasn’t red just now.”
“It’s red now!” The driver pointed at Miu Miu and yelled, “I was watching the countdown, damn it!”
Miu Miu was startled by the angry driver in front of her, and she turned and ran away.
Bai Lixin glanced at the deformed car, then turned and followed Miu Miu.
Miu Miu went to a private school that was very close to home. She pushed the door open and entered, and the scene in front of Bai Lixin changed again.
This time, Miu Miu appeared at the beach, looking like she was eight or nine years old, the age that Bai Lixin was familiar with.
It was dusk, and the waves were crashing against the reefs. Miu Miu had some injuries on her body, and her schoolbag had been torn and thrown aside.
She stared blankly at the vast sea in front of her. With the raging wind, the paper she was holding tightly in her hand flew into the sea unnoticed.
As the paper rolled up, the mermaid with a golden tail on it was revealed.
In a short period of time, Miu Miu had changed a lot from the last scene. She had become quiet and withdrawn, and her eyes had dimmed. Bai Lixin recalled Miu Miu’s age in the previous scene – she looked like she was only seven years old, but she was actually in the second grade. Now, she should be in a higher grade.
She not only had bruises on her body, but also on her face. Her school uniform was stained with dirt, and the hem of her clothes was torn. Looking at her fingers, there were even some debris stuck under her nails.
It seemed like she had just been in a fight with someone.
The wind blew the paper into the sea, and Miu Miu, who had been silent, suddenly became agitated when she saw the paper being blown away by the wind.
She jumped into the sea frantically, trying to salvage the paper, but the waves carried the paper further and further away.
Miu Miu followed the paper, moving further into the middle of the ocean. When she realized that something was wrong, she started swimming desperately towards the shore.
She looked like she could swim, but her ability was not that good. She must be used to swimming in calm waters like the swimming pool. Now the huge waves kept rolling, and she was very thin and weak. No matter how hard she tried to swim, she couldn’t withstand the waves.
She struggled and called for help, but no one answered.
Suddenly, a surge of seawater poured into Miu Miu, and she slowly sank into the water, holding tightly to a piece of paper that had floated beside her. Under the silent night sky, only the stars and moon in the sky kept her company.
It was unknown as to what Miu Miu thought, but suddenly, she stopped struggling.
She grabbed the paper in her hand and slowly sank into the water as the waves continued to roll.
Bai Lixin pursed his lips, looking helplessly at Miu Miu’s memory.
Just when Bai Lixin thought that the memory was over, the huge waves rolled over, and the tide brought the thin Miu Miu to the beach, sending her to the sand.
Miu Miu’s whole body was soaked in seawater, and she still clutched the torn paper in her hand. Her face was pale, her lips blue, and she was unconscious.
As the sky gradually darkened, Miu Miu’s skin began to turn from white to blue. Just as Miu Miu was about to die, an adult rushed over from afar.
He saw Miu Miu under the flashlight’s beam and shouted to another person behind him: “Found her! She’s here!”
Miu Miu’s father, step mother, and an old face, which was also in the fairy tale world, the Royal Magician, came over.
The old man hugged Miu Miu gently and said, “I wondered why this child hadn’t come home yet. What could be so bad that she almost did such a reckless act? How could you let your child go missing like this?”
Miu Miu’s father replied, “Dad, our company has gone public, and I’m so busy I can’t take care of Miu Miu. Is she okay?”
“How could she be okay? The seawater is so cold, and she’s been lying here for so long. Hurry, take her to the hospital! Let’s talk about this later!” The old man scolded, holding Miu Miu tightly.
Miu Miu’s father said, “Okay, let’s go. I’ll drive her to the hospital.”
On the way, the old man held Miu Miu carefully, and the step mother sat in the passenger seat, looking worried. “Dad, please don’t be angry,” she said.
“Do you know how close we came to losing Miu Miu tonight?” the old man said angrily. “Why didn’t you look for her sooner?”
The woman choked up. “Dad, listen to me. It’s not that I wasn’t worried, but Miu Miu often comes home late. I know I’m her step mother, and you probably think I’m not good to her, but I want to be good to her. She just doesn’t accept me.”
“Her teacher calls me every now and then and tells me that she’s fighting in school. She’s so young, but she dares to fight even middle school students. I don’t dare to discipline her because I’m afraid she’ll hate me. Do you know how much effort I put into her every day? I never worried this much about my other daughters.”
“When she comes home late, I don’t dare to scold her because I’m afraid I’ll be too harsh. Every time she comes back, I always have a hot meal ready for her. You know my husband is busy so I’m alone with three children. If it weren’t for my oldest daughter being smart, I couldn’t bear it. Wuuu wuuu.”
The woman suddenly covered her face and burst into tears, “Do you know how embarrassing it is wvery time her class teacher calls me. They say being a mother is tough, but I never thought it would be this tough.”
“Today, her class teacher called me again and said Miu Miu got into a fight and sent the other person to the hospital. I just apologized to them, but I’m also human. I can’t be in two places at once. You know what Miu Miu is like this year, I can’t scold her or hit her. What can I do? I only found out she was missing when I got back.”
“My oldest daughter had a dance exam today but I left her there in order to look for Miu Miu. I don’t even know if she’s safe.”
“Why is everything so hard for me? I can’t go on like this.”
The old man had been listening while brewing in anger, but when he heard this, his expression changed. “Okay, okay, stop crying. You’re not to blame either. Let Miu Miu rest. She’s not dead yet, so why are you crying?”
There were only three of them in the car, while the others were in another vehicle.
The old man glanced at the woman, then at the man driving the car, furrowing his brow. “I know you didn’t like Miu Miu’s mom, but Miu Miu is your daughter. Can’t you show some concern for her?”
The man took a deep breath. “Dad, it’s not that I don’t care about her. She looks so much like her mom, and when I see her, I’m reminded of the pressure she put on me at work, the way she looked down on me. I just want to keep my distance from her.”
The old man sighed heavily. ”When she wakes up, we’ll find a psychologist to help her.”
The man and woman exchanged glances, and the woman spoke up. “That’s fine. But she’s very resistant to me now. She might think I’m trying to harm her by getting her a psychologist. She is so repulsed by everything I do. Initially, I was planning to sign her up foe boarding when she enters fifth grade.”
The old man looked at the woman and sneered. “You want her to stay in the school when her home is so close. It’s like you’re not even trying to hide it anymore. Aren’t you afraid of others laughing at you?”
The woman pursed her lips. “Dad, I won’t hide it from you, I’m pregnant. I just found out that it’s less than two months along, so we can’t determine the gender yet. But the doctor said it’s probably a boy.”
“You know how crazy Miu Miu can get. If she gets into a fight with me and shoves me or something, your grandson might be at risk.”
The old man’s face turned purple instantly, feeling that his authority was being challenged, but he had to compromise for the sake of the child. “Living at the school might be a solution.”
“Perhaps she’ll get better after interacting with her roommates.”
“I’m doing this for the tranquility of the household,” the old man glared at the woman, “not because you said so.”
The woman nodded. “Yes, yes, you and my husband are always in charge. I’m just here to serve you like a cow or a horse.”
Miu Miu suddenly frowned, her pale eyes shrouded in a dark purple hue.
The car quickly arrived at the hospital, with Bai Lixin following closely behind. He saw Miu Miu being taken to the emergency room, watched the doctors urgently draining the accumulated water from her lungs and treating her injuries.
It took five or six hours, during which Miu Miu’s father left the hospital early for a meeting, and the woman left to pick her daughter from dance school.
Despite the old man’s poor health, he stayed longer as he needed to sign some documents for the surgery, and Miu Miu’s father sent someone to take care of the old man.
After a few hours, Miu Miu was wheeled out and taken to the observation room.
Doctor: “The child has survived the life-threatening situation, but the prolonged water accumulation in the lungs has affected the supply of oxygen to the brain, causing insufficient blood flow to the brain. The time for her to wake up is uncertain. If she doesn’t wake up within 24 hours, she may be in a permanent vegetative state.”
Old man: “What does that mean?”
Doctor: “Sir, although it’s difficult to accept, to put it simply, if she doesn’t wake up within 24 hours, she may be brain dead and in a vegetative state. You need to be mentally prepared.”
Old man: “…”
After the doctor finished speaking, he gave some other instructions and left.
Bai Lixin entered the observation room and saw the small, thin body lying on a large white hospital bed.
Her skin was as white as snow, and her thick eyelashes were like tender grass. She was breathing, and her chest rhythmically rose and fell, like sleeping beauty from the fairy tale…
The air began to ripple subtly, like waves, slowly pulsating.
The scene in front of him suddenly turned black, and when his vision brightened again, his consciousness separated from Miu Miu’s memories and returned to the fairy tale world.
Miu Miu on the back of the dragon looked distressed, her lips trembling rapidly, and her hands were trembling uncontrollably.
Bai Lixin: “Are you okay?”
Miu Miu looked at Bai Lixin blankly, then looked around at the scene, and her eyes turned red in an instant.
She sniffed forcefully, holding back her tears, and said, “I want to find my mother.”
Bai Lixin felt a little helpless, he wanted to comfort her, but also felt heartbroken for her. “You should remember everything now, right?”
The little girl hesitated for two seconds, then nodded.
Bai Lixin’s let out a breath. “Since you remember, you should also know that this is not the real world. Even though it may seem beautiful here, it’s just an illusion. You don’t belong here, you should return to your own world.”
“No, I don’t want to go back!” Miu Miu wrinkled her nose and looked up at Bai Lixin. “Big brother, that place is hell for me. I’m very happy living here.”
“I have Father, Mother, the castle, and the birds to keep me company, and I can wear princess dresses here.”
“This is the world I should be in.”
Bai Lixin: “But everything here is slowly harming you. It may look beautiful, but look at the colors outside, they have turned black and white…which means that your life in reality is also gradually fading.”
“When all the colors in the fairy tale world have faded, it means that you are not really living, but are dead.”
“Aren’t you afraid of death?”
Because of fear, the words “death” and “resurrection” had become taboo in Miu Miu’s subconscious fairy tale world.
Miu Miu’s face turned pale, but she gathered her courage and glared at Bai Lixin. “No, Miu Miu is not afraid anymore.”
“Because Miu Miu now has a mother here. Miu Miu had no mother there, so what’s the difference between being alive or dead? Even if the ending here is not good, Miu Miu would rather stay here in her mother’s embrace and live out her life.”
Bai Lixin looked at the stubborn Miu Miu in front of him helplessly, and sighed, “Miu Miu, I’ll tell you one thing, actually…”
“Don’t say it!” Miu Miu suddenly stood up from the back of the dragon, covering her ears and glaring angrily at Bai Lixin. “I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to hear it!”
“I don’t want to see you again!”
As Miu Miu roared, the sky that was already covered with dense spiderweb-like cracks suddenly split open, and countless glass-like fragments fell from above.
And behind the falling sky was a thick darkness.
In the thick darkness, something shook overhead.
Bai Lixin squinted his eyes and looked towards the sky, only to see a pair of huge eyes slowly opening in the abyss, eyes that were blood-red in color and larger than the entire space. A pair of pure black hands grasped the edge of the shattered sky, and the darkness sank, as if trying to squeeze in through the crack.
This was the first time Bai Lixin had seen such a scene, and also the first time he had seen such a monster.
Clearly, the system was also encountering this for the first time.
The system in his mind started flashing red warnings desperately, to the point where Bai Lixin thought that the end of the world was coming in the next second.
[Ding! Warning! Abyssal creature detected! Danger level: unable to detect!]
[Warning! This creature is not a copy monster, the copy is undergoing malicious invasion, please handle with caution!]
[Ding! Warning! Large amount of dangerous substances detected in the abyssal creature, do not confront head-on, please take emergency evacuation immediately!]
[Ding! Warning! Please take emergency evacuation as soon as possible to ensure the safety of the system, upon completion of the task, you will receive 100,000 mall points and 100,000 upgrade points!]
[This is an S level mandatory task, please execute immediately!]