Zhou Miao glared at the woman in red who was getting up. He froze the moment she looked up at him. He had been in a daze before, and only now did he see her face clearly. He hadn't seen her in a long time. The last time was when he was fourteen years old.
This woman was different from the others; apart from her pale skin, she was no different from a normal person.
But when she saw Bai Hao, the woman in red's face began to twist and distort, and her sharp voice pierced the eardrums, as if carrying an irreconcilable resentment.
"You're asking for it—"
The woman in red crouched down and pounced like a beast. Bai Hao pushed Zhou Miao aside, and with a sidestep, the woman crashed through the wall and rushed into the living room next door.
Zhou Miao, still shaken from being pushed to the ground by Bai Hao, stared at the collapsed wall, then saw Bai Hao and the woman in red fighting as they broke through the window and escaped.
Qin Nan and Lü Zeqi heard the noise and stood at the door, covering their mouths and noses as they cautiously entered the house. They didn't see Bai Hao, but they saw Zhou Miao stand up shakily and walk towards the little boy who had been hiding behind a teddy bear by the window.
The little boy looked at Zhou Miao timidly. Zhou Miao squatted down in front of the boy. "You, you are Zhou Xuan?"
The little boy looked at Zhou Miao with a confused expression, huddled behind the teddy bear, and remained silent.
Zhou Miao looked at the teddy bear and remembered that he had seen this teddy bear before, but it was much newer when he saw it, so he didn't recognize it.
Looking at the little boy, Zhou Miao felt a mix of emotions. He had once hated this child and that woman, but he didn't know that this child lived like this. He only knew that they hadn't had a good life, and that a fire later killed them both.
The person was dead, and Zhou Miao no longer harbored any resentment. However, the child hadn't actually done anything wrong; the woman was the one at fault.
Zhou Miao cautiously approached Zhou Xuan, gently stroking his head to soothe him. Qin Nan and Lü Zeqi, who were standing at the bedroom door covering their mouths and noses, looked at each other, puzzled.
However, I admire Zhou Miao's complete immunity to the smell of this room; however, Zhou Miao had simply gotten used to it long ago.
After a long while, Zhou Miao picked up the quiet and obedient Zhou Xuan. He remembered that Zhou Xuan was eight or nine years old at this time, but his body was as weak as that of a five or six-year-old. Except for his face, his body was all skin and bones.
Because he was wearing short sleeves, various scars could be seen on his exposed skin. Zhou Xuan gently leaned on Zhou Miao's shoulder, his small hands loosely encircling Zhou Miao's neck.
Lu Zeqi looked at the child in Zhou Miao's arms, "Miao Miao, who is this child?"
Zhou Miao paused for a moment, then said, "Me, my younger brother."
Qin Nan and Lü Zeqi stared at the little boy in shock. Before they could say anything, suddenly there was a "bang," and the kitchen near the door caught fire, accompanied by cracking sounds.
Qin Nan grabbed Lü Zeqi, and Zhou Miao carried Zhou Xuan. The four of them rushed out of the room and ran downstairs. They ran out of the small street, and on the other side was a small road along the river. Not far away, buildings were collapsing one after another. Two figures could be vaguely seen fighting like in a fantasy movie, with great destructive power.
However, Bai Hao gradually gained the upper hand. Before long, Bai Hao brought the woman, whose hands and feet had been broken, to the four of them. The woman's face was dented from the beating, her eyeballs were bulging, her teeth were sharp like a wild beast, her eyes were bloodshot, and her nose was crooked.
Qin Nan and Lü Zeqi silently took a few steps back. Qin Nan had been quite traumatized earlier, but he seemed much better now. At least with two ghosts in front of him, he could barely stay calm and wasn't so scared that he would run away.
Lu Zeqi found it disgusting, and the woman also smelled of decay.
Bai Hao grabbed the person and threw him on the ground, then slipped in front of Qin Nan and asked her to take a wet wipe from his waist bag to wipe his hands.
Qin Nan looked at Bai Hao, who was wiping his hands with a look of disgust, and knew that the first thing to do when he got back today was to use the water heater to boil water for Bai Hao, because he would definitely take a shower and change all his clothes.
Zhou Miao frowned as he looked at the woman still wriggling on the ground, then turned to look at Bai Hao.
Zhou Miao: "I remember Xiao Xuan also had a color, so why is this woman the only one left?"
Bai Hao continued wiping his hands without looking up, "That child gave you the last of his soul power. Without consciousness, you naturally lose your color. Otherwise, you would have been strangled to death by that woman long ago."
Zhou Miao was taken aback. He remembered that the child had an expression at first, but now he was expressionless. It turned out that the child had saved him.
Zhou Miao: "Is there any hope for him?"
Bai Hao turned to look at the somewhat anxious Zhou Miao, "This is a dream, they're already dead, what's the point of saving them?"
Zhou Miao froze. He forgot that this was a dream because it all felt so real, and the emotions in his previous nightmares all stemmed from this child.
Fear, despair, unease, and pain filled him. He gently patted Zhou Xuan's back, and Zhou Xuan slowly fell asleep on Zhou Miao's shoulder.
Bai Hao was somewhat surprised, "I didn't expect him to still have a kind heart."
Zhou Miao looked at Bai Hao in confusion, "What do you mean?"
Bai Hao smiled and said, "Perhaps there is still hope."
Zhou Miao's eyes lit up, and he smiled slightly. Lü Zeqi stood over and looked at Zhou Xuan. Apart from his pale face, he looked somewhat like Zhou Miao, especially his nose and eye shape.
“Miaomiao, how come I didn’t know you had a younger brother? And this child isn’t that…” Lu Zeqi pointed to the woman on the ground, “her child? She’s not your mother either. I’ve met your aunt before!”
Zhou Miao kicked him aside, rubbing salt in the wound!
Feeling wronged, Lü Zeqi moved to Qin Nan's side and became withdrawn.
Qin Nan was speechless. He roughly understood that this woman was probably Zhou Miao's father's mistress, so the child named Zhou Xuan must be an illegitimate child.
It's clear that Zhou Miao hates that woman, but he still has goodwill towards this younger brother he's never met. Moreover, according to Bai Hao, Zhou Xuan has been protecting Zhou Miao all along. I wonder if Zhou Xuan knows Zhou Miao's identity.
The woman in red lying on the ground heard Lü Zeqi's words. She stopped struggling and slowly twisted her limbs, reattaching them with a "crackling" sound.
Then, like a marionette, it stood up from the ground, trembling slightly. Its fingernails became sharp and pointed, its sunken face bulged, and its mouth split open to its ears. When it opened its mouth, a blood-red forked tongue kept wriggling, and red blood overflowed from its mouth.
Lu Zeqi immediately stepped forward and pulled Zhou Miao back. Qin Nan felt disgusted and got goosebumps. She clung tightly to Bai Hao's arm.
Bai Hao frowned. He had just wiped his hands, and this thing was even more disgusting. Bai Hao really didn't want to touch it. He grabbed Qin Nan and threw her into the air, then transformed into a beast the size of an adult lion or tiger. His tail curled up Zhou Miao and Lü Zeqi, and he flew up to catch Qin Nan, heading straight for the Gate of Truth in the illusion.
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