Through the small window in the ward door, Jiang Xi saw Du Ling lying on the hospital bed. She was even thinner than when she saw her in the fields. She was small and alone, with sunken cheeks and a grayish complexion.
After a while, several people came from the corner of the corridor, led by a doctor in a white coat.
She heard the doctor say, "The family should be mentally prepared."
A middle-aged man wearing glasses listened silently beside her, his face showing signs of exhaustion. Jiang Xi recognized him; he was Du Ling's father, the man in the photograph she treasured.
The group entered the doctor's office one after the other.
After a while, she saw her grandmother leading Xiao Jiangxi out from around the corner.
At this moment, Xiao Jiangxi's eyes were red, and she was sobbing, tightly gripping her grandmother's fingers.
Grandma led her into the ward, and Jiang Xi followed. Du Ling was lying on the bed, her body covered in tubes, so thin that she was unrecognizable.
Little Jiangxi choked up and said, "Grandma, will Lingling die?"
Grandma stroked little Jiangxi's head and said, "She has just gone to another world where there is no disease to torment her."
Little Jiang Xi couldn't understand what her grandmother meant; she stubbornly believed that Lingling was going to die.
She took something out of her waist, and Jiang Xi's pupils contracted when she saw it—it was the iron bell.
Little Jiangxi looked up at her grandmother and said, "Grandma, can I give this bell to Lingling? That way she won't die."
Du Rongzhen looked at the bell, then slapped Jiang Xi's hand away and said sternly, "No, this bell can only protect you, not others. Don't say such things again."
Little Jiangxi didn't understand why her grandmother was so angry. Her eyes were red, and she pouted in grievance.
Du Rongzhen felt that her tone had been a bit too harsh, so she touched Jiang Xi's face, took her hand, and said, "Let's go, we should go back."
As she led Jiang Xi downstairs, she suddenly broke free from Du Rongzhen's hand and said, "I have something to say to Lingling. Grandma, wait for me."
She then jogged back to her ward.
There was no one else in the ward. Du Ling lay there quietly, and the instruments by the bedside beeped regularly.
Jiang Xi took the bell from her waist and placed it in Lingling's hand, helping her hold the bell and saying, "Lingling, don't die. Grandma said that people who wear this bell won't die. If you hold it, you won't die."
At the same time, Du Rongzhen in the corridor seemed to sense something. Her expression changed drastically, and she rushed into the ward, grabbing Jiang Xi and asking, "What did you do?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a clear bell rang out in the ward.
Du Rongzhen's voice trembled: "It's too late, it's too late."
Not long after, a distraught Du Rongzhen led Jiang Xi home, leaving the bell with Du Ling.
As an observer, Jiang Xi watched as Du Ling's condition stabilized day by day, and she gradually became able to walk. She was discharged from the hospital in just one month.
She was startled. Could it really be the bell's effect? Otherwise, how could a patient whom the doctors had given up on suddenly recover?
In my shock, the sound of bells suddenly rang in my ears again.
The scenery changed again; it must be an airport.
Du Ling was about ten years old at this time, with a high ponytail and wearing a white dress.
The middle-aged man wearing glasses said as he tidied her schoolbag, "Lingling, you must listen to your aunt when you go out to play this time."
Du Ling smiled and nodded, her dimples showing: "Don't worry, Dad, I'll bring you and Mom seashells."
The middle-aged man gently pinched her nose: "Go on, it's time to board."
Then the man said to the young woman next to him, "Please."
The woman nodded: "Don't worry, brother."
Then Jiang Xi saw Du Ling and that woman board the plane.
Jiang Xi rushed over suddenly. She remembered what Du Ling had said about the plane, and she wanted to rush over and tell them not to get on the plane.
But no one could see her, and Jiang Xi could only watch helplessly as Du Ling went up the boarding stairs.
When the scene changed again, she was in a jungle. Fires raged everywhere, and she saw the wreckage of a crashed and burned plane.
Jiang Xi rushed up to find Du Ling. Everyone else had been burned to death, but Du Ling had been thrown onto a shallow beach.
She had just woken up, and the child, who was only ten years old, was so frightened by the disaster that she sat blankly on the ground without saying a word, neither crying nor feeling sad.
Jiang Xi took a few steps forward, and just then she suddenly felt a gust of fishy wind.
A grayish-brown figure, resembling both a bear and a gorilla, reminded Jiang Xi of the wild bear that Yan Zheng and Yan Jing'an had mentioned.
It should be this one.
Wild Bear stood not far away and watched Du Ling curiously for a while. Suddenly, he rushed forward, grabbed her and scooped her into his arms, and ran away in a few steps.
Jiang Xi hurriedly followed and saw the wild bear leading Du Ling to a cave.
What upset Du Ling was more than just being stunned; it was as if she had hit her head and was completely disoriented.
It didn't struggle or scream; it just sat there blankly.
Then the wild bear went out, and after a while he caught a two-legged rabbit.
It placed the whole rabbit in front of Du Ling. The rabbit's throat had been slit, blood was gushing out, and it was still struggling.
Seeing that Du Ling did not react, the wild bear actually picked up the rabbit, held Du Ling's chin, and dripped rabbit blood into her mouth, leaving Du Ling's clothes covered in blood.
Jiang Xi felt nauseous at the sight; if she were standing there in her physical body, she probably would have vomited already.
Only when the rabbit stopped bleeding did it pat Du Ling's head, making gurgling sounds as if coaxing a child.
Jiang Xi remembered that Du Ling had once said that this wild bear treated her as its own child.
Every day that followed was the same; it kept bringing different prey. There was no fire, no preparation, and the man and the bear lived a life of hardship, eating raw meat and drinking blood.
Du Ling was raised by it to become a teenage girl, but she remained as foolish as ever, spending her days sitting in the cave.
The clothes were already tattered and hung on his body.
Her hair was also a mess. Sometimes, when the wild bear was in a good mood, it would groom her fur, but it seemed to be just like any other animal grooming.
Sometimes when the wild bear went out hunting, Jiang Xi would get close to Du Ling and look at her, though Du Ling couldn't see her.
Jiang Xi felt that Du Ling was very unfamiliar at this moment, and was not like the Lin she knew at all.
It can't speak, can't sing, and has no thoughts. It just sits there being fed every day, its body covered in dried blood and grime.
Just looking at her made Jiang Xi feel so sad she could hardly breathe.
She didn't know how much longer she would have to watch.
She looked forward to it every day, hoping the bell would ring soon so that she could be taken away from the past.
As she waited and hoped, one night she suddenly saw the bell hanging from Du Ling's waist begin to vibrate violently, faster and faster, and this time the sound of the bell was exceptionally loud, as if it was going to shake Jiang Xi's heart and lungs out.
She covered her ears and squatted down, but it was no use; the ringtone continued to vibrate in her mind.
Du Ling was already asleep at that time, and only Jiang Xi could hear the frantic ringing of the bell.
After a few breaths, the bell finally stopped. A moment later, Jiang Xi felt a burning sensation on her back, right at the location of her shoulder blades, which was particularly painful.
The pain in her mind and the pain in her back were intertwined, and she felt like she was about to vomit from the pain. She looked away and saw that Du Ling's back, which was covered in tattered clothes, was glowing red.
A mark the size of a coin suddenly appeared on Du Ling's shoulder blade.
Jiang Xi remembered; she thought it was a birthmark.
At the same time, she fainted from the pain and lost consciousness completely.
When she woke up again, the light in front of her eyes stung Jiang Xi.
"woke up."
It was Yan Zheng's voice.
Jiang Xi was helped to sit up by him, and when she raised her hand to wipe away her tears, her face was covered in tears.
Before she could even speak, Yan Zheng pulled her into his arms.
Jiang Xi raised her hand and patted his back: "I'm fine. I'm afraid I'll have to enter the dream again tonight."
She felt it wasn't over yet, that she was about to find out the truth, and all she needed was one more night.
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