Chapter 11
"Xiao Di! You're here?" Huang Ying stood by the window, her face full of surprise.
Bai Di, lying in the hospital bed, showed a look of horror the moment he saw Bai Nan.
Bai Lu sat on the bedside stool with a sullen expression, not even moving his buttocks, pretending not to see her.
Bai Hua, with a fawning expression, said, "Little Xu—"
"Don't call me Xiao Xu."
Xu Xin interrupted him directly, a hint of impatience showing between his brows.
"Oh, okay, okay, Xiaoxin—"
"We don't seem that close."
He looked directly into Bai Hua's eyes, his face expressionless.
Bai Hua smiled awkwardly: "Hehe, Uncle just wants to ask you for a small favor."
"Is that so? It seems you two haven't heard the news yet."
He lost patience and said all he had to say.
Bai Nan called Bai Lu out alone, and Xu Xin followed behind the two of them.
He definitely wouldn't have come out if Xu Xin hadn't been with him.
"Speak, what is it?"
Bai Lu didn't even glance at Bai Nan while he was speaking, because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to resist going up and punching her.
Bai Nan nodded to Xu Xin, and then walked away.
"What are you doing? You sent my good brother away, do you want to hit me?! Bai Di, you really—"
Seeing that Xu Xin had left, he immediately became impolite.
"Bai Lu, Master Zong is gone."
Bai Nan mustered her courage and finished speaking in one breath.
"What the hell? My grandpa's gone! Where are you going? I'm warning you! Don't cause trouble here, or I bet I can beat you up right now! You better behave yourself!"
"......"
"Bai Di! I don't have time to mess around with you! Your sister was just hospitalized because of the beating you gave her. The doctor said that if it had been another ten seconds or so, she would have suffered brain hypoxia. Do you know what the consequences would be?!"
"......"
Bai Nan actually wanted to reply to him.
She knew.
"How dare you curse my grandfather! I think your aunt and uncle have spoiled you too much; you can lie so easily!"
Bai Nan remained silent, staring intently into Bai Lu's eyes, watching his gaze shift from confusion to rage, and then slowly transform into fear.
"Xu, Xu Xuxin..."
He called Xu Xin's name, but his voice cracked as he uttered those two short words.
"Xu Xin!"
Xu Xin didn't hear it, so Bai Nan shouted it out for him.
"Cough cough cough cough!" Bai Lu was so anxious that he choked on his breath.
Xu Xin walked over and patted him on the back, but Bai Lu grabbed his wrist and stared at him firmly.
"You tell me! You tell me, what happened to my grandfather?!"
"......"
No one had the heart to speak again.
But Bai Lu stubbornly asked again, "Tell me! What exactly happened to my grandfather?!"
Seeing Xu Xin look away, he immediately became furious: "Speak up! Are you mute?! Tell me! What happened to my grandfather?!"
Bai Nan couldn't bear to listen to his frantic screams any longer, so she grabbed his arm and said very seriously:
"Master Zong...is dead. There was an accident during the burial at noon..."
No one can truly understand Bai Lu's grief.
The only family they had in the world, the grandfather and grandson who had depended on each other since childhood, were separated forever in just half a day.
Bai Lu didn't even get to see his grandfather one last time, and the news of his death was told by the person he hated the most. This sudden and drastic shift in emotions left one with a sense of emptiness, a void that cannot be described in words.
He murmured "Impossible..." in disbelief, repeating it over and over again.
In the end, he didn't cry. Instead, he said to Xu Xin with a blank face, "Take me back."
After seeing the two off, Bai Nan returned to her hospital room.
Bai Hua and Huang Ying also received the news of Bai Zong's death. The two of them anxiously made phone calls, hurriedly brushed past her, and left the ward.
Only Bai Nan and Bai Di, the brother and sister whose souls were misplaced, remained in the ward.
"Sister...I...I'm sorry...I apologize to you..." He huddled at the head of the bed, pleading in a trembling voice.
"Please, please let me go... I... I promise you, from this day forward... I will never bully you again..."
He was so scared that he swallowed hard, and the gauze wrapped around his neck made him look pitiful.
"I've come to find you, not because of the past."
She stared at the white gauze on his neck and tried to speak calmly.
Although she didn't think that strangling Bai Di was her true intention, she didn't have time to dwell on that now.
Because they have more important things to deal with right now.
"Bai Di, what I'm about to say is very important; it concerns our lives. You must listen carefully."
Since Li Laokou's death, everything that has happened has been strange:
First, the usually robust Li Laokou suddenly died of anger; then, she and Bai Di inexplicably swapped bodies; and finally, Master Zong seemingly died in an accidental fall...
She had no idea what the truth behind these three things was, or even what the connection between them was.
She berated herself for being so addicted to being a man, wondering if things would have turned out differently if she had tried to switch back to her male body sooner.
If she still harbored a sliver of hope when she saw the talisman she had placed on the coffin, then the death of Master Zong now served as a heavy reminder—
A mysterious force is lurking behind the scenes, manipulating the situation and disrupting the peace.
This hand, perhaps, is called 'fate'.
Or perhaps it should be called,
【retribution】
After Bai Nan finished speaking, she ignored him.
She took a piece of paper from the table and then pulled a black ballpoint pen from her pocket.
The pen was stolen from the nurses' station counter; it was almost out of ink, so the writing was broken and discontinuous.
(Li Laokou: Medical examination report, death certificate, body)
(Bai Nan Bai Di: Talismans, Diaries, Vigil)
(Master Zong: Yin-Yang Master, Dragon Carrier, Black Coffin, Tomb)
Bai Nan listed all the key items related to the three of them, and after looking at them one by one, he always felt that something was missing.
Suddenly, Li Rui's face flashed before her eyes, and she put down her pen again.
(Li Rui: ???)
These are just the most basic pieces of information she obtained based on her own observations, and on the surface, they seem to have almost no connection.
But she could no longer allow things to continue spiraling out of control.
She had to act quickly because school would start in three days.
"Sister... what you just said... did you mean we might die...?"
Bai Di stared blankly at Bai Nan, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information.
She lowered her head and wrote as she spoke, "Well, this matter has little to do with you. If you don't want to help, just pretend I didn't say anything."
"I..." Bai Di wanted to explain, but a scene suddenly flashed before his eyes.
It was the blood-red hatred in those light-colored pupils when she choked him—a hatred so intense it bordered on madness, carrying the weight of time.
He immediately lost his courage.
After leaving the ward, Bai Nan sat alone on a park bench downstairs, enjoying the breeze.
The late summer wind still carried a hint of heat, and the branches and leaves swayed wildly in the breeze, but her heart grew colder and colder with time.
"Who are you?"
A soft murmur drifted gently on the wind, as if she were talking to herself.
At that moment, Xu Xin suddenly called.
"Hello?"
"Bai Nan, I've made a new discovery."
She hung up the phone, ran to the hospital entrance, and hailed a taxi.
She hasn't received her summer salary yet, and aside from the fixed deposits she's made over the years, she doesn't actually have much money left.
But now is not the time to worry about money.
When she got off the bus, she gritted her teeth and entered her payment password, not daring to open her eyes to check her wallet balance.
Xu Xin greeted her at the door, and seeing him finally warmed her heart.
"What did you find?" Bai Nan hurried over and handed the other person a piece of paper from his pocket: "This is some information I've compiled. Take a look."
Xu Xin opened the paper and read it through, then stopped and said seriously, "Bai Nan, we've only known each other for three days."
Bai Nan understood what he meant, but at the same time trusted him even more.
Because Xu Xin clearly understood the importance of the contents of the paper to her, and also understood how significant her action was.
She practically gave herself away, almost nakedly exposing her shameful past and the unspeakable secrets deep within her heart to him.
Actually, she was gambling too.
I bet Xu Xin won't care about her past;
I'm betting he won't be like Li Rui, who thinks she's dirty while also wanting to take advantage of her.
I'm betting on him; he's an honest person.
In the past seventeen years, Bai Nan has not met many people, but he has encountered countless scumbags.
She endured it all, whether it was her parents who favored sons over daughters, her younger brother who liked to disgust her behind her back, or even the scumbags Li Laokou and Li Rui.
If he also...
“The geomancer insists on opening the coffin, but Bai Lu is trying to stop him. Come with me,” he said.
Upon hearing this, Bai Nan's eyes lit up; she had made the right bet.
He carefully folded the paper and put it into his pocket, then turned and walked forward.
Before he could even express his gratitude in his heart, Bai Nan immediately followed.
When the two entered the mourning hall, nearly half of the relatives had already surrounded the geomancer.
"How can you open a coffin so casually? Isn't that committing a sin!"
"Yes, Master Zong values this the most, it can't be opened!"
"But...Master Zong has already..."
No one dared to respond after that, and the crowd fell silent.
"My...Grandpa said that once a person's coffin is sealed, it must never be opened again."
It was Bai Lu's voice, trembling but firm.
Bai Nan quickly squeezed next to him, took his hand and comforted him, "Xiao Lu, don't be afraid."
His tense nerves crumbled at her simple words.
"Waaah..." He couldn't hold back any longer and leaned on her shoulder, bursting into tears.
His cries moved the Bai family relatives around him, and the mourning hall was filled with heavy sobs.
Seeing this, the geomancer sighed silently and withdrew his hand from the coffin.
"Sir, this way please."
Xu Xin squeezed next to him and quietly lured him away.
Bai Lu was still holding her and crying. Even though the person in front of him was Bai Di, whom he hated the most, he couldn't control his tears.
Moreover, he had just had the illusion that the person in front of him was Sister Nan.
When they were little, whenever Sister Nan protected him and Bai Di, she would gently say to them, "Don't be afraid."
A short while later, Xu Yuan quietly crept up to the two of them.
"Bai, Bai Di, Xu Xin is calling you." She was a little afraid of Bai Di; the impact of that scene was still fresh in her mind.
However, she had more questions in her mind. When did Xu Xin become so close to him? And didn't Bai Lu hate Bai Di? How come he was crying so bitterly in his arms?
Xu Yuan took Bai Lu and saw that his eyes were red and swollen from crying and his legs were weak. She felt a pang of heartache.
No matter what, he's just a fifteen-year-old kid.
Yesterday I witnessed my cousins killing each other, and today I have to face the death of my only relative.
Heaven has been far too unfair to him.
Bai Nan knew that what Bai Lu needed most at this moment was company, but she had a lot of things to deal with, so she had no choice but to harden her heart and leave.
She will explain to him when everything has settled down.
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