Only after hearing 037 say this did Ruan Qing'an lower her head to observe carefully. However—the moment she picked up the photo frame, a strange light suddenly shone, and then directly dragged Ruan Qing'an into it.
037 exclaimed in horror: "What's going on?!"
On the contrary, Ruan Qing'an calmed down at this moment. She said in a deep voice, "This is probably the reason why Ji He suddenly collapsed in front of the computer, as the portrait ghost said. Interesting..."
After being pulled into a hallucination—
When Ruan Qing'an opened her eyes again, she found herself in front of a brick house, the same place where she had met Ji He during the previous side quest of the old story of Fengxian Village.
"I didn't expect you to come back after breaking through the ghost domain."
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out. The rich, beautiful voice was all too familiar, yet also sounded far too immature. Ruan Qing'an paused, then turned around: "Mr. Jiang..."
"you--"
It was only at this moment that Xiao Jiang Shihe noticed the person in front of him.
He was merely a ghost residing within Jiang Shihe's ghost realm. He was "him," yet he was not "him." Little Jiang Shihe was a shadow, a projection of Jiang Shihe from the real world, possessing only his memories. This was why he didn't recognize him at first glance.
Seemingly afraid of being seen by Ruan Qing'an, just before she turned around, Xiao Jiang Shihe's hand brushed across her face.
"Sister, you've mistaken me for someone else."
He spoke in a childish yet deliberately hoarse voice.
But Ruan Qing'an didn't speak. He just stared blankly at Xiao Jiang Shihe in front of him with his leaden gray eyes. He only reached her waist. He was wearing old, patched clothes, and his exposed skin was covered with all kinds of scars.
Most importantly... his exposed face was covered with burn marks, the horrific scars were shocking.
Looking at Xiao Jiang Shihe's slightly ethereal feet, Ruan Qing'an immediately understood his identity—he was a ghost, or more accurately, a ghost from the illusion of the old Fengxian Village.
Perhaps it was the look in Ruan Qing'an's eyes, filled with disbelief yet also with heartache, that made one's heart melt.
Too gentle, too beautiful...
"It's dangerous here, sister, you should go first."
"..."
Ruan Qing'an didn't speak, but took half a step forward. Her petite body bent down and gently hugged Xiao Jiang Shihe in her arms. She didn't care at all about the terrible scars left by his extensive burns. Instead, she was like a warm light soothing his wounds.
Xiao Jiang Shihe froze for a moment, as if he was very uncomfortable, and his whole body was trembling uncontrollably.
"I know."
She paused, then said softly, "But I'm already here, so—would you like me to stay with you?"
Xiao Jiang Shihe, who was buried in Ruan Qing'an's arms, remained stiff and motionless. But just as Ruan Qing'an was about to let go, she noticed that Xiao Jiang Shihe's hands were wrapped around her waist, trembling uncontrollably, tightly holding her.
Not only that, Ruan Qing'an could even feel the dampness on the front of her clothes.
He...he cried?
But before Ruan Qing'an could speak, a loud noise suddenly came from inside the brick house, as if something had been hit. Then came the woman's heart-wrenching cries, struggles, and incessant cursing.
Ruan Qingan froze, then subconsciously looked up.
What happened?
"Sister, you should go now."
Just then, Xiao Jiang Shihe suddenly spoke and pushed Ruan Qing'an away. He was clearly much younger than her, but in this old illusion that belonged to him, his power was hard to resist.
Ruan Qingan was caught off guard and pushed away. In the instant after being pushed away, she found herself wrapped in a thin film.
This must have been a protective measure he specifically took for her.
With this thin film blocking her way, Ruan Qing'an realized that she couldn't contact the outside world, nor could the outside world harm her. She also had no way to influence Xiao Jiang Shihe...
"Jiang Shihe!"
"...Sister, you've mistaken me for someone else."
Xiao Jiang Shihe continued saying the same thing, and then, under Ruan Qing'an's gaze, he walked into the brick house—
Ruan Qing'an was anxious and immediately followed.
Upon entering the brick house, Ruan Qingan saw the situation inside. The woman, who bore a resemblance to Jiang Shihe, was half-naked, but her face and body were covered in injuries.
It looked bloody and horrifying, and the old man was still beating and cursing the woman, kicking her repeatedly.
"Bitch! Slut!"
"You fucking married into our Jiang family, and not only did you fail to produce a son to carry on the family line, you even gave birth to a bastard child who caused my son's death and can't have another son to carry on the family line—"
The old man spat: "I'll beat you to death!"
As he was speaking, he heard a voice and saw Xiao Jiang Shihe coming in from outside. His face instantly turned ugly: "You bastard, get out of here, or I'll beat you up too!"
"..."
Xiao Jiang Shihe remained silent, watching the woman on the ground struggling weakly, her face covered in blood. There was no light left in her eyes, only emptiness and numbness.
"Kill me..."
"Please, kill me..."
The old man, who was cursing, paused, grinned, revealing his large yellow teeth, and sneered: "What do you mean 'die'? You are the daughter-in-law of the Jiang family. Even if you die, you still have to arrange a ghost marriage for me!"
But no matter what the old man said, the woman just kept murmuring the same sentence, repeatedly saying, "Please, kill me."
Ruan Qingan didn't understand at first, until—
She noticed the woman's gaze.
The woman wasn't looking at the old man who kept beating and scolding her, much less at the person she was begging to kill.
She was looking at... Xiao Jiang Shihe.
It was Xiao Jiang Shihe standing silently in front of the woman, his face stiff. He didn't even have much expression on his face; even the corners of his mouth were pursed into a straight line, as cold as a sculpture.
Just as the old man was about to hit Xiao Jiang Shihe, he suddenly spoke up: "Mother, do you really want to die?"
"...Let me die..."
The woman spoke slowly and deliberately.
She had long lost all hope, and even the strength of a mother could not make her continue to face this ugly world.
Xiao Jiang Shihe lowered his eyes: "I understand, Mother."
"I...will help you."
Unable to do anything, Ruan Qing'an was forced to stand at the doorway, watching the blood splatter, yet being blocked by the thin membrane, as if it were shielding her from his memories, and even more so, afraid to let her see—all the scars he had experienced in the past.
Despite the old man's punches and kicks, he personally plunged the knife into his mother's chest, in the last moments before she breathed her last—
He saw her smile.
Finally, he couldn't help but burst into laughter, a twisted and insane laugh.
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