Chapter 78: Turnabout Imp |
Because they were sitting in the last row of the Public Bus, there were Steps.
So after the Little Girl's head fell off, it immediately rolled forward with a thump, thump, thump.
She hastily got up, wanting to pick up her own head.
But the seat was too high, and her short little legs couldn't reach the ground to begin with.
With her head gone, she had no eyes, so she stumbled and was about to fall forward.
Shen Siyuan, with quick hands and sharp eyes, reached out and caught her body, placing her back on the seat.
Then he bent down and picked her head up.
The Little Girl's eyes were red, both sad and aggrieved.
Large tears rolled down her fair cheeks, falling to the floor and quickly disappearing as if they had never existed.
To an ordinary person, this was a very bizarre and terrifying sight, but Shen Siyuan didn't feel scared at all. All he felt was anger.
The murderer was truly too vicious; it seemed it wasn't just a slit throat, but that her head had been chopped clean off.
A sense of hostility welled up inside him—'So damn inhuman, how could anyone lay a hand on such an adorable little girl?'
"Where is your Home?" Shen Siyuan continued to ask.
Hearing this, the Little Girl's face was filled with confusion.
She seemed to ponder the question for a good while before saying, "Take the Route 6 Bus, get off after 6 stops, and that's my Home."
"Six stops?"
Hearing this, Shen Siyuan looked out the window.
He had boarded at South Water Alley. The bus had already passed two stops; four more stops would be South Mountain Garden Station.
But obviously, the Little Girl's Home couldn't possibly be at South Mountain Garden Station, which was a park.
Besides, he had no idea which stop Lin Yunduo was counting the six stops from.
For a moment, Shen Siyuan had no idea where the Home she spoke of was.
So he said, "Come back with me for now.
I'll help you find your family."
The Little Girl nodded, then noticed her head was about to fall off again and quickly cupped it with both hands.
Then, she gave Shen Siyuan a silly little smile.
"I caught it. It didn't fall."
This joke wasn't funny at all.
Shen Siyuan felt a mix of complicated emotions.
So he spoke again, "Can you tell me about your past?"
"My past?"
Lin Yunduo cupped her little head, seemingly lost in memory.
"Mom and Dad had to go to work, so I was home alone…"
"When Mom was off, she would take me to the park to play…"
"Dad was always really busy, but I liked going fishing with him…"
"Hee hee, I even caught a big crab…"
"Mimi is named Mimi. She's two years old this year, and so fluffy…"
"I miss Mimi, and Mom and Dad…"
…
The Little Girl's words were jumbled.
As she spoke, she started to get sad again, and large tears rolled from her big eyes.
"Dad said brave kids don't cry, I'm not a brave kid…"
At this point, Lin Yunduo's body began to tremble slightly.
Her form seemed to flicker as if from signal interference, becoming somewhat blurry, as if she had recalled something that terrified her.
"I'm a brave kid, I won't cry, I won't cry…"
She muttered nonstop, as if comforting herself.
Gradually, her body finally stabilized. This scene astonished Shen Siyuan; this Little Girl seemed very unusual.
"Mom said crying makes you look like a little calico cat, but Mimi is really cute, not ugly at all…"
She reached up to wipe her tears, but her movement was a bit too large, and her neck instantly rotated 270 degrees. She quickly straightened her head.
"Alright, no more crying. Big brother promises you, if I say I'll help you find your Mom and Dad, I definitely will."
Hearing this, Lin Yunduo immediately nodded, but nearly shook her head off.
She quickly cupped it again with both hands, looking extremely careful.
Her appearance was both comical and pitiful to behold.
Just then, it was Shen Siyuan's stop. He quickly got up and called to the Little Girl, "Get off the bus with me."
The Little Girl hesitated for a moment before getting up.
Seeing Shen Siyuan had already reached the rear door and was about to get off, she hurriedly followed on her short legs. She moved too quickly, and with a thump, her head rolled off again.
Only her headless body remained, falling to the floor, her hands still fumbling around on the ground.
Under the dim lights, it was an indescribably bizarre scene.
Shen Siyuan quickly reached out to help her body up first, then bent down to help her look for her head.
The Public Bus driver subconsciously glanced at the rearview mirror to see if all the passengers had gotten off, and then saw Shen Siyuan's strange actions.
His hair stood on end, and he quickly slammed the clutch and sped away from the stop.
"This head of yours always falling off is becoming a problem."
Shen Siyuan looked at Lin Yunduo, who was holding her head in both hands, feeling quite helpless.
Hearing this, Lin Yunduo's big eyes welled up with tears. She looked very aggrieved, on the verge of crying.
"Alright, I was just saying. Don't fall again.
Here, I'll hold your hand." Shen Siyuan extended his hand.
Lin Yunduo looked at Shen Siyuan's outstretched palm, then let go with one hand and placed it in his.
"Let's go."
Shen Siyuan led her towards his Rental Room.
But just then, Lin Yunduo suddenly tugged on him and stopped walking.
"What's wrong?" Shen Siyuan turned back and asked in surprise.
Lin Yunduo took her head off her neck and then held it in the crook of one arm. Turns out one hand wasn't enough to hold it steady.
She said happily, "This way, it won't fall off."
Shen Siyuan: …
"Isn't there any other way?" Shen Siyuan asked.
Hearing this, Lin Yunduo subconsciously wanted to shake her head, then realized it was in her arms, so she used one hand to waggle it from side to side a couple of times.
Shen Siyuan was amused by her actions and didn't feel the least bit scared.
Shen Siyuan was still very curious about Ghosts, so he asked Lin Yunduo many more questions.
But the Little One's life after death was very dull.
It was basically spent getting on the bus, getting off the bus, and looking for her Mom and Dad, repeating it over and over again. He had no idea how she managed to persevere.
Of course, in the process, she had also seen all sorts of people.
In her words, little babies grew into big brothers and big sisters, and big brothers and big sisters turned into old grandpas and grandmas.
But in all these years, no one had ever been able to see her, talk to her, or hold her hand.
This made her very happy.
"Big brother, you're amazing," she said.
Lin Yunduo used her hand to lift the head in her arms to look at Shen Siyuan, her big eyes filled with joy.
"Watch where you're going."
Shen Siyuan reminded her, then led her into a dim Small Alley.
Shen Siyuan clearly felt Lin Yunduo's grip on his hand suddenly tighten. Her body tensed up and began to tremble slightly.
It seemed the dim Small Alley had left her with immense trauma.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here."
Shen Siyuan simply squatted down and reached out to pat her little head.
The hand he was holding was let go, and Lin Yunduo immediately put her head back on her neck.
Then she stared blankly at Shen Siyuan, because no one had patted her little head in a long time.
Back then, Dad, Mom, and her big brother loved to pat her little head.
Tears welled up in her eyes, and it looked like she was about to cry again.
"Why are you crying again?"
"I'm not crying," the Little One said stubbornly.
"Then big brother was wrong. Lin Yunduo isn't crying, Lin Yunduo is the strongest."
"Mom and Dad call me Duoduo."
"Duoduo? That's a very nice name."
Shen Siyuan thought for a moment, summoned the [Ten Thousand Souls Banner], formed a Hand Seal, and, as Duoduo stared blankly, drew her directly into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.