Dragon Girl Neues Kapitel

Kapitel 21

Actually, the wind was very light, and the bridge swayed only slightly. The swaying was caused entirely by the three of us not walking in unison, but we were unaware of it.

My heart was pounding. I squatted on the bridge, not daring to move, my face tense, gripping the rope railing tightly. I frantically chanted Amitabha Buddha, the compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva, Shakyamuni Buddha, Jesus, and other such words in my mind. Whatever happens, please stop shaking!

The wind comes and goes, the bridge sways and stops, we walk and squat. With each slight sway, we cry out in surprise. But no matter how bad it looks, as long as nothing bad happens, it's fine.

I don't know whether to say the gap in the canyon was too wide, the bridge too long, or our pace too slow... In any case, we struggled for almost half an hour, and our situation remained unchanged. The left, right, and back sides were indescribably dark, and apart from a few scattered extensions of the suspension bridge, we couldn't see anything else ahead. As for what lay beneath our feet—a bottomless abyss—what could I possibly hope for?

It's all black.

I suddenly felt a little uneasy. If this suspension bridge really is several kilometers long, how long would it take us to climb it? Just making it to the bottom would be a feat; being suspended in this environment forever… what if we couldn't keep going…

Persistence is key in everything, especially when pursuing dreams and facing danger.

Thinking of this, I broke out in a cold sweat and told the two girls behind me, "Don't make any noise. You two hold on tight to the railing, close your eyes, and just follow behind me." But then I thought again, wait a minute, if they both close their eyes and hold on to the railing, won't they be unable to see me? They won't even be able to touch me, wouldn't that make them even more helpless and desperate? I thought for a moment, and then said to them, "I...I...I'll hum you a song. Just listen to the song and walk forward, and don't think about anything else."

If they can hear my voice, they probably won't be too scared.

Actually, we spoke very little after we got on the suspension bridge, and it was mostly me talking to myself. Ye Min and Su Yan were already too shocked to speak. Well, at least they listened to what I was saying, and none of them fainted from fright. They were still able to follow me, so I'm already grateful.

Seeing that they still didn't answer, I took a deep breath and began to hum a song in a very stiff tone. The awkward, trembling singing mixed with the creaking and swaying of the suspension bridge drifted around us, but because of the whistling wind, we couldn't make out what it was by the time it reached our ears, which made the atmosphere even more terrifying.

Section 177: Thirteen Pitfalls of Resentment (1)

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Thirteen Pit of Resentment

Centered on the long platform, there are many large, deep circular pits lined up on both sides, but that doesn't mean we can't see anything about them. We walked around and found that the deep pits on both sides formed a huge and strange shape around the platform, like the English letter "M".

1 Ye Min

2 stone chambers

3 Thirteen Pit of Resentment

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Thirteen Pit of Resentment

1 Ye Min

Hearing Yang Feng's words, Ye Min frowned but remained silent, neither closing her eyes nor speaking. As the awkward singing drifted across the cliffside suspension bridge, she found it somewhat amusing. This level of singing? It was terrible.

Ye Min gently curved the corners of her mouth into a smile. She suddenly wanted to give him a chance.

Eight years ago.

Ms. Xiao, the homeroom teacher of Class 6, Grade 8, noticed that one of her students always liked to stay in the classroom alone after school, sometimes until very late. Ms. Xiao found this strange and finally called the girl to her office one day.

"Why don't you go home after school? Your parents will worry if you don't go home," Teacher Xiao asked her kindly.

The girl replied, "I don't have a father." Her face was expressionless.

Teacher Xiao thought for a moment, then realized something was off. Just a few days ago, he'd seen a stern-looking middle-aged man bring the girl to school; judging by his appearance, he should be her father. He felt something was amiss: "How could you say that? Didn't your father bring you to school just a couple of days ago? Don't you dare say such things again, okay? If you do..."

"I don't have a father! He's dead!" Before he could finish speaking, the girl threw down those words and ran out of the office.

Mr. Xiao was speechless. Surprised, he began to carefully review all the information about the girl's studies and family situation, and the results were somewhat unexpected.

She was awarded the title of "Excellent Student" for two consecutive years and served as the subject representative for both history and geography. Her name is Ye Min.

In Class 6 of the second year of junior high school, the subject representative for each subject and each semester is the student with the highest score in that subject. Because of this reward and punishment system in the class, Ms. Xiao, who had just transferred to this class as the homeroom teacher, found it hard to imagine that such words and tone could come from such an excellent student.

Perhaps something happened at home that affected the child's healthy growth... Considering the various circumstances of his students, he decided to make a home visit.

Section 178: The Thirteen Pitfalls of Resentment (2)

In junior and senior high school, students at the extremes of academic achievement and individuality often attract a lot of attention. If a student has excellent grades but is not particularly well-behaved, he or she will definitely be the center of attention.

Perhaps Xiao Yemin didn't notice—someone started calling her home frequently.

Teacher Xiao dialed the phone number listed in the registration form for Ye Min's home address for three days. He wanted to notify the parents before the home visit to make an appointment, but he found that he could not reach them at all - no one answered the phone.

Perhaps her parents were too busy. One Saturday afternoon, after a long day's work, Mr. Xiao, with this thought in mind, found Xiao Yemin's home according to the address in the school's information. He hadn't expected his student to live so far from the school.

After traveling for more than half an hour, he was now standing about half a mile from the city center, and the number "19" on the house number in front of him was now lying scribbled in the address column of his hand.

This should be it. No. 19, Wutong East Lane. A gentle knock echoed through the door, one, two, three times, as Teacher Xiao's thoughts drifted across the weathered iron gate.

"What are you doing?" Just as he was about to peek inside and shout, a face suddenly appeared from behind the iron gate, startling him. The one who asked the question was an old man with a wary expression.

Upon seeing that it was an elderly person, Teacher Xiao quickly straightened her collar and then explained, "Oh, um... I'm Ye Min's homeroom teacher. I'm here for a home visit. Are her parents home?"

The old man ignored his explanation, stared at him for a long time, and seemed to believe him. Then he opened the broken iron door with a clang and said, "Come in." It was not hard to tell that there was no politeness in his tone.

"Oh, thank you," Ms. Xiao replied with a smile.

"That girl, Ye Min, lives on the second floor, in the room across the corridor." The old man locked the door again, and without even glancing at him, he left this reminder and turned back into the darkness.

It's only around 6 PM now.

After passing through the large iron gate, Teacher Xiao discovered that behind it was a garden that wasn't too small. To the west and north were residential buildings; to the east stood an old tree, half-dead, quite imposing but lacking vitality; the rest was a high wall connecting to the iron gate to the south.

A very old-fashioned garden.

Section 179: The Thirteen Pitfalls of Resentment (3)

The residential building has three floors and looks quite old. No matter how Teacher Xiao looks at it, it looks exactly like the old houses in the TV series "Shanghai Bund".

He frowned and stepped onto the stairs.

Across the corridor... As he walked upstairs, he looked around in this slum-like place.

The stairwell was dark and silent. The building, worn smooth by time, looked utterly wretched: large patches of indescribable filth clung to the charred walls like parasites, having existed for countless days; clearly visible cracks stretched recklessly across the walls and doorposts, resembling giant spiderwebs at first glance; furthermore, from the first floor onwards, posters and advertisements of all kinds were plastered everywhere, an overwhelming sight; and piles of discarded items—bottles, cans, colorful plastic bags, all sorts of everyday trash—were scattered about on the stairs and in the second-floor corridor, emitting a suffocating stench. He tripped over something on the floor and nearly fell.

When she stood in front of the room opposite the second-floor corridor, Teacher Xiao frowned.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

"Is anyone home?" He knocked patiently on the door, his knuckles striking the door with a measured, rhythmic thud.

After a while, the door creaked open.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" After a long pause, someone finally opened the door. Clearly, Teacher Xiao's appearance surprised the person. "What do you want here?"

The person who opened the door was a child, about ten years old, but he was also very wary.

The child's attitude also greatly surprised Teacher Xiao. He didn't look like a bad person at all. But he didn't show any displeasure and continued kindly, "Little friend, is this Ye Min's home? I'm her homeroom teacher, here for a home visit. By the way, what's your name? Ye Min is your..."

"They're not here!" The child interrupted the person who called himself "teacher" without hesitation, his expression unusual and even somewhat aggressive.

Teacher Xiao had never been treated like this by a child in all her years of teaching. Just as she was feeling awkward and unsure of what to say, a rather calm voice came from inside the room.

Who is it?

"I suppose it must be a parent," Teacher Xiao quickly agreed. "Um... I'm Ye Min's homeroom teacher, here for a home visit." He hurriedly grasped at this straw, trying to avoid the strange-tempered child at the door as much as possible.

Section 180: The Thirteen Pitfalls of Resentment (4)

"Go away," the child who opened the door said firmly.

"Let him in." The "parent" was still reasonable.

The child at the door reluctantly opened it, looking resentfully at the adult man about to step inside. A moment later, Teacher Xiao went into the inner room.

"I'm so sorry to bother you."

"Teacher, what brings you here for a home visit?" Teacher Xiao felt a cold sweat break out on his body. He had just finished saying this when the "parent's" voice came at him.

The person asking the question wasn't a parent at all; it was Ye Min herself.

At home, she wore a casual beige shirt and sat cross-legged on the floor. On the small table in front of her, many books, papers, and red silk threads were neatly arranged. At this moment, she was looking at her teacher with a serious expression. Her deep eyes revealed nothing, but her simple words reflected an incredible maturity.

"Please sit down," Xiao Yemin said politely.

"Oh, oh, okay." Teacher Xiao seemed a little out of place, hurriedly sitting down on the sofa. The reason for this was that he noticed the walls of the house were completely covered with sheets of paper.

The paper was covered in doodles, drawn with crayons... It looked like the work of that little kid from earlier.

"What is this?" Teacher Xiao asked, puzzled by the content of the graffiti.

"Isn't the teacher here for a home visit?" Xiao Yemin said earnestly, as if she were correcting a mistake.

Teacher Xiao felt even more depressed. "Oh, right, yes." He coughed. "Your parents aren't here?" he asked.

"Teacher Xiao." Xiao Yemin suddenly stared intently at the man in front of her, stood up abruptly, and after a few seconds of silence, said, "Teacher, let me make you a cup of tea." Without waiting for his refusal, she went into the inner room.

Teacher Xiao was puzzled by the tense atmosphere; he sensed something was amiss. So, while Xiao Yemin was making tea, he got up as well.

He just wanted to look around casually.

This must be a family of four. Besides Ye Min's little corner, the cramped living room contained only a row of old sofas. Hidden among the graffiti papers on the wall behind the sofa was a small wall clock, seemingly broken… When Teacher Xiao noticed it, even the second hand was still. Following her gaze, she saw a window directly opposite the door, completely covered even in broad daylight.

Section 181: Thirteen Pitfalls of Resentment (5)

Mr. Xiao searched for a long time but couldn't find the family photo he was looking for. Maybe this family doesn't like taking pictures.

His gaze shifted from what was in front of him, noticing other areas: to the right of the living room were the kitchen and balcony, where Ye Min had gone to make tea; to the left of the living room, he found the bathroom, and opposite the bathroom was a storage room, crammed full of things. Because of this layout of the bathroom and storage room, a dimly lit corridor was formed between them, and at the end of the corridor was another room.

Teacher Xiao noticed light coming from inside. Clearly, the door was ajar.

It must have been that Xiao Yemin's younger sister didn't close the door properly when she went in. He recalled the child's attire when she opened the door for him, and as he walked towards the slightly ajar door, he prejudicially assumed she was the right person. Right, that child seemed to have a prejudice against him. Teacher Xiao felt he should meet her again; after all, he was a teacher, and he needed to project a good image in front of the children. Besides, perhaps the children's parents were in the inner room, which would make it easier to carry out his work. After all, he was here for a home visit, not for tutoring, and he couldn't really have any real impact on the two children.

Having made up his mind, Teacher Xiao walked to the door. He hesitated for a few seconds before reaching out to push the door, but before he could push it halfway, the creaking door was pulled back with a "bang" by the other hand behind him and closed!

Teacher Xiao was startled and turned around: a thin figure appeared behind her, like a ghost; and the hand on the door came from this "ghost".

Ye Min!

"Teacher, what are you doing?" Xiao Yemin asked, holding a teacup filled with water in her left hand and reaching her right hand through Teacher Xiao's right side to grip the doorknob. She spoke slowly and deliberately.

Her face was expressionless.

"N-nothing..." he stammered. The steaming tea suddenly made Mr. Xiao's eyes sting, and the usually talkative man inexplicably became speechless. But he immediately realized he hadn't done anything wrong, so he quickly coughed and said calmly, "Oh, I thought your parents were in your room, so I came to check on you. I wanted to discuss some things about your school life with them..."

"Clang!"

Before Teacher Xiao could finish speaking, Xiao Yemin turned around and smashed the entire water glass on the ground!

Section 182: Thirteen Pitfalls of Resentment (6)

For a second, Teacher Xiao was completely dumbfounded. Although the child in front of her had her back to her, it was not hard to see that she was experiencing intense emotional turmoil.

“Teacher, you should go back now.” After a moment of silence, Xiao Yemin spoke softly.

"He went back?"

"Hmm. How's Mom?"

"good."

In the narrow corridor, two children-like "adults" were picking up shards of glass from the ground while chatting. After speaking, the older girl turned to look at the doorway, her expression complex.