Guanyins Tränen

Kapitel 7

Haiqing lay on the roof opposite Lao Liu's pigeon meat restaurant. Huahua's corpse was still hanging next to the cage, frozen stiff. When the wind blew, the corpse hit the iron cage, making a strange and eerie sound. The cage of pigeons cooed uneasily.

Haiqing's sharp eyes swept over the pigeons, one, two, three...

No! There are no black pigeons!

The old locust tree spirit has eyes and ears all over the entire community and surrounding areas. Its roots should be right. The Ruyi Treasure Life Pearl is hidden inside the belly of a black pigeon.

Haiqing was starting to get impatient. Had the old locust tree spirit tricked him? Or had someone already beaten him to it?

Although the old locust tree spirit is cunning, it shouldn't lie to him, otherwise it would have mobilized all the rats nearby to gnaw him down one by one! Could it be that someone beat him to it and stole the Ruyi Treasure Life Pearl?

Who could it be?

Big M?

Is it still that thousand-year-old river spirit?

Haiqing frowned deeply; concern clouded her judgment, and her mind was in turmoil.

As night fell, the figures of two cats gradually appeared, one fat and one thin.

For some reason, as soon as Big M got to this area, it had a strange feeling, as if fate had arranged it all along, and that a very important scene would unfold here for it.

The lion said, "Ugly brother, I'll steal some pigeons for you to eat!"

"I won't eat it!" Big M whispered.

"Don't worry, brother, I won't be as unlucky as Hua Hua!" The lion chuckled smugly, used his teeth to pry open the lock on the pigeon cage, and crawled inside.

The pigeons cooed and fluttered about, breaking open the cage and flying out. Being meat pigeons, they couldn't fly far, just squawking as they clumsily flew and landed, landed and flew again.

Haiqing's eyes once again searched for the pigeons with keen and careful attention—none!

Hurried footsteps came from afar. Big M shouted, "Lion! Come out quickly, someone's coming!"

The lion was already fat, and now that it was inside the cage, the pigeons were running around like headless flies, making the lion dizzy and disoriented, so it couldn't hear Big M's cries.

Hearing the commotion at the pigeon coop, the newcomer quickened his pace. Seeing that there wasn't enough time, Big M rushed into the cage, grabbed the lion's tail with deadly precision, and pulled it out of the cage. With a flick of its head, the lion inexplicably ended up on Big M's back. Big M nimbly leaped, carrying the lion, and jumped to a tree branch more than 3 meters high.

Upon seeing this, Haiqing frowned even more deeply: He was beginning to awaken…

Liu Wei heard a noise coming from the pigeon coop in the distance. He leaned forward and tried to lift his feet off the ground, but unexpectedly fell headfirst to the ground. "Damn it!" he cursed, forgetting that he was now trapped in a mortal body and could no longer fly. He had no choice but to quickly get up and run towards the pigeon coop.

Old Liu followed behind, panting, and called out, "Son...slow down...take care of yourself!"

When Liu Wei and Lao Liu ran up to the pigeon cage, it was already empty.

Old Liu stomped his foot angrily: "Damn wildcats! I'll wipe you all out!"

Liu Wei felt a void in his heart, and darkness enveloped him. Was he really trapped here? The mighty River Spirit, the hero who protected the entire river, was he really trapped here like this?

Liu Wei looked around and immediately spotted the hare-qing lying on the roof. This hare-qing was quite powerful. Could it be that it took the bead?

At this moment, Hai Qing was watching Liu Wei, thinking to himself, "It seems the bead wasn't taken by the River Spirit. Who could it be? It would be wise to form a strategic alliance with the River Spirit and find the bead's whereabouts as soon as possible!"

"You grand-disciple! Give me back the pearl!" The thousand-year-old river spirit spoke to Hai Qing from inside Liu Wei's body in a voice that was imperceptible to ordinary ears.

The name "rabbit" sounds like "grand-disciple," and upon hearing this, Haiqing immediately abandoned the idea of joining forces with him, as it hated being called that more than anything else in its life!

Haiqing ignored him and turned to disappear into the night.

"What were that man and Haiqing talking about regarding beads?" Big M whispered to the lion from the tree.

The lion was baffled: "What are you talking about? Is Haiqing here? How can a human talk to a cat?"

Liu Wei turned his face toward the tree where Big M was hiding. Big M immediately fell silent. Liu Wei walked to the tree and leaned against it wearily. The lion trembled with fear.

18.

Concern leads to confusion.

Desiring something too quickly only leads to more confusion and failure.

Liu Wei panicked. He slammed his fist heavily into the tree, which groaned violently. Its withered branches trembled, and the lion clung tightly to Big M, trembling. The lion had witnessed the power of this green-faced ghost; even Little Black was no match for him.

Big M easily saw the green river spirit imprisoned within the body. It could sense his powerful energy, an energy that seemed strangely familiar. This sense of déjà vu made Big M feel uneasy, as if it had lost something very important, yet it couldn't quite remember what it was.

Old Liu walked up to Liu Wei, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Son! Don't worry, we can raise more pigeons if they fly away." Old Liu's wishful thinking and self-righteousness made Liu Wei feel annoyed from the bottom of his heart. This annoyance made his heart more anxious and confused. He pushed Old Liu's hand off his shoulder.

Old Liu, oblivious to the situation, continued, "As long as we, father and son, are of one mind, things will definitely get better. Then I'll find you a virtuous wife, have a grandson, and the whole family will live happily ever after..." Old Liu's idyllic vision of family life only fueled Liu Wei's growing disgust, almost to the point of collapse. The so-called happiness of ordinary people filled Liu Wei with disdain and resentment. He felt as if a spring had sprung up inside him, his anger suddenly escalating: "Old man! Shut the hell up!" After shouting this, Liu Wei went into the house without looking back; he had more important things to do.

Old Liu stood frozen under the tree, his expression blank. After a moment, he sighed deeply, wiped away his tears, and muttered to himself, "It'll be alright in a few days..."

Once everything was quiet, Big M let out a deep breath. The lion immediately released its grip on Big M, puffed out its chest, and said, "Don't be afraid! Ugly brother, I'll protect you from any danger!"

"Thank you, Lion!" Big M smiled, but felt an inexplicable sense of melancholy. For the first time in this world, it felt lonely, and it thought of Momo.

As dawn broke, the sanitation workers began their cleaning.

The lion and Big M jumped down from the tree. The lion said, "Ugly brother, are you hungry? It's all my fault for being useless! Sigh! Come on! I'll take you to the garbage transfer station to find something to eat. The food there is safe and non-toxic!"

"By the way, lion!" Big M asked, "Why can you eat a poisonous bun without getting poisoned?"

The lion paused for a moment, a peculiar glint in its eyes that Big M couldn't decipher. Then, the lion sighed and said, "I don't know why I don't get poisoned. Maybe it's because I am poisonous myself! Last time I fought with a dog, I only lightly bit it, and it died. It didn't die from the bite, it died from poisoning."

"Oh?" Big M seemed thoughtful.

The lion immediately blushed and said anxiously, "But don't worry, I'm not contagious! As long as you don't bite, you'll be fine!"

Big M licked its forehead and said, "We're friends, I'm not afraid of you!"

The lion murmured, "Friend..." His eyes were a little wet. "Come on! Ugly brother! I'll take you to find something to eat!"

The community's garbage collection point is filled with the stench of fresh, rotting garbage. The garbage collection point is the most storied and authentic place in the world. Big M remembers Mao Mao once telling a friend on the phone: "Doing research on Coca-Cola? It's simple, just go to the city's garbage cans and count the Coca-Cola cans. Garbage doesn't lie."

Big M remembered the last sentence: "Garbage doesn't lie." The garbage in the garbage dump is a true microcosm of human life.

In this microcosm of reality, Big M discovers his "fellow inmate" Little Lu.

Xiao Lu was on the verge of death, tears welling in his eyes, his body covered in blood.

When Big M saw Little Lu, he felt something rushing towards him, something bad.

That kind of thing, as M later learned, is called—resentment.

19.

Little Lu's fur was covered in blood, mud, and frost, clumped together in clumps, and not a single white spot could be seen on his body. He looked like a toy abandoned by its little owner. Big M licked his nose, doing so purely out of instinct. The lion, who had never liked dogs, simply stood coldly to the side.

Xiao Lu continued to fall into the boundless darkness, but for some reason, she felt a warm sensation on her nose, and a powerful force pulled her back.

When someone dies, we can say that they still live in our hearts. But what if our hearts die?

Xiao Lu slowly opened his eyes, his gaze as cold as winter frost.

"Didn't you go home?" Big M asked.

"Home?" Little Lu pursed its lips, opened its mouth, but didn't say anything more. Winter is so nice, even pain can be frozen. Little Lu no longer felt pain, only a numb feeling all over its body. It tried hard to stand up, took a few unsteady steps, and then fell to the ground again.

As dawn broke, the lion grew impatient: "It's getting light, let's hurry back! Otherwise, the cat will turn into a mouse!"

Big M wasn't worried about being universally hated. "Can Little Lu come back with us?"

The lion's eyes grew melancholy, a look that pierced Little Lu's heart. It was a look of disgust, just like its once-close master. Little Lu gritted its teeth, stood up, its gaze cold. It vowed never to let anyone look at it like that again. It said, "Cats have their ways, mice have theirs, and Little Lu has its own path!"

Big M paused for a moment, feeling a bit cold in the winter morning wind.

“Let’s go!” the lion said to Big M.

Big M sighed and ran with the lion toward their "underground palace," disappearing into the dawn moments later.

Does Xiao Lu have his own path?

It stood there swaying, wondering where its own path lay. It bent down, rummaged through the garbage heap, and pulled out half a frozen, dry, cold, and hard steamed bun. It swallowed it in one gulp, and the bun churned wildly in its stomach, chilling it to the bone.

It staggered back to the apartment building, walked to a dark corner of the basement where old, discarded items were piled up, and shivering, it pulled over a doll whose tattered fabric was showing, lay down, and rested.

No matter where the road ahead leads, survival is the first priority.

Live on, and let those heartless bastards know what kind of reward Little Lu received for his loyalty to his master.

It turns out that in this world, loving sacrifices are met with hate. Recalling the master's disgusted and hateful gaze, Xiao Lu felt something burning inside her. The frozen bun in her stomach melted, but her little heart was harder and colder than that frozen bun.

The basement was dark, and the motion-sensor lights had been broken for a long time, reportedly requiring numerous repairs without success. Xiao Lu used to be terrified of the dark, but now she wasn't; in fact, she somewhat liked it. The darkness felt like a vast, all-encompassing blanket, and Xiao Lu felt safe and secure surrounded by it.

The clattering of high heels echoed from the basement, followed by a dim light shining in, and then a fragrant aroma. A girl, dangling a keychain that resembled a small rubber flashlight, used it to unlock a bicycle. The lock clicked open, and the girl chuckled in the darkness. She turned and went to unlock another lock. In less than half an hour, all the bicycles in the basement had been unlocked. The girl took out her phone and dialed several numbers, but the signal was too weak. She muttered a few words of annoyance, took a few steps toward the basement entrance, and then, whether from her high heels or something, she screamed and fell headfirst onto the basement stairs. Little Lu smelled blood. It looked up and saw the doll perched on the girl's back, its head close to hers, sucking on a strand of her hair.

20.

The doll smiled sweetly, floated over to Xiao Lu's side, and said, "Would you like some?"

Xiao Lu asked, "What? What would you like?"

“Energy from the human body!” The doll licked her lips. “You’re so badly injured right now, how can you not nourish yourself?”

"I..." Xiao Lu hesitated, "I can't..."

"Tch~ My silly little dog," the doll gestured for Little Lu to get up, pointed to its crotch, and said, "You couldn't do it before, but now you can..."

"Now?" Xiao Lu asked, puzzled.

“You lie on top of my body!” the doll said.

Xiao Lu jumped up immediately, looking at the tattered doll beneath him. He then noticed a strange liquid seeping from the doll's body, sticking to its dirty fur. The liquid seemed to have eyes and thoughts, seeping into Xiao Lu's body through its pores. "You are... a doll monster?"

The doll shook its head, still smiling, but with a melancholic air. "Why don't you open the zipper on the back of the doll and take a look?"

Little Lu used his paw to unzip the doll and was startled. Inside the doll's belly was a strange, fleshy thing. The flesh was rotten, and a strange liquid was seeping out from that lump of flesh.

"Is this really you? But what is this?"

“It’s an infant that hasn’t yet taken human form,” the doll said calmly. “Because it didn’t have human form yet, and it was put inside a doll’s belly and left here, so we just used the doll’s shape for it.”

"Why isn't there a human form? Why?" Xiao Lu really didn't understand.

"Why? Why?! The person who can answer this question..." The doll's eyes darted into the darkness, "...is already dying, and will die with resentment..."

"Who is it?" Xiao Lu asked again.

"What a gossip!" the doll said impatiently. "Anyway, you're in the same boat as me now, hahaha..."

"What's the meaning?"