Incident Lingxia

Chapitre 11

The louse thought for a moment, then inserted its long proboscis into Old Li's ankle.

Old Li felt a sharp pain in his foot. Looking down, he saw a strange animal biting his ankle. Startled, he kicked the louse away. He then ran to the kitchen to get a broom. After only a few steps, Old Li turned pale, rolled his eyes, and fainted.

The lion felt remorseful and innocent, and vowed never to bite anyone again.

36.

It's late at night, and the winter night feels especially chilly.

Old Li didn't feel cold at all; he went out wearing only a thin nightgown.

Old Li walked downstairs with a dazed look in his eyes and a heavy heart. Xiaohui's (the kid who got kicked by A-Ming while playing soccer, I wonder if you all remember him at the beginning of the article—Xiao Yao floated in front of the camera) mother saw Old Li, opened her mouth, probably wanting to comfort him, but the words that came out were different: "Old Li, don't be too sad. A-Ming may be immature, but maybe he did something wrong and is afraid of being beaten, so he's hiding somewhere! He'll naturally come back in a few days. Take care!"

Old Li seemed not to hear her. Xiaohui's mother, feeling embarrassed, went upstairs in a huff. After taking a few steps, she remembered that she had forgotten to suggest that Old Li go to the nearby internet cafe. So she ran back down and patted Old Li on the shoulder.

That's how fate works; taking one more step or saying one less word can affect a person's entire life.

Old Li turned around, his face ashen and his lips black. He grabbed Xiaohui's mother's hand and bit her arm.

Xiaohui's mother screamed and kicked Lao Li downstairs. The scream attracted the neighbors, who opened the door and saw Xiaohui's mother rolling on the ground in pain. They quickly pulled her towards the hospital, but Lao Li had already disappeared.

Xiaohui's mother kept cursing all the way.

"I bet that old scoundrel has lost his son and gone mad—ouch, that hurts—"

Some neighbors also voiced their grievances: "Old Li is a decent man, except for his habit of beating his son. It's you who's always been sharp-tongued and has no tact; you might have said something that angered this honest man..."

"Yes, yes, that's what they call 'even a rabbit will bite when cornered'..."

"You people who can't distinguish right from wrong... No matter what, you can't bite people! You're not a three-year-old child! Look at this! Look at this! Is this something a human being would do?!"

"Was this done by a human?" the doctor asked while bandaging the wound. Xiaohui's mother was probably too exhausted from the pain and fell asleep.

The nurse settled her in an empty ward, right next to Mao Mao's ward.

“Aren’t you going to see your dad? You don’t need to stay with me…” Mao Mao said, looking out the window. Actually, there was nothing to see outside the window. The clean window reflected Mao Mao’s haggard face. The glass was always like a mirror for her cousin.

Mirror.

Tears welled up in Mao Mao's eyes. He must have felt that my suicide attempt had added more trouble to him, which was why he didn't want to look at me.

The opposite of love is indifference. If hate were the only thing that could make me feel better, I simply couldn't be bothered to hate at all.

When love is gone, just leave. Sometimes, you don't even need to wish each other well, let alone give each other a fake smile. If you're destined to just pass by each other, it's just that you bumped into each other's shoulders as you passed by. No need to turn back, just pat each other on the shoulder and keep going.

A glimmer of life gradually appeared in Mao Mao's eyes.

“I…actually he…” Liu Wei wanted to say that the old man wasn’t his father, but then he remembered that he had just admitted it that afternoon. If he said that, A Luo would definitely think he was unfilial, which would leave a bad impression on her. “The autopsy report hasn’t come out yet, and the police won’t let us see it.”

"Please accept my condolences," Mao Mao said.

Liu Wei felt a surge of warmth in his heart. This was the first time A Luo had said something so thoughtful, even though Mao Mao was only being polite.

"Thank you for taking care of me these past few days. I'm sure it's kept you busy. You must have been very busy too, right?" Mao Mao yawned.

Liu Wei was clueless about social etiquette: "I'm not busy! Not busy! Actually, I... I'm actually on vacation..." He cursed inwardly how troublesome and tiring it was to be a person. To be a person, you have to learn to lie. You can't survive or get anything without lying.

What do you want to get? Everyone has something they want to get.

Liu Wei wants to get Mao Mao, Mao Mao wants to get the mirror, the mirror wants to get the wish-fulfilling life pearl, and many people want to get the wish-fulfilling life pearl.

What happens if you obtain the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel?

"I need to rest now, you should rest early too!" Mao Mao finally gave the order to leave.

"Okay! Okay!" Liu Wei carefully tucked the blanket around Mao Mao, a gesture that warmed Mao Mao's heart, as if he had returned to his childhood and to his parents' side.

Liu Wei tiptoed to the door, turned on the floor lamp, which cast a warm orange glow, creating a cozy and romantic atmosphere. Only after turning on the floor lamp did Liu Wei turn off the ceiling light in the ward.

This floor lamp was specially bought by Liu Wei. For many years, A Luo has been afraid of the dark and can only fall asleep if there is an orange luminous pearl in the room.

Mao Mao felt a strange warmth in her heart. How did this strange man know that she was afraid of the dark? She had always been afraid of the dark, but when she slept, even the slightest light would keep her awake, so she had always endured it, endured the darkness.

"Goodnight, Alo!" Liu Wei said softly.

"Goodnight," Mao Mao said. "By the way, what's your name?"

Liu Wei was overjoyed. He opened his mouth, wanting to say "I am the River God Feng Yi", but then thought it was wrong and said, "My name is Liu Wei".

Mao Mao smiled and said, "This name is good; it won't be considered taboo."

37.

Night is the end of one day and the beginning of another.

Xiaohui's mother seemed to be having a nightmare. She suddenly sat up in bed, got out of bed barefoot, and started walking.

I'm anxious and can't sleep.

The door was abruptly opened, and a man was standing in the hallway, grinning foolishly.

Liu Wei was grinning foolishly: She told me to accept her condolences! She said goodnight to me!! She asked for my name!!!

The River God Feng Yi was a dashing and romantic man. How many women were willing to offer themselves as sacrifices to him as his slaves? Yet, after he abducted Mi Fei, she wouldn't even glance at him. The more unattainable she was, the more he longed for her. The more he longed for her, the more he wanted her, and the more he wanted her, the more he couldn't have her—a vicious cycle.

The River God Feng Yi fell in love with Liu Wei's body for the first time. Liu Wei's name was auspicious and would not be envied.

In Xiaohui's mother's eyes, Liu Wei was a ball of fire, a fire of anger, a burning fire.

Unexplained anger. When a person is angry, they lose their rationality. When they lose their rationality, they feel empty, an angry emptiness.

The Buddha said that all four elements are empty, but there must be something within emptiness; existence is non-existence, and non-existence is existence.

When something is empty, it needs to be filled.

Xiaohui's mother, her face pale, reached out her arm to Liu Wei.

Empty! Empty! Empty! Grab whatever you can to fill the void—life is a fill-in-the-blank question.

Liu Wei chuckled to himself when he saw a disheveled woman rushing over. She possessed the soul of a river god, and even though she was trapped and had no magic power, she still had keen insight and extraordinary skills.

Liu Wei blocked Xiaohui's mother's arm and saw a soulless body; the soul had long since vanished, leaving only an empty shell.

Liu Wei flipped his arm over and pressed Xiaohui's mother to the ground. The nurses in the hospital had never liked Liu Wei, thinking that he was both unfilial and violent. When they saw Liu Wei beating an innocent patient, they ran over to pull him away while calling for help.

The three of them were struggling. In her haste, the nurse pulled out a needle and stabbed Liu Wei in the arm. After a shot of tranquilizer, Liu Wei's body collapsed to the ground. Feng Yi's spirit was still awake. He saw Xiao Hui's mother bite the nurse. The nurse screamed and ran away. Xiao Hui's mother wiped her mouth and ran quickly to the other side of the corridor.

Anger is the driving force behind this rapid four-wheel drive.

The virus is spreading.

Someone called 110, their voice urgent: "Come to Dida Community quickly! There's a criminal!" Then came a scream...

Someone dialed 119, speaking slowly: "I saw fire, fire everywhere..."

Someone called 120: I've been bitten, someone bit me, I can't move...

Late at night, the UN headquarters' counterterrorism hotline rang: "Call for help 007: Monitoring area 6 in China is under attack by terrorists..."

110 is here, 119 is here, 120 is here, and the fully armed People's Armed Police are here...

The Dida residential compound was placed under military control. An ambulance carrying injured police officers and firefighters sped out of the compound. The military commander slammed his fist on the table in his home, furious: "What? Useless! A bunch of useless trash! Invulnerable to swords and bullets? Bullshit!"

The Japanese have been driven back to their homeland, and they can't even subdue a few thugs? The army commander changed out of his pajamas and personally took charge.

The brown ant queen flies and flies.

Why is the world so lively tonight? It's as if a grand Halloween party is being held, with ghosts roaming the night. Ghosts are afraid of people, and people are afraid of those without souls.

Wish-fulfilling jewel, where are you? Ksitigarbha, where are you?

Tongtong focused her gaze and saw a lion covered in excrement and urine, hiding in the sewer and crying.

The lion knew it had caused trouble and that it should listen to Big M and return to "hell" as soon as possible.

I won't go to hell?

Who will enter?

"If I don't go to hell, who will?" Big M sat on the trunk of the old locust tree, earnestly pleading, "Old tree spirit, don't be an accomplice to evil."

"I...I..." The old locust tree was in a dilemma, on one side was Ksitigarbha's favorite, and on the other side was the all-powerful Tong Mei.

"Now is your chance to make a name for yourself. After Ksitigarbha appears, he will definitely not let your hard work go to waste!"

"I...I..."

"How can you be so indecisive?" Big M asked anxiously.

Trees have never taken sides; they lean towards whichever side the wind blows.

Right now, it's windy over where Tongmei is.

38.

The following day, Professor Xiao appeared on all television stations, no matter which channel he switched to or what time it was.

Professor Xiao said on television: "Preliminary test results indicate that a strange virus is spreading in this city. It is transmitted through blood. Infected individuals will lose their minds and attack any living thing they see. Their visual system is severely damaged, and they will only attack moving organisms. I urge citizens not to go out, to lock their doors and windows, and if you encounter an infected person, do not panic. Remain still, and you may escape unharmed! Remember! Remember!"

The mirror turned off the TV and said to Professor Xiao, "Why did you use the word 'perhaps'?"

Professor Xiao sighed, "The virus has mutated. Based on the experimental calculations, the little brother should have died on his own after the onset of the disease. Unexpectedly, not only did he not die, but he also caused infection. If the first step of mutation and evolution has already occurred, the possibility of further mutation is extremely high. We must find the little brother as soon as possible and extract antibodies from him."

The mirror sighed, "Alas! One wrong step leads to another. If only I had found my little brother first."

"There are no 'what ifs' in life!" Professor Xiao said, then solemnly went into the laboratory.

Experiments are meant to benefit humanity, and the course of life is one of hardship before happiness, and misfortune before fortune.

The mirror's mission is to find the lion, while Professor Shaw's mission is to research the antidote. Splitting their efforts into two separate groups is not a safe bet.

Jingzi changed into a black protective suit. The suit was supported by an extremely tough chemical material with a surface as slippery as an eel. It was untearable and could not be bitten. It was made by Xiao Ru and sewn overnight.

"Together!" Xiao Ru was already fully armed.

"Too dangerous!" the mirror said. Although it neither loved nor hated, there was no need to put innocent people at risk.

“That’s why we should be together. I like you, you know that,” Xiao Ru insisted.

Let's go!