CH 115

Love Welfare Institute

Mu Ke watched Bai Liu (6)’s running figure disappearing in the morning light and felt his heart stop

for a few seconds. He thought of Liu Jiayi’s strange smile and suddenly wanted to hold Bai Liu (6)’s

hand and ask him not to go to that classroom. However, Bai Liu (6) ran too quickly. He soon reached

the door of the other classroom, calmly unlocked it and entered.

Mu Ke gasped quickly and he remembered that he hadn’t heard anything from the classroom for

almost an hour.

“Bai Liu (6)! Come back!” Mu Ke instinctively rushed out to try and call Bai Liu (6) back, anxiously

tapping on the door. “There is something wrong with this classroom! Come out! Don’t care about Liu

Jiayi! Bai Liu (6), let’s run with just the two of us!”

Yet no matter how much Mu Ke screamed, stomped and howled, the only sound in the empty

corridor was his own breathless voice. It wasn’t transmitted to this other handicrafts classroom

where the Silence item had been used.

Soon, Mu Ke was exhausted by his emotional venting on the door. He crouched down in front of the

classroom where Bai Liu (6) entered and covered his heart. He gasped while his lips turned

blue-purple. There was the sound of footsteps from a teacher who heard the movement on this side.

Miao Gaojiang had followed him out. Miao Gaojiang looked a bit complicated as he grabbed Mu Ke’s

hand gripping the door and removed it finger by finger.

He dragged the exhausted Mu Ke back to the classroom and whispered to Mu Ke, “Don’t shout, you

will bring the teacher here and Bai Liu (6) will be in trouble. Wait 10 minutes like he said. He is much

better than us. You have to trust him.”

Mu Ke’s chest moved up and down violently. He looked at Miao Gaojiang and opened his mouth to

say something. However, he finally fell silent due to his shortness of breath. He couldn’t overdo it. He

looked at the quartz clock in the classroom, silently bit his lip and counted to 10 minutes.

***

The other handicrafts classroom.

Bai Liu (6) entered and smelled the strong scent of blood. He looked at Liu Jiayi curled up in the

corner, hugging herself and sobbing. Liu Jiayi had a lot of blood on her body as well as wounds that

seemed like she had been bitten hard.

These tooth prints were indeed like a child of Miao Feichi’s age would bite.

Bai Liu (6) frowned and the balance of doubt in his heart slowly fell to the speculation that Miao

Feichi tried to eat people.

Nevertheless, Bai Liu didn’t lean over easily. He maintained a certain distance vigilantly and asked

softly, “Liu Jiayi, where is Miao Feichi? Did he attack you?”

Liu Jiayi shrank back in the corner with her cloth box and nodded while crying, “Yes.”

She raised a shaky hand and pointed to another shadowy corner.

Bai Liu (6) turned to look at the corner. There was indeed a tall shadow in the corner. Miao Feichi,

who was second only to Bai Liu (6) in height among the children, now stood in the corner hiding

behind a mess of discarded craft items. He seemed to be holding something in his hand, ready to

sneak attack them.

Miao Feichi seemed to have hidden himself after seeing Bai Liu (6) come in.

“Miao Feichi?” Bai Liu (6) held the candlestick and examined Miao Feichi’s soul banknote as he

walked over tentatively.

There was the soul banknote in hand and Bai Liu (6) wasn’t worried about Miao Feichi attacking him.

He pushed aside some messy things covered in spider webs and dust and finally saw the frightened

Miao Feichi behind them. He might’ve seen many terrible things but the scene in front of him caused

Bai Liu (6)’s breathing to stop for a few seconds.

Miao Feichi was tied up from his limbs by infusion tubes, making him look like a stringed puppet. He

hung from the ceiling and his face, hands, back and needle were densely pierced by needles. Needles

pierced every blood vessel in his body and blood was flowing into the infusion bags.

He had been sucked dry by these blood-sucking bags. His lips were dry and there was a dry, papery

texture to his skin. His hands and feet were trembling and his tongue was full of needles, making him

breathe slightly in pain. No sound could be heard.

Miao Feichi was suspended by his limbs and he was dizzy. The moment he saw Bai Liu (6), he called

out twice and his eyes showed the despair of teeth. He was holding a rag doll whose head had been

pierced by countless needles and who was dressed exactly the same as Miao Feichi.

Liu Jiayi’s crying as she hugged her legs gradually turned to weird laughter. She stood up slowly with

her hands behind her back, smiling like a flower as she turned to ‘look’ at Bai Liu (6) who was in front

of Miao Feichi. She stuck out her tongue in a playful manner. “I lied to you. A big fool like Miao Feichi

can’t hurt me.”

“I forced him to bite me to create these wounds. Well, I might’ve given him a bad first impression of

eating human flesh. He cried and begged me to let him go while biting me.” Liu Jiayi casually pointed

to the wounds on her body and smiled. “However, I wouldn’t have been able to deceive you without

doing this. Bai Liu (6), who is clever, cold-hearted and doesn’t look like a normal good child.”

Bai Liu (6) glanced at Miao Feichi who was still sobbing behind him. He raised the candlestick and

made a gesture to attack. “I don’t think you are qualified to say that to me. You deliberately didn’t kill

Miao Feichi because you were afraid I would notice something was wrong and not enter this

classroom?”

If Bai Liu (6) saw that Miao Feichi was dead from the soul banknote then he never would’ve come

over.

“Your skill allows you to see the death status of the people you control, right?” Liu Jiayi stepped

forward and walked casually to Bai Liu (6)’s side.

Bai Liu (6) held up the candlestick and kept a watchful distance from her.

Liu Jiayi didn’t care much and still had a sweet smile on her face. “A soul control skill? Your investor

or future self has talked about this skill in front of me. It is really a perfect skill. Souls can be

exchanged as long as the other side gives consent? It is a quite restricted rule skill but it is good

enough for a newcomer like Bai Liu.”

“It is like becoming another system that can kill and seize life.” The smile on Liu Jiayi’s face faded

slightly and blurred eyes moved, revealing annoyance and disgust. “The ambitious desire of control is

really a disgusting personal skill derived from a filthy adult male’s unique desire.”

[System tip: Player Liu Jiayi’s remarks about soul trading and other related content have been

shielded by the system.]

Liu Jiayi approached Bai Liu (6) step by step, her footsteps becoming faster while Bai Liu (6) quickly

backed away.

Liu Jiayi bounded around the cluttered craft products with a well-behaved smile on her face. She was

like a doll jumping over various boxes as she spoke in a light voice.

“Bai Liu (6), at this age, you have already started to indulge in the pleasure of controlling others? This

is very similar to the man who gave birth to me. No wonder why you did such a thing to my brother

in the last game. It all has its roots.”

Bai Liu (6) carefully backed up, using various objects to cover himself while backing away. His brain

spun quickly as he did so. “You want to save your brother Liu Huai, right? Now you have taken Miao

Feichi’s blood. Add in your own and there is a high probability of being able to save your brother Liu

Huai. Is there any need to act against me? Liu Huai and my future self are in a cooperative

relationship.”

“Cooperative?” Liu Jiayi’s free-spirited laughter rang everywhere as she approached Bai Liu (6). “Is it

a type of cooperation that forces my brother to make a choice between me or him with various

conditions or words? It is a disgusting cooperation.”

Bai Liu (6) stood in the middle of the classroom, observing every place Liu Jiayi might come from. His

tone was still quiet. “Still, you didn’t stop it.”

“You can obviously call your brother on the phone and tell him you don’t need him to save you. This

way, he wouldn’t get coerced into cooperating with the other me. Even so, you watched Liu Huai

make a painful choice between you and him. Or perhaps you were waiting for him to choose

between you and his own life.”

“If this is a disgusting cooperation—” Bai Liu (6)’s eyes were calm. “You are also a participant and

promoter of this cooperation, Liu Jiayi.”

“You obviously want to see Liu Huai give up his life for you. You want to see your brother suffer and

beg for death in order to save you and protect you. If you hadn’t dragged it to the last moment when

you were sure Liu Huai would die for you, you wouldn’t have even exposed yourself, right? Liu Jiayi,

when it comes to disgusting things, we are far worse than you.”

Liu Jiayi’s laughter stopped abruptly.

The faint light in the corridor suddenly flashed. Once it turned on again, Bai Liu (6) saw Liu Jiayi

holding a doll whose head and limbs were torn apart. There was no expression on her face. She

stood very close, her head raised and her eyes not blinking as she looked at Bai Liu (6)

The doll in Liu Jiayi’s hand was wearing a white suit and suit pants. It had a strange, broken coin

hanging around its neck and its head was twisted almost 180 degrees. There was a weird, dull smile

on Liu Jiayi’s face as she looked up at Bai Liu (6).

Even if he had never seen the future Bai Liu, he recognized that this crude doll in Liu Jiayi’s arms was

his future self based on the description from Bai Liu (6)’s mouth.

Bai Liu (6)’s eyes stopped on the doll in Liu Jiayi’s arms. His breathing paused slightly and his Adam’s

apple moved up and down due to his rapid heartbeat and breathing. It turned out that this was the

feeling when fear of death was so close. Bai Liu (6) thought about it for a moment. It wasn’t as scary

as he thought.

Liu Jiayi’s voice was very low. She lowered her head and stroked the doll in her arms, almost talking

to herself.

“Do you know why the medieval witches made voodoo dolls? When they start to curse and love a

person, they will make a doll of that person, hoping that the doll can contain the person’s soul. This

way, the person they hate can die in a nasty manner while the person they like can stay by their side

forever.”

Bai Liu (6) retreated to the edge of the wall and his expression was still calm. “What is the difference

between your approach and Bai Liu’s approach?”

Liu Jiayi was silent for a long time. Then she cocked her head, blinked and smiled happily. “In

essence, there is nothing. I am also a very disgusting existence and I deserve not to be treated well

by my brother.”

“However, Liu Huai has given everything for you. You got what you want.” Bai Liu (6)’s breathing was

very light and his toes were pressed against the wall as he looked at Liu Jiayi, whose face was right in

front of his. “You got what you want. What else are you not satisfied with?”

Liu Jiayi finally raised her head with a casual and indifferent expression. Her foggy eyes were set in an

immature and emotionless face. There was a type of strange and sad contradiction.

Her lips curved and she looked like a well-behaved child who didn’t understand anything.

Meanwhile, she spoke in a faint and airy manner.

“It is because I never dared to really believe in my brother. I refused to believe him so I didn’t get

him.”

Liu Jiayi’s eyes reflected the small Bai Liu (6). It was a foggy texture like a soul that had left its shell

and imprinted on her eyes.

“My brother is a cowardly man. He won’t dare give everything for me.”

“Betrayal is his bad habit. He is a cowardly, habitual offender.”

Bai Liu (6) looked at Liu Jiayi and remembered everything Bai Liu had told him about Liu Huai.

Indeed, Liu Huai seemed accustomed to betraying others, from Mu Sicheng to Puppet Zhang... if

betrayal and cowardice were a bad habit then the person who suffered most from this habit must be

the one who was always with him.

Bai Liu (6) suddenly understood something as he looked at Liu Jiayi “When did Liu Huai betray you?”

The smile on Liu Jiayi’s face finally disappeared as she stared straight at Bai Liu (6).

“When did he... betray me?” She smiled with a laugh. “You might as well ask when he stopped

betraying me.”

Everyone would talk to her in that disgusting tone.

[The child of close relatives, can she have any intelligence?]

[Sure enough, she is blind and a female. Why don’t you get rid of her?]

[...My mother said such inbred children can’t get on the family household book at all. You can’t even

go to school. Your brother said he would cure your eyes and send you to study to let you go to

university. Haha, how funny!]

That man would punch and kick her when drunk. He would slap her in the face and force her to fish

in the pond when she was only a few years old. He fiercely said she wasn’t allowed to come up

unless she caught a lot of fish.

It was so cold in the pond. When she was only a few years old, she stepped in the water and it

seemed to go up to her throat. It was full of mud and water. The fish in it were like the limbs of a

dead person. They swam around her but were difficult to catch.

She was like her deceased mother who was trapped in the pond and never allowed to come up. Liu

Jiayi would never get enough fish to satisfy this man. She knew he wanted to drown her, who was a

useless child who wasted food.

It was like the way he drowned her sister and her mother.

In Liu Huai’s absence, Liu Jiayi would hide in the chicken shed or pigsty during school time. She

stayed with animals or hid in the closet or under the bed to prevent the man from finding her when

he was angry about something unknown.

Most of the time, she hid well and it was fine. However, she had to remain vigilant at all times or she

would be caught by the man grabbing her hair. He would whip her with a bamboo stick covered with

water or pull her to the pond to catch fish.

In Liu Jiayi’s memories, she hid in all the dark places in the house, quietly holding her knees and

counting the passage of time. When Liu Huai came home from school, she could feel the coldness of

night in the countryside, soaking through her skin into her heart.

Sometimes she would cry uncontrollably or scream like a person with a mental disability, a madman

or a psychopath. She hit the animals locked up with her as if she could vent the resentment and pain

in her heart.

She never dared to let Liu Huai see this side of her. In front of Liu Huai, she was always meek,

well-behaved, innocent and knew nothing. She would raise her head and smile sweetly at Liu Huai

who returned from school.

This was even if she had just climbed up from the mud-covered pond where she had been struggling

all afternoon or if she had just strangled a goose 10 minutes earlier.

A bad child wasn’t loved. Liu Jiayi understood from an early age that all the emotions Liu Huai gave

her were due to her disguised appearance. So she kept vigilant and didn’t want her true face to be

pulled out by Liu Huai in the same way as that man when she hid under a bed or in a dark closet. She

didn’t want to be whipped and questioned with disappointment.

Perhaps even if she showed her true face and stood in front of Liu Huai, this person would shrink

back and not dare to look at her.

It was because her brother was a man who was afraid to face the truth and was weak.

Memory and consciousness sank together into the muddy depths of darkness. Liu Jiayi stood in front

of Bai Liu (6). Looking into Bai Liu (6)’s questioning dark eyes, Liu Jiayi felt as if she had returned to

that broken house in the countryside.

She had just learned to hide under the bed and in the closet to escape the man’s drunken beating.

She only sneaked out after Liu Huai came back or after the man fell asleep and was snoring.

One day, it wasn’t known what happened but the man’s anger was particularly fierce. He looked

through all the cabinets for half a day looking for her, but he couldn’t find her. The man was still

looking for her when Liu Huai came back from school.

There was the sound of broken bowls and chopsticks clattering on the ground. Liu Jiayi covered her

mouth with her hands and didn’t dare breathe loudly. She held her breath and listened to the man’s

insults.

“...Fuck, this bitch is becoming better at hiding! I can’t even fucking find something to pass the time.

Liu Huai! Liu Huai, get out here for me!”

There was a clear slapping sound and a boy’s repressed cry of fear. The man cursed and gulped down

two mouthfuls of wine. The sound of drinking seemed to pour into Liu Jiayi’s ears. Her breathing was

rapid and a bitter taste started to appear in her mouth.

Then there was the process after drinking wine. The middle-aged man’s hands and feet fell on Liu

Huai’s back with a fierce beating sound. Soon, Liu Huai’s trembling cries stopped.

“Fuck.” The man drunkenly cursed. “You are the only root of the Liu family and I don’t want to hit

you. However, my hands are itchy after drinking and that bitch isn’t here. She can really hide and only

comes out when you are here. I copied your voice to deceive her but she didn’t come out.”

“Go!” The man slurred his words as he kicked Liu Huai. “Trick out that bitch and I won’t hit you.”

Liu Jiayi waited a long time, so long she thought it was dawn. Then she heard Liu Huai’s sobbing and

trembling voice calling out.

“Jiayi, Brother is back. You... would you like to come out?”

“Can you come out for a bit? Dad has gone outside! You can come out! No one will hit you!”

“You come out! Really... I am the only one here! I want to see you!”

Liu Jiayi was quiet for a long time. There was a ringing in her sensitive ears that she couldn’t

understand. Then she trembled as she came out from under Liu Huai’s bed where she had hidden all

day.

The man pulled up by the hair and threw her toward the ground. He landed drunk slaps on her body.

Then he whipped Liu Jiayi’s soft abdomen with a small whip the width of his thumb. Every time it fell

down, Liu Huai would close his eyes and tremble.

However, Liu Huai didn’t dare step forward. He cowardly leaned back in the corner and silently

waited for the end of this torture.

After the torture ended, Liu Huai held the dying Liu Jiayi and cried. He said, “Brother will take you

out. Brother will be admitted to a good university and take you out!”

“Help me bear it a few more times! Brother will definitely take you out! It is very soon! Very soon!”

Liu Jiayi just blankly opened her blind eyes, listening to his voice gradually become similar to the

man’s voice. Liu Jiayi’s fingers curled up and slowly fell down.

“Okay, Jiayi will help Brother bear it.” She weakly and docilely replied. She knew that Liu Huai needed

this shell of a ‘good sister’ to pacify his guilty heart.

Liu Huai, her older brother, was always so cowardly and didn’t dare resist. He betrayed her and

deceived her. He stood by in the dark room as she crawled out for him and was beaten. He closed his

eyes and didn’t dare look at all of it.

Her brother was a cowardly assassin through and through. He had no ability to harm others even

with a weapon.

However, the best thing she ever had in her life was such a cowardly brother.

Betrayal and doubts, they were truly natural born brother and sister.