Volume One, Chapter 108: Afraid She Would Be Frightened by the Icy River of Oblivion

“May I hold her?”

The woman’s gaze slipped past Qin Yu and came to rest on the white remnant soul.

Qin Yu could not bear it. She gave Mu Ling a look, and Mu Ling immediately sent the remnant soul over.

In truth, the woman could not touch it at all, yet she still made the motion of embracing it, her face full of tenderness and relief.

“Ow!”

A wretched scream rang out behind them, making Qin Yu and Mu Ling turn around together.

There was Lu Hualing, rubbing his backside as he struggled upright from a chair that had shattered into splinters.

His eyes were red, and it was obvious he had truly hurt himself.

“That’s unfair. Just now I clearly saw the master sit down and nothing happened. Why did it break when it was my turn?”

The young master looked aggrieved.

Mu Ling lifted his chin, wearing an expression of utter shock that seemed to say, “You actually dare compare yourself to Xiao Yu?”

Lu Hualing, still rubbing his backside, came over with a limp.

The woman pointed toward the school gate. “There are good chairs around the right-hand corner.”

Lu Hualing felt a shadow over his heart and waved his hand quickly. “No, no need. I’m fine standing and listening.”

The woman said nothing more. Reluctantly, she handed over the soul she was holding.

“Five years ago, Golden Fatty Kindergarten was the only kindergarten in this whole area. It was close to home, so many parents sent their children there. I was one of them too.”

“Then I found needle marks on Yaoyao. I asked her about them, and she said the teachers used them to check the children’s bodies. They also fed them little white candies—sweet, very tasty.”

As she spoke, regret filled the woman’s face.

“Do you know? I will never forget the way Yaoyao told me, with such childish innocence…”

Five years earlier.

“The children all take off their clothes, and the doctor uncle takes off his too…”

“The room is very dark. The doctor uncle said that if we were good, we could go out earlier.”

“The doctor uncle said he had a very long telescope, and whatever I did or said, he could see and hear it all!”

“The doctor uncle poked me with a needle, and only after I stopped crying did he stop poking me!”

Those childish little voices struck again and again at the woman’s heart.

“Beasts!”

Lu Hualing cursed aloud.

The woman wiped away her tears.

“Later, I joined with several other parents and reported the kindergarten. After that, the people involved were arrested, and the kindergarten was shut down.”

Qin Yu thought of the bone-deep despair on the rooftop.

The matter was probably not that simple.

“And then?”

“About a month after that, Yaoyao fell seriously ill and died.”

The woman was very calm, so calm it was as if she were speaking of someone else.

“And my memory of Yaoyao grew worse and worse. In just half a year, I could no longer remember what she looked like.”

“My husband thought I had suffered a mental breakdown because I could not accept our daughter’s death. Afraid of further upsetting me, he hid everything in the house that had to do with her.”

“I also thought something was wrong with me, until I discovered that my husband did not remember our daughter’s face either!”

“At the time, I even began to wonder whether Yaoyao had ever truly lived in this world at all.”

“I visited the former kindergarten classmates of my daughter. Only then did I discover that their son had also died of illness! Their family, too, had fallen into the same state as ours—they could no longer remember what the child looked like!”

“I was afraid I would truly forget my daughter, so after three years, I secretly returned to Golden Fatty Kindergarten. There, I saw Yaoyao! Though she had become that kind of thing, I recognized her at a glance! That was my Yaoyao!”

The woman shed tears with great composure.

“I taught her that whenever anyone came in, she had to scare them away, because only then could she continue to exist!”

“I could not tell anyone about Yaoyao. I could not lose her again. So I quit my job, got divorced, and found work sweeping the streets in this district.”

“Now that Yaoyao has been freed, my greatest wish has also been fulfilled.”

Her eyes were clear as water.

Qin Yu was not surprised. “You’ve decided?”

The woman smiled in satisfaction. “Master, you are even more formidable than they said.”

Qin Yu was about to ask who the “they” she referred to were when a streak of bright red seeped from the corner of the woman’s mouth.

Lu Hualing was startled and quickly supported her swaying body. “What’s going on? Wait here—I’ll call an ambulance!”

The woman pressed down on his hand as he fumbled for his phone. She only looked at Qin Yu. “Master, could you send me and Yaoyao to the underworld together? I’m afraid that if she’s alone in the cold River of Forgetfulness, she’ll be scared.”

Qin Yu was somewhat angry. “You’re just going to die like this? Are you willing?”