Chapter 29
The moment she saw Yang Caisi clearly, Jiang Liu felt the blood in her body freeze. She stiffly looked down at her own legs.
Under the casually worn skirt, her legs were smooth and straight, without any wounds.
This isn’t right!
She was supposed to be in an instance. How could she have made plans with Yang Caisi to go to an amusement park?
The moment she realized this, the world around her began to spin. The face in front of her gradually distorted, and Jiang Liu’s eyes flew open—
The curtains had been drawn, and the midday sun shone through the window. The bed was warm, and Xiao Si was no longer beside her.
She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, her expression was much clearer.
Why did she have such a dream? What exactly was her relationship with Yang Caisi?
Jiang Liu rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. She suddenly sensed that something was wrong and looked down—
The wound on her leg had been re-bandaged. A cool ointment had been applied, which felt very comfortable, and the end of the gauze had been tied into a pretty butterfly knot.
She met Xiao Si on the stairs.
“Sister Liu, you’re awake? I was just about to call you for lunch,” Xiao Si said. She had changed into a T-shirt and shorts, her long hair tied into a simple, neat ponytail that swung back and forth behind her head, exuding a youthful energy.
Jiang Liu nodded, her gaze lingering on Xiao Si’s face for a long time. The image of the young Yang Caisi from her dream suddenly appeared before her eyes.
Aside from her slightly slimmer facial contours, she hadn’t changed much from her younger self. Her misty eyes, in particular, were identical, and just looking at them felt like a spring breeze.
She stared for too long, so long that Xiao Si looked up in surprise, her eyelashes fluttering. “Sister Liu?”
The voice pulled Jiang Liu back to her senses. “Okay.”
She started to continue down the stairs, but a warm hand steadied her arm. Xiao Si carefully helped her down, her tone full of concern.
“Is your wound any better?”
Jiang Liu looked at her hesitantly. “My leg…”
Xiao Si looked up, puzzled, her sparkling eyes full of worry. “Didn’t you fall and cut it last night?”
Hearing this less-than-reliable reason, Jiang Liu could just imagine how seriously Zhang Xiaochen must have spun the tale. She couldn’t help but facepalm.
“It was my carelessness. Sorry to trouble you,” she said with a friendly smile, using Xiao Si’s support to descend the stairs step by step.
Xiao Si giggled. “Not at all. It was nothing.”
Downstairs was very lively.
Everyone was gathered around the dining table, looking to be in good spirits. Xu Meng waved at her, and Jiang Liu smiled in response.
As she got closer, she couldn’t help but ask, “Where’s An’an?”
Zhang Xiaochen gestured towards the window with his chin. Li An’an was squatting in the yard, busy with something.
“The heavy rain knocked down the flowers in the yard, and she’s heartbroken about it,” Xiao Si explained as she helped her sit down, her tone light. “An’an has already eaten, so we don’t need to wait for her.”
Jiang Liu acknowledged with a hum, but her peripheral vision caught that Xiao Si wasn’t planning to sit down. She couldn’t help but look over.
Xiao Si scratched her head. “I heard there’s a problem in the garden. A lot of the flowers have inexplicably withered, so they’ve asked every household to go and help. I have to go now.”
She poured Jiang Liu a bowl of soup, then waved goodbye and left with Li An’an from the yard.
As soon as Xiao Si left, the atmosphere in the living room immediately quieted down. Zhang Xiaochen’s face was clearly marked with sleepiness. He yawned and mumbled, “I’m so tired. I’m going to take another nap after eating.”
Zhao Ziming clicked his tongue. “You’re complaining when you get to sleep on a bed? I’m sleeping on the floor and I haven’t said a word, okay?”
They had been up too late yesterday, and there was no time to clean out the small storage room. He, Zhang Xiaochen, and the Cheng brothers were all squeezed into one room. It was a good thing there were enough blankets, or he would have frozen to death.
Zhang Xiaochen sullenly shut up. Zhao Ziming made a face at him, then turned serious. “Cheng Ji hasn’t woken up yet. You should go check on him later.”
Jiang Liu nodded absentmindedly, sipping her soup intermittently.
“Didn’t you sleep well, Sister Jiang?” Xu Meng noticed her expression and asked with some concern.
“I had a dream,” Jiang Liu yawned and answered casually. Then, as if remembering something, she kicked Zhao Ziming. “By the way, can The System interfere with people’s memories?”
“Huh?” Zhao Ziming was taken aback and shook his head, not understanding. “Never heard of it. Why do you ask?”
Jiang Liu thought about the memory fragments that had suddenly appeared in her mind and shook her head thoughtfully. “Nothing, just asking.”
She took a couple of bites of a bun, her right fingertips unconsciously tapping on the table. “Getting back to business, we’re going to find Li An’an tonight.”
Zhang Xiaochen was puzzled. “You know where she is?”
“Do you remember those people from last night?” Jiang Liu prompted.
They had no human consciousness, and the ‘blood’ that flowed from them was green, extremely similar to plant sap. Or rather, it was very likely they had already turned into plants.
Zhao Ziming’s mind worked quickly, and he instantly followed Jiang Liu’s train of thought, his eyes widening in disbelief. “Don’t tell me that people who go missing come back and turn into things like that?”
As soon as he said it, he broke out in a cold sweat. The thought was terrifying.
If their speculation was correct, then there were hardly any living people left in the entire town, were there?
“We’ll know when we go and see,” Jiang Liu said, swallowing her food whole and getting up to walk towards the room where Cheng Ji was.
The others stared at each other blankly for a moment before hurriedly following her, instantly crowding the small room.
The messy withered grass had been cleaned up. Cheng Ji lay stiffly on the bed board, his face rosy as if he were just asleep.
Jiang Liu stared at him for a long time, then pulled out a dagger and unhesitatingly made a cut—
Cheng Da’s heart nearly leaped into his throat. Before he could even get the words of protest out, he was stunned by the scene before him, his mouth agape enough to swallow an egg.
The sharp tip of the knife met almost no resistance, easily slicing through Cheng Ji’s palm. A viscous green liquid gushed from the wound, carrying with it the characteristic smell of plants.
Drip… drip…
The liquid dripped onto the floor, forming a small puddle. The sound was clearly audible in the quiet room.
“How could this be?” Cheng Da finally found his voice after a long while. He stumbled and sat on the floor, unable to believe his brother had turned into a monster.
“He should be recovering,” Jiang Liu explained, pointing at the wound.
At her prompting, the others noticed that the color of the liquid had faded significantly, as if it were about to run out. The blood gradually clotted, forming a light pink scab on the wound.
Although the color was very light, it was indeed gradually moving closer to normal blood.
Zhao Ziming stroked his chin. “It seems he hadn’t been fully transformed yet. So, as long as his blood returns to normal, he’ll wake up.”
Cheng Da had been on the verge of tears just now. Hearing them say this, he looked up excitedly, two teardrops still clinging to his cheeks. “Really?”
Zhao Ziming patted him forcefully. “Don’t worry.”
“But what does this have to do with Li An’an?” Xu Meng was a little confused and looked at Jiang Liu blankly.
The latter gave a mysterious smile. “If the plants are out and about wearing human skin, where do you think the humans would be?”
She threw out a question and, without waiting for an answer, got up and walked outside. “I’m going to the garden to have a look.”
She left a group of people staring at each other. Zhang Xiaochen felt like his brain wasn’t working anymore. He stared at her retreating back and suddenly called out, “Then what about us?”
Zhao Ziming pointed at the bed. “I need to catch up on sleep. You can do whatever you want.”
Since he knew there would be activity tonight, he naturally had to conserve his energy in the afternoon.
Seeing his attitude, Zhang Xiaochen immediately prepared to lie down on the bed. “The bed is mine!”
As the two of them started to fight over it, Cheng Da silently picked up his brother. “We’ll go to the sofa. You two can sleep together.”
If Cheng Ji didn’t wake up, he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.
Xu Meng looked from one to the other, then hesitantly took a step. “Then I’ll go out with Sister Jiang to have a look.”
***
“Uncle, what’s going on?” Jiang Liu asked, looking at the crowd of people and casually asking a passerby.
In front of her was a middle-aged man with a very honest and simple appearance. His skin was dark, and he was holding a small trowel, sitting on the edge of a flowerbed to rest, a layer of sweat on his forehead from the sun.
The man smiled kindly, revealing a set of neat white teeth. “You don’t know yet? There was a fire in the garden last night.”
He pointed to the flowerbed behind him. “A lot of the flowers withered. Everyone is anxious, so we’re all here helping to replant them.”
Jiang Liu frowned slightly.
They hadn’t touched this area last night, and it had started raining later. The fire shouldn’t have spread so drastically. Yet, some flowers had inexplicably withered, standing out conspicuously amidst the sea of vibrant colors.
The man’s voice continued, “I don’t know which brat did it. This garden is everyone’s hard work. This has offended everyone!”
Jiang Liu’s peripheral vision was always observing his expression. She noticed that when he spoke, his eyes were blazing with anger, as if he wanted to dig three feet into the ground right now to find the arsonist.
That face… she was very familiar with it.
He was the one who had been at the forefront of the group blocking their vehicle last night. Although he had a generic face, this man’s earlobes were very thick, with a distinct protrusion at the end, as if an extra piece of flesh were growing there. It was very characteristic, and Jiang Liu remembered it well.
Had he forgotten what happened last night?
Hearing the man get angrier and angrier and start cursing as he planted flowers, Jiang Liu nodded with a light smile and quietly left.
She seemed to know the reason why the flowers had withered.
Jiang Liu thought idly, when she suddenly heard a surprised cry from behind her, “Sister Liu?”
Only Xiao Si would call her that. Jiang Liu knew who it was and turned around—
Xiao Si was carrying a plastic bucket filled with withered plants and was waving at her excitedly.
“Why are you here so soon? You should be resting at home with your injury.” She trotted over to Jiang Liu, looked at her calf with concern, and helplessly put down the bucket.
“The weather is nice, so I came out for a walk,” Jiang Liu said, stroking her head, her voice exceptionally gentle.
Xiao Si blushed slightly, her eyes flickering as she stared at Jiang Liu, reluctant to look away for a long time. She cleared her throat to hide her emotions. “Then let’s go sit for a while.”
Jiang Liu nodded. Watching her call someone to take the bucket away, she suddenly spoke up, “Did you plant the white camellia in your room yourself?”