Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Mottled Poison Bird

Xiao Xiao stepped out of the hospital room and saw Lin Zhenzhen’s parents waiting by the door.

Faint glimmers of hope flickered across their pale, exhausted faces.

“Auntie, Uncle, I’m going home for a while.”

“I’ll come back this afternoon.”

“Ah.” Lin’s father gave a brief response and caught hold of his wife, who seemed about to say something.

“Um, Xiao Xiao… be careful on the way.”

“…It’s all right if you don’t come this afternoon.” Lin’s father had wanted to say something else. The words circled several times on the tip of his tongue, but in the end he swallowed them. Since Xiao Xiao had said nothing, perhaps there was nothing he could do after all.

Of course. He was only a child, not a doctor. How could he possibly…

Lin’s father repeated the thought over and over in his mind, yet he still could not suppress the deep disappointment welling up inside him.

Watching Xiao Xiao’s retreating figure, Lin’s mother grew anxious. “Why did you pull me back? I hadn’t even asked him yet!”

“What was there to ask?”

“If he didn’t say anything, then he must not have a solution. Why embarrass him to his face?”

“Besides, he’s only a child.”

Lin’s mother wilted at once. Yes… what was there left to ask? Wasn’t the answer obvious?

…

Xiao Xiao had naturally noticed their disappointment. He pressed his lips together, but in the end said nothing and turned to leave.

He was considering whether, before returning to the hospital that afternoon, he should make another trip to Fragrant Hill and ask Lingyao about it.

They were both demons. Perhaps she knew something.

…

That afternoon, Xiao Xiao returned to the hospital.

Huh?

Xiao Xiao paused for a moment, then quickly resumed his usual pace.

“Uncle, Auntie, were you waiting for me?”

Indeed, standing outside Lin Zhenzhen’s hospital room were none other than her parents.

After their initial surprise, he understood.

Even though they did not truly believe him, they had still been unable to stop themselves from clinging to a sliver of hope, hadn’t they?

…

When Lin’s parents saw that Xiao Xiao had actually come, their expressions became complicated.

That morning, immediately after Xiao Xiao left, they had entered the room, worried that something might have happened to their daughter.

They did not know what Xiao Xiao and Zhenzhen had talked about. Apart from hearing several indistinct screams at the beginning, they had heard nothing more.

When they first heard that familiar scream, they had nearly rushed inside. They knew how fragile their daughter was now.

Yet although their hands had already reached the doorknob, they had ultimately given up.

Since they had promised Xiao Xiao, they wanted to try believing him.

Even if it all came to nothing.

…

However, when they hurried into the room, they were stunned.

Their daughter’s bandages had been removed?!

That was why Lin’s parents were now waiting for Xiao Xiao outside the room.

They did not know what he had said to Zhenzhen.

Since Zhenzhen herself refused to speak of it, they naturally would not force her.

But ever since the hospital had announced that nothing more could be done, Zhenzhen had not even allowed others to change her bandages. Not even her parents could persuade her to remove them without fear.

So what, exactly, had this child done? Or what had he said? What could have made Zhenzhen lower all her defenses and reveal the most vulnerable, most wretched part of herself?

That alone was enough to set their hearts racing. Their hearts, silent for so long and rotted through by disappointment, seemed to feel the first faint glimmer of dawn.

They had been desperate to see Xiao Xiao again.

But as they watched him slowly approach, Lin’s parents moved their lips, only to find themselves suddenly unable to say anything.

There were clearly so many things they wanted to ask and so many things they wanted to say.

Every question and every thought had rolled through their minds again and again.

Yet now that the person they wanted to question stood before them, they could not bring themselves to ask a single thing.

Perhaps they were simply too afraid—afraid that all of this was nothing more than wishful thinking, that they had unilaterally decided the child before them would become their savior.

They feared that the instant they opened their mouths, every hope would burst like a bubble beneath the sun with a soft pop.

And so, in the end, all they could do was offer a dry greeting.

“Xiao Xiao, you’re here.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Good afternoon, Uncle and Auntie.”

Outside the window, the sunlight was warm and clear. The corridor was bright, as if it had illuminated every shadowed corner.

For a moment, Lin’s parents stood dazed. Suddenly, their hearts, heavy for so many days, felt a little lighter.

…

“Hello, Lin Zhenzhen. I’m back again.” With the faintest curve of his lips, Xiao Xiao greeted Lin Zhenzhen, who had once more become the Bandaged Woman.

“Xiao Xiao.” Lin Zhenzhen’s voice was hoarse and dry as it echoed softly through the dim hospital room.

Though the sun shone brightly outside, the room remained dark and oppressive.

Thick curtains shut out every ray of light.

…

Xiao Xiao took out the Demon Codex.

He was not sure whether demonic aura alone would be enough to make the Demon Codex reveal a demon’s true form.

Still, it was worth a try.

If it failed… then he would simply have to spend more effort searching for this demon, which seemed to know nothing at all.

…

Before Xiao Xiao could say anything, Lin Zhenzhen had already begun unwrapping her bandages.

Xiao Xiao swallowed the words that were about to leave his mouth.

All right. With the person involved cooperating so readily, what more could he say?

…

A dense demonic aura, saturated with malice, spread through the room.

A trace of disgust crossed Xiao Xiao’s brow. What a revolting smell.

He slowly opened the Demon Codex and turned the pages without hesitation, one after another, until he reached a blank sheet.

“Lin Zhenzhen, close your eyes.”

Even upon that disfigured face, Xiao Xiao could somehow make out a dazed, puzzled expression.

He gave her an encouraging look.

After a moment of hesitation, Lin Zhenzhen slowly closed her eyes.

If her face had still been intact, this might have been a beautiful scene.

But now… it was more important to take care of business.

Xiao Xiao held the open Demon Codex close to Lin Zhenzhen’s face.

Black vapor roiled and slowly spread above the book.

It seemed to be absorbed by the yellowed paper.

Not all at once, but in thin, wispy strands.

Gradually, vermilion seeped across the once-empty page.

It really worked!

Xiao Xiao’s gaze grew even more focused.

An unfamiliar demon slowly emerged upon the paper.

Two bizarrely constructed characters appeared in sinuous strokes, exuding an ominous, sinister aura. The excessively vivid vermilion seemed about to drip from the page.

“Mottled Venom Dove.”

It was a bird-shaped demon—and one that radiated an intoxicating, bewitching presence.

Though it was depicted in only a single color, Xiao Xiao somehow knew that its entire body was covered in brilliantly multicolored feathers.

Beautiful to an almost unnatural degree.

But, as expected, the more beautiful something was, the more poisonous it tended to be.

As Xiao Xiao sighed inwardly, he thought of Lin Zhenzhen’s face. Unintentionally, his eyes met those of the Mottled Venom Dove.

His breath caught.

Two trails of blood-tears slowly slid from the corners of the demon’s eyes.

Combined with the cold, heartless malice in its gaze, the sight was horrifying beyond words.

There was none of the tragic beauty or tender sorrow described in novels whenever blood-tears were mentioned.

…

And yet, after looking at it for a while, he could indeed detect a strange, chilling allure hidden within the terror.

Xiao Xiao stroked his chin.

Perhaps the vermilion was simply too vivid.