chapter 135

The grandmother and grandson were separated.

The man dragged his mother down the stairs. “Mom, I’ll drive you out for a little ride.”

The woman pinched the boy by the ear and threw him into a room. “I got a call from your School teacher. Not only were you snatching your classmates’ things at School, you were stealing, too! And after you stole, you lied about it! You forced the other kid’s parents to call the police-then they checked the surveillance and found out it was you. And today you even skipped class and didn’t go to School. You think hiding means this will just blow over?”

The boy twisted and struggled with all his strength. “I didn’t steal! I just took it to look at it-I broke it by accident!”

The woman shook with rage and slapped the stubborn, unrepentant boy hard. “A ten-thousand-yuan watch, and you ‘broke it’? Hand it over! You’re coming with me right now to their house to pay for it and apologize!”

“Mom’s hitting me!” The boy pulled a pink, diamond-studded watch that had been smashed to pieces from a drawer. He raised his voice into a sharp, shrill cry for help. “Where’s Grandma?!”

“Grandma isn’t coming back ever again!” the woman snapped impatiently. She rummaged through the drawer, growing more alarmed the more she found. “Aren’t these all things I bought for your sister? Why are they all with you?”

“And there are so many self-criticism letters, too? How many classmates’ things have you stolen at School? Your grandma spoiled you rotten and taught you all wrong. If you weren’t still young, and the other side really did call the police today, you’d be going to jail!”

The door slowly fell half-shut. From inside came a string of crisp slaps and the boy’s wailing cries.

The woman went to the next room and spoke softly into the darkness. “Mom and Dad found your Rabbit again. Do you have any appetite today? It’s fine if you don’t want to eat. Mom’s taking your little brother out for a bit-we’ll be back soon. You rest well.”

The room was very dark. There was no response.

“Click.”

The Rabbit stepped on the switch and lit the bedside lamp.

The light fell on the girl’s pale face.

The girl’s hand stroked the Rabbit’s head over and over. Only after a long while did she give a small “Mm.”

The woman continued, “The clock in your room hasn’t been moving. I put in a new Battery for you, and only then did I realize there wasn’t one inside at all. Now the clock’s working-keep an eye on the time yourself. When it’s time, remember to take your Medicine.”

Luo Jia Bai and Mirella stood at the foot of the stairs.

They watched as the man half-supported and half-forced the grandmother down the steps.

The scene to the right warped slightly, transforming into the lobby of a psychiatric hospital.

The man walked straight in.

Doctors and nurses gathered around. “Family member, please sign here. Once you do, we can arrange admission.”

The grandmother panicked as someone seized her Arm. “Admission? What admission? Didn’t you say you were taking me out for a ride?”

“Mom, your mental state has problems right now. Stay in the hospital and get proper treatment. We’ll come visit when we have time.” After signing, the man left without even looking back.

“I’m not sick! What do you mean by that?!” The grandmother struggled like she’d gone mad, breaking free of the nurses and sprinting for the exit. “I’m not being hospitalized!”

A black wing extended in front of Mirella.

It held a handful of marbles.

Offering them to her.

A layer of distinct Black Mist curled around the marbles.

Fenny demonstrated: with his other wing, he tossed a marble into the scene.

The nurse who got hit rubbed her Arm in confusion, looking around, but couldn’t find who had thrown it.

The people in this world couldn’t see or touch them at all.

But the Evil God had the ability to insert themselves into this world within a small range.

Fenny was inviting Mirella to play.

Luo Jia Bai was watching the drama with total focus when someone suddenly jabbed him in the Arm.

Mirella asked him, “Do you know how to play marbles?”

Luo Jia Bai tugged up his sleeve. “You really asked the right person. Forget marbles-when I was a kid, any game you could play, I could play it. I thought you didn’t like this kind of childish stuff.”
A marble rolled to a stop at Grandma’s feet.

“Ow! What is that?!” She slipped when her foot came down on it, nearly crashing to the floor.

Bracing herself against the wall, she barely managed to stand. She took one step forward and immediately stepped on several more. Her legs gave out and she fell hard onto her backside, hurting so badly she couldn’t get up for a long while.

Black Mist seeped out of the marbles, crawling up her body and worming into her eyes.

Grandma started hallucinating. She saw the hospital corridor overhead packed with enormous white cocoons.

One cocoon dropped onto her. In an instant, she forgot all about the pain and sprang up in terror. “Aah-! Bugs! There are bugs everywhere!”

Countless butterflies burst out through the seams.

They landed on her face, forced their way into her mouth, and chewed her flesh and tongue to pieces.

“M-Monster!”

At last, the nurses managed to subdue the unnaturally energetic old woman.

A doctor came over and shook his head. “The patient’s in terrible condition, and she’s having severe hallucinations. Bring anesthesia-now.”

–

From the left came the thump-thump-thump of someone running downstairs.

When the woman yanked the boy down the final step, the scene to the left warped, twisting into half a Classroom.

It was recess.

The boy sat in his seat, rocking his chair back and forth like he couldn’t sit still for even a second.

A slap mark still hadn’t faded from his face, yet he was already reaching over again, trying to snatch the pen from the girl beside him.

The Classroom door was suddenly kicked open. Several older girls stormed in with ugly expressions, locked onto the boy at once, and marched over. One of them grabbed the pen and gently set it back on the desk of the girl next to him-then kicked the boy’s desk over.

The boy yelled, “Who the hell are you?!”

“You’re the one who broke my cousin’s watch. You came to our place to apologize and compensate, but you kept shouting that you’re too young, that even if you mess up you won’t go to jail-right? You think nobody can control you?”

The boy was shoved and stumbled to the floor. Someone stomped down hard on both his hands. He let out a shrill scream. “Ah! You’re going to break my hands!”

“Then let it break, and come to our place to apologize properly.” The girl mimicked his own words, her face vicious as she threatened him. “I’m young too. If I do something wrong, I won’t go to jail either.”

Several marbles rolled to a stop beside the boy’s fingers, already bleeding and crushed-bones snapped.

Black Mist climbed over his skin, sealing the surface wounds so there was no way to tell from the outside how severe the damage really was-then it increased the force of the girl’s stomp.

“Why did he piss himself?”

“He got scared and started crying!”

Amid the jeering laughter, Luo Jia Bai lay prone on the floor not far away with Mirella, and flicked another marble.

Mirella drew a Rune onto one of the marbles. “The pain he feels now will follow him for the rest of his life. Every time he thinks about stealing or snatching something from someone else, the agony will return a hundredfold.”

The marble rolled forward, striking his hand with pinpoint accuracy.

–

In the boundary line between left and right scenes,

a Rabbit hopped out.

The Rabbit walked on, looking back as it went, leading the girl down the stairs.

Then it guided her to the window, into a patch of sunlight.

The girl looked outside and narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Last time, I said I’d take you out for a walk, but I broke my promise.”

“The sun is nice today, too.”

The Rabbit stomped happily on the floor and took the initiative, tugging a leash over to the girl.

Watching the Rabbit, the girl felt like her illness had eased a lot. She couldn’t help smiling as she took the leash and opened the door.

“Then let’s go now.”

“Battery-because of you, I’m going to take over a hundred steps today.”