Chapter 30: The Antidote

Xiao Xiao reached out to gently stroke the trail of blood-red tears, feeling as if something had just flashed through his mind. For no apparent reason, he felt as if something new had been added to his thoughts, yet when he tried to look deeper, he found nothing. This feeling of being left in limbo was truly frustrating.

Xiao Xiao flipped the page, staring blankly at the empty paper for a moment. Just as he was about to tell Lin Zhenzhen to open her eyes, he suddenly noticed something. A strange aura began to emanate from the paper before him. This feeling was... indeed.

Xiao Xiao watched as a vivid, cinnabar-like red bled out from the paper. It moved with a speed that belied its slow appearance, swirling and turning with fluid grace to outline a familiar figure. Isn't this... Xiao Xiao turned his head to look in a certain direction, meeting a pair of eyes that glowed with the eerie light of ghost fires.

Seeing the spirit tilting its head at him, Xiao Xiao chuckled; he had almost forgotten about this one. So, it had been here all along. It was the quietest spirit he had ever encountered, just keeping to its corner, neither noisy nor troublesome—though its appearance was a bit sinister.

Xiao Xiao looked down at the Spirit Grimoire, his lips curling slightly. He wondered, what was the name of this spirit? The lifelike illustration in the Grimoire was full of vitality. Xiao Xiao seemed to see those two flickering ghost fires, pulsing in the interplay of light and shadow, filled with a gloomy, chilling aura.

"Ghost Owl."

"Tsk, what an ominous name." Still, it certainly suited this spirit. A name as gloomy as its sinister appearance.

...

"Lin Zhenzhen, you can open your eyes now."

At these words, Lin Zhenzhen’s eyelids fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes. Beneath the quilt, her hands were twisted together with a nearly convulsive force; on the backs of her pale, dry hands, veins stood out in a tangled, shocking web. Lin Zhenzhen’s lips were bloodless and covered in tiny, jagged wounds, while her cheeks burned with an unnatural flush.

The room fell into silence. Lin Zhenzhen bit her lower lip again, a trace of blood seeping from the pallor. Deep within her eyes, a profound despair began to well up, threatening to swallow everything.

Suddenly, a smile touched Xiao Xiao’s lips. He looked directly into Lin Zhenzhen’s eyes, his gaze firm and gentle. "I can heal your face."

In truth, Xiao Xiao didn't know where he found such confidence, but a voice in his heart told him he could. Even if it was entirely without basis, he believed it without a moment’s hesitation. Moreover, he actually had a faint intuition about how to cure her.

...

Lin Zhenzhen began to weep without warning. She sat slightly hunched, radiating a subtle sense of inferiority and fear. Her gaze remained somewhat vacant as large, heavy tears rolled down onto the quilt, staining it with a large patch of moisture.

Lin Mo had never been one to comfort others, but he felt that he didn't need to say much right now; this girl needed to vent on her own for a while. Once she had cried it out, everything would be alright. He promised.

...

At the doorway, Lin’s parents wore complex expressions. The moment the ward door opened, they heard their daughter’s sobbing. It was different from the previous hysterical, hoarse, and desperate cries; this was a sound of relief, as if she had laid down a heavy burden. There was sorrow, but also joy.

Lin’s mother couldn't help but cover her mouth to suppress a sob, whispering, "Zhenzhen." Lin’s father’s eyes also turned red.

Xiao Xiao didn't say much more. He simply said, "I will heal Lin Zhenzhen’s face," before turning to leave, giving the emotional family of three their space.

...

It wasn't until he stepped out of the hospital gates that the sudden warmth of the sunlight allowed Xiao Xiao to feel as though he had snapped out of an inexplicable emotional state. The fresh air outside prompted him to take several deep breaths. The smell of hospital disinfectant was truly unbearable. Xiao Xiao wore an expression of deep disdain.

...

Looking out at the vast expanse of maple forests, as bright as the evening glow, Xiao Xiao had no intention of stopping to admire them. Surrounded by near-identical maple trees, the dazzling crimson was dizzying, making one feel as if they might lose their way. Xiao Xiao walked briskly, heading toward the corner of the forest where he had last seen the Ling-Yao.

Along the way, Xiao Xiao kept his eyes and ears sharp, searching for the spirit. The sea of red made him feel disoriented, his eyes straining. To make matters worse, the Ling-Yao was also red. Xiao Xiao tried his best to avoid tourists, heading toward quieter areas while whispering, "Ling-Yao? Ling-Yao?"

He believed that if the Ling-Yao were nearby, it would certainly hear him. Spirits having "sharp ears" or "thousand-mile eyes" wasn't anything strange, right?

...

Xiao Xiao searched the place where he had last seen the Ling-Yao until he had turned every stone, but he found nothing. He couldn't help but stop, rubbing his temples with a headache. Was he being too presumptuous? Was the thought that the Ling-Yao must be at Fragrant Hill just wishful thinking?

Just as Xiao Xiao began to feel frustrated, he tilted his head and froze. Wasn't that creature with the green beak and red body on the branch the very Ling-Yao he had been searching for so bitterly?

Xiao Xiao quickly strode forward, stopped beneath the maple tree where the Ling-Yao rested, and looked up. The Ling-Yao’s black, bright eyes held a clear sense of amusement. Is this mockery? Xiao Xiao suddenly realized that this spirit had been toying with him all along. It must have heard his calls from the very beginning. It had definitely hidden on purpose to keep him from finding it.

How childish. Xiao Xiao twitched his lips.

"Human, you seek me for something?" The Ling-Yao spoke with certainty, laced with a hint of hidden laughter. Its peculiar, rhythmic way of enunciating words had a unique quality.

Xiao Xiao didn't mind that he had successfully entertained an elderly spirit with a warped sense of humor. He got straight to the point: "Mr. Ling-Yao, do you know of a spirit called the Ban-Zhen?"

"The Ban-Zhen?" The Ling-Yao’s eyes darkened with a cold, profound intensity, though it vanished in an instant, replaced by a faint, mocking smile that didn't reach its eyes.

It did know. A genuine smile finally appeared on Xiao Xiao’s face.

"Someone around you is poisoned." The Ling-Yao’s tone remained firm, tinged with a hint of disgust. It had hit the nail on the head.

Xiao Xiao nodded hurriedly; Lin Zhenzhen’s face clearly showed signs of poisoning. He looked up at the Ling-Yao with glowing eyes. The Ling-Yao gave him a look of disdain before finally speaking at a leisurely pace.

"This poison is immensely powerful. To say it is difficult to cure is true, but to say it is easy to cure is also correct."

Seeing Xiao Xiao’s puzzled expression, the Ling-Yao provided the answer directly: "The tears of a Ban-Zhen can cure the poison."

Xiao Xiao was enlightened, though not particularly surprised. Perhaps it was because he had already formed a vague, hazy conjecture when he saw the blood-red tears shed by the Ban-Zhen in the Spirit Grimoire earlier. Back then, it was as if there was a layer of window paper left to be poked through, but he hadn't found the way in. Now that the mystery was cleared, he felt a sudden, profound sense of clarity.