Chapter 125 Aberrant 15

Night had fallen over Tianzi Building, bringing with it a rare stillness.

After the fierce battle, Aberrant was injured, and the other strange creatures had quieted down to lie low.

Sensing the fight was over, Chen Cailing released Qian, who had been clutched tightly in her arms, and took her hand, trying to head downstairs.

They had barely descended one floor when they heard the wet sound of dripping water, and a massive, half-melted figure emerged from the hallway.

Black was its hair, pale white its skin, and red its long dress.

These colors flowed and blended together, vaguely revealing arm-shaped limbs supporting the twisted body as it clung to walls, floor, and railings, writhing toward them.

Underneath this grotesque form, Chen Cailing stiffened even more than before. Qian tilted her head back, innocently staring at the chaotic blur above.

From the half-melted limbs stretched out a relatively intact arm, which gently touched Qian’s little head and cheek.

Feeling the tenderness and comfort in that touch, Qian’s mouth puckered, then suddenly burst into a wail: “Mama, mama, mama!”

The grotesque mass shrank back, disturbed by the sudden crying.

Aberrant did not linger, slowly moving upward.

Qian followed, pulling Chen Cailing along. Seeing that Aberrant ignored her and did not swallow her whole, Chen Cailing gradually relaxed and grew curious about Qian’s relationship with this creature.

Aberrant reached room 414, her melting body almost filling the small space before inching bit by bit into the Guanyin statue enshrined there.

Watching her melting “mother” disappear inside the statue, Qian ran over, circled the Guanyin twice, then reached out to touch and pat it, pressing close to the statue’s head and calling, “Mama, mama!”

Forced into this close encounter with Aberrant, Chen Cailing saw the statue too, nearly unable to breathe.

The room was terrifying—the dim, blood-like red light, countless shelves of urns, the thick, cloying sweet-and-sour air, and the faint, incessant whispering of women—all froze her in place, turning her into a puppet pulled forward step by step by Qian.

Chen Cailing had seen rooms like this before. After the Arrival of the Game, many died, and those who couldn’t afford graves pooled money to buy apartments where neighbors stored family ashes.

She once visited a friend living in a moderately new but not quite modern complex, where a similar room was on the same floor. Out of curiosity, she and her friend sneaked to the door while someone was depositing ashes. Back then, it felt like a dusty storeroom sealed from sunlight.

But this place felt completely different.

Qian called “Mama” over a dozen times with no reply and was about to climb onto the desk to grab the statue. Chen Cailing’s heart tightened, recalling what those few people had said earlier.

Seeing the statue wobble in Qian’s hands, as if about to fall, she gasped. It couldn’t break!

She grabbed Qian and hurried out of room 414.

Telling Qian her mama was tired and resting, unable to be disturbed, Qian finally stopped her birdlike begging and looked at Chen Cailing with wide, trusting eyes.

Chen Cailing hated to see her little sister like that and instinctively tried to soothe her.

“Is… this your home?” Chen Cailing looked again at the Tianzi Building, feeling very different inside than when she first arrived.

“Your mama’s resting, so I’ll play with you.”

Little girls usually liked playing with older sisters, and Qian quickly got distracted, leading Chen Cailing to show her favorite rooms.

Chen Cailing was pushed onto the stool in front of an electronic keyboard, and Qian squeezed in beside her. Without any skill but full of confidence, Qian started banging the piano keys with both hands, even pressing Chen Cailing’s stiff fingers onto the keys, inviting her to join in.

Chen Cailing had never played piano outside, yet here in the strange Domain, she was playing.

The child was having so much fun that Chen Cailing couldn’t help but relax and play along.

When Qian pulled her into another room to rummage through cosmetics, Chen Cailing noticed the many pretty dresses and shoes and felt uneasy.

“Qian, are these your mama’s clothes? Don’t mess with her makeup, she’ll be angry.”

Qian looked back holding a tube of lipstick and shook her head: “She won’t be angry… Mama’s asleep.”

“If she wakes up and sees you being naughty, she will get angry.”

“I’m not naughty,” Qian said, shaking her head.

Seeing Chen Cailing uninterested in playing with the makeup, Qian reluctantly put it down.

Not long after, two shadows appeared in the corridor—one tall, one short—both draped with thin blankets.

Qian grabbed a blanket to cover her face, glanced at Chen Cailing who looked just like her, giggled, then suddenly ran forward.

Chen Cailing hurried after her, whispering, “Qian! Don’t run, wait for me, don’t go too far!”

She was a little scared. In this building, only with Qian by her side did she feel safe.

Chen Cailing’s instincts were right.

Those strange creatures stirred by the scent of “food” thought Chen Cailing belonged to Qian’s food and dared not snatch her away.

Chen Cailing was like a little lamb walking among wolves.

Qian knew nothing. She was simply bringing a friend home to play.

They passed a bougainvillea bush, its lush flowers wilted and many petals scattered on the ground, looking shriveled from long sun exposure, affected by the earlier purification light.

Qian crouched to pick up many petals and stuffed them into her pocket. Only then did Chen Cailing realize the flowers looked familiar and reached to touch her head. She still wore a clip just like the one Qian had given her.

But that wasn’t a clip!

Watching those fresh petals opening and closing on the ground made Chen Cailing’s scalp tingle.

Before, she hadn’t noticed, so she felt nothing. Now knowing it wasn’t a clip, her head itched constantly, suspicious the clip might be moving or biting her scalp.

Qian loved this “toy” especially. She picked it herself and made Chen Cailing join in.

At first, Chen Cailing was afraid to touch them, but after trying to pick up two, she slowly felt less scared and treated them like tiny pincering crawfish. After all, she had helped the orphanage teachers handle crawfish before.

It only took a little time playing house for her fear to turn into curiosity.

Qian clipped two rows of bougainvillea onto Chen Cailing’s sleeves, and Chen Cailing no longer felt afraid at all. She even braided Qian’s hair again, clipping the bougainvillea pieces along her strands and styling her into two floral buns.

Qian shook her head and grabbed Chen Cailing’s hand, saying, “I’ll take you to watch TV.”

Chen Cailing was surprised: “There’s a TV here too?!”

They came to a room on the first floor. Qian confidently turned on the TV, then picked up the remote and sat on the sofa.

Chen Cailing sat beside her, her shocked expression never fading.

Though Chen Cailing coaxed the remote away to change the channel, she found the programs were from over ten years ago, endlessly looping old content. Still, watching TV in a place like this felt both strange and novel.

Qian wasn’t very interested in the Cantonese opera playing, but to Chen Cailing it was just right. The orphanage director often played Cantonese opera in the office, and hearing those familiar melodies made Chen Cailing feel as if she had returned to the orphanage she knew.

She was so tired that she leaned against the sofa and unknowingly fell asleep.

Qian did too; her head drooped little by little, then suddenly she slumped over and lay asleep on Chen Cailing’s lap, her legs bouncing as she tangled the blanket draped over her into a knot.

After a long nap, Chen Cailing woke, clutching her growling stomach and looking out at the slanting afternoon sun. Hesitating, she said to Qian, “I’m going to leave here.”

Qian was very familiar with this place. No matter what she really was, she belonged here. But Chen Cailing was different—she had to leave.

Actually, Chen Cailing had another question—she wanted to ask if Qian ate people—but looking into those round, innocent eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to ask.

“I’m leaving.”

“Where are you going?”

“I… I’m hungry, so I’m going to find something to eat.”

“I’ll go too!”

Chen Cailing hadn’t expected that although she was saying goodbye to Qian, she was once again being led out of Tianzi Building by her.

Qian shook her fingers excitedly as they walked out together, even discussing how many yogurts to bring back.

Chen Cailing: “…”

She worried a little that Qian might be too easy to lead away.

At Qian’s insistence, they headed toward the small supermarket they had visited twice before, but before they got there, Chen Cailing spotted someone from afar.

It was the young master’s bodyguard! He was walking alone down the street carrying a bucket—and he saw the two of them.

Chen Cailing hadn’t seen the fight and didn’t know how it ended, but when she saw the bodyguard, her heart tightened. She grabbed Qian and turned back running toward Tianzi Building.

The bodyguard was surprised the two were still alive and sensed something was wrong. He quickened his pace to pursue them.

Chen Cailing screamed and, using all her strength, finally dashed into Tianzi Building with Qian before the bodyguard could catch them.

While running, Qian kept slipping down in her arms. Her clothes rolled up from the way she was falling, exposing her round white belly, like a frog being held upside down.

Once set down, Chen Cailing quickly straightened Qian’s clothes and gasped for breath. Qian, however, giggled, thinking they were playing.

Chen Cailing worried—did this child really not understand danger? Laughing even when chased by a bad guy.

Tianzi Building left a deep shadow on the bodyguard. Even though he was just a few steps from catching them, he finally stopped.

Glancing at the two fleeing children, he turned back and carried his bucket into a room.

Liuzhi had overexerted herself and now lay motionless, unconscious all night, just waking up with dried blood on her lips, neck, and chest.

“I just saw those two kids from yesterday—they’re alive,” the bodyguard said with a frown.

Liuzhi raised an eyebrow weakly, propping herself up and slowly wiping the blood from her neck.

“Just two kids. Probably the noise I made in Tianzi Building yesterday scared off those things, so they barely survived.”

“We suffered heavy losses entering Tianzi Building. How could they be unharmed? We need to catch them and take a look,” the bodyguard said coldly.

Liuzhi chuckled, “If you tell the old master two little girls came out alive with us, but we failed to protect the young master, wouldn’t that be adding insult to injury? Stupid, isn’t it? No one cares about them now. What we need to consider is how to explain the young master’s death when we get out…”

The bodyguard fell silent.

Meanwhile, Chen Cailing waited until dark. After several cautious peeks around the building’s entrance to confirm no bodyguard was lying in wait to capture them, she finally took Qian straight to the supermarket.

Qian carried two rows of yogurt, and Chen Cailing dragged a large bag full of food. They still headed back toward Tianzi Building.

Because of the bodyguard’s threat, Chen Cailing no longer mentioned leaving.

Though Tianzi Building was terrifying, the strange creatures living inside hadn’t harmed her—it was the people outside who wanted to kill her.

“Qian, you can’t trust humans. Don’t follow anyone just because they give you food. It’s very dangerous,” Chen Cailing warned.

Qian bounced and jumped, quickly responding, “Oh!”

Chen Cailing felt she hadn’t really heard and had to repeat over and over: when you see people, don’t approach—hide.

Once again, Qian led her to the fourth floor, placing the yogurts she carried in front of the Guanyin statue. Then she took out many of her favorite snacks from the bag and laid them all on the offering table, piling it high.

“These are all for mama to eat.”