On the night of the seventh day, after the boy returned to his bedroom, the white night was floating in the courtyard as usual.
He has become accustomed to such a state of wandering soul. No one can see him, no one can touch him. He can only talk to the system and watch everything around him with cold eyes. The joys, sorrows, joys and sorrows of others are just a change for him.
Immersive movie.
The boy was not beaten today. His father had been drinking since the afternoon and had no time to take care of him, so he waited until after seven o'clock, when it was completely dark, before he was taken back.
On this day, he still didn't wait for the person he wanted to wait for.
The boy was not angry, but looked disappointed. He touched the handcuffs in his pants pocket, lowered his head in aggrieved manner, and reached for his sister's hand.
Judging from his expression, Jing Baiye was sure that he would still be waiting there tomorrow, and he was also sure that the person he was waiting for would not come.
This is unique to children - innocent persistence.
There are some things that even slightly older teenagers can tell the truth from falsehood at a glance, but children cannot.
A white lie, a casual joke, a promise made to coax the children out of trouble and then forgotten... will all be believed by adults to be true.
Most of Jing Baiye's past crimes were arson, poisoning, blasting, theft, murder, etc. He had never committed fraud. He didn't like lying and was not good at lying. He rarely made promises, but he was a man of his word.
people.
He sighed. Isn't it too much to lie to a child?
Make a promise to a boy who has suffered domestic violence for a long time to save them, let him stay where he is with hope, and then leave forever.
Giving someone hope and then gradually shattering it is worse than not giving him hope in the first place.
…What will happen when the child’s hope is completely shattered and he falls into despair?
Jing Baiye stared at the stars in the dark night sky, and this thought flashed through his mind. For some reason, he suddenly felt a heavy sense of uneasiness in his heart.
He rarely feels like this. Even when he was pointed out as the murderer of Mahiru Koizumi, his first reaction was "How could the traces of the crime not be cleaned up? Who found it?", and he was more surprised than in his heart.
It's not about feeling uneasy and frightened about the upcoming execution.
【Today is the last day of observation, have you made a decision?】
After hearing the system's inquiry, Jing Baiye was about to speak when he heard a frightening sound of shattering glass coming from inside the house.
He suddenly turned his head and looked in the direction of the sound. This was his instinctive reaction - he was too familiar with this sound. In the previous life, when his father was drunk and went crazy, this was the sound he made when he smashed the bottle.
.
Immediately afterwards, he heard the girl's frightened cry——
"Run! Bai Ye, run quickly!!!"
There was another sound of heavy objects falling, as if someone had tripped, and then the glass door leading to the courtyard opened and the boy jumped out.
He covered his eyes with his left hand, and blood flowed from between his fingers. His expression was not painful, but more of fear, and he ran outside in panic.
【This is……】
Before Jing Baiye could go back through the wall to see how the boy's sister was doing, he felt a strong pulling force pulling him in the direction the boy left.
Once the observation begins, he can only move within ten meters of the boy. As the boy listens to his sister and runs away, he cannot stay where he is and must follow him.
Jing Baiye's whole body...whole soul took off. He was like a kite in the hands of a novice, rising unsteadily into the air and being pulled behind the boy while floating unsteadily.
The street was deserted, and no one offered a helping hand to the boy, so he could only rush forward alone.
The system was not surprised by this unexpected event. It repeated the question: [Host, have you made a decision?]
Jing Baiye looked down at the boy, then looked back at the house behind him. The girl did not run out.
He could no longer hear any sounds here, but the house exuded a creepy coolness... Perhaps it was the intuition of a criminal whose hands were stained with countless blood and crimes. Even if he did not witness it with his own eyes, he could still
Guess what happens there.
That girl will die, the only difference is how she dies.
【Just him.】
Jing Baiye turned his head and looked down at the boy who might have lost one of his eyes again with his intact eyes.
[But wait until this matter comes to an end, can you talk to him again?] Jing Baiye discussed in a gentle and cold tone, [At least, let him go and see his sister off personally.]
【...Okay.】The system agreed.
Jing Baiye fell back to the ground and saw a boy running to the door of a house with a [Black Feather] nameplate hanging on the door.
There was a car parked in front of the door, and a man dressed as a housekeeper was greeting a woman holding a smaller child. The boy's footsteps attracted them. They looked there together. The woman's eyes widened in surprise, and she let go of her child.
He knelt down and caught the boy who rushed towards him.
"Mom, he's bleeding!!" The younger child pointed to the boy's bleeding left eye.
The woman made a prompt decision and thrust the younger child into the housekeeper's hands. She picked up the boy and got into the car. She said "take care of Kaito" and drove away in a hurry.
Jing Baiye was forced to take off again. His soul was dragged through the air and moved quickly, and he began to recall the family the boy had turned to for help.
Because he respects other people's privacy, Jing Baiye has never stepped into the boy's bedroom without permission, and will subconsciously avoid it when he looks through diaries or photo albums. He can only find out the identity of the boy from his past conversations with his sister.
people.
Jing Baiye remembered that the boy mentioned Kaito and said that he recently went to see his father's magic tour in another place, so he hadn't seen him this week.
My friend... Jing Baiye showed his first smile in the past few days.
He doesn't understand family affection, love or other more complex emotions, but he knows what friends are - friendship is the only emotion he has ever experienced, which was taught to him by Peiko and Fuyuhiko.
The woman drove to the hospital at a speed that was enough to be chased by the traffic police and went through all the procedures for the boy. Jing Baiye took a closer look and found that the name written on it was Kuroba Qiankage. The boy had said that he would feed him snacks and juice.
kind-hearted aunt.
She watched him being rushed into the operating room by the doctor. After a while, he went to the safe passage to make a call with someone else.
It took a long time for the operation to end. When the doctor came out to inform Kuroba Chikage, the system's neutral and emotionless voice sounded——
[The seven-day observation period is over. You can move around freely before I communicate with him and make a contract.]
"The boy's condition is very bad. His left eye was stabbed by a piece of glass. He may be completely blind in this eye..."
【……I see.】
Jing Baiye said softly, not knowing who he was answering.
…
The boy was hospitalized, and his left eye was wrapped with a bandage. Jing Baiye did not leave the hospital, staying by his side as if there was still a distance limit.
While he was hospitalized, Kuroba Chikage and Kuroba Kaito would come every day.
Kuroba Chikage prepared food suitable for the injured and communicated with the doctor to inquire about his condition.
Kuroba Kaito was only five years old. As a kindergarten kid, he couldn't do much. He lay beside the bed and used the simplest magic trick his father gave him to turn flowers into flowers for the boy to see.
"Look, it's a red rose!"
"Gypsophila, my mother said its flower language is innocence, which is very suitable for you..."
"Do you like lilies of the valley?"
"This is a rose. Isn't it beautiful?"
"If you don't like flowers, can I turn you into a cactus? Cactuses are easy to grow."
Kuroba Kaito rambled on, and before he knew it, the boy's hospital bed was filled with flowers.
When the boy didn't reply, Kuroba Kaito's voice gradually became quieter, and he poked the boy who said nothing.
"I can change flowers for you every day, so don't be sad, okay?... Your eyes are bad and you can't cry like you used to. I will play with you in the future."
The boy raised his hand and touched Kuroba Kaito's head, forcing a smile on his face.
Then he asked: "Where is my sister?"
After the boy was hospitalized, no one from his family came to visit. The Kuroba family paid for the medical expenses in advance, and no one from his parents to his sister came to visit.
Jing Baiye looked up at the door. Kuroba Qianying, who had just gone to answer the phone, was standing in front of the ajar door. She heard the conversation between the two children. The hand holding the doorknob trembled, and the other hand clenched involuntarily.
Already.
She stood for a while, and with great effort, she managed to push the door open.
She was accompanied by several people dressed as police officers.
【……】
Jing Baiye realized something.
Kuroba Qianying took a few deep breaths, walked quickly to the boy, and gave him a smile. Jing Baiye stood on the other side of the bed and saw that her eyes seemed to be shining with water.
"Bai Ye, someone is looking for you." She turned her body slightly and tried to suppress the tremor in her voice, "It's the police uncle you... admire."
The boy's only intact eye suddenly lit up!
He raised his head and looked at the policemen expectantly. His eyes swept across their faces one by one, he was stunned for a moment, and then lowered his head in despair.
Jing Baiye saw his reaction clearly.
No wonder he was holding handcuffs. The person he made the agreement with was a policeman? He heard the police coming and thought it was the person he had made an agreement with who had returned.
It's a pity that they are not here to save him. On the contrary, they are here to...
Jing Baiye, who understood this, looked down at the boy and saw that although he was a little disappointed, he still politely asked in a low voice: "Are they here to save me and my sister?"
One of the policemen took a step forward and looked down at the boy, focusing on his appearance.
"They look very similar, I guess..." Jing Baiye heard the policeman mutter.
"Can he be discharged from the hospital now?" Another police officer asked Kuroba Chikage in a completely business-like tone, "We need him to confirm the identity of the body."
He didn't lower his voice deliberately, and the boy heard his words completely.
"………………?"
The boy looked up, dumbfounded, and stood motionless.
With a dull expression, he turned to Kuroba Chikage, who was speechless. However, it was her reaction that confirmed the most terrifying suspicion in his heart.
Jing Baiye ignored what other people present said and moved his gaze from the policeman to the boy's only intact right eye.
The light in his eyes was about to go out.
…
The police took the boy, used the door to isolate Kuroba Chikage, who was an unrelated person, and took him into the morgue alone.
Perhaps because of the cold, or perhaps because of fear, the boy was trembling all over. The policeman pulling him seemed to be holding an evidence without life and any emotions. The policeman standing next to a certain bed saw them coming and opened the door.
There was a white cloth covering something in front of him.
"Let him come and identify me, and the case will be closed once the identity is confirmed."
The policeman threw the cloth aside and sighed: "Children these days always like to run to the water. There have been several cases of children accidentally falling into the water."
Jing Baiye first approached the body and confirmed her identity and the cause of her death at a glance.
The exposed arms were covered with bruises from being beaten, the soles of her feet were twisted to a degree that was impossible for a normal human body, and both legs should have been completely broken. This was not a fatal injury. What really killed her was the obvious pinch on her neck.
Mark, she was strangled to death.
This can be regarded as an accident. So he who worked hard to clean up the traces and was still caught and executed, is it too unfair?
Or is it that people in this world are not very keen on this aspect because the environment is too peaceful and safe?
Jing Baiye began to think about the differences between the two worlds. The boy who was favored by the system stood there, reluctant to step forward.
From his reaction, Jing Baiye knew that he must have recognized it, but to his surprise, this little crybaby who used to burst into tears for a long time over trivial things did not shed tears immediately.
...Maybe the stimulation was too great and he couldn't cry for a while.
"Is that your sister Jing Baiyu?" the policeman asked, patting his head.
The boy stood there, biting his lip.
"Don't interfere with our work willfully." Seeing that he was not cooperating, the police officer frowned, raised his hand and looked at his watch, "There is still half an hour before get off work ends..."
"No, I don't want it...that's not my sister!!!"
The boy yelled, almost breaking his voice. He wanted to step back, unscrew the door handle and escape, but was picked up by the policeman next to him.
"Be gentle with children." The policeman beside the corpse couldn't help but advise.
He added: "Maybe it's too far away and he can't see it. You hold him closer and let him take a good look."
【……】
Jing Baiye walked through the door of the morgue and came to the corridor. The accompanying Kuroba Qiankage was still there. She pulled the policeman beside her and looked very excited.
"This girl was killed by her father! The two children have been living with their father's violence. I have called the police in the past. Do you have a police record? Go check it. Just check it - you can
Know how those two beasts treated them!!"
"Or ask that child, his words are the most effective testimony!!"
"Ma'am, please calm down. Our police will handle this case. Please don't interfere with the case."
The policeman pulled her hand down roughly, "We are looking for Mr. Crossing. He has a broken leg and is in the hospital. His wife has been taking care of him. They said that this child loves to lie. Maybe they will slander them for killing this runaway."
Little girl, it was him who pushed the bottle over this time and caused him to fall."
【……】
There was farce inside and outside the door, and Jing Baiye felt like an unlucky guy who bought the wrong ticket and was forced to watch a bad movie.
[...Host, are you sure you want to sign a contract with this boy?] The system asked dryly.
Jing Baiye turned around and looked at the morgue. She didn't know how the police asked the boy to "take a good look" at his sister's body, but his cries finally came from inside.
When a boy cried before, it was mostly out of grievance: why his parents didn't like him, why his father trampled on his treasures, and why the person who made an agreement with him didn't come back...
Only this time, it was heartbreaking, almost despairing pain.
Jing Baiye drifted back to the morgue, looking down at the boy with the same name as him with eyes that were almost emotionless.
Since the injury to his left eye had not healed, the intense mood swings and movements caused his wound to burst open, with tears on one side and blood on the other.
There is no more light in the eyes that once sparkled for treasures and promises.
…
A few days later, the boy, whose face was still bandaged, was sent home by Kuroba Chikage.
"Are you okay?" She lowered her head and asked softly.
"He is still in the hospital and can't hit me anymore." The boy shook his head, "I heard that Uncle Tuoyi is coming back. You can go back...Thank you for taking care of me these days, Aunt Qianying."
He returned home alone, ignoring his mother who opened the door for him and left in a hurry with the thermos bottle, and went to the bedroom on the second floor.
Jing Baiye hesitated for a moment, whispered "Sorry", and entered the boy's bedroom for the first time.
To be precise, it was their bedroom. The boy's sister used to live in it. On the single bed to the right, there were still unpacked girl's dresses, with several old rag dolls lying staggered on them.
Lean against the wall.
When he saw his sister's relics, the boy's mouth dropped, and he almost cried again, but he finally held it back.
He walked towards the table and suddenly saw something. His expression was blank at first, and then his eyes suddenly turned fierce, with an uncontrollable anger and deep hatred.
Jing Baiye recognized it at a glance - it was the treasure that the boy had to find when he went through the trash heap when they first met, the pair of toy handcuffs.
The boy grabbed the toy handcuffs, walked to the trash can at the door, and violently shoved his former treasure inside with all his strength.
With his sudden movement, some water droplets seemed to fall from his face.
