Although They're Mentally ill, They're Extremely Easy to Comfort - Chapter 83

Unable to sleep, Ling Xi sat on the balcony with half a bottle of beer.

After all these years, the night in Sinisnia was still so desolate, with hardly anyone left on the streets.

The person who couldn’t hold her liquor fell into a state of self-doubt. She held her forehead and kept mocking herself, wondering why she couldn’t even find the person she loved.

Pulling out her phone from her bag, Ling Xi actually didn’t know who to call to confide her distress.

Carelessly, the sapphire ring in her pocket was pulled out, falling to the ground with a crisp ringing sound.

Ling Xi stumbled towards the ring. As she picked it up, she took a big gulp of beer. The bitterness overflowed from the aroma of malt. She suddenly wanted to eat a sweet cone (ice cream cone)—a sign of an overwhelming longing for Qiao Bo’er.

Slumping onto the floor, she desperately reviewed the meaning of this trip.

The journey of revisiting old places, the dreamlike scenery, healed her hidden wounds but failed to extinguish the urge to see Qiao Bo’er.

Until this very moment, as she breathed the air of Sinisnia, Bo’er wasn’t here. There was no reunion she had fantasized about; there was nothing but the dark night.

Ling Xi lost control and slammed her head with her hands, hitting hard, as if this could make her remember the past with Bo’er. But why couldn’t she remember? Why?

Qiao Bo’er had become a mischievous sprite in Ling Xi’s world, hidden in a corner of the universe and a corner of her memory. But this game of hide-and-seek wasn’t fun.

Ling Xi clenched the ring and, fueled by the alcohol, rushed out of the hotel like a madwoman.

She searched along the streets, wandering aimlessly. But what was she really looking for? Qiao Bo’er or a sweet cone? She wasn’t even sure herself.

Every time she passed a convenience store, she would rush in recklessly, drawing side glances from the clerks.

She weakly supported herself against the freezer, flipping through the contents. No. She couldn’t find what she wanted.

She continued this endless search until midnight.

She was the only person left on the empty street, occasionally accompanied by the barking of stray dogs. Ling Xi smiled forlornly, laughing at herself, like a stray dog, a stray dog in a foreign country.

Her hand, tucked in her pocket, was tightly clutching the ring. Ling Xi pressed her clenched fist to her lips, continuously making a wish: “Let me eat one sweet cone, please. Isn’t she my salvation?”

When she walked into the next convenience store, the clerk was about to close up. Ling Xi rushed to the freezer without hesitation. After a quick search, she surprisingly found the sweet cones she desperately yearned for. There were only two left. She didn’t hesitate and took them both.

The clerk stared at her like she was crazy. Ling Xi threw down the paper money and rushed out quickly, not waiting for the change.

Ecstatic, as if she had found a treasure, she ran all the way back to Central Park and found a bench to sit on.

Carefully taking out the sweet cones, she placed the other one on the empty seat next to her, as if offering it to Qiao Bo’er.

Tearing the packaging, she spoke to the air beside her, muttering to herself: “Here, eat! It wasn’t easy. It really wasn’t easy to find this brand of sweet cone in Sinisnia!”

She took a big, impatient bite. Perhaps because the sweet cone was ice-cold and bitingly chilly, she squinted her eyes, letting out a faint hiss.

It was in that very moment that her mind suddenly became extremely clear.

Ling Xi held the packaging, looking at it repeatedly in the pale moonlight.

Suddenly, she burst into a frantic laugh—a desolate laughter. The pain and memories that had been genuinely locked away deep inside her heart swept over her entire body.

“Ling Xiaoxi! I told you, why are you wandering around when you don’t know the area?”

“Oh, kids are naturally restless. Don’t worry about her. The scenery is good here, just let her run around a bit.”

Her mother’s scolding, accompanied by her father’s comforting words, and the figures sealed away by the years, echoed in her mind.

Ling Xi had been sick. It wasn’t because of Lin Fangwan, but because of her parents’ untimely death. She refused to accept the shattering of her family, and during that time when she couldn’t save herself, her body desperately tried to save her.

Thus, everything related to her happy family was blocked off, sealed within her clouded memory.

Ling Xi stared at the sweet cone packaging. The place of origin was Enfeir Town, on the border of Florence (Ferdinay).

In this strange yet familiar place, Ling Xi held the sweet cone, overwhelmed.

The memories of her parents, Qiao Bo’er, and her childhood flashed before her eyes—vivid scenes triggered by the three words: Enfeir.

Ling Xi murmured the string of numbers Qiao Bo’er had left behind.

7329 days. The twenty years it took that woman to reach a long-awaited reunion. The sweet cone she offered her like a prized possession, and the sapphire ring she sent through someone else, lighting up all the lamps in the night just to illuminate the way home for the person she loved.

All these seemingly unrelated things finally converged at this moment, weaving together the true childhood story that belonged to them—

Invited by the organizers, Ling Xi’s parents had come to Enfeir Town for an academic exchange. It was the height of the summer holiday, so Ling Xi also embarked on the journey.

While her parents were in meetings, she secretly slipped out of the small guesthouse. Taking out her limited pocket money, she bought the cheapest sweet cone from a nearby small shop.

The town wasn’t big, built on a hill, and you could see its entirety at a glance.

The scenery here was completely different from Xuancheng. There were no towering cement buildings, no bustling, traffic-filled streets. People rode bicycles through the intersections, and fresh news was still transmitted via old-fashioned, printed ink newspapers.

The mountain at the end of the road wasn’t very high. The wildly overgrown weeds rustled in the mountain breeze. From afar, the whole world looked like a green fuzz.

Although the summer heat was hard to shake off, nine-year-old Ling Xi was at an age where she was eager to explore new things. It seemed meaningful only if she walked it herself. So, she quietly walked toward the path up the mountain.

She finally managed to climb halfway up the slope. The glossy weeds barely reached her knees. Chewing on her half-eaten sweet cone, she held her beloved film camera and took pictures.

At the very top of the slope was a small, low house. It looked old and dilapidated, giving the false impression that it might collapse at any moment.

Little Ling Xi laboriously climbed up to the front of the small house. Curiously, she walked around it. Peering through the window, it was dark and a bit scary, so she dared not look further inside.

A thick pile of hay stacked in the corner caught her attention. Feeling tired, she leaned against the hay pile to rest.

She stretched lazily. The view was quite good. The small town below was hidden in the valley between the two mountains, like a beautiful, inaccessible paradise.

“How beautiful!” Little Ling Xi grinned. Because she had been naughty at school, she had lost a front tooth, making her look a little goofy.

“Wuwuwu… Wuwuwu…”

A girl’s sob came from somewhere, scaring the little one into immediately jumping up. Could this place be haunted!?

Little Ling Xi widened her eyes, her mushroom haircut splitting into a center part from fright. Just as she was about to flee, the sound came again.

“Save me… Please don’t leave me…”

The mournful cries made little Ling Xi fall to the ground in fear. She tightly hugged her camera and bravely shouted: “Who are you? Don’t scare me! I’m not afraid of ghosts!”

“Wuwu… Save me…” The other side kept repeating the same phrase, but Ling Xi couldn’t find the source of the sound. She walked to the edge of the hay pile and picked up a shovel that was half a head taller than she was for defense: “I’m not afraid of you!”

“I’m not a ghost… I’m not…”

The girl’s voice was weak and helpless. The little one threw the shovel aside and pressed her ear to the ground: “You’re a person? Where are you?!”

“Underground, I’m locked up underground…”

Getting a response, the little one looked in the direction of the voice toward the tall hay pile. She scrambled and crawled to the hay pile, mimicking a dog-paddle motion, frantically pulling away the hay.

“Are you really down there? Who are you?” The hay was packed too tightly. She worked for a long time but couldn’t reach the bottom.

“I was captured. Please don’t abandon me…” The girl pleaded, her choked sobs sounding truly miserable.

Little Ling Xi was about to give up, but hearing the pitiful cries, she softened, bit her lip, and continued to pull away the hay: “Don’t be afraid.”

Poor little Bo’er was barefoot. She tried hard to stand on her tiptoes, tightly grasping the skylight hidden by the dead grass, as if this was the only way to hold onto the hope of living.

Her long dress was stained with the filth of the dungeon, and her cheeks were also dirty. Due to prolonged lack of food, her cheeks were terribly sunken.

After an unknown amount of time, a gap appeared in the airtight skylight where the hay had been tightly pressed. The dungeon, which had not seen the light of day, welcomed the golden glow of the setting sun.

Little Ling Xi was silhouetted against the light. The girl couldn’t clearly see her appearance, only remembering that the light enveloped her, like an angel descending from heaven, bringing the fresh air scented with grass.

“Are you okay?” Little Ling Xi lay on the ground. She reached out her small hand and gently patted the strange girl’s cheek because it was covered with tiny pieces of grass.

Little Bo’er cried out of joy: “Save me…”

“Why are you locked up here?” Little Ling Xi exclaimed, then looked around furtively.

Anxiously, she grabbed the weeds and blocked the skylight again, but bravely promised: “Don’t cry. It must be very dangerous here. I’ll go down the mountain to find an adult, and I will definitely come back!”

“Don’t leave me, don’t leave me…” Little Bo’er, who had just found hope, saw the little girl block the skylight again and cried out in distress: “I’m scared!”

The little one, preparing to leave, touched her beloved camera, bit her lip, took it off, and threw it through the crack in the skylight.

Although the action was childish, it seemed to solidify the meaning of her promise. Little Ling Xi affirmed with certainty: “This is my favorite treasure. I’ll leave it with you as collateral. Give it back to me when I rescue you. I promise you, I will definitely come back to save you!”

Under the bright red sunset, the thin figure sprinted across the hillside, making the natural landscape painting come vividly to life.

Little Ling Xi was prone to falling. She fell several times, tearing holes in her knees, exposing bloody scrapes. But she dared not stop, because the girl’s pitiful and helpless appearance had inadvertently been etched into her heart.

Little Ling Xi, covered in dust, burst into the conference room. A group of scholars discussing a proposal all turned to look at her.

Before her parents could react, the little one spoke first, immediately bursting into loud sobs.

“Ling Xi! What’s wrong?” Her mother tried to stop her, but it only made her cry louder. She convulsively wiped away her tears: “Help… Save her…”

Her father stood up and walked over to her side, gently comforting her: “Shhh, don’t cry first, tell Dad what happened?”

“Wuwuwu… I went to take pictures on that mountain ahead, and I found a girl locked in a dungeon. She asked me to save her.” The little one was crying because she was scared, and also afraid her parents wouldn’t go to the rescue, which meant she wouldn’t get her beloved camera back.

So, she sniffled and continued to cry: “I promised I’d find someone to save her, and I even put up my camera! Wuwuwu…”

Hearing the child’s plea, the group of scholars exchanged glances. But the little girl didn’t seem to be lying. After all, her knees were injured.

“We’ve been meeting for most of the day. Why don’t we go take a look? If there really is a child locked up in a place like that, we can’t just stand by and do nothing.”

Ling Xi’s father still held influence. Seeing his suggestion, the scholars all joined the effort to save the person.

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