She Comes Into My Dreams Every Night - Chapter 62

Chapter 62: Repetition

A year ago, Minguán.

A black car drove slowly but surely on the winding mountain road.

Since entering this mountain range, Su Huaiwang hadn’t seen anyone else, but fortunately, the weather had been relatively good, sunny and bright, which made the journey less frightening.

Thinking of the purpose of her trip, Su Huaiwang’s hands gripping the steering wheel trembled violently twice.

She was starting to regret why she had impulsively set off and driven to such a desolate place.

If anything unexpected happened, no one would know.

Fortunately, it wasn’t as completely desolate as described. After all, she occasionally saw safety signs and reflective boards set up by the state.

The power of civilization calmed Su Huaiwang, the socialist giant baby, and she continued to drive forward.

Nanguan Village should be close. Su Huaiwang looked at the downloaded map, and as she looked up, she saw the sign for Nanguan Village.

The sign flashed past. She could vaguely make out a few characters and the mottled scratches on it, indicating it hadn’t been replaced for a long time.

The dirt road was bumpy. Su Huaiwang drove slower, taking a lot of effort to reach the area with houses on the outskirts of the village.

It was ten in the morning. Su Huaiwang noticed a thin layer of fog had inexplicably appeared.

The pale mist gathered around her, like a hound sniffing her unfamiliar scent.

Su Huaiwang ignored the natural weather phenomenon and, fully equipped, walked into the village.

She trod on the dry, hard dirt road, occasionally seeing a few mud-plastered huts among the red-brick houses.

And contrary to what the forum had said, this place didn’t look abandoned. Occasionally, a few adolescents, driven by curiosity, would poke their heads out to look at her, the outsider.

However, their gaze seemed to carry something that made Su Huaiwang feel slightly uncomfortable.

She planned to walk around the village first.

The interviewing skills she learned in college were mostly forgotten by now. She needed to prepare herself psychologically before awkwardly catching someone to ask questions.

From the outside, this was just an ordinary small village.

Old men were swinging hoes in the small fields they had cleared next to their houses. Young men gathered in the house next to the small store, surrounding the card table three layers deep, and their excited shouts could be heard from time to time.

If there had to be one difference.

It was that Su Huaiwang hadn’t seen a single woman in this village.

Not even elderly women. From the old to the young, everyone was male.

It seems the rural bachelor phenomenon is quite severe, Su Huaiwang lamented.

She headed toward the card table, wanting to get closer and see what game they were playing.

But before she could approach, the sound of the cards stopping, along with the shouting and cursing, also ceased.

They all turned their heads at the same time, their bloodshot eyes locked directly onto Su Huaiwang.

Su Huaiwang abruptly changed direction, quickly moving away from that trouble spot.

Her hand was in her pocket, weighing the knife inside. Her pounding heart finally calmed down a bit.

She continued to wander aimlessly, but it seemed that no matter where she went, there were glances subtly fixed on her, like sticky fleas, disgusting and persistent.

Su Huaiwang shivered, turning her head to look around, catching sight of a few adolescents hastily pulling their heads back.

Su Huaiwang rubbed the hairs standing up on her arms, feeling disgusted in her heart. She ignored the purpose of her trip and quickly walked toward the village entrance where her car was parked.

The path was clear. Fortunately, the owners of those gazes only dared to look and didn’t dare to do anything else.

Although Su Huaiwang carried a weapon, she knew her limitations and didn’t want to put herself in danger.

Just as she was about to reach the village entrance, Su Huaiwang instinctively surveyed her surroundings.

The irritating glances disappeared, replaced by a small, huddled girl.

A little girl with pigtails was crying in a corner, secretly looking up at her as she cried.

Su Huaiwang frowned, but ultimately couldn’t ignore her moral conscience.

She walked over, unwrapped a candy, and asked in an unskilled, child-soothing tone:

“What’s wrong? Why are you crying here? Where is your home?”

The little girl looked up, revealing a face like a little calico cat:

“No one in my family likes me. I don’t want to stay at home.”

“How could they not like you? You’re so cute.”

Su Huaiwang took out a tissue and helped the little girl wipe her face.

The tissue quickly became stained black.

The little girl was dressed in typical rural attire, dark-skinned, wearing a T-shirt several sizes too large for her, and dirty. By current social aesthetics, she wouldn’t be considered cute.

Hearing the older sister in front of her say this, the little girl sniffled, her eyes filled with anticipation and caution: “Really? Does sister really think I’m cute?”

“Yes.” Su Huaiwang nodded decisively.

“Then can you take me away, sister? I don’t want to stay here anymore.” As she spoke, her nose prickled, and she started crying again.

Su Huaiwang was troubled: “This…”

“Please, sister, take me away. They hit me and don’t give me food. I really don’t want to stay here anymore.”

As the little girl cried harder and harder, Su Huaiwang’s headache worsened.

“This… you might not understand right now, but our country has a household registration system…”

The little girl seemed to have broken down into complete crying, screaming: “They’re forcing me to marry! But I don’t want to marry! I want to go to school like my brother!”

Su Huaiwang’s face, which was about to continue talking, froze.

She still couldn’t overcome her useless moral code and sympathy.

The woman sighed, placing a finger on her lips: “Shh, keep your voice down.”

The girl’s sobbing slowed down.

Su Huaiwang leaned in and whispered: “Hold my hand, pretend I’m taking you to play.”

As she spoke, she used the corner of her eye to carefully observe her surroundings.

Are you kidding? If the villagers found out she was kidnapping a child, what if they subjected her to pig-cage drowning?

This was the first time she had done something like this. She could have chosen not to, but she really couldn’t turn her back on the little girl.

Forget it. Once they got to the city, she’d have Tu Zhizhuo find a lawyer. There had to be a way to solve this… right?

Su Huaiwang made up her mind, pressing the candy she held into the little girl’s hand: “Come with me.”

The girl looked at her gratefully: “Thank you, sister, but I can’t walk.”

She lifted her wide pant leg, and Su Huaiwang immediately gasped.

The girl’s calves and ankles were covered in bruises, purple and green. Some areas were even beaten until they were bloody and raw. Not treated in time, they showed signs of festering, sticking to the poor-quality fabric. The stench of rot rushed into Su Huaiwang’s nostrils.

Su Huaiwang turned around without hesitation: “I’ll carry you on my back.”

The girl looked at the clean, soft clothing of the woman in front of her, a light not belonging to a child flashing in her eyes.

The small person leaned onto her back. The odor became stronger, not just the smell of blood but also the stench of not having bathed for a long time.

Su Huaiwang frowned. She had already decided to take her to the hospital first, then give her a bath. As for the police station and the lawyer… those would have to wait.

“Hold onto my neck. This is my first time carrying someone on my back, so it might be a bit unsteady,” she warned the girl.

The girl obediently wrapped her arms around her neck, leaving two black marks on her slender, fair neck.

The fog seemed to have thickened. Su Huaiwang wasn’t sure what the cause was.

She saw the outlines of people in the mist, quickly avoided them, lowered her head, and rushed toward her car following the route in her memory.

Someone was the first to shatter the silence. A scream sliced through the fog:

“She stole the child! Catch her!”

Su Huaiwang was startled, her legs subconsciously weakening. Her heart leaped to her throat.

Despite this, she didn’t forget to comfort the little girl: “Don’t worry, we’re almost there. We won’t get caught.”

The weight on her back was very light. The little girl was unusually quiet. Su Huaiwang felt like she was carrying a person made of paper.

She heard the little girl laugh softly: “…Mhm.”

Something was strange, but she couldn’t pinpoint what. Su Huaiwang could only grit her teeth and charge forward desperately, leaving the figures in the mist behind her.

Perhaps the physical tests in college helped her, or maybe it was Little Yellow’s sudden bursts and uncontrolled running during walks that helped her. Su Huaiwang actually managed to shake off the villagers.

Her car was still parked there, intact.

Su Huaiwang ran over frantically, panting heavily. Her trembling hand almost failed to pull the car door open.

After tossing the little girl into the passenger seat, she quickly slipped into the driver’s seat, so fast she didn’t even have time to buckle her seatbelt, and immediately started the car.

The car sped away, disappearing into the mist, leaving the cursing behind in the exhaust fumes.

It wasn’t until she had driven a good distance that Su Huaiwang’s heart finally relaxed a little.

She temporarily pulled over to the side of the road, leaned over to help the girl buckle her seatbelt, mumbling:

“I think children aren’t supposed to sit in the passenger seat? It’s an emergency, though, so I guess there’s no choice…”

As she buckled the seatbelt, the girl’s eyes were fixed on her.

It was also a persistent, sticky gaze, but unlike the annoying ones from the adolescents, it gave her a warm feeling of being relied upon.

Su Huaiwang smiled at her, comforting her: “It’s alright now. I’ll take you to the hospital soon. Everything will be okay—oh, do you want to eat something first? I still have candy.”

After some rummaging, the woman held a red-wrapped candy in her hand.

The girl took the candy, unwrapped it, and put the sweetness in her mouth: “…Thank you.”

Su Huaiwang tilted her head, puzzled: “Huh?” She felt that the girl’s way of speaking had changed a lot, no longer like a child.

The girl, sucking on the candy, turned to look at her: “You actually saved me.”

“What do you mean…?” Su Huaiwang felt a moment of bewilderment.

Amber eyes? Were her eyes originally amber? Such a beautiful color, how could she not have noticed?

…

A black car drove slowly but surely on the winding mountain road.

The fog had started at some unknown time. Su Huaiwang frowned; the fog seemed too thick.

But she had already arrived at Nanguan Village, so turning back was not ideal.

Peering, malice, madness… There were many strange things, but Su Huaiwang didn’t find it surprising.

It was as if she had experienced all this before.

The only difference was that she saw a locked-up girl in a pigsty.

Her gaze full of tears, her brows heavy with distress.

She couldn’t do it.

She couldn’t turn her back.

The weight on her back felt like paper, paper that a single spark could consume.

She ran forward blindly, only remembering the beautiful amber eyes of the girl.

…

A black car drove slowly but surely on the winding mountain road.

The fog was simply too thick. She should have turned back immediately, Su Huaiwang couldn’t figure out why she hadn’t.

But since she was already here, turning back was no longer ideal.

Peering, malice, madness… There were many strange things, but Su Huaiwang had gotten used to it all.

It was as if she had faced all this frequently before.

The only difference was that she found a dying woman by the well.

Her face scarred and terrifying.

She couldn’t do it.

She couldn’t turn her back.

The weight on her back felt like paper, paper that a single spark could consume.

She ran forward blindly, only remembering the dazzling amber color in the woman’s slightly opened eyes.

…

On the winding mountain road.

The mist was embracing her.

…