Liu Xiaodan just wanted to rest and think in his own room after being trapped in the Treatment Hall for a while. Even if the doctors deemed for him to stay, it was quite troublesome for them as Liu Xiaodan loved provoking the Kings in the Treatment Hall. As he was allowed to stay in the Rooms Hall now, he missed the bear that had been saving him from time to time. Especially when he wasn't around when Liu Xiaodan got back yesterday.
"Xiaodan…" The bear wrapped its arms around the father, making him bear the weight of those huge paws. Worry glistened in the guardian's eyes before relief came as he held onto the poor child he was looking after. Liu Xiaodan was already a young a.d.u.l.t, but he was still young to the eyes of the spirits.
"Ah, wait, I can't…" Liu Xiaodan laughed out as he tried to get away from Old Xiong's hold. The weight of the bear's hands had made it difficult to breathe even if Liu Xiaodan enjoyed the hug. He was then released before he lay on the bear's belly. He would like to chat, but after a few minutes of enjoying the softness, his eyes grew heavy.
As if the familiar comfort was enough to lull him to sleep, Liu Xiaodan instantly fell asleep.
Old Xiong was visibly happy today even if the bear's face was always in a smile. Guangru then got on the bed as well and cuddled with his father. For quite the first time, they could both feel how relaxed Liu Xiaodan was. He had been quite on guard a lot from the presences of the Kings. Moreover, they felt like he was in less trouble when he's out here in the Rooms Hall instead.
It's just that…
Liu Xiaodan woke up to the sound of a crying girl. He opened his eyes and saw a dark old-fashioned room as if he had been thrown fifty years into the past. A little girl was crying in the corner, her face shoved into her arms. The way she wailed didn't seem to be a ghost haunting, but Liu Xiaodan never had the chance to experience something else like this if not a haunting.
Wait, he had once traveled into a memory… Guangru's memory. Back in the prison, he had dreamt of Guangru's memory when he was being sealed by the shamans in what seemed to be a cave. If that could happen, then… this dream… whose memory was this?
"Hello, little girl, why are you crying?" Liu Xiaodan went to approach the girl, but she only lifted her face to look at him. Her face seemed to be familiar, but Liu Xiaodan couldn't put a name on it. Regardless, he kneeled down and reached out to pet her head. "It's okay… no need to be afraid."
"Are you a ghost?" the girl asked, her sobbing gone and her tone cold. It was as if she resented Liu Xiaodan from the moment they met.
"…I don't know." Liu Xiaodan chuckled, recalling his hand on her head. "Are you alone? Where are your parents?"
The girl then turned away. "I shouldn't talk to you. If they find you, you'll be killed. They don't care if you're being good. They won't spare anyone…"
Liu Xiaodan frowned. He then looked at the walls of the room again, but he couldn't find any clue as to what kind of place it was. It was so generic that it didn't seem to give him an impression. He could only assume that this was a stray memory he had yet to figure out whose. "What's your name?"
"…not telling." The girl sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "You should leave."
"…I don't know how. Can you tell me?" Liu Xiaodan smiled at the child. She then looked at him before she got to her feet. She walked to a cabinet and searched for something in the dark. The man stood up as well, but he waited for her to finish looking… only to frown at the things she was holding.
It was a bunch of paper talismans. She then looked at the man and threw all of it at him. She would make a hand sign, but the paper talismans only dropped to the floor while some were caught on Liu Xiaodan's body. Liu Xiaodan took one off and stared at it. Why did it look familiar?
The girl only stared at the man holding the talisman, her eyes dark from the sight. As if dejected, she only walked back to her corner and sat down. She burrowed her face into her knees and refused to make another noise. Liu Xiaodan only reached out to c.a.r.e.s.s her head.
"Shhh, you tried your best…"
The sliding doors then violently opened, and their entrance had shocked Liu Xiaodan. He turned to them and saw a stern-looking man in a traditional shaman garb. Two girls and one boy were with him, but they were hiding behind the shaman. Liu Xiaodan then took steps away from the sobbing girl.
"You dare summon one again?! How could I give birth to such a demonic child?!" The father then readied his talisman, and it lit up. The light was like a twenty-watt bulb in a dark room, causing Liu Xiaodan to be blinded.
It's just that when he turned away from the man, he finally saw his reflection on a mirror in the room. He was not in his normal body; he appeared to be a faceless woman in dirty clothing. It was clearly a ghost, but he had never seen any of these people before.
"Begone!" The man shouted, and Liu Xiaodan felt extreme pain that burned his entirety.
Liu Xiaodan placed his hand on his sweating forehead and wiped off his sweat. He then turned to the side to see Guangru watching him. Liu Xiaodan only chuckled. "Just a normal nightmare…"
"You should control yourself from reliving faded memories, Baba. You can get killed even in your sleep." Guangru pouted. "Your blood has natural magnets to entities, and it collects faded blood from them, too. You're like a lab rat with so many injected things, Baba. Just like Granny Qian."