Chapter 67

That was a narrow and gloomy corridor.

The walls were extremely old.

The air was permeated with a damp heat exhaled by high temperatures and soaked by rain.

Yang Siguang stepped on the stairs, climbing up step by step.

A blood-red sunset pierced through the ventilation window of the stairwell, staining the stairs before him a terrifying crimson.

He could feel his tiny heart beating rapidly within his chest, and he was filled with terror and fear. His legs felt as though they were filled with lead, unable to move an inch. Yet, the moment he paused even slightly, he could hear a shrill female voice from downstairs hurling harsh curses at him.

"Yang Siguang, what are you still dawdling for—"

"Useless piece of trash, I just asked you to do such a tiny thing, and you're still whining and dragging your feet there. Watch out, I'll break your legs when you get back."

"Go on, get your ass rolling up there right now, and drag that spineless father of yours back!"

"When you see that little homewrecking vixen, go ask her—ask her how she can be so shameless! How can she even want a filthy piece of trash like your father!"

"You go tell her again, if she's itching down there, she should go scrub it with a steel scouring pad, instead of always plotting to steal other people's husbands—"

……

Immediately following was a wave of even more piercing and ferocious curses.

Yang Siguang could feel his tears welling up uncontrollably.

A voice deep inside his heart was screaming; he didn't want to go at all—he didn't want to go in the slightest!

Yet, because of the woman's presence downstairs, he didn't dare to stop his footsteps.

He couldn't help lowering his head to look at the woman's shadow cast upon the stairs. It looked so massive and distorted, resembling a terrifying monster.

Yang Siguang shivered with fright instantly.

When he raised his head again, he found himself standing with sobs before a mottled, dilapidated door.

That door appeared exceptionally tall; he even had to tilt his head back to clearly see the apartment number.

That despair-inducing sense of terror rushed over him once more. Gritting his teeth tightly, he cautiously knocked on that door.

……

"Creeak—"

After a long while, the door was slowly opened from the inside.

At that moment, Yang Siguang's heartbeat was so fast it felt as though it might leap right out of his throat. In the next second, however, he saw a skinny and withered child cautiously poking his head out from behind the door.

Because he was far too thin, so thin that his cheeks had sunken in, the child's eyes appeared exceptionally large.

The golden-brown pupils involuntarily reminded Yang Siguang of a stray cat in the wild, starved down to skin and bones with nothing left but its eyes.

At this moment, those eyes were filled with fright and terror, until they met Yang Siguang's, and the fear and timidity in his gaze slowly faded away.

"Si, Sisi!"

That dirt-smudged face even flashed a trace of pleasant surprise.

Yet the young boy was clearly quite adept at reading expressions; he quickly noticed that Yang Siguang's expression was amiss, and his gaze dimmed instantly.

"Are you... are you here to look for Uncle Yang?"

he asked in a very soft whisper.

Yang Siguang timidly nodded.

Then, mustering his courage, he wanted to shout "Dad" into the pitch-black room. Before he could speak, however, the child reached out with abnormal nervousness and covered Yang Siguang's mouth.

"Shh—shh—no, don't yell!"

The child's hand was trembling slightly.

"It'll be a while before they come out," the boy said in a low, husky voice. "If you shout out now, Uncle Yang will come out and beat you again later."

Yang Siguang remained silent.

The child's gaze fixed upon his face, and a moment later, his eye sockets also faintly reddened.

"...Did auntie hit you?"

Yang Siguang nodded.

He uncontrollably let out a cowardly, aggrieved whimpering sound.

"I, I didn't want to come. My dad will beat me, I didn't want to come at all. But if I don't come, my mom says she'll break my legs, says I'm useless and can't bring Dad back, and says I'm turning my elbows out... Wuwu... wuwuwu..."

The more he spoke, the more aggrieved Yang Siguang felt, and his tears completely flooded out uncontrollably.

Yet he even habitually lowered his voice, crying in utter silence.

The child pulled tightly on Yang Siguang's hand.

"Don't, don't cry, Sisi, don't cry."

He said clumsily.

"My mom hit me today too, it hurts so much," he paused, then added, "Though having a stomachache is pretty good too. When your stomach hurts, you don't feel hungry."

Yang Siguang finally stopped sobbing at this. He sniffled, looking at the child before him who was so thin he seemed reduced to a bundle of bones, and sniffled again.

He was far too young, too young to even know that the heavy feeling surging in his chest was worry. He could only grope around in his pockets again and again, finally fishing out a few milk candies that were almost melting and placing them in the child's palm.

"I'll give these to you."

Yang Siguang's voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum.

"I brought them specifically for you... If you're still really hungry next time, eat these. I saw on an advertisement, one milk candy equals three glasses of milk. If you eat these, you won't be hungry anymore."

A brilliant radiance instantly bloomed in those golden-brown cat-like eyes.

Clearly, just a moment ago, the two of them had been crying opposite each other, yet this single piece of milk candy instantly brought joy back to them both.

"Thank you, Sisi! Sisi, you're so nice!"

"Yeah. These are super delicious!"

……

Unconsciously, the two children maintained their hand-in-hand posture and slowly sat down, leaning against the door.

From inside the room came the faint sounds of ambiguous groans and shifting water, while outside the room, the sky gradually darkened.

No lights were turned on in the house.

Shadows crept along the steps level by level, spreading outward just like the fear they were forcefully trying to forget.

Suddenly, Yang Siguang felt the cheek that had been slightly swollen from his mother's slap being touched very, very gently.

Turning his head, he saw the boy leaning against his shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

he asked.

"If..." Then he heard the child softly begin to speak, "If only I could become very strong."

"Yeah, if you become very strong, you'll be able to eat lots and lots of milk candies—"

Yang Siguang sighed and said profoundly.

Yet the child shook his head forcefully. He raised his hand once more, reaching out to stroke Yang Siguang's cheek.

For some reason, this time his hand had grown even colder than before—as cold as a corpse that had been dead for a very long time.

"Once I become strong, I can protect Sisi."

The child's voice gradually shifted from childish and frail to gloomy and hoarse.

"I want to... protect Sisi..."

The shadows completely enveloped the two of them before they even realized it.

Yang Siguang stared blankly at the child before him, and finally remembered.

Ah, this wasn't a dream.

This was... a memory.

Many years ago, there truly was an afternoon just like that.

Back then, Li Chen, who subsisted on an unpredictable schedule of meals, had once earnestly said to him...

*

【I ju...st w%￥#@...ant to（*&%￥...protect...you...】