Chapter 60: The Path of Exile II

—It wasn’t so hard to imagine that someone had never seen an orange before. After all, this was a different world. When she went looking for Shen Xiao, she’d eaten plenty of fruits and encountered demons she’d never seen before herself.

There were five or six steps between them now. The child didn’t move, and Shi Xianyu didn’t dare approach, worried she might frighten him.

After a moment’s thought, she slowly raised her other hand and began to peel the orange.

“This is called an orange. It’s a kind of fruit—very sweet…” Shi Xianyu spoke gently as she peeled back the skin. “Look, you just have to take off this outer layer and you can eat what’s inside…”

A sweet, fresh fragrance wafted from the orange peel. The plump, round segments looked especially inviting in her hands. The child stared transfixed, a glistening bead of drool slipping from the corner of his mouth.

Shi Xianyu couldn’t help but smile at such an honest reaction. She quickly walked up the steps and pressed the orange into his hands. “Here, it’s for you!”

This kind of temptation was impossible to resist. The child immediately buried his head and started devouring the orange.

Sweet and tart juice burst out, running down his hands as he hurriedly chewed, licking his fingers clean in a flurry, as if he’d never tasted anything so delicious.

Shi Xianyu noticed his fingernails were caked with black dirt and wanted to suggest he wash his hands. But since they’d only just met, she silently persuaded herself: Take it slow, take it step by step…

First, build a sense of closeness.

She cleared her throat softly and gave him a warm smile. “Would you like some more?”

The child nodded so hard, she worried his head might snap off.

“In that case, why don’t you take me to your home? I’ll help you get cleaned up, and then we can eat more oranges together. How does that sound?” she coaxed.

The child nodded again, turned, and pointed outside the fire door, signaling her to follow.

Shi Xianyu trailed after the child toward the apartment, puzzled at how he only ever nodded during their whole exchange. Could he not speak? Was he mute? Yet he could hear and understand her, so he probably wasn’t deaf or mute by birth.

So, was it something that happened later—an injury, or maybe a psychological issue that made him unwilling to speak?

Lost in thought, she barely noticed they’d reached the apartment door—

Inside, there was a small entryway; to the left, a dining area connected to the kitchen and balcony, to the right, the living room leading to the master and second bedrooms, and a bathroom in the center.

The layout was plain and clear—an ordinary two-bedroom apartment.

Shi Xianyu’s gaze swept over family photos on the wall, scattered boxes by the table, what looked like expired pet food cans, and on the floor, dried bloodstains and tufts of fur…

Her eyes finally landed on the child.

She couldn’t help but wonder if the child had survived here alone for so long by relying on those pet food cans and the mice downstairs.

How had this child managed to hold on? Had she been waiting all this time, hoping her mother would return for her?

Shi Xianyu felt a surge of bittersweet emotion.

She went into the bathroom. Of course, there wasn’t a drop of water from the pipes, so she took a basin and a towel from her storage, filled the basin most of the way, and brought it out to help the child clean up.

But the child’s first instinct was to grab the basin and drink.

He gulped down great mouthfuls, as if he hadn’t had water in ages.

Shi Xianyu couldn’t help but laugh and sigh. She patiently waited for him to take several sips before stopping him gently. “Let’s wash up first, all right? Afterwards I’ll give you even better water to drink, and more oranges, just like we agreed.”

Though the child didn’t speak, he was remarkably obedient. When Shi Xianyu said to stop, he stopped.

She stripped off the tattered rags he wore and discovered that the child was a little girl—small and thin, with a dirty face and a pair of eyes that seemed all the brighter for it.

Shi Xianyu washed her as she observed her.

Aside from some scratches on her hands, there were no other obvious wounds—just skin and bones, her belly nearly flat, ribs protruding sharply. The sight was heartrending.

It took four full basins of water before she was finally clean. The little girl was astonishingly well-behaved, quietly cooperating the whole time, neither fussing nor crying.

Shi Xianyu, looking after a child for the first time, breathed a sigh of relief. She pulled another orange from her pocket, peeled it, and divided it into segments in front of the girl.

“See? This is how you eat an orange. Want to try?” She fed one segment to the girl, placing the rest, still in the peel, in her hands. “Here, sit here and eat while I wash your hair, all right?”

The girl nodded again, still silent, cradling the orange and imitating Shi Xianyu’s motions—eating it one segment at a time.

This time, she ate very slowly, chewing each piece for a long while, as if trying to memorize the taste.

What an incredibly good child.

Shi Xianyu couldn’t help but be moved.

She filled another basin to wash the girl’s hair. It was so tangled after so long without care that she had to cut out several mats before lathering it with shampoo.

The first wash didn’t even make a lather, so Shi Xianyu washed it a second time, gently rubbing the little head as she probed for information.

“What’s your name?”

The little girl wrote with her finger on the table: Lu Li.

This surprised Shi Xianyu a little. At five or six years old, most children wouldn’t know how to write.

“Oh… Then I’ll call you Little Pear from now on, all right?” Shi Xianyu asked.

The little girl nodded once more.

Shi Xianyu ventured, “Little Pear, is it that… you can’t speak?”

The little girl opened her mouth, pointed at her throat, then shook her head softly.

So she really couldn’t talk.

If she couldn’t, then so be it. As long as they could communicate, and she was so well-behaved, caring for her shouldn’t be too difficult.

Shi Xianyu relaxed and continued, “How old are you, Little Pear?”

At the question, the little girl looked troubled. After thinking for a long time, she still shook her head.

“You don’t know?”

Shi Xianyu was surprised, then realized that after living alone for so long, perhaps she’d lost track of time.

“Did you forget? Can you remember if you try?” Shi Xianyu asked.

Little Pear frowned, thought hard, then hesitantly held up eight fingers.

This was older than Shi Xianyu had guessed; she’d thought six at most. It must be that the long-term malnutrition had stunted her growth.

“You sit here and let your hair dry. I’m going to empty the water,” Shi Xianyu said.

She took the basin to the bathroom, poured out the dirty water, and filled a clean one, planning to give Lu Li another wipe down.

But when she returned to the living room, she found Lu Li asleep, wrapped in a towel. The tiny girl was curled up on the sofa, nearly swallowed by the clutter piled on it, still clutching half an uneaten orange, sleeping deeply.

The sofa itself was filthy, but seeing the peaceful look on the child’s face, Shi Xianyu couldn’t bring herself to wake her. She set the basin down.

“Forget it, I’ll wash her again when she wakes up…”

Shi Xianyu sighed silently, and as her gaze shifted, she noticed an open diary lying on the sofa.

Perhaps, through this diary, she could glean some clues…