"What should I do? I can't separate them?"
"How can they be inseparable?"
"The two of them were holding hands so tightly that I was afraid of hurting them..."
"It's raining so hard, we can't get wet. Let's take them inside first."
"Where to send it?"
“… … ”
Qin Lou's consciousness floated between the edge of wakefulness and sleep. Several times he passed by distorted and intermittent images that looked like overexposed photos, as well as those messy, noisy sounds that tortured his head like pieces of metal scratching on glass.
He was so annoyed that he wanted to cover his ears, but he felt something holding his hands, very tightly - the body was cold, with only a little warmth in the palm of his hand.
Qin Lou was reluctant to let go.
Anyway, he was used to the pain and became numb after a long time. It didn't matter how painful it was - if he could hold on to the warmth for one more second in his dream.
In the pain that was so cold that it made his heart tighten and tremble, Qin Lou sank into the darkness again.
The only difference from before was that this time he held the warmth of his palm tightly, as if holding the only straw in his life. In the darkness, he finally had a connection, no longer having to fall into the nightmare hell that echoed with the devil's screaming laughter...
It was unknown how long it had passed before Qin Lou regained consciousness.
The first feeling that came up was a burning sensation, in stark contrast to the previous coldness. His entire body was burning hot, his throat ached so much that it was about to crack and smoke, and his head felt dizzy and heavy as if a heavy iron was stuffed into it.
But not unfamiliar.
Qin Lou had even gotten used to it: even though his physical fitness was better than his peers, he would always fall seriously ill after every stormy night.
Physical illness is also a mental illness.
In the former case, the Qin family has the most expensive medicine and the best doctors to treat his fever; in the latter case, there is no medicine to cure him and there is no need to save him.
No one cared about the scars and past of the crazy young master of the Qin family. It was enough to leave him to fester and rot alone. They just wanted to stay as far away from him as possible.
Who called him a lunatic
No one can be blamed.
The young man on the big bed gave an emotionless smile and slowly sat up.
The blackout curtains in the room were drawn tightly, not letting in any light, and it was so pitch black in front of him that he couldn't see his hand in front of him - the kind of darkness he hated the most.
But fortunately it was still quiet.
According to past practice, the servants in the house should have given him...
The boy's figure suddenly froze.
After a few seconds, he clenched his left hand again uncertainly - his palm felt soft and small, and he could touch and feel the slender fingers.
Qin Lou was sure that it was not his right hand.
Especially, “it” moved.
The palm of his hand was tickled by slender little fingers, and the itching sensation went along his palm and into his body.
So, now in this huge empty room where he had always woken up alone, there was a second person.
And judging by the size of this hand, and the fact that its owner has woken up but hasn't made any sound yet...
"Little clam?"
“…” The little hand began to try to struggle out of his hand.
Qin Lou confirmed the answer.
He laughed silently, even his voice was full of joy, and he held the small hand tightly, not giving it any room to struggle.
"Doll." He felt sorry that his little clam didn't like that name, so he magnanimously compromised and changed it back. "Why are you here?"
The air was quiet and Qin Lou didn't expect to hear an answer.
But he heard --
"I was there in the yard last night." The girl's voice was light and a little bitter.
"…" The boy's smile faded and his voice lowered. "Then why do you dare to come? Aren't you afraid that I will go crazy next time and beat you up too?"
In the darkness, the girl shook her head slightly.
The young man sneered, "Don't shake your head, you can't see."
Song Shu was silent, and then she spoke softly, "I know you won't hit anyone. Although you knocked over those barrels, you just wanted to save yourself."
The boy's smile froze.
The darkness became quiet again.
After a few dozen seconds, Qin Lou came back to his senses.
He deliberately lowered his voice to make it sound particularly scary: "Who said I can't hit people? You'd better run away next time. Didn't you see what others did?"
He probably forgot that his hand was still holding the girl's, and it was clenched tightly, so even the threat sounded weak.
The girl didn't expose him, she just lowered her eyes quietly. "I'll be there next time, too."
But Qin Lou still felt embarrassed as if he had been exposed. He sneered stubbornly, "Who wants you to be here? What can you do?"
"… "
The girl fell silent.
Qin Lou suspected that she wanted to regret it, so he regretted it first: "You... You are my doll, you really have to be."
To show his determination, he squeezed the doll's hand tighter.
Song Shu nodded.
The boy said, "Don't nod, it's too dark to see."
But this time the girl was not fooled.
She didn't say anything, and the boy felt a little regretful.
He thought that if he could pry open his little clam shell every day and listen to her say a few words to him, he would definitely be happier every day.
Neither of them expected that the promised “next time” would come so soon.
After the thunderstorm, the sky was overcast for two days, and the sun never showed up. Qin Lou's fever recurred several times, and it was only in the evening of that day that he finally subsided.
The sound of muffled thunder also occurred shortly after that.
Song Shu had a slight cold after being caught in the rain, and felt a little drowsy after taking medicine. But the thunder outside the window woke her up immediately.
The girl coughed softly and ran out of the room.
A servant from the house happened to be walking down the corridor.
"Here it comes again. Will this rain ever stop?"
"It doesn't matter if there's no thunder. If there is thunder, that person will definitely make trouble again."
"He has had a high fever these past two days and is so weak that he probably can't make it."
"Who could have guessed that little lunatic? No matter what, you should stay away from him for the next two days!"
"That's right. He's still in a coma. Hurry and give him the medicine. Then we'll go downstairs."
"Um."
"… "
The two figures walked away.
Behind them, the girl's expressionless face looked pale under the light of the corridor, and she pursed her lips slightly.
Song Shu had been emotionally dull since she was a child, in every aspect. However, coupled with the accumulated emotions that night, this was the first time she felt so angry about anything.
She clenched her hands, then ran quickly along the corridor towards Qin Lou's room.
When she reached the door, it was ajar.
It was dark inside the door.
Song Shu pushed open the door, and with the light from the corridor behind her, she saw that the medicine and water were placed in the corner just inside the door - the servant who brought the medicine didn't even dare to enter the door.
It's like there's some man-eating devil inside.
Song Shu stepped into the room.
The light behind her fell on the ground and the bed, forming distorted cubes of light and shadow.
Muffled thunder rumbled faintly outside the window.
The boy hiding in the dark quilt said hoarsely: "Close the door!"
Song Shu closed the door behind him.
"Qin Lou."
In the darkness, she called the boy's name for the first time.
The figure of the young man who was trembling unconsciously under the quilt on the bed froze.
Qin Lou opened his eyes, and then he heard a girl's voice outside the quilt walking to the bed.
"I am coming."
"… "
Qin Lou thought the girl's voice was really quiet, flat, without any ups and downs, and not at all comforting... She was indeed a wooden doll.
It's his. The doll.
Qin Lou slowly stood up, holding up the quilt. The high fever made his mind unclear and his consciousness drowsy. The approaching thunder outside the window was like a hand reaching out from the hell of nightmare, trying to pull him into the darkness of pain and torture.
They would tear him to pieces.
He kept running and running for many years, but he never escaped that nightmare once.
Qin Lou wanted to struggle but was powerless. He felt the hoarse and whispering laughter of the devil that was driving him crazy was getting closer and closer, almost touching him - Qin Lou suddenly stretched out his hand and held the hand of the girl standing beside the bed.
He held her so tightly that the sound came out from the pain of gnashing teeth -
"What are you doing here?"
… Save me.
"What are you good for?"
… Save me.
"Even if you come, what can you do?"
… Please save me.
There was a loud thunder.
It instantly split the dark night sky.
The boy's figure suddenly froze, and the remaining sound disappeared.
…coming.
He could hear the devil's footsteps getting closer and closer. The iron rod it dragged on the ground made a tiny clanging sound, and it carried with it the smell of cold and damp thunder and rain. The hoarse, roaring, and crazy laughter behind it was getting closer and closer.
It was going to tear him apart and live inside him.
The boy's trembling struggle in the darkness stopped, and the corners of his mouth rose silently -
“Swish.”
“…!”
The boy's breathing hitched.
The girl's hand struggled out of his palm, as if she was going to leave - Qin Lou came to his senses and panicked. He subconsciously reached out his hand into the darkness to pull back his only warmth - and then his ears were gently covered.
The bed beneath him sank, and the girl knelt beside the bed, covered his ears and held him in her arms.
Qin Lou was stunned.
The girl who came closer had soft, slightly curly long hair that had a light floral scent.
What kind is it? Rose, daisy, jasmine, or violet... Qin Lou couldn't tell, he just thought it smelled good. It made him feel at ease.
His sanity, which had been almost torn apart and swallowed, slowly returned.
Before the thunder roared again, he first heard the heartbeat of the girl who was so close to him. The hedgehog's hard spines, the pus-filled scars and the thick calloused heart were all covered by the little hands and gradually softened.
The voices that were driving him crazy began to fade.
Only her heartbeat became clearer and clearer.
The devil, laughing hissingly, walked out of the hell of his memory, but was stopped outside the door by his doll.
She said.
"I am here."