Believe Me

Facing the "sound wave attack," Xiao Xiao couldn't help but reach up and rub his temples.

A soprano voice like this was really hard to endure.

Especially a soprano that was so hoarse and shrill, like tearing silk.

Even though he was prepared, Xiao Xiao was still stunned for a moment.

He subconsciously turned his head to look at the monster.

And met those eerie, ghost-fire-like demonic eyes.

His expression stiffened slightly.

He briefly sized up the monster's expression... it was impossible to discern any emotion from that abstract face.

Xiao Xiao suddenly felt foolish.

Cough cough, Xiao Xiao rubbed his cheeks, pondering how to get Lin Zhenzhen to quiet down.

Xiao Xiao didn't know that, in a sense, his actions were quite awful. Even if it wasn't his intention, what he was doing at that moment looked like he was coldly and ruthlessly letting Lin Zhenzhen have her hysterical fit alone, while he stood by, uninvolved, with his hands clasped.

Lin Zhenzhen cried out for a while, only to find Xiao Xiao completely unresponsive. He neither comforted her nor left, but instead stared at her as if watching a play, his gaze dark and somewhat scrutinizing.

Xiao Xiao felt utterly wronged by this.

He had simply been at a loss for what to do, so he just stood there foolishly, racking his brain for a solution.

Perhaps due to being too exhausted physically and mentally, Lin Zhenzhen, after crying for a while, was already breathless and weak.

Looking at Xiao Xiao's quiet, almost indifferent expression, Lin Zhenzhen's anger surged, and she couldn't catch her breath, erupting into violent coughing.

"Cough, cough."

Lin Zhenzhen coughed earth-shatteringly. The corners of her eyes, the only part visible, were red, and the bloodshot sclera, washed by tears, looked even more shocking.

Startled by the sudden coughing, Xiao Xiao rushed forward, intending to help Lin Zhenzhen up, but she forcefully slapped his hand away.

"Slap~"

The crisp sound echoed in the room, accompanied by continuous, heart-wrenching coughs.

Xiao Xiao touched his slightly reddened hand, paying it no mind.

Seeing that Lin Zhenzhen didn't want him near, he didn't force it, but instead poured a glass of water and offered it to her.

When he saw Lin Zhenzhen about to knock the cup away again, he quickly dodged.

"You're coughing badly, drink some water."

"Don't make things difficult for yourself."

"I don't mean any harm."

Although he didn't know when he had become so disliked, Xiao Xiao deliberately softened his voice, trying to soothe the agitated and somewhat neurotic girl.

Lin Zhenzhen seemed to be appeased, or perhaps she was just too uncomfortable from coughing. She finally took the glass of water.

In just a few days, Lin Zhenzhen seemed to have lost a lot of weight.

Her outstretched hand was pale and thin, and even the exposed section of her wrist was incredibly slender, making her sleeve look empty.

The ward finally fell silent, with only occasional coughs and the sound of swallowing water.

Scattered, faint sounds, a spacious and dim ward, a pale and frail bandaged girl, and a monster in the corner.

Amidst the strangeness, a hint of desolation emerged.

Looking at the girl who had finally calmed down and was silently drinking water, even though her entire face was wrapped in bandages, Xiao Xiao inexplicably felt her despair.

Where was the gentle and charming girl from his memory in this current state?

Even if they weren't close, they were classmates. In Xiao Xiao's memory, he had seen Lin Zhenzhen laughing with her friends, her smile as radiant as a flower, full of vitality.

Now, she was like an old woman on the verge of death.

Seeing Lin Zhenzhen like this, Xiao Xiao's mood became uncontrollably heavy and somber.

"I won't waste any more time." Too much time had already been wasted; it was best to get straight to the point. Xiao Xiao's expression turned serious, his deep, calm eyes looking directly into Lin Zhenzhen's.

"I might know why your face became like this."

"So, I hope you can answer a few questions seriously."

While Lin Zhenzhen, who was drinking water, appeared quiet and well-behaved, her mind had long since wandered off.

Her occasional sips of water were merely habitual actions.

However, Xiao Xiao's words were too impactful. They instantly pierced through the layers of haze surrounding Lin Zhenzhen, exploding in her ears.

After accepting this information somewhat dully, Lin Zhenzhen suddenly looked up at Xiao Xiao, her eyes astonishingly bright.

The overly violent movement caused a little water to splash from the cup in her hand. The water's surface rippled, much like the stormy tempest raging within her heart.

The girl's eyes reflected Xiao Xiao's figure for the first time.

Her eyes, bloodshot and tinged with ferocity, suddenly widened, the corners of her eyes seeming to stretch to their limit, making her eyeballs appear as if they would pop out.

Combined with Lin Zhenzhen's current appearance, it was even more horrifying!

Xiao Xiao subtly twitched his eyebrows.

He reached out to stop Lin Zhenzhen from asking a question.

"Listen to me."

"You answer."

"When did these things start growing on your face?"

"Before these things appeared, did you touch anything strange, or eat anything strange?"

"...Or did you see anything strange?"

Lin Zhenzhen answered these questions almost without thinking. She had been asked them so many times, and in the quiet of the night, she had repeatedly and stubbornly recalled everything from that period, chewing over every detail until her head ached and she was utterly exhausted before finally falling asleep.

Therefore, facing Xiao Xiao's almost identical questions, the faint hope she had just mustered sank again, and her interest immediately waned.

Weary, numb, and even resentful, she answered these questions.

What was the point of asking? Asking the same questions over and over, had he discovered anything new?

No, nothing at all!

She didn't understand why it had to be her. Why her of all people had encountered such a thing?

Even though she had cried many times, she felt she had no more tears left, but now, what was it that was continuously flowing from her eyes?

The bandages were wet and stuck uncomfortably to her face, giving her a suffocating and irritable feeling that made her want to explode.

Xiao Xiao frowned. He wanted to help, but only if the person involved cooperated.

He was somewhat displeased with Lin Zhenzhen's perfunctory answers to his questions, and just as he was about to say something, his throat suddenly felt as if it were blocked by something. He opened and closed his mouth several times, unsure of what to say.

Lin Zhenzhen was crying.

Suppressed, quiet, almost silent sobs, large tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes, filled with hopelessness and grief.

Xiao Xiao finally sighed softly and said, word by word, "Believe me, I really have a way to help your face."

This was not baseless speculation. Based on Lin Zhenzhen's previous account, Xiao Xiao had some ideas.

However, he needed to confirm them.

So, "Please take off the bandages and let me see your face." His tone was gentle, but his words were irrefutable.

These things had been acting up for many days. Xiao Xiao didn't know what they were or how they were triggered, but the longer it dragged on, the worse it would be.

Moreover, according to Lin Zhenzhen, her face hadn't been this severe at first. It had even shown signs of improvement after applying the ointment prescribed by the hospital. But who would have thought it would rebound, and with such ferocity.

Worse still, no medicine seemed to work.