The child nodded.
Her face was full of obedient innocence.
"I understand."
The child suppressed all the doubts and confusion in her heart.
She did not need to think too much.
Grandma had said that what the eyes saw... was not necessarily true.
She only needed to trust Grandpa and Grandma.
"Good girl."
The old lady stroked the child's head.
"You must remember this time."
"Leilei."
"You don't have that many chances to make mistakes."
"If there's a next time..."
The old lady put on a stern face. "Grandma will really be angry."
"Do you understand, Leilei?"
The child's heart gave a little shudder.
She hurriedly nodded.
I understand.
"Say it out loud."
The old lady was dissatisfied with the child's silent response.
Huh?
The child was flustered, helpless, and confused.
What should she say?
The old lady's temple twitched slightly.
"Say..."
The old lady enunciated each word. "You understand."
"Say that you won't see the big leopard again."
"I won't..."
The old lady watched as the child answered with certainty and resolve.
There was even the faintest hint of a warning in her words.
Won't—
No.
It was that there could not be a next time.
"I won't say that I've seen the big leopard again."
The old lady was very precise.
The old lady did not know whether the child's fantasies were controlled by her own will.
If she strongly opposed this hallucination...
Would the hallucination appear again?
Perhaps it would.
Perhaps it would not.
If it appeared again...
The child had to understand that it was a hallucination.
She must not respond in any way.
She should just act as if she had seen nothing.
And she especially must not tell anyone that she had seen the big leopard.
At