Zaun, the Sump.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, a group of people stood outside the door, watching Isha push the door open and then rushed towards her.
Isha closed the door first, a cup tucked under her arm, shook her head vigorously at everyone, and then stretched out a hand to push them back.
"How is Jinx?" Silco asked with concern.
Isha couldn't speak, she just nodded and then shook her head.
Wei sighed beside her and said in a deep voice, "It's been three days, and he's only drunk two sips of water and hasn't eaten anything at all."
"For the past three days, she has locked herself in her room and hasn't made a sound. The only person who can get in is Isha, but she won't eat the food Isha brings her. I call her from outside the door, but she won't respond."
In three days, Zaunite had returned to Zaun from Piltover, and with economic aid from Piltover, Zaun, which was devastated by the floods, is being rebuilt.
Silco has been extremely busy these past few days. In fact, the entire Zaun management team is busy, but Silco is the busiest of them all. Even so, he still manages to set aside an hour each day to come here and check on Jinx, learning about Jinx condition from Vi and Janna.
If it weren't for the Goddess Janna constantly watching over Jinx and telling them that Jinx hadn't done anything in the room, just lay on the bed,
Sleep and wake up, wake up and sleep again.
The lights were off, the curtains weren't drawn, and I was enveloped in darkness, but my breathing remained steady.
Without Janna's words, Silco really would have sent people to break down the door and force their way in.
More than fearing Jinx would hate him, Silco was afraid that Jinx would lose her mind and choose to commit suicide.
Jinx would do something like that. Before, when Vi was joking with Jinx, Silco was standing next to her carrying the snacks Jinx bought.
Wei said at the time, "You're so clingy to Li Ke, but what will you do if Li Ke dies one day and is no longer around?"
Vi was joking, but Jinx's reply was serious. She looked at Vi, blocked her path, and said, word by word, "I will die with him."
This is also what Silco is most worried about right now.
"Let her calm down a bit more. If that doesn't work, have Singed prepare some nutritional supplements and administer them to her while she's sleeping," Silco said in a deep voice.
Isha also left with the cup, head down, silently heading towards her room.
Wei watched her retreating figure, thought for a moment, and then followed her.
After Li Ke's death, the saddest person was Jinx, followed by Isha.
Because overnight, everything that Isha had owned was gone.
Her doting brother is gone, and her idolized sister has become lifeless.
Isha's beautiful little world has been destroyed.
So, in Wei's view, Isha is truly strong and a very good child.
She carries the weight of the family on her small frame. When everyone comes, she seems perfectly normal and even smiles at them. But after everyone leaves, when only Vi and Isha are alone, she becomes silent and lost in thought.
Isa did this because Isha felt that her sister no longer had a brother, and she couldn't let her sister worry anymore. Isha wanted to show her sister her best side so that her sister wouldn't worry about her.
Tell your sister not to feel burdened.
Two more days passed. Today, Vi was waiting outside Jinx's door when Ekko arrived with a group of the Sump enforcers.
"What's wrong?" Vi asked Ekko as she stepped forward.
Ekko's expression was complicated. He glanced at the closed room and said, "It's a gift from the Boss."
"Li Ke?"
"Yes, it's for Jinx. Today is her birthday."
Wei was taken aback, because she had been so busy lately that she had forgotten it was Jinx's birthday.
The door was suddenly opened, and Vi turned her head, but she couldn't see Jinx.
But everyone heard Jinx's voice.
"Give me."
She said in a hoarse voice.
Wei looked at the pile of things Ekko had brought—eleven boxes, each tied with a pretty blue bow, and they were all different sizes.
She said, "You all go back, I'll take them in."
Ekko nodded and told them to put the things down.
Wei rolled up her sleeves and started moving things.
One by one, they carried them outside the door, and then a pair of white, glowing hands reached out and took the boxes back inside.
Wei didn't go inside; instead, after moving all the boxes, she waited quietly outside.
Inside the room, a thin figure was dismantling boxes in the darkness.
Jinx picked one up, looked down at it, and then Jinx opened the first box, which was only the size of a palm.
Inside was a blue bow tie with a touch of pink in the middle, which looked very nice, and there was also a note next to it.
She picked up the note that was next to her bow tie—
[Jinx, you were taken away by Silco this year, so from this year onwards, I will celebrate your birthday with you. So, happy birthday, Jinx.]
Oh, right, I remember when we were little you envied the kids in Piltover and wanted a pretty bow tie, and you even argued with Vander about it, right? I spent a long time choosing at the market, and finally picked this bow tie, it's blue, very pretty, just like yours.
Jinx picked up the bow tie and placed it on the bed.
She looked at the next box.
Upon opening it, there was still a note, tied to a human-shaped doll.
[By nine years old, you should have all your teeth by now, right? When you were little, you smiled exactly like Isha, both missing a tooth, haha, so ugly. This year, you made yourself a Via doll, so I made one for you too. Making dolls is really hard, even if it's not pretty, you have to keep it safe for me. This one is handmade, a limited edition Li Ke doll!]
The doll was small, only a dozen centimeters tall, with a black ring around its head that was hair, and its face was patched up; it really wasn't pretty.
But Jinx hugged the doll tightly and remained silent for a long time. Then, she opened the third box.
Inside the box was a pair of beautiful blue princess shoes. The shoes were too small, a children's size, Jinx couldn't wear them at all.
[Happy 10th birthday, Jinx! Throw away the Milo and Craig dolls. I'm just like you, easily jealous, so if I want to play with dolls again, I'll play with the Li Ke limited edition. If you think they're ugly, I'll make another one for your 19th birthday. My crafting skills will definitely improve in a year, how about that?]
"."
The fourth and fifth boxes represent Jinx's eleventh and twelveth years, respectively.
For her eleventh birthday, Li Ke gave her a delicate Cupcake.
[Happy 11th birthday, Jinx! Although I didn't make this cake myself, I taught Aunt Sila how to make it, so it counts as one of my creations. I couldn't make it for you personally because of its shelf life; after all, I have a lot to do lately, and I also have many gifts to prepare for you.]
Jinx bent down, lowered her head, opened her mouth, and took a bite of the cake.
Two tears fell onto the cake. She looked up and swallowed the cake with difficulty.
"So sweet."
When Jinx was twelve, Li Ke gave Jinx a bunch of beautiful paints; judging by their style, they were bought in Piltover and were quite expensive.
[Happy 12th birthday, Jinx! You love to draw, and Silco must have bought you a lot of paints, but it's okay. From now on, I'll insure all your paints. This year, I'm fourteen and have started working at the docks. I'm rich!]
She collected the paint boxes, straightened up from her kneeling position, and placed the boxes on the small table.
Then, Jinx started unpacking the boxes again.
For her thirteenth birthday, Li Ke gave her a necklace as a gift.
The note asked how she was doing in Silco; girls all like necklaces, she must like one too.
Jinx put on the necklace.
For my fourteenth birthday, Li Ke gave me two bracelets.
On the note, Li Ke wrote that he also had one, the same model as Jinx's.
But now, both bracelets are here.
Jinx continued unpacking the boxes, but her hands began to tremble. She slowly opened the remaining boxes, gazing at each one for a long time.
My gift for turning fifteen was a beautiful handgun, with a blue body and an exaggerated design, very much in the style of a blue-haired madman.
[I Viktor to make me a pistol, modeled after yours. It can hold Hextech Gem, making it more powerful than your previous pistol. If I ever upset you, you can use this pistol to shoot me, but you definitely won't, right?]
Her sixteenth birthday gift was a pair of exquisite black boots. The boots felt very high-quality to the touch, and they had several metal plates attached to them. On the metal plates were her cartoon images: an exaggerated Blue-haired Monster girl, baring her teeth and claws, and another metal plate with a black-haired little figure holding a child.
[Happy 16th birthday, Jinx! Your feet don't smell, really they don't, I promise. I look at your feet because I like them. Cough, maybe my tastes are a little different from others?]
Jinx put the shoes away and looked at her feet.
It was covered in blood and shards of glass.
For the past few days, she has been walking barefoot on the ground. Shards of glass have gotten into her feet, but she hasn't paid any attention to them because she can no longer feel the pain.
But now, looking at her little feet, she wanted to remove all the shards of glass.
But she still looked at the next box.
Upon opening it, she found a Pocket Watch, a gift from Li Ke for her seventeenth birthday.
[Happy 17th birthday! This is the year we met. To be honest, Jinx, I was quite afraid of you at first. After all, you've become so crazy, even the Zaunite are afraid of you. I was trembling when you held me to sleep at night, didn't you notice? But Jinx, I have to admit, I've slowly started to like you. The Piltover people were right, I'm a lunatic, otherwise how could I fall in love with a psychopath like you?]
Jinx opened her Pocket Watch, inside was a photo of her and Li Ke. In the Fugen Tavern, Li Ke was sitting at the bar, and she was behind Li Ke, laughing and making a finger gesture. It was a photo Ekko had taken of the two of them.
Gripping the Pocket Watch tightly, Jinx looked at the last box.
When the boxes were opened, the largest box contained the smallest gift.
It's just a lipstick.
[Happy 18th birthday, Jinx! May Zaun become even better in the future. This lipstick is my coming-of-age gift to you. This year, you've finally grown up. There are many things I don't have to tolerate anymore. Get ready, once you see what you want to see, you'll have to give birth to a little Li Ke for me. I wonder if he'll have blue hair or black hair, but please, please don't have black and blue hair—that's too unconventional.]
"."
The room gradually fell silent, broken only by rustling sounds—the sound of Jinx tidying up the gifts.
Outside the door, Wei, who hadn't slept well for the past few days, leaned against the door, looking exhausted.
She sat on the floor, her hands dangling forward on her knees, and leaned back against the door with her eyes closed.
She was about to take a nap, but as soon as she closed her eyes and drifted off, Wei heard a hoarse voice coming from inside the room.
"Elder sister."
Vi woke up instantly, scrambling to her feet and placing her hand on the door. "Jinx, I'm here! What's wrong? Are you hungry? I'll go heat it up for you."
"No, help me. Get me some clothes," Jinx's voice came out weakly.
Wei nodded vigorously and replied loudly, "Okay, wait for me, I'm going now."
Vi dashed into her room. The floodwaters had washed away Zaun, destroying many things. Vi's clothes were brand new, bought from Piltover.
After rummaging through her closet, she finally chose a pair of trousers, a black T-shirt, and a blue jacket.
Carrying the clothes, Vi ran back to Jinx's door, patted it, and asked, "Can I come in?"
"Um."
Wei pushed open the door. The room was dark, with dried water stains, shards of broken glass, and pools of blood on the floor. Gift boxes were piled up in the corner, arranged neatly from largest to smallest.
The bloodstains on the floor made Wei's heart skip a beat. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the house, she looked at the bed in the room.
On the small bookshelf sat a blue cat-ear hat, its center soaked, and next to it was a pair of boots.
Then there were some exquisite little things: paint, a necklace, a stopwatch, and a half-eaten cake.
Jinx sat on the bed, her blue hair spread out messily, covering the entire bed, even the corners of the bed were covered in Jinx's hair.
The dense blue fabric spread out like a spider web, and she sat in the center, grabbing the hem of her dress with both hands and starting to take off her clothes in front of Wei.
She tossed her dirty clothes aside, Jinx, naked, got up and walked towards Vi.
Vi looked down at Jinx's lower abdomen, which was deathly pale. Looking upwards, her ribs protruded noticeably. Jinx's thinness pained Vi's heart.
Jinx
"It's okay, sister, I'm fine now." Jinx looked at Vi. She was already very fair-skinned, but when she was with Li Ke, she would eat a lot every day and go to sleep early with Li Ke in her arms at night.
She was fair-skinned, but very healthy.
But now, after three days without food, her face was deathly pale, her cheeks were thin, and a chilling smile appeared on her face.
Wei couldn't laugh.
Jinx was laughing, but it was a lifeless laugh. Her eyes were devoid of any emotion, and her eye sockets were darkened. Her white eyelids were covered with blue veins, her blue pupils were cloudy, and the whites of her eyes were bloodshot.
"I'm going to take a shower first." She took her clothes, pushed open the door, and headed towards the bathroom.
Wei quickly followed.
Then, Wei waited outside the bathroom.
Biting her fingers, Vi didn't know how to comfort Jinx.
Should I advise against it?
To save everyone, Li Ke sacrificed himself, urging Jinx to forget him and let him go?
It's impossible because even Vi herself can't forget that scene. She's been exhausted these past few days, not only because she's taking care of Jinx, but also because Vi is also grieving for Li Ke.
With Li Ke gone, Zaun will have no one to bicker with, and she won't be able to enjoy a delicious breakfast in the mornings anymore.
The sound of water came from the shower. Wei sighed and remained silent.
Jinx let the hot water pound on her body, her eyes closed, her head bowed, her thin shoulders trembling, water streaming down her cheeks, a mixture of tears and hot water that she couldn't tell was flowing onto the ground.
Then, she slowly raised her head and rinsed her cheeks.
When Jinx opened her eyes, they were completely red.
She began to rub her hair, cleaning off the dirt and grime, and washed herself. Picking up a towel, she walked to the mirror and looked at herself.
"Jinx."
She muttered to herself, placed her hands on the corners of her mouth, and pulled her cheeks upwards with her fingers, revealing an ugly smile.
Don't cry.
"Li Ke won't let you cry."
"So, this is the last time you'll cry."
"Right?"
She talked to herself in the mirror, her fingers tightening more and more, her smile growing increasingly manic.
"He wanted Zaun to get better and better, and he almost succeeded, he almost did it."
"Now, it's your turn to do this. You can't go to him yet, Jinx. This is the gift you need to give him."
"Smile, Jinx."
Please don't let him worry anymore.
She was laughing while crying.