In the evening, in Zaun, Vi carried the food she had brought from the tavern and sat down at the table with Isha.
Jinx's door remained closed. She had returned to her room after taking a shower in the afternoon, leaving Vi out again.
Vi didn't complain at all, because she was already grateful that Jinx was even available.
Wei picked up a piece of meat and handed it to Isha. Wei ate the vegetables in big mouthfuls, replenishing the energy her body lacked. Isha glanced at Wei, then lowered her head and ate her meal in silence.
Seeing this, Wei lowered her eyes. In the past, when she served food to Isha would always give her a sweet smile.
But now, she doesn't.
It has been a week since Li Ke left. In this week, many things have changed in Zaun. To take a closer look, a statue that is now being built in the square is a statue of Li Ke, which is more than ten meters high, but so far only a platform has been built. Every night, Zaunite go to the riverbank to light the small boat lanterns they made themselves to pray for their leader Li Ke.
Closer to Wei, everyone around her is grieving over Li Ke's departure.
Malson hasn't been to work for a week, Manzu spends his days drinking at the tavern, and that kid Weila was caught by Vi consuming Shimmer last time, so Vi beat him up and forcibly locked him in a dark room to reflect on his actions.
Isha stopped smiling, Ekko became taciturn, Viktor devoted himself to researching technology that Zaun, Vander and Silco...
And then there's Jinke.
Just then, Vi heard the door open and immediately turned around, where she saw Jinx leaving the room.
Wearing a beautiful long dress, new shoes, a necklace around her snow-white neck, and a blue coat over her dress, with her hair flowing down to her feet, Jinx walked straight toward Vi and Isha.
"Jinx," Vi whispered.
Jinx looked at her, smiled, and raised her voice, "What's up, sis? I'm hungry, I want to go out for dinner, is that not allowed?"
"Of course, of course!" Wei quickly replied.
Isha quickly got off her stool and ran to get Jinx a bowl and chopsticks.
She placed the bowl and chopsticks on the table, stared at Jinx's gaunt face, and pursed her lips.
Jinx reached out and touched Isha's head, ruffled it, and said with a grin, "It's alright, Isha."
"Wow--"
With a muffled sound coming from her throat, Isha burst into tears, hugging Jinx's legs tightly with both hands, burying her head in Jinx's thighs, and crying out in anguish.
Jinx bent down, cradled Isha's head, and whispered with a smile, "It's okay, Isha. Cry, it's okay to cry. It's my fault, I've neglected your feelings these past few days, but I won't do it again."
Vi quietly looked at Jinx.
"Stop looking at me, eat. I have to go to work after I eat," Jinx said softly, glancing at Vi.
Wei was taken aback and asked, "Work?"
"Yes, rebuild Zaun, and also, create new weapons." Jinx picked up Isha, placed her on a stool, then sat down and picked up her chopsticks.
She really had no appetite, but she forced herself to eat, despite feeling nauseous and uncomfortable.
"Also, sister, I need your help with something later," Jinx said to Vi, chewing her food.
Wei nodded vigorously and said loudly, "Tell me, I'll do whatever you say."
"Don't be so nervous, it's just a small thing," Jinx said with a smile.
This is the fourth time she's smiled since she came out. The width of her smile hasn't changed at all; it looks very happy, but also very fake.
After dinner, Isha took the initiative to clear the table, while Vi, with a complicated expression, carried a pair of scissors and went to Jinx's room.
The lights were on in the room, and there were still many shards of glass on the floor, but they were all piled up in the corner. On the bed, there was a rag doll with black hair on the headboard, and Wei recognized it at a glance.
Jinx sat in front of the makeup mirror and looked at Vi: "Come on, sis."
"Are you really going to cut it?" Vi asked, holding the scissors and looking at Jinx's hair with reluctance.
"Cut," Jinx said, grabbing a handful of hair and handing it to Vi.
Vi took a deep breath, picked up the scissors, and cut Jinx's hair.
"Click."
"Click,"
"Click."
With each sound, Jinx closed her eyes, letting Vi grab her hair.
When Jinx opened her eyes again, she looked at herself in the mirror.
Her hair only reached the back of her head, and her bangs were just at eye level. Jinx swept her hair with her hand and felt refreshed.
"Long hair is inconvenient for work. This hairstyle is very convenient and looks quite nice. Thank you." Jinx turned around, took off the hair tie from her wrist, and tied her hair up.
Her hair wasn't long, just big enough to be held in one hand, and she tied it into a short ponytail. She smiled at Wei.
Wei didn't speak; she really didn't know what to say.
It might seem like Jinx has gotten better, but Vi knows perfectly well that it's not that Jinx has gotten better at all!
In the afternoon, Jinx, sporting a new look, went to the Zaun council building. Silco was startled when he saw her, but Jinx just smiled and then asked Silco for a group of people; she wanted to research weapons for Zaun.
Silco did not refuse, because he dared not refuse Jinx's request in the present moment.
With this group of people, Jinx created a technology team, with Senator Heimerdinger serving as the team's mentor, helping Jinx research new weapons.
Li Ke's death also changed Heimerdinger.
If Hextech develops a powerful weapon, would Li Ke be able to avoid dying when facing that monster?
The professor no longer preaches peace and refuses to use technology to create weapons. Instead, he chooses to help Jinx because Heimerdinger discovers that the people of the two cities can live without weapons, but we really cannot live without weapons!
Faced with such a powerful being, the current technology of the two cities seems like a joke.
This gave Heimerdinger an idea: a weapon that could be assembled using Hextech to create powerful creatures, capable of defeating the Darkin and protecting the future of Piltover and Zaun.
Time flies, and with Piltover's help, Zaun was quickly rebuilt. Renata's policies were implemented, and Zaun's economy experienced an unprecedented boost.
The seventh-generation air Purification Device has completely changed the environment of Zaun. This generation of air Purification Device will not be updated in the short term because it has achieved low noise, low energy consumption, and high efficiency.
Despite this, Zaun remains dark, gloomy, and damp; however, in terms of air quality, Zaun is now no different from Piltover.
Winter passed and spring arrived.
At the end of March, a huge statue appeared in the Hope Community of the Sump in Zaun. The statue was about 15 meters high and 3 meters wide. It was a smiling young man wearing a blue cat-ear hat on his head. On his left hand, which was raised to touch his chin, there was a child-style wristwatch on his wrist.
He smiled gently and kindly, his eyes fixed on the front of Zaun.
There are three such statues in the Sump, two in the Dance Hall, and one in the Mid-level Plaza.
Even Piltover has created one, right at the entrance of Piltover University, one of the busiest spots in Piltover.
The inscription beneath the statue reads, "A tribute to the great hero of both cities, the eternal king of Zaun — Li Ke."
In the Hope Community at dusk, Marna, who was going out, saw a familiar blue color.
In the past two months, Jinx's hair has grown quite a bit, and her bangs have reached just below her ears. She greets the people in Hope Community with a bright smile on her face.
But she was still very thin, so thin that she looked like she could be blown away by a gust of wind. She was completely different from her former self. Jinx used to be thin, but she had muscles and was very healthy. But now, her skin was tightly clung to her bones, and her slender fingers looked like withered branches, without an ounce of flesh on them.
Marna looked at Jinx's smile and listened to the whispers around her.
It has been three months and seven days since Lord Li Ke left Zaun. Many people in Zaun still remember him, but many others have gradually begun to forget him because of Zaun's busy construction and its rapidly growing economy.
Marna felt that they would gradually forget Lord Li Ke, and that they couldn't be blamed for it.
But they say Jinx is heartless, that she's the one who should be most upset, yet she laughs every day and works every day, as if she doesn't care about it at all.
Was she not saddened or heartbroken by Lord Li Ke's death?
Marna really wanted to slap the person who said those things and tell them to stop talking nonsense.
Because she once asked Vi about Jinx's behavior, Vi seriously told Marna that Jinx was more upset than anyone else, and even now, while some people have moved on, she is still sad.
She's not heartless; she just... only has a smile on her face.
My sister is broken.
These are Wei's exact words to Marna.
Marna also believed Vi because she could see Jinx every day. Her body, her mental state, and what she did every day told Marna that Vi was right.
Just like now, after greeting everyone, Jinx straightened her skirt and sat quietly next to the statue.
She closed her eyes, propped herself up with her hands behind her, tilted her head back, and felt the evening breeze.
She comes here every afternoon after get off work and doesn't go home until late at night.
"Li Ke, it'll be quick."
"Once this weapon is completed, once Zaun has its own defensive capabilities..."
"I'll come find you."
"I miss you."
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