The Keeper of Myths - Chapter 10

Xia Tong was fed mangoes again.

The reason was that she refused to do a livestream for her fans on her birthday, and she wasn’t practicing the piano properly either. The feeling of an allergic reaction was unbearable-the rash on her body was hot and itchy, and her neck felt as if someone was strangling her, making it hard to breathe. This time, she was sick for a long while, lying in bed for several days.

Cheng Hong played the role of a good mother in front of the nurses, speaking softly and gently, telling her to behave and stay put, while she went out to buy food for her.

For the first time, Xia Tong wanted to run away.

She took advantage of the moment when the doctor was changing her dressing, pulled out her own IV, changed her clothes, and, sticking close to the wall and blending into the crowd, squeezed her way into the elevator. The people in the elevator, seeing she was just a little girl, made room for her and asked which floor she wanted.

“First floor.”

The hospital’s first floor opened directly onto a main road-she could go anywhere from there. She had no guide dog, no white cane, so she could only grope her way forward, feeling along the flowerbeds by the roadside. Soon, someone noticed something was wrong and came up to ask where her parents were.

Xia Tong bit her lip and refused to answer, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Little girl, are you blind?” a warm, deep voice asked, reaching out to wipe away her tears. “Are you lost? Do you want me to take you to the police?”

Xia Tong shook her head and, crying, asked, “Grandpa, where am I? Is it far from the hospital?”

“Not far,” the old man replied. “You came from the direction of the hospital. This is a traffic light about two or three hundred meters away from it.”

She was just a little blind girl, with nothing but a face so pretty it inspired pity. Not clever enough, not ruthless enough-she could only be a dodder vine, manipulated at others’ whim, with no say over her own life or death. The first time she ever summoned the courage to escape, she ended up standing under a traffic light, sobbing uncontrollably.

But what did it matter that she had run away? She had no money and couldn’t see-maybe she’d freeze to death on the street the next day, or be sent back to that hellhole.

The old man couldn’t wipe away her tears no matter how hard he tried. He sighed and said, “Did something bad happen to you?”

Xia Tong couldn’t bring herself to say it.

In her eyes, Xia Jiang and Cheng Hong were the embodiment of all adults in the world-wolves in sheep’s clothing, wrapped in lies. She couldn’t ask anyone for help.

Seeing that she wouldn’t speak, the old man didn’t press her. He just placed a round object in her hand.

“This is a pocket watch. Originally, the other side was meant to hold a photo of my family. But I’ve always been alone, just an old man with no relatives, so I had a mirror fitted instead.” The old man patted her head. “It’s yours now. Cheer up, little girl. No matter how hard life gets, there’s always a way.”

In the end, Xia Jiang found her and brought her back. A fan had taken her photo and posted it online, asking if she was lost. Xia Tong clung to the pocket watch, refusing to let go, and Xia Jiang, unable to reveal his true nature in public, had no choice but to let her be.

That day was Xia Tong’s birthday.

Late at night, Xia Jiang and Cheng Hong were arguing again, this time about the declining popularity and stats of their videos. Xia Tong curled up in her bedroom, trembling, terrified of being caught in the crossfire.

“Are you afraid?”

Suddenly, a clear, childish voice asked.

Xia Tong opened her eyes in confusion. Though she couldn’t see, her other senses were sharp, and she hadn’t noticed anyone else in the room.

The moonlight, shattered like drifting snow, swirled and solidified in front of Xia Tong, forming the shape of a person.

If Xia Tong could see, she would have found that this person had the exact same face as her. The figure knelt, looking down at Xia Tong-the two of them like twin lotus flowers blooming side by side on the water’s surface.

She curled her fingers and wiped away Xia Tong’s tears, speaking softly: “You awakened me, so I’ll grant your wish-you want to live, don’t you? Then I’ll kill them for you.”

Xia Tong felt the warmth from the pocket watch in her hand and stammered, “Are you… a fairy?”

How strange. This person’s hand was cold, her words cruel and merciless, yet the little girl mistook her for a savior.

This was the first miracle the blind child had ever witnessed in her life.

“No, I’m a monster.”

—

“Zhao Xue, this is my last warning to you.” Pei Xueting pressed her Bluetooth earpiece, her tone slightly heavy. “I didn’t come alone. Do you know what a White Phosphorus Bullet is? To a monster, it’s like a poisoned blade to a human. At my command, they’ll turn you into a sieve.”

“You wouldn’t dare shoot,” Zhao Xue said coldly. “Stop trying to scare me. You all know that in my Illusion Technique, what’s fake can become real. If you can’t tell me apart from her, how could you dare to shoot?”

“So you were waiting for me here,” Pei Xueting said with a laugh of exasperation. “Refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit, is that it?”

A sharp glint flashed in Zhao Xue’s eyes. Pei Xueting instinctively raised her hand to shield herself, but couldn’t stop the dizzying sensation of the world spinning around her.
She opened her eyes again, and found herself standing at the bustling intersection.

On one side of the intersection was Jingzhou No.1 Middle School, her alma mater; on the other side was the bus stop. When she was in junior high, her brother would skip class every day to hang out at the arcade, leaving her to take the bus home alone.

This time was no exception.

Pei Xueting looked down at the calluses on her hand from writing, and at her burlap-like school uniform. A nameless anger surged up inside her.

“Xueting, let’s go, let’s go home together.” The sweet-smiling girl from the desk behind reached out to take her hand, but Pei Xueting dodged her.

Pei Xueting stared coldly at the girl’s embarrassed and aggrieved expression, unmoved. She put on her headphones, automatically blocking out everything the girl said. The girl, helpless, turned her back and waited for the light, refusing to say another word.

Pei Xueting silently counted in her heart.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1-

The green light came on, and the crowd surged across the crosswalk, but Pei Xueting stood rooted like a pillar, unmoving. The next moment, an out-of-control truck suddenly barreled through, like a cleaver slicing through, scattering the students crossing the street and smashing the cars waiting at the light into a tangled mess.

The blaring horns and chaotic shouts crashed over her like waves.

Pei Xueting was still counting down.

Ten seconds later, the countdown ended. The cars crushed together by the truck let out a deafening boom, flames erupted instantly, and the blaze even licked at Pei Xueting’s face.

This was the first time Pei Xueting had faced death so directly and brutally.

That day, her brother staggered over from the arcade, his limbs weak, and saw Pei Xueting standing dazed at the intersection. What he didn’t know was that, in Pei Xueting’s eyes, those who had just died seemed to have only slept, then climbed out of their bodies, heading home or continuing on their way as usual.

Except their bodies had become transparent-otherwise, nothing was different.

“Is it beautiful?” Pei Xueting suddenly asked, her tone cold.

Pei Xueting abruptly reached out and touched a gun that should never have existed in the hands of a thirteen-year-old Pei Xueting, then turned and fired three shots.

Like stones thrown into a lake, the surrounding scene rippled and then shattered violently.

Pei Xueting held the gun, the barrel scorching hot.

Zhao Xue, shocked, clutched at the three bullet holes in her chest and suddenly collapsed to her knees. There was no blood, but the wounds from the White Phosphorus Bullet burned fiercely, corroding her skin, bones, and flesh. The pain from her soul nearly knocked her flat.

“Those born with the Heaven-Opening Eye can see yin and yang, discern truth from illusion.” Pei Xueting approached step by step. “You still don’t know me well enough. How could you think such tricks could deceive me?”

“Born with the Heaven-Opening Eye… So you are this generation’s Great Celestial Master,” Zhao Xue murmured.

Pei Xueting did not deny it. “Any last words?”

Zhao Xue smiled with her eyes closed. “I have no accomplices.”

In the distance, Xia Tong trembled.

Pei Xueting shook her head. “I don’t want a false confession. You know the prosecutor’s office would send the case back if you closed it with this.”

Suddenly, hurried footsteps sounded behind her. Pei Xueting didn’t need to turn around to know it was Si Nan and the others, disobeying orders and rushing over. She hadn’t brought anyone else; the snipers were just to scare Zhao Xue.

“I did it all alone. I am a yao by nature.”

Zhao Xue could barely hold on, almost curling up into a ball. One White Phosphorus Bullet had pierced her spine, and she felt as if she were bathing in a sulfur spring, every bone ablaze.

“If you say that, the other well-behaved yao will have complaints,” Pei Xueting sighed. “She’s lying to you, can’t you see?”

Zhao Xue’s laughter was as light as a breeze, but she did not answer.

Like a leopard pouncing for prey, she suddenly sprang up, her five fingers turning into sharp shards of glass, stabbing fiercely at Pei Xueting. As Pei Xueting dodged back, a Rune flew through the air and struck Zhao Xue squarely. Zhao Xue was knocked back, rolling several times on the ground before stopping.

I can only help you this far.

In Zhao Xue’s blurred vision, Xia Tong stumbled toward her.

She closed her eyes.

Live on.

—

“How can I find you?” Xia Tong hugged her teddy bear, leaning against the floor-to-ceiling window and asked.

“Puddles, glass, mirrors-anywhere that can reflect you, I am there.” Zhao Xue, separated by that thin, cold layer of glass, gently stroked her face. “They gave you mangoes again. What does an allergy feel like?”

“Like someone is choking me,” Xia Tong lowered her eyes.

Zhao Xue was silent for a long time, then said, “Let’s swap bodies.”

So Zhao Xue imitated Maksim from TV and played ‘Flight of the Bumblebee,’ scaring Xia Jiang and Cheng Hong out of their wits. Zhao Xue was quite proud of this little trick, so when the two of them pinned her hands and feet and forced mango into her mouth, she turned to look at Xia Tong in the window.
Xia Tong was crying.

Allergies weren’t that painful.

But Xia Tong’s tears seemed like tiny worms, gnawing away at her nonexistent heart until it was riddled with holes.

Would a human shed tears for a demon?

—

Xia Jiang was criminally detained for intentional injury and child abuse. The day the news broke, the internet was flooded with curses, people wishing they could drain every drop of his blood. Xia Tong’s situation drew the attention of the whole society, but she was still under the surveillance of the Special Investigation Bureau.

Amid the patter of rain, Pei Xueting pushed open the hospital room door, wrapped in dampness.

Xia Tong turned her head, looking at her with no expression.

“Don’t look at me like I’m your enemy.” Pei Xueting brushed the water droplets off her coat and placed her pocket watch on the bedside table.

Hearing the sound of metal, Xia Tong hurriedly reached out to grab it. But this time, no matter how she fiddled with it, there was no response.

“She’s dead.” Pei Xueting’s words shattered Xia Tong’s last hope.

Xia Tong’s tears fell, stunned.

“You deliberately let us discover her existence, so you hinted that you had a ‘sister’. Otherwise, we would have gone in circles for much longer.” Pei Xueting clasped her fingers together on her knees. “So what now? Seeing that she was really willing to risk her life for you-do you regret it?”

In Xia Tong’s world, there was no one worth trusting.

Her parents were the ones who blinded her for money, her fans were ignorant cheerleaders watching her tragic life, and her agency was an accomplice to that heartless couple. So she never fully trusted Zhao Xue, always believing Zhao Xue was plotting something against her.

She used Zhao Xue to get rid of Xia Jiang and Cheng Hong, then used the Special Investigation Bureau to get rid of Zhao Xue.

But now Zhao Xue was truly dead.

That demon who shared her appearance, her joy and pain, had completely vanished from this world.

“Little girl, it’s painful when a bad person isn’t bad enough.” Pei Xueting gazed at her tears. “By the way, here’s some good news: because Zhao Xue insisted she had no accomplices before she died, congratulations, you’re innocent. The Special Investigation Bureau won’t punish you.”

Pei Xueting stood up, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, “The bad news is, you only have ten minutes to regret what you’ve done and mourn her. According to the Special Investigation Bureau’s regulations, any human involved in related incidents must undergo brainwashing to erase relevant memories.”

Xia Tong pushed her away in terror. “No! I won’t accept this, you can’t force me!”

“You have no choice.” Pei Xueting said coldly. “Remember well… The only one in this world who truly loved you was a demon. And you will never have any memory of her again.”

—

Si Nan ran all the way into the Action Department, slapping the breakfast he was carrying onto Pei Xueting’s desk with a “smack.” Pei Xueting was startled, deigning to spare a glance from her phone, her eyes saying: “What do you want?”

Little Qilin braced his meager dignity, snorted, lifted his head high and turned to leave, only to bump his knee on the coffee table because he wasn’t watching where he was going.

Pei Xueting was used to his occasional antics, didn’t even look up, and pushed the breakfast to Tan Zhen beside her. Tan Zhen was like her accessory now, following her everywhere, asking questions if he didn’t see her for three minutes. Fortunately, this accessory was dutiful and rarely spoke, so Pei Xueting tolerated him.

“So the breakfast I bet on with you was for that Male Fox Spirit.” Si Nan muttered under his breath, “I knew the boss would forget her own child for a pretty face.”

Pei Xueting hadn’t heard him, but then WeChat popped up with a dozen messages.

In the group chat “Special Investigation Bureau Loving Family,” Di Ting from the Information Department was frantically tagging Pei Xueting:

Di Ting: @Old Pei, when did your department get a Male Fox Spirit? Aren’t talents like that usually at the front desk?

Di Ting: @Arrogant Si Aotian, Little Qilin really knows his own place!

…

This divine beast typed as fast as he eavesdropped; Pei Xueting couldn’t scroll to the top fast enough. Furious, she slammed her phone on the desk, rolled up her sleeves, and was about to go downstairs to confront the Information Department, only to be held back by Xuanwu and Tan Zhen.

“Eavesdropping so brazenly, not even three floors can stop him? I’m going to cut off his ears today. Tan Zhen, let go of me!”

Amid the chaos, Song Xiaoming quietly squatted in front of the aquarium, reading the news.

“Victim of child abuse case, former internet celebrity Xia Tong has been adopted by an overseas family.”