Howl!!
Vivian felt like she had a very long dream.
In her dream, she relived her life.
When her mother gave birth to her, the fair and chubby baby girl fell to the ground with loud cries. Her young and strong father carried her and played with the tip of her nose. She had a silly smile on her face while her gentle and kind mother laid on the bed with a blissful expression.
She enjoyed these happy days for some time. When she was a few years old, she accidentally overheard a conversation in her parents’ room when she was going to the toilet late at night.
This was the first time she came to know that having a daughter was something that was looked down upon. A girl would not be able to inherit the family business, nor would she be able to help out in the fields. No matter how much a girl was cared for and loved, she would eventually get married when she grew up and benefit others.
Her father wanted a boy.
Hence, not long after, her brother was born.
It should have been a happy thing, but the dream suddenly dimmed.
It was a familiar scene, but the characters inside were in completely different states. Her father sat in his chair as if he had lost his soul, allowing her newborn brother to wail while her mother…
Her mother…
Her mother laid motionless on the bed. Only the large bloodstains on the sheets hinted that something had happened. It was the first time she had seen blood and the first time she had seen…
A corpse.
People were so fragile.
In her dream, Vivian saw a black shadow standing behind her. She had a similar face and silhouette as herself. No, to be precise, they were exactly the same, as if they were the same person.
The black shadow stuck to her back and seemed to be whispering to her as she pointed at the baby who was still crying in his swaddling clothes.
“It’s all… his fault.”
“He’s the one who killed Mother. He’s the one who ruined this family. He’s the one who…”
“No…”
“No!!” The young girl hugged her head in pain and screamed.
“He’s my brother, the only boy in the family. I… I’m going to take care of him. I’m going to be a good sister who doesn’t disappoint Mom. A sister..”
“…”
The scene changed again.
This time, the time flow was much faster. Many scenes flashed past.
Vivian saw the scenes of her washing the bedsheets that her brother wet by the stream in the middle of the winter. She saw the scenes of her dragging her drunken father home with her thin body. She saw the scenes of her bending over and cutting the grass blade by blade in the fields under the blazing sun. She also saw the scenes of her mending others’ clothes all night to earn money to pay off their debts.
However, the only difference between these scenes was that ever since her mother passed away, there would always be that black shadow floating behind her. It was always following her, inseparable as if they were one.
When washing the bedsheets, the black shadow would constantly complain about her stupid little brother. When she was dragging her father, the black shadow would float to her father’s body and kick him a few times. When she was cutting grass under the hot sun, the black shadow would complain that it was hot and tired. When she was mending clothes late at night, the black shadow would yawn continuously and sleep on her back.
But even so, they were like two parallel lines, not intersecting with each other.
Until…
That rainy night.
The memories that were supposed to come would still come, even if you hid them deep inside and thought you had forgotten them.
When the sickle cut through his neck easily and blood filled her vision again, fear and remorse almost made her collapse…
She became the shadow behind her, and the shadow behind her became her.
A voice sounded.
“Hehe…”
“What should I do with you?”
This was the first time Vivian had heard the black shadow’s voice. When she heard it in real life, her first reaction was that it sounded like the daughter of a landlord. Her tone took on a note of pretended disdain.
But… it was nice.
Her voice was really nice.
Perhaps it was telepathy, but this voice sounded once again in the dream that should have been silent.
“Hey.”
“Wake up!”
“Stop sleeping!”
Vivian opened her eyes groggily.
She found herself half-lying under a big tree, with Black lying in her arms.
The first thing the girl did when she woke up was to gather her courage and nervously look back at the sky behind her. However, after staring blankly for a long time, there was nothing there.
Perhaps even Vivian herself didn’t realize it.
An unconcealable look of disappointment appeared on her face.
“What’s wrong, Vivian?” Liao Zixuan, who was lying in the little girl’s arms, naturally noticed Vivian’s small movements after waking up.
But he had made a bet with her second personality.
He couldn’t tell Vivian about the existence of her second personality in any way, or else the bet would be null and void. This was also why Liao Zixuan was asking the obvious and pretending to be dumb.
By the way.
Whether the second personality was in a deep sleep depended on the size of the darkness in Vivian’s heart.
The glorious thing was that, under the relentless corruption by a certain little wolf cub, the darkness in Vivian’s heart had grown to a stage where the second personality could successfully remain active within Vivian’s mind as she pleased. Like an audience, she shared Vivian’s senses and understood everything that was happening outside.
“No… I’m fine. Thank you, Black, for keeping watch over me. How long was I… unconscious?”
“About half an hour or so.” Liao Zixuan thought to himself. He didn’t let anything slip about what had happened during her period of unconsciousness and was only responding to Vivian’s questions.
“Half an hour… Oh no! We have to hurry!”
Anxiety appeared on the girl’s face when she heard the answer. However, she was stunned when she was about to stand up.
Vivian’s gaze stopped on… the weapon that was resting in the shade of the trees within her left arm’s reach.
It was a…
A blood-red sickle.
“Don’t be in such a hurry to leave. Let’s take a look at this, Vivian.” Liao Zixuan’s telepathy pulled Vivian’s complicated thoughts back to reality.
The wolf pup picked up an envelope and a small purple blade of grass from the side. They were items looted from Roul’s corpse.
“This… this is?!” The little girl’s attention wasn’t on the envelope, but on the purple grass.
“Amethyst Grass,” Liao Zixuan answered truthfully.
Then, afraid that the girl would forget, he added on.
“It’s the medicinal herb that we’ve worked so hard to find. It can be used to cure your brother’s illness.”
A look of surprise flashed across Vivian’s face.
Just as she was about to raise the idea of hurrying home with the medicinal herb, the girl’s gaze landed on the envelope that she had subconsciously ignored.
When the little girl opened it, her expression changed.
The letter stated that her younger brother’s strange illness was not a rarity. There were already quite a few cases in the Fire Codex City and the Amethyst Grass was currently the only medicinal herb that could suppress it.
At the same time, the letter also let Vivian know about the evil deeds that the Fire God Sect had secretly been carrying out in the Dreadclaw Forest. It explained why their group had been intercepted and prevented from entering the forest.
In order to hasten the growth of the Amethyst Grass, they did not hesitate to help the monsters evolve and grow.
If they allowed this to continue, the monsters in the Claw Forest would grow stronger at an insane rate and lose control.
Once the monsters in the forest went berserk and formed a wave of monsters, the first ones to suffer would be the villages in the countryside.
Therefore, Vivian now had two choices.
First, bring the Amethyst Grass home quickly and leave the village with her brother and father before the Fire God Sect’s catalyst ritual ends. The further they went, the better.
Second…
Vivian couldn’t help but look at the sickle on her left.
Second,
To go deeper into the forest, find the lair of the “Dreadclaw”, eliminate all the Fire God Sect members, stop the catalyst ritual, and “conveniently” bring with them all the Amethyst Grass that were planted inside.
If it were in the past, Vivian wouldn’t even need to think about it, because the “second” option wouldn’t have appeared at all.
But now…
The young girl took a deep breath. As if she had used a great deal of courage, she reached out and grabbed the sickle lying quietly on the ground.
Then…
“Black, are you afraid?”
The reply to the little girl was a howl that was arrogant with a hint of disdain, provocative with a dash of confidence.
Howl!!