Chapter 94: with translation of chapter title

I looked at the old woman slumped in the passenger seat, frail and cowardly, and my heart filled with endless sorrow.

Why?

What heavenly law have I broken to deserve such injustice?

"Grandma." I called her softly.

Her cloudy eyes lit up instantly, and she smiled all over her face: "Tongtong, you promised to come back with me, right? Good child, as long as you return and apologize to the Kirin God, everything will be alright."

I laughed.

I must have looked awful laughing.

I laughed, and Grandma laughed along.

The other two villagers in the car stared at me as if I were a monster.

Amid that laughter, I coldly said, "Grandma, are you afraid of death?"

Grandma froze, her smile stiffening on her face.

"Since you say my existence threatens the life and death of the whole Tafengcun," I raised my brows, emphasizing my words more, "then you should properly enshrine me and curry favor with me, shouldn't you?"

I think what should be enshrined in the Kirin Temple is not the Kirin God but me!

"You're crazy!" Grandma screamed, lunging to cover my mouth, while the other two villagers were stunned by my words.

I shoved Grandma aside, got out of the car, lifted the scooter, and strode away.

Far off, I could still hear Grandma shouting and cursing behind me.

"Jiang Wantung, you jinx, you dare insult the Kirin God—you'll come to a bad end!"

"Back when your mother prayed for three years in the Kirin Temple and still couldn't conceive, everyone said the Kirin God wouldn't let her have a child, and sure enough—defying the Kirin God is why you, this wicked offspring, were born!"

"If you don't come back with me today, you won't have a good ending either—being the Kirin God's child, you too will suffer the agony of torn flesh and burning fire, dying a miserable death!"

"I'll be waiting for you in hell!"

"..."

The front frame of the scooter was smashed, making it clatter when I rode, but it still couldn't drown out Grandma's vicious curses.

Actually, when I first heard them say the children of Tafengcun were all unwell and my younger siblings had fallen ill, my heart was moved a little.

But I know deep down that even if I returned to Tafengcun, what problem could I possibly solve?

Besides tying me up and sending me to the Kirin Temple as a sacrifice to the Kirin God, what else could they do?

I feel pity for others, but who pities me?

Who cares about my miserable life?

I was driving back all the way, and just as I turned past Xijiekou, Li Qingying spotted me and hurried over to meet me.

She had been waiting for me.

"Xiao Jiu, what happened to your scooter? Did someone hit you?"

"Are you hurt? Let me have a look."

"With a license, on such a short stretch, how could you still get hit? Look, your elbow's scraped raw—I'll put some medicine on it."

She helped me push the scooter inside, then turned to fetch the medicine box and carefully tended to my wound.

The wound was shallow, not painful at all.

But when the hydrogen peroxide touched it, my eyes still reddened.

Li Qingying laughed and said, "Why are you still crying?"

I just shook my head; my heart felt sour and swollen, and I was really about to burst into tears.

One can endure any grievance outside, but what I fear most is coming home to someone warmly and sincerely greeting me, showing concern.

That concern makes all the grievance in my heart bubble up like boiling water, always wanting to cry.

I suddenly hugged Li Qingying and sighed again, "Sister Qingying, it's great to have you."

She gave me a strong sense of belonging to this home.

I am Xiao Jiu, and the Wufu Town Pawnshop is my home.

After dinner, Li Qingying saw I wasn't doing well, urged me to wash up and sleep early, and she stayed to watch the pawnshop for me.

I slept in a daze, and at past three a. m. I was awakened by a sharp pain coming from my arm.

I sat up, turned on the light, and looked.

On the inner side of my left upper arm, where the stabbing pain came from, it felt like a burn, the surrounding skin turned smoky gray and diffused outward, forming a scorch mark the size of a button.

What is this?

Suddenly I recalled Grandma's curses toward me, saying we are all children of the Kirin God.

I too will suffer like those village children—torn flesh and burning fire.

How could it be such a coincidence?

Could her curse have come true?

Fortunately, the scorch mark didn't spread further; I pressed hard on it with my finger, and the burning sensation disappeared.

Maybe I just accidentally scalded somewhere, and it'll heal in a few days.

After all, I need to pull a bow, and the bow's body is all flames; getting slightly scorched by accident is normal, right?

But I still couldn't sleep, leaning against the headboard scrolling on my phone.

Around five o'clock, Tang Tang's WeChat suddenly sent a picture.

I opened it and saw it was a painting.

The painting's overall atmosphere was rather dark, but what I noticed first was actually the background where the easel was placed.

Isn't this the same background as when Tang Tang and I video-chatted and Song Ruoqing was painting?

Is this painting the one Song Ruoqing painted that day?

I brightened the screen again and zoomed in on the painting.

At a glance, the painting's overall atmosphere feels especially oppressive.

The painting shows two children, done in a surrealist style; you can tell they are a boy‑girl twin pair.

But oddly, both children are kneeling, their little heads straining downward, exposing the backs of their necks.

On the children's pale, tender necks, a name is written on each.

The boy's name is Song Xunian.

The girl's name is Song Mingxuan.

After staring at my phone for a while, my eyes felt dry; I blinked to moisten them, and when I looked again I startled myself.

Because at first glance, the children's poses resemble two tombstones.

But the two children in the painting are kneeling on a long table, surrounded by fruit, with a small statue placed in the middle behind them.

The statue is really tiny; if you don't zoom in, it's easy to miss.

But when I could see the statue clearly, my heart skipped a beat, my whole body went cold, and my temples throbbed.

It is a qilin statue.

The qilin's back is covered densely with children's heads.

This… this is very much like the qilin deity enshrined in the Qilin Temple of Tafeng Village.

That one in the temple also bears a hundred children on its back.

The only difference is that the temple's qilin is tall and large, standing on a golden phoenix beneath its feet, whereas the one in the painting lacks that.

Could this be a coincidence?

I quickly saved the painting and exited the view.

I was about to video‑call Tang Tang, wanting to discuss the painting with Song Ruoqing right away.

Over there, Tang Tang's message had already come through: "Little junior sister, Qingqing is gone."

Song Ruoqing is gone?

Let's see, her medicinal bath should have just finished, right?

Has all the residual toxin been cleared from her body?

Where could she go at a time like this?

I tapped the video call, Tang Tang answered immediately, and I asked at once: "Senior sister, where did Miss Song go?"

She left, slipping away in the night. Tang Tang said helplessly, "She left me a note saying she was going back to the Song Family, that she wants to face them herself, and that this painting is to be given to you, asking me to pass it on—Xiao Jiu, do you want to come pick it up, or shall I send it over when I have a chance?"