After getting two gifts, the girl was more than satisfied. She gently touched the ring, her eyes sparkling and cheeks flushed like peaches.
Both of them stayed silent, letting the child settle in to speak.
The girl really was happy by the gift. But there was something heavier behind the smile. Her eyes dimmed just a little more than before as she spoke about the matter.
"They were..more than ten men. And..more girls like me." Her eyes flickered faintly with confusion and unspoken fear. "Some were..boys too."
Color drained from Lìngxiāo's face.
'Boys are being raped here too??'
'They are not only pedophiles..but also the most disgusting cut-sleeves who have ever existed..'
He shot a sharp look at Chóng Fēi—already finding him staring back at him.
Chóng Fēi sat uncomfortably as if those words were somehow directed at him. He bit back his curse and looked back at her, focusing on the conversation and keeping it natural as if they were just talking.
But Lìngxiāo knew he might not stop within talking. And this rage sometimes made him question if this was actually him who killed his father and then forgot, or if he was mentally so broken deep down to think this way.
"And..do you know any of them? Familiar faces? Someone who might have been behind me earlier?" Chóng Fēi asked, his voice still gentle. He kept her palms back to his cheek, leaving no room for any fear but only warmth.
And it worked too.
Half of her mind seemed to be processing if Chóng Fēi was really talking to her like this—she was cupping his face and owned a beautiful ring.
She thought a bit. Then said, "Chief.."
Chóng Fēi shut his eyes with an exhale, his warm smile the only thing masking how angry he might be inside. Only Lìngxiāo saw the tightness of his jaw and the way his brows held tension.
'No wonder this man was also nervous, as if Fēi Gōngzǐ had grabbed the right spot.'
Lìngxiāo didn't know if he was the one who needed comfort for the anger, or Chóng Fēi. Both were tight as a spring, holding back just for the sake of the child.
For Lìngxiāo, it was for both of them.
Thankfully, his hand didn't transform into that black jade right now—though the way his skin felt cold, he feared it would be triggered not by any intimate touch but by his unstable anger.
Then a gentle tug over the single lock of hair came forward over his chest. His attention went there. The child was gripping it lightly, tugging him to cup her face too as if it was her only comfort.
Chóng Fēi swallowed down as if the discomfort from the information was any tablet. His eyes narrowed, signaling to do as the child wished.
Lìngxiāo exhaled a breath he didn't think he might have been holding. He lowered his hat aside with a softened smile.
He moved to the other side of the bed—at the right side beside Chóng Fēi, lowered himself, tilting his head towards her hand at his right cheek.
His cheeks felt almost warm from the very little distance he had with Chóng Fēi's cheek at his left side.
As he joined, the girl flushed in happiness while looking at both of them. She looked like she couldn't really separate her gaze from either of them.
Chóng Fēi tilted his head towards her palm. His tone suggesting and knowing. "You shouldn't decide so firmly if you know the answer wouldn't come any sooner."
He seemed to voice all that she was struggling with. So even within this tight moment, she couldn't help but giggle, making them smile too.
But somehow Lìngxiāo didn't realize how effective any child's gentle, innocent warmth felt like steadying his ruthless emotions. His palm felt normally warm again.
His gaze shifted to Chóng Fēi from the corner of his eyes. The strands of his hair hiding almost the rest of his gaze on him.
'How did he notice what steadies me before I did?'
'Another coincidence?'
'Mō Qīn really erased his memory or..is it still there..? Has he got it back already? This quick?'
'His headspace is..this strong?'
'How can he stay so calm if he knows about me?'
Chóng Fēi's eyes narrowed softly as his gaze was still on her, seeming unaware of Lìngxiāo's gaze beneath his hair. He finally asked carefully to her again—returning to the topic. "Only chief? Or more were around? How about..those two who tried to argue with me about the meeting..?"
She nodded immediately like she remembered a really important detail which she couldn't forget no matter what.
"Those two.." Chóng Fēi muttered really low under his breath, biting back the rest.
Lìngxiāo's gaze fixed on her, hoping his overly focused gaze wouldn't scare her. He waited for the next reveal. He cupped the back of her palm over his cheek as if grounding himself more than comforting her.
Then she added without the exact weight it carried. A little fearing but her gaze had the trust and hope over them for her protection. "They..said I was not as good at some kind of..responding more than the boys. And..said they would put me into that machine earlier than my age if I tell this to anyone."
Lìngxiāo and Chóng Fēi couldn't hide the reaction to that revelation. They both pulled away from her palms.
Lìngxiāo's eyes wide as he faced away, hand over his mouth, face darkened, breath a little shallow. His hair fanned over and fell forward over his chest. It felt as gently wild just as his condition inside—all tangled up but nothing torn off right away.
Chóng Fēi turned to the opposite side, head thrown back while his palm hid his eyes. His jaw tight, teeth a little out. His grip tight over the bedsheets.
'How could they..?!'
'Do they have any common sense of what they were saying to a child?'
'They already crossed a line they should not have and then..say how badly she performs and the boys..oh, lord.'
'I feel like just..give them the punishment and seal their soul forever before they even turn into evil gûi. Nor could they go to the afterlife to even return.'
'I cannot breathe.'
Unable to digest this conversation, Lìngxiāo thought of asking anything else. His palm slid from his mouth into his hair, pushing it back, and he swallowed dryly like he himself was getting sick of those.
"Can you..tell me why you were..then here? Do you..have your parents?" He asked quietly, forcing his smile to get normal while Chóng Fēi was still recovering, frozen within that posture.
"I.." The girl looked down at the bed as she explained. "Some bad guy once..broke into our house quietly. Pàpà and mā was sleeping. I was..still awake at other room. I got scared when they were about to..stab them in their sleep."
Chóng Fēi's throat nabbed when her voice reached him. He sniffed lightly with that remaining cold or his suppressed emotions and slowly sat back properly. But his eyes looked bloodshot. He also didn't ask too much right now about the men. Just listened to her, grounding her again by taking one of her small hands into his own.
She looked up. Eyes a little watery as that night was most scary for her more than the earlier conversation. "Then I..I took the heavy rock at the side of our door which..keeps the door open. When..they didn't see anything...I threw it over one of them and hide away." She sucked in a breath.
At that point, even this felt dangerous to ask. It only increased the discomfort and guilt. His own chest tightened like the ribs were clenching like muscles.
"And then..?" Chóng Fēi pressed. But gently. His hand gave a soft squeeze to her hand.
"She..does not need to say if this makes her feel worse." He said as his hand lightly raised near to Chóng Fēi's knee. But then clenched lightly and rested back at his side.
"Still." Chóng Fēi said stubbornly. "Why she ended up here is also important. I don't have the records to later check on. All were at the drawers of zhù fù. Lord knows if it is even registered or not."
Somehow Chóng Fēi was right.
Who knows if she was also ended up into the situation he had once fallen into. If so, she was not only a victim of rape but also injustice.
"Please, continue. I have you." Chóng Fēi said after a soft exhale. His hold over her hand never let it go cold.
"One of the men cried out loudly in pain..and..died.." She spoke again, quieter. Full of regret. "But also..the other man ran away. But..she was at that bedside where that dead man was. She sat up right after the scream with pàpà. The rock fell over her one arm hard—and it broke. The whole village woke up after the painful scream. My pàpà tried to shush me while I was crying and saying I didn't mean to kill or break my māmā's arm. But the whole village heard it. Then I was forcefully brought over here."
Both of them were left in silence.
The girl who had been holding up till now—her eyes swelled with tears, rolling down from her eyes, her face broke into a soundless but painful cry. She didn't understand rape but she understood that she had made some mistake with or without her acknowledgment.
"I..couldn't say sorry to pàpà and mā.." she said between her cries.
Lìngxiāo's own eyes grew heavy with tears. It wasn't painful just because it somehow matched with his own incident.
It actually was unfair.
'She..never deserved it..'
Chóng Fēi didn't know how to react. He looked more guilty to even move but just held her hand, his mouth struggling to form words, eyes wide.
Without any word, Lìngxiāo pulled her into his arms, now choosing to hug first by himself—not only to show sympathy but to feel the same pain in a different way willingly.
The girl sniffed, surprised silently before sinking into the hug completely. Her grip tight over the gorgeous silk of Lìngxiāo's robe.
Chóng Fēi's breath caught silently, turned sharply at him without speaking a single word, eyes wide with it's own story. Time seemed to be paused.
"Lìng.." He didn't even finish his name.