“Xiao” means “small”, “little”, or “young”.
Chapter 2: Worsening Sickness
Decaying skin, putrid organs, a blackened body—it was clearly the corpse of an infant.
Yet it opened its eyeless sockets, wailed, and continuously flailed its twisted limbs, convulsing and struggling before Luo Ling’s eyes.
Caught off guard by this horrifying scene, Luo Ling subconsciously stepped back, a wave of nausea surging through her.
What was this thing…?
Whether it was a corpse or a monster, it was certainly not a living human baby!
The woman looked at Luo Ling expectantly, waiting for her answer, like a drowning person clinging desperately to the last straw.
The nurses beside her rushed to restrain the near-frantic woman, but even together, they couldn’t move her.
“It…”
Luo Ling hesitated.
“He’s still alive, he’s still alive…”
The woman stared intently at Luo Ling, mumbling deliriously.
But she didn’t seem to be talking to Luo Ling; it was more like she was trying to convince herself.
Luo Ling looked at the nurses, then at her sister Su Wan. From everyone’s expressions, it seemed that no one found the appearance of this monster strange or out of place.
In their eyes, there was only pity and helplessness for the mad woman, and concern for Luo Ling, who was now entangled with her.
Could it be… this was normal?
So, Luo Ling mustered her courage and said,
“Your child is still alive, but… he has become a terrifying monster.”
The mad woman’s expression froze, and the nurses turned their gazes to Luo Ling, all with a hint of disbelief.
What nonsense was this girl talking about?
Li Tianming looked at Luo Ling with some shock, but quickly masked the look in his eyes.
“Mon-monster?” Su Wan’s expression faltered. She looked at Luo Ling in confusion. “Xiao Ling, you said… you saw a monster?”
Luo Ling hesitated briefly, then nodded.
“Please, don’t further agitate the patient,” Li Tianming stepped forward and said helplessly.
“Impossible!”
Just then, the mad woman screamed.
She stumbled back, looking at Luo Ling in terror, clutching the horrifying little monster tightly in her arms.
“He’s not a monster! He’s my child, I gave birth to him!”
In Luo Ling’s eyes, as the struggling little monster was held tightly by the mad woman, it suddenly reached back and grabbed her body. Its gruesome, gaping maw opened wide and bit down fiercely.
“Look, he’s still drinking my milk… My little darling, slow down, slow down…”
The mad woman suddenly calmed down, lowering her head and lovingly stroking the tumor-like head of the little monster, her face full of bliss, even as her embrace became a bloody mess.
The strong smell of blood mixed with the faint scent of milk made Luo Ling gag.
Seeing this scene, the nurses beside her recoiled in horror. The mad woman was self-harming again; they had treated her countless times for this.
It wasn’t that the nurses didn’t try to stop her, but every time they did, the mad woman thought they were trying to harm her child and had scratched several nurses in return.
However, the hospital couldn’t ignore such a mad woman. After all, it was a place for healing and saving lives. They couldn’t just stand by and watch, even if the person was a penniless lunatic.
At this moment, the bewildered Su Wan thought that Luo Ling’s words had caused the woman to dig into her own chest, and she was so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes.
She looked at the woman helplessly, then turned a pleading gaze to Li Tianming,
“Dr. Li…”
Seeing Su Wan’s distraught expression, Li Tianming realized something and comforted her,
“Don’t worry, it’s not your fault. She’s self-harmed like this several times in the past few days.”
Self-harmed?
Luo Ling froze, fighting back nausea and discomfort, and looked again at the mad woman being led away by the nurses. She saw the doting, blissful smile on the woman’s face and her bloody, mangled chest.
The little monster seemed to sense Luo Ling’s gaze and slightly raised its deformed, fleshy head. Its eyeless sockets seemed to hold a hint of mockery, its gaping maw still dripping with blood and flesh.
Luo Ling chose not to speak of what she saw. She had realized… the scene she witnessed seemed different from what others saw.
Was it a hallucination?
But it felt so real…
Meanwhile, Li Tianming glanced imperceptibly at the slightly pale Luo Ling, then walked over to the woman and said softly,
“Ms. Liu, don’t worry. Let the nurses take you to the operating room, and then we can discuss how to save your child, okay?”
Li Tianming’s words seemed to have an effect, and the mad woman gradually calmed down, though she still clung tightly to the “child” in her arms.
“Take her to the operating room first and let the surgical team take care of her,” Li Tianming instructed the nurses, then contacted a few other doctors for assistance.
Only after the mad woman was taken away did Li Tianming turn his attention back to Su Wan, his expression grave.
“Sister Su, your sister’s condition… might be different from what we expected.”
“Wait, Dr. Li, are you saying…”
Su Wan’s eyes widened slightly, wanting to say something, but Dr. Li raised his hand to stop her and continued,
“Some new symptoms have appeared. As for their specific impact—”
Li Tianming trailed off, his peripheral vision falling on Luo Ling without directly looking at her.
It seemed that ever since she said the mad woman’s child was a monster, Dr. Li had avoided looking directly at her.
Luo Ling found it strange but didn’t pay much attention to it.
“Let’s do this, Ms. Su. I’ll discuss your sister’s situation with you privately.” Li Tianming’s eyes flashed with an inexplicable glint. “There are some questions that require your decision, as you are her guardian.”
Su Wan hesitated for a moment, glanced at Luo Ling with a hint of sadness in her eyes, and then nodded.
She seemed to be still reeling from the previous scene.
Just like that, Su Wan was taken aside by Li Tianming. After a brief conversation, she returned, looking dazed.
“Let’s… go home, Xiao Ling,” Su Wan said softly.
For some reason, Luo Ling felt that her sister’s gaze was evasive.
She frowned slightly and looked up at Dr. Li.
Dr. Li was standing in the light, his gold-rimmed glasses filled with white light, obscuring his eyes. Luo Ling could only vaguely see him staring at her. His intense gaze made her uncomfortable.
“Goodbye, you two.”
“Let’s go, Xiao Ling,” Su Wan tugged at Luo Ling’s sleeve and whispered.
Although hesitant, Luo Ling nodded and followed closely behind Su Wan.
…
After leaving the hospital, Luo Ling’s drowsiness returned. She was groggy all the way home and fell asleep immediately upon arrival.
When she woke up again, it was already the next day.
Luo Ling recalled the time before she fell into a deep sleep and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. She had slept for a full twenty-six hours and seventeen minutes.
Perhaps because she had forced herself to stay awake for the hospital visit yesterday, she had slept significantly longer.
Despite this, Luo Ling didn’t feel hungry.
She turned over, intending to record this data, when a knock sounded on the door.
“Xiao Ling…”
“Sister, I’m awake,” Luo Ling replied.
Her sister outside the door seemed to sigh in relief and pushed the door open slightly, entering the room.
“How are you feeling today…?”
Her expression was hesitant and somewhat stammering.
Her eyes were red-rimmed, as if she hadn’t slept all night.
“Same as before,” Luo Ling replied, noticing the unusual look on her sister’s face. “What’s wrong, Sister?”
Su Wan sat beside Luo Ling, her head lowered, lost in thought. When she finally looked up and met Luo Ling’s questioning gaze, she quickly looked away.
“It’s nothing, just… asking casually.”
“Just tell me if you have something to say, Sister,” Luo Ling said. “If it’s about my illness, I can handle it.”
When it came to her condition, her sister was always overly concerned and indecisive.
“But…”
Su Wan hesitated again, but finally gritted her teeth and asked,
“Xiao Ling, when you looked at that baby’s corpse yesterday, did you see a living monster?”
“…Yes.”
Luo Ling nodded.
She might have denied it to others, but she didn’t want to lie to her sister.
Su Wan’s face paled slightly, and she asked again, a little urgently,
“What else did you see? Like… did the monster do anything to its mother afterward?”
She looked at Luo Ling expectantly, her expression strangely familiar.
It was inexplicably similar to the mad woman from yesterday.
She was seeking an answer.
Luo Ling’s pupils constricted. Could it be… her sister saw it too?
Was it possible that she wasn’t the only one who could see these hallucination-like, bizarre scenes?
So, it wasn’t a hallucination, but something real?
Luo Ling considered her words carefully and answered seriously,
“I saw… it gnawing on its mother.”
Hearing this answer, the hopeful look in Su Wan’s eyes gradually dimmed, leaving only a long sigh.
“Sister Su, see? I told you I was right.”
A light voice sounded from outside the door, a voice Luo Ling found familiar.
Just then, the door swung open, and Luo Ling saw two people standing behind it.
One of them was Luo Ling’s attending physician, Li Tianming. The other was also a doctor in a white coat, but wearing a mask and a hat, obscuring their face.
“Indeed, Dr. Li.”
Su Wan looked at Luo Ling distraughtly and sighed softly,
“Xiao Ling, your illness… has gotten worse…”
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