Chapter 92: Daily Life
The familiar ceiling.
After a dreamless sleep, Luo Ling slowly opened her eyes.
A brief moment of disorientation, then her gaze cleared, and she sat up.
“You’re back?”
Su Wan stood at the doorway, smiling gently, just like every other day, waiting for her sister’s return.
She wore her usual simple clothes, still in her cooking apron.
Luo Ling had seen this heartwarming scene countless times in the “egg’s” illusions, but none of them compared to this.
Because…
She knew that the sister before her was real.
The sister who had been with her through thick and thin, sharing the long, arduous years…
…her sister.
However, at this moment, Luo Ling wished it was just an illusion.
Because through the Puppet Ballad’s life-seeing vision, Luo Ling saw her sister’s true form for the first time.
Beneath the gentle smile was an unimaginable fungal mass, its invisible mycelia threads connected to the entire Jiangcheng County, radiating the oppressive aura of a High-Risk Grotesquery.
Mad yet calm, grotesque yet beautiful, terrifying yet gentle.
She was her sister, and also…
…the Puppet Ballad.
The Puppet Ballad’s true form, the one Ji Ying had desperately searched for.
The so-called “Su Wan” was just a human skin worn by the Puppet Ballad.
“You’re back early today. I was just about to go out and buy some groceries,” her sister said, walking over and taking Luo Ling’s arm naturally, as she always did. “Since you’re here, let’s go together.”
Luo Ling looked up and met her sister’s usual gentle gaze.
Her throat tightened, and she opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.
How could this be…?
Luo Ling knew the sister before her was real, the sister who had raised her.
But she was also the Puppet Ballad, the one responsible for turning all of Jiangcheng County into food.
The Puppet Ballad had seen her send Ji Ying away; it should know that its identity had been exposed, so why continue this deception?
Why… continue to act as her sister…?
It would have been better if it had just attacked directly, so she could face this hopeless battle without regret.
Seeing Luo Ling’s silence, her sister tilted her head and gently placed a hand on Luo Ling’s forehead, the calluses on her hand brushing against her delicate skin.
“You don’t have a fever, Xiao Ling. Why are you so dazed today?”
Just a human skin.
Just a deception.
All of this was just a lie carefully crafted by the Puppet Ballad.
Luo Ling tried to convince herself of this, but her resolve wavered.
Had the Puppet Ballad used some kind of ability on her?
Why was it still performing this charade of affection…?
After a moment of thought, her sister seemed to understand, a look of realization dawning on her face.
“Oh, you can see it now. I thought it would take a while longer, after you finished your medication. You do seem much better.”
She tapped Luo Ling’s nose and chuckled.
“Don’t be nervous, Xiao Ling, I’m your real sister.”
…I know that.
Luo Ling remained unmoved, her eyes turning cold, as if making a decision.
The next moment, she was enveloped in a warm embrace, her sister’s soft body holding her close.
A cold touch against her cheek, and her sister’s familiar voice whispered in her ear,
“Don’t worry, Xiao Ling, everything will be alright.”
Luo Ling stared into the distance, her eyes wide open.
She had experienced countless warm illusions and cruel realities. She had thought she could act decisively, no matter how real her sister seemed.
But…
Feeling the soft, warm embrace, the cool touch against her cheek, the familiar fragrance filling her senses, these elements, perfectly replicated in the illusions, now so real…
She couldn’t do it.
She couldn’t bring herself to harm her sister.
“Xiao Ling…?” Her sister’s voice was laced with concern. “Why… are you crying?”
Crying?
Two tears slowly rolled down Luo Ling’s cheeks, her usually stoic expression cracking.
“Is someone bullying you?” Her sister reached out and gently wiped away her tears. “Tell Sister, and I’ll get revenge for you! Whoever hurts Xiao Ling, I’ll make them pay a hundredfold!”
“Why…”
Luo Ling choked out the words, her voice hoarse with tears.
She didn’t understand…
Her sister was the Puppet Ballad, the one responsible for the deaths of Ji Ying, the villagers of Baiyan Village, and countless others…
Even Luo Ling herself had almost died at its hands several times.
Why, even now, was it still performing this act of sisterly love…?
She couldn’t understand.
Why…?
“Why?”
Her sister’s movements froze.
She looked down at Luo Ling, her eyes filled with tenderness, seeing her sorrow and confusion.
Then, she smiled.
“Because, Xiao Ling, Sister loves you,” a radiant smile bloomed on her sister’s face, just like in her memories, even as the world around them turned gray and bleak, consumed by eternal pain and struggle. “No matter what… Sister will always love you.”
All strength drained from Luo Ling’s body.
Because she had received the answer she had least wanted to hear.
Her sister was still her sister, always had been.
Even now.
Even if… she was the Puppet Ballad.
“Alright, a girl shouldn’t cry so much, or she’ll become ugly,” her sister said, cupping Luo Ling’s face, her eyes filled with love and tenderness. “My Xiao Ling is so pretty, it would be a shame to ruin your face with tears.”
“I…”
Luo Ling opened her mouth to speak, but her sister gently placed a finger on her lips.
“Shhh,” her sister smiled. “Let’s go buy some groceries, or we won’t have time to make dinner.”
She took Luo Ling’s arm and led her out of the alley.
Luo Ling followed mechanically, like a delicate puppet.
After the recent chaos, Jiangcheng County was in ruins, the remnants of collapsed buildings everywhere.
But when the true incubation barrier was revealed, everything had returned to normal.
A more grotesque kind of normal.
Luo Ling looked up, and everything around her lost its color, turning black and white.
Only the people living their normal lives amidst the ruins, their hearts still beating,
Their flesh and blood intact, seemingly unaffected by the mycelia.
But Luo Ling could see the countless, hidden mycelia threads within their seemingly normal bodies.
Like…
…scattered dandelions.
This was the Puppet Ballad’s true nourishment, the four hundred thousand ordinary people of Jiangcheng County, all under its Complete Control.
From the very beginning, its power had been far beyond anyone’s imagination.
“Is this the correct weight? Can’t you give me a discount?”
At a fruit stand, the store owner, controlled by countless threads, argued with her sister, even turning over his scale to prove it wasn’t rigged.
Her sister, usually soft-spoken, only showed this kind of firmness when haggling, trying to stretch their meager living expenses as far as possible.
This once heartwarming scene, now that she knew the truth, seemed absurd and comical.
Like a one-man show.
Her sister was the mastermind behind all this, controlling the entire Jiangcheng County. She didn’t need to struggle like an ordinary person. If she wanted, she could control the entire county with a single thought.
Their past seemed like a joke.
Finally, after some haggling, her sister managed to buy a few kilograms of fruit at two-thirds the original price, leaving the fruit stand triumphantly, like a victorious general.
“I knew he was overcharging. These dishonest merchants, not labeling the prices, always trying to cheat us vulnerable little girls,” her sister continued to grumble as they walked.
Luo Ling remained silent.
The deeper they went, the more severe the devastation became. Within the disaster zone, the once towering buildings were now piles of rubble.
But even so, these controlled people continued their normal lives.
Ordinary daily life, intertwined with apocalyptic ruins, the only way to describe it was… a mundane horror.
“When… when did it all begin?”
Luo Ling finally asked, her voice weak and hoarse.
“When… that’s hard to say, I can’t remember,” her sister said, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Perhaps… after you fell ill, I started to suspect something.”
Ill?
Luo Ling was taken aback. Her illness had started only a few months ago, and the Puppet Ballad’s influence had already been present then.
Besides, it couldn’t have silently enveloped the entire Jiangcheng County and controlled its population in just a few months.
Ji Ying had been watching this city closely. If the Puppet Ballad had shown even a hint of its true form, she would have devoured it without hesitation.
Baiyan Village had only been affected because of its small size and remote location, delaying Ji Ying’s reaction.
But why…?
“I don’t know,” her sister blinked innocently, as if seeing through Luo Ling’s thoughts. “What Xiao Ling is thinking is a bit complicated. Perhaps it’s the generation gap, Sister doesn’t quite understand.”
Luo Ling looked up, her grotesque, elegant form smiling at her, the human skin it wore gazing at her with tenderness.
“But, as long as Sister knows, if Xiao Ling wants to hear it, I’ll tell you.”
Her sister’s pace quickened slightly.
Before Luo Ling could process her sister’s strange smile, they suddenly arrived somewhere.
Where…?
She looked up, her heart tightening.
Had she been too careless, influenced by her sister, falling into the Puppet Ballad’s trap…?
Several figures approached, and just as Luo Ling was about to draw her dagger, her sister tightened her grip on her hand.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she watched the approaching figures, ordinary people under the Puppet Ballad’s control.
Then…
They bowed.
“Welcome.”
They said in unison.
“Xiao Ling, haven’t we been here before?” her sister asked, tilting her head slightly. “Why are you so nervous, as if it’s your first time?”
Been here before…?
Luo Ling looked around. The place was severely damaged, littered with rubble and exposed rebar, almost unrecognizable.
Only after her vision shifted from the Puppet Ballad’s perspective to a normal human’s did she recognize the uniforms of the approaching figures, the name tags indicating their workplace.
“The… clothing store in the shopping mall…?”
She and her sister had been here on her birthday, buying that expensive pair of gloves.
Even now, those gloves were still stored in her hair, too precious to wear.
“Ta-da!” Her sister suddenly clapped her hands and smiled. “Surprise, Xiao Ling!”
She led Luo Ling to the only undamaged part of the ruined store, where a familiar, beautiful dress with tassels hung in a display case.
“This is…”
Luo Ling recognized the dress instantly.
When they had been browsing the store, her sister had kept glancing at this dress, but its price had been too high.
Luo Ling had remembered it, but so much had happened since then that she hadn’t had the time to buy it.
Could it be that after discovering her power, the first thing her sister did was…
Wait, wasn’t this dress… too small for her sister?
Could it be…?
Just then, the employees parted, surrounding Luo Ling, while others took the dress from the display case.
Her sister turned her back and said softly,
“Xiao Ling, I noticed you seemed to like this dress, you kept looking at it.”
Because… you were looking at it.
Luo Ling stood frozen, looking at her sister’s back, a warmth spreading through her.
“Too bad Sister is useless and couldn’t afford it… even your birthday present was so shabby.”
She turned slightly, looking at the girl being dressed like a doll, her eyes curving into crescents.
“Now Sister can finally give you a proper birthday present, although I also like this dress very much. But as the older sister, I should give the good things to my younger sister.”
The employees were efficient, quickly changing Luo Ling into the dress.
They stepped back, and her sister approached, examining her carefully, then nodding in satisfaction.
“So beautiful, as expected of Xiao Ling.”
Her long, silver hair had been carefully styled into three braids, complementing the white lace dress with tassels and her naturally beautiful face, even diminishing her childish features.
But Luo Ling just stood there, passively enduring it all.
She was certain that her sister knew she was the Puppet Ballad, but why…?
She didn’t understand.
“Sister… at that time, I suddenly realized I had become very powerful,” her sister said, resting her chin on her hand, her gaze fixed on Luo Ling. “At the barbecue restaurant, I sensed you were in danger.
“I just… had a feeling, that you were being targeted by bad people, like those people on the train.”
At that time…
Luo Ling’s eyes widened slightly. She had noticed “Old Man Huang” outside and had gone out to investigate.
Had she already been targeted by Artist and Scientist then?
Not because of the sudden appearance of the incubation barrier later?
“Sister was so worried, so I searched and searched, desperately trying to find you, afraid that you…” Her sister reached out, gently touching Luo Ling’s silver hair, her eyes filled with tenderness. “…would be gone, leaving Sister all alone, what would I do…?”
So, the incubation barrier at that time…
Luo Ling suddenly realized something, her body trembling slightly.
“Fortunately, you were alright. I was so relieved, but that feeling of danger… it lingered, constantly chasing after me, so annoying.”
Her sister frowned slightly, as if still annoyed by the memory.
“So I kept thinking, how to get rid of those bad people, and as I thought… I suddenly felt… a strange sensation, as if I could… control everything.
“And if I really had such power, I thought… it would be better for Xiao Ling to have it.”
The incubation barrier on Huolu Mountain.
Only now did Luo Ling finally understand the truth.
…She hadn’t defeated the Puppet Ballad at all.
The “egg” that had possessed her had been a power bestowed upon her by her sister, to save her.
“But after that, Sister changed.”
Her sister’s fingers traced Luo Ling’s face, then reached down to her waist,
Casually pulling out the dagger Sacred Tool hidden there.
“The Sacred Tool, Severing Edge, it seems to have come from someone very similar to Sister, its ability to kill all life… such a powerful thing.”
Her sister took Luo Ling’s hand, placed it on the dagger, then intertwined their fingers, raising the dagger to Luo Ling’s chest.
She looked up, meeting Luo Ling’s gaze again.
But there was no longer any tenderness or love.
Only an uncontrollable greed and craving, and grotesque fangs.
“Sister can’t forget that feeling, because Xiao Ling is so delicious. Just one taste, and Sister can never forget, can never let go.”
“Xiao Ling, Sister wants to… consume you…”
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