Xia Sanghuan placed all the things she had prepared for Xia Laosi in front of the tombstone. Leng Chuanjin lit an incense stick and handed it to her.
"Be careful not to get burned."
After saying that, he stood up and took a few steps back, leaving her enough space.
"Aren't you coming over?"
The girl inserted the incense stick into the censer and looked back at Xia Anying.
She was stunned for a moment, then walked over and knelt down with her younger sister.
Xia Sanghuan closed her eyes and began to silently talk to Xia Laosi in her heart.
Leng Chuanjin stood not far away with his arms folded, his face also wearing a solemn expression.
He was not only mourning for Xia Laosi but also observing Xia Anying's reaction.
She also took out a lot of things from her bag, but they were not well - organized. It seemed that she had bought them the night before they set off.
...
"I think you'd better be careful of your elder sister."
Leng Chuanjin walked side by side with Xia Sanghuan.
Although they were far away from Xia Anying, he still lowered his voice.
"What did you notice?"
Without asking for the reason, the girl directly chose to believe him.
After all, with the previous experience, she really had a shadow over Qingshan Slope and her elder sister.
"Nothing."
"But there are just too many things in her backpack."
To avoid attracting the attention of the person behind them, the man straightened his body.
The girl was silent for a while and didn't say anything more.
She had also noticed the thing he mentioned.
With Xia Anying's character of being afraid of trouble, she would never carry so many things.
Moreover, if it had been in the past, even if she really needed to carry so many things, she would have already asked her or her second brother to carry them for her.
The three of them returned to the temporary rest place. After a simple dinner, they each returned to their own rooms.
Xia Sanghuan turned on her phone and, as usual, entered Jing Zhan's examination report for today into the file.
After finishing all the things, she threw herself onto the bed.
She squinted her eyes and took out a photo frame from her bag.
It was the one she had got when she returned to Qingshan Slope before. The three people in the photo were all smiling happily.
Even though Xia Anying had disliked her very much at that time, it was not as bad as it was now.
While looking at the photo, she thought about what her second brother had said to her this afternoon.
She thought that her elder sister would not attack her again, unless she was crazy.
She had let her off last time. If she still wanted to continue living a prosperous life, she would not take risks.
She put the photo frame on the small table beside the bed. There was only a light bulb hanging by a rope on the ceiling, casting a yellow - orange light.
This atmosphere made her instantly return to her childhood.
The dim light, the somewhat shabby wooden bed, and the somewhat paint - peeled furniture.
She lay in bed, looking at the somewhat moldy ceiling, and fell asleep in a daze.
...
"This is a great opportunity."
"You missed it last time. Do you want to mess it up again this time?"
Chen Jiayuan's somewhat angry voice came from the phone.
Xia Anying felt that her hand holding the phone began to tremble.
"But... but..."
"What's there to 'but' about?"
"If you want to replace your younger sister, isn't this the only way?"
Xia Anying fell silent, feeling that her mind was in a complete mess, as if there was an iron sheet stirring inside.
"You can do it, right?"
"Didn't you also promise me at that time that you were willing to do anything?"
She pursed her lips.
"...Yes."
She hung up the phone and took out something from her bag.
It was the box that had been delivered to her that day.
It was heavy and gave off a cold air on this winter night.
She opened it, and there was an ordinary short knife inside.
According to Chen Jiayuan, as long as one made a small cut with this knife, the blood would flow non - stop.
Even if she couldn't kill Xia Sanghuan with one blow, she would die from excessive blood loss.
She felt her teeth chattering.
She walked into her younger sister's room like a sleepwalker. The old - fashioned door inevitably made a "creaking" sound.
The girl in her sleep murmured in her dream, which gave her a big scare.
She froze in place and didn't dare to move.
It was not until she was sure that Xia Sanghuan hadn't woken up that she dared to continue walking forward.
She walked up to her younger sister's bed and stopped.
She raised her hand, holding the knife.
The blade reflected a cold light in the moonlight.
Where should she stab? In the chest?
But where was the heart?
Her hand holding the knife began to shake.
A drop of sweat ran down her forehead and dripped onto the floor.
She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes tightly, and brought the knife down. It seemed that the blade was about to cut across the girl's face.
Then her wrist was tightly grasped.
Xia Sanghuan woke up.
The girl looked at the tip of the knife in front of her, her heart pounding.
After her wrist was tightly grasped by Xia Sanghuan, Xia Anying suddenly went crazy and pressed the knife down desperately.
The girl's hands and feet were still weak from the shock. She gritted her teeth and fought back desperately.
During the struggle between the two, Xia Anying bumped into the table beside the bed. The photo frame fell to the ground, and the glass shattered with a crisp "pop" sound.
This sound also made Xia Anying regain a little consciousness.
When she saw the scene in front of her clearly, her hand suddenly went limp, and the blade in her hand fell.
Xia Sanghuan rolled to the side abruptly and barely managed to avoid the falling knife.
The tip of the knife cut through her pajamas and stabbed into the already fragile bed board.
Blood slowly seeped out from her shoulder.
The room was not lit, but Xia Anying felt a wet patch.
A faint smell of rust filled the air.
"Ah—"
Xia Anying opened her mouth and let out a shrill scream.
The sound was as shrill as a ghost's.
The girl couldn't help covering her ears and frowned.
As she loosened her hand, Xia Anying also slumped to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
She coughed a few times, and more blood flowed from her shoulder.
Leng Chuanjin rushed in the next second and then turned on the light in the room.
Xia Sanghuan's eyes hurt from the bright light. It took her a while to recover.
She saw that the man was holding a hemp rope in his hand. He quickly tied Xia Anying up and then kicked her mercilessly to the wall.
He walked to the bed and saw the injured girl.
He took out alcohol and bandages from the medical kit on the ground and simply bandaged her.
Although he didn't know exactly how to do it, at least he could stop the bleeding first.
After bandaging her, he let out a sigh of relief.
Then, he hugged the girl into his arms.
"I'm sorry."
"I didn't notice earlier."
His voice was deep, and if you listened carefully, it was a little trembling.
The girl's heart was beating very fast. She had been so scared that she could hardly breathe just now, and even her mind was blank.
It was not until the man hugged her into his arms that her consciousness began to return bit by bit.
Her hands and feet were cold, and the place on her shoulder where she was scratched began to ache.
She buried her head in his neck.