Chapter 44: The Bizarre Forum

Qiu Yiyao went straight through the back door to Li Zhen's house.

Congcong was sitting alone in the living room building with blocks. Seeing Qiu Yiyao arrive, he happily threw himself into her arms.

"Sister Yaoyao, I've missed you so much."

Looking at his chubby, cute little face, Qiu Yiyao suddenly felt a pang of sorrow. Such a good child, why did he have to be a spirit? How wonderful it would be if he were just a child from an ordinary family.

"Sister Yaoyao, why aren't you saying anything?"

Congcong grabbed the corner of Qiu Yiyao's shirt and gave it a hard tug. "Do you not like Congcong anymore?"

"No, of course not. Sister Yaoyao loves Congcong the most."

Not wanting to break a little kid's heart, Qiu Yiyao pinched his chubby cheek and asked, "Where is Mom?"

"Mom is cooking."

This struck Qiu Yiyao as strange. Her family always liked to finish eating before mealtime; why were they still cooking at almost twelve o'clock today?

Suspicious, Qiu Yiyao walked toward the kitchen. As soon as she reached the doorway, she heard the sound of sobbing coming from inside—suppressed and carrying a hint of lingering grievance.

Qiu Yiyao's heart tightened along with the sound.

Had Li Zhen run into some kind of trouble?

Just as Qiu Yiyao was about to step forward and ask, she saw Li Zhen walking out on her own.

The tear tracks on Li Zhen's face were not yet dry, and her injured arm was still wrapped in gauze.

Upon seeing Qiu Yiyao, she hurriedly turned her face away, placed the plate in her hand onto a nearby table, and wiped her face with her hand.

"Yaoyao, why are you here?"

"I just finished eating, so I came to check on you."

Qiu Yiyao didn't want to beat around the bush: "Sister Zhen, did you run into some kind of trouble?"

"No, what trouble could there be? I was just thinking about my family back home."

Li Zhen said it as if it were nothing.

"Oh. Sister Zhen, don't overthink it. You still have Congcong, and you have us; you aren't lonely at all."

Hearing her comforting words, Li Zhen broke into a smile through her tears. "It's always Yaoyao who knows how to comfort people. Come, I made fish soup today, stay and have a little more."

Qiu Yiyao hurriedly waved her hand. "No need, my stomach is already stuffed. If I eat any more, I'll turn into a big fatty."

"A bit of chub is good. You're fine in every way, you're just too skinny."

Li Zhen placed the fish soup on the dining table and pulled Qiu Yiyao down to sit beside it.

"Look at my age. In this town, I'm not considered old, but I'm not young either. Most of the neighbors around here are elderly, and sometimes when I want someone to talk to heart-to-heart, there's no one to listen."

"I'll listen," Qiu Yiyao began to butter her up. "Sister Zhen, you aren't that much older than me. Although I don't understand some things very well either, I can help you analyze them."

"Yaoyao, you really are a kind and good child. Heaven will bless you."

Li Zhen gently stroked Qiu Yiyao's hair. Her gaze was gentle and affectionate, and for a fleeting moment, Qiu Yiyao felt as though she were looking at her own mother.

...

Qiu Yiyao sat cross-legged on the bed, her back against the wall, while an idol drama played on the tablet before her.

This was the third time she had watched this drama since arriving here.

On the screen, the male lead was interrogating the female lead, demanding to know why she had teamed up with the villain to play him for a fool.

"What an absolute idiot. It's because she doesn't love you—how can something so simple be beyond your understanding?"

Every time she watched such idol dramas, Qiu Yiyao felt a bit speechless. If not for her favorite celebrity being in it, she wouldn't be able to stomach a single glance.

The clock on the table pointed to midnight.

Qiu Yiyao stretched, tapped her aching back, and closed the media player.

Suddenly, she noticed a strange little icon on the screen. It looked somewhat like a sword, yet not quite. She was certain she had never downloaded such software.

Curious, she clicked on it, and the screen instantly turned pitch black, giving her a start.

"What piece of crap is this? Did my computer get a virus?"

Qiu Yiyao frantically tapped away at the mouse, but it was completely useless. With no other choice, she had to force a shutdown.

When she restarted the device, she hurried to uninstall the strange software and ran a full-system scan with her antivirus program.

Strangely enough, it showed no viruses.

Qiu Yiyao felt uneasy. Recalling the words she had seen on the forum earlier, could she be under surveillance by someone at this very moment?

She quickly turned off the light.

The room plunged instantly into darkness. There were no shadows on the curtains, no movement around, and even the arrogant croaking of the frogs outside had stopped.

Still worried, Qiu Yiyao crawled under the covers hugging her laptop, quickly pulled up the search bar, and typed in the name of the mysterious software. The result showed no available information.

This only made her feel more bewildered.

Staring at the search bar, she thought of that forum. With so many things happening lately, if the forum could still be searched for, it would definitely contain crucial information.

Carefully, she typed in the two characters "Moon Carp," pricking up her ears to listen closely to the movements outside.

She pressed enter, and the little cursor spun and spun, round and round.

It made Qiu Yiyao's heart race with tension. Just as she was about to give up, a string of text suddenly appeared on the screen.

The four familiar characters of the "Moon Carp Forum" proudly claimed the topmost spot.

"Found it at last."

A wave of excitement washed over Qiu Yiyao as she hurriedly clicked the link.

To her slight disappointment, apart from a single new post, everything else was from years past.

The post Qiu Yiyao had seen last time had also vanished.

The newest one showed a date from three days ago.

Without hesitation, she clicked on it.

This time, it wasn't just a few words, but a short paragraph.

The more Qiu Yiyao read, the more her back grew chilled.

"They are looking for a special person. Although we don't know who that person is for now, we hope everyone who reads this post will remember: you are not alone. No matter how powerful the enemy is, as long as we don't give up, there will be a day we escape. Keep fighting!"

A special person? Could it be...

Qiu Yiyao didn't dare to think any further. With trembling hands, she typed a few characters into the keyboard: "Where are you? I need to see you."

The moment she pressed the enter key, the screen flashed and went black once again.

No matter how she clicked the mouse or pressed the power button, nothing happened.

Helplessly, Qiu Yiyao closed the laptop.

She pulled back the blanket; her clothes were already drenched in sweat, though she couldn't tell whether it was from the heat or the chill.

...

"A special person..."

Qiu Yiyao lay flat on her back, repeating those words over and over in her mind.

Could it be as she suspected? She didn't dare to dwell on it.

Dawn broke quickly. The chickens in the henhouse next door began to cluck incessantly once more.

Grandma Wang's voice drifted over from the other side of the wall: "Don't rush, there's enough for everyone. Eat more and grow plump."

Qiu Yiyao rolled over and pulled the quilt over her head.

Just then, with a loud "bang," something collapsed to the ground, and a hen fluttered its wings, crashing blindly into the wall.

Startled, Qiu Yiyao bolted out from beneath the covers and rushed to the window.

The moment she pulled back the curtain, she saw Grandma Wang lying rigidly on the ground, with a scattering of corn kernels spilled all around her.

Upon seeing Qiu Yiyao, Grandma Wang slowly raised her hand, as if silently pleading for help.