The Young Girl's Chronicles of Demon-Slaying

Chapter 11: An Unexpected Turn of Events

What else could he do? After Lin Yuqin left, Fang Heng casually tossed the object he’d been holding aside, turned, and threw himself onto the bed, lying face-down and motionless. It wasn’t until much later, when he could no longer hold his breath and felt as if he were about to suffocate, that he suddenly rolled over, lay flat on his back, and stared at the ceiling, gasping for air. He never imagined that one day, he would actually feel troubled—even desperate—because of that monthly “period.” What a pain in the ass!!! As he thought about it, he grew increasingly irritable. Suddenly, he began banging the back of his head against the bed, repeating the motion more than a dozen times before stopping and lying motionless. It took him quite a while to get up from the bed. He picked up the sanitary pad he’d tossed aside and put it in the drawer of the nightstand. The fact was set in stone—it would come when it was due, and there was no avoiding or escaping it. No matter how desperate he felt, he couldn’t change the current situation… unless, of course, he turned back into a man. However, he had no clue how to handle this now; he had absolutely no idea what to do. It seemed he could only live out his life at the mercy of fate. Fang Heng lay back down on the bed and gently closed his eyes. I really wish this were just a dream. In the room diagonally across from Fang Heng’s, Song Wencheng and Lin Yuqin were leaning back against the headboard, each reading a book. The atmosphere was very quiet. After waiting for quite a while, Lin Yuqin suddenly closed her book and said, “Hey, Old Song, don’t you feel it’s a little lonely now that our son isn’t home?” “Hm?” Song Wencheng glanced at Lin Yuqin and chuckled, “I think we’ve talked about this before! You didn’t want to have a second child, so there wasn’t much we could do… Or have you changed your mind now?” “No! Taking care of a child is way harder than going to work!” After saying this, Lin Yuqin asked, with a hint of hesitation, “How about… we adopt a child? What do you think?” Hearing this, Song Wencheng looked taken aback. “Where did that idea suddenly come from?” “Why can’t I have an idea like that?” Lin Yuqin rolled her eyes. “Can’t I just have a flash of inspiration?” “Fine!” Song Wencheng didn’t argue about it and said, “But knowing you, there must be a reason you’re thinking this way… It isn’t that little girl named Fang Heng, is it?” “So what if it is?” Lin Yuqin retorted irritably. “So, the child you’re planning to adopt—it’s her, isn’t it?” Song Wencheng raised an eyebrow and asked. “You’re so smart!” Lin Yuqin praised him, though it was unclear whether she meant it sarcastically or sincerely. “Of course! If I weren’t smart, how could I have ended up with such a beautiful wife like you?” Song Wencheng didn’t bother to distinguish between genuine and sarcastic praise; he took it all in stride and used the opportunity to compliment his wife. “That’s right! Someone this smart would actually spend 150,000 on a lousy vase!” Lin Yuqin still felt a bit resentful and stung by the expense when she brought up the subject. “Hey, didn’t we already settle this?” Song Wencheng said. “We did settle it, but the accounts aren’t settled yet!” Lin Yuqin said. What did that mean? If they’d already settled it, then there shouldn’t be any more to settle! How could there still be something to settle after they’d already agreed? Song Wencheng felt deeply frustrated, but he knew that sometimes reason just doesn’t work with women, so he decisively changed the subject, saying, “Let’s not talk about that… Let’s talk about why you suddenly came up with the idea of adopting a child. Let’s have a good chat about it!” Song Wencheng’s tactic worked perfectly. Lin Yuqin was still focused on the adoption, so she didn’t notice his attempt to change the subject. Instead, she counted on her fingers and said, “The idea might have come a bit out of the blue, but the more I thought about it today, the better it seemed!” “Look, if we just adopt a teenager, there won’t be any of the initial hassles, and I won’t have to quit my job to stay home as a housewife—it’ll save us so much trouble!” “But have you thought about how a teenager would fit into our family?” Song Wencheng said. “Adopting a toddler or a one- or two-year-old is one thing—if we don’t tell them, they won’t know we aren’t their biological parents, and once they’re an adult, we can decide whether or not to tell them based on the situation.” “But a teenager is a whole different story. Kids that age are just entering puberty. If we don’t raise them right, it could be a real headache. I won’t even mention the rebelliousness and mischief—we might be able to correct those with some time and effort—but getting them to accept us as their family? I’m afraid that’s going to be very difficult.” “More importantly, even if I agree, what about your son? Will he agree? A little sister suddenly appearing out of nowhere?” “Don’t worry, I’ll handle my son. Right now, the key is your opinion.” Lin Yuqin gave a confident assurance, then began to defend Fang Heng: “You haven’t had any contact with that child. Although I’ve only known her for a short time, I can tell she’s very sensible and well-behaved… At both lunch and dinner today, she even came to the kitchen on her own to help me! A child like that—you’d be hard-pressed to find one anywhere!” “You’ve figured her out in just one day?” “I don’t know if I’ve seen right through her, but based on my own feelings, Hengheng is clearly different from other children. Although she seems a bit withdrawn and doesn’t talk much, I think that’s probably due to her circumstances.” As she spoke, Lin Yuqin recounted to Song Wencheng everything Fang Heng had said during the police investigation that morning, along with her behavior and experiences throughout the day, and then added, “... Right? I feel like not only do I get along very well with this child, but we’re also meant to be together. Otherwise, how else would she have escaped from the hospital and ended up right at our doorstep?” “I was actually quite scared when I heard the noise at first and didn’t plan to open the door to check what was going on. But just as I’d decided not to look, something suddenly tugged at my heart, and as if by some mysterious force, I decided to open it after all. The moment I did, I saw her lying at our front door.” After saying this, Lin Yuqin sighed, “That’s fate for you!” “Aren’t you being a bit superstitious?” Song Wencheng chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t care if it’s superstition or not. Anyway, I feel like I’m meant to be with this child!” Lin Yuqin said firmly. Seeing his wife’s resolute stance, Song Wencheng was momentarily at a loss for words. After a brief pause, he looked at Lin Yuqin intently and asked, “Do you really want to adopt her?” “I really do!” “All right, then! I won’t argue with you.” Song Wencheng nodded and said, “I agree!” “Huh? Is it that simple? Don’t you have anything else to say?” Seeing Song Wencheng agree so readily, Lin Yuqin actually felt a bit taken aback. “What else can I say? As long as you’re happy!” Song Wencheng pinched Lin Yuqin’s cheek. Even in her early forties, her skin was still radiant and supple; at first glance, one might think she was only around thirty. “You’re so sweet! Come give me a kiss!” As a long-married couple, there was nothing to be shy about. Lin Yuqin grinned and leaned in to kiss him, but before she could reach him, Song Wencheng stopped her. “Let me be clear from the start!” Song Wencheng said, putting a stop to her. “Although I’ve agreed to take her in for a while, this period is a trial. If I’m not satisfied, I’ll ask to terminate the adoption!” “Don’t worry! I won’t make you angry!” Lin Yuqin said with a smile. “Don’t get too excited just yet. You’ve convinced your son and your husband, but there’s still one key person you haven’t convinced!” Song Wencheng poured cold water on her enthusiasm. “For a child who’s turned ten, doesn’t the adoption require the child’s own consent?” “Well… she probably won’t refuse, will she?” After all, her husband and son were family; having lived with them for so long, she knew their personalities well, which is why Lin Yuqin was confident she could persuade them. Fang Heng, however, was a stranger—they’d only spent a single day together. To say she truly understood him would be a stretch. “You never know! You know she ran away from her foster family before. That family didn’t treat her well—she might still have psychological scars if you adopt her.” Song Wencheng chuckled. Before Lin Yuqin could respond, he said, “Time for bed!” With that, he turned off the bedside lamp. “I don’t think so,” Lin Yuqin muttered to herself as she lay down. That night, both Lin Yuqin and Fang Heng had trouble sleeping. The former was thinking about how she could win Fang Heng’s approval and get him to agree to adopt her, while the latter was, for some reason, feeling restless and tossing and turning; every time he closed his eyes, he felt as if an inexplicable malevolence was closing in on him. As time passed and the night grew deeper, Lin Yuqin eventually fell into a deep sleep. Fang Heng, though he also drifted off, slept very lightly, hovering between wakefulness and slumber. Moreover, in his hazy state, he seemed to see dark, smoke-like forms seeping through the crack in the door into the room, then transforming into countless tentacles reaching out toward the people lying in bed. His gaze followed the black mist as it approached the bed, only to discover that the two people lying there were none other than Song Wencheng and Lin Yuqin. The two were oblivious to the dark mist about to touch them; they seemed to feel only a slight chill and pulled the air-conditioned blanket covering them a little tighter. The black mist slowly descended, and just then, Fang Heng suddenly opened his eyes. Though he couldn’t see it, he sensed a chilling, filthy presence outside the door. It was as if a wave of resentment—so intense it could pierce through the door—carried with it a deep, malevolent intent. What’s going on? Fang Heng sat up abruptly in bed, his mind filled with alarm and uncertainty. He could clearly sense a non-human entity moving outside the door. Recalling the nightmare he’d just had, his heart sank. Could it be that he’d encountered a ghost again?! A ghost! The last time he encountered a female ghost in the water, it had left him in his current state—so why was this happening again? Could he really be the kind of person who attracts ghosts, as the legends say? Should he go out and take a look? Recalling the terrifying appearance of that female ghost in the lake, he hesitated slightly. But when his gaze fell on the Buddhist prayer beads resting on the nightstand, his resolve suddenly hardened. Last time he encountered the female ghost, he turned into a little girl—perhaps this time would be his chance to turn back? With that thought, he resolutely grabbed the Buddhist prayer beads, slipped them onto his wrist, then jumped out of bed, slipped on his slippers, and headed for the door. (End of Chapter)