Chapter 285
Her gaze swept across the children in the park, but she didn’t see anyone who looked like young Liu Woxing.
Well, of course. Based on Liu Woxing’s childhood, playing in the park would’ve been unrealistic.
But the last time she traveled through with Xu Shuangrong, she landed inside the factory where Xiao Jingxi was being imprisoned.
If things followed that pattern, then this time she should’ve ended up near Liu Woxing as well.
Or… was there actually no such pattern, and the time-travel drop point was random?
Come to think of it, this time she hadn’t heard Xu Shuangrong conversing with the system either.
That made things a bit tricky.
At this point in time, Liu Woxing should be in the sixth grade of elementary school. But the novel never mentioned which elementary school he went to.
Was she supposed to search blindly?
A few children were clustered around the sandbox, building castles and playing house, completely unaware that danger was approaching.
A shady figure with a jacket tied over their head, leaving only three dark holes exposed, crept toward them hunched over, looking suspicious.
The strange figure lowered their voice to a whisper, sounding like a devil’s murmur.
“Excuse me… do you… know… Liu Woxing…”
The innocent children turned their heads with bright smiles, but the moment they saw the strange figure’s face, those smiles turned to tears in an instant.
“Ahhhhhh!”
“There’s a robber! Help!!”
“Mommy!!!”
They ran off crying, and the other kids, startled, scattered as well.
Completely oblivious to being mistaken for a robber, Xie Mi turned around indignantly.
“Robber? Where? Let me see who dares harm the flowers of our motherland!”
She even called after the fleeing kids:
“Don’t be afraid, children, I’ll protect you!”
The children ran even faster.
“Run! The robber’s chasing us!!”
In no time, the park was deserted.
That eerie quiet made certain sounds, which otherwise might have gone unnoticed, stand out even more clearly.
From behind a few nearby trees came rustling noises.
“Who would believe childish rumors about meteor showers?”
“It’s because you believed that nonsense that you got kidnapped when you were little, hahaha.”
“Did your dad abandon you because you’re so dumb?”
“Character wasted, restart the game!”
“Hahahahahaha…”
Three or four kids were laughing uproariously together, but unlike the innocent play from earlier, this laughter was dripping with malice.
Xie Mi pushed aside the branches and saw the scene.
Four boys had cornered another child with his head down. They looked around eleven or twelve, all wearing Xinghua Elementary uniforms.
A textbook case of bullying.
“Hurry up and hand over the money. Spending it to see some stupid meteor shower is a waste. If you really want to see it, walk there yourself.”
They burst out laughing again.
The timid boy with his head lowered still said nothing, which only made them angrier.
“Hey! Quit playing mute, talk!”
“Don’t want to hand it over? Pretty bold of you.”
“What’s the point of talking, just take it!”
“Get him!!”
They lunged like wolves and tigers—
But before they could even touch the boy’s sleeve—
Bang bang bang bang!
Four headbutts instantly taught them a lesson.
“Ah!”
“Who’s there?!”
“I’m the boss of Xinghua Elementary, who dares hit me?”
“You’re so dead—”
The four bullies turned in fury, ready to vent their anger—
But when they were met with a face covered in a jacket, showing only three dark holes, they were so startled they lost the ability to speak.
From the two holes above shot out a dangerous, piercing green light.
“Finally found you.”
“Robbers.”
Five minutes later, four sixth graders stumbled out from behind the trees, clutching their heads, crying with snot and tears streaming down.
“There’s a robber! Help!!”
“Mommy!!!”
Xie Mi watched them run away, satisfied, and retracted her secret technique—One-Finger Zen.
“Such young kids, already turning into robbers. I was going to ask the children in the park some questions, but thanks to them, I scared everyone off.”
“…”
The rescued boy stared at the white jacket tied tightly around her head. His silence spoke volumes.
The one who scared the others away…
Wasn’t it her?
“Since there’s no one else in the park now, I’ll just have to ask you. Little guy, do you know…”
Xie Mi froze the moment she saw the boy’s face.
His skin was pale, his features delicate, not yet fully developed yet already finely sculpted.
And especially—those beautiful peach-blossom eyes, a trademark feature impossible to ignore.
Wasn’t this little Shen?
Xie Mi fell into thought.
Twice she had traveled through, and the first person she encountered both times was Shen Moqing. Could it be that Shen Moqing was her respawn-point NPC?
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
Anyway, with her head wrapped up, little Shen Moqing wouldn’t recognize her.
“Do you know Liu Woxing?” Xie Mi stuck to the main issue.
Little Shen Moqing shook his head.
“No.”
“Alright then, I’ll ask someone else.”
She turned to leave, but Shen Moqing followed.
“Sixth Sister, tell me what she looks like. Maybe I can help you find her.”
“Huh, you have that skill? Wait—what did you just call me?”
“Sixth Sister.”
Shen Moqing’s dark pupils locked on her, as though stating the most ordinary fact.
“You’re Sixth Sister.”
“…”
Xie Mi rubbed her chin.
From his perspective, four years ago, at age eight, he was kidnapped and unexpectedly rescued by an older girl. They only spent less than a day together before she vanished into thin air.
Four years later, now twelve, he happened to see someone in the park whose face was completely covered except for eyes and mouth—yet he calmly recognized her as that sister who’d disappeared years ago, and flatly called her name.
Completely unshaken, no hesitation.
So that strong heart had been forged from childhood.
She tried one last weak denial.
“I’m not Sixth Sister.”
Shen Moqing’s sharp gaze pierced straight through the two dark holes into her eyes.
“You are Sixth Sister.”
His tone left no room for doubt.
Struggle: failed.
“…Fine, I’m Sixth Sister. So how did you recognize me?” Xie Mi accepted reality in an instant and asked the question that most puzzled her.
If he could recognize her at a glance without seeing her face, after only half a day together four years ago, then she must have some feature impossible to forget.
Like… an aura of wisdom in her eyes?
“It’s a feeling.”
Shen Moqing opened his mouth as though about to say something else, but changed his words midway. “A special feeling that only you have, no one else does.”
At only twelve years old, Shen Moqing already knew how to speak with emotional intelligence.
He softened his words to avoid hurting Sixth Sister’s heart.
What he really wanted to say was:
A strange feeling.
Something so abnormal it couldn’t possibly appear on a normal person.
A sense of madness.
