Chapter 144
Xie Mi paused mid-step.
In the original story, when describing Xiao Jingxi’s dark childhood, there was one line:
[Xiao Jingxi was the only survivor of that massacre.]
“Only.”
This meant that other children, who had been locked in the same factory, were brutally killed.
The faint knocking on the wall continued—persistent, unremarkable, yet refusing to stop.
Xie Mi looked down at the chains on the door and the old-fashioned U-shaped lock.
She took a hair clip from the back of her head, inserted it into the lock, twisted it skillfully, and unlocked it in one smooth motion.
“Ha! Old skills never die!”
When she was a child, sneaking to watch TV at home, her parents always locked the remote in a cabinet. First it was a U-shaped lock, then a rolling shutter lock, then bike locks, combination locks, even the super invincible car tire lock.
Sadly for them, she had cracked them all.
Thus, she had successfully survived a full childhood, never missing a single episode she wanted to watch.
And now, this skill came in handy once more.
See? Watching TV can teach you something!
Xie Mi pushed the door open happily and noticed that the knocking had stopped as she unlocked it.
The room was pitch black. Light poured in from outside the door, faintly illuminating a figure curled up in the corner.
His clothes were tattered, hair long enough to cover his eyes, wrists and ankles exposed with scars.
He was so thin, it was almost disfiguring.
Xie Mi’s expression darkened. In the original text, these events existed only in Xiao Jingxi’s memories, briefly mentioned in a few strokes—but seeing it in reality was truly shocking.
Xiao Jingxi was the only survivor. That meant this boy would die at the hands of the killer in the coming days.
Xie Mi sighed and stepped into the room.
She stopped in front of the figure, arms crossed, smiling.
“Trench coat, sunglasses, short pants—I’m Sixth Sister. Remember that.”
Perhaps sensing something unusual about her, the boy paused and slowly lifted his head.
Through the messy bangs covering his eyes, he vaguely saw a silhouette standing against the light.
Couldn’t see the face clearly—but something about her didn’t seem very smart.
Xie Mi wanted to act cool in front of the little brat—but the moment he lifted his head, her smile froze. She couldn’t laugh.
“Wait!”
She darted forward, pushing aside the boy’s bangs, and looked at his sunken eyes and extremely delicate features.
She froze.
“Shen…”
“Shen Yiqing?!”
Little Shen Yiqing looked exactly like the grown-up version.
Smooth facial lines, beautiful peach-blossom eyes.
Only the cowering in his eyes differed from the confident gaze of adult Shen Yiqing; everything else was identical!
“You…”
The boy opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to speak, but his voice was hoarse. Struggling, he croaked,
“Do… you… know me?”
Solid proof.
Without hesitation, Xie Mi scooped up little Shen Yiqing and ran, tucking him under her arm like she was kidnapping him.
The boy was caught completely off guard. As he left the room, the long-missed sunlight blinded him, but the next second, a warm hand covered his eyes.
He tried to speak, but his throat hurt too much. After a few attempts, he gave up and resigned himself to being carried along as she sprinted.
Five minutes later, Xie Mi got lost.
Without the system guiding her, escaping the labyrinth-like abandoned factory was clearly not simple.
But good news—she seemed to have found the murderer’s room.
She placed little Shen Yiqing on the floor and began rummaging through the room alone.
The “room” was a shabby, rust-filled abandoned space: a broken wooden bed, a few blood-stained trench coats on the wall, and some bloodied weapons piled on the floor.
Little Shen Yiqing trembled at the door, small hands gripping it nervously as he watched.
He hesitated, glancing back at the empty corridor.
Now was the perfect time to escape.
He didn’t know who this woman was—whether she was part of the villain’s gang. After all, the villain always found new ways to torment him, like leaving doors unlocked, then dragging him back after he thought he could escape…
He had been trapped here for half a month.
Little Shen Yiqing carefully stepped back, observing the woman’s movements cautiously.
She clanged objects onto the floor.
“Old bandages? No! Old hat? No! Old newspaper? No!”
“Compressed biscuits? Yes! Bottled water? Yes! Expired sunflower seeds… fine, yes too.”
Xie Mi tied the loot into a bundle with a piece of cloth and slung it over her shoulder with one hand.
A fruit knife was tucked into her waistband for protection; in the other hand, she held sunflower seeds, popping them into her mouth one by one.
Little Shen Yiqing: “….”
He was so captivated that he forgot to escape.
Was it still possible to escape now…?
While he pondered, the strange woman had already reached him. She looked down at him for a moment, and when he was extremely nervous, she suddenly chuckled.
She crouched down and displayed the loot from her bundle.
“Look, we stole all this.”
“…We?”
Little Shen Yiqing blinked, puzzled, but his eyes betrayed him—they immediately fixed on the bottle of water. He swallowed hard.
Xie Mi stuffed sunflower seeds into her pocket, grabbed the bottle of water, twisted it open smoothly, and handed it to him.
“Drink.”
Little Shen Yiqing didn’t dare take it, watching her warily.
“Look at you. Can Sixth Sister hurt you? Just drink it. Drink up quietly, and guide me afterward. Right, I got lost.”
Xie Mi handed him the water, openly admitting she was lost.
Little Shen Yiqing could no longer resist. His thirst reached its peak. Without a word, he grabbed the bottle and drank eagerly.
Xie Mi smiled in satisfaction.
“Good. That’s right. Follow Sixth Sister, and you’ll eat well, live well! Oh, do you know why I’m called Sixth Sister? My nickname’s Six-Eared Monkey, basically the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. You can be my little follower, my little monkey…”
Little Shen Yiqing drank while watching the noisy sister out of the corner of his eye.
Sixth Sister…
She seemed like a good sister.
