Big brother Yuan Ao stood at the doorway, his gaze more somber compared to last time, as if he were dead, dull and lifeless.
Yet, this time he was neatly dressed, with not a trace of blood left on his hands.
Upon seeing Yuan Luoyi, his emaciated body paused for a moment, gazing at Yuan Luoyi for a long while, unwilling to shift his gaze.
He slowly bent down, opening his arms to embrace Yuan Luoyi, his movements exceptionally gentle, as if afraid the slightest force would make her disappear.
His long eyelashes trembled fragilely, like a dying butterfly: "I thought I'd never see you again, where have you been all this time? I've been looking for you for so long but couldn't find you..."
Yuan Luoyi wrapped her arms around his neck: "I was hiding."
"Why were you hiding?"
"Because there was a very scary person in the room, he wanted to take me away, and said he would kill Big Brother."
A cold light flashed in Yuan Ao's eyes: "Ah... It was that guy, huh? Don't worry, don't be afraid anymore, Big Brother will deal with him soon, and he'll never be able to scare you again."
"Big Brother, last time I broke my promise and left when you were sleeping, aren't you mad at me?"
"I won't be mad, I could never be mad at you. The fact that you appeared once already makes me happy."
Yuan Luoyi observed Yuan Ao's face, her little hand touched his cheek, then tentatively placed it on his forehead, feeling that his temperature was not high.
"Big Brother, do you still have a headache?"
"I've already taken painkillers, I can't feel it anymore."
"So have you completely broken down now?"
Yuan Ao smiled, his eyes devoid of light, like a pitch-black deep sea, filled with nothing but despair and pain.
"Yes, I've completely broken down, but Big Brother will never hurt you. This body can still hold on for a while, Big Brother will kill all those who have harmed you, then go to his death."
Yuan Luoyi leaned her head against Yuan Ao's body, her hands clutching his clothes, this broken-down brother was truly too heartbreaking.
"I don't want Big Brother to die, can't you be cured anymore?"
Yuan Ao gently patted Yuan Luoyi's back, comforting her: "There's no cure, it's okay, don't be sad, I'm just atoning. It's all because of me that you died that night."
Yuan Luoyi cried out: "It's really not Big Brother's fault, it's the true culprit's fault!"
Yuan Ao laughed lightly: "Thank you, you've always been such a gentle child..."
He stood up, his icy gaze sweeping the room, murderous intent emanating from him: "Is the person who made you afraid hiding in there?"
Yuan Luoyi nodded, pointing to a room: "He's hiding in that room with a knife."
Yuan Ao walked over, not rushing into the room, instead opening a cabinet and taking out a cylindrical cloth bundle, placing it on the table and forcefully pushing it open like an unrolling scroll.
But inside was not a beautiful painting, but rather a collection of sharp knives, varying in size and shape, neatly arranged.
Picking up a curved dagger, Yuan Ao held it up, adjusting the angle under the light to check its sharpness.
He calmly narrated: "That man, named Cheng Cheng, sold his soul for money, a despicable type. After finding out his companions were all dead, he liquidated his assets to hire a lot of bodyguards, it took me quite some effort to capture him."
"Since he's fallen into my hands, I won't let him die easily. I'm really surprised he still had the guts to resist, the right thing for him to do would have been to commit suicide, that way he would have suffered less torture."
"Was it because I went too easy on him before? Ah... I shouldn't have left his legs intact."
Yuan Luoyi asked: "Wasn't he just an ordinary reporter?"
Yuan Ao let out a low, sinister laugh: "Is that what he told you? Even on the verge of death, he's still unrepentant."
Suddenly, he lost all expression, as if recalling something, beginning to rage, the veins on his forehead throbbing violently as he clutched the wooden table, emitting a faint cracking sound.
"Deceiving my sister again and again! Unforgivable! Unforgivable!"
Yuan Luoyi looked at her brother in this state, feeling very afraid, he had truly broken down. Yuan Luoyi trembled as she reached out her hand, covering Yuan Ao's: "Big Brother, don't be angry anymore."
His sister's voice could soothe Yuan Ao, he suppressed his horrifying killing intent, regaining his composure, apologizing remorsefully: "Sorry, for letting you see me like this, I used to be able to control it, to live like a normal person, but now, I've completely lost control."
Having chosen his weapon, Yuan Ao undid the first button of his collar, rolling up his sleeves to his elbows.
He seemed like a different person, holding the sharp blade, his eyes icy cold, exuding an overwhelming oppressive aura, like a dark cloud looming at the border, threatening to pull the entire world into a raging storm.
He walked to the door of the room Yuan Luoyi pointed to, gently pushing it open.
"Creeak!"
The door opened, a thick stench of blood assaulting their senses.
Yuan Ao stepped forward, entering the darkness.
"Aaahh!"
Cheng Cheng screamed, his face twisted in terror as he charged out, grabbing Yuan Luoyi, holding a knife to her throat.
He absolutely could not win against Yuan Ao head-on, and had previously engaged Yuan Luoyi in conversation because he thought this little girl could be useful. Yuan Ao's feelings for his sister ran deep, even a substitute could be used to threaten him.
Cheng Cheng shouted: "Don't move, you lunatic, or I'll kill her!"
Yuan Ao slowly turned around: "You can see her?"
Cheng Cheng mocked: "You lunatic started spouting nonsense again, of course I can see her! This little girl, where did you find her? She looks exactly like your sister."
Yuan Ao walked over, his brow tightly furrowed: "You can even touch her..."
The icy cold knife pressed against Yuan Luoyi's skin, Cheng Cheng threatened: "Don't move! Take one more step, and I'll make her die right in front of you, even if she's a substitute, it should still pain you, right?"
Yuan Luoyi saw Big Brother Yuan Ao starting to become disoriented, muttering to himself, repeatedly recalling what had happened before.
An extremely shocking, yet reasonable guess appeared in Yuan Ao's mind.
This 11-year-old sister was not a hallucination, but actually existed in reality - his dead sister had come back.
