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--- Chapter 204 ---
"Truthfully..." Han Yuan said with a serious expression.
"I'm here to tell you about the dangers of your body, and possibly help you cure it."
Xiao Yixian frowned, "But I'm fine. I don't feel sick at all."
Han Yuan sighed, "What do you know, you're just a little girl."
"But aren't you a little boy, too?" Xiao Yixian retorted with a huff.
"..." Han Yuan was speechless. He laughed helplessly and asked whether he could enter the hut, so he could better explain her condition.
Xiao Yixian hesitated before inviting Han Yuan in, feeling the boy wasn't a bad person. At least from her perspective, he doesn't seem to be the type of person her mother would worry about.
Of course, Xiao Yixian's mother would have never thought someone from another world would split his soul and then possess the body of a young boy to get close to her daughter.
Sitting on the rough wooden floor, Han Yuan and Xiao Yixian stared at each other.
Han Yuan started telling Xiao Yixian about the Woeful Poison Body. Truth hurts, but it hurts even more when all that guilt is buried for so long and bursts at once.
"Yixian, you possessed a strange and unique constitution called the Woeful Poison Body."
"This body is strange because upon awakening, the owner must consume poison to stay alive. At the same time, the owner will get those poisons stored inside their body and grow stronger, and if not controlled on time, they could explode and kill every living being within the entire city, if not a region..."
"Woeful Poison Body..." Xiao Yixian's little face scrunched as she had a bad premonition about this. Her body trembled slightly.
Han Yuan grabbed Xiao Yixian's hand and calmed her down, "Breathe, stay with me."
"It's better to learn and accept things as they are, than let it become your darkness."
"Yixian, do you still remember what happened a few days ago?"
"A few days ago..." Xiao Yixian's face was wet from cold sweat. She tried to clear her mind of the cloudy memories.
Then, Xiao Yuan abruptly found herself in a familiar village. She even held someone's hand, and that someone is her mother.
Weirdly, she couldn't see their faces, as if a mist was covering them.
Her mother, included.
Xiao Yixian followed her mother down the busy village street, observing the uncle and aunties working in their fields and some children playing in the nearby forest.
Seeing the other children having fun together made Xiao Yixian eager to join in, so she asked her mother for permission.
"Go ahead, but be safe!" her mother replied with a sweet voice. "I'll be here buying some veggies first."
With a grin on her face, Xiao Yixian happily ran toward the kids and joined them in playing hide-and-seek and tag. Yet, when playing with these kids, she caught something out of the corner of her eyes.
It was a beautiful flower, the kind she had never seen before. It appeared to be a lily, but the petals are deep blue with a purple tint. Furthermore, Xiao Yixian found this flower very attractive.
She wanted to pick it up.
She wanted to eat it.
And without much thought, the girl swallowed the flower, awakening a terrifying constitution.
Her eyes glowed a faint white, and her body emitted a subtle purple hue.
However, despite all this, she was still conscious. She started playing with the kids, but they just dropped to the ground and fell asleep.
She thought it was weird, and wanted to ask the uncle and auntie in the village to help, but they also fell asleep once they met her.
Everyone fell asleep.
At last, Xiao Yixian looked for her mother.
Yet, once she found her, all she could see was the look of terror. Purple tears flew from her mother's eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.
"X-Xian'er..."
"How could this happen?"
"How could that legend turn out to be true..."
"Our family..." Xiao Yixian's mother seemed to struggle to stay awake and made one last smile. "Xian'er..."
"Listen to Mom."
"Go to the hut in the mountains."
"Be a good girl, and stay there for a while."
"There should be enough food in the ring inside the hidden box. If you are bored, you can read the books inside and learn medicine. Stay there until you're big enough."
"Be careful of strangers, especially men. But maybe in the future, you will find the right one for you."
"But for now... Go! Go and hide in the hut!"
"Don't worry, Mom will be there soon..."
Then, Xiao Yixian watched her mother slumped on the ground, cold and motionless.
"Mom, wake up!"
"I am afraid!"
"I don't want to go to the mountain alone!"
"I-I am afraid..."
Xiao Yixian's memory became blurry after that. Her mind shut down, but her body unconsciously walked deep into the mountain and hid in the hut within a narrow valley.
Day after day, until she met Han Yuan.
"I..." Xiao Yixian's tears dropped on the wooden floor. She clutched her head.
"I killed them..."
"I killed those kids."
"I killed those uncles and aunties..."
"I killed MOM!"
"No, no, no!"
"This must be a lie!"
"THERE IS NO WAY IT'S TRUE! MOM WILL COME BACK! MOM WILL COME BACK HOME SOON!"
Han Yuan hugged Xiao Yixian's body and soothed her emotions by patting her back, "Yixian, calm down!"
"It's not your fault."
"You can't predict this to happen. You can't possibly know that you have an unawakened Woeful Poison Body!"
"B-But I killed them all." Xiao Yixian's voice cracked. She cried even more and couldn't live with all this guilt.
She's just a kid.
She's just a little girl!
"I am a bad girl..."
"I deserve to die, too..."
Han Yuan wiped her tears and looked deep into Xiao Yixian's eyes. "Look at me."
"Look at me!"
Hic!
Xiao Yixian sobbed heavily and looked up to Han Yuan's profound yet kind eyes.
"Listen to me. You can't change what has already happened."
"Guilt and regret are part of your life, but don't let them despair you."
"Remember your mother's words. Clung on to those words, and lived a good life!"
"Live your life to the fullest!"
"You must have dreams, right? Fulfill your dream!"
"But... I am all alone..." Xiao Yixian's eyes reddened. She has no friends or family.
Han Yuan smiled confidently, "Easy, I will be your family."
"From now on, you're my sister."
"And you must live well."
"No, we must live well."
"I will protect you from the cold and rain. And no one will hurt you ever again!"
Xiao Yixian stared at Han Yuan in surprise. This boy, a stranger, spoke with such confidence and kindness that she couldn't help but briefly believe him.
Even then, Xiao Yixian couldn't bring herself to agree.
After all, she would just hurt him.
"I can't..."
"I'd just hurt you."
"The Woeful Poison Body is evil, and it would kill you just like others."
"I don't want that to happen..."
Han Yuan chuckled, "Don't you notice something after all this time? I have held your hand, embraced your body, and wiped your tears."
"Yet, I'm fine..."
"This..." Xiao Yixian doesn't know what to say.
H-How did he stay alive?
Han Yuan flicked Xiao Yixian's forehead gently and said, "That's because I am basically immune to all poison. I have an artifact that can purify and refine all poison."
"Look at this swirl, it's the mark of Sky Poison Pearl. And it can even purify your Woeful Poison Body and make you live comfortably until I find a way to control your constitution."
"Hehe, that's why I am here." He grinned proudly.
"I am here to help you, Yixian."
"So, what do you think?"
"Do you want to follow me from now on? You will be my younger sister, and I will protect you with all my being!"
Han Yuan opened his arms, "Come, hug your brother."
"Cry, I will be here for you from now on!"
Xiao Yixian's eyes teared up again. "Waaaaaaaaaaah!"
"B-Brother!" She hugged Han Yuan tightly, pouring all her sadness and guilt.
"There, there." Han Yuan patted Xiao Yixian's back gently. "Everything will be alright."