Chapter 248: You'll Be Unlucky Recently~
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Stare—
Lorne keenly noticed the gaze. When he looked up, the sickly little boy immediately noticed his gaze as well, and his body instinctively flinched.
What is this child looking at?
Lorne followed the direction of the boy's gaze, looking at himself, then at the ice cream on the table.
Is he looking at me, or at my ice cream?
It must be the ice cream, right? Kids, who doesn't like sweets—
Unable to bear the boy's longing stare, Lorne took the initiative to speak, suggesting in as gentle a tone as possible:
"Uh, friend, would you like to come over and have a taste?"
"Uh—"
The little boy didn't answer, just stared at Lorne with clear eyes that held both curiosity and scrutiny.
Lorne extended his hand to him, making a "come here" gesture. Seeing this, the little boy suddenly took a small step back, seemingly very afraid of him.
"It seems he's afraid of you?" Xio put down her teacup, her eyes full of amusement.
"Do I look like a bad guy?" Lorne asked in confusion. He believed that his current face, though not particularly handsome, shouldn't be enough to scare a child.
"Uh—" Xio really did scrutinize Lorne up and down, taking a careful look, then pursed her lips and smiled, "Not like—but sometimes, you are indeed a little naughty."
"Really?" Lorne was a bit bewildered by this comment.
He didn't dwell on the question and continued to wave at the little boy: "Little friend, would you like to come over and try some ice cream?"
"I'm not a bad guy, you know—" As soon as Lorne said this, he felt something was off. It sounded like only a bad guy would say something like that.
He awkwardly pointed to Xio beside him and added: "Little friend, I really am not a bad guy. This big sister can vouch for me."
"Mhm, I can vouch for him." Xio suppressed a laugh and chimed in.
Hearing this, the little boy again eyed Lorne suspiciously, seemingly judging the truthfulness of his words. Finally, he dragged one leg, limping slowly towards them.
Only then did Lorne notice that he had a limp. His left leg seemed to have a problem; when he walked, his front leg dragged his back leg.
Lorne pulled an empty chair from nearby and asked the waiter for a new spoon.
Once the little boy was seated, Lorne pushed his ice cream, of which he had only eaten a few bites, in front of him.
The little boy looked at Lorne suspiciously again, then took the ice cream, picked up the spoon, and carefully dug out a small bite to put in his mouth. A pure, childlike sense of satisfaction finally appeared on the little boy's face.
"Thank you, sir. I haven't had ice cream in a long time because I've been sick," he said with a polite smile and thanks.
"Being sick looks very painful," Xio said, looking at the little boy with a touch of pity. She also had a younger brother at home, and the boy's maturity and pale face reminded her of her own brother, as well as the period of being hunted down in the past.
"It's fine to eat it all," Lorne said gently, seeing that the boy had only taken two bites and put down the spoon, assuming he was feeling shy.
"No need, just a little bit is enough."
"Are you afraid it will affect your condition?"
"No." The little boy shook his head and said in a mature tone unbefitting his age, "It's better to be careful with unexpected gifts."
Ah? Is he still treating me like a bad guy—Lorne's mouth couldn't help but twitch.
Seeing Lorne's crestfallen expression, the little boy suddenly laughed. He glanced at Xio beside him and asked in an innocent tone:
"Brother, sister, are you a couple?"
"Ah?"
Lorne and Xio were both stunned at the same time.
"This—" Xio's pretty face flushed at the sudden question. She quickly lowered her head, not knowing what she was thinking.
"No, we're just ordinary friends," Lorne was the first to react, shaking his head with a smile.
"Oh, you're not?" The little boy blinked his big eyes and said with feigned disappointment, "But you're out drinking coffee together—"
"Friends can also drink coffee together," Lorne said, looking at Xio beside him, seeking agreement, "Don't you agree, Xio?"
"Ah? Yes! Yes!" Xio, like a student whose name had been called by a teacher, suddenly looked up and eagerly echoed, "Between friends—this is very normal!"
"Alright, I thought I was a good judge of character—" The little boy sighed. Then, he took out a somewhat old set of Tarot cards from his jacket pocket.
"As a thank you for the ice cream, how about I do a divination for you?"
"Divination?" Lorne narrowed his eyes slightly, intrigued. He occasionally used a pendulum and coins himself, but it had been a long time since he had experienced a Tarot card reading.
"Sure."
Hearing this, the little boy's fingers skillfully divided the cards into several piles, shuffled and cut them.
This kid has some skills—Lorne observed his practiced movements, thinking to himself.
Xio also leaned over curiously, watching with interest.
"Alright, please draw a card," the boy spread the cards on the table.
"Do I need to ask a question first?" Lorne asked.
"No," the boy smiled and shook his head, his eyes deep, "Fate will naturally show what it wants to tell you."
Uh—Lorne glanced at the spread of cards on the table, and finally, relying on his intuition, chose the leftmost one.
He drew out that card and turned it over. On the card face was a tall Tower struck by lightning, burning and collapsing.
The Tower card.
The little boy saw the card and suddenly smiled very purely and innocently, saying: "Sir, you might be unlucky recently."
Unlucky—would a "Lucky One" be unlucky? Hmm, it doesn't seem entirely impossible. After all, a "Calamity Priest" inherently has a passive ability to attract Calamity.
The "Tower" card indeed carries the meaning of sudden, unexpected events.
Forget it, it's just a child's divination, no need to take it too seriously—Lorne sighed softly, not dwelling on it.
"Can—can I draw a card?" Xio, who was beside him, also became interested and asked curiously.
"You can," the boy nodded, re-collecting and shuffling the cards.
Xio hesitated for a moment and chose the card in the very middle. When she turned it over, she saw a lady sitting between stone pillars, holding a book.
The High Priestess in the upright position.
"Big sister," the little boy looked at the card and said with a grin, "Although your luck recently is average, new emotions will appear."
New emotions—
Xio didn't speak, but the expression on her face became a little strange.
Why do I feel like this child is a bit mischievous—Lorne looked at him, a strange feeling rising in his heart.
"Will! How did you run out of the hospital again!"
Just then, a man dressed as a doctor in a white coat suddenly walked over quickly.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Allen, it's really too stuffy in the hospital," the boy, called Will, apologized sheepishly when he saw the newcomer.
"Honestly! How can you eat ice cream with your condition? You're going to have surgery soon!" The young man, referred to as Dr. Allen, looked at the ice cream on the table and scolded him.
"It's fine, Doctor, he only had one bite," Lorne quickly explained when he saw the situation.
"Yes, we let him eat it," Xio also chimed in.
"Who are you?" Dr. Allen looked at Lorne and Xio suspiciously.
"We are the patient's family," Lorne said casually, "We just came out of the hospital and happened to see him."
C
"I am Allen Chris, a doctor in this hospital," the doctor-dressed person simply introduced himself.
After a few more polite exchanges, Dr. Allen took Will and prepared to leave. "Don't run around again next time."
"Understood, Doctor."
The voices of the two gradually faded into the distance.
Looking at Will's limping figure, Lorne was slightly lost in thought, frozen in place.
"What's wrong?" Xio noticed that Lorne was a little off.
Gulp~
He unconsciously swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing.
A moment later, he came back to his senses and shook his head: "Nothing, let's get ready to go back."
"Mhm."
Strange—why did I have an impulse to—swallow that child just now? Is it because I've been under too much stress recently, eh?
Before leaving, Lorne suddenly noticed that something seemed to be pressed under the bowl where he had just placed the ice cream.
The item was brightly colored, seemingly a cardstock.
He somewhat confusedly moved the bowl aside, took out the cardstock, and gently unfolded it.
This—this is a paper crane folded from cardstock?!
At the same time, in a certain ward of the hospital.
Will, who had been brought back, was sitting alone on the hospital bed. From his set of Tarot cards, he drew a card depicting a large wheel.
Wheel of Fortune.
"That's not right, could it be the foolish snake's devotee?"
"Or perhaps—" He suddenly thought of something, and his body shivered uncontrollably.
"It—it shouldn't be!"
"How is this possible!"