The Sick Beauty in the Republic of China

"...You say I am, so I am."

Ian seemed to be in the chaotic black ocean, and Sister Tim's piercing screams became the driftwood he could hold on to, making him struggle to raise his head, and said with difficulty and hopelessness.

In the illusion he created, under the witness of the dim candlelight and the crucified Jesus, he walked towards Sister Tim. Every step he took, golden light and broken feathers scattered around him.

"Then, what happened?"

Sister Tim held tightly to the cross on her chest, trying to escape in fear, but everything she could see was covered by the illusion of the church, and she knew that she had nowhere to escape.

Ian continued to walk towards her step by step. Under the blond hair, the face that was originally as delicate as an angel, but at this moment, people couldn't think of anything beautiful.

"God cannot forgive my sins..."

"But he can't save you now."

"Of course God will not forgive you!" Sister Tim burst out with a little courage because of her faith in the midst of extreme fear.

"You were born with a demon in your heart."

"Father Chinon kindly adopted you, but you tried to contaminate him with sinful and unclean thoughts..."

"He is such a good person, even if he sees the evil in your heart, he is still willing to tolerate you, forgive you, and let you leave here."

"But you only brought disaster to him!"

Ian's expression froze. The words of Sister Tim seemed to plunge him into hell, and every step he took was on top of a red-hot knife.He seemed to be thinking of something in a daze, but his thoughts were like a mess, entangled more and more tightly in his heart, so strangled that he could hardly breathe, leaving only the unspeakable pain.

The illusion also collapsed. The crucifix on the cross fell from a height, and cracks appeared on the compassionate face, which seemed to be burning in the candlelight.

Wang Luan fell into Qi Chensheng's arms weakly, and pressed the tattoo under his collarbone. He looked at the frail and small figure of the young man in the broken illusion.

He could feel Ian's pain at the moment.

"Stop talking..." He wanted to speak, to stop Sister Tim's words for Ian, but the severe pain in his heart and lungs made him cough, and his voice was barely audible.

Qi Chensheng's gray eyes narrowed, and he clasped Wang Luan's back tightly, wrapping him firmly in his arms.

Normally, he wouldn't mind continuing to press to get the result, but at this moment Brother Nine was involved—

"That's it."

The heavy five words fell with the gentleman's staff in Qi Chensheng's hand, and all the churches, candles, and statues of Jesus disappeared in an instant.

There was still a vine pit covered with fallen leaves in front of him. The red leaves fell from the top and fell silently to Ian's blond hair, but it seemed to be the last bit of strength that disintegrated him, and he fell heavily to the ground.

The goshawk landed beside him, spread its huge wings, and howled towards the sky covered by vines.

Sister Tim finally breathed a sigh of relief. Her already aging body could no longer hold on, and she collapsed to the ground.

Wang Luan gradually suppressed his cough and panting, and felt that the tattoo under his collarbone was no longer so hot, but he did not just immerse himself in the temporary calm, but propped himself up from Qi Chensheng's arms.

"That's it for today," Qi Chensheng didn't let go of his intentions, but hugged her even tighter, and said forcefully: "We can take her away and use my method to find out the answer."

"But Brother Nine, you must rest."

Wang Luan frowned, raised his eyes to look at Qi Chensheng's eyes, facing Aunt Tim at this moment, he felt that the answers to many questions were within reach, but——

"There's no need to force her."

Wang Luan coughed lightly, leaned back into Qi Chensheng's arms obediently, and said in a low voice.

In the chaotic conversation just now, he could hear that although this Sister Tim was old-fashioned and stubborn, she didn't seem like a bad person.

Although she hated Ian, she firmly believed that he had left and did not harm him.

Wang Luan tugged at Qi Chensheng's sleeve, although he didn't say anything, but Qi Chensheng looked down at him knowingly, then carried him towards Aunt Tim.

Sister Tim regained her composure and sensed the approach of the two, and immediately picked up the cross vigilantly.

But Wang Luan sighed without any attack under her guarded eyes: "Ian didn't become a demon."

"he died."

Cracks finally appeared on Sister Tim's serious expression, her old but still clear eyes widened, as if she couldn't believe what Wang Luan said.

Wang Luan didn't try to persuade her, and then closed his eyes, affecting the connection between himself and Ian.

The boy who fell powerlessly on the fallen leaves was gradually swallowed by the golden light lingering around him, and the broken feathers flew up. In the blink of an eye, there was no boy there anymore, only a small canary remained , sleeping under the wings of a goshawk.

Qi Chensheng bent down slightly, and asked Wang Luan, who was in his arms, to pick up the canary.

"He never left alive, he died in this church."

"The soul is forced to drift outside, and finally struggles to come back here, wanting - just an answer."

Sister Tim's hand holding the cross trembled slightly. Although she didn't want to, she still had to admit that she had begun to believe what Wang Luan said.

"But...but he has already left..."

"Did you see him leave with your own eyes?" Wang Luan looked down at her and calmly asked the question: "Or did anyone else see it?"

Sister Tim was silent, she slowly put down the hand holding the cross, unable to respond.

"Why don't you tell me what you know," Wang Luan saw that her attitude had softened, and continued to say unremittingly, "We need this answer, maybe not only us...Father Chinon also needs it."

----

Holding a cup of black tea with sugar cubes in Wang Luan's hands, he was sitting by the corridor outside the church, looking at the withered grass in the distance in the autumn.

Qi Chensheng poured out another cup of tea from the pottery teapot, handed it to Sister Tim, and then went to Wang Luan's side by himself.

"Thank you." Sister Tim's hands were still trembling a little. She lowered her head and took a sip of hot tea before feeling a little better.

Qi Chensheng didn't speak, but just put his arms around Wang Luan's shoulders, Wang Luan looked at him sideways, and brought the black tea in his hand to Qi Chensheng's mouth.

"It's too sweet." Qi Chensheng naturally knew how much sugar cubes Wang Luan had added to the cup, but he didn't refuse him, and took a shallow sip.

Only then did Wang Luan withdrew his hand, and turned to look at Sister Tim opposite.

She had obviously noticed the relationship between the two of them, and tried her best to hide her gaze, but she didn't say anything after all.

"Can we start?" Wang Luan asked gently, but Sister Tim couldn't refuse.

"I... I don't know where to start." Sister Tim said after another moment of silence.

"Then let me ask." Qi Chensheng was obviously not as patient as Wang Luan, but perhaps because he was in a slightly better mood with Brother Jiu in his arms, his tone was not aggressive.

"How did you find out about Ian?"

Mentioning this, Sister Tim showed a hint of anger on her face. She drank a few more sips of black tea before trying to calm herself down: "It's Luther...do you know Luther?"

Wang Luan and Qi Chensheng looked at each other, then nodded, and he guessed right that this matter had something to do with Luther.

"He took Ian's diary and went to blackmail Father Chinon."

Such an answer really surprised Wang Luan. He thought that Luther would inform Ian, but he didn't expect him to blackmail Father Chinon.

"But in the diary, there is only Ian's confession, and he didn't say what Father Chinon did."

Sister Tim shook her head, with a more serious expression. She seemed to be struggling with something, but she still said: "Actually... there used to be some bad things in the church."

Wang Luan was taken aback for a moment, and then understood what she was talking about.

"Those people who prey on helpless orphans...we all know this, but we can't do anything about it," Sister Tim sighed, but then said quickly: "But Father Chinon, he was always a righteous man. people!"

"He adopted orphans entirely out of kindness, and he never thought of that."

Wang Luan nodded. On this point, he was willing to believe what Sister Tim said.

"But if the story in Ian's diary gets out, others may not think so... Luther will make it up and discredit Father Chinon's reputation."

He had already played wild outside, and didn't want to be bound by this boring church like a cage, but before leaving, he wanted to extort a sum of money from Father Chinon.

Wang Luan's brows gradually frowned. Luther was the one who really harbored demons. The story of the farmer and the snake has never disappeared since ancient times: "Father Chinon...how did he deal with this matter?"

Sister Tim sighed, the black tea in the cup could no longer warm her up.

"He didn't care about his reputation, but he didn't want Ian to be implicated."

"Father Chinon said that Ian's child is still young and has such a good talent, so he can't be ruined by this incident... So, he exchanged his savings for the diary."

Canary woke up at some point, quietly lying on Wang Luan's lap, listening to Sister Tim's words.

"He returned the diary to Ian, didn't blame him for anything, but asked him to leave the church."

The benevolent Father Chinon did not abandon the child. He wrote a letter to introduce Ian to a musician friend far away, telling him about the child's talent and asking him to take care of him.

Knowing that he had no reason to stay, Ian took his diary and letter and bid farewell to Father Chinon.

"That was the last time I saw him." Sister Tim raised her hand and pointed to the small window on the west corridor of the church: "I saw him return to the room, and he disappeared the next day."

After all, this incident was not very glorious. Everyone who knew about it, including Father Chinon, thought that Ian had left secretly overnight.