ISBH - Chapter 15
Chapter 15: Protection
Han Tian did not know how long she had been unconscious.
She only remembered that while unconscious, every inch of her skin had felt as if pierced by countless needles, and the pain had sunk almost into her soul, making her wish she could simply die completely...
Later, she did not know what happened, only that the pain gradually eased, and Han Tian found herself waking from the dream.
By then night had already fallen.
As Han Tian looked at the scene around her, for a moment she felt as if a lifetime had passed. She had almost doubted she would ever wake again.
The little girl beside her was lying face down on the table.
Below the little girl's lips there was still undried blood. She did not sleep peacefully, her brows knitted tight.
Han Tian quietly climbed up from the floor. Remembering what she had seen in the bathroom earlier, her heart ached again.
Right now the most important thing was to treat the little girl's wounds!
Han Tian fetched a basin of water, pulled down the zipper at the back of Mo Sheng's dress, carefully wiped away the writing left on her back, and then applied the medicine left over from last time to Mo Sheng.
The skin on Mo Sheng's back was not dark and thin like the skin she exposed. Around her shoulder blades there was a stark line between dark and pale, and against the snow white skin of her back, the writing looked especially glaring.
Thinking of the punishment she had suffered from the Spacetime Rules, and looking at the wounds on Mo Sheng's back, Han Tian could not help crying out...
The environment she had grown up in had been far too sheltered. The greatest obstacle she had ever met was an unsolved research problem. She had never imagined that one day simply staying alive could be this hard!
The sleeping little girl seemed to sense something and gave two soft whimpers...
Han Tian quickly stifled her sobs, hid the towel, and did not dare move again.
Mo Sheng's eyelashes trembled faintly, as if she had opened her eyes, but after a short while the little girl grew quiet again and fell into deep sleep.
Han Tian had no time for sorrow now. She lightened the pressure of her hands and applied medicine to the wounds on Mo Sheng's back once more.
When the medicine on Mo Sheng's back had dried, Han Tian found a clean piece of clothing nearby and wrapped it around her hand, planning to block direct contact as she carried Mo Sheng to the bed.
Han Tian had almost no experience carrying people. Only when she reached out did she realize the clothing could cover just one hand, while the other hand remained completely exposed.
Yet Han Tian had already settled into the posture for lifting. If she put Mo Sheng down to adjust again, she would very likely wake her.
Han Tian could only rest her other hand carefully on the hem of Mo Sheng's dress to avoid touching skin, then take a deep breath and lift Mo Sheng up with effort.
Mo Sheng was even lighter than Han Tian had imagined. The little girl was little more than skin and bones, and her frame felt bony and uncomfortable in Han Tian's arms.
Looking at the tiny little girl in her arms, Han Tian felt a sting in her heart and almost cried again.
She carried Mo Sheng to the bed with care. As she let go, she stumbled slightly, and her hand accidentally brushed against Mo Sheng...
Han Tian pulled her hand back at once.
Only after pulling back did Han Tian notice something strange. This time there had been nothing like the electric shock sensation of before!
Han Tian's almond eyes widened. Hardly daring to believe it, she reached out and touched Mo Sheng's skin again.
The skin was smooth and slightly cool to the touch, clear and distinct, with none of the surging current she had felt before...
What on earth had happened?
Han Tian tested it several times, and no current appeared afterward.
Han Tian was certain this was no mercy from the Spacetime Rules.
If the Spacetime Rules had shown her any leniency, they would not have punished her so harshly before.
Had her colleagues ten years later attempted something, and was that why she had changed?
Or was it because...
Han Tian's gaze fell on Mo Sheng.
Han Tian was not foolish. She had simply been filled with panic at arriving in this time and with pity for Mo Sheng, so she had not thought deeply about certain things.
But for no clear reason she had followed Mo Sheng home from the garbage dump.
She could move only within ten meters around this house.
And she could touch no one else but Mo Sheng...
Didn't this mean there was something different about Mo Sheng?
Yet Mo Sheng was only an ordinary poor little girl who had lost her guardian. What could possibly be different about her?
...
Han Tian recalled meeting Mo Sheng at the garbage dump. Mo Sheng had seemed to be searching for something, and after Mo Sheng found it, Han Tian had started to float...
Could it be related to whatever Mo Sheng had picked up?
Yet during this time Han Tian had long grown familiar with every arrangement in Mo Sheng's home. She knew exactly what was there. If there had been anything strange, it could not possibly have escaped her notice.
No, wait...
A thought stirred in Han Tian's heart, and her gaze fell on the second-floor attic.
She had never opened the large locked chest in the second-floor attic, made of some unknown material.
Could it be inside that chest?
Han Tian frowned tightly.
She kept feeling she had overlooked something. The answer seemed very close, yet when she thought carefully she could think of nothing.
...
Still, it did not matter. She would have plenty of time later to sort out the doubts in her heart.
Thinking this, Han Tian stopped dwelling on it. Watching the little girl sleep with her brows still knitted, she pressed her lips together lightly.
No matter the reason, Mo Sheng was the miracle that had kept her from falling into loneliness.
If she had never met her, it might have been bearable. But now Mo Sheng lived right under her eyes, and Han Tian could no longer stand by and watch Mo Sheng go on living so humbly and helplessly as now.
Han Tian bit her lower lip. She was determined to help Mo Sheng with all her strength, to give Mo Sheng a healthy and happy youth!
When Han Tian opened her eyes the next morning, Mo Sheng was already awake.
Unlike other days when she ate only half a steamed bun, Mo Sheng seemed to have a very good appetite this time and ate a whole steamed bun.
The little girl had changed back into that dirty outfit and silently went out the door with her schoolbag on her back.
Han Tian yawned, rose leisurely from the floor, walked to the doorway and waved. "Goodbye, Little Mo Sheng, come back early..."
Watching Mo Sheng walk farther away and round the corner, Han Tian was just planning to go back to heat water and clean while she could still touch objects, when a familiar pull suddenly came from within her body!
Han Tian's eyes flew wide as that pull dragged her up into the air again.
What was happening?
Han Tian had tried many times before, attempting to drift out behind Mo Sheng like a kite, but every attempt had ended in failure. She had never been able to leave this house.
Han Tian had almost accepted that she was the "earthbound spirit" of this house, yet she had never expected such a sudden change...
Very soon Han Tian saw Mo Sheng ahead.
The scene felt strangely familiar. Back then Mo Sheng had led her home just like flying a kite.
So had Mo Sheng brought along the thing she had been looking for at the garbage dump that day? Was that why Han Tian was drifting after her?
Han Tian's eyes lit up. She quickly circulated the strength within her to land on solid ground and chased after Mo Sheng.
She had no wish to be dragged forward by that strange force. It looked far too much like being walked like a dog!
Mo Sheng's hands were empty, so Han Tian's gaze fell on Mo Sheng's closed schoolbag.
But with Mo Sheng carrying that small schoolbag on her back, Han Tian restrained her impulse, no matter how desperately she wanted to know what it was...
Opening Mo Sheng's schoolbag now would be far too conspicuous, and it might frighten her.
Once Mo Sheng reached the classroom, she would naturally learn what was hidden in Mo Sheng's schoolbag...
Han Tian rather regretted waking too late that morning and missing what Mo Sheng had put into the schoolbag.
As for now...
Han Tian had arrived at night and had not yet seen the surroundings clearly. It was rare to have this chance now.
Moreover, this was her first time walking Mo Sheng to school, a perfect chance to find out what happened to Mo Sheng at school!
In that instant, the sadness and grief Han Tian had felt from being unable to help Mo Sheng vanished completely...
With a faint trace of anticipation in her heart, Han Tian walked beside Mo Sheng, looking around with lively interest.
Compared with the bustling traffic and orderly appearance ten years later, the scene around them now looked utterly chaotic. Broken walls stood everywhere and piles of bricks and earth lay heaped about. The roar of excavators, the loud shouts of workers, the noise of mixers and cement, all kinds of sounds blended together.
How wondrous the growth of a city could be!
Who would have thought that this filthy construction site before them would in ten years become a model of urban development?
And what about Little Mo Sheng ten years later?
Han Tian took a deep breath, her gaze falling again on Mo Sheng hurrying along beside her with lowered head and schoolbag on her back. She wondered what Little Mo Sheng would look like ten years later...
Han Tian made a silent vow. If she returned ten years later without having lost her mind, she would surely find Little Mo Sheng.
She hoped Little Mo Sheng would have a wonderful future!
If she was not living well, Han Tian would do everything in her power to help her.
Professor Han was actually very wealthy. Prizes large and small had brought extremely generous bonuses, and together with her salary and some investments, Han Tian had in a sense already achieved financial freedom. Since she had always devoted herself to research and spent little, Han Tian felt supporting a Mo Sheng in the future would be more than easy.
"You must grow up quickly..." Thinking of meeting Mo Sheng ten years later, anticipation rose in Han Tian's heart. "Then I'll take good care of you, dress you beautifully every day, and give you the prettiest dresses to wear..."
"Of course, I'll take good care of you now too, and protect you..."
The sun gradually rose higher. The June weather was rather hot, and Mo Sheng's face glowed with a flush under the sunlight.
Han Tian remembered the sharply divided skin on Mo Sheng's back and wanted tenderly to shield her from the sun. Yet in her current state she cast no shadow at all and could not block the sunlight. In a short while Mo Sheng was covered in sweat...
Very soon the joy Han Tian had felt at leaving Mo Sheng's home faded away.
On the road Han Tian met several little girls with schoolbags on their backs. When those girls saw Mo Sheng, they avoided her from afar, and some even jeered aloud.
"Mo Sheng is little trash..."
"Mo Sheng is an ugly freak..."
"Mo Sheng the little stink bug!"
...
Mocking voices rang out constantly, yet Mo Sheng seemed not to hear them and walked on in silence.
Hearing those voices, Han Tian clenched her hands tight!
She had never imagined children this age could show such open malice. It chilled Han Tian to the core...
She had not imagined Mo Sheng's life had always been this hard...
Mo Sheng was only thirteen years old. How could these little girls be so cruel...
"Mo Sheng has a mother who bore her but never raised her. She's a dress stealing thief..." Another little girl jeered when she saw Mo Sheng. The girl looked as lovely as carved jade and snow, yet her words were utterly vicious...
For some reason, Mo Sheng, silent until now, lifted her head at that moment. "I didn't steal the dress. I found it!"
"Who would bear to throw such a pretty dress into the trash?" The girl glanced at Mo Sheng with contempt. "You've grown bold! You even dare to talk back. Weren't you taught enough of a lesson yesterday?"
...
So this little girl was the one who bullied Mo Sheng?
Did they bully Mo Sheng simply because Mo Sheng had for once worn a pretty dress?
Han Tian was almost driven to tears by anger again!
She felt that everything she had seen and heard during her time with Mo Sheng constantly shattered her sense of how low people could go!
She had never met such a vicious little girl!
Han Tian took a deep breath and tried hard to hold back the surging fury in her heart.
She could not let Mo Sheng keep talking with this little girl. The girl looked a good deal taller than Mo Sheng, and Han Tian feared Mo Sheng would come off worse.
"Mo Sheng, will you listen to your sister for once," Han Tian said, forcing down her sobs as she crouched beside Mo Sheng, "I know you didn't steal. I'll make many, many dresses for you in the future."
"If a dog bites us, we can't bite her back..."
...
That female ghost had started nagging again, just as expected!
Mo Sheng hung her head, her hands clenched tight, without a word.
When she realized that female ghost could follow her outside too, Mo Sheng felt equally astonished inside, but she had grown used to hiding herself during this time, so she did not show her surprise.
Watching the female ghost look around with delight at the scenery, Mo Sheng even felt a touch of pleasure in her heart.
The female ghost really looked beautiful when she smiled...
She had not taken to heart Han Tian's words about wanting to protect her.
The female ghost could barely take care of herself. How could she possibly protect her...
Yet those girls did not let Mo Sheng go.
Mo Sheng was not afraid of being beaten again. She was only afraid the female ghost would cry.
After all, this female ghost seemed to ache for her. Mo Sheng had originally planned to endure it, but she did not want the female ghost to misunderstand and think she stole things. Her father had taught her long ago that she must never steal from others at any time, for that was the most shameless behavior...
That was why Mo Sheng had spoken up to answer back.
Mo Sheng feared the female ghost might also believe what those classmates said.
...
Mo Sheng hung her head. She always looked this way when bullied, and in a sense it signaled submission.
But some people never played by the rules. Seeing Mo Sheng like that, the little girl darkened her face and ran over to hit her.
Mo Sheng's eyelashes fluttered, and she closed her eyes.
Yet the slap did not land on her face as before.
With a loud thud, that classmate fell to the ground!
Han Tian could not touch that little girl, but she gathered her strength and kicked a banana peel to the feet of that girl...
"Run!" Seeing Mo Sheng's stunned look, Han Tian could not help giving Mo Sheng a push!
The moment she acted, Han Tian regretted it!
Yet in that instant Han Tian's arm passed right through Mo Sheng's arm...
Kicking that banana peel had used up all her strength, and she could no longer touch Mo Sheng...
Han Tian breathed a sigh of relief, yet worry rose in her heart, for she did not know how to alert Mo Sheng, who looked frozen in place.
Still, Mo Sheng reacted very quickly and dashed toward the school as fast as she could!
Han Tian trailed far behind Mo Sheng. She no longer had enough strength to stand on the ground and could only float along in a humiliating posture...
So be it if she looked like a flown kite! At least this time she had protected Mo Sheng.
Han Tian did not notice how much brighter than usual the eyes of Mo Sheng below her were.
Mo Sheng lowered her head and finally could not help smiling quietly.
So... the female ghost really would protect her in her own way...
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