Chapter 5: The Great Medium

  "Ah, Auntie is good, I'm Ye Chen, a classmate of Xiao Yan."

  "Eh, hello." Tong Xuan smiled warmly at this boy who seemed shy and a bit silly to her. She couldn't help but glance at her own clothes, which compared to the other kids, might have already been dismissed as unfashionable, yet Ye Chen still greeted her, filling her heart with affection for him once again.

  Ye Chen proactively walked out of the medical office to leave a position for Tong Xuan, and also found a quiet place to calm down. The first time he met his "mother-in-law", he was seen holding Xiao Yan's hand, would it leave a bad impression? With thousands of questions and regrets in his heart, he pretended to be calm.

  Yan Xi saw Tong Xuan enter the medical office and followed her in, sitting down on the chair beside her. She whispered to Tong Xuan:

  "Auntie, last night when I was sleeping with Xiaoyan, I saw... something dirty."

  "What?! Is it true or false? Did you see that?" Tong Xuan was extremely surprised and immediately cast her inquiring gaze towards Yan Xi.

  "Really, I almost got strangled to death by that thing last night, and only escaped when Xiaoyan turned on the light... Now that I think about it, I'm getting scared." Yanxi showed a frightened and terrified expression, making Tong Xuan deeply believe him.

  "What should I do?! No wonder Xiaoyan has been so absent-minded lately, and I didn't even believe her... Ah..." Tong Xuan heard Yan Xi say this, and thinking back to Xiaoyan's every word, she became even more at a loss. Things that can't be seen or touched, what should she do then?!

  Yan Xi thought for a moment, shook his head and said: "I'm not clear either. Ah, right! My family used to invite a spiritual medium who could fortune-tell, read feng shui, and communicate with spirits. He can probably help with this matter too."

  "Then you help Auntie go and invite him, but Auntie doesn't have that much money, I'm afraid..." Tong Xuan said with embarrassment, yet she couldn't bear to give up the method that could help her daughter escape.

  Yanxi interrupted Tong Xuan's words, smiling cutely and said, "It's okay, Auntie, Xiaoyan is also my best friend, if I don't help her who will? Master's affairs are all taken care of by me, or else let him come to our house tomorrow to take a look?"

  "Alright, alright, you arrange it, tomorrow would be the best, thank you so much, Auntie doesn't know what to say anymore." Tong Xuan's heart finally felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders, and she felt even more grateful and fond of this rich young lady.

  "They all said that Xiaoyan is my best friend, it's nothing." Yanxi smiled and patted Tongxuan's hand, meaning to let her be at ease.

  When Xiaoyan woke up, it was already past 3 pm. Rubbing her dizzy head, she looked around and found that she wasn't in the classroom, but in a familiar yet terrifying room of her own.

  Tong Xuan carried a cup of water and pushed open the door: "You're awake, are you feeling better? Come drink some water."

  Xiao Yan slowly drank the water, feeling the dryness in her throat being soothed by the liquid. Her dizzy head also felt much better, and she let out a soft sigh as she snuggled into the blanket. She gradually recalled the scene of herself fainting on the playground and being taken home from the infirmary by her mother.

  Tong Xuan helped Xiao Yan cover herself with a quilt, took out a bottle of transparent capsules containing white tablets and said:

  "This is a sleeping pill given by your health teacher. If you can't sleep, take two pills and you will be able to sleep soundly."

  "Got it." Yan Xi nodded and took over the medicine, putting it in the cabinet by the bed, then turned around and fell asleep as the sunlight streamed in.

  The sun sets, Tong Xuan takes a leave of absence and plans to guard her daughter for one night. Any monsters or ghosts who dare to approach her daughter, hurt a single hair on her head, she will not forgive.

  The faint light shone on Xiao Yan's exhausted, pale face. Xiao Yan had been tormented to such an extent that she looked haggard, which made Tong Xuan feel very uneasy and self-reproachful in her heart.

  It's all my fault for being so focused on making money and neglecting Xiaoyan's feelings, leaving her to face everything alone for so long. I mustn't abandon her again now. As she thought about it, exhaustion took over and she fell asleep beside Xiaoyan's bed.

  Xiao Yan slightly opened her eyes, looking at her mother who was sleeping on the bed beside her. She felt guilty and moved in her heart, wondering why she couldn't let her mother be at ease. She turned to look at the cabinet at the head of the bed, Xiao Yan quietly got out of bed and opened the cabinet, took out a bottle of sleeping pills, carefully poured out two tablets, put them in her mouth, and swallowed them with a sip of water.

  The bitter taste of the pill lingered in her mouth for a long time, it was really bitter. Xiaoyan lay down again, thinking about whether the sleeping pills could make herself sleep soundly through the night, without worrying her mother, and not having to face that terrifying woman again, hoping they would work.

  A wave of dizziness washed over her, and Xiaoyan closed her heavy eyelids. Her mind was a complete blank, with only darkness and dizziness remaining.

  A silence that had never been experienced before swept towards Xiaoyan, so quiet, so desolate, and yet so unsettling. But she was inexplicably enthralled, irreparably falling in love with this darkness. She was awake, yet entranced, or perhaps unable to distinguish between wakefulness and enthrallment. She couldn't recall nightmares, nor think of troubles, without any fears that would disturb her mind. She chose to escape, fleeing into the stillness of this dark silence.