A Sad World (2)

Tang Xin put down the guitar, and the children stopped crying. Everyone had to learn to look forward, and they were no exception. The crueler the world, the more people had to learn to grow up. Having realized that those closest to them had left forever, they also learned to be strong,

Enduring their tears to earn the respect of their peers.

"It's the Blue-Winged Voice. I recognized it."

Shu Tong was immersed in the melody, and only after a long while did she snap out of it. She smiled and leaned her head against Tang Xin's shoulder.

"It sounds so good. Fate is such a strange thing. Who would have thought that one day Big Sister would appear before Shu Tong and sing right in front of her?"

"If I told anyone, they'd be dying of envy. I heard that even rich people can't get tickets to Big Sister's concerts!"

Tang Xin gave a helpless smile. "It's not that exaggerated."

"The adults often talk about 'the city, the city.' I always wondered how far that place called the Star of Art is from Mermaid Town," Shu Tong said.

For these children, this small island was their entire world. When the sun rose from the sea and the lights of the returning fishing boats drifted back, the day began. When the sun sank below the sea and the lights of the adults' fishing boats drifted into the distance, it marked the arrival of night, day after day, year after year.

Outside their world was the boundless sea. Every once in a while, they would see tourists arriving on cruise ships from hundreds of kilometers away. It was only through the things these tourists brought that they could understand how vast the outside world was.

People outside used curtains, while the children would gather in front of a small, old-fashioned television to watch a few scattered channels. They would put album discs into the disc drive and watch the blue-haired girl in reality win the applause of everyone in the audience with her gentle and beautiful singing. Sometimes, the children would also applaud, cheering for the girl. The naive boys would cry their eyes out, swearing they would never love anyone but her.

They liked this big sister because her voice was so gentle, capable of healing and soothing their souls.

These children had lost their parents long ago when they were very young. Unfortunately, the orphanage system had not been implemented on this small island, and no hypocritical politicians would seek welfare for the stray children of this remote area. Consequently, they could only huddle together for warmth, becoming the rats of the town that everyone despised.

Shu Tong was one of those stray children. After hearing that the figure she admired had come to their town, the other children actually hid, afraid of the girl seeing how dirty they were. Only Shu Tong had changed into a doll dress she had saved up money to buy, subdued a coward to enter a house and wash herself clean, and then came to Tang Xin's side.

The figure she had dreamed of meeting was now right before her eyes, yet Shu Tong didn't feel as excited as when she first heard the news. It was a strange feeling.

Shu Tong tilted her head, leaning it lightly against Tang Xin. Even though terrible things were happening in the world outside, she wasn't afraid at all. It was as if just by being near Big Sister, her heart would involuntarily grow calm.

"Big sister, do you want to hear my story?" Shu Tong asked. "It was a dark and stormy night..."

Shu Tong swayed her head as she described her life experiences with a bit of embellishment. Like most children of suffering, there was nothing particularly special about it, though her personality was more mature.

A faint smile touched the corners of Tang Xin's mouth. When she thought about being insulted by others online, a warm feeling welled up in her heart knowing that hundreds of kilometers away, there were little fans who stood up for her and tried to comfort her through the television screen.

So her singing could reach this far, soothing these young souls enduring hardships and letting them sleep peacefully.

"So, you led your little companions to defeat the evil Siren King and sealed him back underground?" Tang Xin asked with a light laugh.

Shu Tong didn't even blush. "Exactly!"

"Hehe, don't worry, Big Sister. I'm not the type who likes to dump my troubles on others. I know the hardships I've faced, and that's enough."

"Constantly mentioning it in front of others just ruins their mood. It's not like they'd be kind enough to give me a few pieces of bread out of pity."

"So, was the story Shu Tong made up interesting?"

"Yes, it was," Tang Xin nodded.

"In exchange, Big Sister has to tell me a story too."

Shu Tong rested her hand on Tang Xin's leg, propping up her small face with a beaming smile.

"Okay," Tang Xin agreed.

Though she wasn't very good at storytelling, it wouldn't be right not to use her brain at a time like this. Just as she was thinking about the structure of a story, someone suddenly knocked on the door and window, followed by a man's voice.

"I'm from the cruise ship's guard team. It's very dangerous outside. Stay inside and don't come out. We're coming in now."

The children inside showed hopeful expressions. Someone said, "Someone's coming to save us?"

"We're saved! It's okay now."

"That's great..."

There was a bit of movement and discussion among the children in the classroom.

Tang Xin keenly noticed that after hearing the movement inside, the people outside quickened their pace.

Something was wrong. Those people outside were definitely not members of the cruise ship's guard team!

They acted as if they knew beforehand that there were people in the schoolhouse. But the children inside had stopped crying and making noise over ten minutes ago. Someone must have leaked the information about this place.

Was it those thugs with guns?

Alarms went off in Tang Xin's heart.

Shu Tong also realized something was wrong. She looked up at her, and her small face turned pale in an instant.

"Quick, Shu Tong! You're familiar with this schoolhouse. You know where to hide. Take them and hide, find a way to get them out of here!"

Shu Tong murmured, "Then what about you, Big Sister?"

"Go, now!" Tang Xin urged, raising her voice.

Shu Tong nodded repeatedly and shouted at the children below the stage, "Stop talking! Everyone, follow me quickly! Those people aren't good!"

At that moment, the sound of doors being smashed came from the distant classrooms. Those classroom doors were crudely broken open, and the chairs and tables blocked behind them crashed to the floor in a chaotic din.

"Not here. Keep searching ahead!" someone shouted.

The color drained from the faces of every child in the classroom. Fear and unease spread once more, and they began to cry again. Soon, the crying merged into a single wall of sound. Shu Tong and Shanshan tried to stop them, but it was useless.

"Stop crying!" Tang Xin shouted.

The children didn't respond to her. The crying made her ears ring, and the thoughts that had just formed in her mind became as tangled as a mess of yarn. Irritation rose in her heart, and at that moment, the sound of footsteps rapidly approached their direction. Tang Xin stomped her foot and let out a sharp roar like a wild beast:

"Stop crying!"

"I told you to shut up!!"

All the children were terrified. They had never imagined that this seemingly gentle big sister could show such a ferocious side. Shu Tong stared at Tang Xin, whose chest was heaving violently and whose hair was disheveled against her face; her expression was fractured and slightly distorted.

Shu Tong was the first to react. "Follow me, quickly!"

After being scolded like that, the children suppressed their sobs. Under Shu Tong's guidance, they climbed the ladder and crawled into the ventilation ducts that were just large enough for them to pass through. Shanshan took a final look at Tang Xin, who stood there with her hair loose and silent, as if she had suddenly become a different person, before quickening her pace to follow the others out.

Not long after, the classroom door was kicked open, and the tables and chairs blocking it scattered across the floor.

White Snake frowned as she looked at the empty classroom, with only one person remaining. She raised her gun and pointed it at Tang Xin. Behind the girl was an open window, the curtains fluttering behind her long blue hair.

"Where did those brats go?"

Tang Xin looked up, her eyes bloodshot. "I'm the only one here."