I Really Didn't Intend to Pick Up the Black Lotus Omega - Chapter 19

Sunlight streamed through the dense leaves of the trees outside the window, where cicadas chirped in long, short bursts.

The pages of a book turned slowly as Jiang Nianyu sat near the armchair, reading at a leisurely pace.

The sun traced her silhouette, noticing she was wearing another of Yu Qing’s shirts.

The plain, checkered pattern draped loosely on her, creating an unexpectedly striking atmosphere.

Lianlian wagged her tail as she wandered back and forth across the computer screen.

The little dog had used her self-replication function to create a swarm of clones, nearly filling the screen with playful pink fluffballs.

Bathed in warm sunlight, each dog lived its own little life.

Knock, knock, knock.

The sudden knock interrupted the midday tranquility.

Jiang Nianyu’s gaze froze, her instincts sharpening.

Then she remembered Yu Qing’s instructions before leaving and walked to the door. “Leave the package at the door.”

“Got it!”

At the delivery man’s reply, Jiang Nianyu activated the electronic door lock’s display screen.

She watched as the delivery man photographed the package he’d left outside, then watched him leave. After a long pause, she slowly pushed the door open.

In this world without Yu Qing, the silence was deafening, making her want to leave even more.

Jiang Nianyu moved quickly, slicing the package open with two swift strokes of a small knife.

A neighbor from the same floor opened their door and stepped out. At Yu Qing’s doorstep, only a delivery bag with the identifying information removed lay on the storage cabinet.

Yu Qing’s package was large, the box longer than Jiang Nianyu’s forearm.

Yet it was surprisingly light, easily lifted with one hand.

As Jiang Nianyu carried the package inside, she noticed a peculiar scent emanating from it—a strange familiarity.

This sensation intensified as she reached the living room.

After a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Nianyu took the liberty of opening it.

The massive box was filled with blue raffia, cradling a water-green rabbit plushie lying obediently inside.

Jiang Nianyu’s mind went blank.

This rabbit plushie was identical to the one from her dream the previous night, except for the color.

Yet this changed color inexplicably reminded Jiang Nianyu of the grapevine from her dream.

Its tendrils, coiling and twisting, had reached out from the dream, cruelly teasing her nostrils, making her detect a familiar yet loathed scent on the rabbit.

“…Siqing.”

Jiang Nianyu’s gaze involuntarily dropped downward as dark clouds gathered ominously outside the window.

She felt Yu Qing shouldn’t have received this gift.

Everything she loathed and detested had no place here.

This was her sanctuary.

Hers alone.

The obsessive thought consumed Jiang Nianyu’s mind: she wanted to destroy the rabbit doll.

But when she picked it up, a card slipped out with a soft thud.

Sister, will you like the gift I gave you?

The flamboyant handwriting burst into Jiang Nianyu’s vision without warning, echoing a blurry face in her mind.

Her grip tightened on the rabbit doll as she stared at the word “Sister” on the card.

“Sister~”

The girl’s playful voice, laced with amusement, pierced Jiang Nianyu’s thoughts like a sharp blade.

The blurry face in her mind tilted its head, hands clasped behind its back, and skipped toward her.

As the figure drew closer, it revealed itself to be a child, no older than seven or eight.

Jiang Nianyu told herself there was nothing to fear.

Yet her perspective shifted rapidly, shrinking until she stood at the child’s height.

“What a smelly rabbit! Don’t you have anything clean?”

“What’s wrong? I’m just trying to help you wash it. It’s so filthy—how can you still like it?”

“If you want it, come and take it! If you can, I’ll give it back.”

The rabbit plush Jiang Nianyu had once become in her dream now dangled from Jiang Siqing’s hand, a relic of her memory.

Jiang Siqing despised the dirty, worn-out toy. She pinched its ear, swinging it back and forth, as if she were tossing Jiang Nianyu’s heart into the air.

Though two years older, young Jiang Nianyu was shorter than young Jiang Siqing. She stood on tiptoe, trying to snatch back her rabbit, but Siqing simply raised her arm higher, keeping the toy out of reach.

“Xiaoyu, why don’t you let the little rabbit sleep with you from now on? It’ll protect you, just like Mommy does.”

The woman’s palm radiated tenderness, a stark contrast to the harshness she had shown when pinching Jiang Nianyu’s cheek to force her to remember her name. She gently stroked the girl’s face, her eyes brimming with affection.

Young Jiang Nianyu obediently hugged the rabbit plush, and from that day forward, she endured countless nights of terror and pain with it by her side.

“Give it back!”

Rip—

Jiang Nianyu couldn’t bear to see her rabbit tossed around in Jiang Siqing’s hands. She lunged forward, desperate to retrieve it.

That was the first time she learned that her reckless actions could harm the things she cherished most.

The rabbit’s severed arm dangled limply in Jiang Nianyu’s hand, adding another layer of tattered ruin to its already filthy state.

Jiang Siqing completely lost interest, her disgust growing even stronger.

She casually tossed the rabbit at Jiang Nianyu’s feet, as if to say, “Here, take it back.”

The plush toy landed softly on the floor, making no sound.

But the cotton stuffing inside began to spill out like bl00d, a ghastly white spreading across Jiang Nianyu’s vision.

That summer had been oppressively hot and humid, even the cicadas’ shrill cries seemed particularly grating.

The sound pierced through time, piercing Jiang Nianyu’s eardrums even now.

With a thud, Jiang Nianyu collapsed to her knees.

Her knees reddened instantly from the impact.

Yet she seemed oblivious to the pain, her hands clenching tightly around the rabbit’s head.

Siqing’s pheromones, acting in place of their owner, had become Jiang Nianyu’s most loathed enemy. The scent, which Jiang Nianyu detested, infiltrated her violently heaving breaths, fueled by her turbulent emotions.

And so, Jiang Nianyu’s grip tightened, tightened, tightened.

She had to drown out the scent.

She couldn’t let that person defile any more of her things.

Out of control.

The slow, dull sound of tearing fabric echoed through the room as Jiang Nianyu, her face cold, ripped the rabbit plush repeatedly until her fingers trembled uncontrollably.

Until she turned her head.

And saw the rabbit lying on the floor, its innocent eyes staring up at the stranger’s malice. Its plastic eyes reflected Jiang Nianyu’s image, silently revealing her twisted, dark despair.

Jiang Nianyu’s eyes widened in shock.

She hadn’t exactly regained her senses; her gloom remained heavy and damp, bubbling with self-loathing.

This belongs to Yu Qing.

What right do I have to handle it without permission?

Will Yu Qing be angry?

Will she kick me out?

—”Didn’t your mother tell you? When you’re in someone else’s house, you follow their rules! If you keep disobeying, no one will want you!”

The clouds piling up outside the window grew thicker, completely obscuring the sun.

The air hung heavy with oppressive stillness. Jiang Nianyu felt a heat rising from within her, threatening to consume her entirely.

No…

Her breaths, exhaled from the room, grew heavier with each passing moment.

Yu Qing’s bed seemed both distant and impossibly close.

Jiang Nianyu stumbled forward, like an elephant at the end of its life, searching for its final resting place.

She clutched Yu Qing’s recently worn pajamas, her nose brushing lightly against the collar.

Her long legs, unable to be fully concealed, peeked out from beneath the shirt’s hem.

She clumsily straddled Yu Qing’s quilt, her movements practiced and familiar, repeating what she had done before.

But why did Yu Qing’s scent only intensify Jiang Nianyu’s distress?

The white camellia fragrance spiraled out of control, completely blocking the glands at the back of her neck.

It couldn’t escape.

It relentlessly pounded against Jiang Nianyu’s body, as if trying to shatter her.

Faint rumbles of thunder echoed outside the window, shaking Jiang Nianyu to her core.

Wrapped in Yu Qing’s clothes, she desperately tried to curl herself into the smallest possible unit in the world.

Jiang Nianyu’s hopeless gaze peeked out from her feverish eyes, trembling and tearful.

It stretched between heaven and earth.

She desperately wanted… someone to help her.