hsntnovel Chapter 27 A Trivial Matter
Chapter 27 A Trivial Matter
In Jiang Xingni's vision, the golden specks of light were pushed and jostled together by the white light in his field of vision.
Then, that white light completely engulfed Jiang Xingni's vision.
The white light wasn't actually a privilege Jiang Xingni saw. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Pei Zhaoye frowning, blocking his view, his first instinct being to protect the laptop in front of him.
...It seems that the eerie realm in Nanshan Village left a deep shadow on him, Jiang Xingni thought to himself.
Then the scene before my eyes suddenly changed, like a rough canvas.
The flowers and plants are all thin, with sharp edges, as if they have been reduced in dimension after being struck by a two-dimensional foil.
The colors are messy and very rough, looking like backgrounds and materials that someone casually drew on a piece of white paper.
Jiang Xingni looked around and found that as far as he could see, there were only himself and Pei Zhaoye beside him.
Even though Pei Zhaoye subconsciously brought his laptop, his hands were still empty after the scene changed.
Jiang Xingni silently gave the other person a sympathetic look. To be honest, if it were her, Jiang Xingni would definitely deceive the real-world readers and make them think that the laptop was their companion tool.
But Pei Zhaoye is not her.
"What exactly happened?" The two looked at each other and asked almost at the same time.
Pei Zhaoye's act of protecting his tools was merely subconscious. After discovering that his laptop had disappeared, he didn't panic much but focused on the situation in front of him.
Almost every time he entered the Ghost Realm, his electronic devices were confiscated. Pei Zhaoye didn't understand, but he could only accept it helplessly.
Then, Jiang Xingni was the first to offer an explanation.
The young girl said calmly, "I saw the connection getting stronger and stronger—the connection between Zheng Pingwen and the wordless book was strengthening at that time, but I could sense that Zheng Pingwen was not the direct host of the wordless book."
"When you found out," she asked, "who was approaching our ward?"
"You suspect that person found the blank book?" Pei Zhaoye frowned slightly, subconsciously reaching into his pocket, only to find it empty.
Whether it was a computer or a mobile phone, all electronic products belonging to Pei Zhaoye were confiscated by this strange domain. Jiang Xingni was not as badly off as him, but the only electronic product he carried was a mobile phone.
When Jiang Xingni turned on her phone, she exclaimed, "Ah... no signal."
"As expected." Pei Zhaoye wasn't too disappointed; he crossed his arms somewhat disgruntled.
"When you spoke to me, the person I saw was Zheng Tingfeng—a very familiar surname, right?" Pei Zhaoye smiled slightly with a hint of sarcasm.
Jiang Xingni nodded, thinking of the woman lying in the hospital bed: "Her surname is Zheng. What is her relationship with Zheng Wenping?"
"It's Zheng Pingwen," Pei Zhaoye subconsciously corrected, then continued to explain. "She's her daughter, still a minor, not in high school yet."
"She doesn't know what's happening behind the curtain." When talking about this kind of thing, Pei Zhaoye started using the word she had used before—"curtain"—which was novel and also very descriptive.
Jiang Xing glanced at it, lost in thought.
"And logically speaking..." Pei Zhaoye hesitated for a moment, then frowned. "She's an ordinary person, without any special abilities, but why...why would she bring a wordless book to our special hospital?"
Arriving at the hospital wasn't strange; what was strange was that, without anyone guiding her, she found a special area of the hospital all by herself and almost touched her mother's bed.
Zheng Tingfeng is not as old as Jiang Xingni this year. He is currently in the third year of junior high school and is a small live streamer who draws comics online. His drawing skills have always been quite good.
Pei Zhaoye gave Zheng Tingfeng a brief introduction, which earned him a slightly suspicious glance from the girl in front of him.
"Are you some kind of peeping tom?" Jiang Xing asked.
Pei Zhaoye gave her an innocent look, then explained, "You were the one who asked me to find this out just now; it was just something I did on the spur of the moment."
In just a few seconds, Jiang Xing asked Pei Zhaoye if he had noticed anything unusual. Pei Zhaoye answered and then casually pulled up all the information about Zheng Tingfeng that was on the surface.
I quickly skimmed through it and then memorized all the information.
"Zheng Pingwen is not here," Pei Zhaoye said, looking around.
Zheng Pingwen—who, barring any unforeseen circumstances, is the one who manipulated the wordless book this time, and is Zheng Tingfeng's mother—was not pulled into this strange space.
Jiang Xingni shook his head: "We can't be so arbitrary. It's possible that they've been scattered to different places, but for now, we can use this as a basis for our analysis."
If Zheng Pingwen hadn't entered this instance, the possible scenarios would be...
"Either she's already been marked by the shadow puppetry and won't be pulled in again," Pei Zhaoye analyzed.
Then Jiang Xingni shook his head: "If she was marked for this reason, then why were we dragged into this?"
In a sense, their connection with shadow puppetry is even deeper than that between Zheng Pingwen and shadow puppetry.
Zheng Pingwen only saw the shadow puppet show through the internet without realizing it, but Jiang Xingni and Pei Zhaoye actually fought with the shadow puppets and almost became shadow puppets themselves.
If the wordless book were truly such a morally upright and treacherous entity that it wouldn't pull anyone else after pulling them all, then there would have been no need for Jiang Xingni and Pei Zhaoye to be dragged into this situation.
"So, it's because of Zheng Tingfeng?" Pei Zhaoye continued to ponder, following Jiang Xingni's train of thought. "Like the village chief and his grandson back then?"
The village chief believed the children were innocent and should not be harmed, so the children in the village were only affected, but no one actually died.
Now, although we don't know what Zheng Tingfeng is thinking, it's clear that she doesn't want to involve her mother.
"Let's say it's based on principle," Pei Zhaoye muttered. "So, how many people were pulled into... this space?"
"Surely Zheng Tingfeng isn't chasing after the two of us too?"
Jiang Xingni remained noncommittal. She took the initiative and walked towards the house on the other side.
Then, she heard Pei Zhaoye's slightly doubtful voice beside her: "What kind of strange realm is this? Is it so real?"
Jiang Xingni: ...
The little girl rubbed her eyes, unsure whether she was blind or Pei Zhaoye was blind.
In Jiang Xingni's eyes, the entire scene was a messy, scribbled comic strip, completely unrelated to the word "real".
She then realized that this was the effect of her eyes.
Those who can see the true nature of this world can also see through its falsehoods.