Chapter 83: Shock! The Little Green Mushroom Can Speak…

Regarding a chat topic about a little kid who deliberately ditched their younger brother and now couldn’t even recognize him, even in the Weird World, Su Ximu didn’t quite understand or agree with it.

‘I have a friend…’

‘If there was a person…’

Su Ximu had believed in that kind of phrasing before college, but after starting university and being influenced by his dormmates, he gradually realized that ‘I have a friend’ was equivalent to ‘me myself’, and ‘if there was a person’ most likely referred to the narrator themselves.

But looking at the little girl he was holding, who seemed very well-behaved at the moment, he still wasn’t willing to judge the facts based on his own speculation.

So, after temporarily carrying Dudu back to the courtyard, he set her down on the grassy area of the courtyard. He squatted down, didn’t answer Dudu’s question first, but instead tried asking, “Why did that little kid deliberately ditch their younger brother?”

And had the younger brother been lost for a long time already? Otherwise, how could they not recognize him?

The little girl who was asked looked around left and right, then glanced at Ox Grandpa standing behind Xiao Mu Brother. The place that had felt so strange and scary before now gave her the feeling that she could say whatever she wanted.

Because this wasn’t her home anymore, nor was it anywhere else in the Villa District. This was Ox Grandpa’s home—her mom and dad wouldn’t suddenly show up here.

So whatever she said, her mom and dad wouldn’t hear.

With this realization, plus the fact that she had already told Xiao Mu Brother it was ‘a little kid’, not her, Dudu raised her little hand at this moment and boldly spoke up. “Because home was bad.”

Home was bad, so she deliberately ditched her younger brother outside.

But Little Weird kids always acted without thinking ahead, didn’t consider too much, only thought that ditching him would do the trick, and forgot to carefully choose a good spot to ditch him.

Anyway, whenever there was a chance to ditch him, she just did it. Anywhere was better than home.

In the worst case, after being ditched, the younger brother really got eaten by a big Weird.

But Dudu felt that probably hadn’t happened.

Because she was the big sister—if her younger brother died, she would feel a lot of pain too.

Home was bad?

After hearing this answer, Su Ximu subconsciously thought of many social news stories he’d seen before and immediately followed up. “Why was home bad?”

What kind of home could be so bad that this little kid would rather ditch her younger brother than let him stay home?

Hearing this question, the little girl who had just categorically declared home was bad now showed a somewhat confused expression again.

She thought for a long time, but in the end could only shake her head, unable to explain why. “Xiao Mu Brother, I don’t know.”

After saying that, she dejectedly lifted her hand and thumped her head hard. Her eyes even started to redden. “Xiao Mu Brother, I really don’t know. But, but brother and sister said it was bad. So I ditched Teng Teng.”

In her dejection and sadness, she even forgot to cover up her slip of wording.

The little girl’s sad and confused expression made Su Ximu feel a sense of familiarity.

He somewhat recalled his older brothers from childhood, remembered how after Third Brother’s arm got injured, he instinctively lashed out but could only pace around in bewilderment and smash the wall with his arm.

People who had always been trapped in the Cocoon Room, when they first came into contact with outside information sources, would also try to develop their own awareness and thoughts.

But that process was difficult and slow.

In that slow process, when they encountered the same harm as before again, they might realize something but couldn’t put it into many words.

Dudu’s mental age was still too young. Seeing that as she spoke, she showed signs of an emotional breakdown and crying, Su Ximu chose to drop the topic for now and instead stuffed a piece of candy into the little girl’s mouth.

The sweet taste of the candy and the obvious energy boost immediately stabilized Dudu’s emotions. She seemed very easy to soothe.

“Things we can’t figure out, let’s not think about them for now. Dudu just came over today—want to look at the little rabbits with brother?”

“Ox Grandpa is here too. Let’s ask if he agrees to let Dudu stay here for a bit?”

Dudu had candy in her mouth and sniffled. Following Xiao Mu Brother’s words, she looked toward Ox Grandpa.

The old man who hadn’t spoken the whole time gazed at the teenager squatting next to Dudu, who had also turned his head to look at him expectantly. He looked just like a truly kind grandpa, extremely agreeable as he scooped up a rabbit from the grass with each hand, walked forward a few steps, and placed the two rabbits in front of the teenager and little girl. “Go ahead and play.”

Little Ah Huang was also lying on that patch of grass. The silver little hamster was chubby and seemed to love sleeping. At this moment, it was sprawled on the little yellow dog’s back, flattened into a little silver-gray mouse pie.

Dudu reached out to pet the black little rabbit in front of her. A child’s emotions came and went quickly. As she petted it, she grinned up and said, “Xiao Mu Brother, the little rabbit is so cute.”

“Sister said before that she’d give me a little rabbit, but I never got one that belonged to me.”

This really felt like casually chatting with a kid. Without much guard up, Su Ximu followed Dudu’s words and asked, “Why? Did sister forget?”

Dudu sniffled. “Because brother and sister got killed together by mom and dad.”

???

!!!

Su Ximu suspected he’d misheard.

Who?!

Who killed whom?

Wait—Dudu’s brother and sister, weren’t those Qianqian and Xiao Ming? He’d seen them during the day.

Could it be at night…

Thinking of this, Su Ximu’s breathing even stalled for a moment. He stood up to run outside.

Right then, he heard Dudu continue, a beat late. “Mom and dad said brother and sister were naughty, but it didn’t matter. After killing them, they could just find new ones.”

In Dudu’s memories, she had had many brothers and sisters.

It had always been like this since she could remember, so the little girl took it as normal.

Among those many brothers and sisters, most were like the current ones—superficially playing with her, but actually not liking her much.

At first, Dudu didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. She couldn’t even tell the difference.

Because she hadn’t met any who truly liked her and treated her well, there was no contrast between liking and not liking—it felt the same.

It wasn’t until a year ago, in Dudu’s recollection, when she opened the door and left her room, that she discovered the sister living across from her had changed.

The brother coming out of the room at the end of the hallway had also changed.

Dudu was already used to such sudden changes. As usual, she got close to brother and sister, wanting them to take her and Teng Teng out to play.

That time, the brother and sister stayed home for a long time. Dudu could clearly feel that they went from only taking her out when she dragged them, to proactively taking her out to play.

They even taught her new games.

She liked that brother and sister.

So when that brother and sister accidentally angered mom and dad again, she secretly hid dad’s axe and mom’s iron ahead of time.

Mom and dad couldn’t find their things and could only hold off on punishing brother and sister for the moment.

The next day, she took the initiative to tell brother and sister about it, wanting to be praised.

Sister didn’t praise her right away but picked her up and kissed her.

Sister’s hug was very different from mom’s—it was warm.

The kiss was different too.

Mom’s kiss made her feel cold, but sister’s kiss on her cheek made Dudu feel elated for days.

She loudly announced to her little friends that she had found the best thing in the world!

After parting from her little friends, she went home.

Dad put away the axe.

Mom was wiping the iron.

Teng Teng sat on the floor playing with blocks.

Brother and sister were gone.

Dad asked if she had hidden his axe.

Mom asked if she had buried the iron in the back garden.

Then they walked toward her.

Thinking of brother and sister brought these memories to mind, and Dudu suddenly had a realization. She happily turned to Xiao Mu Brother and shared her discovery. “Xiao Mu Brother, I figured it out!”

After saying that, she got up, ran to Xiao Mu Brother’s side, tugged at his sleeve, and summed it up. “Home was bad because mom and dad didn’t die.”

If brother and sister had been just a bit stronger than mom and dad, if brother and sister had killed mom and dad, then she, brother and sister, and Teng Teng—they would have been such a happily loving family.

At his feet, the little hamster sprawled out like a puddle lazily grunted twice, as if in agreement and support.

At this moment, Su Ximu—who had been thinking of rushing out to save people, no, save Weirds—roughly understood one thing from Dudu’s words.

The brother and sister in Dudu’s mouth were most likely players who had been pulled into the dungeon. Including Qianqian and Wu Ming—they might be players too.

Dudu’s home had a dungeon related to family.

The killed brothers and sisters were players who had failed to clear the dungeon.

As he was still thinking, he heard a calling voice coming from the mist as well. “Xiao Xi, time to come home and sleep.”

Hearing the voice, Su Ximu immediately waved toward the mist. “Second Brother!”

A tall, slender figure gradually emerged from the mist, walking to the edge of the grass. Su Wuzi first smiled and greeted the old man, then looked at the teenager standing not far from him, still in a ready-to-run pose. “Xiao Xi? Is there something you haven’t done yet?”

As he spoke, he gently smoothed the teenager’s slightly messy bangs.

“Um…” Su Ximu, whose worldview had been shattered by this pure Weird family, wasn’t too sure if he actually had something to do right now. He felt like he needed time to sort it out.

But looking down at Dudu, he wasn’t reassured.

So he looked up at Second Brother. “Second Brother, can we send Dudu home first?”

Dudu’s mom and dad were on a business trip and wouldn’t be back for a few days. He’d heard her mention it before.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so sure about sending Dudu home right now.

The little girl holding hands with Xiao Mu Brother didn’t show any resistance upon hearing this. Instead, she reluctantly glanced at the little rabbit behind her, then at the two little hamsters.

Before leaving, Su Ximu temporarily left Little Ah Huang and the little hamsters with Ox Grandpa, so he didn’t wave goodbye.

The old man walked forward on his own, stared at Dudu for a good while, then patted Su Ximu’s arm and said lightly, “Kid, do whatever you want. Grandpa’s got your back.”

He alone as an old man might not cut it, but these three brothers next door weren’t for show.

Back in the Wasteland World, such a good kid had to hide in that little tin shack every day.

Now that they were in the Weird World, if the kid still couldn’t do whatever he wanted, then he the old man and these three had been wasting their time here.

Su Ximu didn’t fully grasp Ox Grandpa’s implication that he’d cover for him even if he killed Weirds, set fires, or blew up Tanzhong City. But while he hadn’t fully comprehended it mentally, he felt it emotionally.

The teenager holding the little girl’s hand now looked quite grown-up, but in the eyes of the elders, he was still the most favored one, the one who needed the most care.

The teenager smiled at Ox Grandpa and nodded vigorously. “Yeah!”

Dudu looked up at Ox Grandpa and Xiao Mu Brother, and couldn’t help but think of brother and sister again.

Then, she was picked up by Xiao Mu Brother squatting down.

Xiao Mu Brother asked her to point out the way to her house.

On the way home after sending Dudu off, together with Second Brother, Su Ximu tried analyzing with him. “Actually, Weirds aren’t beings that are completely opposite to normal humans in emotions, preferences, or pain perception…”

Most weird entities seemed to possess emotions and needs similar to those of humans.

Therefore, while weird entities that truly took pleasure in suffering—the more pain, the greater the joy—did exist, they were absolutely rare.

He didn’t doubt Dudu was spouting nonsense to deceive him. In the short time they’d gone back and forth, he had already used his phone to search and log into some Weird World parenting forums and civilian forums for a quick look around.

Before this, he hadn’t paid these things any special attention.

“This world is the same…”

Thinking of those ordinary weird entities whose power wasn’t particularly strong, Su Ximu realized he was seeing another manifestation of the meat citizens.

“Second Brother.” Su Ximu shook the hand clasped with his second brother’s. “Do you know what my biggest wish was when I was little?”

“What was it?” Su Wuzi let his hand sway gently with the motion.

“I wanted to protect you all!”

When did that thought first sprout?

When did it grow to its strongest?

It was when that little child realized the entire world wasn’t friendly to them—when he knew his brothers were donning white robes to head out and do something, yet he was powerless to stop them; when his eldest brother was taken away and vanished for a very, very long time.

When his eldest brother bore fresh scars but told him they didn’t hurt.

When he could only huddle in his brother’s arms, inhaling the thick stench of blood and rust, as his brother warned him not to look back.

In those years, that frail child had wondered countless times why he couldn’t instantly become a powerful adult.

Why children could do so few things.

As he spoke, another relatively distinct fluctuation arose.

Su Wuzi halted and turned around. “What a coincidence. Our wishes just happen to be the same.”

The young man’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

Did that mean he and his second brother had vowed to protect each other?

Su Wuzi nodded.

Under the moonlight, even the man’s bewitching features took on a gentle cast.

At the same moment that fluctuation emerged, several hundred meters away in the Su Family Villa.

Inside a little flower pot placed in the shaded corner of the balcony, the tiny green mushroom seemed to sense something. It stretched its cap to the fullest.

As it stretched, it swayed gently. Nighttime dew slid down its glossy surface.

When the dewdrop finally hit the ground, a childish voice—tender and androgynous, impossible to pin as male or female—echoed from the little nook: “M-Master…”

That single “master” seemed to thrill it. The little mushroom shook its cap twice more and called out repeatedly.