Chapter 409 - 342: Flower Country Sorcery
In a tiny room with four walls, there was no light, only a closed door.
It was pitch-black; she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face.
Sayia sat in a corner hugging her knees, her face stained with tears. She could hear soft, rustling sounds in the small room, but she was in no state to pay them any mind.
The pain from her severed tail made her whole body tremble uncontrollably.
Sweat born from agony mingled with cold sweat. Her golden hair, unwashed for a long time, was matted together.
Sayia wore a tattered dress, sitting barefoot on the floor, biting her lip to keep from making a sound.
If she made a sound, the beatings would continue.
*
When she discovered the head nurse was pregnant, Sayia had covered her mouth in shock. Everyone at the orphanage knew the head nurse’s husband had been dead for a long time.
But the head nurse was pregnant, and Sayia had happened to be the one to find out.
Sayia was young, but sensible. She pretended not to know anything, yet she was punished all the same.
Sayia had thought she would escape after a single punishment, but she never expected such days to repeat, one after another.
When her confinement was over, Sayia had passed out.
By the time she awoke, she was sleeping on the floor of her room, which was filled with an unbearable stench.
The faint pain from her tail behind her told her it hadn’t been a dream.
She began to avoid people, always hiding away in her room alone. But at mealtimes, she would be punished again for being late.
At night, no one wanted to share a room with her.
Sayia was an outcast.
Then, her tail slowly grew back. Sayia remembered that day. She was so happy she forgot everything that had happened. After dinner, she went to the woods alone to pick some pretty flowers.
But Sayia never imagined what she would see...
After that day, Sayia was no longer an innocent child.
She remembered the once kind and amiable director suddenly transforming into a monster and grappling with the head nurse.
Sayia covered her mouth and fell to the ground with a thud. The sound got her discovered.
Later, Sayia became a little monster herself.
A monster cursed by the director to be forever hungry and never grow up; a monster who, when faced with food, could not control its desire to eat and would resort to the most primitive attacks.
Sayia didn’t understand what this meant until Little Cockroach appeared.
Little Cockroach slowly grew up, becoming human just like her.
One time, Little Cockroach insisted on dragging Sayia along with many other children to play, pulling her out of the dark, enclosed room.
It was then that Sayia saw Little Cockroach acting with utmost reverence toward another child.
That child was beautiful, so much so that they seemed worlds apart from the rest of them.
It was as if this child had come from some exceptionally beautiful place and didn’t belong here.
Suddenly, Sayia felt hungry. So hungry. Insatiably hungry.
An unprecedented starvation drove her mad.
*
Wen Ying watched the little girl’s body begin to shake violently and immediately reached out to hold her.
About ten minutes passed before the girl finally stopped, her tear-filled eyes brimming with terror.
Wen Ying didn’t know what she was so afraid of.
But it was clear the little girl was frightened to her very core. Wen Ying simply held her without saying a word.
The little girl squirmed out of Wen Ying’s embrace, looking at her rather sheepishly.
"Thank you, caregiver sister."
Then, Wen Ying saw the girl write a message on a piece of paper: *Walls have ears.*
Wen Ying nodded, recalling how Loli had also shown a terrified expression while facing a wall.
So, what was behind these walls?
*Who* was behind them?
"When you’re hungry, come find me. I’ll give you something to eat, understand?"
The little girl nodded.
Wen Ying didn’t press for more information. As she was leaving, the girl shoved a slip of paper into her palm. The note read: *Suicide note. Director.*
Then, she tore the note to shreds and stuffed it into her mouth.
As Wen Ying left, she left some chocolate for the little girl.
It seemed she couldn’t use brute force to uncover this mystery. Wen Ying wasn’t heartless; the little girl looked like a victim, too.
But the suicide note and the director... they must be connected to the head nurse as well.
Could the director be the mastermind behind it all?
She had been at this psychiatric hospital for so long but had never once met this director. How could she arrange a meeting?
With these thoughts, Wen Ying turned around and went to knock on the two old men’s door.