Chapter 1251: Bohemia's Joyful Day
Seeing Lin Sanjiu's back motionless for a while, Bohemia managed to say, "She's... dead?"
Puppeteer sighed.
"That's not a bad idea," he said, his expression of regret. "She's just faking death."
'Fake... fake death!'
Bohemia breathed a sigh of relief. No, she wasn't being overly sentimental. After all, they had been together for such a long time. Even if the other person was annoying, she might have been used to it by now; of course, she couldn't accept it if Lin Sanjiu suddenly died.
"Sir, why did you make her fake her death?" she said, flipping Lin Sanjiu over and checking her breathing, reflexively pulling her hand back.
However, she didn't get an answer.
"Wait here for a few days," Puppeteer said as a group of building materials assembled into a structure behind him. In just a short while, it took shape. He glanced at the endless road they had been walking for half a month, then turned around and said, "Get me some clean water."
Of course, there was no water source on the road, but barren mountains on one side and fields on the other. Who knows, they might all be pocket dimensions turned into a doomsday. They couldn't just let Bohemia go searching for clean water, right? Although her injuries weren't serious, and she was almost fully healed by now, entering a pocket dimension for a bit of water would be so much trouble. It was better to send just one person.
"If you can't go, then go as a puppet."
"Let's go!" Bohemia said, patting Yuan Xiangxi's shoulder. "Hurry!"
"What about her?" He wasn't affected by the slap on his shoulder and stooped to look at Lin Sanjiu. His long hair slid down his ear like water, swaying in the air. "By leaving her like this, could she die for real?"
After Puppeteer was respectfully installed onto the elevated structure and disappeared behind the dark red curtain, Bohemia whispered in Yuan Xiangxi's ear, "The clean water Puppeteer asked us to find might be for Lin Sanjiu. Just think about it: If he needs a large amount of water that two people can bring back, it shouldn't just be for drinking. Since he has a way, let's leave her here for now."
Yuan Xiangxi looked up, his eyes shining, his expression light. He seemed to have discovered a delicious little cake, saying, "I might have misjudged him. He's a pretty decent guy."
If Puppeteer was a decent guy, then she must be the mother of the world. Bohemia muttered, "Are you scolding him?" while surveying the area on both sides of the road.
She didn't want to go into the mountains. The fields looked peaceful on the other side of the basin, but who knew what they were planting in those lush green areas? If there were still some unharvested tomatoes, corn, chickens, and ducks... Her mouth watered at the thought. She commanded Yuan Xiangxi, "Go and look in the field."
Seeing the white figure disappear outside the fence, Bohemia hesitated for quite a while, and the small white dot eventually appeared again, waving at her from afar. "No problem at all!"
"No one there?" Such a confident statement made her suspicious.
"I didn't see anyone, only an abandoned village!"
The presence of a village meant that people had been here before, and where there had been people, there might have been something to eat. When Bohemia regained her senses, one of her legs was already outside the fence. She used Higher Consciousness to envelop herself and cautiously walked a few steps down the basin. Feeling nothing unusual, she hastened her steps toward Yuan Xiangxi.
"Are you sure there's nothing there?" She ran through the wild grass, raising her voice to call out to his shadow. "You're not alive, so many things might ignore you!"
"Are you afraid I'll forget?" Yuan Xiangxi asked, straightening his waist in the distance. "Why do you need to remind me every few sentences?"
What if the village was indeed a pocket dimension? Then she would sprinkle salt on Puppeteer and ditch this useless living ghost. Bohemia made up her mind and dragged Yuan Xiangxi, who kept assuring her that he didn't notice anything strange, down towards the basin's center. After the thick bushes completely cleared the way for them, she couldn't help but rejoice. Under the bright sunshine, a small shimmering glint of water sparkled beside the farmland. Even if the food outside had gone bad or the chickens and ducks had run away, there should still be fish in this small artificial pond, right?
Unlike the constantly cloudy road, no clouds obstructed the sky above this basin. The descending process felt like gradually sinking into a bathtub filled with warm water. Her whole body felt warm and relaxed as if even her hair and skin had become soft and loose, making her want to take a long breath from the inside out.
Bohemia deeply breathed in the scent of soil and vegetation. Seeing rows of green seedlings in the plot of land at her feet, which didn't seem edible, she felt a bit regretful. "Let's go and see if there are any barrels or nets in the farmhouse. I'll show you my fishing skills."
"You can fish?" Yuan Xiangxi asked.
"Of course! Don't even mention ordinary fish; I've caught so many five-headed mutant fish."
Yuan Xiangxi's face wrinkled like a rag. "Five-headed? You've eaten something with five heads?"
"What's with that expression? I can eat you too, you know."
The village was still quite a distance from the farmland. They walked through the fields for a while, crossed an area with wheat grass half a person tall, and arrived in front of the first white house they saw. The small house was neatly built, with a rocking chair on the porch, gauze hanging in the second-floor bedroom window, and a backup generator at the back.
"Go in and look," Bohemia said, feeling ownership over Yuan Xiangxi. Pointing inside, she said, "Anyway, you can't die again."
"This is only the second time after leaving the road." Yuan Xiangxi gestured the number two and stepped over the threshold before entering the house.
Basking in the afternoon sun, surrounded by complete silence except for occasional distant bird songs, Bohemia stood outside the house and waited for a while. She felt she hadn't enjoyed such a leisurely time in a long while. If not for the burning hunger in her belly, she could have stood there and dozed off.
"Hey, how is it inside?" She called through the half-closed door.
Silence, no response.
"Yuan Xiangxi!"
Still, there was no sound from inside.
She leaned over and looked inside through the gap in the door, seeing only half of a dark corridor. A push seemed as if it would result in a cool breeze flowing out of the house.
Bohemia hesitated and used a bit of Higher Consciousness to push the door open. The wooden boards creaked, and the door gradually opened, revealing the interior with its corridor, stairs, a small round table with family photos underneath... and two human legs hanging from the ceiling.
She sharply sucked in a breath of cold air and staggered back a few steps. "Who's there?!"
Accompanying her words were a few small silver glimmers that appeared in the air. Upon contact with the air, they drew several intersecting arcs and swiftly rushed towards the legs hanging from the ceiling. Originally swaying softly, those legs suddenly came to life. They bent at the knees and retracted into the air. Yuan Xiangxi's voice rang out, "Wait, wait, it's me!"
When Bohemia finally realized what had happened, her face burned with anger. "What the frick are you doing?"
"Just kidding. I saw a hole in the second floor and thought I could go through it." His legs kicked in the air a few times, and the wooden floor creaked briefly. "Huh?... huh?"
"What now?!"
"It seems I'm stuck... around the upper body..."
Bohemia clapped her hands crisply and headed towards the back of the house. Miscellaneous tools and equipment would likely be stored in the warehouse or garage. As she passed by the porch, she could still hear Yuan Xiangxi's voice becoming more and more distant. "Help me, please... what's going on? I can't get my upper body out..."
'He's stuck reincarnating.'
She used Higher Consciousness to pry open a roll-up iron door, revealing a cement-floored warehouse inside. Several unfamiliar agricultural machines sat side by side in the center, surrounded by shelves holding various tools. A quick glance showed the water buckets in the corner.
"Is there anything like a net?" Bohemia took a few steps towards the door, surveying the tool racks covered in thick dust. Most of the warehouse was immersed in shadow, making it hard to see the items in the corners. She decided to go back and call Yuan Xiangxi to enter and search. But when she reached the door, she suddenly felt an unusual silence.
Did she not call him back? Did he pull himself out?
Bohemia poked her head inside and found the space under the ceiling empty; the legs were nowhere to be seen, leaving only a crack in the ceiling. "If you do something stupid again," she threatened, "I'll brick you into this house and make you a ghost forever."
A creaking sound came from some unknown wooden board.
"Hurry up and get out!" Bohemia had lost her patience long ago. She took a few steps back and scanned the house. "You act like you don't exist, but you're already a ghost!"
"This is the third time!" The second-floor window abruptly opened, and a face that seemed very discontented appeared. "I just wanted to see what the second floor looks like. Why did you call me?"
"You come down first," Bohemia explained the situation in the warehouse and urged him a couple more times until she finally saw him pull the door open and come out. "Did you check the kitchen? Is there any food?"
"That depends on whether you're willing to eat green mold." Yuan Xiangxi drooped his face and said, "Based on your current behavior, you might have eaten it before."
"I've eaten your mom's braised dishes." While they bantered, they walked towards the back of the house. When they arrived at the warehouse's entrance, their voices gradually softened, and they stopped and looked at each other.
Yuan Xiangxi took a deep breath and whispered, "Um... so, do you think we should... we should..."
"Go back and check?" Bohemia completed his sentence.
Yuan Xiangxi nodded.
His face, always pale and lifeless, now seemed even paler. Bohemia couldn't see her face but imagined it would look the same. They stopped arguing and stood close to each other as they carefully circled back to the front of the house.
Behind the wide-open door, a staircase led to the second floor. Many framed family photos were on the small round table under the stairs, with a slightly worn-out wedding photo in the center. A young couple dressed in wedding attire leaned against each other, smiling at the camera.
Although neither had entered the house and was still quite far away, Bohemia recognized it immediately.
The photo showed her and Yuan Xiangxi.
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