Marlowe's Luminous Shadows Chapter 2

From the time I can remember, my mother was only awake a few times. The rest of the time she was always talking crazy nonsense, talking about delicacies and fine clothes that I had never seen before.

She was smiling when she said it. I didn't believe it, but she insisted on telling me. She also said, "Gouya, you must escape and live well."

I asked her where she was running away to. Isn't this my home?

She kept shaking her head and said no.

I asked her where it was, but she stopped telling me, bit her lip, started dropping the golden beans, and made a whimpering sound like a puppy.

Mom is so weird.

However, now that she is dead, I did escape as she wished.

It’s just not necessarily alive or not.

When the stick came down, I apologized to her uncontrollably in my heart.

After all, I promised her that she would live well, but when she just left, I had to follow her.

I had a dream. My mother came, looked at me sideways, and scolded me for being worthless with an expression of disgust I had never seen before.

I was ten years older, and this was the first time I was scolded by her. After she had scolded her enough, she started crying, threw me away, grabbed her hand, and told me to go back.

She was so cruel and didn't want me anymore. I cried even harder than she did. My hands were firmly on her trousers, but she kicked them away again.

She said: "If you cry again, don't call me mother."

I was shocked by her words. In a blink of an eye, she disappeared without a trace.

The next moment, I opened my eyes.

My vision was blurry, my mouth tasted bitter and rusty, and my ears couldn't hear clearly. I always felt like flies were buzzing. I moved my fingers and felt that my body was no longer my own.

Am I dead? Why is it so dark here? My head hurts so much. I feel like I have been trapped. I am not going to hell.

I began to carefully recall the wrong things I had done in the past ten years, but except for knocking a girl into a lake when I was seven years old, I could not remember anything else.

"you're awake?"

Suddenly a voice from the right pulled me out of my confession.

The sound is gentle and pleasant, like a stream, clear and crisp.

If all the demons in hell talk like this, that's actually not bad.

I turned my head hard to see, the candle was lit, and the blur in front of my eyes gradually receded, but it was still covered with a veil and I couldn't see clearly.

I saw a woman standing there, with the candlelight shining through from her back, as if she was coated with a layer of golden light, like a fairy in the sky.

I think I should be in heaven.

"Aren't you awake?" The woman tilted her head and turned her ears to listen to my movements.

I wanted to answer her, but I opened my mouth and couldn't make a sound. My throat was dry and sore. All my consciousness came back in an instant, and even the seams in my bones ached.

She seemed to hear my movement, took a few steps, and stopped in front of me.

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

It hurts, there is no place in my body that does not hurt.

I really wanted to talk to her, but with all my strength, I finally let out a "hurt" sound.

I saw her willow-like curved eyebrows wrinkled, and she stretched out her hand as if to touch my face.

When her hand touched my cheek, I finally couldn't bear the severe pain, rolled my eyes, and fell into endless darkness again.

I dreamed again, and in the dream it was the young lady who I knocked into the water.

She had a pair of eyes that seemed to be able to see through people's hearts. She stared at me and asked me, "Why did you push me?"

I was so scared, I thought she was coming to drag me to hell.

But I couldn't leave with her. I remembered the way my mother scolded me for not living up to expectations, and the fairy who cared about me in a gentle voice.

So, I said to her: "I didn't push you, you accidentally fell down!"

She looked angry, but also helpless to me, with murderous anger in her eyes, and she said, "I hate you."

Hate it, hate it, she should hate me, because I did push her, and I didn't even call anyone out of fear.

She disappeared, just like my mother.

I began to travel through all kinds of bizarre dreams. One time it was the bad guy dad who turned into a pig head, another time it was the big sister in the beautiful building, and the other time it was Cassidy Ren's black mole with hair on it.

Finally, I saw the fairy and she said to me "Wake up".

I opened my eyes again. This time it was not pitch black. The sun was shining on my face. I squinted my eyes for a long time and tried to adapt, and finally I could see clearly.

I was lying on a straw mat, with a beam hanging with spider webs above my head, and many brooms and dustpans placed next to it, like a room where debris was piled.

This is where?

A "squeak" sound was the sound of the door being pushed open.

I turned my head and looked over, it was the fairy!

"Ah, ah." I was a little excited and opened my mouth to shout. This time the sound came out, but it was hoarse.

She must have heard my voice and came over to me.

She walked very slowly, her hands touching the wall, taking a step, tilting her head slightly, her face very cautious.

Only then did I realize that she seemed invisible.

She groped for a while before she came to my side. She knelt down, touched my arm, and pinched it twice.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, your injury is not healed yet, don't move around." She said softly.

I felt the warmth from her palms, and my heart felt warm, and I responded to her with another "Ah".

When she heard it, she raised her lips and smiled and said to me, "My name is Briella Chen, what's your name?"

My name is Gou Ya.

But I didn't say it. I thought my name was not nice, and dogs were named that way.

She didn't hear my answer, her eyelashes drooped, she looked at me with those empty eyes and said, "It doesn't matter. If you follow me in the future, I can change your name."

Her eyes are very beautiful, and her pupils are the color of chestnuts. I like eating roasted chestnuts very much.

I smiled and wanted to say "Okay", but when I opened my mouth it turned into "Ah".

Since that day, I have lived in this broken room. The fairy will come here every day to bring me meals, which are basically steamed buns. They are white and fat, fragrant and sweet.

In fact, I have never eaten steamed buns. In the past, I basically drank rice soup at home. When my bad dad was happy, he would add some rice grains to my bowl, and I would count the grains and eat them. At that time, I thought if I could eat rice and chew steamed buns every time in the future. , that is simply too happy.

Now this wish has come true. It was realized by a fairy for me. The fairy’s name is Briella Chen.

I, Gouya, will definitely treat Briella Chen well in this life.

I counted the days and a month passed. The injuries on my body were finally healed, and my voice became clearer and I could speak again, but there was a scar on my forehead, like a crescent moon.

On this day, I was still waiting for Briella Chen in the broken room, and she didn't come until night.

I finally realized belatedly that it was the Chen Mansion that I was brought into by Cassidy Ren that day. After I was knocked unconscious in the Chen Mansion, it was Briella Chen who saved me, and her surname was Chen.

The Chen family is a businessman, and many shops in the city are owned by his family. I have heard from the eldest ladies that the eldest brother of the Chen family is famous for being smart and capable, and he became the real leader of the Chen family very early on.

The second brother of the Chen family was good at poetry and poetry, and his poems were widely spread among the people. He was a talented and romantic man.

But I have never heard of a young lady in the Chen family.

I began to worry about Briella Chen, and after hesitating for a while, when the sky darkened completely, I opened the door for the first time and prepared to look for her.

The Chen Mansion was very large, and it was dark. I couldn't find my direction, and my legs were still a little lame. I stumbled and walked for a long time. The servants passing by looked at me in amazement.

I heard them say: "Is this the fool that the third lady was beaten up and forced to save?"

It turned out that Briella Chen was beaten for saving me.

I became even more anxious, so I rushed over and grabbed the maid who was speaking and asked, "Where is Briella Chen?"

She looked obviously frightened by me, and her expression was very bad. She hesitated for a long time before pointing me in a direction.

I let go of her and rushed towards where she pointed, not caring that she called me "idiot" behind me.

After dragging a few more servants to ask, I finally found the place, which was a serious-looking house.

I got closer and heard a crisp "pop" sound coming from inside. I suddenly remembered what the maid had said about Briella Chen's slap on the hand. The more I listened, the more I thought the sound sounded like it. My heart was on fire and I rushed in directly.

My field of vision was suddenly illuminated by candlelight, and I squinted to look over.

It was a very solemn arrangement. There was a man sitting in the middle, who looked very majestic. There was also a man sitting on his left. When I saw him, I was startled.

He was the man who hit me with a stick that night!

I only glanced at it and quickly withdrew my gaze, my body couldn't help but tremble.

He tilted his head and saw Briella Chen, who was surrounded by several women. She was pressed to her knees on the ground, her hair was messy and her head was hanging down.

One of the women stood in front of her, slapping her face which was already red, swollen and bleeding.

The "pop" sound is particularly harsh.

"Which servant in the yard is so unruly?" the man in the middle said.

After he finished speaking, several maids rushed over to catch me, but I moved faster. I rushed over in two steps and stood in front of Briella Chen.

"Drag this fool out!" shouted the man who hit me with the stick.

He is the fool. I scolded him in my heart and hugged Briella Chen harder. Seven or eight hands were pulling at me, but I used enough strength to not let go.

Briella Chen was motionless while I was holding her. I took a break and took a look. She had closed her eyes. She must have been knocked unconscious before I came.

Her eyelashes were trembling like butterfly wings, and her cheeks were clear palm prints, red with blue, green with purple.

I felt like my heart was being grasped by a hand, and I was so painful that I couldn't breathe.

"You haven't eaten yet! Pull away! Pull away!"

A few more people came and pulled me, but I finally lost my strength and were pulled away by them. I heard the man in the middle give an order in a cold voice: "Keep fighting, there are ten more."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of "pop" sounded again, and I could only stand there with my hands tied behind my back, watching Briella Chen being beaten.

Ten slaps are actually very fast, but I think it is very long. I don't understand why they call her miss and slap her again. Aren’t ladies supposed to be extremely noble?

I thought about my mother again. My mother said that she was also a young lady, but she still couldn't escape the beatings and scoldings of her bad father.

It turns out that Miss is an alias for Misery.