Chapter 1057 – Ms. Skirt, Mr. Wood, and Ms. Red
”Why did this happen? Usually mental illnesses have a trigger, it’s unlikely that he suffered from it for no reason.”
Phobias were common to many people, but the condition was rarely this severe.
The kid in the inner room seemed to be at the point where he simply couldn’t get rid of his fear without medication and on his own, a very dangerous condition.
”You’re right, but I don’t know how the boy got the disease, I’m just helping to look after him for someone else.” The woman spoke slowly, the boy in the inner room seemed to be in a much better state after taking the medication and the woman relaxed.
”This is a mental illness for him, if you want to alleviate the illness, you have to find the cause of the illness.” Chen Ge took a few steps towards where the woman was, he couldn’t see anything and could only touch the wall to get closer.
”I also want to find the cause of the illness, but no matter how I ask, that child just won’t say anything, he doesn’t seem to know himself.” The woman’s voice was a little helpless, “Then I gave up.”
”Can you let me talk to him for a few minutes? I’m the one who specializes in mental illness.” Chen Ge was glad that he had met Dr. Gao, his current tone of voice and that demeanor were very similar to the Dr. Gao who hadn’t blacked out in the beginning.
A psychiatrist first had to make the patient let down his guard before he could slowly walk into the middle of the other person’s world, and Chen Ge fit the bill well in both appearance and the feeling he gave off.
”You’re a psychiatrist? I remember that no one in this building is practicing this profession, are you newly moved here?”
”Sort of, I can assure you that I have no ill intentions.” Chen Ge bitterly laughed and pointed to his eyes, “I can’t see anything, I don’t have any ability to resist, so if I do anything that displeases you, you can always kick me out.”
Being blind turned Chen Ge into a vulnerable person, and he was maximizing this vulnerability.
”That child is more vulnerable, just don’t talk nonsense.” The woman took the initiative and grabbed Chen Ge’s arm, “Slow down, the couch is in front, go left ……”
Chen Ge discovered a problem, these adult residents were not as bad as those monsters in the world behind the other doors, of course they couldn’t be said to be good either, they gave Chen Ge the feeling of being like ordinary people in life: “I really don’t want to associate them with corpses.”
Under the woman’s lead, Chen Ge entered the inner room, the stench in the air became thick, what was even worse was that there was an additional stench of rotting meat in it, which was something that was not smelled in the middle-aged man’s room.
”By the way, can you tell me what your relationship is with this child?”
”Relationship?” The woman thought for a moment and said an answer that Chen Ge hadn’t thought of before, “Sort of a friend, he doesn’t have anywhere to go, so I’ll take care of him first.”
The woman’s answer was ambiguous, she walked out after she finished speaking, leaving Chen Ge and the boy in the inner room.
Touching the walls and closet, Chen Ge’s leg touched the bed as he slowly sat down, “Can you hear me? I’m sorry that I can’t see you, if you’re beside me, can you say a word or gently pat my hand.”
Spreading out his palm, Chen Ge waited half a day for his palm to suddenly feel a trace of coolness, that coolness was different from the coldness of a corpse, the touch was soft, not like being touched at all, more like a cold wind had blown through.
”Ying pupil?”
Chen Ge subconsciously said this name, but did not get a response, a moment later in a place more than a meter away from Chen Ge came a boy’s voice: “My name is Ame.”
This boy’s voice was fifty to sixty percent similar to Ying pupil’s voice in reality, and was very childish.
Chen Ge had read Ying Chen’s and Ying Hitomi’s profiles, and in reality, Ying Hitomi was already ten years old, but the voice of this child in front of him was more like a four or five year old.
”Ame, can you tell uncle how you and that big sister outside met?” Chen Ge wanted to figure out the identity of the adult first, if the woman could be trusted, then he would do everything he could to win the other party into his camp, it was too dangerous to be alone in the building.
”You mean Ms. Skirt?” The boy asked timidly in return.
”Ms. Skirt?” The boy had a very strange way of addressing the woman, it felt as if the name was something the young boy had made up off the top of his head himself, “Is that what you usually call her?”
”Eh, Ms. Skirt and Mr. Wood have always taken care of me, they are very nice people, playing games with me and doing all sorts of things together.” The boy’s voice was innocent and cute, but Chen Ge had goosebumps listening to it.
In his opinion, all the occupants in this building, except for Ying pupil and Ying Chen were all corpses.
Names like Ms. Skirt and Mr. Wood looked like they were made up by the children themselves, and a guess surfaced in his mind, but because it was too cruel, he didn’t even dare to say this guess to test Amu.
”Are Ms. Skirt and Mr. Wood a couple?” Chen Ge asked casually.
”No. Ms. Skirt is very angry and has a bad temper, and Mr. Wood dislikes her a lot.” The little boy’s voice was timid: “Mr. Wood and I are both a little afraid of Ms. Skirt.”
”I can hear it all!” The woman’s voice came from the living room, “Who taught you all that?”
The woman did seem to have a bad temper.
”But although Ms. Skirt has a bad temper, she also has a gentle side, whenever I’m sick she always shows up to take care of me, and she’ll chat with me and tell me stories.” The picture the boy described was beautiful, and he probably had a smile on his face as he said this, but unfortunately Chen Ge couldn’t see anything and could only hear the child’s voice.
”She always shows up whenever you’re sick? Did your father and mother ask her to take care of you?” Chen Ge tried to open the boy’s memory a little bit.
”Yes, my dad and mom went to a faraway place, and when they left they requested Ms. Skirt, Mr. Wood, and Ms. Red to take care of me.”
”Three?” The words on his lips were three people, but what Chen Ge was chanting in his heart were three corpses.
”Ame, can you tell Uncle what all three of them look like?” Chen Ge didn’t bother to ask anything that would cause the boy pain, he didn’t mention the sharpshooter phobia, he didn’t bother to ask how the boy got this disease, instead, he just went along with the fairy tale that the boy was telling, as if he was a most loyal listener.
”Ms. Skirt always wore a long dress with so many flowers embroidered on it that to the touch it felt like each flower was different; Mr. Wood didn’t like to talk, and his skin was so hard to the touch it was like tree bark. Miss Red is very clean, her hair is always wet, and she is especially and particularly fond of the color red, and everything around her is red.” The boy wasn’t introverted and seemed to love interacting with people, and he rattled off the names and characteristics of the three as if he were showing off.
About the introduction of Ms. Skirt and Mr. Wood Chen Ge didn’t pay much attention to them, but the last one, Ms. Red, got Chen Ge’s attention.
The features of Ms. Skirt and Mr. Wood were all touchable with the hands, only Ms. Red was different, her name had a red character in it, and the color was indistinguishable to the blind.
The boy in front of him called himself Ame, and Ms. Skirt had said before that the boy had normal eyes and wasn’t blind, so it was reasonable to say that he couldn’t possibly be Ying pupil.
But Chen Ge heard the boy’s voice and felt that the boy’s voice was very similar to Ying Hitomi’s. It was impossible for there to be such a coincidence in this world, and he thought that the boy must be related to Ying Hitomi, only that some kind of change had happened in the middle.
Chen Ge asked some more information about the boy’s parents, and through the boy’s words, he was able to hear that the boy missed his parents very much.
In the boy’s memories, his parents were very good to him, caring for him in every way, taking care of him at all times, the boy’s parents were like a pair of big gentle hands gently caring him in the palm of their hands.
Talking here, Chen Ge had already discovered the problem, the boy had retained a lot of good things in his memory, he had had a very good past, and at this time, looking at the kind of disease he had would feel very abrupt.
Why would a child living in such a warm environment get a phobia of sharp objects?
Why would he see something sharp and fantasize about someone holding it and trying to stab himself in the eye?
What had he actually experienced? At what moment did the most crucial transformation in his life begin?
After gaining a general understanding of the boy’s life, Chen Ge carefully asked the next question, “Ame, do you recognize Ying Chen and Ying Hitomi who live on the seventh floor?”
”No, I don’t recognize them, I’ve always stayed in the house and have never gone out.”
”Don’t recognize them?” Just to be sure, Chen Ge asked again towards the lady in the skirt in the living room, “Amu has never gone out of this room?”
”Yes. He suffers from sharps phobia, not to mention seeing sharp things, even hearing the words sharp and sharp will cause a reaction, so how can I feel comfortable letting him go out?” Ms. Skirt’s voice came from the living room, followed by Chen Ge hearing the sound of water being poured, and not a moment later, the sound of footsteps sounded again, “Do you want something to drink?”
”No need.” Chen Ge wouldn’t dare to just drink water poured by a stranger, especially if he couldn’t see it, “Ame doesn’t know Ying Hitomi and Ying Chen, but you, as a resident here, should know both of their brothers, right?”
”Of course, the two brothers are pitiful, their parents died early and they were raised by relatives.” Ms. Skirt seemed to know Ying Chen and Ying Hitomi very well.
”Then what is your impression of the two brothers?” Chen Ge finally found a “person” who was willing to communicate with him and hurriedly seized the opportunity to ask.
”There’s nothing to say about his brother’s character, he’s warm-hearted, kind, especially likes small animals, works hard, has excellent grades, and is the one I like. As for his brother I’m not very good at evaluating, I feel that his brother is a drag, blind in both eyes, unable to take care of himself, but also always like to say something inexplicable, as if the spirit is not quite normal.” Ms. Skirt’s words made Chen Ge feel deeply uneasy, in Ms. Skirt’s mind, Ying Chen was so perfect, while Ying pupil’s image was very bad.
”Sometimes what the eyes see isn’t always true.” Chen Ge felt that even if he directly told the other party that Ying Chen was a murderer, the other party would definitely not believe it.
”I’m sorry, I forgot that you are also blind, I don’t mean to discriminate against the blind, it’s just that his brother’s character is really bad. Always being taken care of by his brother, living off his brother, and always finding nothing to do, always sneaking outside, he doesn’t think about leaving his brother, what does he, a blind man, live off of?” Ms. Skirt spoke very straight.
”You hate Ying Hitomi so much? Then have you ever thought that Ying Hitomi and Ame look alike?” Chen Ge couldn’t see with his eyes, but he felt that he could surmise something even from the voice alone, but Ms. Skirt acted as if she didn’t notice the connection between Ame and Ying Hitomi at all.
”Don’t be ridiculous, Ame just celebrated her sixth birthday, that Ying Xie is almost ten years old, her body type and height are completely different.”
”I mean looks, what are you doing mentioning height?” Chen Ge wanted to verify his guess, and he kept pursuing the question.
”Looks this can’t really be seen, Ying pupil’s face is scary, completely different from Ame.” What Ms. Skirt said next made Chen Ge feel a chill, “Ying pupil seldom goes out, I remember the first time he sneaked away from home, he ended up falling from a pile of rubble, his face rubbed a large chunk of skin, and nails were driven into it close to his eyes, if it wasn’t for his older brother finding him in time, the consequences would have been really unimaginable.”
”Disfigured?” Chen Ge felt that this was an accident created by Ying Chen, and Ying pupil most likely knew it himself, which was why he escaped again and again.
Only the reality was that Ying pupil had escaped time and time again, only to be captured back by Ying Chen again and again.
What he himself was experiencing now was exactly what Ying pupil had experienced back then, and as a blind man trying to hide from Ying Chen was really too difficult.
”Okay, the looks and height are different, but have you noticed that their voices are very similar.” Chen Ge was still undeterred, he had managed to meet a reliable “person” and really didn’t want to give up.
”Their speaking voices are a little bit similar, but that doesn’t mean anything, it’s normal for little boys to have similar voices before they change their voice.”
”How can I still tell you that I don’t understand?” Chen Ge wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, “Okay, we won’t discuss this, then tell me what’s the situation with A-Mei’s parents? Why did they ask you to take care of Ame?”
”Do you really not understand, or are you pretending to be confused?” Ms. Skirt seemed to be a bit displeased with Chen Ge as she grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the inner room.
”What do you want?”
The woman closed the door to the inner room and made sure that Ame couldn’t hear her before she whispered, “Didn’t Ame tell you that his parents went to a faraway place? Why are you even asking such questions? I really wonder if you’re a psychiatrist.”
”Did Ame’s parents die?”
”Yeah, Ame is an orphan, an orphan that Ying Chen saw outside the neighborhood, with no one to depend on and no one to take care of them, and in the end, a few of the owners of our neighborhood put their heads together and decided that we should all adopt them together.”
”Them?” Chen Ge caught the key words in the woman’s words.
”They are triplets, A-mu, A-tong, and A-ying, all three children were found by Ying Chen, he looked at the children pitifully, but was not able to take care of them himself, so he thought of letting us take care of them instead first, and then send the three children to the orphanage when the formalities were completed.” What Ms. Skirt said made Chen Ge suck in a breath of cool air.
”These three children were entrusted to your care by Ying Chen?”
”What did you expect? In such an indifferent society nowadays, there are very few people as selfless and kind-hearted as Ying Chen, who ran around for these three children and put in a lot of time and effort.” Ms. Skirt’s impression of Ying Chen was so good that it simply could not be transformed in a few words.
”Then are these three children all suffering from some kind of disease?” Chen Ge looked through the surface and directly asked about a key point.
”How did you know that? That’s right, without physical defects, I guess they would have been adopted away a long time ago.” Ms. Skirt whispered, “A-mu suffers from sharpshooter phobia; A-tong suffers from very serious confinement phobia, and will go crazy if he stays alone in a room; A-young has an even rarer disease called scream phobia, and will be offended when he hears hissing and screaming.”
”Have you ever wondered why these three children have such diseases? And why it was Yingchen who discovered them first?”
”I haven’t considered this question, it might have something to do with the children’s biological parents.”
”But in Ame’s memories, his parents were very kind to him, and that was the warmest part of his memories.”
Speaking of this, Chen Ge’s face had become very pale.
A very bold guess had arisen in his mind just from this pitifully few clues.
Ms. Skirt, Mr. Wood, and Ms. Red were all killed by Ying Chen in reality, and the imprisoned Ying pupil knew the truth, but he didn’t dare to tell anyone about it, and in the end, he even became “friends” with those three corpses.
In Chen Ge’s opinion, although Ying pupil has eye problems, he is not completely blind.
The boy lived under Ying Chen’s bad taste and suffered from many mental illnesses, but he knew very well in his heart that he could only live as a blind man, so he sealed his vulnerability, fear and the only good memories he had left to form the naïve A-Me, A-Ying, and A-Tong.
As for himself, he honestly acts as a blind man, constantly searching for a way to escape.