A Dizzying Escape and a Muddled Awakening

“Ah~!”

Chen Si Yi, whose finger I had bitten, cried out in pain, instinctively releasing her grip around my waist. Seizing that fleeting moment, I twisted my body and managed to escape from her embrace.

‘Ugh… don’t blame your brother for being heartless.’

Standing firmly on the ground once more, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy at the sight of the prominent red teeth marks etched onto Chen Si Yi’s hand.

Chen Si Yi, that girl, had grown up with me since she was seven. Always prone to tears and timid by nature, I had always indulged my delicate younger sister, striving to cater to her every whim. Far from biting her finger as I had today, even when she misbehaved as a child, I would merely pretend to swat her bottom as a token punishment.

However, today’s actions were born of sheer desperation. After all, if I hadn’t seized that chance, I truly would have ended up as a ‘reformed’ criminal!

Besides, I had deliberately lessened my bite force, ensuring Chen Si Yi’s skin wasn’t broken. Only conspicuous little girl teeth marks remained. Compared to her attempt yesterday to make a certain part of me see red, this was merciful, wouldn’t you agree?

While Chen Si Yi was still reeling and her minion, Serena, was still a good eight *zhang* away from me, I had intended to bolt towards Su Xiao Yu, intending to embrace her leg and wail, “Xiao Yu, help me! I’m Lin Yan!”

To my utter surprise, having been held in Chen Si Yi’s embrace for too long, the moment my feet touched the ground, my legs went completely numb. The muscles in my calves trembled uncontrollably; running was out of the question, and even walking felt incredibly strenuous.

In my desperation, I could only call out in an incredibly childish voice:

“Xiao Yu, wait, I’m Lin—”

Before I could utter the last syllable, ‘Yan,’ a sudden wave of dizziness washed over my brain. No matter how I tried to move my lips, I couldn’t produce a single sound.

‘What… what is happening?’

My vision began to blur, and an overwhelming surge of drowsiness instantly swept through my entire body. I shook my head, attempting to fight it, but all my efforts were futile. This wave of sleepiness crashed over me like a relentless tide, and I found myself unable to resist. In that instant, I collapsed onto the solid floor, like a plastic doll whose strings had been cut.

‘So sleepy… I really want to sleep…’

With that sole thought flickering in my mind, and unsure if Su Xiao Yu had heard my cry, I slumped to the ground, my eyelids closing as I drifted into a deep slumber.

In my hazy state, I seemed to hear Chen Si Yi’s anxious shouts, before my consciousness completely faded…

****

“What exactly happened? Do you have no clue at all?”

“Th-this… I, I’ve never encountered this before, so I’m not entirely sure, Si Yi.”

“Honestly! Didn’t you guarantee there wouldn’t be any problems? Otherwise, I never would have agreed to turn Lin Yan into this! Now, in this situation, what am I supposed to do?”

“I-I’m so sorry. Th-this… this situation is very rare… I, I’ve only ever read about it in demonic texts…”

In my daze, I vaguely heard two familiar voices. Though I couldn’t make out every word clearly, I could faintly discern that they belonged to Chen Si Yi and Serena.

They seemed to be arguing about something. One spoke with a tone of intense anger, while the other was too frightened to even speak properly, only managing to offer weak, hesitant explanations by her side.

“Just hurry up and figure something out! If anything happens to my brother… then you, you won’t need to stay by my side anymore!”

“W-woo… Don’t, don’t say that, Si Yi. I’ll find a way.”

‘No, this won’t do. How can she speak to a friend like that?’ I thought, even in my muddled state.

I naturally knew my younger sister quite well. From childhood, she had always loved to trail behind me like a little shadow, and as a result, she never had many close friends.

To be honest, seeing her with Serena, someone she could laugh and chat with, actually made me quite happy. After all, my sister was no longer the little girl who hid behind me; she had finally grown, found a good friend and a confidante. As her older brother, I naturally didn’t want to see them arguing (provided, of course, that her ‘good friend’ hadn’t turned me into a loli).

With that thought, I slowly opened my eyes, raising a weary hand.

“Alright, alright, stop arguing… Can’t you two talk things out calmly?”

My head was still throbbing from just waking up, and my ears felt somewhat muffled, so I hadn’t heard Chen Si Yi and Serena’s conversation very clearly. I only knew they were arguing, but the reason for their dispute remained a complete mystery to me.

However, to my surprise, the moment my voice left my lips, a figure suddenly lunged forward, wrapping their arms around my waist and pulling me tightly into an embrace.

“Brother, you’re finally awake! You scared me to death…” Chen Si Yi sobbed, her head resting on my shoulder.

Her soft hair brushed against my cheek, and with my hands still stiffly suspended in the air, I was momentarily bewildered.

‘What… what is this? I only fell asleep, I didn’t die, so why is she crying?’

‘And that address, ‘Brother’… it’s truly been a long time.’