Duoduo’s memories did not end there. After an unknown amount of time, Duoduo regained her consciousness.
She awoke from darkness, remembering once again.
She was standing by the edge of a riverbank covered with weeds, with the river babbling and desolation all around.
Looking down at her feet, there... there was a strange sensation...
Just then, her little head suddenly fell from her neck, rolling onto the ground.
Her perspective shifted from looking downward to upward.
Duoduo hurriedly tried to catch her own head, but without her head, she lost balance and fell over.
Watching this scene in terror, Duoduo burst into cries.
"Dad... Mom... save me... save me..."
But still, no one responded to her.
Tired from crying, she wanted to pick up her head with her hands and then found that her body actually managed to pick it up.
Duoduo quickly placed her little head back on her neck; it seemed no different from before, and she didn’t feel any pain.
However, she didn’t dare to look down anymore, holding her head with both hands, afraid it would fall again.
The unfamiliar environment made Duoduo panicked, and she hurriedly ran up the riverbank.
Then, following a path along the riverbank, she kept running on and on, not knowing how far or how long she ran, and never feeling tired...
Yet, the desolate wilderness filled Duoduo’s heart with fear.
As she cried and called for her dad and mom, she ran. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝔫𝔢𝔱
After an unknown amount of time, she finally saw someone.
She excitedly ran up, intending to speak to them.
But the person completely ignored her and even bumped into her.
Startled, Duoduo felt a piercing pain as she noticed the flames on the person’s head and shoulders.
The pain was emanating from those flames.
Duoduo quickly stepped back in fear, then fell over, and her head rolled off again.
The person ignored her and simply walked away.
Duoduo’s eyes lost their sparkle as she hid in a corner, holding her head and sobbing softly, whispering for her dad and mom...
She became a lonely soul, wandering around the streets.
During this time, she also met many "people."
Granny Zhang, Grandpa Lu, Uncle Pang Sheng, Aunt Xiao Jing, and many more, all of whom were kind to Duoduo.
But one by one, they left Duoduo.
Granny Zhang and Grandpa Lu left everything and went back to their hometown...
Uncle Pang Sheng, heartbroken after Aunt Xiao Min remarried, eventually disappeared...
Aunt Xiao Jing and Brother Ming moved to another place...
In fact, when Granny Zhang and Grandpa Lu "went back to their hometown," it wasn’t literally going home but a ghostly saying; when all the living forget about them and they let go of all their worldly attachments, they would "return to their hometown," turning into a wisp of smoke and dissipating completely...
Uncle Pang Sheng was an uncle whom Duoduo knew in real life; soon after dying on duty, his wife chose to remarry, and the last time Duoduo saw him was by the river, then he disappeared...
As for Aunt Xiao Jing, she was someone Duoduo met after her death; Brother Ming, Xiao Jing’s son, got into university, and Aunt Xiao Jing moved away with him...
Moreover, there were many other ghosts, both good and bad; encountering the bad ones, she would hide far away and thus, remain unharmed.
To Duoduo, these ghosts were merely passersby, some ghosts wanted to take her away, while others told her that her parents had already left...
But in the end, Duoduo chose to stay; she has her Route 6 bus, and a home, to which she can never return.
After her death, Duoduo’s memories were chaotic and disorganized; seemingly because of lacking a physical body, she lost certain logic and cognition.
Duoduo was also lonely, riding the Route 6 bus back and forth every day yet never able to find her home.
But Duoduo was also a strong and innocent child; over the years, she chose not to forget her parents, firmly believing that her parents would find her and take her home.
Shen Siyuan withdrew from Duoduo’s memories, took a deep breath, and found himself deeply moved, taking a while to recover.
He then noticed Yin Xingyue standing by, watching him with some concern.
A dog was squatting by her feet, not a purebred, but an ordinary yellow mongrel, looking not very old, and it was also staring at Shen Siyuan.
"Where’s Dou Dou?" Shen Siyuan asked casually.
"She went home," Yin Xingyue replied.
"Is this the dog you were talking about?" Shen Siyuan looked towards the mongrel.
"It doesn’t run away from you guys anymore?" Shen Siyuan asked offhand.
"It’s mainly scared of Dou Dou. With Dou Dou not around, it isn’t afraid," Yin Xingyue explained.
Shen Siyuan extended his finger, beckoning the little mongrel squatting on the ground, which hesitated for a moment before standing up and slowly walking over to him.
This was also his first time meeting a Ghost Dog.
Touching its head, Shen Siyuan said somewhat sentimentally, "What is it that you can’t let go of, and refuse to leave the Mortal World?"
The little dog couldn’t speak; it just kept wagging its tail.
"It probably can’t bear to part with its owner," Yin Xingyue added from the side.
"Take it for a walk, I still have some things to do," Shen Siyuan said.
If it were Dou Dou, she would definitely have curiously asked, "What things?" utterly intrigued.
But Yin Xingyue just obediently nodded, then picked up the little dog from the ground, disappearing in a gust of Yin Wind.
After they left, Shen Siyuan called out the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, formed a dharma seal with his fingers, and soon Duoduo drifted down from the Soul Banner.
Duoduo, now just like Dou Dou when she first entered the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, was engulfed in Netherworld Fire, not knowing how to contain it.
The only difference was the wound on Duoduo’s neck, which shimmered with a halo of ghostly blue light, as if she were wearing a blue necklace.
"Banner Master Brother~"
Duoduo showed a look of delight upon seeing Shen Siyuan.
Once on the Soul Banner, a mark would be imprinted, and a piece of memory was input, recognizing Shen Siyuan as master.
Shen Siyuan smiled and nodded at her.
Duoduo looked down at her hand burning with Netherworld Fire, clenched her hand, and her face showed both curiosity and delight.
"Wow, I am on fire," she said in surprise.
Then she curiously waved her arms, tracing lines of blue flames in the air.
These flames not only didn’t hurt her but gave her a warm and comfortable sensation.
Suddenly she realized, held her head with both hands and excitedly said to Shen Siyuan, "Banner Master Brother, Banner Master Brother, my head, it doesn’t fall off anymore, my head, it doesn’t fall off anymore..."
"I know, but you also... uh..."
While speaking, she forcefully pulled, and her little head came off again.
However, rather than appearing void like before, the cut marks shone with a ghostly blue light of Netherworld Fire.
Just then, a Yin Wind suddenly swept through the room, and Duoduo let go of her head, which didn’t fall to the ground but floated in the air...
"Wow, my head can fly..." Duoduo said excitedly.
"Is this what they call the useless Head Flying Technique?" Shen Siyuan thought to himself.
He knew that this was merely Duoduo gaining the ability to manipulate Yin Wind to levitate her head, and it definitely wasn’t any Head Flying Technique.
After circling twice in the room, her head fell back onto her neck.
Shen Siyuan took the opportunity to ask, "Duoduo, do you still remember your umbrella, it came from..."
Before Shen Siyuan could finish, Duoduo appeared confused and uttered, "Umbrella?"
Then with a gesture, an umbrella appeared out of nowhere in her hand, and the Netherworld Fire on her quickly spread along the handle to the entire umbrella, engulfing it in flames, creating a mystical sight.
In the design of pine and crane on the umbrella, the crane seemed to come to life, transforming into a palm-sized immortal crane, dancing and circling among the rising flames, emitting joyful crane cries from time to time.