Chapter 7 (1/2)

A moment after Xiaoshi went over to water the cactus, Bai Xiangxiu heard a happy voice say, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” She instinctively answered, and then shot up. How many times have I had this hallucination? This really isn’t logical!

“Mistress Xiu, what is it?” Xiaoshi watched as her formerly bed-ridden mistress suddenly jumped from her bed wearing only her undergarments and stared intently at cactus. Still staring, she suddenly demanded, “Hey, what sort of evil spirit are you?”

Xiaoshi was speechless and flabbergasted. She tore out of the house, screaming loudly. “Someone come quick! Call the doctor from the medicine hall! Mistress Xiu… something’s wrong with Mistress Xiu!”

Bai Xiangxiu could only feel a headache coming on. How is there something wrong with me? I’m perfectly fine!

“I’m not a demon, I’m a cactus. I’m Huo’er,” a soft voice sounded. Bai Xiangxiu took a few steps back in fright. She was now utterly and completely certain that there was something wrong with her. Why else would she hear a cactus speak to her?

“You… you… it’s nothing to do with you, I feel like I should see a doctor.” She returned to her bed and laid down on her back, her limbs splayed out as she waited for the doctor to come. However, she felt it was a little undignified, so she covered herself with a blanket.

“Mistress, Huo’er is very comfortable today. Huo’er wants to go sunbathing,” The voice seemed to resound with a childish joy. Bai Xiangxiu was now convinced her sickness was escalating.

The doctor entered the courtyard before too long. He was an elderly man, so they didn’t much stick to formalities. Bai Xiangxiu quickly threw out her arm, almost frantic. ‘Doctor, I’m experiencing hallucinations, like someone is speaking to me. Quickly, tell me whether I’ve gone crazy!”

That old doctor’s lips twitched. A madwoman who quickly and readily admitted that she was crazy. Well, this was a first. After taking her pulse, he smiled, “Mistress Xiu has already made a full recovery. You only need to take some medicine and everything will be fine.”

Sigh, I rushed all the way here only to find that there’s nothing wrong with the person in question. He quickly dispensed some medicine, packed up his doctor’s bag and left. Bai Xiangxiu remained lying on the bed, saying, “Doctor, please don’t go, I really am sick.”

The voice inside her head replied, “I am not someone, I am Huo’er. I am Huo’er, Huo’er is the cactus.”

Who’d ever heard of a cactus who could talk? She hadn’t, at the very least.

Xiaoshi was also at a loss of what to do, but at least she could finally set her mind at ease after hearing the doctor say that her mistress was fine. Really, her mistress was probably only showing some anxiety since she’d been frightened so much. Perhaps she would recover after resting for a time.

Bai Xiangxiu was ‘crazy’ for a full two days, and it was only after the news of her having turned crazy spread that she finally accepted reality. After all, it was just a talking cactus that only she could hear. As long as she pretended that she couldn’t hear it, wouldn’t she still be a perfectly normal person?

While Huo’er was really a cactus, it was a cactus that didn’t know anything at all. It slept around twenty hours a day, only awake for four. So she didn’t feel very bothered by it. What bothered her now was that she still hadn’t been able to return home even after being pricked. Did it have anything to do with the location and time?

That day, she had tried pricking herself at the same location and time, but it made no difference. Did that mean she would have to wait for the same day next year? Having asked Xiaoshi, she had learned that the day would be a little different next year because it fell on the annual Ghost Festival. But she feared she could not avoid a gruesome death for that long. She was on the verge of panicking, the scenes from the day that Xi’er had been beaten to death still fresh in her mind.