Chapter 2 Bracelet? Bead!

Li Anping takes off the bracelet as if nothing has happened. He explains, “I was intended to return it to her parents in person.” Elly is satisfied with his explanation, no matter how unconvincing it is. She takes the bracelet and gives it a glance. It looks even more beautiful as she keeps staring at it. She didn’t expect that a rural family could own such a piece of nice jewelry. Elly holds up the bracelet. “To my surprise, it is quite beautiful…” She pauses on purpose, looking to Li Anping then to Lin Luoran, both of whom change their expressions—Li Anping out of guilt and Lin Luoran out of the thought that Elly might refuse to return the bracelet. Seeing this, Elly said, pouting, “But it is still cheap, no matter how beautiful it is!” Lin Luoran’s face went white to the lips. Elly doesn’t feel bad at all. She only finds this country girl quite interesting, so she tosses the bracelet in a direction which Lin Luoran obviously has no chance of catching it— The silver bracelet hits the ground with a crisp sound. Lin Luoran lets go of the rearview mirror unknowingly. Elly rolls up the car window. With a nice drift, the Audi TT is gone. Lin Luoran has pinched herself so hard with nails that her palm begins to bleed. She bends over and picks up the bracelet, wishing to leave immediately. She doesn’t want to breathe the same air that shameless couple breathes. ****** It is already dark outside when Lin Luoran finally gets home after two bus-transfers without haste. She is too tired even to turn on the light. She has reclaimed the heirloom of her family and will have no more connection with the heartbreaker. It’s time to think about what to do next. Her parents are aging and they have been urging her to marry Li Anping for half a year. For now, she will not tell them about the break-up because she doesn’t want to burst their bubbles. She had paid a full-year-rent upfront and she can still live here for another seven months. As for work, Lin Luoran was fired a week ago. The manager spoke evasively that Lin Luoran had offended someone, but she couldn’t figure out who on earth it was. The arrogant attitude of Li Anping’s new girlfriend today actually reminds Lin Luoran that the “someone” might be this petty woman who seems to be easy-going on the outside… It will be a lie to say that Lin Luoran does not hate Elly since not only did Elly seduce her boyfriend, this woman also got her fired. Nevertheless, there is nothing Lin Luoran can do. Perhaps she could never revenge them for the gap between them is way too big. Lin Luoran must take care of her parents so she can’t just go and pour vitriol on Elly’s face. Lin Luoran and Li Anping were going to get married. They even saved 30,000 yuan for their wedding. But the money was taken by Li Anping in the name of attending training. It means that all Lin Luoran gets from this six-year relationship are nothing but lost youth, unfinished study, awkward age, and the left 1,600 yuan! Lin Luoran grasps the silver bracelet unconsciously. Her palm starts to bleed again. The blood drops through the hollow silver wires onto the bead, which absorbs the blood without her noticing! After absorbing blood, the bead begins to glow and vibrate slightly like it still lacks strength because of hunger. Lin Luoran stays immersed in her thoughts and fails to notice this bizarre phenomenon. The bead keeps vibrating like a living creature with Reiki. It appears to be anxious for having no solution to its hunger. Then, as if it has finally made the decision, the bead shines and these silver wires wrapped around it begin to move. They transform into spikes and directly prick into Lin Luoran’s palm! The room is dark. Lin Luoran is just distracted, but not blind. She certainly sees the light shining from her palm. But the minute she raises her hand, these silver wires prick her and shock the hell out of her. The pain is not unbearable. It seems like she is bitten by an ant. Still, Lin Luoran is nearly scared to death. This phenomenon is beyond the scope of scientific explanation . No normal person will be not frightened or shocked. Let alone that these silver wires have now transformed into thin crystal tubes. Lin Luoran could see her fresh blood being drawn out, dropping on the bead which absorbs all. Lin Luoran uses all her strength to shake her hand but fails to take the bracelet off. It’s like that the bracelet is rooted in her palm just in a very short amount of time. She could feel that a lot of blood is drawn from her because she already begins to feel dizzy, which is exactly the reaction of excessive loss of blood. The more blood the bead absorbs, the brighter it becomes. Within several minutes, the dim glow grows brighter and brighter, it becomes dazzling! Lin Luoran feels that her vision is blurred. There is no need to guess that she will die if the bead keeps drawing her blood. She realizes that this is not an ordinary heirloom while being afraid of not having time to use it… It seems that the bead has noticed her fear. With a slight “buzz”, it retrieves the tubes and stops drawing blood from her. Lin Luoran takes the chance to throw the bracelet onto the table and slumps into the tattered couch. Her lips are pale and her cloth is soaked by sweat as if she just got out of the pool. Except for the glow, the bracelet returns to its normal form and the crystal tubes are gone. Lin Luoran survives from the disaster. Although she is extremely curious, she does not dare to pick up the bracelet to have a closer look. With time passing by, the light of the bead gradually darkens into shimmer. Lin Luoran leans forward a little bit, checking out this heirloom which has almost killed her. Something is happening. Lin Luoran rubs her eyes, thinking that she might have illusions. However, the scene in front of her doesn’t change at all. When the light is darkened, Lin Luoran discovers that after absorbing her blood, the silver surface of the bracelet is melting. The hollow silver wires which seem like a cage or a protective layer of the spooky bead… Lin Luoran steps back warily. The bracelet gradually melts into a pool of liquid silver, lustering under the glow of the bead. Lin Luoran surprisingly finds that the silver liquid is also absorbed by the bead just as the bead did to her hand. That poor of silver liquid disappears just in seconds. Lin Luoran grasps the pillow in her arms, pressing her lips together. The glow of the bead becomes even more appealing. Layers of colorful light rings circles around the bead. It is the most breath-taking jewelry in the world! The bead jumps up and down in the air like it is cheering. Lin Luoran squints, thinking about how to deal with this supernatural thing… It is unrealistic to hit it with the pillow. However, within her reach, there is only half a glass of water on the table. Should she pour water on it? Water is not dog blood which might drive out evil spirits… Lin Luoran draws on her imagination while her body stays tight. She has never been more nervous before. The bead rotates in the air. The light rings of it move like a comet’s tail. Surprisingly, the bead dashes to her at high speed!