Chapter 214: Let’s Take Turns Being Suspicious
No one knew if that Rena in the apartment was the same as the previous Rena in the corridor.
When Lin Sanjiu flew into the apartment unit following Reno, she wasn't even sure if the young man in front of her was the real Reno. She suppressed her immediate urge to use her [Consciousness Mimicry] and hovered in mid-air. Rena, who was standing in the living room, seemed to sense that something was wrong. The girl quickly stood straight, guarded.
"Rena, let me attack you once," Reno said softly after thinking for a moment, "This is the only way I can verify your identity."
Rena narrowed her eyes and looked at Reno. She took two steps back and raised her chin, "Okay… But, you have to let me hit you first."
At that moment, the atmosphere froze. The siblings watched each other for some time. Neither of them could bring themselves to agree with the other party's proposition first. Lin Sanjiu wasn't even confident who they were right now.
The only thing that was certain was that Reno and Rena had already been seriously corroded by black matter over these few bizarre days. If either of them were to receive an attack from one of the spirits, there was no telling if they would end up in the same fate as Lin Sanjiu. Furthermore, neither of them had any higher consciousness ability.
After contemplating for some time, Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth and floated between the two teenagers and spelled out some words in the air: "They might have left. Why don't we just rest for a bit?"
Presently, Lin Sanjiu couldn't think of a better idea. For the time being, she couldn't bring herself to leave this building. She could only calm the siblings and wait for things to unfold. Lin Sanjiu's suggestion helped ease the hostile tension between the siblings slightly.
In order to keep an eye on each other, the siblings cleared the space in the living room. They sat cross-legged in the center of the room and started to interrogate each other cautiously about their past shared experiences. Each time they spoke, they would start with, "Do you remember that year…" With each question, they would try to probe further and scrutinize each other.
Lin Sanjiu was in mid-air as she monitored the siblings with her full attention. Meanwhile, she ran through what had happened over the few days trying to make some deduction about the situation. Even though she had a vague feeling that she had caught something, she could not unravel the veil covering the truth. She knew that the siblings did not have the same experiences and information about the situation… Yet, she still couldn't make sense of many things...
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't think of an explanation. She floated around the room unconsciously and suddenly realized that the room had turned silent. The siblings were staring at each other. Lin Sanjiu couldn't tell from their expressions if they were more relaxed or guarded than before.
"Brother, why do you remember only some events?" Rena asked quietly. Just when Reno was about to reply her, Rena seemed eager to skip over the matter and shook her head, "Forget it. Let's talk about it later. It is getting late, what should we do now?"
"We still have to do what we have to do," Reno replied straight-laced. He shot a sidelong glance at the sister in front of him and went to lie on a sofa. As the sofa was a two-piece set, the siblings each occupied a sofa. They sat opposite from each other so that they could monitor each other.
"Preserve our strength. Sleep," he said rather brusquely.
After saying that, he turned his back to Rena and didn't make any movements for some time. No one could tell if he was really sleeping. In Kisaragi Station World, the night was always longer than the day. The last rays of the sun disappeared from the sky by around four or five pm. Outside the windows, there was only pitch-black darkness.
Lin Sanjiu didn't know how much time had passed. She sensed a hint of change, it wasn't a sound. Perhaps, it was only a change in the flow of air that stirred Lin Sanjiu from her training. This time, Lin Sanjiu didn't dare to immerse herself fully in her training so she didn't make much progress. She did manage to fully develop her skull. At the moment, with her brain completed enveloped, she was a floating skull in midair.
Without moving, Lin Sanjiu used her higher consciousness to scan the entire room. She noticed that Reno had sat up in his sofa. In a controlled manner, without making a single sound, he looked at his motionless sister and then at the silent skull. He quietly stood up and went into the bathroom. Even though they had agreed that they should always be within sight, there was one thing they couldn't avoid. When either of them had to go to the bathroom, neither of them wanted to follow along.
Once Reno left, Rena immediately turned over. Apparently, she was just faking her sleep. Apart from the silence caused by their suspicion against each other, everything appeared normal on the surface. When Reno returned from the bathroom, he laid on his sofa again. Neither of them spoke. Once again, the night was enveloped by an almost death-like silence.
Nothing changed for a few hours as the night grew darker. It was so dark that it was even a little frightening.
Even when it was almost near daybreak, the siblings remained in their sofas. While they weren't noticing, Lin Sanjiu flew stealthily out of the window. She found that the few floors above and below them were totally dark, there didn't seem to be any sign of life. It felt like there was only one pair of siblings in the entire building, the pair with her. She wanted to fly a little further but she was worried that something might happen. After some deliberation, she finally returned to the apartment unit a little anxiously.
Rena laid with her back facing out and did not make a single movement. However, when Lin Sanjiu flew past her, she couldn't resist reacting. In fact, Rena did not sleep the entire night. This wasn't anything surprising but at that moment she was giving Lin Sanjiu a look, trying to get her attention. As Rena's face was hidden under the shadow of the sofa, it was difficult to see her face. If it weren't because Lin Sanjiu vision from her higher consciousness was far better than her eyesight, she would have missed that girl's expression.
"What is she doing?" Lin Sanjiu thought to herself as she drifted over, feeling puzzled.
Seeing that she had gotten Lin Sanjiu's attention, Rena's expression relaxed, though her body was still very tense. Rena didn't dare to really move. She gestured to Lin Sanjiu with her mouth to look behind her.
Lin Sanjiu responded and 'looked' over. The sight which greeted her shocked her so much that she nearly fell from midair. As she was occupied with her thoughts when she returned to the living room, she only took a fleeting glance at the siblings lying on their sofas so she didn't notice. She saw that Rena was lying on her sofa with her back facing out, whereas Reno was lying down while facing his sister...
He was indeed facing his sister, looking at her. However, under his face, Lin Sanjiu could clearly see his backbone. She had a clear view that it was his back. That is to say, Reno had twisted his head 180°. He was staring at Rena with narrowed eyes while maintaining the act of breathing.
While Lin Sanjiu shuddered and wondered why Rena had not acted, she saw the girl waving to her with a very subtle motion. Rena still looked frightened but her face showed her determination.
Lin Sanjiu was stunned for a second but quickly reacted. Rena sat up slowly, acting like she was going to the bathroom. "Reno" immediately turned his head back when Rena turned over, reverting to a normal person's position.
Rena beckoned for Lin Sanjiu while standing outside the bathroom. Lin Sanjiu quickly floated to the other end of the room, acting as if she was trying to find a place to rest. As Lin Sanjiu was translucent, it wasn't hard to hide her presence in the dark. Seeing that "Reno" did not notice her actions, Lin Sanjiu and Rena slipped into the bathroom and closed the door.
"If we don't inadvertently alert him," Rena spoke so softly that she almost couldn't hear herself, "it might be alright if we could destroy him. However, if we can't, we would just find ourselves back at square one. Even if we destroy him, I still won't know where my brother is… Why don't we keep him here and secretly observe him? Perhaps, we could find clues to my brother's whereabouts."
The girl seemed to have thought through the matter multiple times. Even though she stuttered a little because she was scared, she sounded very convicted. Even though Lin Sanjiu doubted that the 'thing' would bring them to Reno, she agreed with Rena after thinking for a bit.
"I'll go out first. You can go back to the living room a little later. I don't want him to find out that we had been together." After saying that, Rena waited for a few seconds before opening the door. Nothing had changed in the living room. "Reno" was still lying motionlessly on his sofa.