My Family Is Very Odd

Li Xiao Gui was forced to jump back. Her fingers moved quickly, drawing a symbol in the air. "Shen Yan: Seal!"

The square symbol briefly trapped the crazed red-mouthed doll. The doll's black beady eyes froze, then swiveled left and right. It struggled with a smile for a full minute. Then, its smooth, fake-white fingers, knuckle by knuckle, dug ten finger holes in the seal.

With a crack, the seal shattered, and the smiling doll broke free.

The black dog lunged at Little Flower. Little Flower was still looking ahead, oblivious. It wasn't until the last second that she saw something flying towards her.

Little Flower's eyes widened in alarm. By then, the black dog was already nearing her eyelashes.

It zipped into her right eye.

Little Flower felt a chill in her eye. She instinctively shook her head and rubbed her eye. Then she looked up again and cautiously opened her eye.

The cold sensation remained, as if something was stuck to her eyeball, crawling inwards.

Little Flower grew scared. She called out to Li Xiao Gui in a panic, "Sister, something got in my eye! It feels so strange!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a strange hunger pang shot through her. An icy feeling filled her limbs and blood. Her hands and feet turned cold and numb, and goosebumps erupted all over her skin.

But the worst feeling was the hunger that felt like her insides were being scooped out. It was a thirst that dried her throat, a nauseating emptiness that felt like claws scratching at her insides.

But Little Flower remembered she had just eaten lunch. Why was she suddenly so hungry?

Li Xiao Gui dodged the doll's attacks while fighting back. "Don't worry, Little Flower," she said. "Sister will blow on your eye and make it better."

"Sister… I'm so hungry all of a sudden," Little Flower said.

She couldn't describe the feeling. The hunger felt like it was etched into her soul.

Just as Little Flower's vision began to blur, the black dog inside her suddenly shot out of her body.

All the discomfort vanished in an instant, as if she had just caught a chill. Little Flower stared ahead in a daze.

This time, she saw the black dog in front of her. She even saw it clearly as it shot out of her body. For a split second, it seemed like she saw two of herself. One of her went out a little with the black dog, but only a little, and then quickly returned.

It felt like an illusion. Little Flower was bewildered.

The black dog's back flashed, and it struggled in pain.

It was the talisman paper that had been stuck to Uncle Ah Qing's back. It hadn't just stuck to his back; it had also imprinted itself deeply onto the black dog's back through Uncle Ah Qing's body.

After the black dog burrowed into Little Flower's body, the searing heat of the talisman had tormented it. The longer it stayed in a human's body, the more intense the burning became, until it was finally forced out.

The black dog spun around frantically, desperate to reach its own back and tear it off.

Li Xiao Gui drew another symbol, trapping the doll once more. This time, the doll couldn't break free so easily. But its rapid, violent movements and grotesque, smiling face created an oppressive sense of urgency.

It frightened Little Flower, even though she couldn't quite grasp what it was or what she was seeing.

Li Xiao Gui walked over to Little Flower. "Which eye feels strange?" she asked.

Little Flower snapped back to attention and pointed at her right eye. "This one."

"Let me blow on it for you." Li Xiao Gui gently blew on her eye. "How does it feel now?"

Light brown eyes, like polished glass, gazed up at her through doll-like curled lashes.

Little Flower's attention was no longer on the terrifying doll, and her fear subsided significantly.

Little Flower shook her head.

"Does anything else feel uncomfortable?" Li Xiao Gui asked.

Little Flower shook her head again.

Li Xiao Gui patted Little Flower's head. "Why don't you go back to your room for a bit, Little Flower? Sister will take you out to play later, okay?"

She was so small, still wearing her oversized school uniform. But she seemed so reliable.

Little Flower stared at Li Xiao Gui, nodded slowly, and softly mumbled, "Okay." Then, she obediently went back to her room.

As soon as Little Flower returned to her room, a wave of exhaustion washed over her, so strong that she collapsed on the floor, her body limp and her mind dazed.

Most of her classmates had already lost their baby fat, but from the side, Li Xiao Gui's cheeks were still slightly rounded, like a gentle arc.

The moment the doll reached the doorway, it broke free from the seal and shot towards Li Xiao Gui like an arrow.

As if she had eyes on the back of her head, Li Xiao Gui sidestepped. The doll sailed past the side pocket of her school uniform that was fluttering from her movement...

The female ghost woke up and, once again, couldn't sense Li Xiao Gui's presence. She wandered around the house, passing through walls, checking the living room, kitchen, bedroom, and study, but Li Xiao Gui was nowhere to be found.

Waking up and looking for Li Xiao Gui had become a habit for the female ghost. Unable to find her, she paused in confusion and finally remembered to check the calendar.

The calendar was something they had only started using after Li Xiao Gui came into their lives. As ghosts, they had long lost track of time. It was only with Li Xiao Gui that they regained a sense of time passing.

Now, not only did they have a calendar, but they were also acutely aware of Saturdays and Sundays. They even knew all the national holidays by heart because it meant Li Xiao Gui was off from school.

The female ghost floated back to the living room and looked at the calendar. She scratched her head. It was the weekend.

She felt like she had forgotten something.

Then, she remembered about cell phones. She made a voice call.

The doll, having just missed Li Xiao Gui, slammed into an invisible barrier.

At the same time, a hard object, following Li Xiao Gui's movement, flew out of her open side pocket in a parabola.

Just then, a series of "ding-dong-ding-dong" WeChat voice call notifications rang out.

The doll turned around. The barrier stretched from where the doll had hit it all the way to the spot where Li Xiao Gui had swiped her right foot.

It hadn't even noticed when Li Xiao Gui had made her move.

Li Xiao Gui froze mid-turn, her mouth forming an "O." "Ah!"

She didn't know whether to worry about who was calling or if her phone was broken.

But to her surprise, the phone, which had landed face down, seemed to have pressed the answer button because the call connected.

Li Xiao Gui heard her mother's voice.

"Hello?" The female ghost called out Li Xiao Gui's name.

Li Xiao Gui only managed to let out an "Eh?" before falling silent. The doll was attacking again.

The female ghost on the other end was puzzled. Why did Li Xiao Gui only make a sound and then go quiet? She wasn't usually like this.

Even if she was busy, she would hang up directly, not answer and then go silent.

The female ghost waited for a while, then, unable to contain her curiosity, she poked her head through the phone. First, half her head emerged from the phone screen, then her entire head.

"Oh?"

The female ghost saw Li Xiao Gui in the middle of a fight.

She watched as the doll, having finally dodged one of Li Xiao Gui's spiritual attacks, found an opening and charged forward menacingly.

Without hesitation, the female ghost reached out a long arm and grabbed the back of the doll's neck.

The doll: "..."

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