“You got many things right, but there’s one point.” Ran Jingjing tucked the fruit knife into her bag. “You were wrong about one thing. I’m not with that exorcist, and I’m not here to kill you. Quite the opposite, I’m here to protect you.”
Bai Lixin: “…”
Ran Jingjing: “If I wanted to kill those secondary personalities Cao Ji’an, Shen Shukuang, Su Hong, I would have done it long ago instead of waiting until now. Besides, I don’t have the ability to kill them. My role is someone who is strict and responsible, adhering to rules and order.”
“I thought after Xiaohua disappeared, there wouldn’t be any more additional secondary personalities, but unexpectedly, there’s now one more – you.”
“You’re smarter than Su Hong and the others.”
Bai Lixin: “I’m not Xiaohua.”
Ran Jingjing’s pupils trembled slightly, and she opened her mouth slightly: “What?”
Bai Lixin: “I’m not one of Xiaohua’s secondary personalities.”
Ran Jingjing looked puzzled: “Then how did you know…”
“It’s impossible. No one could whimsically discover this is a fictional world.”
Bai Lixin countered: “If no one can discover it, then how did you?”
Ran Jingjing froze for a second, “It was Xiaohua who told me.”
“Ten years ago, Xiaohua called me. When I answered, there was no sound, only the crackling of electrical interference and intermittent breathing. Shortly after, the call ended. I tracked the location through the phone and found Xiaohua lying in a pool of blood beside an abandoned factory.”
“At that time, there was an unconscious person next to Xiaohua. It was Cao Ji’an.”
“Xiaohua lay there barely breathing, with a bloody knife beside her. As soon as I saw Xiaohua, I tried to take her to the hospital but she stopped me.”
“She told me the truth about her multiple personalities.”
“She said, at first, I was her first personality. When she was lonely and wanted a friend, I appeared. I accompanied her through many difficult times, and she came to rely on me and was even grateful for having another personality.”
“But then things got worse and she began to generate other personalities uncontrollably. She was absentmindedly fantasizing about a plot in her mind, and a terrible personality would emerge.”
“Personalities vary in strength, and are uncontrollable.”
“And in the real world, she began to do bad things.”
“She said if this continued, she would definitely commit an unforgivable sin.”
“She has been suffering internally.”
“Then Cao Ji’an controlled her physically and mentally again and caused Xiaohua serious injury.”
“At that time, I didn’t believe Xiaohua’s words, and even thought she was hallucinating from excessive blood loss.”
“It wasn’t until I saw Xiaohua’s body disappear before me, leaving only a severed leg.”
“In a daze, I took Xiaohua’s leg and the saw away from the scene, and buried them in a flowerbed.”
“That was the only way I could think of to get Cao Ji’an convicted.”
“A person’s body disappearing into thin air, who would believe it?”
“Even I didn’t believe Xiaohua at first, let alone others. I knew Cao Ji’an couldn’t be sentenced to death, but I had other ways to make him atone for his sins.”
“Like destroying his family’s business empire, leaving him with no capital to be arrogant, or ruining him and his family.”
“I started to think about the personalities Xiaohua mentioned before leaving, speculating who around me, besides myself, might be Xiaohua’s personality.”
“Su Hong, Cao Ji’an, Shen Shukuang, Wang Tou…”
“She didn’t tell me any of this, maybe to maintain her image in my eyes.”
Ran Jingjing stopped and leaned against the rugged marble wall with a suspicious look on her face, “Who are you?”
Bai Lixin: “Firstly, I’m not your enemy. I’m here to find the missing Su Xiaohua.”
Ran Jingjing became agitated, “Xiaohua is already dead! I saw her disappear with my own eyes!”
Bai Lixin shook his head, “Xiaohua shouldn’t be dead yet.”
Ran Jingjing looked at Bai Lixin with uncertainty, “Are you sure?”
Bai Lixin waved his hand, “I can’t be a hundred percent sure, but the possibility is high.”
If Xiaohua had died, the system wouldn’t have issued this task.
By reverse reasoning, Xiaohua is the main personality so it shouldn’t be dead.
Two bright lights shone from a distance, followed by a taxi slowly pulling up beside them.
The window on the driver’s side rolled down, and a head popped out, “Need a taxi?”
Their eyes met, and the driver was speechless. “…”
The corner of Bai Lixin’s mouth twitched, “Are you the only taxi in this city?”
Driver: “…”
‘How is that possible!’
Bai Lixin looked around. It was pitch black all around, and taxis weren’t easy to find. “Since you’re here, let’s go.”
Driver: “…”
‘You could also choose not to! Pretend you didn’t see me!’
After getting into the taxi, Bai Lixin handed over two golden leaves. The driver instinctively reached out to take them, his movements were so skillful that it could make one feel distressed.
Ran Jingjing’s scrutinizing gaze wandered between the driver and Bai Lixin, “You two seem quite familiar with each other.”
Driver chuckled nervously, “Heh.”
‘I don’t want to be so familiar with him. It’s just that the Great Immortal gives me too much.’
Ran Jingjing became wary, and her hand gripped the door handle, “You’re not thinking of selling me, are you?”
“Hey, don’t talk nonsense.” The driver hurriedly retorted, “I know the Great Immortal, we have a deep bond. I’m a legitimate taxi driver, I abide by the law!”
Ran Jingjing: “Why do you call him Great Immortal?”
“Because he is a Great Immortal.” The driver shivered and adjusted the air conditioning down a bit, “The Great Immortal is amazing. Last time I just mentioned how my friend at the crematorium was pranked by someone pretending to be a ghost, and he immediately figured out who the culprit was.”
Ran Jingjing looked at the back of the seat in front of her suspiciously, “Are you two in cahoots to trick me?”
Driver: “Hey, why are you so suspicious? I’m full and content, what would I gain from deceiving you?”
The driver turned to Bai Lixin, “Great Immortal, why did you suddenly go to the crematorium that day? I was watching the news the next day and saw news that the suspect in the university professor dismemberment case was found dead by suicide in the crematorium.”
Ran Jingjing was stunned for a moment. “When? When did he go to the crematorium?”
The driver pondered, “It was the night before last, at around two in the morning, I think. The Great Immortal went to several places that night, both in Dongcheng and Xicheng.”
“The night before last? Early morning?” Ran Jingjing carefully considered the driver’s words. “Xicheng? Did you also go to Xicheng? What time did you go to Xicheng?”
Xicheng was where she lived.
She followed Bai Lixin tonight because she vaguely dreamed of him the night before last.
In the dream, Bai Lixin said he was another self.
Accustomed to the concept of multiple personalities, Ran Jingjing didn’t reject the dream much at the time.
When she saw Bai Lixin at the office earlier today, she immediately remembered the dream from the night before last.
The dream and reality overlapped, and she easily accepted that Bai Lixin was another personality of Xiaohua.
She followed Bai Lixin, not as she said, to kill him.
On the contrary, she was there to protect Bai Lixin.
All personalities survived in this space; she didn’t know whether it counts as an inner world or not. Although it was disgusting, everyone managed to coexist peacefully.
She punished those people, but they were all personalities bred by Xiaohua, and she had never taken a life.
Moreover, she studied law, and murder was her bottom line, she would never cross that line.
But one person’s appearance disrupted this delicate balance.
First it was Shen Shukuang, then Su Hong, Cao Ji’an…
Xiaohua’s secondary personalities were killed one after another.
Someone was cleaning up Xiaohua’s personalities.
It seemed to be that exorcist.
She had met that exorcist not long ago.
She had caught a glimpse of him, but couldn’t see his face or figure.
It was in an office building. She had gone to the client’s office that night and just happened to take an elevator with the exorcist.
At the time, the exorcist glanced at her a few more times and said something she didn’t understand at the time, but now sounded very cryptic.
He said, “You can stay a little longer. It’s not time yet.”
At the time, she thought he had mistaken her for a customer of exorcism.
Later, upon careful consideration, that sentence sent a shiver down her spine.
When the exorcist left the elevator, she curiously leaned out to look at him for a while.
She saw the exorcist forcing the blurry black mist into the corner, and it seemed that he had some real skills.
She speculated that the exorcist might be the one killing the other personalities.
To verify her suspicion, she followed Bai Lixin to see if the exorcist would attack him.
As a result, the exorcist was not found, and she was tricked out by Bai Lixin.
Ran Jingjing glanced at the young man beside her from the corner of her eyes.
When the young man first showed up at her law firm in the morning, she was stunned by his beauty, but the panic, vulgarity, and wretchedness he showed instantly made the originally handsome face repulsive.
But now the young man was far from the cowardly scoundrel from earlier. His starry eyes exuded power and he gave off an air of confidence.
Ran Jingjing: “The case you mentioned when you came to my law firm this morning, was it all a trick?”
The young man smiled, “My acting skills are not bad, right?”
Ran Jingjing: “Was it all to lure me out?”
The young man: “After all, my speculation was too far-fetched. I needed someone to verify it.”
Ran Jingjing felt very aggrieved.
She had been fooled, and it was frustrating!
“I didn’t lie to you before. I’m not with the exorcist.” Ran Jingjing stared at Bai Lixin, “Are you the exorcist?”
“Pfft!” The driver couldn’t hold back and laughed.
Ran Jingjing felt that she had never been this aggrieved in her whole life. “What are you laughing at?”
Driver: “The Great Immortal is an exorcist? It couldn’t be more far off.”
Ran Jingjing: “…”
Bai Lixin: “…”
‘Brother, aren’t you getting too confident now?’
Bai Lixin looked serious. “I’m a ghost.”
Ran Jingjing looked unbelieving. “…”
‘Do you really think I’m that gullible?’
Before Ran Jingjing could say anything more, the young man in front of her disappeared into thin air.
Ran Jingjing widened her eyes, but the driver appeared calm. “The Great Immortal is right.”
‘Heh heh, you haven’t seen the world.’
After meeting the Great Immortal, he could be regarded as someone who has seen strong winds and waves.
He wasn’t boasting, there was nothing that could surprise him now!
Ran Jingjing rubbed her temples for a while. Her long experience in court quickly calmed her down: “…”
A main personality and secondary personalities have appeared. What did a ghost matter?
He’s not the King of Hell.
When Bai Lixin appeared in front of Ran Jingjing again, her vigilance was noticeably reduced.
Bai Lixin then directed the conversation towards himself: “I’ve met the exorcist several times. Judging by how unfamiliar you were with me just now, you’re definitely not with the exorcist.”
“If you didn’t kill those secondary personalities, then the exorcist did.”
“Have you met this exorcist before?”
Ran Jingjing shook her head, then nodded again. “I’ve met him once. He said I could stay a little longer, that it’s not yet time. Perhaps he meant it’s not yet time for me to die. Looking at it another way, this sentence could also mean he wanted me to clean up and wait, that eventually he would come to kill me.”
“That’s not good news.”
“He’s seen you and let you go,” Bai Lixin pondered, “First it was Shen Shukuang, then Su Hong, then Cao Ji’an. Do these personalities have any special characteristics or patterns? For example, the Shen Shukuang personality formed last and the secondary personalities are getting killed in chronological order.”
Ran Jingjing shook her head, “It shouldn’t be. As far as I know, the order in which the three personalities formed was Su Hong, Shen Shukuang, and Cao Ji’an. Could it be…”
She was about to say something when her eyes suddenly went blank, and she quickly closed her mouth.
“Could it be that the severity of their harm to the main personality determines the order of their deaths?” Bai Lixin glanced at her, “Is that what you were about to say?”
Ran Jingjing forced a dry laugh.
“Is it possible that the exorcist is Xiaohua?” Bai Lixin finally steered the conversation towards the direction Ran Jingjing had been deliberately avoiding.
Ran Jingjing almost immediately denied it, “Absolutely impossible!”
Bai Lixin: “What’s your basis?”
Ran Jingjing replied, “There’s no basis, but it definitely can’t be Xiaohua. She’s so timid that she faints at the sight of blood. How could she possibly kill someone?”
“Do you know why Cao Ji’an exists as a personality? Because Xiaohua is too timid. She dares not say or do anything, and when faced with anything, she’s as weak as a bun. So, a spoiled and violent secondary personality appeared.”
“You see, the extent of violence Xiaohua could conceive of is just at the level of Cao Ji’an.”
“How could she possibly go as far as dismembering Shen Shukuang?”
Bai Lixin, “What about Wang Tou?”
Ran Jingjing, “Even more impossible.”
“Wang Tou is the personality Xiaohua conceived to uphold justice. The sense of justice this personality adheres to makes even me feel inferior.”
“Those capable of committing murder are either the original evil secondary personalities in disguise or simply a new alter.”
“I am more inclined to think this is a brand new secondary personality.”
Ran Jingjing continued, “Actually, there’s something else that concerns me. This world is Xiaohua’s inner world, and we are all Xiaohua’s secondary personalities. If all the secondary personalities disappear, what will happen to this world? Will it be destroyed? Will it cease to exist?”
The driver’s ears were perked and his mind was full of question marks. Although he couldn’t understand, he was deeply shaken.
What were they talking about?
Inner world?
Main personality?
Secondary personalities?
Murder?
???
Is this something you can casually discuss in a taxi?
Are they really in a good mental state?!
But they seem so serious!
