Qi Changying watched Huo Wei’s hand gestures, lowered his gaze and fell silent for a long time before looking back at her and asking:
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“?” Huo Wei spread her hands: “Of course it hurts. And I heard the growing pains after using the Reversal Talisman hurt even more than the process of dying.”
“Then he still…?”
“But he’s doing it precisely because of that. Let me repeat, he’s into pain. Besides, he is quite an extreme person, you can tell that from his usual lifestyle and the way he talks.”
“Oh…”
Qi Changying nodded and fell silent again.
Huo Wei propped her face in both hands and let out a long sigh, dropping her gaze to look at Fu Sang on the ground, who had his eyes half-closed as if dead.
“Um… excuse me.”
Just as the room fell quiet, Fang Zehao suddenly cut in:
“Who were you talking to just now?”
“?” Huo Wei only then seemed to remember that there was still a Muggle beside her who knew nothing.
She said simply: “A ghost.”
“Th-there’s… another ghost?” Fang Zehao felt a chill run down his spine and he unconsciously looked around.
“Stop looking, Muggles can’t see it.”
Fang Zehao’s interjection didn’t matter much, but it reminded Huo Wei that there was another matter concerning him she needed to interrogate:
“Little brother, aren’t you going to explain to me why you went and attracted such a troublesome pair of human and ghost, leaving us in this mess now?”
“I… I don’t know either.”
As he spoke, Fang Zehao couldn’t help but look again at Xia Kui, who was lying on the ground with her long hair disheveled.
He still felt like he was in a dream.
He was with her just two hours ago, she was so beautiful and so gentle, as wonderful as a dream….how could she be a vengeful ghost that had harmed so many people?
Fang Zehao was a little dazed.
Until he suddenly heard an eerie bell sound.
He instinctively looked toward the source of the sound and saw that the unfamiliar girl bound by blood threads in the room had suddenly moved, and the sound came from the copper coins hanging on the blood threads.
“Is she moving?” Fang Zehao took a step back warily.
“How is that possible?”
Huo Wei thought he was talking about Xia Hui.
“Her soul is inside San You’s body right now. San You hasn’t woken up, how could she possibly move?”
“No, I meant the one beside you.”
“Beside me? Wh…”
Actually, the closest person to Huo Wei was Qi Changying, so she subconsciously looked at him, but soon her peripheral vision caught Wei Luyuan further away.
She was indeed moving.
Because the Ghost Blood Whip that had been firmly restraining her had loosened, and she pulled it off her body in a few moves.
The Ghost Blood Whip was Fu Sang’s magical artifact, and only Fu Sang could wield it.
Now Fu Sang had lost consciousness, and he had even driven out his own soul, so the commands he had given to the Ghost Blood Whip naturally could not be maintained.
Fu Sang had clearly forgotten this when he exorcised his soul, which meant that at this very moment, the Daughter of Satan before them, who had killed at least two people, was about to gain her freedom.
Even more critically, there was a knife right at her feet.
Although Huo Wei was a spirit master, her skills were truly lacking…she could only use the most basic spells and had no way to fight back in this situation, or even to protect herself.
She quickly sprang up and put on a show, brandishing a talisman in front of her toward Wei Luyuan, putting on a front that said “I’m really strong, if you dare come near me I’ll fight you to the death,” but in reality, her heart was about to leap out of her throat, and she had already mapped out her escape route, ready to make a run for it at any moment.
With a few soft clinks, the blood threads with copper coins fell to the ground, and Wei Luyuan regained her freedom.
But to Huo Wei’s surprise, Wei Luyuan didn’t pick up the knife, nor did she seem intent on fighting to the death with them.
After being released, the first thing she did was kneel and crawl forward a few steps, gathering Xia Kui’s shoulders into her arms.
She brushed aside Xia Kui’s long hair with her hand and pressed her palm against Xia Kui’s cheek. Seeing that she had completely lost consciousness, Wei Luyuan trembled slightly as she raised her eyes to Huo Wei, and asked through gritted teeth:
“What did you… do to her?”
Wei Luyuan’s voice was very hoarse, and her tone didn’t seem to carry much aggression.
This put Huo Wei somewhat at ease.
She took a deep breath:
“Hey, calm down, sister, don’t be impulsive, she’s fine, really, she’s fine. I think between the two of us, I should be the one more panicked right now. Because my crazy friend voluntarily invited your ghost sister to possess his body. You might not understand, so let me explain it this way…”
“There are only two possibilities here: either our crazy friend dies and your ghost sister gets a brand-new male body, or everyone goes back to their own bodies and wakes up beautifully. Either way, your ghost sister won’t be in danger, but our crazy friend really could have his soul shattered and never reincarnate again. So I think no matter what happened before, we can sign a truce now and quietly wait for the outcome together, what do you think?”
“…”
Huo Wei rattled on and on, but Wei Luyuan barely reacted.
Just as Huo Wei was silently reflecting on whether there was some flaw in her expression that kept her from making things clear, Wei Luyuan finally moved.
She walked to Xia Kui’s side, lowered her head and sat cross-legged on the ground, pulling Xia Kui into her arms. When she spoke, her voice was much lower than before:
“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you.”
Actually, it was really strange to say something like that at a time like this, but Huo Wei couldn’t help herself: “Ah, why?”
“Because you didn’t do anything, and you’re not a man.” Huo Wei couldn’t help but glance at Fang Zehao, who was playing the invisible man beside her: “…Then what about him?”
Wei Luyuan’s gaze was somewhat cold.
But she didn’t say anything, only let out a cold, derisive laugh.
“You… really hate men, huh?”
With Wei Luyuan’s words, Huo Wei felt like she’d been given a get-out-of-jail-free card, and her heart did settle quite a bit, to the point where she even dared to ask such a question.
This was essentially equivalent to interviewing the killer about her motives. Huo Wei didn’t really expect to get an answer when she asked, but after a long silence, she heard Wei Luyuan slowly speak:
“All men deserve to die. Especially their men like them…who lust after looks, are skilled at sweet talk, casually toy with others, and hurt other people’s feelings.”
Huo Wei pursed her lips.
She knew there was definitely a story behind this.
So she cautiously probed:
“Then… would you be willing to tell me about it?”
“…”
Wei Luyuan fell silent again.
She lowered her head and held Xia Kui deeply in her arms.
The glass windows of the room were all shattered, and the wind rushed in with a howl, very cold.
Wei Luyuan wanted to keep Xia Kui as warm as possible, even though she could no longer perceive temperature.
“Who exactly are you people? Are you… trying to take her away from me?”
Upon hearing this, Huo Wei noticed that this girl’s focus seemed a bit off.
After all, given the current situation, the contents of just one freezer alone were enough for a life sentence at minimum…shouldn’t she be worried about herself first?
During Huo Wei’s hesitation, Wei Luyuan asked again, “What will you do? Will you kill her? Or use some other cruel means to torture her?”
“Uh, I don’t know, I’m not the one in charge, that depends on the guy lying on the ground. But one thing I can guarantee you, people in our line of work generally don’t deliberately torture ghosts. On the contrary, we help them leave their suffering behind and welcome a new life. She won’t suffer, you don’t have to worry about that.”
Huo Wei chose her words carefully, seizing the opportunity to probe, “She… means a lot to you?”
“…It’s me who’s sorry for her. It’s me who owes her.”
Wei Luyuan’s voice was very low:
“She’s my only friend.”
Wei Luyuan closed her eyes:
“…The only one.”
Wei Luyuan was easily overlooked, and had been that way since childhood.
She was average in stature, average in looks, and average in personality. She was always alone in inconspicuous places, her presence so low that no one would notice even if she vanished on the spot. In this noisy, crowded world, she lived like someone else’s shadow.
She met Xia Kui during the sports meet in her first year of middle school.
Wei Luyuan hardly ever participated in such group activities. She hadn’t signed up for any events and had no other tasks to do. She thought watching a group of middle schoolers run and jump around was boring, so she went to the quiet corner behind the teaching building by herself.
But when she went there that time, there was an extra person in the usually quiet and deserted corner.
Wei Luyuan still remembers that scene to this day;
The girl sat on the steps reading a book, wearing a school uniform washed until it was pale white. Her figure was thin and slender, her long hair tied in a ponytail that hung down her back and over her shoulder, her whole body enveloped in pale blue shadows, looking quiet and lonely from afar.
Wei Luyuan was somewhat moved by the scene, so she watched for a while before walking over.
As she approached, the girl heard her footsteps, looked up, and glanced in her direction.
Wei Luyuan was stunned again.
The girl was very beautiful, barely a teenager, with no makeup, her face bare, yet still breathtakingly beautiful.
Soon, the girl lowered her head again.
Wei Luyuan came back to her senses and silently sat down at a distance neither too close nor too far from her.
They spent the afternoon together in quiet company, and it was the girl who left first.
As she left, she passed by Wei Luyuan, who noticed the book in her hand was titled, “To Live.”
The cover was very worn, with a tattered label from the school library stuck on it.
Later, Wei Luyuan checked out the same book, and from the borrowing records, she learned the girl’s class and name.
Her name was Xia Kui.
Xia Kui’s personality was somewhat similar to Wei Luyuan’s, but unlike Wei Luyuan, she didn’t have the ability to go unnoticed, because her appearance was so outstanding it was impossible to ignore her.
This didn’t bring her convenience; on the contrary, it caused her many troubles.
Beautiful adolescent girls were the most alluring to boys. Kids at that age were all little bastards, falling in love easily and hating without reason.
Xia Kui was always being targeted by all sorts of inexplicable trouble. Boys loved to crowd around her, pestering her endlessly, and some girls would pick fights with her for childish reasons, with the more vicious ones even spreading ugly rumors, eager to liken her to the dregs of a trash can.
Some would think those people were going too far, and some would pity Xia Kui’s plight, but as the silent majority, to avoid getting caught in the cross fire, no one would actually lend her a hand.
And Wei Luyuan was even worse.
During the rebellious age of adolescence, no one would want to be constantly ignored, or worse, fall into the same situation as Xia Kui by not fitting in. Wei Luyuan also tried to integrate into the cliques of girls.
But unfortunately, the people she tried to get close to always treated Xia Kui as their imagined enemy.
Wei Luyuan didn’t want to in her heart, but she did help out with their pranks, and she did go along with their laughter when they succeeded.
What left a deep impression on her was one time when she followed the group to corner Xia Kui in the bathroom and mock her. Wei Luyuan stood at the edge chiming in, and when she spoke, Xia Kui glanced up at her.
Her gaze was very faint, with no particular emotion, yet it sent Wei Luyuan’s heart plummeting straight into a pit of guilt.
In fact, Xia Kui might have long forgotten what she said back then; those words didn’t hurt Xia Kui, but they became nails buried in Wei Luyuan’s flesh, keeping her tossing and turning in every sleepless night.
So, she quickly distanced herself from those people.
If the cost of “fitting in” was hurting others, then she’d rather quietly be a transparent person.
After entering high school, she once again became Xia Kui’s schoolmate.
Xia Kui was still the school’s celebrity, and her situation hadn’t improved one bit. In fact, it was even worse than in middle school.
For a while, the school was flooded with rumors about her, and everyone was waiting to see her make a fool of herself, trying to drag her into an even deeper mire.
Xia Kui was nearly isolated by the entire world. They played all sorts of humiliating pranks on her, then laughed and said it was just a joke.
One day, perhaps to make up for past mistakes, or perhaps to give herself a reason to have a clear conscience, Wei Luyuan finally couldn’t stand it anymore and quietly slipped a note onto her desk during the evening study session.
This was originally meant to be a one-time comfort; she didn’t want to get involved in these matters, so she didn’t leave her name from the very start.
She never expected Xia Kui to reply.
Even more unexpectedly, her fate with Xia Kui would begin from there.
It turned out that Xia Kui, who seemed so aloof and cold on the outside, was actually an exceptionally gentle and kind girl in private.
It turned out they had common interests, similar troubles, and could truly empathize with each other in the truest sense, truly putting themselves in each other’s shoes.
It turned out that Xia Kui was such a wonderful person.
From that time on, their bond had nothing to do with anything else—it was just the collision of two lonely and silent souls.
They seemed like the two closest hearts and souls in the world, only able to generate warmth when pressed together, as if they had encountered another self in the world, only complete when beside each other.
Xia Kui’s grades were very good, and Wei Luyuan knew she would go to the capital for college, so she buried herself in her studies as well, just to go to the same city as her.
So they met again in an unfamiliar city.
Their relationship grew much closer, but in truth, both of them felt it still wasn’t enough.
Xia Kui was the first to bring it up. Wei Luyuan’s first reaction was joy, but once the joy passed, hesitation surfaced.
She knew Xia Kui probably wouldn’t remember her, but she was still afraid that Xia Kui would recognize her as someone who had once been part of those who hurt her.
Setting that aside, she was just too ordinary and unnoticeable; everything about her was so average, she wouldn’t be noticed even if thrown into a crowd. If Xia Kui was a beautiful, noble swan, then she could only be the cowering ugly duckling in the shadows.
Actually, Wei Luyuan rarely felt inferior; most of the time, she was fairly forgiving of herself.
But Xia Kui was truly too wonderful.
Feeling inferior in front of her was only natural.
So for so long, she had only communicated with Xia Kui through text, even though walking up to her, introducing herself, and apologizing for her foolish younger self’s mistakes was such a simple and easy thing to do.
But Wei Luyuan still decided to meet her.
Not only because Xia Kui had comforted her, but also because she desperately wanted Xia Kui to know the real her.
No longer hiding behind words, but letting her know her name, and then sincerely apologizing to her, saying sorry for the stupidity of youth.
They agreed to meet at the park that day.
Wei Luyuan’s family wasn’t well off; she had to work part-time to support herself while studying in the capital. Before going to the park that day, she still had a shift to finish.
Overtime came out of nowhere, and she got held up by some matters. By the time she finally wrapped things up, she ran into traffic.
She sent Xia Kui a message saying she would be late.
But perhaps it was fate’s cruel trick; she was half an hour late that day and didn’t see Xia Kui at the agreed meeting spot. She waited in the park for a long time, but neither the person nor any messages came.
She couldn’t reach Xia Kui.
Xia Kui didn’t reply to her messages, so Wei Luyuan could only go to her school to find her.
She knew Xia Kui often went to the library, so she waited outside the library for a long time, for many days in a row.
She finally did spot her, but by then, Xia Kui was no longer alone.
There was a boy beside her.
Wei Luyuan didn’t know what had happened in between or what had gone wrong.
‘Who is this boy? Xia Kui has never mentioned him.’
All she knew was that the boy and Xia Kui were very close.
Becoming closer and closer.
Would this closeness surpass hers?
Wei Luyuan didn’t know.
Was it because she was late, and Xia Kui was angry at her?
Xia Kui wasn’t that kind of person; she was very gentle, very tolerant, and wouldn’t ignore her over something like that.
Then, had Xia Kui remembered something after seeing her?
Wei Luyuan couldn’t figure it out. She wanted to leave Xia Kui another note asking why she hadn’t replied to her messages and whether she was angry at her, but that boy was always by Xia Kui’s side, and she never found an opportunity.
She thought that when she was with that boy, Xia Kui must be happy.
Because Xia Kui smiled a lot more when she was with him.
So Wei Luyuan thought that if that was the case, then whether their agreement was fulfilled or not didn’t seem so important.
Because when she slipped out that first note, she only wanted to make Xia Kui a little happier and a little more at ease.
Now her original wish had been fulfilled. As for other things, and some hidden feelings, perhaps she didn’t need to dwell on them too much.
Well, to put it bluntly, Wei Luyuan was still insecure.
She was still afraid, still didn’t dare…she didn’t dare to appear before Xia Kui openly, and didn’t dare to let her know that her only friend had also selfishly hurt her for the sake of “fitting in.”
She could only quietly watch her happiness from the shadows.
As long as Xia Kui was happy.
As long as Xia Kui was doing well, whether Wei Luyuan was by her side or not didn’t really matter, right?
At the time, Wei Luyuan genuinely believed that.
But soon, she realized she was wrong.
Very wrong.
Because her cowardice and retreat had caused an irreversible, unforgivable, fatal mistake.
Xia Kui died.
She died alone in the cold waters of an unnamed lake in the dead of winter.
Wei Luyuan didn’t know exactly what had happened, nor did she have the right to ask others for details. She could only turn her focus to the boy who had once been by Xia Kui’s side.
The truth of the story was dramatic and twisted, a plot that Wei Luyuan couldn’t accept and had never imagined.
The surveillance by the nameless lake showed that Xia Kui had fallen in by accident. That night, she had drunk a lot of alcohol, sat alone by the lake crying for most of the night, and when she got up, she accidentally fell into the lake and never came back up.
But in some people’s mouths, it became a suicide over heartbreak, even turning “committing suicide for him” into a bragging point to boast about to others.
The malicious, distorted rumors that had plagued Xia Kui throughout her teenage years refused to let her go even after her death.
Wei Luyuan knew that although Xia Kui was gentle, she was exceptionally independent and strong inside.
Wei Luyuan also believed that although Xia Kui was drunk and crying that night, she never once harbored even a trace of suicidal thoughts while she was by the lake.
The Xia Kui she knew and understood could be sad and heartbroken, but she would never be defeated.
After letting out her tears, she would surely face each day of the future more bravely, leaving all those who had hurt her far behind.
What Wei Luyuan loved was precisely that bravery.
But she herself had never possessed it.
She was cowardly once again.
It was a spring night. Wei Luyuan sat quietly by the nameless lake in the spot where Xia Kui had once sat, lost in thought for a long time. Then she let herself indulge one last time…
She jumped into the lake.
The water was very cold and heavy, desperately trying to drag her toward death.
But simply thinking that these were the same things Xia Kui had once faced made Wei Luyuan no longer afraid.
She let herself sink into the lake water.
But in the second before she was about to lose consciousness, she seemed to feel a very warm embrace.
Death pulled at her ankles, dragging her downward, yet a gentle force lifted her upward.
Later, Wei Luyuan thought, ‘Aside from that quiet afternoon in our youth, perhaps this is the closest I have ever been to Xia Kui.’
