Chapter 20: The Condition
A Painful Revelation
“It’s… you! These hallucinations, you caused them!”
Hearing the girl’s words, even someone as slow as Lin Mu realized that all the strangeness he was experiencing came from the faceless girl before him.
“Oh my, you actually figured it out~”
The girl’s voice carried a hint of surprise, but it was laced with mockery, as if Lin Mu’s suffering brought her amusement.
“Why… why…?”
“Why? Because… you looked so thrilled that day. I thought you’d enjoy it~ So how did it turn out like this? Pfft, hahaha.”
The girl patiently explained her reasons, but Lin Mu’s actions seemed so ridiculous that she couldn’t hold back her laughter.
As she laughed, her eyes glowed gold. In an instant, Lin Mu’s fear deepened. To him, the empty warehouse transformed into the school from his nightmare.
“Ah!!! No! Spare me… please spare me!!!”
Lin Mu rolled on the ground in terror, thrashing wildly and begging the girl for mercy.
“Just like this… perish in your fear.”
The girl merely smiled, ignoring Lin Mu and turning to leave.
“No… save me! I was wrong, please don’t go! I’ll never do it again!”
Seeing her about to leave, Lin Mu, heedless of his pain, crawled to her feet, pleading desperately. He couldn’t bear to continue like this.
“You’re really… disgusting.”
Looking at Lin Mu, crying with snot and tears at her feet, the girl curled her lip in disdain. She kicked him away and leisurely walked to a nearby chair—where it came from, no one knew—and sat down.
A Chance for Redemption
“Fine, I’ll give you a chance. But you need to tell me everything that happened between you, Lan Yi, and Ye Sheng, clearly and completely.”
As she spoke, her eyes gleamed with golden light, and Lin Mu’s fear intensified.
“Otherwise… you’ll spend the rest of your life feeling like this.”
“No, no… I’ll talk! I’ll talk right now!”
Panicked, Lin Mu began explaining in a rush.
“It… it was me. That day, I was the one who told Senior Lan Yi to go to Central Plaza… I took Senior Ye Sheng’s bribe. But, but I didn’t expect things to turn out like that! It’s not my fault… ugh…”
Lin Mu tried to deflect blame, but the next moment, fear overwhelmed him, making it hard to breathe.
“I want the key points… You know what I mean, don’t you?”
“Cough… cough…”
Lin Mu coughed violently, finally realizing that in front of this girl, his excuses were meaningless and only increased his suffering.
“I… I can prove Senior Lan Yi wasn’t stringing Senior Ye Sheng along. Every time she went to meet him… it was because we forced her. We told her we were threatened by Ye Sheng… She… she went every time to protect us…”
Lin Mu gasped, confessing everything.
“She never accepted any gifts… Those gifts she rejected… Ye Sheng didn’t care about them, so… so we took them. Senior Lan Yi never…”
Lin Mu tried to continue, but the girl stepped on his throat. He could feel her anger now—she was truly furious.
A Betrayal Exposed
“So… you knew she was innocent. You knew she was always helping you.”
A flash of killing intent glinted in the girl’s heterochromatic eyes—one gold, one silver—as if her patience with Lin Mu had reached its limit.
“And yet, knowing all this, not only did you not defend her that day, you joined the others in kicking her when she was down.”
“Don’t… don’t kill me… ugh!”
Sensing her murderous intent, Lin Mu instinctively begged, but the girl pressed her foot down harder.
“Weren’t you so excited back then? Splashing dirty water on the senior who always looked after you, the one who was always out of reach—didn’t that thrill you?”
“Spare me… I’ll do anything… spare me…”
Lin Mu’s voice grew weaker until he was on the verge of passing out. Only then did the girl release him.
“Pfft, cough, cough, cough…”
“Three days from now, I’ll set the stage for you. Confess everything you’ve done in front of the entire school, and I’ll let you go.”
The girl stated her condition.
“I… I understand. I’ll do it… Please, can you stop making me feel this way…?”
“No can do~ She’s enduring this too. For these three days, you’ll have to feel what she feels. And during this time, you’re not allowed to explain anything about Lan Yi to anyone. After three days, I’ll release you.”
The girl shook her head with a smile, but her words filled Lin Mu with despair.
“Now, tell me about Ye Sheng’s relationships. Finish, and I’ll let you go for today.”
A Calm Reflection
The girl walked expressionlessly, the gold in her right eye fading back to silver. Unlike her earlier anger, she now seemed calm.
(How did you know that guy was the problem?)
Though no one was beside her, a clear, curious female voice rang in her ears.
“Because that day, his emotions were the most complex. The others were influenced by Ye Sheng to some extent. When they looked at Lan Yi, even if they took pleasure in her downfall, they also felt varying degrees of disgust or disdain.”
The girl explained as she walked.
“But he was different. He insulted Lan Yi like the others, but he was filled with excitement and anticipation, even a hint of… expectation.”
Recalling the scene, the girl shook her head lightly.
“It was the thrill of seeing someone untouchable fall into the mud, the anticipation of someone he admired becoming within reach.”
(Ugh… that’s so gross… But… how did you make him so afraid of you?)
Liu Li voiced her confusion.
“Ha?”
Yu Li, now puzzled herself, looked incredulous at Liu Li’s question.
“…You really need more training.”
(Why?! Isn’t all that training enough?!)
“By infusing collected emotions into foxfire, you can make others feel those emotions… Looks like you really didn’t know. And it’s your own ability.”
Yu Li shook her head helplessly, secretly deciding to intensify Liu Li’s training.
(Huh? No… I-I-I knew that! I was just… testing you… Can we maybe cut back on the training…?)
Liu Li tried to backtrack, but seeing Yu Li’s unmoved expression, she wilted like a frostbitten eggplant.
“No way.”
Yu Li firmly rejected Liu Li’s plea. She hadn’t expected Liu Li to be so unaware of her own abilities, so the extra training was non-negotiable.
(Damn it! I’ll bite you to death one day!)
Yu Li ignored Liu Li’s grumbling and glanced back at the warehouse with a soft chuckle.
“Beautiful flowers need time to bear sweet fruit…”
(Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?)
The girl just shook her head, ignoring Liu Li’s follow-up question.
“Instead of worrying about that, focus on training harder when we get home.”
(Hey, Yu Li! Ugh, damn it! Not only do you keep secrets, now you’re a riddle-master too! Has anyone ever told you you’re awful?!)