Chapter 46
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Chapter 46:
"Ming Xiang" blankly stared at the delicate features of the girl not far away, feeling strangely familiar with her, but no matter how she thought, she didn’t recognize her.
But the girl in front of her was just too beautiful – a straight nose, red lips and white teeth, rosy cheeks glowing with health, bright and lively eyes, a ponytail of dark hair gently swaying.
"Ming Xiang" couldn’t move her eyes away, she looked at her, suddenly feeling a mixture of inferiority and envy, thinking, how wonderful, who wouldn’t want to live so beautifully, confidently, intelligently.
The girl standing there gracefully, full of vitality and vigor, was simply the ideal life of "Ming Xiang"… unfortunately, such a person could never be herself.
Ming Xiang lowered her head quietly and buried herself in the boring and dull textbooks. She had to stay in the classroom until evening, then go to the principal’s office to complete her "task".
She did hear what Li Chunzhou had just said, but she didn’t plan to follow her advice.
Qi Leyuan asked in disbelief, "Ming Xiang didn’t recognize you? That’s strange, she just changed her clothes and hairstyle…"
"Because she has started to truly believe in this illusion." Li Chunzhou was not surprised. She turned her head away and looked at the stormy world outside the window.
The more afraid of this illusion, the clearer the reality of the illusion becomes. Ming Xiang has now forgotten the more superficial memories – Dungeon, Spring Flowers Tower, and the people in the courtyard. Ming Xiang really believes she is living in her high school years.
In contrast to Qi Leyuan, his illusion still remains in the more superficial memories. Li Chunzhou did not see any important experiences of his life in his illusion. Qi Leyuan mostly recalls things that happen in this Dungeon World, so he feels like a chicken in the illusion and forgets that he is actually a player.
Watching Ming Xiang study with a heavy heart, Qi Leyuan sighed and discussed with Li Chunzhou, "Shouldn’t we just take her out?"
Li Chunzhou shook her head, "Not yet."
"But she looks very distressed."
"She has been very sad," Li Chunzhou remained calm and said, "We only just found out now."
Time in the illusion sped up once again, while Li Chunzhou and Qi Leyuan were chatting, the sky outside had already turned pitch black.
Moonlight spilled over the campus, tree shadows swayed in the gentle breeze. The clock hands pointed to late night, the campus was quiet, with only the lonely chirping of birds and the sound of the wind.
The students in the class disappeared completely, "Ming Xiang" seemed not to see Li Chunzhou, as she walked ahead, with Li Chunzhou following behind. The hallway lights were dim, casting eerie shadows.
Suddenly, faint footsteps ahead echoed in the corridor, but when "Ming Xiang" stopped and looked carefully, there was nothing there. Just a cold breeze swept past her, sending shivers down her spine, as Li Chunzhou and Qi Leyuan behind her also looked over.
"Ming Xiang" walked into the principal’s office along the familiar path. As soon as she stepped in, the heavy wooden door slammed shut behind her with a loud noise.
Li Chunzhou and Qi Leyuan were locked outside: …
Qi Leyuan looked at Li Chunzhou and gestured with his eyes: What do we do?
Li Chunzhou remained silent for a moment, ignoring the door, she walked straight through it with a chicken and a bird in tow.
The room was pitch black, when suddenly a sobbing sound was heard.
Ming Xiang tried to turn on the lights inside the room, but realized that the power was out in the office.
The sound of the raging storm outside grew louder.
Panic and unease spread in Ming Xiang’s heart. The late-night school was filled with an indescribable eerie feeling. In a dark corner, Ming Xiang thought she saw a shadow moving, but when she looked closely, there was nothing there.
A lightning struck, illuminating Yuan Qingcai’s familiar face. Even a friend’s face looked eerie at that moment. Ming Xiang walked over with trembling legs, holding a lipstick in her hand, but hesitated to apply it.
"*Boom!*"
The thunder rumbled slower than the lightning, waking up the indecisive Ming Xiang.
The lipstick in her hand finally dropped on the glass, and as she leaned closer, Yuan Qingcai’s expressionless face became clearer. Their eyes met, feeling like a judgment.
Instead of writing the words "Four-Eyes Girl", Ming Xiang carefully wrote Yuan Qingcai’s name beneath her face, "Yuan Qingcai", then frantically smeared the three words with her sleeve, leaving them barely visible.
In a dark room where Qi Leyuan couldn’t see, he saw Ming Xiang’s movements in the lightning and said, "It looks like Ming Xiang is trying to fool everyone. She doesn’t dare disobey the group of people, nor does she want to insult her friend with that nickname. She is quite clever."
Li Chunzhou just stared silently at Yuan Qingcai’s face behind the glass.
After finishing writing, "Ming Xiang" hurriedly left the office.
Li Chunzhou followed her out, and in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, it was already early morning outside.
Again, it was those people from yesterday, surrounding "Ming Xiang". The boy who spoke rudely was pushing "Ming Xiang" and asking aggressively, "Hey, didn’t you promise to go write yesterday? Why didn’t you go?"
"Ming Xiang" quietly defended herself, "I went… and I already wrote."
The girl who had painted on "Ming Xiang" with lipstick yesterday sneered, "You dare to lie again?!"
She grabbed "Ming Xiang" by the hair and walked towards the office, and then a group of people noisily entered the principal’s empty office with Yuan Qingcai’s photo still hanging there, showing Yuan Qingcai smiling brightly.
But there was really no color on the photo, let alone a name.
Qi Leyuan frowned, feeling like something was wrong but not knowing what exactly, just a sense of something off.
"It can’t be… I really wrote it!" Ming Xiang’s eyes gradually filled with fear.
Her explanation only brought about more excessive violence.
Suddenly, someone in the bullying group shouted loudly, "Why are there words here?"
A group of gazes quickly followed his voice, indeed seeing three smeared words on the window glass that were unreadable…
In a flash of insight, Qi Leyuan suddenly understood everything, unable to help but blurt out, "Oh my goodness!"
Yuan Qingcai in the photo was smiling, but the Yuan Qingcai they saw last night in the dark was clearly expressionless, coupled with the writing on the window, it obviously proved that Ming Xiang mistook the window glass for the glass outside the photo.
So, the "Yuan Qingcai" they saw, was it a corpse or something else?
As "Ming Xiang" carefully wrote her name, "Yuan Qingcai" watched her expressionlessly through a window…
Ming Xiang clearly realized this. She screamed and covered her eyes with trembling hands, repeating, "I’m sorry… I’m sorry, I’m sorry!"
Tears streamed out from between her fingers. Ming Xiang started crying loudly, "I apologize to you! I… I offer my life to you, I’m sorry…"
It seemed like her classmates around Ming Xiang were twisting and melting into the hallway quickly as if they were waiting for her to say something. At the same time, the photograph of Yuan Qingcai began to bulge out, as if the person inside was struggling to come out.
However, Li Chunzhou’s expression eased, "So, Ming Xiang was afraid of herself."
Ming Xiang was afraid of her "despicable, mediocre, and living a base existence in the world" self.
She was most afraid not of ghosts, but of gradually becoming the type of person she despised – living like a pitiful and despicable creature, she detested this kind of life so much that she even wanted to kill herself.
Li Chunzhou pushed back the strange creature that had just peeked out of the frame, getting some sticky greyish clay-like substance on her hand.
Qi Leyuan stared in amazement, unable to hide his surprise because based on his stereotypical image of Li Chunzhou, he didn’t think she should be such a carefree and… fierce girl.
Li Chunzhou shook off the dirty stuff from her hand, revealing a smile. She turned to Ming Xiang and said loudly, "Do you hate yourself, Yuan Qingcai?"
The girl across the street, who was crying, looked up in surprise at Li Chunzhou, whose smile was as bright as the sun, with a puzzled expression on her face.
"But I really like you," Li Chunzhou said straightforwardly, gazing into Yuan Qingcai’s eyes.
"But…but I don’t know you at all."
Li Chunzhou, still smiling, said, "Well, you didn’t know me back in high school…but carry on, I will be waiting for you in the future."
She walked through the sticky corridor, as if wading through a river of time, and went straight to hug her.
In Li Chunzhou’s warm embrace, Yuan Qingcai’s memories slowly started coming back to her. She began to remember everything in the Dungeon, feeling neither sad nor scared anymore. Tears flowed uncontrollably, and she found it strange even herself.
A flash of white light, and they were back in the alley.