Chapter 84 - You Need To Wake Up (2)
Chapter 84 - You Need To Wake Up (2)
The moment Lu Anqi's eyes flew open, she realized that she had been crying. Jiang Chen was holding onto her, looking worried sick about her; while Li Fei'er looked at her just the same.
"Lu Anqi, are you okay? Are you hurt somewhere?" Jiang Chen asked as he helped her sit up and gave her something to drink to calm down.
Behind the three, Shen Minyao's eyes were glowing with a golden hue, but none of the three humans were able to witness it.
"I had a horrible nightmare. I thought I would never be able to wake up," she said, her hands still trembling in fear as she held a cup of water. "If I haven't heard Miss Shen's and your voices, I don't think I would be able to do it."
"It's not just a nightmare, Schoolmate Lu. Bai Xinran's spirit showed up and chose to possess you," Shen Minyao told her before eyeing the man kneeling beside Lu Anqi. "I already said this before, Mr. Jiang. You are only putting her life in danger by parading her around. Do you know how attractive she is right now in the eyes of ghosts and demons? She's like a free meal, enticing everyone to get a piece of her."
Lu Anqi looked at Shen Minyao in confusion and then at Jiang Chen who had fallen silent from the fox woman's reminder.
"Mr. Jiang, what does Miss Shen mean? Why would I be in danger?" She asked her boss.
Jiang Chen lowered his head in shame and held Lu Anqi on both shoulders.
"I'm sorry, Lu Anqi. This time, it's really my fault." He admitted.
At this confession, Li Fei'er felt like it was unfair for Lu Anqi to be left in the dark for too long.
"They only mean that your sixth sense is activated," she chose to explain, "What Classmate Shen is saying is that you are inviting the ghosts to possess you… because you cannot control your ability to disconnect from the spiritual world yet, making you easy prey."
Lu Anqi's jaws dropped. She couldn't believe what she had heard, but it made sense to her now.
"So the dream I just had… does that mean it was Bai Xinran's last moment before her death for real?" She asked. She was briefly aware that her heartbeat was starting to slow down to normal.
"Not really," Shen Minyao replied. "In fact, she was able to regain her consciousness a little, but it was too late. Liang Sisi had already wrapped a rope around her neck and forced her to die from strangulation instead while destroying evidence."
A cold shiver ran down Lu Anqi's spine as she stared wide-eyed at Shen Minyao. So it was true… it was really Liang Sisi who had killed Bai Xinran after all.
"Liang Sisi might have failed to notice that Bai Xinran was still alive when she did the deed out of shock. Still, what she had done to her so-called best friend was attempted murder that turned into a full-blown one.
"I could imagine the shock and disappointment Bai Xinran felt upon knowing that her best friend was the one to harm her," Li Fei'er commented. The tragedy of the friendship between the two had made her wonder: what made Liang Sisi turn her back on Bai Xinran and betray her?
"Yes, she couldn't understand," Lu Anqi agreed with her, "In fact, she was too confused, wondering why Liang Sisi was even doing those things to her. Why was she angry at Bai Xinran? I couldn't hear what was said between them, but I saw how Liang Sisi grew mad at Bai Xinran and how she strangled her friend using her hair tie. Bai Xinran was devastated. What's worse, she felt like the friendship between them meant nothing to Liang Sisi."
Shen Minyao wanted to say that humans were cowardly creatures in nature. In fact, unlike demons, humans needed one another to survive and couldn't stay on their own for too long. Else, they would lose themselves to insanity.
There were so many reasons why a person would betray a friend, and it was Bai Xinran's mistake to trust Liang Sisi in the first place. Greed, jealousy, anger… Liang Sisi's issues towards Bai Xinran must have piled up until she couldn't take it anymore and snapped at her friend.
However, Shen Minyao understood better. It was one of the frailties of being a human, not that demons like her couldn't commit betrayal as well. However, at least, most demons were fairly clear from the start what they expected to receive and to have in the end.
Meanwhile, most humans were fickle-minded. As long as it was in their favor, some would be willing to disregard the bond they shared with another. Even close and loving friends could betray one another—sometimes intentionally, but sometimes without meaning or even an awareness of what they've done.
"What do we do then? If Liang Sisi is really the one who killed Bai Xinran, should we tell her mother and the police?" Lu Anqi asked.
"Unless we can find solid evidence that it is really her that committed the crime or she comes out and surrenders herself to the police, we can't do anything," Jiang Chen replied, feeling guilty that he had been too arrogant and had failed Lu Anqi earlier.
"It's unlikely that she will surrender." Shen Minyao nodded. "This also means that Bai Xinran won't be able to cross to the spirit realm unless she gets the justice she deserves. I can still sense the overwhelming resentment and grievance she felt for ending up dead. Despite her sickness, Bai Xinran had a strong will to live."
"I don't know how we should tell this to her mother.. I'm sure Miss Xia would also be shocked if she heard who murdered her daughter," Li Fei'er added, "I might be able to convince Bai Xinran to let go of her hatred for Liang Sisi, so she can cross realms… but we need to make sure she won't have any regrets before that."