Chapter 36: The Fate of Lixisi
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Fang Xiaoyi hurriedly explained, “Auntie, he’s not—”
Li Xuan interrupted her with a smile. “Auntie, I’m very busy. How about tomorrow night? I’ll have this colleague come pick you up, and then we can all sit down and have a proper talk with Yuan Shiyin.”
The elderly woman’s expression immediately wilted, her voice weak. “Alright, just one more day. I’ll cook some of Yuan Shiyin’s favorite dishes and bring them to school tomorrow...”
She pushed the porridge on the table. “You all...”
Li Xuan took a white plastic bag from his briefcase and said, “Take it to go. It’ll be good as a midnight snack if you get hungry later.”
Without waiting for a reply, he poured the porridge into the plastic bag, glanced around, then swiftly walked to the sink outside and cleaned the bowl with lightning speed before putting it back.
Fortunately, there was a plastic bag in the briefcase from when he bought herbal medicine for Liu Zhuobin and Di Zhiheng.
The old woman watched Li Xuan’s fluid and smooth movements with a pleased expression. She then grabbed Fang Xiaoyi and began asking about Yuan Shiyin’s situation at Nalan Mude High School.
Seizing this moment, Li Xuan stood and paced around the house. It hadn’t been ventilated for a long time, and the staleness inside grew stronger.
He noticed an old, makeshift dressing table covered with a cloth. Lifting the cloth, a cloud of dust rose...
[Yuan Shiyin’s Memorial Tablet]
On the dressing table was a vermilion spirit tablet engraved with Yuan Shiyin’s name, accompanied by a faded two-inch black-and-white photo. In front stood an incense burner filled with sticks of incense.
Twenty years had passed.
The old woman obviously knew her daughter had died.
At some point, the tablet had been covered with that cloth. Coupled with the onset of dementia, she had forgotten her daughter’s death, her mind trapped in a day from two decades ago.
Li Xuan silently stared at Yuan Shiyin’s tablet for a while before carefully covering it back.
Why had she become the other woman?
That no longer mattered, for she had begun rampaging through the school, killing students in a vengeful fury...
She had turned into a malevolent spirit.
Li Xuan stepped outside, bid farewell to the elderly woman, and left Causeway Bay with Fang Xiaoyi.
In the car, Fang Xiaoyi gripped the steering wheel, staring ahead at the road. After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “Is it really right for us to deceive the old lady like this, even to use her against Yuan Shiyin?”
She could fight Yuan Shiyin without hesitation, but the elderly woman was innocent.
There was no need for her to suffer such pain...
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Li Xuan asked, “Teacher Fang, why do you have to go against Yuan Shiyin? Is it truly for the sake of the students?”
Fang Xiaoyi shuddered. She remained unmarried for a reason, harboring a deep wound from twenty years ago when she was still a student at Nalan Mude High School.
Back then, it wasn’t strictly a girls’ school; boys were also enrolled.
After Yuan Shiyin’s death, curses began to spread.
Fang Xiaoyi had witnessed with her own eyes the boy she secretly admired being dragged into the school office, never to be seen again...
Later, the school transferred all the boys away, becoming a girls’ school, but the disappearances continued. Unable to withstand the immense social pressure, the school had to close temporarily...
For all these years, whenever she closed her eyes, that scene haunted her.
Yuan Shiyin...
She must be eradicated.
Her knuckles whitened from gripping the steering wheel too tightly. “The principal said the dismissal order has been issued and can be executed at any moment. When shall we move?”
Li Xuan replied, “Tomorrow night.”
Silence fell inside the car.
The sky darkened gradually as the neon lights of Hong Kong Island flickered. Due to local customs and culture, the night here had a completely different atmosphere from the Bay Island.
He opened the window, letting the cool breeze brush his face, and said, “I know you care about the old lady. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to her...
“I follow the Fengdu Dharma lineage, practice the Dongyue methods, understand karma, and respect strict laws. But here... in short, when the day of reckoning comes, all karma will be on me. After all, I’m the only one left in my family...”
His voice was soft.
Fang Xiaoyi barely caught his words, feeling somewhat lost.
She wasn’t sure if he was speaking to her or muttering to himself.
Back near Nalan Mude School, Li Xuan stood beneath the apartment building and said, “Rest well. Tomorrow there’s an important task that needs your cooperation.”
Fang Xiaoyi nodded softly, pressed the accelerator, and drove off.
At that moment, distant voices reached them.
Oh?
Li Xuan was surprised.
A girl and a disreputable long-haired young man were approaching from across the street.
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The girl was Li Xisi, heavily made-up with an aggressive glare. She snarled, “That damn He Yimin, that filthy bitch, actually suspects me of causing the disappearance of Di Zhiheng and Liu Zhuobin!
“Even the police don’t dare ask like this. It’s like I’m giving a statement, and she keeps interrogating me relentlessly!
“Awen, you’re my boyfriend. You have to help me get revenge properly—destroy her so she can’t hold her head high at school.”
Her plan was set: drug He Yimin unconscious, have her and Awen pose in compromising positions, take photos, and then send them to every student’s phone at school, ruining the so-called discipline committee member’s reputation!
If the drugs didn’t work, they’d force it.
Once He Yimin was dealt with, Awen and his buddies would watch Gao Hanqiang and that idiot Charlie outside school, drag them into an alley, and beat them until they couldn’t take care of themselves.
Awen draped his arm over Li Xisi’s shoulder, chuckling, “Don’t worry, I’m good at this kind of thing.”
They only noticed Li Xuan’s presence as they drew near.
Li Xisi knew of this male teacher at school and suddenly felt uneasy.
Li Xuan ignored their previous words and sternly said, “Li Xisi, the first school rule is no dating, and everyone must return to the dormitory before eleven. Where are you taking this boy?”
Since being “coldly” rejected by Di Zhiheng, Li Xisi had been doubting herself.
Seeing the boy made her angry. She shot him a glare and snapped, “What are you doing? I’m dating outside school. Why do you care so much? Get lost!”
Li Xuan’s voice deepened. “Li Xisi, there’s a terrifying legend on campus: anyone who breaks the rules disappears. Are you aware of this?”
Li Xisi hesitated in her steps.
She was a little scared...
Because Liu Zhuobin and Di Zhiheng had been locked out of the dormitory by her, unable to return before eleven.
Could it really be...
Awen laughed heartily. “What kind of old cliché is that? A school legend? Sisi, don’t tell me you’re scared of his few words! We’re young—what do school rules mean? If this legend were true, the school would be wiped out already. Look at us dating—nothing’s happened.”
Li Xuan calmly said, “I respect your choice.”
Respect your fate.
Li Xisi linked arms with Awen as they walked toward the school. They passed beneath the gate’s light, their shadows stretching longer until they vanished into the darkness, as if swallowed whole by a monstrous sea beast.