Chapter 61: Li Yun's Secret (Part 2)

I stood there quietly, waiting for what would come next. Judging by Li Yun's previous words, the price I would have to pay for the truth I sought was bound to be steep.

"I will tell you everything now. Promise me that once you hear it, you will leave this place immediately and return to her side. Otherwise, you will lose much more."

I neither nodded nor shook my head; it all depended on what I stood to lose.

"First, I didn't kill the room manager."
"Second, that woman's name is Zhang Li."
"Third, it was she who saved me, which is why I remain by her side."

I had expected her to recount the whole story from beginning to end, but instead, I only got these few points.

"And?" I asked. "What is she using to threaten you?"

I could tell that she harbored a deep dread of the woman named Zhang Li. Whenever I asked about the relationship between them, Li Yun deliberately evaded the topic.

Li Yun looked at me, a smile touching the corner of her lips, and said, "In life, there are always things far more precious than oneself!"

Hearing those words, coupled with Li Yun's look and expression, I understood. The leverage she used against Li Yun was actually me.

"Well, you know all your questions now, don't you? Leave this place now, and I'll come find you in a few days!"

"Why does she make you stay by her side?" I asked, as if I hadn't heard her tell me to leave.

"Do you really want to know?" Li Yun didn't answer, turning the question back on me.

"I really do!" If she hadn't said that there wouldn't be another chance later, perhaps I wouldn't have dug so relentlessly.

"Alright, this is the last question I will answer for you," Li Yun said. "Zhang Li has only been dead for a few decades. With her own strength alone, she was no match for the man in the suit. But ever since she became a ghost, she has been nourishing herself every day with powerful souls. She started with humans, and then she shifted her targets to ghosts, because human souls could no longer satisfy her appetite. The path she walks is paved entirely with blood and tears!"

"Does she drain your soul every day?" I asked, my expression turning grim.

Li Yun nodded. Her already pale face looked even ghastlier under the distant streetlamp.

Hearing this, a long-absent heartache gripped my chest. Treated as a tonic and unable to leave—fate had never once been fair to Li Yun.

"Come with me, let's get out of here!" After a few seconds of silence, I grabbed Li Yun's hand and started to pull her outward.

Li Yun didn't resist; she just smiled coldly. "Go with you? What do you think you are to me? Men are animals that think with their lower halves, and you're just a tiny bit better than the rest. I'm certain that if you took me away today, you'd regret it before we even reached home. Perhaps you'd say I'm your classmate, a casual friend, and your girlfriend would probably believe it too, because in my eyes, she's a complete fool. But even if we managed to muddle through with that excuse, what then? Would you dare to kiss me in front of her? Would you dare to sleep with me in your home? I'd rather endure the torment here than play the part of an ordinary friend in your house!"

"I..."

"Wang Yu, you are still naive and far from mature. Don't think that losing your virginity makes you a man. The responsibilities a man must bear are far beyond what you can carry right now."

Li Yun broke free from my hand, stood her ground, and looked at me expressionlessly.

My mind was in complete chaos. I was no match for the woman named Zhang Li. Li Yun was right; I acted entirely on impulse. Even coming here to find her was just a reckless impulse. Everything a man ought to provide, I was utterly incapable of giving.

"Go. Once you have the strength and have truly become a man, come find me then. For now, I am still useful, so I won't die easily!"

With that, Li Yun turned and walked back into the grove.

"Li..."

Before I could finish, Li Yun suddenly spun around, her eyes fixing a hard, unblinking gaze on me.

My soul was being eroded—Li Yun was actually eroding my soul.

"Leave this place immediately! Or I will kill you right now."

I couldn't move; I could only watch helplessly as Li Yun vanished from my sight.

A few minutes later, I found myself leaving the area. Li Yun was right. I couldn't truly be considered a man yet. What I brought to the person I liked, the person I loved, wasn't safety, but danger.

I walked slowly back home. Huang Ying was still sitting on the sofa waiting for me, and it was now approaching midnight.

"You're back!" As soon as I stepped inside, Huang Ying stood up and hurried over to greet me.

"Yeah," I mumbled, tossing my phone onto the coffee table before collapsing onto the sofa and closing my eyes.

After a brief silence, I spoke.

"Huang Ying, you should go back to the countryside tomorrow!" My eyes remained shut, but I knew for certain that Huang Ying was sitting right beside me.

Silence—a dead, heavy silence. I didn't dare open my eyes, afraid I might see sights I wasn't prepared to face.

After a long while, I finally opened my eyes. True to my expectation, Huang Ying was sitting stiffly beside me. She wasn't looking at me, but rather straight ahead at the bare wall.

I said nothing more, trusting that she had heard every single word I said.

"Alright, I'll leave tomorrow!" Gone was her usual dependent, bird-like gentleness. This time she spoke with firm resolve, her face betraying neither sorrow nor joy.

The moment she finished speaking, I got up and walked straight into the bathroom, turning on the shower without even removing my clothes.

Within a few minutes, the lights in the living room were clicked off. Only then did I step out of the bathroom, throw on a casual change of clothes, and dial my grandfather's number.

"Hello~" It was Stone's voice.

"Where's Grandpa?"

"Oh, it's Brother Yu!" Stone was roughly my age; he must have addressed me this way after learning my birth date from my grandfather, otherwise I would have had to call him Brother Stone. "Grandpa's already asleep. Is it an emergency?"

"Wake Grandpa up for me, please."

Stone let out an affirmative grunt, and then the line went quiet.

"What is it?" A moment later, my grandfather's distinctive rural accent came through the phone.

"Huang Ying is heading back tomorrow. Go pick her up!"

"Oh!" Grandfather acknowledged with a single syllable, then hung up the phone as if the matter had nothing whatsoever to do with him.

I lowered the phone from my ear and caught sight of a graceful silhouette standing by the doorway of my bedroom.

"Aren't you going back tomorrow?" Huang Ying walked into my room, stood right before me, and asked.

I shook my head. Huang Ying let out another soft "oh" and quietly backed out of my room.

The strongest form of protest is silence, but since the decision had been made, I had to carry it out like a real man.

I didn't chase after her the way they do in the movies, because I was afraid that the moment I laid eyes on Huang Ying, the hard-fought resolve I had built up would shatter.

Sleep eluded me once more that night. With Huang Ying staying here, there were simply too many dangers. Right now, only being by my grandfather's side was truly safe.

I sat at my desk, gazing blankly out the window at the night sky. There were countless stars tonight, which, paired with the profound darkness of the cosmos, made for a breathtakingly poetic scene. Yet, in my eyes, those stars were nothing more than the tears of all living things.

My bedroom door remained open. Looking out through the gap, I saw that the door to Huang Ying's room was also open—unusual, since she always kept it shut.

Was she hoping I would go and keep her company tonight? Or had she simply forgotten to close it?

No matter how much I wanted to, I forced down the impulse, sitting alone in my room as I stared at Huang Ying's open doorway. Was she crying inside?

Damn it, I truly felt the urge to storm into Huang Ying's room right then and there.

I couldn't take it anymore; the feeling was agonizing. Anyone who hasn't truly experienced it would find it hard to understand. Rising to my feet, I quietly crept into Huang Ying's room.

It was pitch black inside. I could only make out Huang Ying lying on her side, and I had no way of knowing whether she was asleep or not.

I sat down on the edge of the bed, looked at Huang Ying's back, and murmured softly, "I'm sorry!"

Huang Ying must have been asleep, as she didn't stir at all. After sitting by the bedside for a little while, I quietly left. If I had woken her up, I might not have had the heart to let her leave.

I drifted back to my room in a daze and eventually fell into a troubled sleep. When I opened my eyes the next morning, day had fully broken.

I scrambled out of bed in a panic and rushed to Huang Ying's room, only to find it entirely empty.

Huang Ying was gone. A sudden, massive void opened up in my chest, and my entire body felt as though it had sunk into the deepest, inescapable mire.

I leaned against the doorframe, staring at the empty bed. The feeling was akin to the first time you stay at a boarding school: your parents drop you off, make your bed, and then you watch them leave—no, it was far more painful than that!

Yet, a brief separation was for the sake of a better togetherness down the road. I believed that before long, Huang Ying would be waking me up and cooking for me once again.