Not a good person

The sound of the door opening made Li Huaming pause. The two people inside, the one who was assaulting and the one who was being assaulted, both looked towards the door. When they saw the door open and Wen Ya standing there with their neighbor across the hall behind her, Li Huaming's expression changed. He released Zhou Kangyan and strode over.

Upon reaching the door, Li Huaming gave a practiced smile and greeted Zhao Wentian, "Uncle Chen, I had some things to attend to at home, so I'll just keep in touch with you today." After saying that, he grabbed Wen Ya by the back of the neck, pulled her inside, and then slammed the door shut.

Zhao Wentian's worried gaze was blocked by the gate a second ago, and the next second Wen Ya was shoved by Li Huaming and almost lost her balance. She saw what had just happened and felt absurd. She hadn't expected that even in this situation, Li Huaming would be so concerned about what others thought. The crying and shouting every night—the people in this neighborhood were surely aware of this family's messy situation, so why bury their heads in the sand? It was clear this man was incredibly hypocritical.

When Zhou Kangyan saw Wen Ya being tossed around like a chick being caught, she quickly scrambled to her feet and hugged Wen Ya.

Li Huaming shoved Zhou Kangyan's head hard and cursed, "Useless thing! How did you raise your daughter? You can't even control your own children, what else can you do!"

Zhou Kangyan's hair was disheveled. She tightly protected Wen Ya, remained silent, and still had that submissive look on her face.

After venting his anger, Li Huaming finally tired himself out. He lay down on the sofa and cursed again, "Aren't you going to cook dinner now!"

Wen Ya knew that today's farce had finally come to an end.

Zhou Kangyan didn't dare leave Wen Ya alone in the living room, fearing that Li Huaming might take his anger out on Wen Ya again, so she took Wen Ya to the kitchen. She told Wen Ya to watch from the side while she busied herself with the cooking.

Although Wen Ya did not want to persuade someone in the virtual realm, she needed Zhou Kangyan's help at the moment.

She began, "You..." but suddenly realized something was wrong.

If all living beings in the first layer of the evil spirit dream are pulled into the inner world, then are they missing one person?

The one who went up the mountain to ask for help was the real Zhou Kangyan.

If she were to enter as well, who would she be? Wen Ya, Zhao Wentian, Si Mucheng, and Li Huaming have no relation to Zhou Kangyan, so she might possess someone else's body. However, this is Li Huaming's dream, and Zhou Kangyan already exists within it, so there cannot be two Zhou Kangyans.

Wen Ya sighed: "Even if you could do it all over again, would you still want to live this kind of life?"

As soon as she said that, Zhou Kangyan, who was washing vegetables, stopped. The only sound in the kitchen was the running water.

"Are you afraid of him? Or do you feel guilty? Guilty for killing him?"

“No…” Zhou Kangyan’s shoulders slumped, as if all the energy she had been holding onto had suddenly dissipated. “I… I never thought of killing him, but I don’t regret it.”

"Yes, you've endured it all these years, there's no reason you can't endure it now, right?"

"You, you shouldn't say such things with Xiaoli's face... I'm the one who's wronged her..." Zhou Kangyan's voice choked up, but she still didn't dare to turn around and look at Wen Ya.

Wen Ya gazed at her quietly: "So, even though you know this is an illusion, it's fake, you're still willing to stay here and not leave, because that way you can still see your daughter?"

Zhou Kangyan finally turned around, her scarred face streaked with tears: "Xiao Li... Mom is so sorry..."

Wen Ya remained unmoved. In her view, it was all in vain to try to mend the fence after the sheep were lost. What was lost was already lost, and the wounds suffered would not be healed by compensation.

"Put yourself in her shoes. If it were the real Xiao Li, would she want to live in such a violent environment again?" Wen Ya took a step forward, lowering her voice. "Do you think she would be happier alive? Would she be happy to have a mother like you?"

Zhou Kangyan looked at that tender little face, but couldn't say anything.

Afterwards, she had nightmares day and night, dreaming that Xiaoli was sick and didn't go to kindergarten, and that she was in a hurry to go to work, so she left her at home. When Li Huaming woke up, he found that the breakfast Zhou Kangyan had prepared was not to his liking, so he took his anger out on Xiaoli.

She didn't actually see how Li Huaming hit Xiaoli, but in her dream, Xiaoli always cried out for her mother and cried out in pain. She was like a little chick, being thrown against the wall by Li Huaming.

According to Li Huaming, he only lifted her off the bed, and with a bit too much force, Xiaoli's head hit the door frame. But if it was just a single impact, how could the doctor say she was brain dead?

Li Huaming, of course, would not agree to pay for Xiao Li's rescue, and even lied and said that Xiao Li had fallen on her own.

She tacitly accepted Li Huaming's statement, but she still couldn't find peace.

She knew she was an accomplice.

But she was already trapped in a cage, with no way to escape. In fact, she had thought about leaving, because she discovered that Li Huaming could also be so cruel to Xiao Li.

She was terrified. At that moment, she thought she could live like this, but the child was innocent. That was the first and last time she mentioned divorce to Li Huaming, but the price was two broken ribs and a deep handprint on young Xiaoli's face. She was not even a year old and was almost deafened by her own father.

She knew that Li Huaming was rotten; he didn't even love his own child, nor did he love her. He had become a monster. But she was terrified of being beaten, and she was even more afraid of Xiaoli getting hurt. So, she did her best to protect Xiaoli when Li Huaming went berserk.

She thought that this was all there was to her life, but Xiaoli still had a future. She wanted Xiaoli to grow up well, leave this place, and never come back. She should fly.

She never imagined that Oguri would never have the chance to grow up.

After Xiaoli's death, every time Li Huaming beat her, she could hear Xiaoli crying. As usual, she would hug her as if protecting something, and mutter "Xiaoli, don't be afraid." When Li Huaming heard this, he would beat her even more fiercely, saying that she was bad luck and that she had gone mad.

Yes, she also felt like she was going crazy.

So that day, when Li Huaming saw her muttering Xiao Li's name again, he flew into a rage and cursed, "That good-for-nothing deserved to die! If you're so reluctant to let her go, you should die too! It's fine if a girl dies, but stop nagging about her every day!"

She thought to herself, "How could she just die like that? Xiao Li was so cute and well-behaved. She was a life, the daughter she carried for ten months and gave birth to. Why did she have to die like that? Why wasn't it him who died?"

So she picked up the fruit knife on the coffee table and made the only act of defiance she ever committed in her life.

She killed Li Huaming.

She didn't regret killing him; she just never imagined that the boy in her memory who would hold her hand and warm her would become a demon who brought her endless pain.

When she was arrested, she thought that she didn't want to live anymore. If she died, she could see Xiaoli sooner.

However, the fact that she had been a victim of domestic violence was revealed, and all the neighbors were indignant and felt sorry for her. Later, even the doctor who had treated Xiaoli at the hospital raised concerns, and Li Huaming's violence was exposed to the public. She did not die, but was innocent.

How could she be innocent? She was an accomplice. Everyone pities her, but what is there to pity about her? She really wants to see Xiaoli again, to hold her in her arms and coax her to sleep.

“Even if you could do it all over again, you wouldn’t be willing to make any changes? You need to know that before Li Huaming dies, he will definitely kill Xiaoli again, and you still won’t be able to protect her.” Wen Ya calmly stated this truth.

"No!" Zhou Kangyan's face was filled with fear. "I... I could have let Xiaoli hide beforehand, or I could have not brought her home that day. Yes, if I had just hidden Xiaoli beforehand, she... she wouldn't have... died..."

"Then you still can't kill Li Huaming, and we'll be trapped here forever. You'll continue living this kind of life, and Xiaoli will continue living this kind of life. Do you think you can protect her for a while, or for a lifetime? This time, can she really grow up?"

Zhou Kangyan stared blankly at Wen Ya. Although she looked like Xiao Li, she knew that this was not Xiao Li. Xiao Li would never look at her like this. She would only touch her wound and say, "Mom, let Xiao Li blow on it for you, so it won't hurt anymore."

Yes, this isn't Oguri. Even in this illusion, she can't see Oguri again.

A flicker of pain crossed Zhou Kangyan's eyes, but her expression gradually calmed. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and a tear clung to the corner of her eye. At this moment, she was no longer fixated on the illusion. She gazed at Wen Ya, but for a fleeting moment, Wen Ya felt that she was looking through her eyes at someone else.

But none of that mattered anymore, because Zhou Kangyan asked, "What do you need me to do?"

Wen Ya stared at her: "Kill him again."

Zhou Kangyan's face turned deathly pale instantly. Wen Ya sighed, "This is an illusion. Li Huaming is long dead. He has now become an evil spirit and wants your life, so you don't need to feel guilty. It's just a reenactment of the scene." She pondered, wanting to say something more, although she knew that saying anything would be cruel.

But Zhou Kangyan had already nodded: "I understand." She took a deep breath and looked at the fruit knife that had been in the kitchen since she arrived, her tone firm: "If I can kill him once, I can kill him a second time."

After saying that, she picked up the knife and rushed out of the kitchen.

Wen Ya was startled and quickly followed him out.

In the living room, Zhou Kangyan and Li Minghua were already wrestling. Although Zhou Kangyan came on strong, Li Minghua reacted quickly. He was furious and didn't take Zhou Kangyan seriously at all: "You've got some nerve? What? You want to kill me? You wouldn't dare even if I gave you a hundred lives! What are you doing now!"

Zhou Kangyan was no match for Li Huaming's strength, and he was about to snatch the knife from her hand. Wen Ya didn't know what would happen if the knife fell into Li Huaming's hands in his rage. If someone died in the illusion, would they also die in reality? How could they break free of this dream if Li Huaming didn't die?

Wen Ya subconsciously touched her talisman, then realized that her body was Xiao Li and she had nothing on her body.

There was no other way; she didn't know if changing the shell would still work. Wen Ya bit her finger, drew a talisman in the air, and the blood floated in the air, forming a binding talisman. Wen Ya flicked it, and the blood talisman flew straight towards Li Huaming.

But since it wasn't her own body, the talisman's power was greatly reduced. Li Huaming only hesitated for a moment, but fortunately, it was only for that moment that Zhou Kangyan gained an opening and snatched the knife back.

Suddenly, Li Huaming looked at Wen Ya and said fiercely, "It's you again! You annoying brat!"

Wen Ya was standing not far from them when Li Huaming rushed over. She didn't have time to react and took the kick, falling against the wall. She bit her lip, enduring the pain; her body was still too weak.

The next second, she heard a piercing scream: "Kuri!!!"

Then, with eyes wide with rage, Zhou Kangyan raised the knife in her hand and plunged it into Li Huaming's back.

The illusion shatters!