Chapter 14: Another Turn

Soon after, Yu Weiyou received an acceptance letter from her desired school.

It has to be said that a large part of the credit for getting these results goes to Lu Jiucheng. Other teachers wouldn't care whether she lived or died, much less teach her how to apply to schools or how to conduct interviews.

"..."

Even though he's within my reach, why do I still think about him?

Scum always has an unexpected charm. It's strange.

Yu Weiyou thought to herself as she packed her personal belongings.

"Li Rong, I did it. Did you see that? I'll take you away from this hellhole and to a new world. Li Rong..."

As she spoke, Yu Weiyou hung the oak hibiscus doll on her bag.

The moment I stepped into the new school, sunlight streamed onto the lawn, and everyone went about their business, their faces beaming with smiles.

Actually, all of this is quite normal.

Perhaps what separates darkness from light is a psychological barrier.

At that moment, a person walked towards Yu Weiyou in a very ordinary manner, and then casually brushed past her.

"..."

Yu Weiyou suddenly felt unwell, turned her head and leaned against the wall to dry heave, and tears welled up in her eyes.

It was as if a voice was ringing in her ear: "Run! Run!"

For no reason at all, I just wanted to run away.

Perhaps because she was entering a new environment alone, she couldn't accept the feeling of uncertainty for a while, so she felt extremely insecure and very scared, as if a flood or a ferocious beast would pounce on her at any moment and devour her.

"Run away quickly!"

She impulsively rushed out of the school gate and kept running.

But where in this vast world could she escape to? She didn't know, she just kept running forward uncontrollably.

She ran for quite a while before finally stopping in front of a house.

"..."

Even if you don't admit it, your subconscious is still honest. Isn't this the place and people you still know well in this world?

She's really used to being in the dark; she deserves a beating. No, no, she shouldn't stay here; she'd better leave quickly, right?

Yu Weiyou stood hesitantly in place, only able to move her feet little by little.

"Okay, then thank you for your hard work."

Suddenly, the door opened from the inside, and Lu Jiucheng was seeing a beautiful lady out.

"……………………" Yu Weiyou stood frozen in place. The beautiful woman glanced at her, then walked to the car next to her.

The world seemed to consist only of the sound of wheels rolling over stones.

What to do, what to do... In short, running away is the most practical thing to do.

So Yu Weiyou took off running.

As I was running, the oak doll on my backpack suddenly fell off.

"Ah, Li Rong!" Yu Weiyou turned her head and bumped into the man's arms. No matter how she struggled, the other party did not let go and even hugged her tighter.

"I told you, I would never give up easily." Lu Jiucheng buried his face in her shoulder and took a deep breath. "So, do you still want to consider killing me?"

"Ugh! Ugh!! Let go, I'm suffocating!"

Lu Jiucheng then slowly released Yu Weiyou. Perhaps she was really suffocated, because her face was a little flushed.

Lu Jiucheng laughed again: "Let's go inside first and talk about it."

Yu Weiyou carefully picked up the oak doll, dusted it off, and hugged it to her chest before following Lu Jiucheng into the house.

Lu Jiucheng poured water for Yu Weiyou and brought fruit to place on the coffee table. Yu Weiyou, on the other hand, sat on the sofa, looking somewhat restless.

"Tell me, why did you come here today?" Lu Jiucheng asked as he sat down.

Yu Weiyou stammered, "I...I received an acceptance letter."

Lu Jiucheng nodded: "That's great, a new beginning."

"But... I seem to have gotten used to the deathly stillness and darkness... The atmosphere there suddenly makes me very scared... So... I just inexplicably ran here..." Yu Weiyou's voice grew softer and softer.

"Oh? Is that so?" A smile involuntarily crept onto his lips. "Do you still enjoy me teasing you?"

"Yeah, right! I... I just... have nowhere else to run away from." Yu Weiyou said, her voice trailing off.

Lu Jiucheng laughed: "So the only option is to go deep into the tiger's den?"

Yu Weiyou turned her face away: "I don't know. Say what you want. Anyway, we're here."

Lu Jiucheng said with amusement, "You should know that I won't let you go easily, right?"

Yu Weiyou whispered a defense: "That's why I didn't go in. You opened the door yourself."

"It's too late to run away now."

"They all say there's nowhere left to escape to."

Lu Jiucheng stopped smiling and coughed. "Of course I'll take you in. But even if you're still scared, you still have to go to class."

Yu Weiyou lowered her head: "...I know."

“There’s more.” Lu Jiucheng took a sip of water.

"?"

"Put her down." Lu Jiucheng pointed to the doll in Yu Weiyou's arms.

"No. Li Rong is mine," Yu Weiyou said, hugging the doll tightly.

Lu Jiucheng shook his head: "Don't you think it's time to let go?"

"I'm not going to let go."

Lu Jiucheng: "What does she mean to you? Is she the light you've been longing for, or companionship in the darkness? Or something else entirely?"

"..." Yu Weiyou remained silent for a long time before looking at the doll and saying, "I don't know."

“Let’s go see her,” said Lu Jiucheng.

And so, after many years, Yu Weiyou came to Li Rong's grave again.

It's still the same cold place it was back then.

Yu Weiyou just stared at the tombstone, unable to say a word.

“I am Lu Jiucheng. An insignificant villain, but I just want to say a few words for Weiyou.” As he spoke, he glanced at Yu Weiyou, who happened to look up at him as well. “I think Weiyou must have placed a lot of emotions on you, including those she knows and those she doesn’t know.”

“You two must be very good friends, right? Wei You can’t let go of you even in her dreams. But rather than being unable to let go of you, it’s more accurate to say that she can’t forgive herself. I hope that one day she can let go of herself and let go of everything. That’s the only way to truly move towards the light, don’t you think?”

As he spoke, he took the doll and placed it in front of Li Rong's grave.

Yu Weiyou stood there blankly, without saying a word until he left.

Let yourself go...?

At first, she did blame herself for being too negligent, failing to notice Li Rong's strange behavior as a good friend. Sometimes, Yu Weiyou would doubt herself, feeling that she actually knew about it, but simply didn't want to believe it and thus clung to the hope of finding out the truth...

That matter...

Yu Weiyou covered her head, fragments of memory flashing through her mind.

"Wei You? Wei You!?" Lu Jiucheng quickly caught the unconscious Yu Wei You.

"ah."

It seems like I've remembered even more details...

Aside from the initial time in the correctional facility, it seems many teachers would grope and assault vulnerable women who were unable to even lift a finger... physical abuse, verbal abuse, and inappropriate touching were all possible. Yu Weiyou, being naturally delicate and cute, was easily targeted.

Ever since she was slashed in the chest with a knife, she suddenly discovered a good way to defend herself. She always keeps a knife or needle with her, so she can quickly escape after accidentally hurting them.

This led to the subsequent knife attack incident.

Her time in the correctional facility was the biggest shadow of her life. From then on, anything even remotely related to that taboo had to be erased from her memory. She avoided it, ran away, pretended to be strong, and acted as if it had never happened. Everything continued as before.

So when she saw Li Rong's diary, her head started to ache inexplicably. It turned out that it had triggered traumatic memories.

Another reason might be related to this: her complete lack of affection for Shuciyin.

Later, he met Lu Jiucheng. It took him so long to gradually lower Yu Weiyou's guard and get her to rely on him temporarily, only to be blacklisted by her because of a single incident. At that time, she had already recalled some of her traumatic experiences. So in the moment of her outburst, she directed all her resentment at him, no longer thinking any further, only obsessively wanting to kill him.

However, she ultimately couldn't bring herself to kill him.

She suddenly realized that if she had never experienced those messy things as a child, after being tied up and forced to do something by Lu Jiucheng that night, she would at most be angry and embarrassed, run back to her dormitory, and still feel blushing and excited when she thought about it repeatedly. She would also feel awkward when they met again.

Just like how Li Rong was so gentle with her, she was always easily captivated by gentleness. Aside from his strange quirks, Lu Jiucheng was also genuinely gentle. Even what he just said might not have moved others, but it touched Yu Weiyou deeply.

In that case, Yu Wei might fall in love with Lu Jiucheng during their secret rendezvous.

There are no "what ifs" in the world.

A scar is a scar; even if it heals, it will still leave a scar.

Even if Lu Jiucheng did save her in another sense, without him, Yu Weiyou definitely wouldn't have been able to get into any school. In that case, what would her future be like? Could she truly find a bright future?

She didn't know, and dared not imagine.

I remember a long time ago, Yu Weiyou asked Lu Jiucheng, "What should I do if I'm plagued by nightmares?"

Lu Jiucheng smiled and said, "If you don't have the power to break through the darkness, then accumulate your power first. When you have enough courage, all the terror will dissipate. At that time, you can also overcome all obstacles and see the sun through the clouds."

Yu Weiyou leaned back in the passenger seat, her gaze passing through the car window and fixed on an unknown place. She slowly asked, "What should I do if I'm plagued by nightmares?"

"If all else fails, find someone you can trust. I believe he'd be willing to lend you some strength to help you break through the darkness and escape to safety. I just don't know if you'd be willing?"