With just a virtual body, Cheng Shuang didn't believe that Kayako's mind would have any decisive influence on her.
Although every time she made a choice completely opposite to Kayako's, someone would subtly try to stop her in her mind, since she regained all her memories, this psychological manipulation no longer had the same effect on her.
Now it seems that the dream was hers, but her 'heart' was connected to Kayako.
Kayako can control time and environment, but she cannot control her own behavior.
Cheng Shuang sensed something different with Xiao Lin, though.
Could this be Kayako's dream world of memories?
Her 'rebirth' was merely a scenario simulated by Kayako using her resentment.
To break the deadlock, Cheng Shuang decided to take the initiative.
What does Kayako care about?
When she was little, she may have even fantasized about her parents' feelings for her.
As she grew up, Kobayashi became the light in her life.
On her way home from school, Cheng Shuang successfully waited for Xiao Lin to appear.
When Xiaolin saw her, he looked surprised, but still greeted her politely. Cheng Shuang waved her hand and smiled brightly, "Xiaolin, Kayako likes you!"
When the girl looked up at people, her eyes were clear and bright, without a trace of gloom. The shade of the trees cast shadows on her face, making it unexpectedly clear. Her cheerful and straightforward confession was all the more touching.
Xiao Lin scratched the back of his head shyly, and amidst his friends' teasing calls, he said embarrassedly, "Sorry, we're not familiar with each other, maybe I'm not worthy of your affection!"
"But you don't hate me, do you?" Cheng Shuang winked slyly, deliberately avoiding mentioning her name.
With classmates coming and going, Xiaolin naturally couldn't do anything to hurt a girl's feelings, but his hesitation immediately caused some people (or ghosts?) who were eyeing him to misunderstand.
Kayako's permission for Cheng Shuang to simulate its growth trajectory does not mean that she wants to see Kobayashi develop feelings for other 'Kayako'.
At that moment, Cheng Shuang felt a tremor in her heart, and her vision blurred...
"What’s wrong with you……"
Xiaolin's urgent voice gradually faded away, and Cheng Shuang appeared in a hollow, pitch-black space. When she looked up again, a pair of huge black eyes occupied the entire top of her head, looking down at her fiercely.
"You shouldn't have! You shouldn't have seduced him!"
Cheng Shuang sat on the ground with a smile. "Didn't you send me to face Xiao Lin? Didn't you want to see what kind of future someone else would have if they became you? What? Can't hold on anymore?"
The girl appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, she wasn't entirely sure about the consequences of angering Kayako.
After all, she had tried in this virtual world, but the spatial grid was unusable, so she was truly fighting alone.
Kayako, true to its reputation as a place where resentment finds its home, was immediately enraged. It roared in extreme fury, its gaping maw as large as Cheng Shuang's, "You think you know me? Who do you think you are?"
"Me? I'm Kayako!" Cheng Shuang covered her mouth with her sleeve and smiled insincerely. "As long as I smile, Dad will speak up for me, and Mom will like my Kayako! Oh, right, even your first love couldn't resist me, Kayako!"
"You deserve to die! I'll make you burn like a raging fire, I'll make you wish you were dead!"
Kayako's face twisted into a terrifying and ferocious expression. As soon as she finished speaking, flames immediately erupted from the four walls, the fire intensifying and the temperature rising sharply.
Cheng Shuang lowered her eyes.
Kayako uses physical attacks?
Shouldn't it be murder driven by resentment?
And... why didn't it kill her the moment it pulled her down, even though it had already angered her?
Kayako doesn't seem like the kind of ghost who talks nonsense with people.
unless……
The little girl smiled with her lowered eyes, stood up, and casually kicked the wall. Her leg successfully passed through the fire line without being burned or experiencing the scorching temperature. The scene of the approaching fire was fake.
Cheng Shuang felt like she understood something.
Kayako is primarily a type of earthbound spirit, and its energy comes from resentment.
The earthbound spirit cannot escape the place of its death. Both the black cat and Toshio are outlets for its power, and what can be attacked is its resentment.
Now, its greatest energy is sealed in the mud jar. Before that, it tried its best to smuggle out a small amount of resentment, which probably no one could have discovered.
That small amount of resentment resides within oneself.
Cheng Shuang suddenly realized that she was dreaming, only the dream was wrapped in resentment.
Rebirth, entering Kayako's body—it's all an illusion! Since Kayako can fabricate things, how can she, the dream weaver, lag behind the demons?
With a wave of her hand, a firearm appeared on her shoulder. She looked up and said goodbye to the woman above her, whose features were distorted and whose face was filled with hatred, showing no signs of reason.
A loud boom, and then thunder roared outside!
Cheng Shuang opened her eyes abruptly and immediately put two talismans on herself to suppress evil spirits. Instantly, a wisp of gray smoke rose from the skin of her arm and disappeared into the air.
Then, she tilted her head and looked at a young man sitting in the corner of the ward.
The young man was around twenty years old, perhaps even younger, but his brows were furrowed and his eyes seemed more mature than his actual age.
What's amazing is that he has beautiful heterochromatic eyes, with brown in his left eye and purple in his right, which adds an indescribable exotic charm to his already aloof temperament.
The young man was watching intently as the resentment disappeared from Cheng Shuang's body. When the two looked at each other, they both had the same indifference.
“Now that you’re awake, I should leave!” He withdrew his gaze, glanced at his watch, put down the newspaper in his hand, and stood up. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow. You can continue to stay at the Akasaka family’s house. I’ll let your uncle and aunt know.”
"Big brother?!"
The little girl's voice was extremely soft and devoid of any emotion. Seeing the young man stop, she tilted her head and asked with a smile, "Aren't you going to stay and protect me?"
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Kawakami Ryusuke scoffed, continuing to walk away without even turning his head.
"Brother, if you leave, I'll come to your university to find you tomorrow, okay? I think your teachers will forgive me, after all, I'm sick and really, really need my family's company!"
Ryusuke Kawakami stopped again. He slowly turned around and looked at the thin little girl on the hospital bed with a questioning gaze. "Who are you? Or perhaps I should ask, why are you on Yuko Kawakami?"
Cheng Shuang smiled, pursing her lips, and asked in return, "Then, brother... who is on you?"
Ryusuke Kawakami no longer wanted to leave. He really didn't know who was in his body. Since half a year ago, his consciousness had been occasionally hazy. Sometimes he would wake up and find himself at a crossroads, and other times he would wake up and find himself holding a thick address book as if he was looking for something.
He often asked himself these questions, but no one answered.
Until one day, he bought a video camera and put it in his house. He waited until he fell asleep and filmed his movements.
Then, he realized with a start that there was more than one person on him.
One lingers at the crossroads, while the other relentlessly searches for someone.
Fortunately, his relationship with his parents and sister was not very good, and no one noticed his abnormality. Therefore, he had a lot of time to solve the mystery instead of being sent to the hospital as a mental patient.
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