Chapter 22 Reality Check: Zhu Ming’s Lost It
“That’s all you’ve got!”
Yin Yu: “…Is that so?”
Yin Yu didn’t seem offended, only her smile turned a little cryptic. “I thought there might have been some misunderstanding back then, but it seems there wasn’t. That’s fine. No need to hold back anymore.”
She spoke casually, as if discussing something trivial.
But something felt wrong to Zhu Ming. This Yin Yu felt too real, so real it made her uneasy. She suddenly didn’t want to play along with this illusion anymore.
Zhu Ming reached out, grabbed the woman’s slender neck, and said fiercely, “You’re all talk and no action. Just change back already! Change!”
The pulse beneath her palm and the delicate texture of the skin felt incredibly real.
Yin Yu’s hand gently covered Zhu Ming’s, her fingers, one by one, prying Zhu Ming’s hand away from her throat.
She was strong, as strong as Zhu Ming.
Zhu Ming: “Change… change back…”
Yin Yu looked at her silently, smiling, her clear eyes filled with complex, genuine emotions. The sunlight danced in her eyes, reflecting like ripples on water. This wasn’t a mirage.
Zhu Ming abruptly let go, jumped off the table, and turned to leave, forcing a laugh. “Ha, what a persistent illusion! Even after being exposed, you still won’t disappear! 2007! Where’s 2007? Forget it. I have things to do. I’m leaving.”
She quickened her pace, and hearing the sound of a chair scraping behind her, she lunged forward, attempting to jump off the roof—THWACK!
Mid-leap, she bounced back, tumbling across the rooftop and landing on the other side. Zhu Ming’s face darkened. She hadn’t expected Xiao Cheng’s barrier, intended to trap someone else, to trap her.
That familiar voice came from behind her, calm and unhurried. “Are you afraid of me?”
Without thinking, Zhu Ming retorted, “Bullshit!”
She jumped up, dropping the pretense, and turned to face the woman standing in the center of the terrace, her voice filled with anger. “Things are different now! I’m not the same weakling as before! You think you can still manipulate me?!”
“Then why are you so nervous?” Yin Yu tilted her head, her long hair falling around her face. She seemed genuinely curious.
Zhu Ming blustered, “I’m not nervous! I was just testing you! It’s good that you appeared. I’ve been wanting to capture and interrogate you. It’s a shame you ran away so quickly back then.”
Yin Yu chuckled softly. “If you want to know something, you could have just asked me directly.”
“Ask you?” Zhu Ming didn’t believe her, or perhaps the lingering doubts in her heart made her uneasy, but she refused to show it to Yin Yu. She refused to appear weak. “If you were willing to talk, why did you run away? You disappeared for seven years! There’s nothing left to say! Your scheme has already been exposed!”
Yin Yu looked at her with a hint of exasperation. “Mingming, I didn’t intend to avoid you. The timing wasn’t right. There was no need for me to appear before you.”
Zhu Ming snapped, “Don’t call me Mingming! It’s disgusting! I was too naive back then, thinking you were a good person. Later, I realized, how could you possibly like someone as withdrawn and stupid as me? You only approached me because of my background, didn’t you?”
Yin Yu considered it, then nodded, smiling. “You could say that.”
Zhu Ming: “…” She could still smile?!
Infuriated, Zhu Ming retorted, “Well, I’m truly honored that you went to so much trouble.”
Yin Yu looked at her tenderly, her gaze the same as it had been seven years ago, a gaze Zhu Ming had been unable to resist then and still couldn’t resist now… It was a gaze that sought to understand her, gentle and accepting, understanding and empathetic. No one could resist being looked at like that.
Zhu Ming took a step back, bumping into the round table. She felt a surge of anger and bitterness. “Why have you reappeared? Just tell me your purpose already.”
Yin Yu took a step closer, her gaze like a thick fog, a hint of amusement in her eyes. “My purpose? If you must know… it’s the same as seven years ago…”
The air thickened, and the sneer on Zhu Ming’s face faltered.
Seven years ago, Zhu Ming hadn’t been in Huadu. Her life, her personality, everything had been different. If her old classmates saw her now, they wouldn’t believe she was the same withdrawn, slow-witted outcast.
Everything had changed because of Yin Yu.
At eighteen, Zhu Ming was a senior in high school in a small town. She had grown up in an orphanage, withdrawn and slow to react, but at least she could communicate and learn, so the orphanage director insisted she attend a regular school.
Her classmates knew she had intellectual disabilities and spread rumors that she was mentally ill, convinced that her lack of expression meant she would become a violent criminal. They said the insane weren’t held responsible for their crimes, so everyone should stay away from her!
But it wasn’t just that. If they had simply stayed away, Zhu Ming would have been grateful.
Then Yin Yu appeared, a safe haven, a place where Zhu Ming could finally relax.
Yin Yu didn’t think she was stupid or hopeless. She was gentle and patient, never impatient. She was genuine, truly listening to Zhu Ming and believing her—she was different.
“Many people say I’m sick, that I have severe auditory hallucinations,” Zhu Ming had confided. “But I don’t think they’re fake. I’m not a psychopath.”
Only Yin Yu had accepted her, offering a different perspective in her role as the school doctor—she believed Zhu Ming wasn’t sick.
Yin Yu praised her, took her to restaurants she had never been to before, gave her flowers from tree branches and perfect fallen leaves, bought her headphones to block out the outside world, promised to take her to an amusement park for her birthday, tutored her after school, and smiled gently as Zhu Ming talked about her future—a future that definitely included Yin Yu.
Warmed by Yin Yu’s kindness, Zhu Ming achieved better grades than usual and got accepted into university. While these grades wouldn’t have impressed most people, for Zhu Ming, it was a beacon of hope in her bleak life.
Zhu Ming fell deeply in love with her. How could she not? But… it was all a lie.
After receiving her university acceptance letter, Zhu Ming couldn’t bear the thought of leaving town and being separated from Yin Yu. She made a decision: she would take their relationship to the next level, making their bond unbreakable.
That rainy night, she mustered all her courage to go to Yin Yu’s place. And what happened?
She drank something Yin Yu offered her and passed out, her body wracked with excruciating pain even in her unconscious state.
She would never forget the burning agony of that night, the feeling of every cell in her body exploding, on the verge of death.
The physical pain was one thing, but in her delirium, she had overheard Yin Yu talking to someone.
Before that day, she had never known Yin Yu had such strange friends, or that she was involved in such shady dealings. She only heard:
“Why not directly extract Zhu Ming’s soul?”
“It’s not time yet. I want to change the plan.”
“Have you truly fallen in love with her?”
Yin Yu’s light laugh echoed, “Love? Can beings like us fall in love with humans? It seems like a novel experience. Unfortunately, I haven’t. What I feel for her isn’t love… Hmm? Awake?”
The words echoed in Zhu Ming’s mind. She forced her heavy eyelids open and looked at Yin Yu. Perhaps because of the torment she had just endured, she saw something beyond Yin Yu’s human form, something she would never forget.
It was a nightmare that haunted her for seven years, the greatest terror she had ever experienced.
Terrified, Zhu Ming lost consciousness again. When she woke up, everything seemed normal.
She was lying in Yin Yu’s apartment. A vase of lilies stood by the window. Yin Yu was in the kitchen, preparing something. The memory of what she had heard and seen, the lingering pain in her bones, made her heart clench. She quietly got out of bed.
She suddenly realized how little she knew about Yin Yu, about her past, about her friends.
She walked past Yin Yu’s bookshelf and saw strange titles: I Ching, Spiritual Interpretations, Nine Hundred Supernatural Powers… She hadn’t thought much of them before, but now they seemed chilling.
Then she saw a piece of paper with birthdates and times written on it, along with her own name.
Zhu Ming felt helpless and devastated.
The love she had dreamed of was fake, her lover was fake, everything was fake. Not only was it fake, but Yin Yu had even intended to kill her.
Her youthful love shattered into pieces.
She didn’t know how she managed to compose herself and walk out of the bedroom. Yin Yu, in casual clothes, placed a freshly made breakfast on the table and embraced her gently. “What’s wrong? You seem unhappy.”
Zhu Ming couldn’t hold back any longer. The pain of betrayal and manipulation rose from the pit of her stomach, making her nauseous.
She pushed Yin Yu away and fled.
Yin Yu didn’t chase after her.
Downstairs, breathing in the fresh air, Zhu Ming’s racing heart finally calmed down. The ground was wet. She looked back and saw Yin Yu standing by the window, watching her.
The gentle smile on the woman’s face was gone, replaced by an indifferent, distant gaze.
It was that gaze that prompted Zhu Ming’s next action—she called the police.
She had learned well in school, to stay away from drugs, gambling, and cults. At that moment, in Zhu Ming’s mind, Yin Yu was some kind of cult member who played with people’s lives.
Perhaps still weakened from whatever had happened the night before, Zhu Ming felt dizzy and disoriented.
She fainted. When she woke up, she was in a hospital. The police hadn’t found anything. Yin Yu and everything related to her had vanished.
Later, the Zhu family found her and brought her to Huadu.
Her past was left behind, buried in that small town.
From that day on, Zhu Ming changed. Once withdrawn and repressed, struggling to connect with and understand emotions, she broke through the barriers around her heart, gaining the full range of human emotions and experiences.
And… she finally understood why Yin Yu had done what she did.
Because after that incident, the strange sensations in her own body intensified. She wasn’t sick. She was Awakened, possessing a special inherited ability, the lost child of the ancient Zhu clan of the Spirit Realm.
Yin Yu wasn’t some delusional cult member, and the strange tales and ghost stories weren’t just stories. She must also have been Awakened. She had approached Zhu Ming because of her bloodline and heritage.
…
Back in the present, hearing Yin Yu admit to her scheme, stating her purpose was the same as seven years ago, Zhu Ming almost exploded.
“Who are you?! What do you want with my soul?!”
Yin Yu took two steps closer, strolling through the flowers like a carefree lady, a stark contrast to this death-filled instance.
“If you wanted to know, why didn’t you ask me back then?” Yin Yu looked at Zhu Ming, slowly approaching, her fingertips brushing against the blooming flowers, her smile unchanged. “How much did you hear? Mingming, you don’t trust me, you’re afraid of me, you suspect me… That hurts.”
Despite claiming to be hurt, there wasn’t a trace of sadness on her face.
Hypocrite!
“Cut the crap! I heard everything I needed to hear! You didn’t love me!”
Zhu Ming watched her warily, her hands clenched. Yin Yu’s approach filled her with an uncontrollable unease.
“Since you’ve reappeared, let’s make things clear. I’m not interested in whatever feud you have with the Zhu clan. What you do has nothing to do with me. I don’t care if you live or die. Yin Yu, I can let go of the past, but don’t use me again, or I won’t be polite. I’m sure the Paranormal Affairs Bureau would be happy to take you in.”
Even if Yin Yu wasn’t some harmful cult member, she was definitely not a good person. The fact that even the Bureau couldn’t find any information on her was proof enough.
But Zhu Ming’s threat didn’t stop Yin Yu. She continued to approach, calm and unhurried, until she stood directly in front of Zhu Ming.
“The Zhu clan? I don’t recall having any feud with them. Mingming, you seem to have misunderstood. This has always been between you and me. I don’t mind telling you. I have nothing to hide.”
Yin Yu stepped closer. Zhu Ming watched her warily. She couldn’t retreat any further; she would fall off the roof.
But Yin Yu didn’t stop. As if completely unaware of personal space, she closed the distance between them, almost touching.
“Stop!” Zhu Ming leaned back slightly. “Just tell me what you want!”
Yin Yu chuckled and leaned forward, her faint, pear blossom fragrance filling the air. Her posture suggested an impending kiss.
Zhu Ming froze, staring at her in terror, her head almost snapping back. Her entire being screamed: STOP!
Thankfully, Yin Yu didn’t cross that line. She simply smiled playfully, her voice soft and close to Zhu Ming’s ear. “Mingming, you exhibit a phenomenon I find very interesting. But back then, you were suppressed, your thoughts easily read. There was no need for prolonged observation. You might not understand what I intended to do, but you should understand what I did do, right?”
Zhu Ming chose to remain silent. If Yin Yu was referring to what had happened after she fainted that night… yes, she had her suspicions, but… she didn’t want to admit she was wavering.
Yin Yu, ignoring her inner turmoil, continued, “As for love… yes, I didn’t feel romantic love for you. You falling for me was an accident. But even now, I’m quite fond of you, just not in the way you understand.”
A surge of anger coursed through Zhu Ming. Her eye twitched. She wanted to slap Yin Yu across the face.
What kind of explanation was that?! A classic player! She had been right to run away!
Unable to contain herself any longer, Zhu Ming threw a punch at Yin Yu’s beautiful face. Yin Yu chuckled softly and sidestepped gracefully, her blue skirt swirling around her like a blooming flower.
“Mingming, this is a fascinating world. We all have our own purposes. I wouldn’t have minded telling you.” Yin Yu stepped back, her eyes curving into crescents, her hands clasped playfully over her heart. “But you hurt me so deeply, abandoning me like that, so I’ve decided not to tell you.”
Zhu Ming: “…………”
Ugh! The audacity of this woman!
Brushing her hair aside, Zhu Ming lunged at Yin Yu, exchanging a few blows.
Splash!
Yin Yu dodged behind the water lily vat, flicking her fingers, sending a spray of water towards Zhu Ming.
Zhu Ming leaned back to avoid it. Just as she straightened up, she heard Yin Yu murmuring thoughtfully, “Come to think of it, Mingming asked me to seduce her as soon as she saw me. Could it be that the illusion she encountered earlier…”
Thump.
Zhu Ming landed hard on her backside. She stood up, her face dark, her voice rising involuntarily. “Yin Yu!”
Yin Yu smiled sweetly. “Yes?”
Zhu Ming brushed the dust off her black clothes, her expression cold. “This is your last chance. Don’t appear before me again.”
If she had held any lingering hope before, hearing Yin Yu admit she didn’t love her had extinguished it completely.
She should have realized how foolish she had been, how blind.
A wave of despair washed over Zhu Ming, draining her of energy. She said, “Whatever your purpose, whatever happened between us, I don’t want to see you again. Pretend we never met. Otherwise, I’ll make you pay.”
She had once vowed never to shed another tear for Yin Yu. And she had kept that promise.
Turning her back, she walked away without a single glance back.
Behind her, Yin Yu watched her go, just as she had on that morning seven years ago.
…
…
The first morning after leaving the Dark Realm.
Dawn broke, and Yun Zouchuan sat at her desk, diligently writing a letter:
“Dear Mom, Happy August!
I’m writing to you today with two pieces of news, one good and one bad.
The good news is that I’ll be starting school in September! The Paranormal Affairs Bureau has been a great help to us isolated Awakened. I have an ID card now, and my school application was approved! I’ll study hard, get into university, get a good job, buy a house, and bring you down from the mountain to live with me.
My boss, Zhu Ming, has been very kind to me. She enrolled me in many tutoring classes to catch up on my education and allows me to work part-time while studying. She even helped me with the high school application process. My base salary will be lower while I’m in school, but I can support myself. Don’t worry, Mom. Please accept the things I sent you.
The bad news is related to something that happened a few days ago. I entered a place called the Dark Realm. It was…
…
That’s what happened. My boss and I got out safely, but I heard that once this starts, it doesn’t stop. It will happen again. Mom, I’m worried about you. Many Awakened have been taken there. Have you? If you have, please tell me! I’ll be worried otherwise.
Wishing you good health and happiness. It would be even better if you decided to come down from the mountain soon! You can always find me at 126 Ping’an Street, South Huadu District. I look forward to seeing you!
Love, your daughter, Yun Zouchuan. August 5th.”
Having finished the long letter, Yun Zouchuan stretched languidly.
The 7 a.m. sun was bright. She was about to make breakfast when she heard cheerful footsteps approaching from behind.
She turned around and stared, dumbfounded.
Who… was that?!
A beautiful woman in a pink floral dress, her face beaming with youthful exuberance and happiness… was carrying a plate of fried egg sandwiches. She skipped over to Yun Zouchuan.
She looked down at the letter. “Oh, Xiao Chuanchuan is writing a letter! Writing a letter so early in the morning on an empty stomach? That’s no good! Come and try the loving breakfast your big sister made for you!”
She put down the plate and made a heart shape with her hands.
Yun Zouchuan shuddered, her voice filled with terror. “B-Boss, if I did something wrong, you can dock my pay! Please don’t do this! I’m scared!”
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