Chapter 59: Li Yun

The figure flashed past ahead so quickly that I did not see her face, but my intuition told me it was Li Yun. There was no reason, no evidence—just pure intuition.

The direction she vanished into was different from the path taken by the mysterious woman. I stopped at the fork in the road, and after two seconds, I resolutely set off running in the direction where Huang Ying had disappeared.

What I did not know was that, after I left, that figure reappeared right where she had been, watched the direction of my departure, and then flickered out of sight.

Li Yun's life was not in danger at the moment, but Huang Ying's situation was perilous. Besides, my identification of Li Yun was merely a hunch, and it might not have been her at all; I could not take that risk.

That mysterious woman could have shaken me off with ease, but she seemed to deliberately slow down, as if waiting for me.

Eventually, she stopped in an open clearing, standing with her hands clasped behind her back. Huang Ying was lying unconscious beside her.

"Where is your helper?" she asked. Her voice was extremely hoarse, carrying a grim chill as though every single word had drifted up from the nethermost depths of hell.

The helper she mentioned must have been the woman in white who had imprisoned my soul; she had already dissipated during the final clash.

Without answering her, I stepped forward directly, knelt down, and scooped Huang Ying up from the ground.

As I bent down, a pair of feet entered my field of vision.

I picked Huang Ying up, stood straight, and found myself locking eyes with the owner of those feet.

The scene froze instantly: one woman radiating an aura of evil stood with her hands behind her back, while a man cradling a woman exchanged a gaze with another female.

"Let's go!" After staring at each other for a few seconds, Li Yun turned her head and said to the mysterious woman.

The mysterious woman nodded, then slowly drifted toward me. Her body remained shrouded in a thick blood-red mist, obscuring her true appearance.

"Where are you going?" I asked, holding Huang Ying in my arms.

Li Yun paused, looked at me, then glanced down at Huang Ying in my arms, and said, "She is fine now!"

With those words, she vanished at an astonishing speed, and the evil woman disappeared along with her.

"Li..."

Before I could finish shouting, her trace was already lost from this place.

I stared at the spot where Li Yun had been standing, then turned and walked away with Huang Ying in my arms. Since Li Yun had said Huang Ying was fine, then she must be alright. I believed that Li Yun would not lie to me.

By now, I had figured out a few more things: first, the man in the suit was truly formidable; second, Li Yun had been right by my side; and third, that mysterious woman was connected to Li Yun.

After walking for a short while, Huang Ying stirred in my arms. I lowered my head to take a look and realized that this little lady had already woken up, staring right at me with wide open eyes.

"Put me down!" she said.

I narrowed my eyes and replied, "I'll hold you for a little longer!"

Then she obediently lay quietly in my arms.

"Who was that red beam of light?" Huang Ying asked.

I thought for a moment and said, "I have no idea. She didn't show up again after the man in the suit left!"

Huang Ying didn't say anything more after that. I carried her all the way back home. Many people turned to look at us along the way, and Huang Ying asked to be put down to walk on her own several times, but I refused every request.

Once home, I laid Huang Ying on the bed and told her, "You rest here for a bit, I'm going out to find something!"

Huang Ying's body didn't seem to be suffering from any major issues anymore. That evil woman possessed immense strength, and Huang Ying had recovered her normal state precisely with her assistance.

Huang Ying nodded, and then I opened the door and left. Now, I needed to find Li Yun. After disappearing for so long, she had finally shown up; I could not let her vanish again.

"To the southern suburbs!" I got into a taxi, suspecting that Li Yun was very likely to be there.

Ten minutes or so later, the taxi stopped outside that familiar villa.

The door remained tightly shut. After the taxi drove away, I stood outside with the key in hand. Should I open the door myself or knock?

Hesitating for a few seconds, I inserted the key into the lock and pushed the door open.

My state of mind upon arriving this time was completely different from my previous visits.

My steps were very slow, my feet feeling as heavy as if they were filled with lead. I had no idea what I should say when we met in a moment. I should have made a "meeting conversation checklist" beforehand.

In truth, coming here was also based on my own conjectures. All signs indicated that Li Yun frequented this place, because not only had I discovered her traces here, but Chen Xiaoyao had as well.

Now that she had appeared again, met with me briefly, and even exchanged a word, she had no reason to vanish so quickly once more since she had chosen to reveal herself to me. Therefore, I was certain she must be waiting for me to find her. Of course, all of this was just my guesswork; perhaps she had simply vanished again immediately after showing herself to me.

I did not linger in the living room. As soon as I entered the house, I headed straight for the bedroom. In this entire world, the place Li Yun loved staying in most was that small bedroom.

I stood at the doorway, raising my hand to knock.

Yet once my hand was raised, I did not know how to knock down. What should I say after the door opened? What should I do? I was completely unprepared.

I remained frozen in that awkward posture for a long time, until I finally resolved to make the knock.

"You're here!" The door swung open abruptly. My hand could not stop its momentum in time, and upon seeing me, Li Yun's first reaction was simply to squeeze her eyes shut—*bam*—I struck Li Yun directly on the head.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I apologized repeatedly.

Li Yun opened her eyes and said, "It's nothing. Come in!"

After entering, I sat down on the edge of the bed. This bed was so familiar; my very first time had taken place upon it.

"Do you come here every day?" Li Yun walked over, sat down beside me, and asked. There was no joy of a long-awaited reunion, nor any warm greeting between friends—at least, none that I could detect.

Today she was not wearing that black dress, but instead wore a brown tracksuit, with her hair hanging loosely over her shoulders.

"More or less," I replied. "Where have you been these past few days?"

"Hehe, I thought you were going to ask me whether I've been doing well these past few days!" Li Yun gave a soft laugh, but to my ears, that laughter was filled to the brim with sorrow.

"I wanted to ask that!" I had thought of phrasing my very first sentence that way, but the words had failed to come out.

Li Yun gazed straight ahead, her lips somewhat pale. It appeared that she had not escaped light injuries during her fight with Chen Xiaoyao.

"Wang Yu, has anyone ever told you that you are deeply unfair?" She turned her head, looked right at me, and spoke, sending puffs of cool air against my face.

Unfair? What was she trying to express? I had a bad premonition.

Actually, before entering this room, I had assumed everything would progress toward a favorable direction—toward the outcome I anticipated. But that had merely been my own wishful thinking, or rather, my hope that things would unfold that way.

I had no idea how to answer her question; at this moment, both nodding and shaking my head had become exceptionally difficult.

"You are so unfair, you know? If not for you, that female ghost just now would have long since been reduced to ashes."

Indeed, if that evil-infused woman hadn't intervened earlier, it would have been very difficult for Huang Ying's strength to defeat the man in the suit.

It was evident that Li Yun and that mysterious woman were very close; it must have been Li Yun who called upon that woman to act.

I offered no reply, which amounted to a tacit admission.

"I thought you would hesitate there, but I overestimated my standing in your heart. Two seconds—merely two seconds—and you resolutely chose her instead. At that moment, I actually felt some regret for having asked her to save her."

The "her" she referred to must have been that evil woman, yet up to this moment, I still believed I had not made the wrong choice back then.

"Let me ask you a question: what position do I hold in your heart? A girlfriend? A lover? Or just an ordinary friend?"

My body stiffened. The question had finally been asked. I had pondered over it for a long time previously without arriving at a conclusion; none of the labels I could think of suited her.

"Then do you like me?" Li Yun's face was only a few centimeters away from mine. I turned my head, not daring to meet her gaze, unable to bear that kind of look in her eyes!

"I do!" On this question I was still very clear; if I said I didn't like her, even I wouldn't believe myself!

"Forget it, I'm not teasing you anymore, I was just joking." The moment the word "like" left my lips, Li Yun suddenly patted my shoulder and said with a smile. The sorrow and dissatisfaction that had just filled her face vanished entirely, replaced by the joy of a long-awaited reunion that I had been longing for.

I looked at Li Yun, who was now wreathed in smiles and acting somewhat more open. Although I was very familiar with this side of Li Yun, I knew deep down that only the other Li Yun from moments ago was the genuine, true Li Yun.

However, since she had voluntarily sealed away that sorrowful version of herself, I saw no need to dig it back up and release that Li Yun, because I truly had no idea how to face her.