“Liang Shi’s arrival saved our family, so I’m grateful for her kindness.” Liang Xinzhou looked at Liang Xinhe. “We practically raised her ourselves, so we have a bond with her. Even though she’s been a bit of a troublemaker before, she’s never caused any major problems. Besides, things have improved now, so why should we let someone else in and disrupt the existing balance?”
Liang Xinhe fell into deep thought.
//
When Liang Shi and Xu Qingzhu returned home, a torrential downpour had already begun.
There was an umbrella in the car, so neither of them got wet.
It was nearly midnight when Liang Shi returned. He let Liang Xinzhou know he was safe and then went back to his room.
The same applies to Xu Qingzhu.
The rain was too heavy, the wind was howling through the windows, and there were occasional claps of thunder.
As soon as Liang Shi lay down, his mind raced through the events of the night, constantly wondering about the situation at the old house and what Liang Xinzhou and Liang Xinhe would do.
She couldn't sleep until the early hours of the morning, so she got up and took a melatonin pill.
Only then did he slowly fall asleep.
But Liang Shi had another dream.
It was like a dream falling into endless darkness, contrasting with the boundless rainy night.
In her dream, she was still in the same room as before, dark, enclosed, and suffocating.
The ceiling, resembling a coffin lid, emitted a ghostly red light. Inside the room, facing the bed, stood a bronze statue covered in a black cloth. The white sheets were scattered with white scraps of paper, as if all the paper in a shredder had been poured out.
The phone on the bedside table kept lighting up.
Liang Shi stood in the room as if in a dreamlike state of light and shadow, and she saw messages popping up on the constantly lighting screen.
Cheng Ran: Why are you home again? It's so annoying, let's go out and play.
Cheng Ran: Damn it! Not replying to my messages again? Next time we meet, I'll break your legs!
[Mom: Ah Shi, you absolutely mustn't lift that black cloth!]
[Mom: That's a deity I specially invited for you. It will remove all the evil spirits from you in just one week.]
[Mom: Don't tell your brothers either. I'm afraid they'll kick you out if they find out, and I can't protect you.]
[Mom: Listen to me, whatever you do, don't lift that black cloth.]
[Mom: What would you like to eat for breakfast tomorrow? Mom will have the maid make your favorite steamed dumplings, okay?]
After a while, the phone screen finally went dark.
Liang Shi turned around and saw himself.
To be precise, it was the original owner of this body. She was wearing a blue shirt and black trousers. Her hair was much shorter than it was now, just past her shoulders. She stood blankly in the room. After a while, she picked up her phone to check the messages. She first sneered, and then started to cry. Low sobs could be heard from inside the room.
Not long after, the original owner put down her phone and walked straight through the illusory light and shadow of Liang Shi to the bronze statue covered with a black cloth.
Liang Shi wanted to tell her, "Don't reveal it."
Judging from Qiu Zimin's repeated instructions, she must have wanted Qiu Zimin to reveal the truth.
That thing must be a really scary thing.
It was obvious that the original owner was also wary, as his hand landed on the black cloth, and he hesitated and retreated several times.
But in the end, she couldn't resist her curiosity.
Long, slender fingers lifted the black cloth, revealing the true face of the bronze statue.
Even though it was just a glimpse of light, Liang Shi took a half-step back in fear.
The face on that bronze statue was his own, and also the original owner's.
There's nothing we can do; they just look alike.
But that's not important; it's just that this face is printed on the bronze statue, with a strange smile on its lips.
The bronze statue is holding a knife in its hand, and the knife in its right hand has slashed at the left arm, so the statue has lost its left arm.
It's like it was chopped off by your own right hand.
This seems to be a form of psychological suggestion.
And this bronze statue is kneeling.
She is not the god that Qiu Zimin described at all.
The original owner of this body had a better mental fortitude than Liang Shi. When she saw the bronze statue, she just smiled softly and then took out a very sharp object from the cabinet—a sharp dagger.
The dagger struck the bronze statue, which, like a roly-poly toy, wobbled and eventually returned to its original position.
The original owner hacked away like a madman until he was completely exhausted.
Finally, exhausted, he sat down on the ground.
The dagger fell to the ground with a clang.
When Liang Shi saw the original owner like this, his heart suddenly clenched, and he felt an indescribable sadness.
It was as if the rabbit mourned the fox's death.
To Liang Shi's surprise, not long after, the original owner picked up the short dagger and slashed his own arm.
The blue shirt was shredded.
Blood was everywhere.
Liang Shi tried his best to stop her and to take the dagger from her hand, but he couldn't do it at all.
Here, she is merely a fleeting shadow.
As the original owner's shirt gradually lost its original color, she placed the last piece at the level of the shirt's buttons, and the blue button fell off.
Stained with blood.
In this extremely oppressive room.
As Liang Shi watched the original owner hurt him time and time again, his eyes grew increasingly gloomy.
She gradually lost her mind, yet she struggled and teetered on the edge of madness time and time again.
She's like a madwoman, but not completely insane.
Finally, she lay on the floor, looked at the ceiling, and smiled.
The rain poured down, followed by a deafening clap of thunder.
My body felt as if it were falling into an abyss, sinking deeper and deeper into a cold, unfathomable place.
Liang Shi suddenly opened his eyes.
Daylight broke.
But the rain outside hadn't stopped. The clock on the wall already pointed to 7:32, and the sky outside was still overcast. It looked like perfect weather for sleeping, but Liang Shigang woke up with a start. She raised her hand to wipe her forehead, her hand covered in cold sweat.
She forced herself to sit up and then went to the bathroom to take a shower.
The moment she got out of bed, her legs went weak and she almost knelt on the ground.
She took a cold shower in the bathroom, as if only in this way could she calm herself down.
The dream she had last night was too much of a shock for her, and she was still feeling lingering fear after waking up.
After taking a shower, she casually wrapped herself in a bathrobe and took out the blood-red button from the bedside drawer.
She could see its original color from the edges by the bright light.
The primary color is blue.
It was that button that appeared in my dream.
That wasn't a dream, but rather the original owner's memories.
Liang Shi once again gained a portion of the original owner's memories, a portion filled with endless pain.
This caused even an outsider like her to feel pain and be moved.
Liang Shi seems to have grasped the triggering pattern of the original owner's memories.
After returning to her room in the old house, she was triggered to recall memories with Zhou Yi'an and Xu Qingzhu.
After she saw the blood-red button, memories related to the button were triggered.
In other words, at key locations or after she comes into contact with key items, the original owner's memories will be triggered.
Liang Shixin was startled and immediately asked the system, "Did you give me the original owner's memories?"
After a while, the system's eerie mechanical voice sounded in her mind: [Don't you have the original owner's memories?]
Its tone was one of utter shock!
Liang Shi: "No, I've always been blindly following the crowd."
The talkative system from before is back. [No wonder you kept going out of character; it turns out you didn't have her memories. But knowing your temper, even if you did have her memories, you'd still go out of character.]
Liang Shi felt a headache coming on. She said sternly, "Shut up! Get to the point."
system:【……】
The system paused for two seconds, then said seriously: "Sorry, host, the original owner's memories are not under the jurisdiction of the Resentment Management Bureau. It is up to her to decide whether to grant them."
"She still has a choice?" Liang Shi was shocked.
System: [From a rules perspective, everyone has human rights. The Human Rights Law of the Resentment Management Bureau is very comprehensive, and we respect the privacy and choices of others.]
Liang Shi found a loophole in its statement, "What if we talk about it in private?"
system:【……】
"We respect her choice, because we can only imprison her soul, not take her memories," the system said.
Liang Shi sighed and asked, "Aren't you going to explain the contents of this book to me?"
System: [Don't you already know the general content?]
Liang Shi's good temper was gradually disappearing: "I need details! For example, the relationship between the original owner and Qiu Zimin, the original owner's background, and what happened after the real heiress came back. Please tell me, thank you."
The system fell silent again.
Liang Shi questioned, "Why can't you tell me?"