vicious person - Chapter 11
"Wait a minute." This time it was Liang Yingwu who called out.
"Wait a minute, your experiment is over."
"What?" Lu Yun asked, somewhat surprised.
Liang Yingwu suddenly burst into laughter, laughing so hard he bent over, as if he had seen the funniest thing in the world.
Lu Yun's expression grew increasingly grim: "Enough, what are you laughing at?"
“From beginning to end, it’s all just wishful thinking on your part, you little girl. What kind of experiment is this? Xiao Xiuyun might have been qualified back then, but you now, whether you call yourself Xiao Xiuyun or Lu Yun, you have no right to conduct the experiment!” Liang Yingwu said with a laugh.
“Nonsense. As a woman you hurt, of course I have the right to say that.” Lu Yun said sharply, her voice so shrill it almost pierced eardrums.
The students around him looked terrified, afraid that Liang Yingwu would anger Lu Yun and cause them to die even faster. But I knew that Liang Yingwu was taking a risky move. I knew him too well. Despite his arrogant appearance, he was just as nervous as I was.
"Go away, what's with all this talk about hurting you? I've never even spoken to you. It's been you who's been in a one-sided crush from the very beginning. You know what I said earlier, I only said it to trick you into coming out, it was just something I had to say to disgust myself. Since we never even started anything, what right do you have to do this experiment?"
"It's like you see a beautiful bird in a tree, and you ask it to play with you, but the bird completely ignores you, so you shoot it dead—or rather, you use illusion magic to kill it. Don't you think that's both boring and perverted?"
“You…” Lu Yun gritted his teeth, his face turning pale.
"What do you mean, you perverted old monster? If you insist on doing this bullshit experiment, it just means you don't understand love at all. And someone who doesn't understand love is trying to do an experiment about love, it's like a cow playing the lute."
A resentment that has been passed down for a century (5)
I've never seen Liang Yingwu so harsh since I met him. Lu Yun's body was already trembling.
But Liang Yingwu wasn't finished. He continued, pointing at Liu Wenying, "You think I'm dating her? That just shows how bad your taste is. When she confessed to me, I said exactly the same thing to her as I said to you: I've never accepted her, and I never intended to. Lu Yun and Liu Wenying are the same to me; I have no interest in either of them. You say you're going to experiment, but who are you actually going to experiment on? You don't even have a test subject. As for Liu Wenying, even though I rejected her, she hasn't given up and has been trying to win me over. Although she hasn't succeeded yet, when it comes to love, she's far more qualified than someone like you who cowers in fear after being rejected."
"Really, so you and Liu Wenying weren't here..." Lu Yun said in a trembling voice.
"Of course not. When have you ever seen me have any intimate contact with her? Don't mistake someone's slightest bit of enthusiasm for love just because you're aloof. Sigh, you really are a clueless kid."
Looking at Lu Yun's expression, I had a feeling that something was about to happen. Liang Yingwu was really good at alternating between provocation and soothing. I was just about to watch the show and see what other sarcastic things Liang Yingwu would say when, unexpectedly, Liang Yingwu reached out his right hand and pulled me into a hug.
"To be honest, I'm not interested in any woman. I only like men, and in my opinion, they're all much prettier than you. If you want to compete, you'd better change your sex first!"
This statement was truly earth-shattering. Before I could even get goosebumps, I heard Lu Yun scream "Ah!" and then fall down, fainting from the shock.
end
Three hours later, led by Lu Yun, who had regained consciousness, we successfully emerged from the cave that had trapped us for three days. Fortunately, all our belongings were still in their original places and had not been taken away by wild animals.
No one had any interest in continuing the planned trek through Shennongjia. Since no one had slept the night before, after a hearty meal, everyone pitched their tents and slept until the next morning. Of course, Lu Yun slept in a separate tent; no girl wanted to sleep with her. The boys probably felt the same way.
On the return journey, none of the students chatted and laughed as loudly as they had on the way there. This was not only because they had experienced such a terrifying life-or-death ordeal, but also because their classmates, who had previously gotten along well, had become so horrifying at the last moment in the Cave of Bones. They had learned too early about the ugliness of human nature, not only from the Bao Family Village massacre a century ago, but also from their own lives.
However, Liang Yingwu and I talked a lot with Lu Yun and learned some things that others dared not ask.
Just as Liang Yingwu predicted, and I had actually thought of it too—this wasn't hindsight; I'd already considered it when Liang Yingwu provoked me. What Xiao Xiuyun left behind was a remarkably strong resentment. This resentment was so powerful that, once activated, it could overshadow the person's original personality, causing them to act according to the resentment and do things they wouldn't normally do. However, while this resentment was powerful, and Xiao Xiuyun's formidable skill in illusion magic had also allowed some of her memories to remain along with it, it was ultimately not an independent soul and couldn't permanently replace the consciousness of this body that didn't belong to her. Therefore, when the experiment ended, this resentment would once again lie dormant, waiting for the next opportunity to erupt.
However, Lu Yun told us that due to Liang Yingwu's provocation, this resentment had to bear excessively complex emotions and thoughts. Since it wasn't a true soul, it was unexpectedly broken and dispersed by this extreme method. This not only restored Lu Yun's original sanity but also ensured that it would never reappear. Furthermore, Lu Yun's own illusionary arts cultivation, after this ordeal, miraculously merged with the resentment left behind by Xiao Xiuyun, reaching a higher level. What the future holds is unclear even to Lu Yun himself; it's possible he might even surpass Xiao Xiuyun.
Liang Yingwu and I together asked everyone to keep quiet about this matter. No one objected. Everyone wanted to desperately forget those dark memories; no one wanted to relive that nightmare. Besides, although Xiao Xiuyun was gone, Lu Yun was still there and would continue to go to school with them. No one wanted to risk angering her.
When they emerged from the cave, Lu Yun lifted the restrictions on the Dragon-Trapping Array. As long as no one activates it again, there won't be any situation where someone goes in but can't get out. I asked her why she didn't completely destroy it, and Lu Yun smiled, saying that was beyond her capabilities. However, I remained skeptical about that.
Until we arrived in Shanghai, no one except us spoke a single word to Lu Yun. But an astonishing change was slowly taking place within her. She was becoming more and more beautiful at an incredible pace. Originally just a pretty girl, somehow, compared to before, while her features hadn't changed drastically, her entire aura was completely different, radiating a feminine charm that was almost irresistible to me when we parted. I knew it must be the result of her improved illusion magic. Her return to school this time would surely cause a sensation. Who knows what she'll look like the next time I see her?
"I appreciate your kindness. If you ever need anything in the future, don't forget me." Lu Yun smiled and waved to me at the train station, then naturally took Liang Yingwu's hand and turned to leave. Whether it was because of her current charm or because of her unpredictable abilities, Liang Yingwu, who claimed to only be interested in men, did not refuse.
Back in Shanghai, I wrote a terrible draft; I didn't even feel like making anything up, and I inevitably had to watch my boss's expression several times. It took me a long time to recover from the trauma of the incident. After that, I spoke with Lu Yun a few times on the phone, but it was always her who called. I still had a lingering unease about her, and since I hadn't met her in person, I couldn't feel any attraction to her. Each time, we'd just exchange a few words and hang up.
Later, Liang Yingwu told me that Zhu Zili, Guo Yonghua, Jiang Wei, Bian Xiao'ou, and Fei Qing all dropped out of school one after another. Bian Xiao'ou and Fei Qing broke up not long after returning home. He Yunkai also stopped training in bodybuilding. Liu Wenying and Lu Yun's personalities seemed to have changed. Now, Lu Yun was the center of attention wherever she went at school. Her charm was so great that even Liang Yingwu would turn his head away quickly to avoid becoming infatuated with her.
Now, the human cave has been discovered again. I wonder if the writing on the bones inside will be discovered. The possibility is extremely small. If it weren't for our circumstances at the time, no one would have carefully studied these bones. An ordinary person standing in that cave of bones wouldn't have stayed for more than a few minutes before running away. Therefore, the horrific massacre in Baojia Village back then is probably still only known to us 14 people.
As I write this, I realize that my initial fear has faded with each Chinese character I type on the computer screen. This is truly a wonderful way to share everything—joy, pain, and of course, fear.
So, my next plan is to call Lu Yun for the first time, to ask how popular she is lately and how far she's progressed in her illusion magic. I want to build a good relationship with her; those mysterious and unpredictable illusion magic might come in handy someday. Of course, there's something even more important: Lu Yun is already a great beauty, perhaps even a stunning beauty, isn't she?