She wanted to say, "I am Xu Qingzhu."
But he couldn't say anything and could only watch Liang Shi keep swinging the knife at him.
The pain of a knife piercing through skin and bone is excruciating. If one were to die without feeling anything, that would be one thing, but unfortunately, one still feels pain.
It's like facing your own death and experiencing the pain of dying.
No, that wasn't Liang Shi.
Liang Shi once said that if she had a knife in her hand, the blade would definitely be pointed at herself.
Xu Qingzhu kept trying to convince herself, but... the person standing there was Liang Shi.
The knife pierced her bones and skin, staining the mist crimson.
Xu Qingzhu couldn't make a sound.
The scene then changes to the villa where they used to live.
Xu Qingzhu's body was not injured, but the pain still lingered deep in her memory, and she dared not move the places where she had been stabbed.
It was pitch black.
The incessant chirping of cicadas outside seemed to herald the end of summer.
Xu Qingzhu huddled in the corner, afraid to make a sound, but suddenly her hair was grabbed and the knife was pointed at her face again.
Then the knife sliced across her face, across her shoulder, across her lower abdomen... and blood spread.
It hurts in every part.
Xu Qingzhu told herself that this was a dream.
None of that is true.
She tried to wake up from the dream, but she couldn't. A voice kept saying in her ear, "This is the real thing... what you're seeing is all fake."
Xu Qingzhu was in pain all over her body; she felt like she was about to bleed out.
She opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.
It's not even as good as that dying cicada.
Xu Qingzhu lay on the ground, watching Liang Shi's face grow larger and larger before her eyes. She opened her mouth wide, wanting to say, "Wife..."
But she couldn't speak. She could only watch helplessly as that face grew larger and larger until the sharp knife pierced her heart.
It's like that dull ache I've felt countless times in my nightmares.
"Hmm!" Xu Qingzhu suddenly opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling.
Tears and sweat streamed down his face.
It's yet another different scene.
But this time she lay beside him.
Xu Qingzhu looked at Liang Shi beside her; he was fast asleep.
The spot where she had been stabbed was still throbbing with pain, and she didn't dare give the other person another chance, so she pulled the fruit knife out from under her pillow.
The sharp blade was aimed at Liang Shi's glands, but tears involuntarily fell onto Liang Shi's face.
That was the scene Liang Shi saw when he opened his eyes.
Xu Qingzhu sat beside her with disheveled hair, holding a knife in both hands, the blade pointed at her gland, her eyes bloodshot.
She seemed to be enduring immense pain.
Liang Shi called out to her in surprise, "Wife."
Xu Qingzhu was momentarily distracted, and the blade in her hand only lightly grazed Liang Shi's nape.
Liang Shi called her again: "Baby..."
Xu Qingzhu opened her mouth, but still couldn't say a word, though tears kept falling.
She suddenly turned the blade towards herself.
Just as she plunged the blade into her abdomen, Liang Shi reached out and grabbed her hand.
"Wife, give me the knife." Liang Shi didn't dare to loosen his grip and still coaxed her in a low voice.
Xu Qingzhu stared at her blankly, her eyes vacant.
She asked, "Aren't you going to kill me?"
Liang Shi was speechless for a moment, then shook his head and smiled bitterly, "I love you, how could I kill you?"
“But didn’t you want to kill me?” Xu Qingzhu asked.
"No, it won't happen," Liang Shi said gently, taking the knife from her hand as he did so.
There was blood on the tip of the knife; it was blood from the back of Liang Shi's neck.
But only a little bit.
Xu Qingzhu frowned, her expression pained. "Then who wants to kill me?"
Liang Shi pursed his lips, unsure of what to say. After a moment, he could only reply, "It's your dream, it's fake, no one wants to kill you."
She took the knife from Xu Qingzhu's hand, threw it, and it struck the floor with a clang.
It was especially eerie in the darkness and silence.
Xu Qingzhu still looked at her with confusion: "Then who are you?"
“I am Liang Shi,” Liang Shi said.
Xu Qingzhu bit her lower lip, looked at her, and then suddenly realized, "It's Liang Shi, the one I love."
Liang Shi nodded, tears welling in her eyes: "Yes, it's the one you love."
"Do you love me?" Xu Qingzhu asked.
Liang Shi's tears suddenly fell. "Love."
Xu Qingzhu threw herself into her arms and kissed her throat, "Sister, don't cry, okay?"
Xu Qingzhu took her hand and placed it on her chest, "It hurts so much here."
Liang Shi hugged her.
After a long while, Xu Qingzhu fell asleep in her arms.
It seems that Xu Qingzhu just now was just a dream Liang Shi had.
But Liang Shi looked at the knife lying quietly on the ground, still reflecting light, and knew—it wasn't a dream.
It is the effect that the laws governing the world are being revised and have fallen on Xu Qingzhu.
As it stands, neither she nor Lu Jiayi seems to be in any trouble.
Therefore, Xu Qingzhu bore all the damage caused by this major event alone.
It's still unknown how long it will take to balance out the changes brought about by this major event.
So... it seems... we can only go with the flow of the plot.
Liang Shi was wide awake.
After Xu Qingzhu fell asleep, Liang Shi lay there and kissed her forehead, then tiptoed out of bed.
She had a divorce agreement that her lawyer had recently drafted on her phone, so she went to another room to get a printer and print it out.
The clicking sound of the printer feeding paper seemed particularly jarring in the quiet room.
Liang Shi read through the terms one by one, and decided not to ask for anything, choosing to leave with nothing.
Even though he didn't have many assets, he still gave half to Xu Qingzhu.
Liang Shi pressed the ballpoint pen in his hand repeatedly.
In the end, she signed her name on the divorce agreement.
Moonlight refracted into the room, casting a silvery glow on the floor.
The blade that had just struck her gland still bore traces of her blood.
She put away the knife, then took out her suitcase from the wardrobe, packed away some necessities, and as dawn broke on the distant horizon, she tiptoed into the room to check on Xu Qingzhu.
Xu Qingzhu was still fast asleep and clearly no longer had nightmares.
Liang Shi kissed her cheek, then drew the curtains and closed the door.
They left, pulling their suitcases.
//
This was a rare good dream for Xu Qingzhu these days.
She dreamed of having a wedding with Liang Shi. The wedding was simple and hasty, and it was with that person.
Xu Qingzhu married her with high hopes.
But later he discovered that she wasn't the one he wanted to marry.
However, last night she dreamed that she and Liang Shi held a wedding in a mountain villa and even threw the bouquet to Lin Luoxi.
Because Lin Luoxi is pregnant.
It's a bit far-fetched, but it's a beautiful dream.
After waking up, Xu Qingzhu stretched and glanced at the time; it was already 9:30 in the morning.
She drank too much again last night, and her memory seemed to stop when she was kissing Liang Shi on the sofa.
No matter how hard she tried to recall what happened after that, she couldn't remember anything.
She touched her side; it was already cold.
It was as if no one had ever lain there.
Having had enough sleep, she felt better than usual. She got out of bed and saw the honey water on her bedside table. Although it was a little cold, she still picked it up and drank half of it.
Then she drew back the curtains, letting in a flood of sunlight, and shouted, "Teacher Liang!"
But no one answered.