Actions fantômes

Chapitre 22

Five

Suddenly, Li Xue felt a surge of fear from the bottom of her heart. Yu Kai's face in front of her seemed unfamiliar. Fear was like a bucket of cold water poured over her head, making her tremble uncontrollably.

"What...what are you going to do?" she asked Yu Kai, trying to remain calm.

Yu Kai smiled, and that smile caused Li Xue's fear to spread boundlessly, making her want to run away. She couldn't accept that Yu Kai, who was usually so timid, could instill such fear in her today.

Yu Kai spoke again:

"I want him to die in front of you!" She said each word through gritted teeth, as if she were chewing on Zhong Lei's bones.

Just minutes ago, Yu Kai had softened his stance towards Zhong Lei, because they had been brothers for so many years and genuinely had feelings for each other. But now, Li Xue's attitude towards him reignited that evil thought! He himself couldn't believe that jealousy would lead him to hurt his brother!

Even if Li Xue doesn't like me, I can't let her like someone else! This crazy thought swelled, leaped, and stimulated Yu Kai's emotions.

Yu Kai stared at Zhong Lei with almost red eyes. His hands trembled with excitement as he pulled a clay doll, about the size of his palm, from his pocket. He placed the doll in his palm, then took out another pill and pressed it into the doll's head. He then began chanting incantations over it, his lips moving rapidly as if he were reciting some kind of spell.

As Yu Kai moved, Zhong Lei on the bed began to react. First, he slowly opened his eyes, then sat up, then got out of bed, went to the window, stood still, and began to smile eerily at Li Xue.

"Li Xue, just watch how he dies!"

These words came from Zhong Lei's mouth, but it was Yu Kai's tone. Their lips moved in unison, their actions synchronized, though no sound came from Yu Kai's mouth. This sight left Li Xue breathless with astonishment; the suffocating feeling made her face flush red.

In front of Li Xue, a high school girl, the two best friends showed the same expression, every detail identical. However, Yu Kai's hand was still waving occasionally, as if Yu Kai was manipulating Zhong Lei!

At this moment, Zhong Lei was like a puppet on a string. The control panel was in Yu Kai's hand, and he had lost consciousness, completely under Yu Kai's control.

As soon as Zhong Lei finished speaking, he flung open the window! This was the eleventh floor of the hospital building! Was he going to jump?! Seeing this, Li Xue rushed over, grabbed Zhong Lei's arm, and said urgently:

"Lei Zi! Lei Zi! What's wrong with you! What are you trying to do!"

Zhong Lei turned to Li Xue and smiled slightly:

"Am I Lei Zi? Haha! Am I?"

As he spoke, one of his legs had already stepped onto the windowsill.

Li Xue was stunned by the question. What happened to Lei Zi? Turning to look at Yu Kai, she saw he had the same expression. Lei Zi wouldn't jump off the building, could it be...? A terrifying thought arose in Li Xue's mind: was Yu Kai controlling Zhong Lei? But did Yu Kai have that kind of power? This was too scary! But now was not the time to be afraid. Lei Zi was already about to jump. What should she do?

Suddenly, Li Xuexin steeled herself, opened another window, quickly jumped in, turned around, and said to Kai with a look of resignation, "I'm going to my death."

"If you tell him to jump, I'll jump with him! I like Lei Zi, it's more than just ordinary liking! I'm willing to die with him!"

Zhong Lei looked surprised, but Yu Kai was truly astonished, his mouth agape. He hadn't expected Li Xue to do this. Did Li Xue really like Zhong Lei that much? The answer was now clear to him. Suddenly, Yu Kai felt all his passion vanish, replaced by a profound sense of guilt. What was he doing? He was separating two people who truly loved each other! What a terrible sin that was!

After a long silence, Yu Kai removed the pill from the clay figure's head, then crushed it into powder. The powder drifted aimlessly through the air, mirroring Yu Kai's dejected mood.

Chapter Ten: The Truth Approaches (Part Five)

6

He sighed and looked up, because he really didn't want to see Li Xue rush over and hug Zhong Lei tightly!

There's a file in my heart, gently and repeatedly grinding away. The pain travels along my nerves to my brain without fail—it's so agonizing! I gave up torturing Zhong Lei, but I don't know if it's fair to myself! I love Li Xue so much, but Li Xue loves Zhong Lei, and Zhong Lei and I are brothers—brothers who are practically inseparable!

Contradiction!

He also wanted to say to Li Xue,

"Li Xue! Do you know how much I like you...?"

Before she could finish speaking, Li Xue turned and left without turning back, saying:

"If you have nothing else to do, you can leave!"

Yu Kai has been completely pushed into the abyss. Clearly, he has no chance left, not even the right to speak to Li Xue. Is it all because of what I just said? But I couldn't even control myself just now! Can Li Xue understand? Our cursed clan is destined to be abnormal from birth!

Yu Kai felt a deep pain in his heart because of Li Xue's indifference and because of his own betrayal of his friend.

At this moment, he decided to tell everything, a reaction from someone utterly disappointed.

He took a deep breath and went to help Zhong Lei, but Li Xue slapped his hand away.

"Get out of here! Don't touch my Leizi with those horrible hands of yours!"

Yu Kai felt another pang of heartache, but he immediately realized that he would have to learn to adapt to this kind of pain in the future. He had never seen Li Xue take such careful and meticulous care of Zhong Lei before, so he was certain that Li Xue loved Zhong Lei very much, and perhaps this had already evolved into love!

Let's put matters of the heart aside for now! What I need to talk about now is the life-or-death situation of one of my brothers and another person I deeply love.

“I have something else to say,” Yu Kai said, trying to keep his tone calm.

Li Xue didn't even raise her head. From what she'd just witnessed, she was utterly disappointed in Yu Kai. She'd initially thought he was incredibly caring and loyal to Zhong Lei. Even if that wasn't the case, what Li Xue never expected was that all of Zhong Lei's misfortunes were orchestrated by Yu Kai! Along with disappointment, Li Xue felt a pang of despair. She wondered if he would harm Lei Zi again. If he did, she knew she wouldn't be able to resist and protect Lei Zi. What should she do?

Li Xue couldn't help but feel a little anxious and irritable. She hadn't heard a word Yu Kai had said earlier.

Yu Kai controlled his emotions and repeated himself:

"I have something else to say."

This time, Li Xue heard it. She knelt beside Zhong Lei, head bowed. What else did he want to say? Was he going to tell us a lie? For so many years, this guy had hidden his identity so well. It wouldn't be difficult for him to fabricate a perfect lie, would it?

It's best to ignore him; don't take anything he says seriously.

So she said softly:

"Say what you have to say, and then please leave quickly, okay?"

Yu Kai nodded. "Li Xue, you probably won't believe me now, but I won't lie to you. This one lie is enough for this lifetime." Thinking this, Yu Kai felt a pang of guilt, like swallowing a bitter fruit in one gulp. The bitterness was indescribable; he could only endure it silently…

After the initial shock, Yu Kai finally spoke, recounting the entire story. The truth behind the school murder unfolded little by little before Li Xue's eyes...

Chapter Ten: The Truth Approaches (Part Six)

7

Sunset, a broken shell.

Yu Kai had been gone from the ward for two hours. Li Xue remained there, sitting blankly by the bedside, unsure of what to do.

What I just heard is too unacceptable.

She hesitated whether to tell Zhong Lei.

The truth should be told to Zhong Lei, because he is the direct victim. But! If he finds out, can he bear it? He already has no family left; can he accept the betrayal of a good friend?

At this moment, Zhong Lei slowly opened his eyes. He had been unconscious for a whole day, and his stomach was growling loudly with hunger. Upon regaining consciousness, his first sensation was the protesting churning of his stomach, which translated into action: he said to Li Xue:

"Li Xue, is there anything to eat?"

Li Xue was still lost in thought, unaware that Zhong Lei had woken up or noticed his question. However, Zhong Lei noticed the tear tracks on Li Xue's eyes. He was surprised; this was the first time he had ever seen Li Xue cry. He hadn't even seen her shed a tear when he broke up with her. She was a strong girl, so seeing her cry was even more surprising than seeing her in a dress.

"What's wrong? What happened? Are you feeling unwell?"

Hearing Zhong Lei's question, Li Xue suddenly cried even harder. He had almost died just now! And now he was comforting me! But it's all good now. The biggest threat to him has been eliminated. Yu Kai has let go and left, and won't come back to cause trouble for Lei Zi. I must treat him well. He broke up with me because he was afraid of involving me. Now that there's no danger, I must stay with him!

Thinking of this, Li Xue wiped away her tears and said to Zhong Lei,

"What would you like to eat? I'll go buy it for you, or I can cook it for you!"

Lei Zi was a little surprised. His earlier unconsciousness cleared up considerably. This rich young lady actually offered to cook? But once she got clingy, it would be hard to shake her off! His life was hanging in the balance, and he absolutely couldn't let Li Xue get involved in any further!

So he put on a stern face and spoke in a curt tone,

"Still crying! Didn't I tell you not to always follow me around? You can leave now! Stop clinging to me like a little shadow all day, okay? I have my own things to do!"

After being reprimanded, Li Xue's expression remained unchanged. Zhong Lei was surprised again, but he didn't show it.

Li Xue hesitated for a moment, but decided to tell Zhong Lei the truth, because the truth would eventually come out, and it would also affect his future relationship with Yu Kai.

“Lei Zi, listen to me, you no longer need to investigate Bi Bin’s body, because I already know the truth.”

Caught off guard, Zhong Lei was taken aback. When did Li Xue become so shrewd? Could it be that she guessed it? Then it could only be Yu Kai. But I left him a note saying I was going to the bank. He wouldn't distrust me and follow me, would he?

However, the thing he least expected happened, leaving him no time to be surprised.

Li Xue parted her lips slightly and slowly recounted the events, but first, she began with a concluding remark:

"Yu Kai did all of this."

Then Zhong Lei's eyes widened, and as he finished speaking, they stared even wider...

Chapter Ten: The Truth Approaches (Part Seven)

8

"Yu Kai? How could it be him?"

Zhong Lei shook his head, his thick eyebrows furrowed. How could it be Yu Kai? It's not what I initially thought?

He lowered his head to organize his thoughts. The person I suspected at first should have the most motive, but Yu Kai? Could it be him? I just can't figure out why he would do this.

Thinking it to myself, I unconsciously said it out loud:

"Why did Yu Kai want to harm me?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xue's oval face flushed slightly, and she murmured:

"Because he likes me."

"Huh?"

Zhong Lei suddenly realized what was happening, and his face flushed instantly. Thinking about it carefully, he liked Li Xue, and I had such a close relationship with Li Xue—was he jealous? We had just talked about this a few days ago, and he was so excited when he promoted Li Xue; it was indeed possible.

But surely our brotherhood of so many years wouldn't lead us to fight each other because of a girl?

Zhong Lei wanted to see Yu Kai.

"Where is Yu Kai now?"

Li Xue wiped away another tear from the corner of her eye; her tear-stained cheeks looked incredibly cute.

"He left, saying he would never bother you again, and that people like him sometimes have a hard time controlling their emotions, advising you not to go to him, for fear he might hurt you again."

“If he wants to harm me, why is he afraid of hurting me?” Zhong Lei felt that this statement was somewhat contradictory.

Li Xue nodded and said:

“Sometimes he loses control and wants to harm you. He’s a master at using all sorts of drugs to induce hallucinations and control people. If he wants to harm you, he has plenty of opportunities to do so. I was just thinking about that.”

Zhong Lei listened and nodded.