Run?
"Why run? What is it that you want me to know?" Li Xianyu gave a courteous reply.
Zhang Mingyu floated to right in front of him, his face pale. What made the sight even more appalling was that his eyeballs were missing and left his eyes with complete hollowness.
"Run… Run…"
Li Xianyu did not dare to move at first, like a little rat that had been cornered to the wall. His back was stuck to the wall. His expression and emotional state was that of panic. However, Zhang Mingyu did not seem to harbour malicious intentions towards him.
Did he intend to let me off?
Or did he stumble upon something before his death, hence the lingering notion to run?
Li Xianyu tried to communicate with him, but Zhang Mingyu ignored him and kept looking straight at him, repeating the word, "Run".
Li Xianyu began to develop goosebumps from looking at his eyes. He retreated to the side and realized that Zhang Mingyu was still looking at the wall with an empty look and muttering the same words.
Oh, he wasn't looking at me.
There was no way to communicate with him. It's like a rich young man, after his death, had suddenly become retarded?
This was an intellectually disabled spirit. Was he an exception or a typical one though?
Li Xianyu, being inexperienced, was unable to make a judgment.
"You make yourself at home. Pardon me now." Li Xianyu made his way past Zhang Mingyu and opened the door to leave.
You can continue to stay here if you like. My roommates can't see you anyway.
Intellectually disabled spirits appeared harmless anyway.
He had no other way to interact with ghosts currently, other than being able to see them. As for Zhang Mingyu, who had seen him but not kill him, it could be inferred that he was not a resentful spirit.
As he placed his hand on the doorknob and prepared to open it, Zhang Mingyu, who was behind him, suddenly muttered, "Xu Wei, run… Run…"
Li Xianyu froze and turned around, his expression stern. "What happened to Xu Wei? What do you mean?"
Despite his best efforts, he was ultimately unable to communicate with Zhang Mingyu.
Xu Wei, single, studied finance and was the campus belle. She and Li Xianty went to the same high school and then the same university. They were on good terms with each other.
Although Li Xianyu had Casanova tendencies, their relationship was purely platonic.
Why did Zhang Mingyu shout out Xu Wei's name?
Was his death connected to Xu Wei?
Or were they hanging out together last night, and that something happened thereafter? Hence, Zhang Mingyu shouted for her to run?
He was not in the mood to find out why a callous college hunk had behaved indecently towards a campus belle. This concerned his friend, Xu Wei, so he wanted to get to the bottom of the truth.
Li Xianyu left the intellectually disabled spirit to its own and pushed the door open. "Guangtai, I'm going out for a while."
As soon as he stepped out of the door, he backtracked towards his wardrobe and picked out a pair of clean undergarments, then walked into the bathroom, ashamed.
There was shit in his pants...
Damn it.
After having been scared out of his wits by Zhang Mingyu, he had not cleaned up after doing his business.
He could not wear those undergarments anymore. Luckily, he left a few clean outfits in his room just in case. After he showered, Li Xianyu cleaned up his soiled undergarments.
Li Xianyu was a cleanliness freak. His undergarments were pricey, at 200 dollars a pair, so he was not willing to throw it away. As quoted by his sister, "Men, thrifty as they shall be, need to own a few pairs of branded sports shoes and a few pairs of high-end undergarments."
Li Xianyu had asked her back, "What about women?"
His sister replied, "Women don't need to be thrifty."
He made sure that his undergarments were thoroughly cleaned with soap before he dried them and hung them on the balcony. He made his way downstairs and called Xu Wei, but her mobile phone had been turned off. Thus, he made his way towards the women's hostel.
The two buildings were not far apart, about five minutes of walking. Once he arrived at the lobby, he stopped a girl and requested, "Miss, please help me call for Xu Wei in room 502."
The girl stopped and sized him up for awhile, seemingly assuming him as some admirer of Xu Wei. She agreed and told him to wait.
She took big strides into the building with her long legs. A few minutes later, a head popped out at one end of the corridor on the fifth floor, right above Li Xianyu. The girl shouted, "Hey, Xu Wei is on leave. She's not here."
Li Xianyu frowned and replied, "Oh, thank you."
He knew that something was fishy even without probing further.
Should I Call the police?
But how could he explain this to the office?
Sir, I have a matter to report. Zhang Mingyu's death is related to Xu Wei… How do I know?
Oh, I am a demon descendant! I can see ghosts!
Like the police officers would totally believe him.
Xu Wei, like him, did not stay on the school compound. She rented a flat near the school instead. As a good friend who had known her for many years, Li Xianyu naturally knew where she stayed.
He intended to visit her. If she was not there and remained M.I.A, he would call the cops.
For safety, Li Xianyu called Great-Grandma for advice and told her about the situation.
The sound of keyboard mashing echoed out from the other end of the phone, along with Great-Grandma's crisp voice.
"Go and take a look then. What are you afraid of? If you run into danger, use your skills."
Li Xianyu's face twitched. "Great-Grandma, I have to remind you that I'm not my dad. I'm still at level zero."
"My good grandson, I have to remind you as well. When the main character is at level zero, so is the pet. You can't depend on a level zero pet to kill monsters for you or defend you. If you really run into danger, I can't help either," Great-Grandma said lightly.
"I'll… mind my own business then."
"Why are the descendants of the Li family so cowardly?" Great-Grandma exclaimed in a voice of steel, "How can you become a big name? You are no longer the old Li Xianyu, you are…"
"Niohuru Xianyu?"
Great-Grandma was taken aback. "Don't scare yourself, the world is not that dangerous. Haven't you lived to 20 years old already?"
"That's true." Li Xianyu realized.
I'm too sensitive.
Subsequently, he called a taxi and made his way towards Xu Wei's house, which was located in an old residential estate, about 15 minutes drive from the university. The residential buildings, as well as the office ones, gave the neighbourhood an ancient look.
This place was still a small town ten years ago, hence it still retained some elements of antiquity. The buildings had no elevators. However, property prices here had risen to an average of 60,000 dollars.
This occurrence was common in these neighbourhoods. There was even a saying that went, "Comrades, just a few more years! The government will be coming to demolish this place!"
The people who spread these rumours had overestimated the government's financial abilities.
Li Xianyu's biological father had left him a similar house. It was then sold off by his foster father, who bought a new property for him and made a tidy sum off the sale as well.
His foster father had said in an emotional manner that he wanted to wait for the government to demolish it, so that the government would have compensated him. However, after a few years, he realized that demolition scheme was just a myth. At least, they had made millions by selling off the old house.
Thereafter, Li Xianyu had openly requested for his foster father to give him a share of the millions, but was met with a lecture. His foster father said, "Back then, in order to give you a spot in our family ancestry, I almost went bankrupt. Want money? Go find the government."
As he reached the foot of the building, he pressed the intercom button. After a long time, a smooth, silky voice echoed out of the speaker, "Who's there?"
Xu Wei's voice!
Li Xianyu heaved a sigh of relief and replied, "It's me, Li Xianyu."
"What do you want?"
"Don't talk here!" Li Xianyu retorted. "Open the door, we'll talk when I come up."
Click!
The main doors of the building opened. Xu Wei's house was on the sixth floor, the highest floor. When Li Xianyu climbed up, he was panting endlessly. In the past, this was nothing to him, but now… Forget it, I'd cry if I say more.
He knocked on the door a few times. Xu Wei, wearing a loose set of pyjamas, answered the door. She stood tall and beautiful, her fair cheeks illustrated her outstanding complexion.
"Why weren't you in school today?"
As they were on good terms, Li Xianyu dispensed with the formalities and made his way to her fridge. He took out a bottle of juice and stood by the fridge, opened it, and started to drink.
Xu Wei frowned and rolled her eyes, replying helplessly, "I'm unwell. I'm on medical leave."
Li Xianyu smirked. "I don't think that's all."
Xu Wei's expression changed slightly. "How do you mean?"
"Do you have something to do with Zhang Mingyu's death?" Li Xianyu looked her dead in the eye and continued, "You were the one he met at the garden behind the library last night."
Xu Wei's face turned pale.
Bingo!
Li Xianyu opened his mouth to speak, feeling disappointed. "This isn't you... What happened? Quick, out with it. I'll help if I can."
Xu Wei bit her lip and continued to shake her head nonchalantly. "I don't know what you're talking about. His death has nothing to do with me."
Li Xianyu frowned and replied, "Okay then, I'll tell the cops. They can decide if you are their girl."
As he finished, he turned to leave.
"Wait!"
After countless changes of expressions, Xu Wei finally shouted out towards Li Xianyu.