Volume One, Chapter 136: I Want to Help You

Chu Fangfei and Michelle stood up to leave, and Xu Fangliang rose as well. "I want to go with you."

Chi Xingwan turned back and asked, "Dong Xuezhi has been visiting her parents and her former homeroom teacher in their dreams recently. Has she reached out to you?"

Xu Fangliang shook his head.

Chi Xingwan sighed. "She likely knows you have a new partner and have moved on. She is no longer clinging to you, so why do you feel the need to seek her out?"

Xu Fangliang stood where he was, watching the three of them walk away. He slowly sat back down, burying his head in his hands, resting them on his knees, and remained motionless.

Chi Xingwan took Chu Fangfei and Michelle for lunch before returning to the school, where they indeed found a construction site not far away.

Chu Fangfei checked her phone and said, "They are building a new residential complex there. Construction started seven or eight years ago, but it stalled right after the framework was finished. Someone recently took over the project, and work resumed not long ago."

"Let's go in and take a look."

The site was enclosed by sheet metal, leaving only one entrance. For an ordinary person, it would be impossible to enter without permission, but for spirit masters, it was as if there were no barriers at all.

The three of them toured the site but did not find Dong Xuezhi.

"She has been here. You can feel her dark energy within this main structure," Chi Xingwan said.

Michelle frowned. "But it's too faint. She must have already left."

Chi Xingwan sat down on the stairs. "I have a feeling she will return."

Chu Fangfei sat down as well. "We have no other leads anyway, so we might as well wait here."

Michelle had no objections and sat on the step directly above them.

As the sky gradually darkened, work at the site began to wind down. The workers, who lived on the second floor of the frame structure, received their boxed meals. They gathered in small groups, chatting while they ate, their laughter echoing occasionally.

Chi Xingwan suddenly stood up, looked toward the top of the stairs, and said softly, "She’s here."

On the rooftop, a girl in a school uniform sat on the railing, her feet swinging gently as she looked up at the moonlight.

"Are you looking for me?" she asked without turning around, having sensed the movement behind her.

Chi Xingwan replied, "If you are Dong Xuezhi, then yes, we are."

The girl said calmly, "I am Dong Xuezhi. Are you here to destroy me?"

"No."

Dong Xuezhi finally turned around, her expression one of surprise. "Then why are you looking for me?"

Chi Xingwan leaped onto the railing and sat beside her. "We want to uncover the truth of what happened back then and help you leave this world willingly."

Dong Xuezhi said calmly, "That's not necessary, really. I can feel my strength fading; I will probably dissipate into nothingness soon."

"So you knew."

Dong Xuezhi replied, "Yes, I know. I heard from other spirits that if you stay in the human world, you become a vengeful spirit, and you have to find ways to evade the capture of the underworld messengers, right?"

Chi Xingwan said, "That is correct. Actually, you have done very well. Other souls who linger in the world for this long lose their minds and descend into malevolence."

"I have tried very hard to control myself because I don't want to be a vengeful spirit. Vengeful spirits hurt people."

Chi Xingwan looked at her. "You are a good soul, and that is why I want to help you."

Dong Xuezhi shook her head. "Thank you, but there is no need. Waiting here until I simply fade away... that seems fine, too."

Chu Fangfei and Michelle sat down as well. Hearing this, Chu Fangfei said, "But you want to clear your name, don't you? You went to your parents and your teacher for a reason."

"I was a bit impulsive back then. Now, I've made peace with it. Let it be."

Perhaps it was the resumption of construction and the arrival of the workers that had stirred Dong Xuezhi, triggering a period of agitation that led her to appear for the first time in six years. She had sought out her parents and teacher, hoping for help, only to find it was to no avail.

"But I want to help you," Chi Xingwan insisted.

Dong Xuezhi looked at her for a long time before asking, "Why?"

Chi Xingwan thought for a moment. "Consider it my duty."

Dong Xuezhi looked down at the workers below, who were moving materials, taking care to be gentle and avoid making too much noise. "I don't actually know who the killer was. He covered my mouth and nose from behind. I think I inhaled some sedative. The last thing I remember was being dragged into the sports equipment room, and after that, I was dead."

"You have someone you suspect, don't you?" Chi Xingwan asked softly.

Dong Xuezhi nodded. "I suspect the people who were building the laboratory building at the time, but there were so many of them. I don't know which one it was."

Michelle, who had been listening silently, finally couldn't help but ask, "Do you hate them?"

"Are you referring to the people below?" Dong Xuezhi asked in return.

"Yes," Michelle asked urgently. "They are just like the workers from back then. Do you hate them?"

Dong Xuezhi thought about it. "I wouldn't say I hate them, but I did consider implicating them at one point. Fortunately, there was no construction near the school for those years."

"Why don't you want to anymore?" Michelle asked again.

Dong Xuezhi watched the workers below. "Actually, I did think about it. Not long ago, I left the school and came here. I thought, if there is a bad person here, I will kill him."

"I have been here for a long time. I have investigated every worker here, but there are no bad people among them. Even the one with the worst temperament has never done anything unforgivable."

She looked back up at the moonlight, and Michelle saw what might have been tears in her eyes, though it could have been a trick of the light.

"If I killed them, they would become wronged spirits like me. That would be terrible; I don't think I could do that."

A complex expression flickered in Michelle's eyes. "Why? Aren't spirits supposed to be reckless and act without restraint?"

Dong Xuezhi smiled. "Are all the spirits you've encountered evil?"

"I..." Michelle's words caught in her throat.

She didn't know. The methods used by her organization never took the nature of the spirits into account. She had never sat and chatted with a soul like this, nor had she ever tried to understand one.

Were the spirits she had destroyed in the past also kind, like Dong Xuezhi? Had they never harmed anyone, but were simply held back by attachments they couldn't let go? How many souls who should have had a future ended up being destroyed because of her?

Chi Xingwan stood up and looked down at Dong Xuezhi. "Let's go. We will find your killer."

Dong Xuezhi looked up at her. "Is there any point?"

"Yes," Chi Xingwan said, reaching out a hand to her. "The wicked deserve punishment, and the innocent who have been wronged deserve justice. You have already left this world once in obscurity; I will not allow a second time."

Dong Xuezhi's eyes shimmered—whether from tears or the reflection of the moonlight, it was hard to tell. She reached out and took Chi Xingwan's hand. For the first time in six years, she felt warmth again.