Chapter 23 Part 3

Jing Chi, of course, had no inkling of this other Yu Xingzhou’s perilous thoughts.

He flipped open the book, admiring the young man’s neat, precise handwriting. But as he scanned the page, he spotted a few misspelled letters in the vocabulary words.

Remembering how this guy had been a straight-A student in his previous life, Jing Chi couldn’t help marveling at the total reversal. He’d become a total airhead this time around.

A laugh bubbled up unbidden. Once he’d copied down the words, he slid the book back.

Yu Xingzhou reached for it, but Jing Chi pinned it in place with his hand.

Unable to retrieve it, the young man furrowed his brow and looked up at Jing Chi in confusion.

The corner of Jing Chi’s mouth quirked up as he tapped a fingertip on the page. “You got these words wrong.”

Yu Xingzhou froze for a couple of seconds. Then he glanced down, and embarrassment flooded his features.

He yanked the book back and hunched over it, scribbling furiously to fix the errors.

“See? He’s mocking you.” The Evil Spirit started up again, whispering right in Yu Xingzhou’s ear.

But the young man paid him no mind. Few people ever spoke to him so casually and at ease.

He knew he shouldn’t crave it, but even this simple exchange felt… nice.

Just this once…

.

Never underestimate how fast rumors spread. By the end of the morning, everyone was quietly convinced the victim was Li Ze.

Word had it that Li Ze had snuck into the women’s restroom, cracked his head open by accident, and bled out.

No one could explain the sheer volume of blood—not the students, not even the police.

Li Ze’s parents refused to buy it, but the cops found no evidence of foul play. The scene was spotless.

Spotless in the sense that there were no signs of anyone else being there, aside from the girl who’d wandered in by mistake.

The homeroom teacher had been pulling students out one by one for questioning—friends of Li Ze’s, enemies, everyone in between. The police needed statements.

At last, it was Yu Xingzhou’s turn.

The homeroom teacher gave the young man’s scrawny shoulder a reassuring pat, only for him to shrink back. With a helpless sigh, the teacher dropped his hand. “Don’t worry. It’s just routine questions.”

Yu Xingzhou kept his eyes downcast and nodded. He made his way to the interrogation room set aside for the police.

Jing Chi trailed right after him.

“And you are?” The female police officer doing the questioning eyed them curiously. She’d been expecting one kid, not two.

“Officer, I’m just here with my desk mate,” Jing Chi said with a sweet smile. “He’s got bad social anxiety and doesn’t talk much. Plus, I know a few things about it myself.”

He slung an arm around Yu Xingzhou’s shoulders, blithely ignoring the sudden tension in the young man’s frame and the dark flicker in his eyes.

“Is that right?” Her gaze shifted to Yu Xingzhou, who certainly looked the part—a timid boy who shied away from conversation, just as described.

Jing Chi shot Yu Xingzhou a conspiratorial wink. With no choice, the young man ducked his head and murmured, “Mm.”

“Very well. Both of you, have a seat.”

The female police officer flipped open her notepad and got down to business. “What was your relationship with Li Ze like?”

“Not close,” Jing Chi replied.

He glanced at Yu Xingzhou and added on his behalf, “Same for him.”

She frowned, skepticism creeping in. “Other classmates say Li Ze was always bullying you, though, Yu Xingzhou.”

At the mention of Li Ze’s name, a shadowy glint flashed in Yu Xingzhou’s eyes.

The Evil Spirit immediately took control, knowing full well that Yu Xingzhou had never been good at handling situations like this—whereas he excelled at them.

He put on a show of fear, subconsciously trembling for effect. But before he could fully work up his emotions and play the pity card, Jing Chi suddenly slammed his palm on the table and shot to his feet.

The abrupt motion startled the two people beside him.

“Officer,” he said, “let me tell you, Li Ze has gone way too far.”

As if he were the one who had been wronged.

The female police officer patted her chest, her expression tinged with helplessness as she tried to calm him. “Easy, student. Let’s talk this through.”

Jing Chi, brimming with righteous indignation, laid out everything he knew for the officer:

“I’ve only been here a day, and I already know about at least two incidents. Either Li Ze drags people over to mock Yu Xingzhou, or he’s badmouthing him every single day.”

“He’s given this kid—who just wants to study in peace—nothing but psychological trauma. And I’ve heard he’s always pulling nasty pranks: ripping up people’s homework over nothing, flipping their desks, snooping into their private lives.”

Of course, Jing Chi glossed over a few details.

The officer’s face darkened swiftly. She hadn’t imagined a senior-year student capable of so many despicable acts.

The Evil Spirit kept his head down, and out of sight, he pulled a face of utter exasperation.

Telepathically, he griped to Yu Xingzhou in his mind: “How is this guy so weird? Everyone else can’t stand the sight of us, and he’s the one who has to butt in.”

On top of that, he’d ruined the Evil Spirit’s chance to play the victim.

Yu Xingzhou said nothing, but the Evil Spirit could sense a flicker of sweet delight bubbling up from the depths of his heart.

He wanted to slap his forehead. Why was the other version of himself still so damn hopeless?

At that moment, a middle-aged woman burst through the door. She had clearly been eavesdropping outside and immediately unleashed a torrent of abuse at Jing Chi.

“Who the hell do you think you are, spewing lies like that? My son isn’t like that at all! Don’t you dare slander him!”

Before long, she threw herself on the floor, rolling around and wailing. “My poor son died such a tragic death, and now people are slandering him! Oh, my bitter fate!”

The female officer watched in awkward silence, then hurried over to help her up—only to be shoved away.

Seeing no one buying her act, the woman quit the performance, leaped to her feet, and lunged straight at Yu Xingzhou, spewing curses.

“It has to be you! You’re the one who hurt my son, you little shit! Shameless queer!”

She swung her hand back for a slap. No one had time to react as she closed in.

The Evil Spirit merely lifted his gaze, staring coldly at Li Ze’s mother without dodging.

Jing Chi reacted first, seizing her wrist and flinging her aside. His tone dripped with sarcasm.

“Auntie, if you’re going to throw a fit, at least pick a better spot. What’s with attacking Student Yu out of nowhere? Feeling guilty much?”

“I heard your son was peeping in the women’s restroom and cracked his skull when he slipped. So do we blame the restroom for having stairs now?”

Jing Chi’s words left Li Ze’s mother apoplectic, her face cycling through shades of green and red.

Sensing the situation spiraling, the female officer quickly called over a colleague to deal with the woman.

Then she ushered Jing Chi and Yu Xingzhou out of the room.

“I’m truly sorry about today, Jing and Yu. We’ve got a clear picture of what happened.”

Regret shone in her eyes. “We never expected Li Ze’s mother to show up like that.”

“No worries,” Jing Chi said with a grin. “Call us anytime if you need anything. We’re always on call.”

She nodded gratefully, her gaze shifting to the boy who hadn’t uttered a word since they arrived.

With no cameras at the restroom—and it being class time—they’d had to check every student one by one.

Yet all the evidence pointed to Li Ze having fallen to his death on his own. The real puzzle was why his blood had been completely drained.

Yu Xingzhou might have looked suspicious, but they had never once doubted him.

After all, no ordinary high schooler could pull off something like that.

The officer recalled Jing Chi’s account and the vile things Li Ze’s mother had blurted out. She shuddered to think what Yu Xingzhou must have endured.

She gazed at the silent boy before her, sympathy softening her voice. “If anyone bullies you in the future, you can always tell the police. We’ll definitely help you.”

The Evil Spirit froze at her words, a flicker of mockery passing through his eyes.

The old Yu Xingzhou had once believed every word of it. But after that incident, he’d never trusted the police to help him again. It was all lies, nothing but deception.

The boy’s eyes darkened further.

Jing Chi felt a sudden chill, like a cold gust sweeping through. He shivered, glancing at the blazing sun outside before turning his gaze back to Yu Xingzhou.

He knew this had to be the Little Evil Spirit Yu Xingzhou making his displeasure known—the regular boy would have just swallowed his anger.

“Police sister, we’re in senior year and buried in homework,” Jing Chi said quickly, changing the subject. “We’ll get out of your hair now.”

Without waiting for her response, he grabbed Yu Xingzhou’s arm and pulled him away.

Once they were out of the female officer’s sight, Yu Xingzhou shook off Jing Chi’s hand.

His expression was frosty, his voice sharper now, anger flashing in his eyes. “Don’t follow me anymore.”

Jing Chi could tell this was definitely the Little Evil Spirit Yu Xingzhou. The other version of the boy wouldn’t have spoken up no matter how furious he felt.

“Don’t be mad,” Jing Chi said with a playful grin, then straightened up a little. “All right, all right. I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that. Take this fruit candy as my apology.”

He fished a candy from his pocket—the one he’d picked up at the supermarket earlier. Who knew it’d come in handy now?

Yu Xingzhou stared at him intently, silent, his eyes screaming: Didn’t you hear a word I said?

Pretending not to notice, Jing Chi tucked the candy into the hood of Yu Xingzhou’s school uniform sweatshirt, then strolled off in the opposite direction at a leisurely pace.

Yu Xingzhou yanked the hood over with an icy scowl, but the candy was lodged deep. It took considerable effort to dig it out, leaving his face even stormier.

He glared at the fruit candy in his hand. The old Yu Xingzhou would have desperately wanted something like this.

Too bad that boy had never received one.

Yu Xingzhou curled his lip in disdain.

He walked over to the trash can and paused there for a moment before walking away.

After Yu Xingzhou left, Jing Chi doubled back. He approached the spot where the boy had stood, figuring he’d tossed it again.

But the only new piece of trash was the candy wrapper.

Jing Chi stared at the wrapper and broke into a smile.