My Strange Tale Love Strategy Simulator

"So she agreed?"

Zhang Ying frowned, his voice not loud, but it was like a pebble thrown into the water.

Xu Miaofeng shook her head.

"Li Ziqing ultimately didn't agree to my request. She said she needed to think about it some more. I said I could wait."

Her lips remained clenched for a long time, but in the end, I never saw her again.

The last time I saw her, I saw... her corpse.

Zhang Ying's gaze did not leave her face.

"So, you drove her to her death?"

Xu Miaofeng did not avoid his gaze. Her eyes were so red and swollen that she could barely open them, but she still stared straight at Zhang Ying, like someone who had already been sentenced and no longer bothered to defend herself against any additional charges.

"I'm just one of them."

The way she said those words was eerily calm.

"I only found out later. Before she died, she was bullied one last time by her dance troupe members. At that time, the current dance troupe captain's boyfriend expressed his feelings for Li Ziqing. That was all. The dance troupe captain angrily called her members and cornered Li Ziqing in the dance studio. They cut off her hair with scissors and punched and kicked her, disfiguring her."

She spoke very quickly, as if the words had been stuck in her throat for far too long, and once she opened her mouth, she couldn't stop.

"Devastated by a series of blows, Li Ziqing could no longer bear these realities. In the end, she jumped off the school rooftop and ended her life. The school, not wanting to make a big fuss, dismissed me from the school dance team. After that, strange stories about the dancers began to circulate in the school. The school dance team was disbanded as a result."

She turned her head towards Zhou Ping. The emotion welling up in those cloudy eyes was not an explanation, nor a feeling of being wronged, but a person's final confession when facing the person they least dared to face.

"Ping'er. This is why I haven't dared to see you all these years. I am one of the murderers. How could someone like me dare... face you again?"

Zhou Ping's lips moved slightly. No sound came out. She lowered her head, her fingers gently tightening around Xu Miaofeng's shoulder, but not fully grasping it. Silence spread between them, like a thin layer of ice that could neither be pierced nor melted.

Zhang Ying sighed. He turned his gaze away from the two people and said calmly:

Do you regret it?

Xu Miaofeng covered her face with her hands.

"There isn't a single day I haven't regretted it. But I don't dare to face it. I don't dare to see you, I don't dare to go back to school, I don't dare to leave this room. I've locked myself here for many years... but no matter how tightly I lock myself, I can't get out even if I regret it."

Zhang Ying stood up from his chair and walked to the window. Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the full moon was reflected on the surface of the Three Rivers Lake. The water shimmered, calm and still.

He didn't turn around.

Someone once said to me, "Do you know who is the most pitiful person?"

He turned his head and looked at the woman curled up in Zhou Ping's arms, her face covered in tears and grease.

"The most pitiful enemy is one who makes it impossible for others to harbor ill will."

His tone remained neither loud nor soft, as if he were relaying a sentence he had thought about for a long time, his voice falling quietly on the flickering candlelight.

"But thankfully, you still have a chance to stop. Turn yourself in. Before you become completely beyond redemption."

Xu Miaofeng's body trembled. She raised her head, looked at Zhang Ying, and then at Zhou Ping. Her lips trembled, and her gaze moved inch by inch across Zhou Ping's face.

Zhou Ping wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. She didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly. The gesture was so small that it could be easily overlooked if a candle were to flicker.

Zhou Ping reached out and tucked a clump of hair behind Xu Miaofeng's ear. Her fingers were as light as they were back then, carefully tracing each strand of hair.

When she opened her lips, her voice was very soft.

"You know what, Xiaofeng? After breaking up with you, I haven't dated anyone else. Over the years, I've come to terms with it. The choice of love is never made by others. My love for you can't change because of anyone else."

She paused, her fingers sliding down from behind Xu Miaofeng's ear to the back of her hand.

I want your answer. Do you love me?

Xu Miaofeng's eyes widened suddenly. Tears welled up from her swollen eyes, washing away the grease and leaving two clean streaks on her cheeks. She almost lunged forward, gripping Zhou Ping's hand tightly with her own hands, which were covered in tiny cuts and grime.

"Love! I love you!"

She didn't hesitate. These four words were like a prisoner who had been locked up for far too long, rushing out desperately as soon as the door opened.

A smile appeared on Zhou Ping's face. It was a very light and faint smile, like a small lamp shining in the darkness.

"Alright. I'll wait for you."

Zhang Ying stood silently by the window, observing everything. He didn't speak, only nodded. Then he turned around and once again cast his gaze upon the dark expanse of the Three Rivers outside the window.

He placed his fingers on the windowsill and tapped it lightly.

Now, the final cause of Li Ziqing's death has been found. It's time to face Li Ziqing directly and confirm our romantic relationship.

The matter is now settled, and the questions that needed to be asked have been answered. Let them catch up now.

[There's a strange smell.]

A line of black text slowly appeared before Zhang Ying's eyes.

Zhang Ying's pupils contracted little by little. He remembered clearly that he had turned off the Ghost Eye and hadn't summoned Xiao Hei. The handwriting on the line was crooked and distorted, as if Xiao Hei had used its last strength to push it out of the shadows.

It would never do this unless it sensed some kind of danger that it needed to know even if it were asleep!

He suddenly thought of something and abruptly turned to look at Xu Miaofeng.

"Xu Miaofeng! You called Teacher Zhou and asked him to come over. Why did you make that call?!"

"A phone call?" Xu Miaofeng looked up, her expression shifting from blank to confused, as if she had heard something completely incomprehensible. "I've never called Ping'er before!"

Zhou Ping's eyes widened suddenly. The hand that was resting on Xu Miaofeng's shoulder froze.

"But you clearly told me on the phone—" Her voice trailed off, the rest of her sentence unfinished, and the color drained from her face little by little.

It wasn't Xu Miaofeng who made the call. What was that voice on the other end of the line?

Zhang Ying's heart sank. A terrible premonition washed over him like ice water, and he practically screamed through gritted teeth, "What a joke! Can't you give someone a little breathing room?!"

Without hesitation, he roared at Zhou Ping and Xu Miaofeng to get out of the room immediately. At the same time, he strode forward, his eerie eyes activating instantly, turning the entire room black and white in his vision.

Layers of black mist seeped from the cracks in the surrounding walls, like blood seeping from every crevice. The mist contained wisps of dark red, gradually compressing towards the center of the house.

At the same time, Zhou Ping suddenly let out a scream. The sound was sharp and fragmented, as if it had been squeezed out barely because something was choking her.

"Little, Little Phoenix! There's a Little Phoenix outside the window!"