Li Siqi lowered her head wearily. Lin Xue’er’s words truly made sense, she couldn’t refute them, but by nature, Li Siqi showed an attitude of not letting reason sway her.
“So what? You say it like I’m afraid of you.”
“Heh, you’re indeed not afraid of me. Otherwise, when most people realize their lives are in danger, how could they not feel fear? Most would choose to beg for mercy. Yet you, on the contrary, chose to come confront me, trying to get proof out of me.”
As she spoke, Lin Xue’er slowly turned around, her gaze falling on Li Siqi like she was looking at a dead person.
“I must admit, your luck is really something. I’ve orchestrated so many accidents, yet you’ve survived every single one. I truly admire that.”
Seeing this, Li Siqi felt extremely uncomfortable under her gaze and couldn’t help but curse.
“You’re really a lunatic. I just made friends with your friend, that’s all. Was it necessary to go this far?”
“Lunatic? Maybe so. After all, humans are animals that exclude the unfamiliar. Anything outside their understanding or defined boundaries is labeled and called names.”
Lin Xue’er laughed, her eyes narrowing in the shadows, her face unreadable like drifting clouds in the sky.
“You say you just wanted to make a friend, but if you were in my shoes, would you really believe that?”
“Of course I believe it! I said it myself, why wouldn’t I?”
Li Siqi ignored Lin Xue’er’s earlier remarks and only answered her last question, since she honestly hadn’t understood the logic in Lin Xue’er’s previous words.
Lin Xue’er saw her shamelessness and didn’t intend to waste more words, stating her intentions directly.
“All right then. Whether you admit it or not, from the moment you watched that little stage, your fate was already set.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Siqi saw Lin Xue’er making a move. Just as she stayed on guard, Lin Xue’er pulled out a Mobile Phone and casually tossed it toward the ground.
Li Siqi was momentarily stunned, not understanding Lin Xue’er’s intention. But as a video Lin Xue’er had stored on the Mobile Phone played, she heard the anxious voices of a man and a woman—her heart thudded, and she instinctively looked at the person standing two meters away.
“You… You took my parents hostage?!”
Lin Xue’er shrugged, then smiled gently and reminded her, “You can check if you want. This video might be fake. You can call and verify.”
Just as she finished speaking, Lin Xue’er’s face flashed an embarrassed expression as if she remembered something.
“Oh, almost forgot. There’s a Signal Blocking Device on this mountain. Normally, Communication Devices have no signal. But, well, I’m not just anybody.”
Lin Xue’er smiled slightly, then switched her Mobile Phone screen to the Numeric Keypad for dialing a Number.
“What was your mother’s Number again? Oh right, it’s this one…”
As Lin Xue’er pressed each digit, the voice prompt for each Number echoed at maximum volume, making Li Siqi clearly recognize the string of Numbers being dialed—they were indeed her mother’s phone Number.
At that moment, her face went pale. That was her mother’s Number.
“You… How do you know…?”
The corner of Lin Xue’er’s mouth curved into a faint smile. Looking at Li Siqi, she put a finger to her own lips, signaling for Li Siqi to keep quiet.
After a while, the call connected.
[Beep…2]
“Hello, Mrs. Li, I’m the girl you met by chance on the Street the other day—Lin Xue’er.”
[Ah! So it’s you. May I help you with something?]
“It’s nothing, really. It’s just that Siqi’s Mobile Phone broke, so she asked to use mine to contact you.”
As she spoke, Lin Xue’er smiled slightly, holding the Mobile Phone out toward Li Siqi. Seeing this, Li Siqi’s expression froze, and she slapped Lin Xue’er’s hand and the phone away.
“What do you want from me?!”
“What I want, you know best, don’t you?”
After hanging up, Lin Xue’er tilted her head, not spelling things out, but her meaning was already crystal clear.
“You… Do you really want this to be a fight to the death?”
“Well, I am a lunatic, after all.”
At this moment, Li Siqi finally understood why Lin Xue’er had lured her up the mountain—her real goal was to use her parents’ lives to force her to end things herself.
Facing death, even for someone like her, it was impossible not to be afraid. But for the sake of her parents, she could only do what she had to.
Yet, deep down, she still harbored a sliver of hope—if she could get rid of Lin Xue’er, maybe there was still a chance to turn things around.
However, the person she was dealing with was anything but simple. Sure enough, Lin Xue’er’s next words crushed that hope immediately.
“What is it? Want to attack me?”
“So what if I do! Since we’re both going to die, dragging you down with me isn’t so bad. Besides, how do I know you’ll spare my parents even if I do what you say?”
“Heh, do you really think someone as cautious as me would take any chances facing you without any safeguards?”
Sometimes, half-spoken words can leave people with wild imaginings. Just like now, Lin Xue’er, after saying this, turned away from Li Siqi and exposed her entire back, as if silently declaring: Go on then, die with me! If you do, your parents will die too!
Seeing this, Li Siqi unconsciously loosened her clenched fists. All at once, she seemed dispirited and lost.
Then, Lin Xue’er’s words crushed her last shred of hope—just as she once revealed her identity at home to Jiang… now, she was doing the same to Li Siqi.
“So you think someone like me would go to the trouble of touching your family for no reason?”
“I… I just can’t know if you might want to erase all witnesses for the sake of secrecy…”
Growing impatient, Lin Xue’er turned to look at Li Siqi.
“Believe it or not, that’s up to you. Your parents could have survived. But because of your actions, if something happens to them, it’ll be your fault. If you want to kill your own parents with your own hands, then go ahead.”
Li Siqi opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, the words died on her lips.
For her parents’ sake, left with no choice, she took one heavy step after another toward the edge of the mountain path.
Her gaze fell on the bottomless ravine below. If she jumped, there would be no chance of survival.
If she regretted provoking such a lunatic for the sake of someone who barely mattered to her, honestly, she did feel a bit of regret.
But she also felt a bit lucky—that girl who looked so much like her, the one who left because she had gained the Foreign Study Qualification, was able to escape from this lunatic. Otherwise, she believed that girl would never have had a good life ahead.