Persistence… is Lu Li.
Perseverance… is victory.
September 2nd, 7:57:26 a.m.
A sudden scraping sound of a chair being dragged across the floor caught the attention of some people in the classroom.
They all looked over. There, a girl with long hair reaching her waist was sitting on the floor, staring furiously at the person reaching out a hand toward her.
“Xiao Xia? What’s wrong with you?”
Me?
Me… what’s wrong with me?
With her mind blank, Xia Mengxi had no idea what had happened. It seemed that the moment she saw Lin Xue’er’s smiling face, a sudden wave of fear rose from the bottom of her heart, and she instinctively withdrew backwards.
“Are you feeling sick, Xiao Xia? Should I take you to the Medical Office?”
Xia Mengxi opened her mouth, wanting to refuse, but for some reason, whenever she had the thought of rejecting Lin Xue’er, her whole body would tremble. This seemed like a warning, telling her she could not refuse the other party.
So she quickly nodded, and with Lin Xue’er’s support, made her way to the Medical Office.
“Xue… Xue’er, you should go back to class. Otherwise, there’ll be no one to take notes for me.”
“Really? All right…”
Lin Xue’er hesitated for a moment, then told the nurse at the Medical Office, and left only after taking three steps and turning back each time.
As soon as Lin Xue’er’s figure disappeared, Xia Mengxi curled up under the white sheets, her body trembling uncontrollably.
“My body… feels so strange… and my head… is a mess…”
Xia Mengxi let out a deep breath, trying to soothe the uncontrollable emotions inside her until her body calmed down. Only then did she start to carefully sort through her thoughts.
In fact, on the way to the Medical Office, her memory had already begun to recover, so she knew that she had triggered the Return Ability of the Necklace, returning her to this particular moment.
But the problem was, she was missing a section of her memories, a section after her conversation with God.
Even though she couldn’t remember it, her body’s intense reaction and her stress response upon seeing Lin Xue’er all pointed to what had happened.
“Maybe it’s better to forget… If I still remembered, maybe I wouldn’t even be able to keep it together for exams right now…”
Xia Mengxi forced a laugh, wiped her face, and silently thanked God for keeping her from having to persist to the end and win.
Now then… what should she do now?
Ever since she learned that Lin Xue’er had been twisted since childhood, she knew she had absolutely no way to deal with her.
And after returning this time, not only was her body adjusted, but she also picked up Body Weakness on top of it due to this period’s timeline. This… this was simply despair-inducing!
“No, I absolutely cannot stay by Lin Xue’er’s side anymore. If I get adjusted again, I’ll really be finished!”
Just the thought of herself, now in this state, being manipulated by Lin Xue’er again made Xia Mengxi break out in cold sweat, her face drained of color. Just then, the figure of someone flashed through her mind.
“Li Siqi… Right! Li Siqi! I need to find her! Only she can protect me!”
During her first return, Li Siqi’s protection still lingered in her memory. The sense of security she gave Xia Mengxi was deeply reassuring, so she immediately resolved to get closer to Li Siqi, hoping to use her protection to keep away the terrifying presence of Lin Xue’er.
But just seeking Li Siqi’s protection wasn’t enough, since Lin Xue’er was still her childhood friend and neighbor. So, she needed to find a way not to go home.
I’ve got it, the dormitory!
With that thought, Xia Mengxi immediately pulled out her phone, planning to call her family, but as her finger touched the screen, she hesitated.
She needed to get away from Lin Xue’er immediately.
Otherwise, Lin Xue’er would 100% go dark on the spot.
No, she couldn’t hesitate! Even if Lin Xue’er went dark again, she had to do it.
No other way, because staying by Lin Xue’er’s side, sooner or later, she would be subjected to her manipulation and adjustment, not to mention the psychological torment. Unless she gave up her mission from God and stayed by Lin Xue’er’s side for a lifetime.
No, never!
She definitely wouldn’t stay by Lin Xue’er’s side!
After all she’d been through, how could she possibly be willing to stay with Lin Xue’er? Besides, it wasn’t a dead end right now; God would never allow her to make that kind of choice.
So… should she wait for the Body Weakness to pass before confronting Lin Xue’er?
No, no! Absolutely not!
Right now, she couldn’t bear to be near Lin Xue’er at all, not even for a moment.
Because she could clearly feel her entire being screaming in fear, so even if her reactions wouldn’t arouse Lin Xue’er’s suspicion or trigger some unexpected effect, she herself was already in big trouble.
If she forced herself to stay by Lin Xue’er’s side for even a day, she’d probably develop psychological barriers.
Not to mention, Lin Xue’er’s family was like a den of tigers, and they were always suspending her in midair for fun.
“Whatever! If leaving like this causes Lin Xue’er to go dark, then she’ll definitely want to kill me. That way, I’ll not only trigger the Return Ability, I won’t have to be adjusted and manipulated again, so no matter how you look at it, it’s a win!”
Having made up her mind, Xia Mengxi immediately called her family.
Although her parents were very suspicious of her sudden request to live in the dormitory and worried about her health, when she said there would be someone to look after her, they eventually agreed.
Since the issue of accommodation was basically resolved, Xia Mengxi then focused her attention on Li Siqi. After all, just living in the dorm wasn’t enough. Who knew if Lin Xue’er would sneak in and drag her back to that house of horror, so she needed to quickly build a good relationship with Li Siqi and strive to live together.
So, after making it through the morning, she waited until Lin Xue’er went to get lunch, and then quietly slipped out of the Medical Office alone, heading for the place where Li Siqi was most likely to appear—the School Rooftop.
Because her body had been adjusted and was now extremely sensitive, combined with the double debuff of Body Weakness, the journey up to the School Rooftop left Xia Mengxi feeling like she’d barely survived.
Though it was exhausting, this only confirmed that her decision was correct. With this body, she really couldn’t withstand being by Lin Xue’er’s side, so only by staying away could she adjust her condition.
“Gosh… almost died…”
Xia Mengxi didn’t care about her trembling legs or rapid breathing. All she thought about was whether Li Siqi would actually be here. If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t even know what to do.
“…Huh? Mengxi?”
Seeing an unexpected visitor on the School Rooftop, Li Siqi was puzzled and a bit surprised, since the person now standing here was the very one who had been at the center of a ruckus this morning. So Xia Mengxi’s appearance now was confusing to her.