Chapter 69: Li Zhixian’s Past [Second Update]

As soon as they left Room 13, countless eyes seemed to be watching them at every moment. Yan Yu could not risk speaking with Instructor Yan anymore. When they reached the end of the corridor, Instructor Yan parted ways with them.

Only then did the Fatty dare to speak. "Boss, was Instructor Yan possessed by a ghost?"

"You saw it yourselves, didn’t you?"

"Good heavens… I never thought there really were ghosts in this world!"

Hao Zhuang asked, "Boss, are you a Taoist priest? Which sect do you belong to? Maoshan? Laoshan? Longhu Mountain?"

"Emei Mountain."

"Emei? Isn’t that where all those nuns come from? Like Abbess Miejue…"

Yan Yu shot them a glare. "I don’t belong to any sect. Everything I know, I learned from my master, whose background is a complete mystery."

The arts of yin and yang that Lin Xuan had taught Yan Yu were a scattered mix. Thinking back to the old days, whenever Lin Xuan remembered something, he would teach a little, sometimes dragging Yan Yu off to train or to draw talismans, often on a whim.

From what Yan Ning understood, these arts could not possibly belong to a single tradition; they even included techniques from both Taoism and Buddhism.

So, Master Lin Xuan’s identity was far from simple.

"Boss, aren’t you afraid of ghosts?"

"What’s there to be afraid of? If you’ve got guts, even Sadako would need maternity leave. If you’re tough enough, the Pen Fairy will give you a ride." As Yan Yu joked, he couldn’t help thinking of his ghostly wife, Zhao Qingqing.

If he hadn’t been worried about damaging his own mortal body, Yan Yu would’ve long since... well, cough, cough...

Hearing Yan Yu’s quip, Fatty and Hao Zhuang’s terror finally eased a little, and they even managed a lewd chuckle. "Boss, don’t tell me you really rode the Pen Fairy?"

"Maybe you’ll get a chance to try it yourselves one day," Yan Yu replied.

The two of them shuddered instantly and dared not tease him further.

Despite their fear, the pair’s thick-skinned natures made them remarkably adaptable. Just as they had readily accepted Yan Yu as a "relevant figure from a relevant department," they now just as easily accepted the idea that ghosts existed in this world.

Yan Yu couldn’t help but marvel—sometimes, it really was the simple-minded who found happiness more easily.

When they returned to their dormitory, Li Zhixian had already packed up Feng Liang’s belongings and was lying on his bed, resting.

At the sound of their return, Li Zhixian immediately sat up and said, "Whatever you’re planning, please let me join you."

Yan Yu was taken aback. "You?"

Li Zhixian nodded. "I’ll do anything you ask, as long as it lets me get out of here…"

Yan Yu pondered for a moment, then sat on his own bed and asked quietly, "Why were you sent here?"

Li Zhixian fell silent for a while before answering in a low voice, "The big guy knows me. I never had any internet addiction. My grades were always excellent. I only played games occasionally to relax. Late last year, I heard online that e-commerce was the way of the future, so I told my parents about my idea. They insisted that online stores were all scams, terrified I’d waste the family money, and decided I must be addicted to the internet. They did everything to stop me from opening a shop… We had a huge argument, and a few days later, they lied about my grandparents being seriously ill to lure me here, to this place they call an internet addiction rehab…"

"At first, I thought I could escape easily, but day after day of electric shocks crushed that hope. I just want to leave this place and find a way to run away from my parents! Months ago, I finally managed to get out. After returning home, I did everything they said—laundry, cooking, and I gave up on my online shop, went to work in a factory for two thousand yuan a month, that so-called 'iron rice bowl'… But then one day, at dinner, I forgot to serve my mother rice. She suspected my 'addiction' had relapsed. That night, she conspired with my father to send me back for more reform…"

"That night, I was terrified. All I could think about were the electric shocks in Room 13. In the end, I took a few thousand yuan, bought a ticket for the farthest city I could find, and tried to escape my parents forever. Who knew… Yang Yongsheng’s followers are everywhere. I rode the train for forty-two hours, thinking I’d finally escaped, but as soon as I got off, they caught me and brought me back here…"

"This place isn’t an internet rehab at all. It’s a living hell. I’ve seen kids barely in their teens, old men in their fifties, women six months pregnant, even a husband thrown in here by his wife just for wanting a divorce. Yang Yongsheng tortures everyone with the shock device, trying to control our minds and making our so-called 'loved ones' outside believe he’s saving us."

As Li Zhixian spoke, tears streamed down his face, fear etched into every line. He pleaded desperately, "If you have a way, please, take me with you. Otherwise… I’d rather end it all!"

Looking at Li Zhixian, Yan Yu saw the same despair he’d seen in Feng Liang before.

Perhaps Feng Liang had gone through the same suffering as Li Zhixian—driven to such hopelessness that suicide became his only way out.

"You can join us, but whatever I say, you must do it, without question," Yan Yu finally said after some thought.

"No problem, I promise!" Li Zhixian wiped away his tears, relief and joy lighting up his face.

"Fatty, go keep watch outside."

"Got it!"

Yan Yu had wanted to ask about Feng Liang earlier, but Yang Yongsheng had interrupted. Now, his only chance was to learn from Li Zhixian, who had been here longer.

"This bed used to belong to Feng Liang. Did you know him?" Yan Yu asked.

Li Zhixian nodded. "I knew him. Feng Liang was young, but he was very smart. I never beat him at chess…"

"He’s dead, you know that?"

Li Zhixian shook his head silently. At the time of Feng Liang’s death, Li Zhixian had been on the run.

"Have you ever seen this symbol?" Yan Yu took out a photo, showing Li Zhixian the image of the goat’s head on the back.

Li Zhixian studied it for a moment and shook his head. "Never seen it before."

Yan Yu frowned. Li Zhixian and Feng Liang had both been confined here, yet Feng Liang had seen the symbol, while Li Zhixian hadn’t. It didn’t add up.

"Was there any place that Feng Liang went that you never did?" Yan Yu asked.

Li Zhixian thought for a while. "That’s right! Every night, Instructor Yan would take Feng Liang away. As for where… You’d have to ask Zhang Hongwen."

"Why would he know?"

"Every night, we’re all locked in here and not allowed out. Zhang Hongwen’s job is to check the dorms, so he always comes back a bit later than the rest of us."

"Go find him. Tell him to share everything he knows with us."

Feng Liang had wanted to kill Yang Yongsheng and might not have told Yan Yu the whole truth. But Yan Yu had a hunch: if he could just find the place marked by that symbol, he might finally uncover the truth.