Chapter 287: A World Without Me

Su Yuqing followed the other “Su Yuqing” to a convenience store, where she saw Lin Yu’an.

She watched as “Su Yuqing,” despite her own desperation, still stepped forward without a second thought to protect her classmate.

A tremor ran through Su Yuqing’s heart.

‘This “Su Yuqing” is so brave,’ she thought. ‘If that had been me, I don’t think I could have done it.’

She recalled her own state of mind during her moment of despair. ‘I was so utterly hopeless it was like the rest of the world didn’t exist. How could I have possibly found the strength to step forward and help a classmate?’

After saying goodbye to Lin Yu’an, the other “Su Yuqing” began to wander aimlessly through the rain again, with no destination in mind.

She wandered until she reached the old district, until she saw her own younger sister appear.

At that moment, Su Yuqing was horrified.

She couldn’t believe it. She was already in such a desperate state, yet Su Yaxi had actually hunted her down.

She couldn’t understand. She truly couldn’t understand.

Su Yaxi had both parents, she was spoiled rotten—she should have been the happiest person in the world.

‘What reason did she have to persecute me like this?’

As she watched Su Yaxi force “her” to sign that cold, scathing Termination of Relationship Letter, a fierce anger surged even within the heart of Su Yuqing, who was normally placid, detached, and rarely moved to fury.

‘This is too much!’

‘I had already been pushed into an abyss of despair, yet that high-and-mighty, fortunate girl who had everything was still taking that final step—to utterly crush me, as insignificant as dust, and grind me into the mud.’

She couldn’t understand. ‘How could a person be so twisted?’

It wasn’t just Su Yuqing, the observer, who felt this way. The “her” in the story was clearly caught in the same vortex of grief and indignation.

The other “her” actually pulled out a knife and shoved it into the aggressive Su Yaxi’s hands…

The turn of events that followed made Su Yuqing’s blood run cold.

The argument escalated rapidly. In the chaos, someone lunged forward, but the ground was slick and treacherous in the downpour.

And just like that, the knife bizarrely sliced straight across “her” throat.

The artery was severed. Blood gushed from the ghastly wound on her neck like a bursting fountain, only to be instantly diluted and washed away by the torrential rain…

Su Yuqing’s eyes were wide with horror as she witnessed the absurd, brutal scene.

‘What is this place? What kind of world is this?’ A bottomless despair, like a cold, sticky spiderweb, wrapped itself tightly around her heart.

However, for Su Yuqing, this horrifying scene was merely a prelude.

The true agony was only just beginning to unfold.

Suddenly, the scene before her began to flash by at high speed.

Time raced by after her death.

Su Yuqing saw “her” body lying alone, battered by the downpour.

The night was dark. It wasn’t that no one passed by—a few blurry figures did hurry past—but no one stopped. No one noticed the cold body being relentlessly lashed by the rain.

All sound was swallowed up by the merciless downpour.

「Until the next morning.」

Finally, someone cried out in alarm, having discovered the body, its outline just visible in the faint light of dawn.

The police arrived swiftly. Faced with the death of a young girl in the flower of her youth, the officers at the scene were all deeply saddened, and the investigation was quickly prioritized.

The scene was strictly cordoned off, and the investigation began in earnest.

Identifying the victim didn’t take long. As the school’s reigning beauty, nearly everyone at school knew Su Yuqing.

After a few brief inquiries with people nearby, the police obtained her basic information.

However, to be thorough, they decided to go to Su Yuqing’s home for further verification.

Before leaving, they learned that a man named Li Gang had been stabbed and was currently in the hospital.

This curious development put the police on alert and made them consider a possible connection.

After arriving at the hospital, they gathered preliminary information about Li Gang’s stabbing. Only after some cautious questioning did they deliver the heart-shattering news of Su Yuqing’s death to her family.

When the news struck Li Fengzhi like a sledgehammer, she bolted from the hospital as if her very soul had been ripped out, rushing frantically toward the scene.

The moment her gaze fell upon her daughter’s body—the once-vibrant face now ashen, the jarring wound a silent testament to the finality of death—Li Fengzhi’s vision went black. Her body went limp, and she fell straight backward, unconscious.

Su Yuqing, standing off to the side, witnessed her mother’s breakdown with perfect clarity.

Tears instantly streamed from her eyes, hot and bitter, searing her sockets and her very soul.

‘So this is how unbearable my death was for my mother.’

「The scene changed in a flash.」

She found herself in the hospital. Her mother, Li Fengzhi, had already regained consciousness.

However… the light had completely vanished from Li Fengzhi’s eyes. They were devoid of all spirit.

The eyes that once held either warmth or hatred were now utterly vacant. Her expression was dull and listless; she had the look of someone who had completely lost her mind.

“Fengzhi! Fengzhi!”

No matter how hoarsely Li Gang cried her name, she just stared blankly from the hospital bed, unresponsive to her surroundings.

A soft sigh was heard from the bedside. The doctor’s conclusion was cold and heavy: “The psychological shock was too great… I’m afraid… she’s gone mad.”

Hearing this, Su Yuqing, who was standing nearby, was deeply shaken. ‘My death carved an abyss in my mother’s heart so deep it may never heal.’

“Mom,” she whispered, her hands trembling as she reached for her mother.

She knew she was incorporeal now, that they could never touch, but at that moment, all she wanted was to feel her mother’s skin and offer her some comfort.

The moment she cried out “Mom,” Li Fengzhi, who had been in a catatonic state, suddenly looked in her direction.

“Qingqing! Qingqing!” she cried, reaching for Su Yuqing, her voice vacant as she called for the daughter she felt she had wronged so deeply.

Seeing this, Su Yuqing froze for a second before lunging toward her.

But, of course, they embraced nothing but empty air.

Soon, her mother’s hands were held down by Li Gang. He held her, his voice low and pained. “Yuqing is gone, Fengzhi. Snap out of it. You can’t fall apart, too.”

When she looked at her mother again, she had already returned to her catatonic state.

It was as if she could no longer see her.

In that moment, Su Yuqing didn’t know if it had just been a coincidence—a symptom of her mother’s condition—or if, for just a fleeting instant, her mother had truly been able to see her.

She chose to believe her mother had really seen her.

Su Yuqing was utterly heartbroken that her death had driven her mother to madness.

It was only then that she truly understood the saying: sometimes, a person’s life doesn’t belong to them alone.

Your friends and family can be left to grieve in your absence.

Just as Su Yuqing was feeling that she had terribly wronged her mother by dying, the scene shifted again.

This time, she found herself at school, inside her own classroom.

Chen Mo walked in for class, looking as languid as ever, but the moment he stepped through the door, he sensed a strange atmosphere in the room.