Lin Yuan returned to his villa. As a ghost, he only felt comfortable in the place he was most familiar with during his life.
Ghosts do not belong to the Human World and are rejected everywhere.
Without strong attachments and obsessions, they would quickly disappear.
The villa contained items he used during his life, and his aura still lingered on them.
There was a subtle bond between these items and him; only by staying in this environment would he feel less rejection.
Lin Yuan entered the stone, which contained a space of several tens of cubic meters.
It wasn't very large, but every time he gained some wish power, the space would expand.
Within this space, he could control everything; it was like a world created just for him.
Here, he would not be rejected by any force; otherwise, his soul would have long since become incomplete.
He had a feeling.
This stone was like some kind of treasure, and he was the spirit of this treasure.
This stone replaced his original flesh and blood body; now, they were one.
"I have a feeling that something will change here soon."
However, this would have to wait until Jiang Huihui's wish was fulfilled and he received the wish power from Hui Hui's vow.
But it would be soon, just tomorrow.
...
In the early hours of the morning, Li Xin suddenly woke up from a dream, sat up, gasping for breath, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
He quickly turned on the room light, looked around, and only calmed down when he saw nothing unusual.
He had been woken by a nightmare, and the dream was so real that even after waking, he still felt lingering fear.
In the dream, it was pitch black, and someone seemed to be calling him.
He couldn't hear what the person was saying and wanted to walk closer to hear more clearly.
He fumbled forward through the darkness, vaguely seeing a figure.
It was that person calling him.
He slowly approached, wanting to hear what the person was saying clearly.
Finally, he heard it.
"Li Xingyu!"
That was his name, but no one had called it for a long time, and even he himself wanted to forget it forever.
"No, I'm not, my name is Li Xin!"
He tried to escape, but a hand grabbed him, a strong hand that he couldn't break free from.
Then, a face appeared before him.
"Do you still remember me?"
Seeing that face, he woke up with a start.
He had thought he had completely forgotten those things, but unexpectedly, they appeared in his dream again.
But fortunately, it was just a dream.
Li Xingyu, he hadn't thought of this name for a long time, because he wanted to cut ties with the past.
He changed his name to Li Xin, meaning to abandon everything from before and start anew.
He also considered himself Li Xin, a brand new person.
As for Li Xingyu, that name had nothing to do with him anymore, and what that person did was also irrelevant to him.
But today, he realized that no matter how much he denied it, he couldn't completely sever his past as Li Xingyu.
"Jiang Jie."
He remembered this name, which was also the face that appeared in his dream.
A weak and introverted boy. Back then, he and his companions often bullied Jiang Jie and often extorted money from him.
In their eyes, Jiang Jie's only purpose was to entertain them.
Jiang Jie's grades were average, and even if he reported them to the teacher, the teacher would only criticize them a few times. Even if their parents found out, it wasn't a big deal.
At most, they would be scolded when they got home, and even if it escalated, they might not even get a beating.
He had long been used to being scolded and didn't care at all.
But the anger he received from teachers or parents would be unleashed on Jiang Jie with even greater intensity.
Later, when they bullied Jiang Jie again, there was no cost at all.
Because Jiang Jie no longer dared to tell the teacher or his parents.
When they were young, they thought bullying others was a cool thing.
They even killed someone and didn't feel anything, even thinking that such an experience would surely make others envious and worship them. He even used to show it off as an achievement.
But thinking about it now, he was too naive back then, even like an idiot.
He still regretted that incident. If he hadn't killed someone, he wouldn't have had to live in anonymity or worry about being recognized.
The title of murderer was truly unpleasant; no matter where, as long as the matter was exposed, he couldn't stay there.
Most people would not envy him for having killed someone; they would only think he was a scumbag.
More than five years had passed since the incident, but at this moment, the memories of that day surged uncontrollably, each scene so clear, as if it had happened yesterday.
That day, their bullying of Jiang Jie was witnessed by the teacher. The teacher seemed to be in a very bad mood and not only scolded them but also insisted that they call their parents.
At that time, he was extremely annoyed.
Although Jiang Jie did not actively tell the teacher, he still vented all his anger on Jiang Jie.
After school, he and two others stopped Jiang Jie and dragged him to the woods outside the school.
He had almost forgotten what those two looked like, only vaguely remembering their names.
Because after that incident, they never had any contact again.
But he clearly remembered Jiang Jie begging them for mercy at that time.
At that time, he really enjoyed it.
Perhaps pushed to the limit by their bullying, Jiang Jie actually bit him, which immediately infuriated him.
Jiang Jie had almost never dared to resist before; after all, Jiang Jie was short and thin and couldn't beat any of them.
Being bitten filled him with rage.
He kicked Jiang Jie down.
At that time, he only wanted to re-establish his authority and ensure that Jiang Jie would never dare to provoke him again.
He saw a stone nearby, walked over, picked it up, and forcefully smashed it onto Jiang Jie's head.
He really didn't mean to kill him; he just wanted to teach Jiang Jie a good lesson.
But he was too angry at the time and lost control.
He didn't remember how many times he smashed it, but when he stopped, Jiang Jie's head was covered in blood, his skull almost deformed from the smashing.
He kicked Jiang Jie with his foot, and Jiang Jie just lay on the ground, unable to move anymore.
It was then that he finally came to his senses: Jiang Jie had been beaten to death by him.
He panicked.
But he quickly hid his panic.
Because showing panic in front of these people would be embarrassing.
"He's dead. We're all involved in this, and no one is allowed to say anything."
"But, he..."
"If you dare to speak out, you're all finished!"
His outward composure made the other two less panicked.
"Let's find something to bury him, then no one will find him."
His home was not far from the school. He ran back, grabbed a shovel, then returned to the scene, dug a pit, and buried Jiang Jie in it.
Afterward, the three of them coordinated their stories, ensuring that the matter would not be traced back to them.
He thought he had done it flawlessly, but the next morning, their secret was exposed.
They were taken away by the police, and during the interrogation, he realized how full of holes his prepared alibi was.
Moreover, those two disloyal guys both pointed fingers at him, saying they just couldn't stop him.
Under these circumstances, he could only confess.
He initially thought this would be a very serious matter. At that time, he trembled with fear.
After all, human life was at stake, and he had killed someone.
But the reality was different from what he expected. Even with conclusive evidence, even though he had committed a serious crime, even though his malicious intent was significant.
The outcome was not severe.
He didn't have to bear any criminal responsibility; he was only educated for a few years and then released.
In the beginning, he was proud of what he had done, feeling it was a commendable achievement.
Every time he bragged to people around him, mentioning that experience would draw admiring glances.
But as he grew older, there were fewer and fewer such people around him.
And because he dropped out of school early, he had to bear the burden of life.
After truly stepping into society and experiencing its harsh realities, he realized that he had been an idiot back then.
That was no achievement, nor was it worth showing off; it would only make everyone avoid him, despise him, and make it impossible for him to even find a job.
His parents were also implicated by him. Originally, their family was quite wealthy; his parents ran a business and could earn hundreds of thousands annually.
But after that incident, the business couldn't continue. Not only did they lose a lot of money, but they were also constantly pointed at and criticized, eventually being forced to work in a factory.
Over the years, they had moved several times, and each time they arrived at a new place, their biggest fear was being recognized.
Now, he truly regretted it.
That incident had brought him a lot of trouble. If not for that incident, even if he was a poor student, he could at least inherit the family business and live a decent life.
But understanding this now was not too late.
He was still young; even if he had gone astray, there was still a chance to start over.
This was the advantage of youth: no matter how many mistakes he made, there was no fear.
He had long decided to forget the past forever.
But today, for some reason, he suddenly dreamed of Jiang Jie.
Feeling irritable, he lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.
After only a few puffs, a strong sense of unease surged within him again. He had a feeling that something was going to happen today.
He picked up his phone and called his Mother.