Chapter 133: Three Missing One, Not One Less 26

Shi Xianyu said, "Why do you feel safe leaving Lu Min locked in the cafeteria with Bai Yuxi? Because he’s her boyfriend? Because he has an amulet? But what if Lu Min is the ghost himself?! By locking Bai Yuxi in a room with a ghost, you are handing her life over on a silver platter!"

The group, caught off guard by Shi Xianyu’s sudden attack on Lu Min, stood frozen in shock.

Shi Xianyu was genuinely terrified of Lu Min’s silver tongue. Refusing to give him a chance to explain, she pressed the others: "Have you forgotten who placed the mirror outside the window? Or who left the comb in the restroom? It’s obvious that someone among us is deliberately luring the ghosts out to harm people! You haven’t even identified who that person is, yet you’re comfortable leaving Bai Yuxi alone with him?!"

Lu Min’s expression darkened. "I would hope that when you make such claims, you have evidence..."

"Do you have any evidence?!" Shi Xianyu cut him off. "Did you have evidence when you accused Wan Qianqian? Did you have evidence when you locked Xia Yu and me away? Weren’t you just guessing the whole time?"

Shi Xianyu pointed at Lu Min, her voice cold. "You are the most suspicious of all. When I first arrived at this school, before I even had a chance to investigate, I was misled by the information you fed me. You told me it was the vengeful spirit of Du Xiaoling causing the chaos, preventing everyone from leaving. Yet, in all this time, we’ve encountered a red-clad ghost who jumped from a building and a senior who was strangled by her ex-boyfriend, but we haven’t seen a trace of Du Xiaoling! Why were you so quick to link this to her? Why were you so certain she was the one behind it? Because of some random noises outside the cafeteria door? Did you see her? Do you have proof? Even if Du Xiaoling were standing right in front of you, I doubt you’d even recognize her!"

Shi Xianyu, terrified that Lu Min might turn the tables, spoke at a breakneck pace, pouring all her energy into highlighting every inconsistency. She only hoped to shift everyone's focus back.

Now was not the time to be busy "sacrificing" Bai Yuxi; the most important thing was to root out the traitor!

Perhaps accustomed to following Lu Min’s lead, the students were bewildered by Shi Xianyu’s sudden interference.

Wang Aiguo looked hesitantly between Lu Min and Shi Xianyu. "I don't... I don't think so... Lu Min has been with Yuxi the whole time, and nothing has happened to her..."

"Wan Qianqian and Xia Yu were still here then!" Shi Xianyu stared daggers at Lu Min. "Now that they are dead, just as he wished, only Bai Yuxi is left. If he gets the chance, he will definitely strike!"

Zhou Bushan looked troubled, glancing at both sides before speaking up. "I think... she has a point..."

Seeing Zhou Bushan side with Shi Xianyu, Wang Aiguo began to waver. But looking at Lu Min’s refined, scholarly appearance, he couldn't imagine him being possessed by a ghost. He asked tentatively, "Lu Min, how about... you explain yourself?"

The other students chimed in, "Yes, Lu Min, please explain. What exactly is going on?"

Lu Min’s face was grim.

He fixed an icy gaze on Shi Xianyu for a long moment before finally speaking. "Since it has come to this, I will hide nothing. The truth is, there was indeed a hidden reason why I suspected Du Xiaoling’s spirit from the very beginning."

Hearing this, the group immediately grew curious, their tension mounting.

"What hidden reason?"

Lu Min looked down at Bai Yuxi in his arms. "Yuxi, may I tell them about that matter?"

Bai Yuxi leaned against him, her expression dazed. She neither nodded nor shook her head; her condition had deteriorated, and she was so muddled she could barely speak.

Without waiting for her consent, Lu Min began, "This goes back to when Yuxi and I first met. As you all know, after Du Xiaoling died, Yuxi’s mental state plummeted. She even went to a psychological clinic for treatment. Everyone assumed it was the trauma of losing her best friend, but that wasn't the case."

Lu Min paused for two seconds before continuing. "The Bai family home was haunted."

"Haunted?!" Wang Aiguo exclaimed in surprise.

The other students looked shocked. "How could it be haunted?"

"We never heard anything about that!"

Lu Min gave a cold, mirthless smile. "Why would you hear about the Bai family being haunted? To be precise, Du Xiaoling’s vengeful spirit had latched onto Yuxi, causing her to suffer from nightmares every night. She became haggard and mentally exhausted, which is why her family sent her to a psychologist. The psychologist didn't believe in hauntings, of course. I was interning at the clinic at the time, and I believed Yuxi. I understood her pain, and because she was willing to confide in me, we eventually became a couple."

As Shi Xianyu listened, a sense of foreboding grew. She glanced around and realized everyone was hanging on Lu Min’s every word. Her internal alarm bells rang—what was happening? How had he regained control of the narrative?

Lu Min continued, "Yuxi told me a lot about their friend group. Du Xiaoling had plastic surgery for a congenital cleft lip; the results were so good that she became beautiful, but people ended up calling her a 'plastic surgery freak.' Wan Qianqian was in the school’s arts troupe; she could sing and dance and was the best at dressing up among the four, but she was easily deceived by men—a few sweet words were enough to make her lose her head, and a boy from a neighboring school even took compromising photos of her. As for Xia Yu, they had known each other since childhood, so they were very close, but because her family went bankrupt, she became extremely sensitive. Her speech often sounded sharp and cold, and some students thought she was putting on airs, so they called her a 'green tea' bitch."

Lu Min let out a heavy sigh. "Knowing all this, and seeing those words on the round table in the cafeteria, it was hard not to associate it with Du Xiaoling."

"Wait, wait a minute..." Wang Aiguo noticed a key point. His eyes widened as he asked Lu Min, "Since Yuxi’s condition was so bad, why did she suddenly host a class reunion? We... we all thought she was nearly recovered and that the reunion was to celebrate that!"

Lu Min replied, "I can’t fully understand Yuxi’s thoughts either. I suspect she wanted to find closure with her past, which is why she invited everyone for one last gathering."

Everything seemed to make sense. And yet, nothing seemed to make sense at all.

Shi Xianyu realized that her passionate, heart-felt speech had been for nothing. Lu Min had spun a tale of tragic history, and the conversation had circled right back to where it started! It hadn't changed the decision that he and Bai Yuxi would be left alone in the cafeteria at all!

Even Zhou Bushan seemed to be half-convinced by Lu Min.

Shi Xianyu took a deep breath. Since she couldn't win with words, she would win with action.

She turned to Zhou Bushan. "I’ve already said it: there is a traitor among us. Unless we find them, I cannot rest easy leaving Bai Yuxi alone with anyone. Is there a way to drive such a ghost out of a human body?"

Zhou Bushan was stunned for a moment. "We could use five-element colored threads to bind them. As the saying goes, 'The five stars suppress the color, and the light shines into the mysterious darkness.' Supplemented with the Mighty Heavenly God Incantation, it can handle even the most ordinary of ghosts."

"Fine," Shi Xianyu said decisively. "Then bind all of us. Once we’re bound, perform the exorcism. If there’s a ghost, kill it; if not, so be it. Only then, when we let Bai Yuxi lure the evil spirit out, can we have some peace of mind."

She cast a meaningful glance at Lu Min. "Everyone... should agree with this, right?"