She looked quietly at Bai Liu (6). "You've experienced this too. When a cowardly liar suddenly starts treating you well, you can't help wondering what he really wants."
"He gives you kindness for no reason. It's like the beautiful, poisonous tail of a scorpion, like the honeyed sting of a bee. You swallow it while constantly wondering when the venom will pierce your heart. Why is he treating you well? When will he betray you?"
"Aren't you the same as Bai Liu, a liar full of lies? Little Bai Liu (6)? Before he was willing to die for you last night, before you knew he was your other self, did you truly believe in what he gave you?"
"Didn't you test him along the way?"
Bai Liu (6) pressed his lips together and didn't answer.
Liu Jiayi sneered. "You and I were born not to believe in anyone. I keep repeating the same process—testing, doubting. I'm just not as lucky as you. The other person isn't me."
She paused. Her breathing grew weaker, her voice turning unfocused. "I'll never know what my brother is thinking because I'm not him. He shares blood with that man. He has the same voice as the man who gave birth to me. I can never stop doubting him. Every day I hear his voice, and I can't help hating him. Then he smiles at me and calls me Jiayi. Every time he's kind, I can't help thinking, 'If only he could live a little longer. If only he could stay with me a little longer.'"
"…Even if he betrayed me to that man, it would still be nice if he could remain my smiling brother." Her voice lowered, as if she were drifting through memory.
"He's the only person in the world who's different. The only one who took me away from everything." She murmured, almost dazed. "Even though I've tried a thousand times to believe him, no matter what he promises, I can't stop doubting him—just like he couldn't stop betraying me."
"Even if he cried and said it was the last time he would coax me out, the next day, when the man who gave birth to me beat him again, he would come looking for me, crying and begging me to come out. And when I finally did, he would tremble, hold my hand, and send me to that man to be beaten… No matter how many times it happened, it was always the same."
Liu Jiayi showed a strange smile—the kind of little girl's smile she had practiced thousands of times alone. "When you can't be sure whether the person who matters most to you will betray you, the best choice is to control them. Look at what you're doing now. Isn't your choice the same as mine, Bai Liu (6)?"
"No. I'm not like you," Bai Liu (6) replied flatly. "I chose to be controlled by him."
Liu Jiayi froze.
"My other self gave me two guesses about why your health was only fifty percent before we fled. He let me choose between them." Bai Liu (6) had moved very close now. He looked down at Liu Jiayi, who was standing on the backs of his feet.
He lowered his gaze, his tone calm. "The first guess was that your health weakened because of the mushroom poisoning outside. There was more evidence supporting that, but it couldn't explain why Liu Huai's health also dropped."
Liu Jiayi's expression stiffened. Her grip on the doll loosened slightly, though her voice remained steady. "And the second guess?"
"The second guess…" Bai Liu (6) spoke lightly. "He suspected you were already a player who had entered the game. That your personal skill might be related to health, forcing the system to suppress your condition. He even gave me the name he suspected."
Bai Liu (6) leaned down slightly and whispered, "Little Witch."
Liu Jiayi's breathing stopped for a few seconds.
"Then why did you stop to save me?" Her mask of innocence shattered, revealing ferocity and a flicker of panic. "If you knew I was Little Witch, why stop? Why come to this classroom tonight? Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"
"Because the other me told me to try to save you," Bai Liu (6) answered calmly. "It was a gamble. If you weren't Little Witch and the poisoning was real, you would've died if I hadn't intervened. He paid for your life. At the very least, you couldn't die by my hand. That's my professional ethics as a wanderer."
Liu Jiayi's hands trembled. Tears welled in her eyes as she stared at him in disbelief. "You knew… Did you come here tonight to die? Didn't you guess what would happen? Why come in?"
"If I die by your hand tonight, it only proves my judgment at the beginning was wrong," Bai Liu (6) said softly. "Then my death was sealed the moment I chose to save you. Whether I came tonight or not makes no difference."
"But if you aren't Little Witch, then coming here could save your life." His voice remained steady. "From an exchange-of-interests perspective, it doesn't matter whether you are or not. I had to come."
Suddenly, Liu Jiayi arched forward and covered her mouth as she coughed. Green, mushroom-scented liquid seeped between her fingers.
She coughed violently, her face paling. Tears streamed from the force of it, but she still glared at him like a fierce, wounded animal. She clutched the doll with its head and limbs torn off, threatening him.
Bai Liu (6) seemed not to notice. He stepped forward and supported her with one hand. "It seems the second guess was correct. You were pretending to cough blood before, but you were truly poisoned at the welfare home. You are Little Witch. What item did you use to fake the blood?"
"I really will kill you, Bai Liu (6)!" She slapped his hand away, tears streaming as she coughed. "I was stalling until my skill's cooldown ended. Now it's over. You can't escape!"
[System Notification: The cooldown of Liu Jiayi's personal skill 'Poison and Antidote' has ended.]
[System Notification: Witch, you have one bottle of poison and one bottle of antidote tonight. Choose: poison or antidote?]
Bai Liu (6) looked at her quietly.
Mist blurred Liu Jiayi's eyes. She turned away, lips pressed tight. "I don't believe you wanted to save me! You're all liars! No one in this world treats me well for no reason! Even my brother's kindness was bought with my own beatings!"
She had always understood that Liu Huai's kindness was mostly guilt—the cheapest emotion after betrayal.
Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. "I'll use the poison tonight."
A black, twisted miasma surged around her. Lace veiled her head and body. In her hand appeared a huge curved-neck glass bottle filled with bubbling black liquid. The vapor rising from it wrapped around her thin form like an octopus.
Through the translucent lace, her gray, tearful eyes stared at Bai Liu (6). Black liquid dripped from her like cursed blood. "Saving me was the worst judgment you've ever made."
"I was never a good child who repays kindness," she said viciously. "I'm a mean girl. I will never thank you."
[System Notification: Player Liu Jiayi has activated personal skill 'Witch's Attack Equipment.']
[System Notification: Player Liu Jiayi has entered status 'Monster Book: Cursed Taboo Witch.']
"Neither am I," Bai Liu (6) replied calmly. "Your skill is similar to mine. I'm a wanderer. You're a witch. We're both people abandoned by God."
"I don't believe in God!" she snapped.
"Neither do I," he nodded. "The people at the welfare home said children who don't believe in God go to hell. So after you kill me, I'll see you there."
He paused. "Mu Ke knows nothing. You don't have to kill him."
She stared at him for a long time before speaking hoarsely. "Fine. Open the door and leave. I'll give you ten minutes to run."
Bai Liu (6) closed his eyes. He opened his arms and inhaled the black fog deeply, then exhaled slowly. His head swam as he looked at her approaching through the poison.
"I still don't understand… why save me?" Liu Jiayi crouched down, resting her head on his shoulder. Her trembling lashes made her look like an anxious younger sister. If not for the poison bottle still releasing black vapor, she would've seemed like the one about to be harmed.
Black blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. He swallowed it back. "I don't know," he said evenly.
"Maybe I've been a bad boy for too long, and someone suddenly wanted me to be good." He sighed faintly. "I don't understand these ordinary values. A good person gains nothing and only pays a price."
Her forehead rested against his shoulder. Her eyes were red. "You're clearly a completely bad person. Don't do this again. Don't go this far to save me. I won't thank you. I'm worse than you…"
He looked up at the ceiling. His consciousness blurred, but he could feel the warmth where she leaned against him.
Puzzled, he asked weakly, "Didn't you deceive me? Didn't you win? You killed me as you wanted. You should be happy. Why are you crying?"
She was silent for a long moment before sneering through tears. "Because you made me cry, you idiot…"
[System Notification: Player Liu Jiayi has used a bottle of poison on Player Bai Liu's secondary identity line.]
[System Warning: Player Bai Liu's secondary identity line has received the Poisoned debuff. Health is rapidly decreasing. Warning!]