Youge, my teacher....

You won't let me see Irene....

You won't let my thesis be published....

Why?

"Why?!"

"Why do you still harm me even after you're dead?!"

Hatred spread in the lonely darkness.

Eric poured all his resentment onto his teacher.

He struggled and twisted in anger, but he could never leave the cold chair.

"Tap--"

A cluster of flames rose, and a mummified face abruptly appeared before him!

Eric was almost scared out of his wits, his body stiff as if his nerves had been extracted, unable to move even a single finger!

"Who is dead and still harming you?"

The mummified face grinned and asked,

"You're so timid, how did you become like a different person?"

Eric tremblingly watched the mummy put the flame into a candle lamp, illuminating half of the cramped space.

At this moment, he finally saw the true appearance of the person in front of him.

Thin, wrinkled skin over bones, hairless... rather than a person, it was more like a speaking mummy.

"Heh heh... you truly don't seem to know what we are looking for."

The mummy took out a skinning knife from its robe and slid the back of the blade across Eric's face, slowly scraping away the seeping muddy sweat.

Eric trembled constantly, and in just a few seconds, his face was again covered in beads of terrified sweat.

"I... I really don't know!"

"Please... let me go!"

The mummy grinned:

"Since you don't know, then I'll dispose of you."

As it spoke, the blade suddenly flipped, instantly drawing a streak of blood on Eric's side.

Eric was so frightened that tears welled up, seeping into the wound along his face, making his teeth chatter uncontrollably from the pain.

"Ah, you say, is it worth it for a woman?" The mummified person sighed, asking faintly.

Under the extreme stimulation of death, Eric's eyes flickered vaguely, and his heart was filled with immense regret.

"Do you want to live?" The mummy asked again.

"Yes!" Eric responded tremblingly.

The mummy cut open its own chest, extended two fingers into the dark flesh, and pulled out a constantly wriggling, long worm with eyeballs inside its mouthparts.

"Open your mouth, swallow this little darling."

Eric's face showed terror, and he kept shaking his head.

"Don't worry, if you're obedient, it won't do anything to you."

The mummy explained with a smile,

"If you don't eat it, then I can only help you peel off this false outer skin."

Under the threat of death, Eric finally opened his mouth.

The next second, the worm broke free from the mummy's fingers and instantly darted into his mouth.

Eric immediately felt as if his throat had been poured with sulfuric acid, the pain like needles and knives cutting him!

Before his consciousness completely blurred, the mummy's eerie laughter echoed continuously in his mind:

"Next, I will expose your whereabouts."

"It won't be long before someone comes to save you."

"By then, you'll know what to do, right?"

"Heh heh heh....."

【As the last trace of consciousness subsided, the unlucky Eric was unfortunately parasitized.】

【Will he choose to betray, or will he sacrifice himself for love?】

"Rustle rustle...."

The tip of the gray feather pen gradually stopped.

Li Andy, like yesterday, sat in the study chair, with his younger sister leaning against him.

"Brother..."

Youxi slowly moved, wrapping her arms around his neck and asking,

"Who is that Eric now? He inherited Professor Youge's memories, so is he Professor Youge? Who a person is, should it be judged based on the proportion of memories, or based on personality and body?"

When she asked this question, Jasmine, who was silently recording with her head down and a faint blush on her cheeks, suddenly stiffened and focused all her attention on her ears.

Li Andy looked at his sister's meaningful smile and frowned slightly.

This girl deliberately asked such a question in front of Jasmine....

After a few seconds of silence, he replied softly:

"Who it is, is not important. What's important is to recognize and accept who you are at this moment."

"So, brother isn't sure who that is either?" Youxi's question seemed to have a hidden meaning.

And Li Andy remained silent.

Seemingly not answering, he had actually answered.

Jasmine, who was listening nearby, trembled slightly, and after a few seconds of suppressed emotion, she suddenly got up:

"Brother Andy, Sister Youxi.... I'm a bit tired, I'll go back to my room first...."

This was the first time she had actively made a request.

Normally, even if Li Andy stayed up late, if no one spoke, she would only wait silently by his side.

"Mm, get some rest early." Li Andy's gaze was still fixed on Youxi, and he responded faintly.

Jasmine nodded and left the room.

"Why did you deliberately provoke her?"

Li Andy held Youxi's slender waist, not letting her move.

Youxi's lips curved into a smile, her cheeks flushed with an inexplicable blush, and instead of answering, she counter-asked:

"How does brother view Jasmine?"

Li Andy was silent.

Is it sympathy?

Or that so-called possessiveness?

In any case, it wouldn't be love.

She was different from Youxi and Sophia.

Youxi smiled again, wrapped her arms around his neck, and whispered:

"Since brother can't judge, then I'll help brother judge."

"I will judge whether she can truly become... our family."

The girl's body was soft, but Li Andy inexplicably felt a chill.

He was a bit confused about what the true definition of "family" was in her eyes.

"Brother."

Youxi pushed his hand away, and as she regained her freedom of movement, she whispered into his ear,

"After coming out of the orphanage, you seem to have been searching for something. I don't know, and I don't understand, but I will support you in my own way."

The air fell silent, and the atmosphere became unusually strange.

For a moment, it was unclear whether she was expressing concern or a threat.

Li Andy was silent for a long time, then suddenly broke the stalemate by sitting up and changing the subject:

"Future matters, we'll talk about them in the future. The matter of you guys setting the commission price so low today cannot just be let go!"

Youxi froze, blinked, and innocently shifted the blame:

"It was... Sophia who set it."

Li Andy raised his eyebrows:

"Alright then, let's go deal with her together, I'll be behind you, you go first."

Youxi's eyes narrowed into a smile, and she hummed in agreement.

In the master bedroom on the second floor, Sophia, who had just been released and was lying on the bed, inexplicably shivered.

.......

Late night.

Summer was approaching, and outside the window, insects chirped.

At the same moment Sophia was continuously begging for mercy.

In Jasmine's room next door, it was lonely and quiet.

Jasmine's slender figure in a thin nightgown sat alone by the bed, hugging her knees, her eyes staring blankly at her toes.

"Who... am I, exactly?"

She couldn't help but ask herself this question again.

"Yes, who are you?"

A strange yet familiar voice sounded, startling Jasmine, who suddenly looked up.

When she saw the person in front of her, a chill ran down her spine even more.

"You... are Meilin..."

"Mm, it's me."

The clear-eyed girl with glasses, wearing the same style of pajamas as her, smiled and looked at her.

"But... I can also be you."

Meilin said with an easy smile.

Jasmine's heart thumped, thumping, a sensation she had never felt so strongly since she woke up!