Chapter 195: "I Lost Someone

Yu Xian and Wen Xiao climbed into the back seat of Wen Yu’s luxurious, brand-new white sedan.

Wen Yu’s car was extremely comfortable. The premium leather seats gave off a fresh new-car scent that mixed with a faint fragrance in the cabin, causing Yu Xian to relax involuntarily.

Wen Xiao shrank obediently into a corner of the back seat. Gripping her seatbelt with both hands, her head bobbed up and down—she looked absolutely exhausted.

Yu Xian watched the streetscapes blurring past the window. A light drizzle pattered against the glass, leaving streaks of water in its wake.

“How have things been at school lately? Is your mental state any better?” Wen Yu asked casually, glancing at the two in the back through the rearview mirror as she drove smoothly. “Are you sleeping more regularly?”

Yu Xian blanked for a second before he understood what she meant.

During his last counseling session, he had still been deeply mired in the immense panic and self-doubt of Xia Li’s disappearance, suffering from severe anxiety and insomnia night after night. His mental state had been terrible.

Now, things were even more chaotic and complicated, yet for some reason, he seemed to be sleeping better. His mental fortitude had also grown, allowing him to endure much more.

“Much better, Sister Yu,” Yu Xian smiled, downplaying the matter. “Classes have resumed recently, so I’ve been quite busy every day. My sleep quality hasn’t been bad.”

“That’s good.” Wen Yu nodded, her eyes focused on the rainy veil ahead. “If there are things you don’t want to tell your cousin, you can come to me. You don’t have to always shoulder everything alone.”

“Okay, thank you, Sister Yu.”

The car drove steadily through the rainy night, passing through a bustling commercial district before gradually approaching the relatively quiet college town. To make turning around easier, Wen Yu parked at the intersection outside JCU North Gate.

Yu Xian patted the sleeping Wen Xiao to wake her up.

Wen Xiao let out a groggy hum and rubbed her eyes. Seeing the familiar streetscape outside, she finally realized where they were and clumsily unbuckled her seatbelt.

The two got out and opened their umbrellas. Wen Yu rolled down her window and instructed, “It’s raining, so be careful on your way back to the dorms. Don’t stay up late.”

“Got it, Sis. Drive safely,” Wen Xiao waved obediently.

The white sedan pulled away smoothly into the rainy night. Its red taillights dragged two reflections across the asphalt road as it merged into the traffic ahead, heading in the direction of PIC.

The street outside JCU North Gate wasn’t as lively and bustling as the South Gate. Backed against the CBD, it felt rather empty and deserted at night.

Yu Xian and Wen Xiao walked side by side along the sidewalk, the raindrops going PIT-PAT against their umbrellas.

“Um…” After walking for a bit, Wen Xiao suddenly spoke up. She carefully sidestepped a small puddle, as if terrified of dirtying her little white shoes. “Yu Xian, why exactly… did you go to my sister for counseling before?”

She tilted her umbrella back slightly and looked up at him. Her voice was filled with cautious probing and poorly hidden concern. “I asked my sister a few times, but she wouldn’t tell me. Is it… because of the symptoms you mentioned at the coffee shop last time? Are you feeling any better recently? Or… did you run into some kind of trouble?”

Yu Xian’s footsteps faltered slightly.

He turned his head to look at the girl beside him. The dim, yellow glow of the streetlamps pierced through the veil of rain and illuminated the side of her face, tracing her soft silhouette.

For a split second, his vision blurred. The endless sound of the rain, the hazy light and shadows, and the slightly worried young woman standing next to him. All these elements overlapped, making him feel as if he had tumbled back into a certain damp, rainy night from his memories.

A gust of cold wind, laced with fine rain, blew against his face, snapping him out of his daze. He resumed walking forward.

“I’m not sick, and I haven’t run into any trouble.”

Perhaps the walk back to the North Gate was a bit too long; perhaps that momentary illusion had left him feeling suffocated; or perhaps the concern in this girl’s eyes was simply too genuine.

Yu Xian remained silent for a moment before speaking slowly, “It’s because… I lost someone.”

“You lost… someone?” Wen Xiao’s voice hitched. Her small hands tightened around her umbrella handle as if recalling something. “Is it… the person you mentioned last time when Yiyi was explaining that trigram? The best friend you grew up with who vanished?”

Yu Xian froze for a second, glancing at Wen Xiao in surprise.

“It’s her.”

He hadn’t expected Wen Xiao to actually remember an offhand remark made in the lounge that day.

“Three weeks ago—it was also a Saturday—she suddenly disappeared.”

Wen Xiao didn’t interrupt. She simply held her umbrella, silently waiting for him to continue. After a pause, Yu Xian gave her a brief rundown of what happened that day.

When he finished, he let out a self-deprecating chuckle. Watching the swirling rain under the streetlamps, he mentally prepared himself. The girl in front of him would probably offer some rational, tactful comfort, like “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself” or “Were you in a bad state of mind back then?”

After all, that was a normal person’s reaction to hearing such an absurd story.

Although many unimaginable things had happened recently—like TDI or the Great Flood—the incident of Xia Li’s disappearance sounded far more extraordinary than any of them. At the very least, one could deduce some sort of technical logic for the other events.

He had even rehearsed in his mind how to politely end the conversation and seamlessly transition to a different topic.

However, none of that happened.

Wen Xiao didn’t give him the look of someone observing a patient. She just walked quietly by his side, the dim, yellow glow of the streetlamps reflecting in her clear eyes.