Occasionally, the 17-year-old Yuan Luoyi would stare at her reflection in the mirror.
Large eyes, fair skin, a petite nose - her exquisite features were meticulously carved, beautiful and alluring. Her youth was radiant, yet her gaze was lifeless.
As she gazed, inexplicable sadness welled up, tears streaming down her face, like pearls slipping off their broken string...
She seemed unable to feel happiness anymore.
Each night, lying in bed, she stared at the ceiling, her head pounding, unable to fall asleep for hours, whispering voices ringing in her ears.
"She's a monster..."
"She's smart, but her personality is flawed. So reclusive, without a single friend."
"She even talks to thin air, how terrifying. Let's stay away from her."
The isolation of her high school life made Yuan Luoyi realize two things.
First, she wasn't that normal either.
Second, interacting with normal people was too painful.
So, when Zhang Miao deliberately knocked over Yuan Luoyi's water cup for the third time during recess, a raging fury swept over her, like a tsunami crashing against the mountains, unstoppable.
This foolish girl who had been provoking her must pay the price!
When Yuan Luoyi came to, students were screaming and running out, desks and chairs were overturned, and the homeroom teacher stood frozen on the podium, utterly terrified.
Zhang Miao lay on the floor, clutching her bleeding forehead, wailing loudly.
Her mouth opened and closed, her chest heaving violently, as if she was saying something, but Yuan Luoyi had no interest in knowing.
Who cares what a pest thinks?
They nibble away, creating countless minor evils, but even small evils, when accumulated, can cause a dam to burst, taking countless lives.
Therefore, they must be eliminated.
As the fury subsided, a peculiar sense of rationality emerged. Yuan Luoyi became unnaturally calm, all emotions suddenly drained away, her eyes turning cold and lifeless.
If it were before, Yuan Luoyi would have felt sympathy for Zhang Miao, whose forehead was bleeding quite severely.
But now, Yuan Luoyi felt nothing.
Lifting the transparent triangle ruler in her hand, gazing at the specks of blood on it, just moments ago, Yuan Luoyi had gripped this ruler like a knife, stabbing it with force into Zhang Miao's head.
She rejoiced, for that vivid red color was so beautiful...
Why had she feared them before?
There should be more of this beautiful red, it would accentuate her charm, and the way to achieve that was to stab Zhang Miao's head a few more times.
Slender, pale fingers gently brushed back her long black hair, straightening her slightly disheveled collar, and dusting off the skirt.
Yuan Luoyi smiled serenely, beautiful, proud, and radiant.
Holding the bloodied triangle ruler, like any predatory animal aroused to kill, she stepped forward with graceful, silent strides towards Zhang Miao...
The girl trembled in terror, blood seeping through her fingers, a lamb awaiting slaughter.
Yes, this was her rightful humble posture.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
Yuan Luoyi heard countless tiny fracturing sounds, like glass cracking, or seeds bursting through the soil.
Something was breaking down, and Yuan Luoyi had initially thought it was herself.
Now she understood, it was the cocoon binding her that was shattering, the long-dormant wicked pleasure eager to emerge.
When that crimson butterfly spread its wings and took flight, she would gain unlimited power.
She would dance joyfully amid the storm of blood and slaughter. Her long sleeves would sweep out, captivating nations, her graceful shadow swaying, enemies falling, her skirt blooming, the massacre beginning...
Suddenly, a voice echoed in Yuan Luoyi's mind, distant, ethereal, its lingering reverberations fading away.
"Luoyi, my dear sister, don't let the darkness consume you..."
"Let's leave this place."
"You are the only beauty in my life, so live in the light for me."
That inexplicable sadness welled up again, tears streaming down uncontrollably, and along with them dropped the bloodied triangle ruler from Yuan Luoyi's hand...
"Thud!"
As it hit the ground, the ruler kicked up a small cloud of dust, bouncing a few times before falling still.
At the final inch before the abyss, Yuan Luoyi halted her steps, standing in the light, not falling.
But the cost was the disappearance of the cold rationality, replaced by an overwhelming sense of guilt.
Clutching her painfully throbbing head with both hands, Yuan Luoyi trembled and crouched down, her thoughts in disarray, various emotions colliding violently - regret, sadness, self-loathing.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
The fracturing sounds continued.
The cocoon reverted to its original form, that wicked crimson butterfly sealed away once more. This time, the cracking sound moved from the inside out - it was Yuan Luoyi herself breaking down.
So painful.
Truly so painful!
She began to scream...
The brief loss of control at school made Yuan Luoyi realize an important point - the monster should be kept locked away in the room, she never wanted to go out again.
So, she dropped out of school.
Locking the door, drawing the curtains, she refused to communicate with anyone, enduring the excruciating pain, tears flowing endlessly, listening to the sound of her own gradual breakdown.
She was the strangest child in the Yuan family, straddling the line between normal and abnormal, neither black nor white, but a peculiar shade of gray.
Her classmates were normal people, and Yuan Luoyi couldn't blend in with them.
Her family wasn't normal either, and Yuan Luoyi couldn't blend in with them either.
Only loneliness kept her company.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
"My dear sister, open the door. Your second brother has brought you some delicious food."
"Still don't want to see me?"
"Well, then I'll be going. I've been quite busy with cases lately, and might not be back for two or three months."
"Don't lock yourself in like this. You're also a child of the Yuan family. Don't be afraid of your dark side, just go with the flow, you'll get used to it soon."
"There's a box of lollipops outside your door, the Cat Ear Meow Meow brand, your favorite flavor. Who left them there?"
"Ah, never mind. I've left the snacks I bought here too. Eat them whenever you want. Your second brother is leaving now."
Second Brother Yuan Fa's footsteps gradually faded away.
Yuan Luoyi leaned against the wall, sliding down helplessly to sit on the cold floor, her hollow eyes staring into nothingness.
Her brothers were completely abnormal, unable to understand Yuan Luoyi's pain. They thought it was just like a cold, that she would feel better after some rest.
But Yuan Luoyi knew she wouldn't get better.
She would drown in endless loneliness, taking one step after another towards self-destruction.
Now, in the old world line, among the evergreen trees of the graveyard, the setting sun was blood-red, and the 11-year-old Yuan Luoyi had watched the complete fragments of her memories.
She instinctively placed her hand on her chest, the motion light, as if afraid to awaken the slumbering cocoon.
This was her dark side, the demon she had to face.
And Second Brother Yuan Fa maintained his elegant curtain call pose, staring directly into Yuan Luoyi's eyes as he extended the gun further towards her.
"Kill me!"
