I looked at Wu Jian and muttered to Huang Xiaolong in a low voice, "Even if you hated Wu Ting trapping you, you didn"t have to be so ruthless."

The corner of Huang Xiaolong"s mouth twitched a few times. He responded by raising his hand in front of his face and studying it intensely.

Seeing his expression, I realized I"d been mistaken. This child hadn"t attacked Wu Ting out of resentment. He had simply been unable to control the power he"d tried to use.

Wu Ting was lying on the ground, unmoving. Her entire figure was extremely transparent and had begun to flicker. I could only make her out because the clothes she wore were once black. Otherwise, she would have been nearly invisible.

Wu Jian knelt beside Wu Ting. He stretched out his hands but did not dare to touch her. Yan"er and Lulu stood nearby. They both wore strange expressions, possibly of regret.

I pulled Huang Xiaolong along with me as I walked toward the others. As I approached, I heard Wu Jian recounting past memories to Wu Ting with tears flowing down his face. Wu Ting slowly opened her eyes, silently listening, and a few tears fell from her eyes as well. I didn"t know whether it was an illusion, but it seemed as though the smell of the sea was becoming fainter.

"Her anger is dissipating, and her soul has suffered a heavy blow. Once the anger completely dissipates, then..." Lulu"s uncharacteristically gentle whisper trailed off.

I looked at her face. Her eyes were still red, but rather than the bloodshot, angry red they"d appeared to be before, they were now more like s.h.i.+ning rubies.

I nodded gently. Huang Xiaolong came forward, seeming unsure of what to do. In a choked voice he simply said, "I am sorry. I am."

Wu Jian did not turn around. I knew that Wu Jian was not the kind of person to be angry with Huang Xiaolong. Rather, he did not want to tear his eyes away from Wu Ting for one second.

Wu Ting"s tears were now flowing continuously, and her body became even more transparent, but she wore a smile. It was the first time I"d seen her smile and it was beautiful.

Wu Jian was sobbing loudly and he had stopped speaking. He reached out a hand to hold Wu Ting"s. She also stretched hers towards him, but before their fingers touched, her hand disappeared in mid-air.

As Wu Ting"s body vanished, we all heard one haunting sentence spoken in a weak voice floating through the air:

"I"ve loved you from a very young age, and my love will not end."

Wu Jian fell over in anguish, crying like a child. Huang Xiaolong began repeating the word "sorry" over and over while slapping himself.

"Did I do something wrong?" I turned around to see that Lulu looked like her usual self in her normal clothes. She was murmuring to herself.

I didn"t know where my courage came from, but I put my hand gently around Lulu"s fragrant shoulders and said, "You didn"t do anything wrong, but don"t kill people anymore." I didn"t say what I was thinking, that if Lulu had stopped when I told her to stop, maybe the tragedy would not have happened.

Lulu quietly put her head gently against my chest, but both of us were too caught up in Wu Ting"s final moment and words to think about the moment between us.

Wu Jian slowly stood but seemed close to falling over. Huang Xiaolong rushed in to hold him up, and Wu Jian patted him on the shoulder.

"What upsets me the most is not that Wu Ting had to go. It"s that doll. I"m going to kill it." Wu Jian"s words sounded fierce, but his tone was calm as though he were reciting facts.

Huang Xiaolong and I nodded and said at the same time, "I"ll help you."

The three of us looked at each other and smiled. Wu Jian stretched out his hand, palm down. Huang Xiaolong followed suit and placed his hand over Wu Jian"s. I also reached out my hand, but since my other hand was still holding Lulu, I couldn"t reach far enough. At that moment, I realized what was going on.

Uh, is this a hallucination?

At that moment, Lulu raised her head, said simply, "The matter is over. I"ll leave now," and disappeared in a flash. Before she disappeared, I swear I saw her cheeks flush.

I dryly coughed and extended my hand to meet Huang Xiaolong"s, but I could feel that the atmosphere had changed. Fortunately, no one found now an appropriate time to tease me.

Xiao Lingdang left with Yan"er and Huang Xiaolong and I accompanied Wu Jian to drink wine until dawn. When I arrived home in the morning, I checked in with my mother who was already awake and then collapsed into my bed to fall into a deep sleep.

I entered a strange dream. I saw Lulu wearing red wedding clothes, her face hidden by red fabric, as though she"d just gotten married. Then I realized that I seemed to be the groom.

I awoke around dinner time. Because I"d been absent for a while, I promised my mother that I would remain at home for a few days, other than when I had to work at the Ghost House. My mother accepted these terms because Witch Yan had told her that the more familiar the Ghost House and I became with each other, the safer I would be.