Hu Lei found herself standing in the middle of a dark forest. She could feel that there was something chasing after her through the woods. Though she did not have a clear picture on what was happening, she began running instinctually.The scent of danger was strong, and she felt overwhelmed by her surroundings. However, when she slowed down, that scary thing was always just behind her. She did not care when her beautiful white dress was torn by the branches, and she ignored the pain when her bare feet were injured.
She kept running for hours, perhaps days, before she ran out of breath. The forest was still dark when she tired. It was almost as if the sun had never fallen in the place. She wanted to keep running, but her body failed her. She could only collapse to her knees.
"Do you think that you can run from me?" A domineering voice called out to her.
There was amus.e.m.e.nt and mocking in the laughter that followed. The force that had been chasing surrounded her. It felt suffocating. Hu Lei stood up on her bleeding and aching feet. She would not die on her knees.
"Show yourself." She shouted.
"Do you think that you can beat me?"
Hu Lei looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. However, the sound seemed to be coming from nowhere and everywhere. It was intangible and untraceable.
"Even if I can"t beat you, I will die trying."
Hu Lei maintained her fighting stance.
"I am glad you feel that way because fighting me will certainly kill you." The voice was dark, thick and sensual.
Hu Lei realised that the person was behind her. She turned fiercely to face her a.s.sailant.
"After all, I am you."
Hu Lei felt confused as she looked at the person who had appeared behind her. There was no doubt about it. This person was her. However, it was not the current her. While she wore a white dress and her hair flowed over her back, the other person favoured a black bodysuit and her hair was held up tightly in a bun.
"Who are you?" Hu Lei asked foolishly.
"Mmmh… You insult our intelligence but sinking into rhetoric. Surely, you must recognise me." The woman smiled at her taking a step closer with swinging hips.
"You are Jane." Hu Lei steeled her heart even as it beat faster.
The other woman laughed and lifted a hand covered in black gloves to touch Hu Lei"s cheek. The cold leather felt freezing to Hu Lei. She slapped the hand away and stared at the person who was her and yet not her.
"I am no longer Jane." She added.
"You were never Jane." The woman looked at her with a lifted brow and a sardonic smile.
Hu Lei did not ask.
"I will explain this to your simple little mind. It seems I am the one using most of our brain. You have never been Hu Lei and Jane simultaneously. You always maintained a clear divide between the two. From mannerisms to clothing, these two personalities were always distinct."
"Good little Hu Lei would be the adorable charming daughter of the divine doctor. She would partic.i.p.ate in charity events and charm people when needed. Jane would be in the darkness doing the dirty work and accomplishing what Hu Lei could not."
"Even if you no longer feel like you need Jane, she exists in you. Do you understand?"
Hu Lei nodded almost involuntarily.
"I could just kill you and continue with my life." If Jane did not exist in her mind, she could be only Hu Lei.
The woman laughed as if she had said the most hilarious thing.
"Oh, you think that you stand a chance against me? You should know that even if we are both fighters, I have all of our killing instinct." Jane spoke without a care.
Hu Lei did not wait for her to continue. She attacked with a kick, aiming for the woman"s abdomen. Jane moved to the side, causing her to hit air. Hu Lei followed with another kick and a consecutive punch. However, they both met with emptiness.
The altercation continued for some time. But it did not take too long for Hu Lei to realise that she really could not beat the other party. After all, even if she knew how to fight, she was not Jane at the moment. Jane was almost unbeatable.
"What do you want?" she asked, stopping her attacks.
"For you to understand that we are not different people. You see, if one of us dies, the other would not be able to survive. It is not our body which will fail. Our mind will break." Jane explained leaning against a tree in a relaxed stance.
"As people often say, we are the two sides of a coin. If you slice the coin into half, it will be useless. Living as we have as separate ent.i.ties rather than one person has forced a crack in our psyche. If we continue acting autonomously, the consequences will only get worse."
"And I can"t always give way to Hu Lei. Suppressing me after allowing me a lot of freedom in the last three years will only cause the fracture between us to grow larger. Do you understand? For instance, I tried to exert more dominance in your mind to get your attention in the past week. Where do you think we are right now?" She asked with a mysterious smile.
Hu Lei came to her senses. If she had sunk into her mind, then her body could not be in a good state. The last thing she remembered was being carried by Zhong Feng. After that, everything was blank. She had found herself in this strange place.
"Be careful, or we will be locked up once again." Jane warned as the surroundings suddenly shifted.
Hu Lei opened her eyes and saw harsh light in her surroundings. She could hear people talking indistinctly. She tried to move, but she could not. After calming down, she realised that she was in a hospital.
However, before she could even speak, she sunk deep into sleep, falling prey to nightmares and illusions once again. But Jane did not appear to her like before.