Deng Hanyu looked almost impatient with anticipation. Without even waiting for Li Xian to speak, he raised a hand to put it on his shoulder. Li Xian twisted slightly, avoiding his touch.
"Give me a day to think about it."
Deng Hanyu's hand froze in midair. He had not expected this response, and irritation immediately flared across his face.
"Are you messing with me?"
Li Xian lowered his eyes slightly, adopting a meek tone.
"...At least let me prepare myself mentally."
Deng Hanyu fell silent for a long moment, looking deeply dissatisfied, but in the end, he agreed to Li Xian's request. Before leaving, he threatened him again.
"I'm only giving you one day. If you still don't give me an answer... you know what'll happen."
Li Xian nodded silently and hurried away from Deng Hanyu. Only after checking several times along the way that he was not being followed did he finally return to the Dormitory.
After changing his clothes, he joined Jiang Qiuyue and Qian Chen to compare their findings.
Qian Chen spoke first.
"I listened to Xie Zhi's entire recording. The word at the beginning came up again somewhere around the forty-minute mark-"
After saying this, he picked up his phone, adjusted the recording's progress bar, and pressed play.
The sound of crying drifted through the room as everyone listened intently. By this point, Xie Zhi's sobs had grown much weaker than at the beginning, and her voice was no longer so choked. A few seconds later, words slightly clearer than those at the start emerged amid her sobbing.
"...Lou... bai..."
Qian Chen paused the recording there.
"I listened to this part several times. I'm almost certain she said 'Loubai.' You were right, Li Xian. It was a person's name-and there really is a girl in our