After a walk, that seemed like eternity.

We're here. The morgue. No more lies, no more questions. This will settle the question of whether shui gui can possess dead people and it will confirm the truth, that Jun Ling is dead.

At some point, while I was dragging the fake, she gave up resisting and allowed herself to be taken.

If all goes well I might even be able to return Jun Ling to her real body. I don't know how I'm going to do it but I will. She can come back to life!

I won't let the tears on the false Jun Ling's face to dissuade me.

Monsters are all about deception and greed. They'll do anything to retain control of a human body.

I pull open the closest fridge. It has a body.

I put my hands on it and wait.

Nothing happens.

No sudden transfer of consciousness to body.

No bright light.

Just my hands on a dead body.

"Tell me how to possess a dead body!"

"...hic... you can't, Zhang Shun..."

"Stop lying to me!"

I slam my hand on the fridge and it's as if the sound of the metal cut through my consciousness. Mentally my tunnel vision cleared and my eyes truly began to see everything clearly. I noticed her appearance.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

She was crying.

Of course she would. Her arm was severely bruised from me dragging her the whole way. All the way, from her wrist to her forearm, it was covered in blue and purple marks. And her eyes, blinded by and overflowing with tears, tears and more tears. She had cried so much that even her clothes had streams of water on them. Her sleeve was soaked with tears even though she had given up on wiping her tears at some point. In between her sobs, were her feeble attempts to breathe normally, and hiccups.

Even now, she still patiently stood there. Not running away, just tolerating me acting insane.

What am I doing here? In a morgue, dragging an unwilling crying girl with me, with my hands on a dead body. What was I trying to prove?

This girl took the risk of getting possessed by shui gui to save me from certain death, someone who she barely knows. She put her life on the line to save me and here I am, doubting her and abusing her trust as well as physically.

Just who's the real monster here?

Maybe I've gone insane for real this time. Just think about it, the girl who I met in a dream, happened to be a girl from my class in reality. What are the chances I dreamt up the whole ordeal? Could this all be one big misunderstanding? That night on the court. Did it really happen? Couldn't that dream be the false story here?

Thinking about it, this girl here looks like Jun Ling, has her memories, was definitely a part of my class for the last seven months of school, she saved me from death's clutches and she even offered to risk herself again to retrieve my body.

Like she said. After a water ghost obtains a body, they become human again, capable of thinking, capable of feeling. They regain their sanity and gain their victim's memories. I shouldn't hold the actions of someone as a water ghost against them. Whether she is the real Jun Ling or not. I shouldn't have treated her this way.

"I... I don't want to think anymore. I just want to be able to feel again. The clothes on my back, the cool breeze, the warm sunlight and my beating heart. I just want those back. I'm sorry, Jun Ling! I am so so sorry. I have no idea what I was thinking!"

"It's okay... hic... You're just angry because you're a shui gui. I won't hold it against you."

That's right. If we were to debate who's the monster here... she theoretically could be one in spirit but I'm 100% definitely a monster, in spirit, my thoughts, my behaviour and my actions. As of right now, I'm nothing but a selfish monster, believing in only what he thinks to be the truth. Not what is the truth.

Am I still worth saving, I wonder? Amelia was right. I have become a demon.