Only by comparison can one see the difference—Uncle Zheng deeply understood the meaning of this phrase.

Compared to Luo Ren, Mu Dai was so obedient. He had merely hinted, and she immediately went to help with Phoenix Pavilion’s affairs.

As for Little Dao, despite being told so explicitly, his answer remained two words: won’t go.

He said, “Why should I drive to pick up a light box? Have you considered the Hummer’s feelings? Can’t they rent a vehicle to deliver it? I’ll pay for the rental.”

Uncle Zheng was so angry he nearly coughed up blood. He called Mu Dai to complain.

He hadn’t even realized how frequently he had been reporting Luo Ren’s behavior to Mu Dai lately.

Mu Dai said, “I’ll talk to him when I get back.”

Uncle Zheng fumed, “You should! He’s full of problems—doesn’t get up in the morning, doesn’t sleep at night, avoids work. If we don’t knock him down a peg, he’ll be climbing on the roof next!”

Mu Dai laughed on the other end. The background was noisy, with the sound of paper being cut.

Uncle Zheng remembered the main issue: “How are things going on your end? Almost done?”

Mu Dai said, “Almost. We’ll be back soon.”

After hanging up, Mu Dai went to check on the workers packaging the wallpaper. Each roll was neatly wrapped in bubble plastic. Fearing they might not have enough, Mu Dai ordered extra and negotiated with the shop owner about returning any unused rolls.

A small van was parked at the entrance. Thanks to Lian Shu’s relationship with the shop owner, he agreed to help deliver this shipment with the shop’s vehicle.

Workers loaded the wallpaper onto the van. Seeing it was close to lunchtime, Mu Dai asked Lian Shu if they should eat first. Lian Shu said it would waste time and suggested buying something to eat in the van.

As they spoke, the aroma of barbecue wafted over from across the street.

Lian Shu suggested having a barbecue.

Mu Dai was about to go buy some when the shop owner called her over to handle the invoice and payment. Lian Shu smiled and went by herself. Mu Dai suddenly remembered something: “I don’t want it spicy!”

Lian Shu had already walked away, and it wasn’t clear if she had heard.

After everything was settled, they got into the van. The driver first headed toward the outskirts of town. Lian Shu explained to Mu Dai that the van was carrying two shipments and needed to deliver to another customer first.

As she spoke, she handed Mu Dai a plastic container of barbecue.

Opening it, Mu Dai saw everything covered in bright red chili powder. She inwardly groaned but didn’t want to show her dismay, so she tried to shake off as much of the spice as possible.

The spice was potent. After just two bites, she was inhaling sharply, feeling her lips burning. When Luo Ren called, she was fanning her mouth with her hand.

Luo Ren found it amusing and asked, “Why does your voice sound strange?”

Mu Dai said, “I ate barbecue. It’s so spicy.”

She continued exhaling while Lian Shu handed her water. She unscrewed the cap and took a big gulp.

Luo Ren didn’t know what to say, imagining her face flushed from the spice, finding it rather cute.

After a moment, he asked, “Did you go alone?”

“Miss Lian knows the seller well, so she came with me.”

Lian Shu? So she went along too? Luo Ren felt uncomfortable but realized Lian Shu was probably nearby and didn’t want to say much more. He only instructed Mu Dai to return quickly. Before hanging up, he added, “Don’t get too close to that Lian Shu.”

Why? Mu Dai didn’t feel right asking.

She gripped the handle on the edge of the back seat, watching the street scenes change outside the window, remembering what Uncle Zheng had said.

“Luo Ren… doesn’t seem to get along with this Miss Lian.”

There’s always a reason for disliking someone, right?

Mu Dai secretly glanced at Lian Shu, who sat beside her with closed eyes, head resting against the headrest. The window next to her was cracked open, the wind lifting her hair, revealing her delicate, beautiful face.

She was remarkably pretty. Why had Luo Ren pulled Lian Shu into a room, locked the door, and drawn the blinds? That night, she had intended to ask, but somehow forgot after Luo Ren charmed her with a few words.

When they got back, she would interrogate Luo Ren, interrogate him thoroughly.

The car jolted, and Mu Dai yawned, feeling very drowsy.

Her eyelids gradually felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. She rubbed her neck, found a comfortable position, closed her eyes, and leaned back against the headrest.

Lian Shu slowly opened her eyes.

Today, Phoenix Pavilion had just two tasks: applying wallpaper and installing the light box.

The light box would be delivered later, and the wallpaper was still en route. Taking advantage of this gap, Yi Wansan, Cao Yanhua, and Huo Zihong went to see Luo Ren to inquire about Zhama’s situation.

The response was: Everything is normal.

Was it truly normal? They hadn’t even managed to draw the water shadow of this third murder note.

Everyone in the room was at a loss. Cao Yanhua looked at the blurred-edged murder note, then pointed at the faint pink phoenix in the water: “Logically, with the third note retrieved, half of the murder notes have been collected. The phoenix should have grown at least a bit more. It can’t have any change at all, right?”

He suggested, “Should we ask Shen Gun?”

Shen Gun doesn’t know everything either. Luo Ren pondered for a moment, then shared his morning speculation with everyone.

If the wild person’s playmate were a normal human, then finding them would be difficult. Who knew where the people from that village had moved? North, south, east, west—China is so vast, they could be anywhere.

Huo Zihong sighed, “It’s like looking for a needle in the sea.”

Yes, that was the phrase—looking for a needle in the sea.

Luo Ren smiled bitterly, seeing the blue pin marking Four Villages on the map, and casually picked up a red pin to replace it.

Cao Yanhua went to Luo Ren’s desk to fiddle with his computer, examining comparison photos, then opening another folder containing videos arranged by date.

He had heard from Luo Ren before that this room had a camera, presumably recording 24-hour surveillance sorted by day.

“Don’t you delete these? They take up space.”

Luo Ren said, “Fast-forward through them once. If there’s nothing unusual, delete them.”

Cao Yanhua clicked on today’s latest video and forwarded a few seconds to see themselves discussing in the room. He found it interesting and looked between the screen and Huo Zihong: “Don’t they say you look twenty pounds heavier on camera? Sister Hong, you look the same as usual on screen.”

As he spoke, he rapidly pulled the progress bar forward until a figure suddenly flashed by.

That person didn’t look like anyone who should have been there.

Cao Yanhua’s heart began to pound. He swallowed and found the right position in the timeline, played it at normal speed, and turned the volume to maximum.

Rustling sounds, the sound of a door opening. Yi Wansan and Huo Zihong couldn’t help but gather around. Luo Ren, standing by the map, was also drawn by the sound and turned his head.

Huo Zihong recognized her first: “Isn’t this the woman from that shop… the scam shop? How did she get in?”

As she spoke, she turned to look at Luo Ren: “Did you invite her?”

Luo Ren stared at the screen: “No.”

On the screen, Lian Shu stood by the fish tank, something inside her clothing gleaming.

Huo Zihong’s lips felt dry. She nudged Yi Wansan beside her and said quietly, “Look at her neck.”

Around Lian Shu’s neck was a black cord.

Cao Yanhua also realized almost instantly and found it incredibly absurd: “This… can’t be possible, right?”

Could the world be so coincidental? Just after saying finding this person would be like searching for a needle in the sea, she appeared on screen—and turned out to be a familiar face.

A black cord, a pendant gleaming through her clothes—was that the remaining cinnabar amber?

Luo Ren’s face turned ashen as he said, “Call Mu Dai.”

No one moved. For a moment, no one understood his meaning.

Luo Ren repeated himself, this time with a touch of deadly intent on his face.

He shouted, “Hurry up and call Mu Dai!”

Huo Zihong was startled and took out her phone to dial Mu Dai’s number. Cao Yanhua also started dialing.

The calls connected, but no one answered.

Huo Zihong tried several times, then cautiously suggested, “Maybe we should try again later. She might not be able to hear her phone right now.”

Luo Ren remained silent. On the screen, Lian Shu turned and left without touching anything in the room.

Luo Ren began dialing himself, hanging up and redialing, redialing and hanging up, his expression growing increasingly grim.

After a while, he said, “Mu Dai left with Lian Shu.”

Yi Wansan’s back went cold: “So, the wild person’s playmate is… Lian Shu?”

Luo Ren didn’t respond. He stared intensely at his phone, an ominous premonition hanging over him like a dark cloud.

There had been vague clues all along, right from the beginning. The “Sunny Sweeper” dolls varied from place to place, but only the one in Lian Shu’s shop matched exactly with the one seen in that village.

Luo Ren felt his head buzzing. He heard Cao Yanhua saying, “It’s over, it’s over! I said it before—the remaining cinnabar amber acts like a small receiver. With Lian Shu wearing it, she’ll be influenced by the murder notes, just like how the female wild person wore cinnabar amber and would especially obey that woman…”

Yes, there had been no abnormalities before because Lian Shu was too far away. But today was different—just yesterday, they had returned and placed the third murder note in the fish tank.

And early this morning, Lian Shu had come to find Uncle Zheng with wallpaper samples.

The third murder note was incomplete, its malevolence struggling in all directions. Lian Shu had sensed it, so she went upstairs…

No wonder Pin Ting had repeated “Sister upstairs” several times this morning—she had seen it with her own eyes but couldn’t express it clearly.

Huo Zihong also realized the severity of the situation. Her voice trembled slightly, but she still tried to think positively: “Mu Dai knows martial arts. Lian Shu shouldn’t be a match for her. Maybe she’ll be back soon…”

She couldn’t continue, not believing her own words. Martial arts were for confrontation, but what if Lian Shu used underhanded means?

Cao Yanhua’s face paled as he tried again to call Mu Dai, his fingers trembling so much he often missed the keys. He said, “We all did this together. Why target my Little Master Sister first? If they’re going to target someone, target me—I’m so useless…”

Luo Ren suddenly interrupted him: “That’s not it.”

“That woman was killed twice. The first time by Old Huo, and she hanged him in return. The second time, it was Mu Dai. I don’t know what influence the murder notes have on Lian Shu, but if she wants revenge, Mu Dai would be first in line.”

Evening came quickly, but there was still no news from Mu Dai.

Her phone remained unreachable, and Lian Shu hadn’t returned to her shop either. As for the wallpaper company, Uncle Zheng couldn’t say clearly, only that it was Miss Lian’s friend.

Luo Ren was desperate. He had Yi Wansan find the yellow pages and call every company related to wallpaper sales, one by one.

Everyone was at Phoenix Pavilion, dialing phones. Uncle Zheng vaguely understood that something was wrong and anxiously asked, “What’s happened? What’s going on?”

No one explained to him. Pin Ting sat in a corner chair, repeatedly picking at the table surface with her finger.

Just then, Luo Ren’s phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID showed it was Mu Dai.

After connecting, it was very noisy on the other end—ominously noisy, with background noise and the sound of an ambulance. Luo Ren, however, became calm.

The person on the other end spoke. It was an unfamiliar man’s voice.

“I’ve checked, and most of the calls to this phone in the last few hours were from you. What’s your relationship with the owner of this phone?”

Luo Ren said, “She’s my girlfriend.”

The man responded with an “Oh” and gave him a number: “Please try to contact family members and come to City First Hospital. When you arrive, call this number, and someone will assist you.”

Luo Ren felt his mind go blank. He asked, “What happened?”

The other party was silent for a moment: “A car accident.”

“How is she?”

This time, the person’s silence lasted longer: “You’d better come to the hospital first.”