What did that mean?

Cao Yanhua opened and closed his mouth, and after processing what was said, he immediately became anxious: “I, I’m not…”

Flustered, thinking Luo Ren suspected him, he looked to Mu Dai for help: “Little Master, I’m not a bad person. I’m completely straightforward.”

Luo Ren said, “I’m not suspecting you. Some things might be inherited from birth; you might not even be able to control them.”

Luo Ren just felt that if things were related to so-called bloodline inheritance, then Cao Yanhua, who also came from Cao’s Village, might likewise have undiscovered secrets—this could be why Ya Feng had been uniquely lenient toward him.

Such reassurance, for Cao Yanhua, was worse than no reassurance: his heart shattered into pieces.

He could only seek comfort from Yan Hong Sha and Mu Dai.

He said to Yan Hong Sha, “Sister Hong Sha, I’m truly not a bad person. How could I possibly be like Qing Shan?”

Yan Hong Sha patted his shoulder: “I believe you, Fatty Cao. Luo Ren is being overly suspicious. Don’t mind him!”

Then he went to Mu Dai. Seeing her was like seeing family. “Master, Master”—only now did he appreciate the weight of these two words—they represented family, harbor, someone to confide in, spiritual support.

He called out “Little Master,” his tone carrying a sob. Having gone through everything together, how could Brother Luo suspect him? Instead of suspecting others, he suspected himself. How embarrassing.

Mu Dai comforted him: “He’s just guessing wildly. Don’t take it to heart. If you’re upset, just hit him a couple of times to vent.”

Cao Yanhua had a dejected face: “I can’t beat him.”

“Hit him when he’s not paying attention.”

Luo Ren, listening from the side, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He helplessly rubbed his forehead: who knew Cao Yanhua’s heart was as fragile as crystal? It seemed he needed to be more careful with his words.

The urgent matter was finding Yi Wansan, but everyone was in a mess, especially Mu Dai. After spending so many days at the bottom of the cave, her clothes were tattered, rolled in mud, and soaked in water, making the original color unrecognizable. Luo Ren decided to drive out first and find a place to recover.

When getting into the car, Mu Dai sat in the passenger seat as usual. When Yan Hong Sha opened the rear door, she paused and instinctively looked at Luo Ren: “What about… her?”

Yes, what about Ya Feng? The wedding bride—after taking her away, then what? Release her? That would be letting a tiger back into the mountain. But keeping her captive? That was illegal detention. Besides, the day before the Cao’s Village wedding, both the bride and groom had disappeared. The village must be in an uproar.

Luo Ren had a headache. After thinking, he said, “Let’s bring her along for now.”

They found a small hotel at the junction of the county and township, rented two rooms, and separated by gender to wash up. Luo Ren finished quickly, coming out after a short while. Cao Yanhua went in to wash next, while Luo Ren restored Ya Feng’s arms to their proper positions and bound her hands and feet with plastic rope.

Ya Feng was in pain but made no sound, her face showing a look of malevolence. Luo Ren found it irritating, so he pulled off a pillowcase and unceremoniously put it over her head, then called the front desk, ordering a few home-style dishes and rice to be sent up.

The front desk responded in accented Mandarin: “Sorry, we’re just a hotel; we don’t provide meals.”

“Three hundred yuan for a few home-style dishes with rice. That should be enough, right? Keep the change. Can you do it?”

After a brief silence, the person responded excitedly: “Yes!”

Hanging up the phone, Luo Ren went to the window, lifted the curtain, and looked down. Sure enough, he saw the young man from the front desk running out, hopping on a bicycle, and speeding toward a nearby restaurant.

Luo Ren smiled and dug out a charger from his luggage to charge his phone.

After a while, notifications of missed calls came in. A glance showed several from the same person: Shen Gun.

Trapped in the mountains these days with no signal, unable to communicate with the outside world, he had almost forgotten that Shen Gun was still in Yin’s Village—could it be that he had some news?

Luo Ren called back. After a moment, Shen Gun answered, his voice somewhat dispirited: “Hello?”

It was rare for the usually exuberant Shen Gun to sound so dejected. Luo Ren found it strange, hesitated for a moment, and asked: “How’s… Yin Erma doing?”

Shen Gun let out a long sigh.

“He’s dead.”

Luo Ren’s heart jolted, and he blurted out: “How did he die? What happened?”

Shen Gun answered: “Life is unpredictable. It was a normal death… under unexpected circumstances.”

Apart from still refusing to divulge key information, Yin Erma and Shen Gun had gotten along well. Yin Erma was a lonely old man whose only hobby was going to the Eight Trigrams Observatory to watch the stars. With Shen Gun around, his life had become much richer. Though he wouldn’t admit it, he secretly hoped Shen Gun would stay longer, chatting with him every night.

Yin Erma’s death was indeed unexpected.

That day, he needed to go into town to buy things. The village was small with no convenience store, so he would go to town periodically to buy everything at once, including rice and flour. With Shen Gun in the house these days, food supplies were depleting faster than usual.

Shen Gun accompanied Yin Erma to town for some fresh air but wasn’t interested in the stores Yin Erma visited, so he wandered around on his own, quickly losing sight of the old man.

As he was looking around, he suddenly heard many people screaming. A small van had crashed through the road barriers and was plowing directly toward the stalls on the small street.

It was later discovered that the driver was drunk. At the time, people on the street were fleeing to the sides. Shen Gun, at a distance, was worried about Yin Erma. He craned his neck to look and saw Yin Erma initially running to the side but suddenly turning back.

Shen Gun was startled and shouted for him to take cover quickly. Before he could finish, there was a loud bang as steel collided with flesh, followed by Yin Erma’s body being thrown through the air.

From the small street to the hospital, Shen Gun’s mind was buzzing. After Yin Erma entered the operating room, Shen Gun waited on a long bench outside. A young couple, carrying bags with money just withdrawn from the bank, tearfully begged the doctors to save the man.

Yin Erma had suddenly run back because he saw a three or four-year-old child standing in front of a fruit stall. At his age, he had risked his life to push the child away, and his back took the full impact of the vehicle.

That’s why Shen Gun said life was unpredictable. Yin Erma’s death involved no conspiracy, no deliberate harm—just a normal death under unexpected circumstances.

The doctor said the injured man was old and severely hurt, with basically no hope of regaining consciousness. He came out to ask Shen Gun about his relationship to the patient and whether he could contact family members. During this inquiry, Yin Erma in the high-risk observation room suddenly opened his eyes, quickly tore off the oxygen mask and IV, and struggled to get up from the bed.

There was chaos in the observation room as several medical staff tried to stabilize Yin Erma. Through the half-open door, Shen Gun saw Yin Erma staring at him with bulging eyes, his hand reaching in his direction.

Shen Gun instinctively felt that Yin Erma wanted to tell him something. Ignoring the doctor’s restraint at the door, he stumbled in, pushed aside the medical staff, and grabbed Yin Erma’s hand.

Yin Erma’s eyes rolled back, his gaze already unfocused, blood foaming at his mouth, his lips trembling slightly as if speaking.

Shen Gun put his ear close.

Luo Ren was a bit tense: “What did he say?”

Shen Gun sighed deeply again: “Too late. I think at that moment, Yin Erma wanted to tell me something.”

Previously hiding and concealing, refusing to reveal anything to Shen Gun, now with death approaching and secrets about to die with him, Shen Gun had suddenly become his only lifeline.

However, it was still too late.

Luo Ren could imagine Shen Gun’s disappointment. After a moment of silence, he still asked: “So what did he say?”

“I only heard one word.”

“What word?”

That word seemed to be “niang” (mother/lady). Which mother? Mother what? He didn’t know; there was no clue.

So lately, Shen Gun had been feeling very low, partly due to Yin Erma’s misfortune, partly because a secret that was right in front of his eyes had suddenly vanished—in this, he was just like Luo Ren and his group. The cursed scroll had been right in front of them, yet they had still lost it.

His enthusiasm was gone, and he couldn’t be bothered to ask Luo Ren about their situation. He just mentioned that he was still staying at Yin Erma’s house these days, helping the village arrange Yin Erma’s funeral, and would contact Luo Ren again in a few days.

After the call, Cao Yanhua had finished washing and come out. Due to Luo Ren’s previous “hurtful” suspicion, his gaze toward Luo Ren was full of disdain and resentment. Luo Ren found it amusing and wanted to say something to make amends, but Cao Yanhua turned his head away, clearly conveying “I’m not listening, I’m not listening.”

Someone knocked on the door. Luo Ren knew what it was about and grabbed his wallet before going to open the door. Sure enough, it was the sweaty front desk clerk, holding at least seven or eight takeout containers in his hands. As he took the money, he smiled sheepishly—these packed dishes were certainly not worth three hundred yuan.

Back in the room, he unpacked the takeout and arranged it, then called Mu Dai’s room, asking them to come over for dinner. The two women arrived quickly, refreshed from their showers, with wet hair still dripping, looking much more energetic.

Seeing Ya Feng with the pillowcase over her head, Mu Dai was startled but then found it amusing. She asked Luo Ren, “Should we let her eat with us?”

This reminded Luo Ren. He went over, yanked Ya Feng up, and dragged her directly into the bathroom, shutting her in.

As he came out, he said: “A few days of hunger won’t kill her.”

Was this revenge for their previous starvation? Who knew Luo Ren had this side to him? Mu Dai laughed until her stomach hurt. Halfway through laughing, she noticed Cao Yanhua looking at her plaintively, his expression saying: “Little Master, my Brother Luo suspects me so much, yet you’re still laughing with him. What about our master-disciple bond?”

So she quickly stopped laughing.

The food was home-style but appetizing: spicy chicken, salt and pepper pork strips, twice-cooked pork. Mu Dai ate with the most gusto, but Yan Hong Sha couldn’t swallow a bite. She looked at Luo Ren and said: “What about Yi Wansan? How will we find him?”

Luo Ren said, “Eat first.”

Yan Hong Sha’s chopsticks picked at the rice; she was nearly in tears. She was the last person to be with Yi Wansan, and now that something had happened to him, she felt she couldn’t absolve herself of responsibility. She couldn’t eat or sleep properly.

Just as she was struggling with the rice, Luo Ren’s phone rang again. He put down his bowl and chopsticks to answer. Seeing the caller ID, his expression suddenly changed. As he pressed to answer, he said: “Yi Wansan?”

With that, no one could eat anymore. Yan Hong Sha almost jumped up from the table, rushing to Luo Ren’s side: “Is it Yi Wansan? Is it Yi Wansan?”

Luo Ren ignored her, patiently listening on the phone. Yan Hong Sha looked up at him eagerly, not even noticing that her hands were clasped in front of her chest, as if in prayer.

She heard Luo Ren say: “Good, alright. Later, text me your location, and I’ll check it.”

Hanging up the phone, Yan Hong Sha anxiously asked: “Was it Yi Wansan?”

Luo Ren didn’t respond. After a while, a text message came through. He looked down to read it, and a smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

It must be him. Yan Hong Sha couldn’t stand the suspense and snatched the phone: “Let me see!”

Luo Ren raised his hand, holding the phone high.

He was tall, and Yan Hong Sha couldn’t reach it. She glared at him, pouting.

His previous gloom gone, Luo Ren’s mood was now genuinely good. He asked her: “Why are you so concerned?”

“It’s Yi Wansan, right? How is he? What did he say in the text? Let me see!”

She fired questions like a machine gun, jumping several times to grab the phone, but Luo Ren was quick, and she failed each time. Frustrated, she stomped her foot and, without thinking, suddenly grabbed Luo Ren’s shoulder and wrapped her legs around him, climbing like a pole to snatch the phone.

Luo Ren sucked in a cold breath, trying to push her off: “What’s this? Do you have any sense of propriety?”

Yan Hong Sha shrieked: “Mu Dai, Mu Dai, Luo Ren is harassing me!”

Mu Dai sighed, not bothering to look at the two, extending her chopsticks to pick up a pork strip. As Yan Hong Sha shrieked louder, she casually replied: “Then harass him back.”

Glancing up, she suddenly saw Cao Yanhua, who had sneaked over at some point, stealthily approaching. Watching for when Luo Ren wasn’t paying attention, he slapped him on the back and then quickly ran away.

—”If you’re upset, just hit him a couple of times to vent.”

—”I can’t beat him.”

Great revenge had been taken. Opportunities are always left for those who are prepared, and Cao Yanhua was truly someone who never abandoned or gave up.

What kind of people were these? Luo Ren, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, let go, and Yan Hong Sha finally got the phone. She quickly looked down to check it.

Luo Ren came back, straightening his clothes as he sat next to Mu Dai. His collar had been pulled out of shape by Yan Hong Sha. Mu Dai reached out to fix it for him, asking: “Is it Yi Wansan?”

Luo Ren said, “Yes.”

After a pause, he added: “Ace.”