He said: “A Xu.”

You Mingxu forced back her tears, instinctively glancing around, then remembered that with Champion involved, perhaps the police hadn’t even noticed.

Even if they had noticed, she had nothing to hide. She would say what needed to be said.

A text input box appeared at the bottom of the screen. She typed: “I’m here.”

The screen remained silent for a moment.

Then he said: “Everyone has judged me guilty. What about you?”

You Mingxu replied: “Maybe.”

He paused again before asking: “Then what do you plan to do?”

You Mingxu’s nose stung and her vision blurred, but she typed each word slowly and clearly: “Search for evidence. Either to clear your name or to arrest you and then wait for you.”

He asked: “What if you wait in vain?”

You Mingxu: “Then I wait in vain.”

After a long while, he replied: “Alright, it’s decided.”

You Mingxu could no longer see clearly, pressing her hand against her face as tears fell onto the screen.

On the other end, Yin Feng sat alone at the computer Champion had arranged. If anyone could see him now, they would discover that this man, who seemed to have run out of tears many years ago, had deep eye sockets that appeared to hold all the lonely starlight’s reflection in the water.

He typed again: “A Xu, listen. The most likely possibility now is that I have a second personality. He created the Punisher. In my memory fragments, I saw that the person we’ve been looking for all along is me.”

You Mingxu had vaguely guessed this answer, but didn’t know how to respond, finally typing just two characters: “I understand.”

Yin Feng faced the screen and slowly broke into a silent smile. He knew she understood, she always understood him. Even the filth and darkness within him.

Yin Feng said: “If it’s finally proven to be me, I’ll kill myself. Then we’ll be even.”

You Mingxu pressed her hand hard against her mouth, suddenly seeing her fingertips trembling finely. She couldn’t type a single word.

But he continued: “In the future, when you see anyone surnamed Yin, just walk the other way.”

…If something happens to you, I won’t forgive you. I won’t kill myself either, I’m not living for you. But from then on, I won’t think of you again, won’t see Chen Feng and the others, won’t go to the villa. I won’t even mention you. I won’t listen to any more criminal psychology behavioral analysis conclusions. When I see someone surnamed Yin, I’ll walk the other way.

…

Those angry words from the past seemed to still echo. He had remembered them so clearly.

You Mingxu only replied two characters: “Enough.”

He was silent for a moment, then said: “I’m sorry. It turns out there’s another thing in this world that would make me take my own life.”

You Mingxu wanted to sob but couldn’t make a sound. She had countless words she wanted to say to him, wanted to ask him, but couldn’t type any of them. She thought about how from the first day she met Yin Feng, he had been a bastard, always owing her, and now he wanted to be in her debt forever. He said he liked her then forgot; said he wouldn’t bother her anymore, then held her and said he was obsessive and wanted her back.

Said she couldn’t have anyone else, but now told her to avoid anyone named Yin in the future.

You Mingxu slowly typed: “Are you trying to kill me?”

On the other end, Yin Feng turned his head to look out the window. The line of his jaw was rigid as stone.

That silent air seemed to spread soundlessly across the screen. You Mingxu suddenly felt as if she had lost all strength, quietly asking: “Yin Feng, is this how it ends for you and me? Is this our conclusion?”

From Tibet to Guizhou to Xiangcheng, from You Yingjun to Yin Feng, from separation to companionship, we crossed so many mountains, caught so many guilty people, and saved so many innocent ones. Is this our ending? You were ultimately just a passerby in my life, you were never going to stay with your A Xu forever.

After a long while, Yin Feng replied: “No, it’s not. I’m not ready to give up.”

You Mingxu froze, tears rolling down, yet she smiled foolishly. She knew he couldn’t give up so easily. This was probably his most feared outcome, and he had told her about it. But… unease spread in You Mingxu’s heart. Even if they didn’t give up, what could they do? If the real culprit was truly his second personality.

Yin Feng said: “I don’t believe it.”

You Mingxu: “Don’t believe what?”

He said: “I don’t believe this soul has already fallen. Don’t believe I’ve been living in sin without knowing. Don’t believe all the torture and persistence I’ve endured was just a joke. Most importantly, I don’t believe that if there was a ‘him,’ I would lose to him without any resistance. That’s impossible.”

You Mingxu’s heart jolted. Yin Feng’s words were purely his subjective will and belief now, but she found herself believing them. Like glimpsing a thread of light from the bottom of a pitch-black valley—thin and bright, narrow as a crescent moon, yet making one want to reach out and grasp it tightly, using it to tear apart the night and deep valley, returning to a bright and clear world.

“Go on!” You Mingxu urged, almost eagerly.

On the other end, Yin Feng, seeing her words, also slowed down. But that smile still seemed pale and quiet.

He said: “A Xu, right now all witness testimony and physical evidence points to me. Including Chen Feng’s eyewitness account, including the memories in my head. But what if all this is just slander?

You once said something to me, very unreasonable yet also reasonable—you said, that if a hypothesis would lead us to a conclusion we don’t want to see, why should we consider it? If everything was done by my second personality, everything would be over, my life in ruins.

So I’ve decided, no matter what reason and evidence tell me, I have to consider this hypothesis invalid.

Although Chen Feng saw me torturing Li Mingdi with Su Ziyi. I remembered standing with Yin Chen. But what if these were just appearances, with hidden circumstances? Or what if this is just what they want us to see and believe? If I don’t have a second personality, then what is the truth? A Xu, are you willing to continue investigating with me based on this hypothesis?”

Reason said this possibility might be tiny, but the emotion was eager to follow. You Mingxu blurted out: “I am!”

Seeing these two characters appear, Yin Feng’s heart felt like a small, fire-red flower blooming on a desolate ruin.

He fell silent.

That night, when he heard Chen Feng’s accusation and glimpsed that stranger in his memories, they came suddenly yet seemed long foreshadowed, falling naturally into place. His beliefs and reason almost collapsed completely, unstoppable. Immense anger and pain threatened to overwhelm him in an instant.

With reddened eyes, he saw Li Mingdi on the hospital bed.

This seemingly innocent and weak man disgusted him to the extreme.

A voice suddenly spoke in his mind:

Kill him, and all witness testimony and physical evidence will be invalidated.

Kill him, and make it as if nothing ever happened.