Mo Sigui glanced at the excited Da Jiu. “Let’s go find her!”

Da Jiu, as if understanding the words, enthusiastically bounded off with its four stout paws. Mo Sigui and Xiao Yue followed closely behind.

When they arrived in the forest, they found Sui Yunzhu and his men searching for someone. Seeing Mo Sigui return, Sui Yunzhu was overjoyed. “Doctor Mo!”

Mo Sigui was pleased with his reaction and gave a rare smile. “Mr. Sui, long time no see.”

Sui Yunzhu, more skilled in literature than martial arts, accepted the respectful address of “Mr.” without hesitation.

“I don’t deserve it,” Sui Yunzhu replied courteously before changing the topic. “Doctor Mo, you’re a timely rain. We’ve searched everywhere for Mei Shisi but can’t find her. Your tracking tiger should be able to locate her, right?”

“Is she having another episode?” Mo Sigui asked.

Sui Yunzhu nodded. “I heard her singing loudly in the forest this morning…”

As they spoke, Da Jiu had already uncovered a stone door large enough for one person by moving some rocks.

Li Qingzhi pulled open the stone door and looked inside. “It seems to be a wine cellar.”

“That’s not surprising,” Mo Sigui scoffed. “Last time, she hid in a wine cellar too.”

“Mo Sigui, tell them all to leave,” An Jiu’s voice called out from below, sounding urgent. “I’m afraid I might hurt someone.”

“Go, go, go!” Mo Sigui intended to pull Da Jiu and Xiao Yue along with the others.

“Mo Sigui, come down here,” An Jiu demanded.

Feeling a bit smug, Mo Sigui thought to himself that even when An Jiu was having a mental breakdown, she recognized his importance by keeping him close.

“Shisi, what if you hurt Doctor Mo?” Sui Yunzhu knew An Jiu was still lucid, but that might change soon.

“Then I’d be doing a good deed by eliminating a pest,” An Jiu replied.

Mo Sigui felt his pride hurt and leaped into the wine cellar. As he walked, he retorted, “I save lives from fire and water. Which eye of yours sees me as a pest?”

He rushed down the narrow passage into the cellar. It was damp and cold, filled with the strong scent of aged wine. In the dim light, Mo Sigui noticed oil lamps on the walls and lit one with his fire starter. The tiny flame gradually brightened the room.

Turning around, Mo Sigui saw dozens of blackened wine jars piled against the back wall. An Jiu was huddled in a corner, clutching a wine jar as large as her. Her face was flushed, and her eyes were bloodshot, making her look quite pitiful. Mo Sigui swallowed back many sarcastic remarks. “What happened to you?”

He knew it wasn’t necessarily a major event. An Jiu was someone who could both cause and handle trouble. Only something that touched her deeply could unsettle her mind first.

An Jiu looked at him with immense sorrow. “Mo Sigui, I think I’ve fallen for a man.”

“What? Which man is so unlucky?” Mo Sigui thought for a moment. “Is it Chu Dingjiang?”

An Jiu nodded and impatiently pushed away Da Jiu, who was nuzzling her.

“Then he deserves it,” Mo Sigui said.

“What should I do?” An Jiu asked.

“Just do whatever you need to. It’s not a big deal. I’ve become quite indifferent to matters of love. I’ll give you some guidance later.” Mo Sigui leaned closer. “How far has your relationship progressed?”

An Jiu replied, “We slept together.”

“You move so fast!” Mo Sigui suddenly felt a bit disheartened. He and Lou Mingyue had grown up together, yet they hadn’t even kissed. “People like you deserve to be troubled by love.”

An Jiu took a large swig of wine. Da Jiu curiously licked the wine spilling from the jar, tilting its head in a daze of intoxication.

“In a little while from now, if I’m not feeling any less sour, I promise myself to treat myself and visit a nearby town, and climbing to the top, will throw me off…” An Jiu suddenly began howling a song, startling both Mo Sigui and the two tigers.

Singing in a foreign language, An Jiu’s voice was off-key, making it clear that the song was unpleasant.

“To make it clear to whoever what it’s like when you’re shattered, left standing in the lurch, at a church…”

“What does that even mean?” Mo Sigui couldn’t help but interrupt her; it was simply too awful.

Tears streaming, An Jiu translated, “In a little while, if I feel a bit better, I promise myself to visit a nearby town, climb to the highest point, and let myself go, trying to show someone what it’s like to be broken…”

“Is that the meaning of the song?” Mo Sigui interrupted her again.

An Jiu nodded.

“Did you make this song up yourself? It sounds just like you,” Mo Sigui remarked.

An Jiu sniffled. “You think so too? I feel like I’m that foolish mammoth, boo hoo… stupid mammoth…”

Feeling more resonant, she continued, “To think that only yesterday, I was cheerful, bright and gay, looking forward to, well who wouldn’t do, the role I was about to play…”

Thinking back, just yesterday I was cheerful, looking forward to something. Who wouldn’t be like me, playing the role I was meant to play, as if it were about to crush me? The reality had already arrived, just a touch would break me, making me question, making me wonder if the benevolence of gods still existed. Even if they did, why would they abandon me when I needed help the most? Naturally lonely again, maybe there are more broken hearts in this world, ones that cannot be mended, still cast aside. What can we do?

Reflecting on the past years, what else has happened? I remember crying when my father passed away, not wanting to hide my tears…

An Jiu sniffled, explaining to Mo Sigui, “I didn’t cry when my father died.”

Mo Sigui didn’t understand her singing but found this statement quite abrupt.

The rest of the song went something like “After my father passed, I stayed with my mother, encouraging her, comforting her until she passed away.”

“Isn’t that blissful? I also wanted to comfort her and encourage her,” An Jiu asked him.

Mo Sigui, enduring her heart-wrenching singing and sudden stops to explain, couldn’t help but light his pipe.

Soon, the cellar filled with smoke. This was his recently developed sleep-inducing smoke, potent enough to make an entire village fall asleep in half an hour.

An Jiu, mentally strained, quickly relaxed and fell asleep under its influence.

Mo Sigui yawned and grabbed An Jiu by the collar, dragging her out of the cellar. “What is love, to make life and death worth it!” He carried her back to Qingfeng Ningle and threw her on the bed, hands on his hips. “I always knew Chu Dingjiang wasn’t any good, only capable of deceiving a fool like you.”

He assumed Chu Dingjiang had flirted around and abandoned An Jiu.

“I’ll avenge you!” Mo Sigui declared indignantly, but his eyelids grew heavier. “Better sleep first…”

He stumbled back to his room and fell asleep.

He woke in the middle of the night, put on a coat, and walked to the veranda. The cold air bit at him as he gazed at the starry sky, lighting his pipe.

To his dismay, the more he smoked, the more awake he felt.

“Ugh, it’s only been three months, and it’s already losing its effect…” Mo Sigui exhaled a puff of smoke, frowning.