At the hour of the Goat, a woman hurried into Luohua Village. The woman gazed toward the southern end of Luohua Village, as if awaiting someone’s return.

After about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, two people wrapped tightly from head to toe arrived from outside the village, wearing square hats with their faces hidden beneath the brims. The woman spotted them, beckoned them over, muttered a few words, and all three entered Luohua Village together.

In an abandoned old house in Luohua Village, the woman closed the doors and windows and exhaled deeply. “I kept feeling anxious, thinking you wouldn’t come and had left directly.”

“We don’t know the outcome of his situation yet, so we won’t leave.” The two removed their square hats—a man and a woman. The woman’s face was haggard but couldn’t conceal her beautiful features. The man had a dark face with sunken eye sockets, looking extremely exhausted.

“Qing’er is right. We were wrong before. This time we won’t ignore him again.” The man said with certainty.

The woman also sighed, forcing out a trace of a smile. “Ah Zheng’s plan was very successful. The yamen’s Magistrate Situ has already judged the Ji Residence’s painter Lu Qianbo guilty. He’s safe.”

“Wonderful.” The beautiful woman’s nose twitched as tears cascaded down.

“Don’t cry, Qing’er.” The man patted the woman’s back, comforting her.

The woman looked at the two of them. She was somewhat tired and sat down on a wooden chair in the corner. She felt something beneath her. The woman lifted herself up, her face suddenly becoming extremely surprised, mouth agape, eyes wide, staring at the chair.

On the chair was only a black outer garment with several spots of crimson blood at the inner chest area. The woman’s throat constricted. “It’s… my… clothes!”

“Knock, knock!” There was knocking at the abandoned house’s door.

The woman and beautiful woman hugged each other tightly. The dark-faced man came to the door and pulled it open.

A faintly smiling young man stood outside the door—thick eyebrows, pitch-black eyes, determined gaze. He was Wu Wen.

“Nanny Rong, I’ve found your lost item for you. You should thank me properly.” Wu Wen’s gaze swept over the three people inside the house. “Nanny Rong, two friends, please come with me. Our lord has been waiting quite some time.”

By the Luohua Village riverbank, in front of Xia Jiuying’s grass hut.

When Wu Wen led Nanny Rong and the three others to arrive, Li Si was explaining the mysteries of Lu Qianbo’s case.

“Let’s first discuss one piece of physical evidence—the cloth shoes. True, the shoe soles were covered with black mud from the depression. But I noticed a detail early on when I was in Heiwa Village: to prevent slipping into the depression, the villagers piled large amounts of stone sand around it.” Li Si raised his eyes to glance at the several people walking over, smiling as he spoke. “Therefore, if Lu Qianbo wore cloth shoes to kill Huang Mazi in the depression, the shoe soles should have not only black mud but also stone sand.”

“Unfortunately, there was no stone sand on the soles. Clearly the cloth shoe evidence was false.”

“Next, the cinnabar red.” Li Si continued discussing Lu Qianbo’s case. “There was cinnabar red on Huang Mazi’s robe and also on Lu Qianbo’s robe. Thus it was deduced that when Lu Qianbo killed, he accidentally stained Huang Mazi’s robe with cinnabar red.”

“However, on the night Huang Mazi was killed, light rain was falling.” The corners of Li Si’s mouth rose slightly. “If Lu Qianbo wore the robe to kill, it would have been soaked by rain. Cinnabar red, when meeting water, would run together into a mass, going from light to dark. But observing the cinnabar red on Lu Qianbo’s sleeve, it was a complete, intact patch.”

“This indicates the robe wasn’t rained on. Lu Qianbo didn’t wear the robe to kill.” Li Si said clearly.

“Combining both pieces of evidence, it’s sufficient to judge that someone deliberately framed Lu Qianbo for the murder.” Li Si exhaled deeply. “The process was roughly as follows: He discovered the murdered Huang Mazi and conceived the idea of shifting blame to another. So he rushed back to the Ji Residence overnight, secretly snuck into Lu Qianbo’s room, took the cloth shoes, and split the cinnabar red in two—one part he applied to Lu Qianbo’s robe sleeve, the other he brought back to the Heiwa Village crime scene to apply to Huang Mazi’s robe. Finally, he stepped the cloth shoes in black mud and brought them back. In his haste, he didn’t notice the stone sand around the depression, leaving a fatal flaw.” Li Si revealed the framing process.

“Lu Qianbo only sought verbal satisfaction. After Ji Liang was killed, he admitted to Ning Suqin that he was the killer. Later, he grew increasingly worried, fearing Ning Suqin would tell others about his verbal admission of murder. At the same time, his illicit affair with Ning Suqin also weighed on Lu Qianbo’s mind. He was even more afraid of being exposed by people of the Ji Residence, adding to his motive for murder.” Li Si paused slightly, then continued. “Thus, Lu Qianbo resolved to abandon Ning Suqin and flee Mingling County alone, leaving this place of trouble. Or perhaps, from beginning to end, he never intended to take Ning Suqin and flee far away.”

“The infatuated, resentful woman Ning Suqin believed deeply in what Lu Qianbo said, firmly believing Ji Liang died by his hand. Therefore, upon learning Lu Qianbo abandoned her and fled, she voluntarily went to the authorities to confess. Ning Suqin’s heart and thoughts were all gray. Lu Qianbo had been all her hopes. When hope was destroyed, she wanted mutual destruction.”

“Let’s also discuss this ‘he’ who framed Lu Qianbo.”

“First, he was from the Ji Residence and could enter and exit freely. Second, he knew Lu Qianbo, which allowed him to sneak into Lu Qianbo’s room and take the cloth shoes and cinnabar red. Third, on the night Huang Mazi was killed, he returned late.” Li Si glanced at Nanny Rong. “Based on these three points, I had Wu Wen secretly investigate at the Ji Residence and easily discovered ‘he’ was you, Nanny Rong.”

“But I was very puzzled, Nanny Rong—why would you help the real culprit and frame Lu Qianbo?” Li Si made a sound of acknowledgment, speaking to himself. “After countless considerations, I deduced there were still people behind you. The existence of these people was the root cause of your framing Lu Qianbo and shielding the real murderer.”

“So I instructed Magistrate Situ to stage a good show and convict Lu Qianbo.”

“Lu Qianbo being guilty meant the real culprit was safe and sound.” Li Si shifted his gaze toward the middle-aged dark-faced man and beautiful woman.

“With the giant stone hanging over their hearts falling to the ground, Nanny Rong would certainly find the people behind the scenes to report good news. Therefore, I arranged early for Wu Wen to follow you.” Li Si had planned this all along.

“Oh, and that black garment.” Li Si added. “When you returned to the Ji Residence to get the cloth shoes and cinnabar red, you worried Huang Mazi’s corpse would be discovered by others. So you took off the black garment to cover Huang Mazi’s body, using it to conceal the corpse. And the black garment naturally also got stained with Huang Mazi’s blood.”

“Xia Jiuying, now you know who framed Lu Qianbo.” Li Si said to Xia Jiuying.

Xia Jiuying nodded slightly without making a sound.

“Alas, in the end, though unwilling, I must still speak.” Li Si’s eyes carried apology. “Xia Jiuying, do you know who the two people who instructed Nanny Rong to frame Lu Qianbo are—that is, who these two people are?”

Li Si’s gaze locked onto the dark-faced man and beautiful woman’s faces.

Xia Jiuying’s eyes returned to their wooden state, with no reaction.

“These two, you should have seen before.” Li Si said indifferently. “They are the man who told storytelling and the dancing woman with her face covered in yellow gauze from the variety troupe you watched.”

Xia Jiuying froze, turning his head to examine the two.

“I noticed these two were strange long ago.” Li Si said. “Luohua Village is a poor, remote place. Even the worst variety troupe coming here couldn’t earn enough for a full meal. So why would they come to Luohua Village again and again to set up performances?”

“I secretly summoned the troupe manager to inquire. Turned out someone paid for the troupe to perform in Luohua Village. The people who paid were these two.” Li Si’s thinking was meticulous—he had perceived the suspicious points early.

“Wu Wen and I also saw these two people secretly lingering outside your grass hut.”

“From that time, I had a premonition that they must have some connection with you.” Li Si crossed his hands, his expression solemn. “The troupe manager said these two always wore makeup for performances. I had the manager sketch their appearances without makeup, then gave it to Old Lady Liu of Luohua Village.”

Old Lady Liu was Xia Jiuying’s elderly neighbor. She had also been invited by Wu Wen. She said excitedly, “Your Lordship, this old woman saw clearly. There’s no mistake—the people in this portrait are the deceased Xia Zheng and his wife!”

Old Lady Liu then noticed the dark-faced man and beautiful woman. She looked them up and down several times and cried out loudly, “Heavens, you are… Xia Zheng, Lou Qing.”

The dark-faced man clenched his fists without speaking. The beautiful woman’s eyes gradually reddened. Suddenly she threw herself into Old Lady Liu’s arms, crying loudly, “Old Lady Liu, it’s me, Lou Qing.”

“Ah… you’re not dead! You’re not dead!” Old Lady Liu’s tears also couldn’t help but surge forth.

Li Si paid no attention to the several people’s reactions. His eyes remained fixed on Xia Jiuying. In Xia Jiuying’s eyes, heaven and earth turned upside down, but moments later, it became quiet—too quiet, as if he had completely disappeared from this world.

“Speak.” Li Si looked toward the dark-faced man—that is, Xia Jiuying’s father, Xia Zheng.

“When I was young, I also worked in the yamen. Once while executing official duties, I accidentally killed Situ Deng, the leader of the Blood Life Gang that controlled the Yangtze River waters. After that, the Blood Life Gang sought to kill me. With no choice, I brought my pregnant wife to the remote, poor Luohua Village to take refuge. The year Jiuying was born, these enemies from the Blood Life Gang found Luohua Village. I had no choice. To avoid implicating mother and child, I chose to let myself perish in flames.” Xia Zheng said helplessly.

“The year Jiuying turned seven, those enemies came for revenge again. I secretly left a message for Qing’er, telling her to temporarily entrust Jiuying to Old Lady Liu while she hid in Black Tiger Mountain for a while.” Xia Zheng sighed. “But never did I expect the enemies would find Black Tiger Mountain and nearly kill Qing’er. At the critical moment, I arrived to save Qing’er, but she was already seriously injured. With nowhere to turn, I could only take Qing’er and leave Luohua Village overnight, leave Mingling County.”

“I considered taking Jiuying, but reconsidered—if we met with misfortune, how could Jiuying escape unscathed?” Xia Zheng glanced at Xia Jiuying, who was like a stone statue. “In the end, I could only abandon the idea of taking Jiuying.”

“All these years, I also wanted to return, but feared leading the enemies back to Luohua Village.” Xia Zheng said. “Qing’er never stopped worrying about Jiuying. Five years ago, we found Nanny Rong. Nanny Rong is my cousin-in-law. I had Nanny Rong come to Mingling County first to protect and care for Jiuying.”

“But later Nanny Rong wrote saying Jiuying had become a child who completely avoided contact with anyone. She had no way to take him back to care for him, and could only help secretly.” Xia Zheng said guiltily. “A month ago, we secretly returned to Qingzhou, returned to Mingling County, and mixed into the variety troupe, only hoping we could see the child from afar.”

“Who knew that shortly after entering Mingling County, a murder case occurred, and later we heard the yamen arrested Jiuying and threw him in prison. I was frantic with worry, yet didn’t dare show myself to save the child.” Xia Zheng said regretfully. “Only because the enemies’ spies had also pursued to Mingling County. I truly didn’t dare expose myself, fearing I’d bring even greater trouble to Jiuying.”

“What I could do was instruct Nanny Rong to closely watch the murder case’s developments and inform me immediately.” Xia Zheng’s expression was gloomy. “Also, if possible, help the child.”

“On the night of the eleventh, I was visiting relatives. Returning past the Heiwa Village depression, I discovered the murdered Huang Mazi. The wound on Huang Mazi’s neck was exactly the same as Young Master Ji’s. My heart tightened, and I thought of helping Jiuying clear suspicion. The best method was to frame someone else.” Nanny Rong said timidly. “At the Ji Residence, Lu Qianbo had an unclear relationship with the young mistress. I had long disapproved of such a scoundrel, so I took the opportunity to frame him.”

Li Si sighed in his heart: The remains Xia Jiuying painstakingly sought, scheming with all his effort to avenge, actually didn’t belong to his mother—they were just another strange woman’s.

What great sorrow this was.

“Jiuying, child! It’s Mother, and your father who wronged you… We know we were wrong. Can you forgive us?” Lou Qing, sobbing uncontrollably, walked step by step toward Xia Jiuying.

Li Si didn’t speak, looking at Xia Jiuying.

Xia Jiuying’s eyes were terrifyingly hollow, like two dried-up wells, filled with despair and decadence.

Lou Qing was about to touch Xia Jiuying. Her hands began to tremble, tears surging even more madly. “Child, child…”

Xia Jiuying suddenly stood up, leaving Lou Qing’s presence as if no one existed, his steps walking straight toward the broken grass hut, drilling inside. Lou Qing cried painfully in place. Before long, she ran toward the broken grass hut.

Everyone followed. Lou Qing pulled open the grass hut’s broken door.

For seven years, the grass hut was filled with foul, filthy smells. Never had anyone thought or dared to truly approach it, open it. For Xia Jiuying, the grass hut was, in these seven years, in this human world, the only place that belonged to him.

Whenever he cold-bloodedly faced the outside world, in this filthy, crude space, Xia Jiuying would secretly cry alone—crying that was undiscovered, crying from a soul pierced by a long-frozen heart. Tears fell like rain. Only at these times would Xia Jiuying remember he was still a person, a child who had just turned fourteen.

For Xia Jiuying, the grass hut equaled one word—home.

The home’s door was pulled open by Lou Qing.

Xia Jiuying, hiding in the grass hut’s coldest, darkest corner, roared like a mad monkey, jumping up and down inside the hut threatening the intruders. Through the open door, everyone clearly saw the scene inside.

In the narrow space was all hard, cold earth. Only in the innermost part was a clean, intact grass mat. Around the mat, blooming, withering, re-blooming, re-withering wild flowers formed a circle of flowers. Inside the circle was a complete adult skeleton.

That was Xia Jiuying’s mother.

The child gave the most beautiful, most treasured things to his closest person. He protected her. He waited for her.

Lou Qing was stunned. Xia Jiuying’s hateful gaze stared at her fixedly, roaring angrily, “Get out! This is my mother. Get out!”

Xia Jiuying curled up in the corner, looking at the skeleton in the grass mat, revealing a pure smile like a newborn infant.

In his eyes, this was already all he sought.

The people at the grass hut door didn’t disperse. This enraged Xia Jiuying. He rolled up the grass mat, picked up the remains, and frantically rushed out.

“Mother, I won’t… I’ll never again let anyone… separate us!” Xia Jiuying ran madly toward Black Tiger Mountain, blowing a piercing short whistle from his mouth. In the gradually approaching dusk, a pure white figure appeared—the white wolf.

Xia Jiuying jumped onto the white wolf’s back and disappeared into the darkness.

“What do we do? Where did Jiuying go?” Lou Qing cried and shouted loudly. “My child!”

“Your Lordship.” Xia Zheng sought Li Si’s help.

After pondering, Li Si said, “Wu Wen, quickly find Chen Er’gou. If I haven’t guessed wrong, Xia Jiuying must have gone to the remains’ burial ground.”

A hidden dense forest in the belly of Black Tiger Mountain—to the north was solid mountain, to the south steep cliffs. In the forest’s center was a newly filled pit.

When Li Si and the others arrived, Xia Jiuying and the white wolf stood by the cliff side. Xia Jiuying tightly hugged the remains in the mat.

“Jiuying, Father was wrong. Father wronged you. Don’t do this, please.” Xia Zheng said sorrowfully.

“Child, come back.” Lou Qing’s legs went soft. She knelt in the forest. Nanny Rong helped her up.

Xia Jiuying acted as if he heard nothing. In the dark night, he gazed at the distant stars.

“When I fainted from hunger in the wilderness, when I was torn by wild dogs until covered in wounds… when my neck was bitten through by a lone wolf, the reason supporting me to live was only one… to reunite with my mother… For this reason, I became Ji Liang’s slave, living neither like a human nor like a ghost. After learning the truth of Mother’s death, I became a murderer, constructing a demon’s lair of killing… turning a sincere companion into a killing tool.” Xia Jiuying’s smile was like a knife, splitting his face, his body, his heart.

“I recovered Mother’s remains. I did it… I could have my world.”

“But in a snap of fingers… people came. Turned out the dead weren’t dead. I was just abandoned.” Xia Jiuying murmured. “So easily, destroying my perseverance, annihilating my world.”

“From now on, both worlds are blank.” Xia Jiuying turned his gaze to Li Si. “Where should I go?”

Li Si sighed softly. “Xia Jiuying, I said you’re like me. Especially now—reality’s cruelty far exceeds human imagination.”

“After cruelty comes what’s precious.”

Xia Jiuying carefully savored Li Si’s words, then suddenly said stubbornly, “No. I’m not like you. I won’t compromise.”

“I’ll never change, even if I fall into the abyss.” Xia Jiuying smiled, just as he smiled freely in his mother’s embrace in his guarded world. This kind of smile belonged only to him—Xia Jiuying.

Xia Jiuying suddenly leaped. His body was like a severed paper kite, first drifting forward, then plummeting straight down.

The wind exists, the moon exists, the abyss exists, I exist… Li Si tightly embraced the remains. Yes, Mother also exists.

Go then. See you in hell.

The falling shadow cut off the cries and shouts of the people by the cliff, the white wolf’s lonely howl.

“The warmth of a corner of my heart is the only reason I live. Finding her, even if I’ll die, even if she’s already dead.”

—Xia Jiuying