Yi Wansan had sweet dreams all night, waking up with the corners of his mouth turned upward. When he didn’t see Mu Dai while preparing breakfast, he felt even more refreshed, actively passing bowls and serving porridge, and feigning concern by asking Huo Zihong: “Is Young Boss… alright?”

Huo Zihong made an affirmative sound: “She’ll be dejected for a few days.”

Only dejected for a few days? Yi Wansan had a bad feeling. Why wasn’t she completely crushed?

Zhang Shu snorted from the side: “When a knife makes a cut, blood gushes at first, but doesn’t it scab over after a few days? She’ll be fine.”

Yi Wansan struggled desperately: “But it must be a slow, gradual recovery, right?”

Huo Zihong dispelled all his hopes with one sentence: “Mu Dai isn’t like that.”

She pressed one finger on the edge of the table, then suddenly raised it high: “She’s like this, like a spring—she bounces right back up. Just wait and see.”

After breakfast, Cao Yanhua, who lived nearby, arrived promptly, ostensibly to learn about the bar’s daily operations, but his eyes kept darting upstairs: “Where’s my Sister Mu Dai?”

Just as he finished speaking, Mu Dai came downstairs looking dispirited. Yi Wansan pretended to focus on wiping glasses while silently chanting: “Trip and fall, trip and fall.”

Seeing her reach the bottom safely, he could only change his prayer: “Don’t bounce back, don’t bounce back.”

Heaven seemed to favor him, as Mu Dai showed no signs of bouncing back today. She walked straight to the table, sat down, lifted the lid of the covered bowl, and ate breakfast in silence.

Huo Zihong came over smiling, took a thin flour pancake, and helped wrap scrambled eggs and spicy shredded potatoes in it before handing it back to her: “Not being able to defeat someone or catch them is a small matter. With so many contestants, there’s only one champion. Should everyone from second place down jump off buildings?”

Mu Dai looked at the wrapped pancake without immediately taking it: “Aunt Hong, are you Professor Li’s daughter?”

“Yesterday, why did Luo Ren attack you? If he attacked, he was in the wrong. Why not call the police?”

Huo Zihong’s lips pressed together slightly before she smiled again: “Our Mu Dai has become a little Miss Ten Thousand Questions.”

She placed the wrapped pancake on a small plate beside Mu Dai’s bowl: “This matter is over. Don’t ask about it anymore. It happened a long time ago, and I don’t want to bring it up again.”

Mu Dai didn’t look at her, stirring the porridge in her bowl while looking down: “Some things, you may not want to bring up, but others won’t let it go. Luo Ren won’t give up.”

Huo Zihong remained motionless for a while. After some time, she reached out and patted the back of Mu Dai’s hand: “Forget about this, don’t worry about it.”

Mu Dai’s gaze fell on Huo Zihong’s hand.

Aunt Hong’s hands couldn’t be said to be as fair as congealed cream with fingers like spring onion roots, but they were at least slender, delicate, and well-maintained. As the older generation would say, these were hands that hadn’t done rough work or suffered hardship—the hands of a lady or young mistress.

Dropped out after the second grade of elementary school to help her parents at their stall? Mu Dai had seen vegetable vendors’ hands before—moving back and forth among vegetables mixed with fresh soil, dirt embedded in the skin’s creases, impossible to clean no matter how much soap was used.

After the meal, while Huo Zihong was downstairs checking accounts with Zhang Shu, Mu Dai entered Aunt Hong’s room. This room, which she normally entered and exited without paying much attention, now prompted extreme caution as she entered. Her chest felt heavy, as if something was pressing on it.

By Aunt Hong’s bedside was the book she had been reading the night before, “Detailed Explanation of A New Account of Tales of the World.” On the table lay a reference book on the patterns and designs of various ethnic costumes. She had mentioned before that she wanted to acquire another shop, considering fabric arts and clothing. The batik and tie-dye patterns would need her designs, not common styles seen everywhere.

On the multi-tiered display shelf against the wall were small trinkets collected by Aunt Hong, including a clay figurine called “Yellow Fatty” made from local soil, a miniature lantern specially commissioned from a craftsman, and a decorated gourd.

As a child, watching “The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea,” she had stolen that gourd, removed its lid, and filled it with soda. She climbed onto the table, imitating Iron-Crutch Li from the TV, laughing while tilting her head back to drink the soda with one hand on her waist. Halfway through, Aunt Hong had taken the gourd away. She thought she would be punished and followed Aunt Hong into the room dejectedly, but to her surprise, Aunt Hong said, “Mu Dai, this is a cricket gourd.”

Her eyes widened like brass bells: “A cricket gourd? For keeping crickets?”

Aunt Hong said, “Yes.”

She then explained how ancient people kept singing insects, and that gourds were the best containers. Selecting these gourds was particular, requiring “purple, moist, firm, thick.” To protect the gourds, some people even made special velvet covers for them.

She hadn’t heard a word, thinking only: I’m done for, the cricket might have pooped and peed inside, and I drank it all…

Thinking back now, Aunt Hong was truly knowledgeable, like someone raised in a scholarly family.

Suddenly, Mu Dai’s heart skipped a beat.

Aunt Hong looked identical to Li Yaqing. Li Tan had personally confirmed that Professor Li had twin daughters. Luo Ren had pointed out that Aunt Hong didn’t resemble the Huo Zihong who lived at 12 Chen Qian Lane in Luoma Lake…

Could it be that the one who died in Luoma Lake, turned into a human puppet by fishing line, was the real Huo Zihong, while the current one had been using Huo Zihong’s name all along, being… Li Yaqing?

Seeing Huo Zihong again, Mu Dai’s feelings were completely different from before. She could no longer connect her with Aunt Hong, who had been innocent to the point of being irritating.

She sat down at the table by the window, took pen and paper, and nervously listed her thoughts.

If Aunt Hong was Li Yaqing, then she had concealed this fact for many years and wasn’t as guileless as she appeared. This meant that Aunt Hong’s words might not all be true.

“Did you see me harm Huo Zihong?”

She hadn’t seen it. She had only heard the terrified scream first, then seen Luo Ren gripping Aunt Hong’s neck before shoving her away forcefully.

What if Aunt Hong had attacked Luo Ren first? What if she had planned it, knowing Luo Ren would defend himself when attacked, and when he moved against her, she deliberately screamed…

Mu Dai was frightened by her thoughts. She hurriedly tore up the paper in front of her and threw it away, then buried her face in her hands on the table.

No, no, no, thinking like this was wrong. Luo Ren was truly a demon, inducing her to doubt Aunt Hong with just a few sentences.

Cao Yanhua came running over. Seeing Mu Dai angrily tearing paper, he felt it was the perfect opportunity.

“Sister Mu Dai, don’t be angry about this kind of thing. It’s not worth it.”

“Honestly, in terms of ability, you’re streets ahead of those ruffians and hooligans. You only lost due to a lack of experience. If the opponent hadn’t been so devious, how could they have gotten the better of you?”

He was purely speculating but spoke with conviction, as if he had witnessed everything the night before. However, his flattery was perfectly timed, bringing comfort to the heart.

Mu Dai finally raised her head to look at him.

Cao Yanhua spoke with increasing sincerity: “This kind of situation could be completely avoided. Do you know what the key is?”

Avoided? Although she knew Cao Yanhua wasn’t very reliable, Mu Dai’s curiosity was piqued: “What’s the key?”

“The key is that you lack a disciple who is experienced, skilled in martial arts, and utterly devoted!”

“Hey, hey, Sister Mu Dai, don’t walk away…”

Cao Yanhua shouted reluctantly at Mu Dai’s retreating: “Sister Mu Dai, think about it! If something like this happens again, the disciple serves the labor. I would be the one rushing out, even if I get caught, beaten, or scared to tears, it would be me. It wouldn’t affect you! Hey, Sister Mu Dai, please consider it…”

That night, Mu Dai had a dream.

She dreamed that Huo Zihong came to her bedside, gently pushing her: “Mu Dai, Mu Dai, wake up.”

She was awake but couldn’t move or make a sound. Aunt Hong sat down beside her bed and began threading a needle.

The needle was as thick as a pen, with an eye as large as a soybean. The thread was also strange, like several strands twisted together. Her gaze followed the thread downward to see a large fishing net spread out from Aunt Hong’s knees.

The floor had disappeared, transformed into a lake surface shimmering with light. Half the fishing net was submerged in the lake, and she could vaguely see fish struggling underneath.

Suddenly, on the vast, mist-covered lake, only this bed was floating.

Mu Dai became frightened, wanting to ask, “Aunt Hong, what are you doing?”

Her throat felt stuffed with cotton, unable to make a sound. Aunt Hong’s face revealed a secretive smile. She slowly extended her hand, firmly pressing down on Mu Dai’s head, while the other hand, holding the needle, pierced straight through her cheek…

Cold sweat covered her body. Her leg jerked in a spasm, and she realized it was just the blanket. Her heart instantly fell back to reality, feeling relieved.

But she couldn’t fall back asleep.

Mu Dai took her pillow and blanket downstairs to her favorite window seat. She propped the pillow vertically against the window and reclined on the long bench.

The Five Great Punishments of ancient times.

Foot amputation.

Luo Ren’s brow furrowed deeply as his fingertip lightly tapped on the touchscreen, constantly switching between web pages.

The content of the few web pages he accessed was largely similar: punishments, ancient Chinese punishments, the evolution and development of punishments, human social progress, and the gradual change of punishment methods.

The content mentioned that modern punishments were essentially limited to the death penalty or life imprisonment. The types of death penalty were few, and some countries or regions advocated for human rights and abolished the death penalty altogether. This meant that the respect for human dignity in punishment increased with the development of social civilization.

Going back in time, in ancient and even slave-era societies, punishments were savage and cruel, the most typical being the Five Great Punishments.

The earliest historical record was during the time of Xia Yu’s son, Qi: mo (tattooing the face), yi (cutting off the nose), yue (cutting off the foot), gong (removal of reproductive ability), and dapi (death penalty).

This was considered Xia Qi’s summary of previous experiences, classified into the Five Great Punishments.

Luo Ren vaguely felt this was the right track. Liu Shuhai had confessed to murder, and after his death, the reason for the missing piece of skin from his back remained unknown, but the fact that his foot had been cut off resembled a punitive treatment.

Moreover, he wasn’t the only one whose foot had been cut off.

Luo Ren suddenly felt chest tightness. He got up and walked to the window, opening it for fresh air while forcefully loosening his collar.

In the deep of night, the air was humid. Lights stretched gracefully in the darkness, and the bluestone slabs shimmered with a luster unique to the night. Looking over from this side, the Juscengsui Yuan Bar was diagonally opposite in the distance.

Luo Ren looked for a while, then suddenly had an inspiration. He took out the German portable night vision Eagle Eye from his luggage and looked toward the bar.

The night vision Eagle Eye’s imaging was inferior to a telescope’s effect during the daytime, but he could still recognize who the person was.

Luo Ren’s lips curved into a smile as he murmured: “Still standing guard?”