Night deepened as Luo Ren sat alone on the bench in the hospital corridor.

There was much to do, and everyone was busy. Huo Zihong and Yi Wansan had gone to the scene of the incident. Cao Yanhua returned to Yan Yan’s shop to try to find Lian Shu. Zhang Shu kept inquiring about the situation from the doctors while trying various methods to contact Huo Zihong. Uncle Zheng was dealing with the traffic police and the party responsible for the accident, accompanied by Pin Ting, who kept complaining about being tired.

Only Luo Ren did nothing. His mind was in chaos. The intensive care unit didn’t allow companions, so he just wanted to wait outside the ward, unwilling to deal with any trivial matters. Everything felt irritating—every face, every mouth.

The doctor said Mu Dai had fallen into a coma with head trauma, but the CT scan showed no major cerebral contusions or intracranial hematomas. They hadn’t yet determined if craniotomy was necessary. While administering medication and observing, they hoped the patient would regain consciousness on her own.

They couldn’t provide definitive news because it involved the brain, humanity’s most complex and least understood organ. Some people could have half their brain destroyed and live normally, while others might never wake up from a slight bump.

Just as some women give birth as easily as laying eggs, while others die from difficult labor.

Even with science advanced to its current state, reaching the heavens and depths of the sea, it still couldn’t fully analyze the human body itself.

The police suspected deliberate murder, as Mu Dai’s body contained drug residues that could induce coma, and there were deep strangulation marks on her neck.

But the drunk driver who caused the accident argued it was suicide. He admitted to drinking and having delayed reactions but insisted he wasn’t completely disoriented, claiming the girl had appeared in front of his car by herself.

…

Everyone had their version, words floating around Luo Ren’s ears.

An hour ago, Zhang Shu had lost his temper with him, demanding, “Luo Ren, what’s wrong with you? Why did Mu Dai, while helping you, end up in such a terrible situation?”

Truthfully, Luo Ren couldn’t be blamed. Mu Dai helping with Phoenix Pavilion’s affairs wasn’t exactly helping him personally. But people are like this—when something happens, anger isn’t necessarily directed at the perpetrator but at related individuals.

—If she hadn’t become your girlfriend…

—If she hadn’t gone looking for you early this morning…

Tracing back to the root, even knowing him was a mistake.

Luo Ren offered no defense. He just felt annoyed and couldn’t even remember who had persuaded Zhang Shu to leave.

He only remembered the doctor’s words: no cerebral contusion, no hematoma, waiting for the patient to wake up on her own. If she woke up, the problems wouldn’t be significant; if not, it was hard to say.

He just wanted to wait here.

Footsteps echoed in the corridor, interspersed with Pin Ting’s impatient murmurs.

It was Uncle Zheng.

Uncle Zheng scolded Pin Ting, telling her not to be temperamental, then sat down next to Luo Ren. He opened his mouth several times but didn’t know how to begin. His first words still somewhat cleared him of responsibility.

“Little Dao, I truly had no idea Miss Lian would be like this…”

Luo Ren didn’t want to hear it: “What did the traffic police say?”

Uncle Zheng collected himself: “They seem to have reconstructed and simulated the accident scene. They said that if it was as the driver claimed—that Mu Dai stood up on her own and was then hit and thrown, with such impact force, immediate death would have been possible. They feel something doesn’t add up…”

There seemed to be an underlying meaning. Luo Ren looked up: “What do you mean?”

“They speculate that Mu Dai, at that moment, had some awareness… even if not fully aware, she must have cushioned the impact somehow…”

This kind of cushioning, similar to mid-air maneuvering, would be impossible for ordinary people. When Uncle Zheng heard this, he quickly explained that Mu Dai had practiced martial arts since childhood. The officers were impressed, saying martial artists were indeed different—even with blurred consciousness, their physical responses far exceeded normal people.

Is that so? Luo Ren found a vague comfort in this thought.

Uncle Zheng hesitated, unsure how to continue: “Maybe, Little Dao, you should go back and rest. Medical staff are watching over her. I heard Old Zhang lost his temper with you. If there’s visitation, they probably won’t let you go in first…”

Luo Ren interrupted him: “I just want to stay here.”

Uncle Zheng sighed. Pin Ting began fussing again, her voice tearful, desperately wanting to sleep.

Luo Ren said, “You should take Pin Ting back first.”

Near dawn, Luo Ren received a call from Cao Yanhua. The ringtone grew increasingly urgent, sounding like an emergency.

He didn’t immediately react. A nurse came out and pointed at his pocket before he realized his phone was ringing.

Answering, he heard Cao Yanhua’s frantic voice.

“Brother Luo, come quickly, we’ve found Lian Shu…”

Lian Shu?

Luo Ren’s eyes suddenly narrowed, and he stood up from the bench.

Cao Yanhua’s capture of Lian Shu had been somewhat lucky.

He reasoned that if Lian Shu had sensed the third murder note and been influenced when visiting Uncle Zheng that morning, then her subsequent scheming had been hastily arranged.

Uncle Zheng had mentioned that Mu Dai went to find Lian Shu not long after Lian Shu had left.

Someone planning to flee after harming others would need to pack. Lian Shu’s business was still intact, and it seemed unlikely she would abandon everything, especially her prized possession valued at 188,000 yuan. Would she so readily discard it?

She would likely return to her shop.

So Cao Yanhua decisively patrolled the small alleys leading to her shop. Before dawn, the ancient town was silent and empty of people. Cao Yanhua waited patiently until Lian Shu’s figure appeared in the deserted alley.

She staggered like a drunk. Cao Yanhua felt tense, grabbed a brick, and knocked her down with one blow.

When Lian Shu fell, there was a dull thud. Cao Yanhua was so frightened that his heart almost jumped out, but fortunately, no one was nearby. He took a roundabout way and dragged Lian Shu in through Phoenix Pavilion’s back door.

The store hadn’t opened yet and smelled of new renovations. Once inside, Cao Yanhua began to tremble. He had previously been a thief, but only a “gentle” one who stole things. Harming someone was a first for him.

He felt he couldn’t handle the situation. The police would soon trace things to Lian Shu, so what had he done? Obstructed law enforcement? Illegal detention?

He called Yi Wansan and Huo Zihong, intending to find out the truth before contacting Luo Ren, but then…

“She won’t talk?”

“Yes.” Cao Yanhua clutched the receiver unsteadily. Dawn was breaking, and the lighter it became, the more nervous he felt. “She says she doesn’t remember. I’ve asked many times and even tried to scare her, but she stubbornly repeats the same thing.”

Luo Ren gave a cold laugh: “Then I’ll help her remember.”

That tone…

Cao Yanhua trembled first.

Luo Ren arrived quickly, entering through the front door, closing it with a bang, and securing the lock.

While doing this, his eyes remained fixed on Lian Shu sitting in the chair.

To be precise, she wasn’t sitting but was bound with plastic bags, though rather loosely. Cao Yanhua and the others had indeed threatened her, but it was a bluff, and she didn’t take it seriously.

Luo Ren approached and ripped the tape from her mouth. His movement was rough, making Lian Shu wince in pain.

“Luo Ren, you have no right to do this! If you want to question me, it should be the police doing it. I’ll sue you all!”

Yi Wansan was nervous, peering through the slats of the bamboo blinds, afraid Lian Shu’s voice might attract passersby.

Luo Ren ignored her and reached for her neck. Lian Shu instinctively tried to dodge but couldn’t. Luo Ren pulled at the string around her neck, revealing the piece of cinnabar amber.

Then, with a forceful yank, he tore it off.

Huo Zihong understood Luo Ren’s intention and quickly went to the back kitchen to fill a basin with water. She brought it out half-full and placed it before them. Luo Ren casually tossed the amber in, and it sank to the bottom.

Only then did he speak to her: “You knew Mu Dai was my girlfriend, right?”

Lian Shu said, “I’ve said many times, I don’t remember!”

Luo Ren said, “Then think harder.”

As he spoke, his tone was gentle, giving a false impression of calm. Lian Shu didn’t take it seriously: “Luo Ren, don’t make trouble for yourself. This is illegal detention—”

Before she could finish, Luo Ren suddenly changed his demeanor, violently kicking the chair. The chair tipped backward with Lian Shu, first hitting the wall, then falling to the ground.

Cao Yanhua and Huo Zihong’s expressions changed dramatically.

Cao Yanhua’s previous “threats” had been nothing more than “I’ll slap you” or “I’ll hit you,” but he couldn’t bring himself to strike her beautiful young face. Luo Ren’s immediate violence stunned him.

In his opinion, Luo Ren had always been courteous, rarely using coarse language, and was especially accommodating toward Mu Dai. Cao Yanhua had always thought him to be a gentle man who would never lay hands on a woman.

He stammered, “Brother Luo, you… Take it easy…”

This was, after all, a society governed by law. He was already nervous about privately detaining Lian Shu, fearing potential consequences. They certainly couldn’t withstand Luo Ren becoming violent.

Luo Ren seemed not to hear, slowly walking to Lian Shu and crouching down. He grabbed her collar and lifted both her and the chair.

Lian Shu’s face paled.

Luo Ren said, “In this life, I hate most when people harm those close to me—my brothers, the ones I love. I hate it when people touch them!”

As he said this, his face suddenly contorted, and his hand shot forward, gripping Lian Shu’s throat.

Yi Wansan’s scalp tingled as he and Huo Zihong rushed to pull Luo Ren back: “Luo Ren, take it slow, take it slow.”

Luo Ren smiled slightly and released his grip. Huo Zihong and Yi Wansan straightened Lian Shu and her chair. Her hair was somewhat disheveled, and her right cheek was swollen, possibly from the impact.

Luo Ren turned to look at Cao Yanhua, who, as if by some strange telepathy, immediately understood and quickly dragged over another chair.

Luo Ren sat down directly across from Lian Shu and asked, “Do you remember now?”

Lian Shu was frightened now, her voice carrying a sob: “I don’t remember much, Luo Ren.”

Luo Ren smiled and said, “I believe you.”

He leaned back in his chair, appearing somewhat tired. He didn’t speak for a long time, until Huo Zihong and the others became anxious.

“I’ll ask, you answer. Don’t try any tricks, and don’t expect me to be polite to women.”

Lian Shu had witnessed firsthand that he was less courteous to women than Cao Yanhua and Yi Wansan.

“Is your hometown near the Guizhou-Guangxi border, close to Four Villages?”

Lian Shu suddenly widened her eyes, her pale lips moving slightly, as if wanting to say something.

Luo Ren immediately followed up: “Did your mother give birth to a wild person?”

Lian Shu was silent for a moment, then suddenly resumed her nonchalant demeanor.

“So you already know,” she said. “Yes, that’s right.”

“What happened back then?”

Lian Shu bit her lip, her expression somewhat miserable.

“Nothing much happened. The way you’re asking, you probably know a lot already. Back then, there were rumors of wild people in the mountains, but no one had really seen them, so no one paid much attention. Until one day, my mother went into the mountains and was…”

She smiled: “You know what happened. My father was in the village and, when my mother didn’t return late at night, he took people up the mountain to search. They found her, but by then, the wild man had already fled.”

Luo Ren maintained his composure: “Later, your father found hunters?”

“Yes, just like you—who wouldn’t hate someone touching their wife? Especially a beast. My father took people to block off the mountain and eventually cornered him.”

Huo Zihong interjected: “They killed him?”

Lian Shu said, “Yes, killed and butchered him, cut his meat for the pot, possibly even fished it out to eat a bite or two—eating a bit helps satisfy the hatred.”

As she spoke, she gritted her teeth, her hatred seemingly undiminished to this day.

Luo Ren asked, “And then?”

Lian Shu smiled bitterly: “Originally, everyone hoped things would just pass. My father loved my mother dearly and didn’t despise her. He just wanted life to go on as before. Who knew that later, my mother would become pregnant?”

“At first, no one thought the worst. Everyone hoped it was my father’s child, not wanting any more trouble. But when the baby was born…”

She laughed harshly: “There was no hiding it. The baby was born covered in hair—that beast’s offspring. My father couldn’t bear it and told my mother that if she couldn’t bring herself to strangle it, then abandon it, throw it far away in the mountains.”

“My mother said she would abandon it herself.”

Tears fell from her eyes.

Huo Zihong sighed. Being a girl, she was naturally softer-hearted. She held tissues in her hand, wanting to wipe Lian Shu’s tears, but suddenly remembered Mu Dai. Her hand clenched, and her heart hardened again.

Lian Shu sniffled, trying to appear unconcerned: “I don’t know what she was thinking. She couldn’t bear to abandon it. She secretly kept that little wild person nearby…”

Luo Ren asked, “Your father found out?”

“I discovered it first. I was young then and liked sticking close to my mother. My mother probably thought I was too young to understand, so sometimes she took me along.”

“The little wild person was younger than me, but grew bigger than me. It couldn’t speak. I was a bit scared at first, but after playing together often, I wasn’t afraid anymore. I frequently went with my mother to visit it, gathering fruit with it, teaching it to draw…”

Hearing this, Cao Yanhua’s heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively glanced at Yi Wansan. So the wild woman’s kindness toward Yi Wansan wasn’t because “art has no boundaries” or appreciation of Yi Wansan’s talent—it was because of Lian Shu?

Lian Shu had taught the wild person to draw.

“But worldly affairs can’t be kept secret forever. My father gradually noticed something was wrong. Once, he tricked me into talking, and I told him. After that…”

She smiled bitterly: “Our family began falling apart from that moment. There was constant arguing, though my father would still cover for my mother in front of others…”

“I felt my father was pitiful. Yes, I was young then, five or six years old, but don’t think children don’t understand things. Everything was clear in my mind. The more I sympathized with my father, the more I hated my mother and that little mongrel. Many times, I wanted to expose everything. In the village, the old clan leader was in charge—when he spoke, no one dared contradict him. But my mother threatened me, saying if I told, she would beat me severely.”

Luo Ren looked at her: “You finally thought of a way, didn’t you?”

Lian Shu laughed coldly: “My mother often instructed that little mongrel not to go to the village, not to be seen by people, not to show its face. I listened and remembered.”

“Later, one day, I seized an opportunity. My mother went to dig medicinal herbs, leaving me and that little mongrel to play together. I chewed on a wild mushroom, and then…”

Yi Wansan’s mind exploded, and he stepped forward neurotically: “Then, you pretended to be poisoned, right?”

Lian Shu looked at him strangely, as if puzzled how he knew: “I pretended my stomach hurt. I had heard villagers say some wild mushrooms couldn’t be eaten—they would make you roll on the ground in pain, foam at the mouth, and could even cause death. So I pretended I was dying, pointing repeatedly at the village, gesturing that I wanted to go back. The little mongrel was terrified and couldn’t find my mother, so it took me back—dragging, pulling, carrying…”

“You can guess the result. It was exposed in the village. Men, women, old, young—everyone came out to chase it. It fled in panic and disappeared. No one knew where it went.”

Her face showed a smug smile. Even now, she remained proud of what she’d done.

Luo Ren said, “You were only six years old then.”

Lian Shu’s face suddenly turned fierce, as if defending herself: “So what if I was six?”

“I don’t regret it even now. I did nothing wrong. My mother was wrong! She had a family, a husband, and a child. She was raped by a beast, yet what maternal instinct drove her to care for that little mongrel? My family was falling apart! My father was useless and wouldn’t act, so I had to do something—drive that little mongrel away, the farther the better!”

The sun had risen, its light streaming through the bamboo blinds onto her face in alternating strips of light and shadow.

She repeated neurotically: “She was wrong! That woman was wrong!”

“What happened next?”

“Later, my mother returned from gathering herbs and heard about this incident. She didn’t say anything at the time. That night, my father drank a lot and fell into a deep sleep. I remember…”

She smiled: “I remember, in the middle of the night, it started raining. My mother took a basket and put food in it. I got out of bed and stared at her. She didn’t see me. After she finished packing and went to open the door latch, I rushed over and hugged her legs, not letting her go.”

“My mother tried to coax me. She said recently some outsiders had come to the mountains, digging for something in the forest. If they saw the little wild person, they would surely kill it. She was worried and wanted to go find it…”

“She told me to wait at home, saying once she found it, she would return…”

Huo Zihong shuddered and asked, “She never came back, did she?”

“Never came back.”

She was silent for a long time. Just when Huo Zihong thought the story had abruptly ended, Lian Shu spoke again.

“A few years later, people in the village gradually moved away, partly because making a living in the mountains was difficult, partly because of renewed rumors about wild people. Our family was among the last batch. That year, on my birthday, when I opened the door in the morning, I saw something at the doorstep…”

Her gaze fell on the amber at the bottom of the basin.

“It was a Sunny Sweeper doll sewn from cloth scraps, with clumsy stitches, and a piece of amber.”

“I knew at a glance the Sunny Sweeper was sewn by my mother. In the village, most Sunny Sweepers were cut from paper, but only my mother, skilled with cloth, liked to sew cloth dolls like Sunny Sweepers. I don’t know why her needlework had suddenly deteriorated so badly, but I knew it was hers at first sight. Why did she come back? She had abandoned us to live with that little mongrel, so why return?”

“I told my father we should move too. I didn’t want to stay in that village anymore.”

“On the day we left, I felt she was hiding in the forest watching. When we passed the central well of the village, I threw away that Sunny Sweeper. I wanted her to know I didn’t cherish it.”

Luo Ren said, “But you didn’t throw away the amber?”

Lian Shu seemed absent-minded.

“I had intended to throw it away, but somehow, as if possessed, I put it around my neck and kept wearing it. Just like today… as if possessed, I did certain things, but I don’t know why I did them.”