In the next second, Yi Sa sensed something was wrong.
Zong Hang hadn’t expected Yi Sa to be even more panicked than him – she practically tumbled off the bed, wiping away the blood from her neck while shouting: “What’s happening? What’s wrong with me?”
Judging from her agile movements, it didn’t seem like she had suffered any fatal injury. Zong Hang quickly wrung out a wet towel from the bathroom and handed it to her. Yi Sa took it and swiftly wiped around her head and neck: no wounds, truly no wounds.
Could there be something on the bed? Zong Hang remembered a gangster movie he’d watched before: someone in it also woke up in a pool of blood, and only after lifting the covers did they discover that while they were sound asleep, someone had placed a severed horse head in their bed.
The two exchanged glances, and Yi Sa steeled herself, yanking back the covers in one motion.
Nothing – there was nothing else in the bed, just that stark pool of blood around the head and neck area.
After a moment of stunned silence, Zong Hang hurriedly checked the doors and windows: the windows were closed, and the door was bolted from inside. It was impossible for someone to have snuck in while they were sleeping and splashed blood near Yi Sa’s pillow – besides, what would be the point of doing that?
Unable to make sense of it and getting nowhere just standing around, Yi Sa could only grab a set of clean clothes and head to the bathroom to wash up. As soon as she turned on the showerhead, hot water poured down from above, gradually loosening her blood-matted hair, while at her feet gathered a pool of increasingly diluted bloody water…
Yi Sa’s fingers were running through her hair when something suddenly flashed through her mind.
She froze, quickly turned off the water, wrapped herself in a towel, and rushed to the bathroom mirror. She tilted her head, pushing aside the hair on her left side.
She remembered there were four pale, birthmark-like spots below her ear, hidden under the soft wisps of hair.
When her eyes fell on that spot, her mind buzzed.
The four spots were still there, but they were now bright red, looking at first glance like cinnabar accidentally smudged my fingertips. Though they felt normal to the touch – not painful, with no broken skin – Yi Sa had a strong intuition.
That large pool of blood on her pillow… had flowed from here.
When Yi Sa came out of the bathroom, Zong Hang was struggling to roll up her mattress pad: “Everything from the sheets to the padding is dirty, can’t sleep on it, and probably hard to wash too. We can just pay compensation when we leave… You sleep in my bed, I’ll take the sofa.”
Yi Sa made a sound of acknowledgment. Her mind was floating, she didn’t want to talk or think about anything, just mechanically walked to the bed and lay down.
After lying there for a while, she suddenly got up again, went into the bathroom with rustling sounds, did something, and then came back out and lay down again.
Only after Zong Hang turned off the lights did she secretly place a thick pad of neatly folded toilet paper behind her neck.
For the rest of the night, Yi Sa couldn’t fall asleep.
She kept thinking about two scenes.
First, in Fu Village, when Ding Xi stabbed her attacker Yi Xiao thirteen times with a broken toothbrush handle, but there was no blood on the handle.
Second, in the Jin Tang Cave at the bottom of Poyang Lake, when Jiang Jun had bitten open Yi Xiao’s throat, but similarly, no blood gushed from Yi Xiao’s throat.
Where had Yi Xiao’s blood gone?
Would Yi Xiao’s past become her future?
Because of this incident, there was quite a back-and-forth with the hotel the next day: paying compensation was a minor issue, but when the duty manager saw so much blood, they wouldn’t believe it was just Zong Hang accidentally cutting his hand, even though he had wrapped his wrist in thick gauze for show – so there was reviewing of surveillance footage and consulting with the owner, and it wasn’t until noon that they were allowed to leave, still half-doubting.
With this delay, they didn’t reach Taiyuan until evening.
Entering the city, while waiting at a traffic light, Zong Hang asked Yi Sa: “Are we going straight to Jing Xiu? Should we call her first to let her know we’re coming?”
Yi Sa said: “Let’s go directly, no need to call.”
After last night, her mood had remained low, listless, and lacking energy. Zong Hang didn’t try to make much conversation. Privately, he also suspected the blood was her own, so during meals along the way, he tried to order foods that would help replenish blood – anyone who had lost that much blood would be weakened, and supplementing nutrition couldn’t hurt. Fortunately, they had phones now, making it easy to look anything up.
Following the navigation, he drove to the address Jing Xiu had given.
It was an old-fashioned hotel.
They found the room and rang the bell. Jing Xiu opened the door, still holding disposable chopsticks, with a strong smell of sauce and soup wafting from inside.
Seeing Zong Hang, Jing Xiu looked somewhat embarrassed: “Didn’t expect you to come at this hour, I was just having dinner.”
She spoke while letting them into the room.
Once inside, Yi Sa’s gaze swept around: Ding Xi wasn’t there, and there was a half-eaten bowl of takeout noodle soup on the coffee table – she had been eating.
She didn’t waste words, asking Jing Xiu directly: “Where’s Ding Xi? Was he the one who asked you to meet with us?”
Jing Xiu nodded: “Yes, when Zong Hang added me as a friend yesterday, Ding Xi happened to be here, and he said to arrange a meeting with you. But you didn’t say when you’d come… I’ll send him a message to let him know.”
She picked up her phone to send the text. After sending it, she stood there awkwardly, feeling nothing she could do would be appropriate.
She didn’t dare look up at Zong Hang, afraid he’d ask about her and Ding Xi; nor did she dare meet Yi Sa’s eyes, feeling her presence was overwhelming; as for continuing to eat her noodles – that seemed even more absurd.
But what she feared came to pass.
Zong Hang couldn’t hold back any more: “Jing Xiu, how can you still be with him? You must stay away from him, he’s not a good person… Is he refusing to admit it?”
Jing Xiu managed a weak smile and gave an ambiguous response: “It’s… not like that.”
That day, after returning from Zong Hang’s, she couldn’t help but ask Ding Xi.
Privately, she hoped he would deny it: although Zong Hang wasn’t one to lie, it was still just one side of the story. She wanted to hear Ding Xi’s explanation – even in court trials, defendants are given the right to speak.
Of course, she had prepared herself: if it was true, she would need to withdraw early. Women had to be smart and not let emotions cloud their judgment – being a murderer wasn’t something to take lightly.
But when Ding Xi heard her, he showed no expression, just looked at her for a while, then suddenly smiled. At the end of his smile, fatigue showed on his face, and he said: “Jing Xiu, you’re being tedious now.”
“I’m with you for no other reason than to keep things light and easy. I don’t want to find a woman to dig through my past life, teach me how to live, or try to be a Bodhisattva saving me. It’s tedious, unnecessary.”
“I’ve never forced you, never schemed against you, you’re free to stay or go.”
Then he left.
It was this unexpected response that left Jing Xiu at a loss, and thinking back and forth, she could only think of how good Ding Xi had been to her.
He had never cheated her; on the contrary, when she couldn’t contact Yi Xiao or find Zong Hang, stuck in a dilemma, it was Ding Xi who had gone to pick her up.
Also, when she was robbed and nearly at her wit’s end, it was he who found a way to help her recover her bag.
Was she still with Ding Xi?
She didn’t know, couldn’t say, she had just continued staying in the hotel room, hadn’t left yet.
And last night, when Ding Xi came by, he was just checking if she had left.
Seeing she was still there, he seemed quite relieved and asked her: “Could you give me a massage? I’m quite tired.”
So she did, and knew he wasn’t lying – every part of his body was tired, tense, alert, not relaxing. Even her technique couldn’t get him to fully unwind.
Halfway through the message, Zong Hang’s friend request came through.
She held her phone, hesitating, somewhat afraid to click accept, feeling she was letting down a friend’s good intentions – Zong Hang had already spoken so clearly, yet here she was still wavering.
After Ding Xi learned it was Zong Hang, he said: “Arrange to meet him.”
Jing Xiu was startled for a moment, remembering how much Zong Hang disliked Ding Xi.
Ding Xi seemed to guess her thoughts and added: “He’s always with Yi Sa, Yi Sa will understand.”
But how could she explain all these complex thoughts to Zong Hang?
Fortunately, Ding Xi’s reply came quickly, helping her out of the awkward situation.
– Ask Yi Sa to come down alone, I’m in the alley next door, have something to tell her.
Yi Sa had no objections, but Zong Hang jumped up: “Why alone? No, Jing Xiu, tell him I’m coming too.”
Yi Sa thought it unnecessary: “What are you afraid of? This isn’t some remote place, he wouldn’t dare kill me, would he? Besides, if he wanted to kill me, you’d just be one more dead person if you came along.”
She glanced at Jing Xiu: “We’ve got a hostage here anyway, right? If he kills me, you can just kill her.”
What kind of logic is that? Before Zong Hang could protest, Yi Sa had already opened the door and left.
Only he and Jing Xiu remained in the room, like back in Cambodia when they were huddled in that tiny bathroom, supporting each other.
Zong Hang felt Jing Xiu was walking into a trap: “Jing Xiu, let me tell you, a leopard can’t change its spots, I know Ding Xi better than you, I think…”
Jing Xiu smiled: “I understand all that, let’s not talk about him… What about you? You’ve been with Yi Sa all this time?”
“Yes.”
Jing Xiu could see it – just mentioning Yi Sa brought out a kind of hidden joy in Zong Hang, showing instantly in his eyes and at the corners of his mouth, impossible to conceal.
“Have you pursued her then?”
Zong Hang hesitated: “What do you mean by pursue…?”
“Have you made it clear? Confessed your feelings?”
Zong Hang hemmed and hawed: “No, I feel like… the timing isn’t quite… right…”
He couldn’t explain clearly, there were many thoughts.
– He didn’t feel good enough yet, not capable enough.
– There were always so many worries, the Xi Chao incident had just passed, and then last night’s bizarre situation – how could Yi Sa have time for his feelings? She might even find them annoying.
– Also, a confession should have a special timing and setting, right? Something unforgettable, not rushed…
Jing Xiu found it strange: “Why make it so complicated? Timing? It’s just a matter of saying it.”
Zong Hang stayed silent.
What does she mean by ‘just saying it’? This is a life-changing matter!
“Even those people going on blind dates, don’t they just meet once, feel it’s okay, and start dating? You two are already so close, living and eating together, why not just make the relationship official?”
Zong Hang was annoyed by her nagging: “Ah, Jing Xiu, you don’t understand!”
“I don’t understand?” Jing Xiu almost laughed in frustration, “I might not understand other things, fine, but this? I don’t understand this?”
“Let me tell you something, Zong Hang, time and tide wait for no man, the early bird catches the worm. Sometimes waiting a day means twenty-four hours, but sometimes waiting a day means things change irreversibly, leaving only regret. You might not move, but everything else is moving – don’t wait until you want to move and find there’s nowhere to go.”
Zong Hang snorted: “Such clichés.”
Jing Xiu said: “Yes, I like to read, after all.”
Yi Sa turned into the side alley.
The alley wasn’t really secluded, people still passed by its entrance occasionally, it was just very long, with fewer and fewer people the further in you went.
Near the end, she saw Ding Xi, leaning against the wall smoking, his face completely in shadow in the unlit alley.
Yi Sa stopped two or three steps away from him: “What is it?”
Ding Xi didn’t answer immediately. He put out his cigarette, rolling it between his fingers for a while before speaking: “Give me a way out.”
Yi Sa didn’t understand: “Huh?”
Ding Xi didn’t repeat himself, just raised his eyes to look at her.
Yi Sa gradually understood, and her first reaction was that it was absurd.
“You’ve killed so many people, did you ever give them a way out? I just want Ding Chang Sheng to explain, and that means I not giving you a way out. Aren’t you ashamed to say such things?”
Ding Xi was silent for a moment: “How about this – whatever you want, think it through and tell me, I’ll give you an answer. Just stop going to my godfather. That’s better for both you and me.”
Yi Sa was about to say something, but Ding Xi didn’t give her the chance: “You’re a smart person, think carefully about what I’m saying. Maybe one day you’ll realize I’m trying to save you.”
“Also, about getting an answer from me – I guess you probably don’t have any ideas. Maybe you think it would be perfect if heaven could just take care of me.”
He looked up at the sky: “Heaven takes people every day, just be patient, maybe it’ll be my turn someday.”
He turned to leave, but after two steps he stopped: “Oh right, your deduction last time was quite convincing, but might have gone completely off track. Here are four words for you: one-sided story. Think about it yourself.”