Rong Qian was stunned. The wound on Shen Fenran’s eye — Shen Yi had done that?

“Why would he hurt you?” Rong Qian remained composed, her first instinct being to ask about the cause and the circumstances.

Shen Fenran let out a cold snort and said indignantly, “What other reason could there be? Simply because I stood in the way of his profits and offended him!”

“That’s impossible.”

The words came out of Rong Qian almost before she had time to think. Without a moment’s hesitation, she rejected what Shen Fenran had said.

Shen Fenran looked as though he’d long seen this coming. He jeered, “Of course you don’t believe me. After all, in your mind, he has no flaws whatsoever — so naturally you can’t imagine him breaking the law or committing a crime.”

“Breaking the law — committing a crime? The way you say it, that sounds more like a description of yourself.”

Rong Qian was approaching everything Shen Fenran said from a rational standpoint, maintaining clarity and sound judgment throughout. She possessed her own independent capacity for thought, and she had not blindly believed any of it.

But clearly, Rong Qian’s words had provoked Shen Fenran. His emotions flared; he stiffened his neck, his face flushing red with fury. “You — get out! If you don’t believe a word I say, why bother asking at all? Get out!”

“I only want the truth.” Rong Qian held his gaze directly. Her steadiness and composure indirectly had an effect on Shen Fenran. He took a deep breath, allowing his emotions to settle.

Shen Fenran lowered his head, as though waging a battle within himself between emotion and reason. After a long pause, he said, “I’ll admit I once walked down the wrong path. But who hasn’t made mistakes in life? Does that mean everything about me can be dismissed entirely?”

“What exactly did you do? And how did you come to be in the state you’re in today?” Rong Qian very much wanted to understand what had happened.

But Shen Fenran stubbornly replied, “My past — I have no desire to speak of it. I’ll admit I brought this on myself. But why should Shen Yi get to walk free, living a life of wealth and luxury without end, while I am made to suffer like this?”

“You’re saying Shen Yi walks free?” Rong Qian’s expression was beyond strange. Did this Shen Fenran have some kind of misunderstanding about Shen Yi?

Wasn’t Shen Yi the victim? How, in Shen Fenran’s version of events, had he become the greatest winner of all?

“You must think I’ve lost my mind in old age and am rambling nonsense.” Shen Fenran fixed her with a piercing stare, his gaze quite frightening.

Rong Qian shifted her posture. She crossed her arms, her manner still unhurried. “To the best of my knowledge, Shen Yi is a victim. Thirty years ago, he boarded a ship — and then he disappeared.”

“Does disappearing mean he must be dead?” Shen Fenran cut in abruptly.

Rong Qian paused. Disappearance did not, strictly speaking, constitute death — but hadn’t Shen Yi already been officially declared deceased?

Shen Fenran seemed to read her thoughts. He said flatly, “He didn’t die.”

“You just said — Shen Yi didn’t die?” A faint ripple broke through Rong Qian’s otherwise unvarying composure.

Shen Fenran stated it with absolute conviction, “That’s right — he didn’t die. The disappearance was nothing but a cover. In reality, he went into hiding under a new name, living a life of wealth and ease.”

Strangely, hearing Shen Fenran say this, Rong Qian grew even calmer than before.

Skepticism was one thing; inconsistency was another matter entirely.

Everything Shen Fenran had said came out too suddenly, too jarringly out of place — it directly overturned every conclusion she had drawn up until now. If Shen Yi truly hadn’t died, then what had she been doing with everything she’d investigated so far?

And so Rong Qian forced herself to stay grounded. She drew on her professional instincts, impartial and free of personal bias, and asked Shen Fenran, “If you’re so certain he’s not dead, does that mean you also know where he is?”

“I do.”

Shen Fenran’s answer caught her off guard. She asked, “Where is he?”

“Canada.” Shen Fenran named a location with precision. “All I know is that he’s hiding in Canada. The exact place — you’ll have to find that yourself, Officer Rong.”

Rong Qian narrowed her eyes slightly. Canada? As far as she knew, Thomas was also hiding in Canada. Could it be that Shen Yi had somehow ended up working alongside Thomas?

If that were truly the case, then wouldn’t that mean the mastermind who had hired someone to kill her… was Shen Yi?

Rong Qian found the idea almost laughable. Even as plot reversals went, this one was absurd beyond measure.

“You don’t believe what I’m telling you?” Shen Fenran studied her expression and drew his own conclusion.

Rong Qian didn’t answer. Instead, she turned the question back on him. “How do you know I’m a police officer?”

Shen Fenran hesitated for a brief moment.

“I don’t recall ever telling you my name or what I do for a living. How do you know I’m a police officer?” Rong Qian pressed forward, calm and methodical, step by step.

Shen Fenran replied without batting an eye, “You told me — in the past.”

Rong Qian answered swiftly, “So you knew from the very beginning who I was, and what I had been through.”

“Did you think I’d tell you otherwise?” Shen Fenran threw the question back at her.

Rong Qian’s expression gave nothing away. She gazed at her own fingers in quiet thought. After a long while, she said at last, “Indeed. And I too would like to know — by telling me all of this, what is it you want me to do?”

She lifted her gaze and looked him directly in the eyes.

Shen Fenran looked away. He picked up a ceramic cup and sipped from it slowly, unhurriedly.

“I only want to tell you — stop being complicit in wrongdoing.”

With that one final sentence, Shen Fenran drove her out.

Back in her car, Rong Qian did not start the engine and drive away from the nursing home right away. Instead, she closed her eyes and mentally replayed every word exchanged with Shen Fenran moments before.

To be honest, Rong Qian did not believe him.

She knew Shen Yi’s character better than anyone. The Shen Yi Shen Fenran described was nothing like the person she knew — they were practically two different people.

But if everything Shen Fenran had just told her was fabricated — then why? What reason could Shen Fenran possibly have to deceive her?

Rong Qian could not work it out. She bit her lip, and in the end, she simply couldn’t bring herself to leave like this.

She had come here seeking answers. She was not about to walk away carrying only a new set of questions. She got out of the car once more — even if Shen Fenran was unwilling to talk, she would force him to speak!