Chapter 92: Joyful Wedding, Mourning Cry 23
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The audience in front of Yan Shixun’s separate screen looked bewildered, not understanding why he had suddenly closed the screen. Yan Shixun had bypassed the members of the production team and went to a corner of the courtyard, engaging in a lengthy conversation with the retired police officer named Chen.
After both sides cross-verified, they confirmed that Officer Chen had handled the case years ago, the same case that eventually led to his resignation, which had occurred in Family Tomb Village.
Officer Chen was not from the southern region. In those days when transportation was inconvenient, there was no indication that his life would take him to the southern region.
If it weren’t for the victim in that case being in Officer Chen’s jurisdiction, he might never have set foot in the southern region in his entire life.
He also wouldn’t have encountered the traumatic event that changed his life forever.
“Back then, we received a report from a man in his forties. He stated that his niece had been missing for several months and he suspected she was either lost or kidnapped.”
Officer Chen’s voice was steady. Although he would cough due to the discomfort caused by his illness after a few sentences, he still made an effort to re-narrate the events of that year in a professional and serious manner, not allowing his emotions and medical condition to interfere.
“According to the man, his niece was a junior student at the capital city’s university and stayed in the university’s dormitory during the school year. Because our province was hundreds of kilometers away from the capital city, with the transportation conditions of that time, it took about three days to travel to the capital city. Therefore, this man could only see his niece during her visits home on breaks. They communicated through letters, exchanging letters every month.”
“The reason for reporting this case was that the man didn’t receive any letters from his niece during the entire third year of her university studies. When it was summer break at the Beijing City University, she didn’t return home and couldn’t be reached. The man went to the university’s student affairs office for inquiries but was only told that his niece had left for an internship at the beginning of the semester. So, he decided to report her missing.”
“Subsequently, we accompanied the man to gather evidence and found that his niece indeed left the university at the beginning of the semester to participate in a social internship. This was confirmed by the school’s announcement list and her classmates and teachers who could vouch for it. Furthermore, his niece didn’t return home, or more precisely, after she left the university, no one had any contact with her, and no one saw her taking a bus back home.”
Officer Chen calmly recounted the events.
Having pursued this case for several decades, he had every detail of the case memorized. It felt like it all happened just yesterday when he closed his eyes.
“However, during those times, both transportation and communication were underdeveloped compared to now. Unlike today, where everyone can use their phones to contact others, in those days, letters were the most common and widely used means of communication. But there was also a certain probability of letters getting lost. So, for the general public, it was quite common not to have contact with a family member for several years. No one realized the severity of her disappearance; they all just assumed she hadn’t written or that her letters got lost in the mail.”
“Only the man who reported it was truly concerned. He described his home as being left with only him and his niece, with all other relatives having perished in a previous major disaster. He had raised his niece from childhood as if she were his own child. He worked hard to send her to college, and her yearly visits home were the highlights of his entire year. That’s why the man was so worried about his niece’s whereabouts. Even before there was concrete evidence of her being kidnapped, he came to us to report the case and said that his niece was wholeheartedly dedicated to the country and would never do anything foolish.”
The old man, originally frail and ailing, radiated a strong sense of vitality when he talked about the case.
His eyes hadn’t dulled or clouded with the wear and tear of injury and hardship. Despite being over fifty years old and having aged with wrinkles from the effects of wind and sun, his eyes remained bright and unwavering.
Just as they were back in the day.
“No one really cared about this matter in the beginning. First, because of the circumstances at that time. Due to limited communication and lack of technology, travel was not as monitored as it is today, and information hardly crossed provincial borders. Many people left their home province for another without official records, which was a common practice. Some of my colleagues even thought that the man was making a big deal out of nothing, saying it was fussing over nothing.”
“Second, because of the technological limitations at the time and everything being recorded by hand, tracking someone was difficult and time-consuming. Although the Beijing University provided a place for his niece’s social internship, it was located in another province. Seeking local help was both challenging and bureaucratic. Trying to contact the other province without concrete evidence was considered unrealistic.”
“Even though there was no trace of his niece in Beijing University, her internship location, or at home, even if we assume that she was kidnapped or abducted, or even worse, it’s been a tragic fate, there is no clue to pinpoint where she disappeared. In this situation, it’s almost like searching for a needle in a haystack nationwide. With the technology available at that time, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.”
“So, everyone advised the man that maybe his niece’s letter got lost in transit or something came up on the way, causing her to go elsewhere without having the chance to inform her family and school. Wait a little longer, and maybe his niece will return home soon. Then, this matter went silent.”
Officer Chen sat on his living room couch, his posture straight, and he lowered his head slightly, looking at the photo he was constantly caressing.
The two-inch black-and-white photograph still had decorative edges, and based on the style and the signs of aging on the photo, it had been several decades.
In the photo, there was a beautiful and bright-looking girl. She stood at the entrance of Beijing University, wearing a dress, her radiant smile in harmony with the Beijing University sign.
She was a sufficiently pretty and outstanding girl.
Officer Chen still remembered when the uncle who reported the case handed him the photo and asked him to pay more attention in the search. The uncle’s face had aged overnight, marked by grief and sorrow.
The middle-aged man’s back was already bent from years of labor, and his hands trembled as he placed a photo of his niece in his palm, tightly gripping his hand, his eyes filled with tears he had held back for so long.
[Officer Chen, I know you’re a good person. You’re different from others; you’re the only one willing to ask me so many questions seriously. I have no other options. Please, I’m begging you to help me find her. She’s a very good girl, and she’s my only hope in this lifetime. Whether she’s alive or not, I want to see her. I want to bring her home. Officer Chen, please, help me.]
Back when he was a young Officer Chen, he was deeply moved by the suppressed emotions that the man was pouring out. With solemnity, he replied with a simple “okay” and accepted the photograph.
He had initially intended to return the photo to the man once they found the girl.
However, he never anticipated that this photo would stay with him for a lifetime.
Officer Chen blinked back the tears that welled up in his eyes due to the intrusion of memories.
He continued, “Back then, I was too young to understand the depth of human emotions. I thought that the man would either find his niece quickly or never find her again. I thought he would return to his regular life, filled with pain but resigned to the daily grind. However, I was wrong. That man never gave up hope of finding his niece, not for a single moment.”
“Although the disappearance of that girl was not taken seriously at the time, the man who reported it didn’t give up on finding his niece. He embarked on a solo journey with his niece’s photograph, retracing the path she had taken from school to her internship site on foot. In that era, with limited transportation and information, he relied on his own strength, asking every person he met for any information about this girl.”
“After more than a year, I had almost forgotten about the case when that man reappeared before me. However, this time, he looked much older than he had a year ago. His hair had turned completely gray, and his face bore a deep sense of sorrow. Even though he was only in his forties, he appeared hunched over and aged. Furthermore, he had a problem with one of his legs and had difficulty walking. He arrived at our office leaning on a cane, limping and quite infirm.”
“Upon further inquiry, I learned that in the course of that year, the man had finally obtained information about his niece’s whereabouts at her internship site. People at the internship location claimed that while her name was on the list, they hadn’t actually received this female student. They believed it was due to some temporary situation from Beijing University and hadn’t paid much attention or verified it with the university.”
“However, in the city where the internship location was, at the passenger station, the man finally inquired about his niece’s whereabouts from a local black car driver. According to the black car driver, he had seen a girl who clearly didn’t look like a local, getting into another black car. Her appearance closely matched the photograph of his niece.”
“The man immediately took this lead and sought help from the local authorities. However, because there wasn’t any concrete evidence, the local authorities refused to assist him. Helpless, he had no choice but to follow this lead along the black car driver’s route, which took nearly a year before he finally found out what happened to his niece.”
Officer Chen seemed to remember something that made his tone uncontrollably quiver, and his voice choked with emotion. “Because the internship unit was located in a remote area, not easily accessible by manpower, the girl, as soon as she got off the bus, took a black car. But little did she know, there was a human trafficker on that black car… he sold the girl to people in the mountains.”
On the other end of the phone, Yan Shixun remained silent throughout.
His sharp eyebrows were eerily calm, and a terrifying aura loomed, giving off the feeling of an impending storm. He stood alone in the shadowy corner of the rural farmstay, allowing the darkness to envelop his narrow, upturned eyes.
Deep and impenetrable, without a hint of light.
However, the hand clenched into a fist at his side indicated the rage boiling within him.
Officer Chen let out an almost imperceptible, long sigh. He sat alone on his home’s sofa, listening to the laughter of the neighboring child through the window, a flood of sorrow rising from his heart.
As if, in this moment, time had turned back, and he was back to that rainy day decades ago, sitting in a room with green-painted walls, during the muggy rainy season, with a three-blade fan on the ceiling creaking as it spun.
As the young officer stood up, he used the motion of getting water to wipe away the tears at the corner of his eyes with his uniform cuff. Then, with a red-rimmed and trembling body, he handed a cup of hot tea to the man in front of him to calm his emotions.
“Because he had been frustrated multiple times by local authorities, the man didn’t seek help locally anymore. Instead, he went alone to the place he had learned about. He was full of hope, thinking that as long as his niece was still alive, he could find her and bring her back to their home, where she hadn’t been in two years, and continue life as it was.”
“However, the man, who had never been to the southern region and didn’t know much about it, wasn’t aware that it followed a clan system. The entire village, even a few nearby villages, shared the same surname and clan, and in case of any trouble, they would unite as a group. The man, who ventured to the southern region alone, spent a lot of time, begging along the streets to sustain himself while gathering information, and finally found the possibility that his niece might be in Wangzi Village. But he was severely injured and thrown out of the mountains by the villagers, left to fend for himself. In the end, he couldn’t even catch a glimpse of his niece.”
“Fearing for his life, he couldn’t dare to die without bringing his niece home. With a body full of injuries and two broken legs, he managed to crawl from the mountains to another village, where he was saved by a young man named Yang Han. After a rudimentary bandage, when his injuries were far from healed and he could barely walk, the man left the village to report the incident to a higher-level administrative unit. But he was once again brutally beaten and left on the street. Luckily, he encountered a kind-hearted truck driver who helped him return to our area.”
“The man returned home without delay and immediately began preparing the evidence. He couldn’t afford a moment’s delay and rushed back to our area. He presented witness testimonies with red handprints, the statements of the black car driver, and documents issued by the local authorities. In those materials, some of the written descriptions and oral accounts were crumpled, marked with blood and sweat. At that time, all of us were deeply shaken by the truth that was revealed.”
“Even though the man couldn’t find his missing niece in Wangzi Village, he was sure that she was there. He saw writing in the sandy soil, which hadn’t been blurred yet, and recognized it as his niece’s handwriting, containing mathematical formulas. In a village with low educational levels like Wangzi, such content shouldn’t have been present. It could only be his niece because he had seen the exact same mathematical formulas in a notebook she left at home.”
“At that time, I was too young. I believed naively that the world was either black or white, that justice could always be served, and all wrongs could be righted.”
Officer Chen sighed and on his already aged face, there was a sense of melancholy. “I was gravely mistaken, but my youthful self didn’t understand that lesson. If only I hadn’t been so arrogant, so reckless, perhaps… things might have turned out differently.”
The young man sitting in the living room was utterly astonished by the sight of Officer Chen in this state.
From his childhood, all he had ever seen was this man, a seemingly unbreakable and towering figure. Those broad shoulders had never slumped, as if nothing could make Officer Chen falter. Regardless of how arduous the path was, Officer Chen had already recognized and unwaveringly embarked on the journey.
Sickness and time might torment Officer Chen’s body, but they couldn’t break his spirit.
But now, Officer Chen seemed as if the steel backbone supporting him had been pulled from his body, leaving him looking aged and sorrowful.
The young man was still too young, filled with youthful vigor and aspirations. He hadn’t experienced the kind of pain that Officer Chen had. So he didn’t know—
What could destroy Officer Chen was only himself during his youth.
The events of that time tortured Officer Chen day and night, never letting go, causing him deep regret whenever he thought about it.
Officer Chen said, “Though we are angry and eager to help the man whose niece has been tormented to the brink of becoming inhuman due to her abduction, reality is often cruel. Even if the man has collected a substantial amount of information and anyone with eyes can see the truth, there are too many processes binding us. We can’t take unilateral action, at most, we can send a fax to the southern region, request them to confirm the incident, and provide a reasonable response.”
“But in doing so, time would be significantly extended, possibly taking several years. The man couldn’t wait any longer, and it wasn’t just him; all of us were well aware of the horrors a girl could face when abducted and taken into the deep mountains. The longer it took, the more unfavorable the girl’s situation would become. At that time, it had already been two and a half years since the girl had been abducted.”
“The man lost his patience and composure. He decided to take a risk, no longer relying on our assistance, and set off for Wangzi Village on his own, intending to secretly rescue his niece. Due to the man’s independent actions, we finally had a legitimate reason to go to Wangzi Village and complete all the necessary procedures.”
“—Because the man’s path was traceable, we went to the southern region under the pretext of assisting in a cross-province search for a missing person.”
“I was elated, thinking that this time we could finally rescue the girl from Wangzi Village and bring her back home with her uncle. We all knew it would be a difficult confrontation, but each of us was excited, without a hint of fear.”
“However…”
Officer Chen’s voice quivered, and his lips trembled for some time, but he couldn’t bring himself to utter the words.
“We, none of us, could bring her back.”
Officer Chen choked up, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes, coursing down the wrinkles and scars on his face, and finally dropping onto his collar.
He subconsciously tightened his grip on the photograph in his hand. The edges of the photo were worn and frayed. The old black-and-white photograph had yellowed and aged. Even the person who had tearfully entrusted him with this photo was no longer there.
But the one thing that remained unchanged was the girl’s radiant smile in the picture.
Officer Chen lowered his head and, with his rough palm covered in wrinkles and scars, he repeatedly traced the contours of the girl in the photograph.
For decades, he had carried this single photo with him, asking everyone he met if they had seen this girl or knew anything about her, hoping for any leads.
Officer Chen wanted to know what had happened to the girl after he left Wangzi Village. He still clung to a glimmer of hope, believing that she might still be alive, waiting in Wangzi Village or some hidden corner for someone to bring her home.
No, even if it were just her remains, or even a handful of ashes, he was determined to bring her home.
This was the promise he had made when the man had begged him all those years ago.
And because of that promise, Officer Chen had never given up on the search for the girl. For decades, he had been traveling through the southern region, seeking help from various local sources.
However, the southern region was dominated by clan systems, and the Yang clan, to which Wangzi Village belonged, was the largest clan in the entire county. Many descendants of the Yang clan held various positions throughout the county and its townships. In these circumstances, challenging the Yang clan, making them turn against their own people for the sake of an outsider girl, was no easy task.
Officer Chen found himself in a situation similar to that of the uncle searching for his niece all those years ago. As he tirelessly traveled throughout the southern region, seeking help for the girl’s case, he faced multiple threats and severe physical attacks from the Yang clan, who had heard about the matter.
Over the years, his scars and injuries accumulated, but he always grit his teeth and persevered, ignoring the Yang clan’s threats.
However, in a place where everyone from top to bottom belonged to the same clan, making any progress was an incredibly difficult task.
Officer Chen encountered repeated obstacles and was hampered at every turn in the southern region. Even with the assistance of many old classmates and colleagues in other locations, he couldn’t obtain specific information about Wangzi Village.
In the end, even many local institutions stated that, despite their sympathy for Officer Chen’s situation and their desire to help, they couldn’t verify the case from Wangzi Village, nor could they acquire information about the village to share with Officer Chen.
Wangzi Village seemed like an isolated place, cut off from the outside world.
But it was far from an idyllic haven.
It was hell.
……
Yan Shixun stood silently beneath the pitch-black night, with a full moon gradually rising from behind the Moon Mountain. The moonlight was dim and tinged with yellow, casting a glow on the red leaves, and the transmitted light appeared like fresh blood.
Night dew fell on his broad and sturdy shoulders, bringing a chill.
In the kitchen, the voices of the guests sounded distant. Their laughter seemed surreal, making it difficult to distinguish what was real and what was illusory beneath the blood moon.
After ending the call with the retired police officer named Chen Rui, Yan Shixun had been standing in the darkness all along, as if transformed into an emotionless and lifeless statue.
After some time, when the aroma of chicken soup began wafting from the kitchen and filled the entire courtyard, Yan Shixun finally started to move again.
He dialed the official in charge and succinctly explained everything he knew about Officer Chen. He told the official to send someone to bring Officer Chen to Family Tomb Village.
Some matters, delayed for decades, needed a final resolution.
But Yan Shixun was taken aback when, after hearing his words, the official in charge exclaimed, “Is it the Yang Clan again?”
Again?
Yan Shixun immediately caught the official in charge’s choice of words and asked, “Have you already made contact with the Yang clan? What have they done on your end?”
The official in charge did not hold back and told Yan Shixun everything that had occurred, starting with the discovery of the body that had committed suicide in the forest near Moon Mountain.
“The southern region not only still practices the clan system but is also extremely close-knit. The local Yang clan in the Family Tomb Village controls the entire area, is highly exclusive, and doesn’t want any external forces meddling in local affairs. They also shelter individuals connected to the Yang clan, not subjecting them to any penalties. So, in order to investigate what exactly happened, I applied for an escalation of the case and directly mobilized a team to head to Family Tomb Village and handle the situation there.”
The official in charge had not expected such an incident from several decades ago to lead to such a tragedy. After listening to Yan Shixun’s account, his tone immediately became serious.
“Please rest assured, Mr. Yan. I will immediately send someone to pick up Mr. Chen Rui. We are also collaborating with Taoist Song from the Haiyun Temple, and we take what you’ve mentioned very seriously.”
The official in charge wore a solemn expression without a trace of a smile. He spoke to Yan Shixun on the other end of the phone, “Mr. Yan is absolutely right. Some matters have been delayed for too long, and regardless of the nature of the truth, they should come to a resolution.”
“If certain individuals who occupy positions without merit don’t act…”
Yan Shixun’s voice was calm and resolute, his words leaving no room for doubt, “Then I will.”
……
“Hey, where’s Brother Yan? Why did he disappear again?”
In the kitchen filled with fragrant aromas, An Nanyuan asked in confusion, “He’s been acting all mysterious tonight. What could have happened?”
“I don’t know.” The variety show celebrity had been interacting with the viewers on his phone screen, introducing the evening’s dinner content to them.
Upon hearing An Nanyuan’s words, his phone screen was immediately flooded with several live chat messages from viewers.
[So, you don’t know either? I thought you might be aware, so I came to the screens of the other guests to ask. Sigh, Brother Yan suddenly turned off his split-screen livestream earlier without any warning. I have no idea what happened.]
[Wuwuwu, can you please find Brother Yan? I’ll subscribe to your split-screen broadcast as an exchange? But without Brother Yan’s live stream, I’m really anxious and distraught.]
[Talking about it, it seems like Brother Yan closed the split-screen broadcast right after talking to another staff member. Did anyone hear what rother Yan said at that time? I didn’t catch it, and I’m quite curious.]
[I heard a bit, but I’m not entirely sure. It sounded like the staff member was saying that an audience member sent a message to the program team, saying that someone has gone missing and they wanted the program team’s help. It seemed like that person also wanted to go to the location where the program team is currently. Then, the staff member said that it’s not the program’s concern and that they should contact the authorities. But Brother Yan said he would handle the matter and then closed the live stream.]
[??? What? Missing person? What does that have to do with the show? It seems entirely unreasonable. I don’t know what the person who sent the message was thinking. Such a serious matter is definitely not within the program team’s scope. It’s probably best to contact the authorities. The staff member handled it perfectly without any mistakes. If it were me, I wouldn’t agree either. If something were to happen, who would be responsible?]
[It’s Brother Yan’s thing, Brother Yan has already told the staff that he’ll handle this matter entirely. Maybe that’s the difference between ordinary people and Brother Yan. When you’re thinking about how to shirk responsibility, Brother Yan is thinking about how to shoulder it. The word “responsibility” fits Brother Yan perfectly.]
[Indeed, I heard it too. Brother Yan didn’t hesitate at all, he just took over this matter. When Brother Yan’s split-screen livestream was turned off, I was initially surprised and angry, thinking that Brother Yan doesn’t care about his audience and fans, that he doesn’t respect us. But during that time when the screen was black, I also did a lot of thinking. I thought that if it were me, I definitely wouldn’t take it over, no excuses. I’ll be honest, I’m just afraid. Each man sweeps the snow from his own doorstep, and doesn’t care about the frost on the roof of others. That’s the kind of education I’ve always received, so when things happen, my first reaction is often, ‘It’s none of my business, why should I care?’ But I shouldn’t think that someone who can do it willingly is wrong just because I can’t.]
[Although I don’t know what happened, what you said earlier is correct. I read a line in a book, “It’s not always the case, but it’s always right.” People like Brother Yan who can help others and even take responsibility, I can only admire them.]
[I don’t really care about such deep stuff; I just want to know if dinner is ready. Isn’t Brother Yan coming over for dinner? Besides, this isn’t Brother Yan’s split-screen livestream. While I like Brother Yan too, let’s tone it down a bit and not attract negative attention to him.]
[It’s not that serious; there’s nothing wrong with showing concern for a fellow participant.]
Not only in the barrage of comments on the variety show celebrity’ split-screen livestreams but also on the split-screen livestreams of the other participants, viewers who had heard An Nanyuan’s words were discussing Yan Shixun to varying degrees.
After all, even though they were crouched in front of various celebrities’ split-screen livestreams, it didn’t mean they didn’t know about Yan Shixun.
It’s worth noting that the initial spark that made the show “Heart-Pounding Journey of Ninety-Nine Days” go viral was the screenshots and recordings of Yan Shixun slaying ghosts circulating on social media platforms. Many people had heard Yan Shixun’s name and seen his pictures to some extent.
Now, upon hearing that Yan Shixun wasn’t around, many long-time viewers couldn’t help but recall the dangers the show had faced in the previous two episodes. They were somewhat worried about Yan Shixun’s situation. Anxious comments started appearing in the barrage, with viewers seeking information from the other participants.
Due to the audience’s inquiries, even though An Nanyuan didn’t think anything would happen to Yan Shixun, he still walked out of the kitchen to broadcast Yan Shixun’s situation through his own camera feed, to reassure the viewers.
Just kidding, if something happened to Brother Yan, then they might as well clean their necks and prepare for death, without any need for struggling. They might even prefer to die quickly to reduce the pain.
In An Nanyuan’s mind, Yan Shixun was associated with words like “all-knowing” and “invincible.” If there was a supernatural entity that Yan Shixun couldn’t handle, he felt there was no hope for his own survival.
As for Lu Xingxing, who was also a guest and had revealed himself as a disciple of Haiyun Temple, An Nanyuan had automatically dismissed him.
There was simply no way around it because Lu Xingxing acted so unreliable.
Not only did he address Yan Shixun as “Master Uncle,” but he also always seemed to be picked on and bullied by Yan Shixun, completely lacking the demeanor of a high-level master.
Lu Xingxing: Are you being polite?
However, as soon as An Nanyuan walked out of the kitchen and before he could even call Yan Shixun’s name, he suddenly felt like someone was watching him.
His footsteps halted, and his neck, following a primal survival instinct, slowly turned to look to the side.
And then, An Nanyuan saw it: on top of the high wall that enclosed the courtyard not far away, a skull was fixedly staring at him.
The dark, hollow eye sockets had turned into two empty holes with no eyeballs. But An Nanyuan sensed an inexplicable malevolence and greed emanating from that entity.
It was as if the skull were fixated on his flesh, wanting to seize the opportunity to pounce and tear into his flesh.
In the sudden rush of fear, An Nanyuan’s muscles stiffened, and his powerful legs, which should have been capable of action, seemed devoid of strength. He couldn’t run or even turn around.
“Heh, heh…”
The skull’s upper and lower jawbones moved, as if it wanted to say something, but it only produced a hissing sound.
It revealed a mouthful of yellowed, decaying teeth, with some slender white worms wriggling faintly between the gaps in the teeth, poking their heads out and swaying in the air.
It was utterly spine-chilling.
An Nanyuan felt that at this moment, his heart was nearly about to leap out of his chest.
“B-Brother Yan.” he stammered, calling out for Yan Shixun. However, because of his fear, he didn’t realize that his voice was barely audible.
No one could hear him.
The skeletal figure reached out with its damaged and broken skeletal hand, as if trying to climb up the wall.
But as its handbone touched the top of the wall, it immediately recoiled, as if it had been shocked, and the entire skeleton abruptly tilted backward and disappeared over the wall.
As if it had fallen off the wall.
“Thud…”
“Thud…”
An Nanyuan could clearly hear his heart pounding in his chest.
After a while, his eyes, which had been wide open due to fear, slowly blinked, and he gradually regained his composure.
He took a deep breath and tried to calm his emotions, intending to turn around and quickly retreat back to the kitchen.
In moments like these, only light and crowds could give him a sense of safety.
But as soon as he turned around, An Nanyuan suddenly met a pallid face in the darkness.
This face was streaked with tears and bore a contorted expression, with tightly knit brows and a mouth stretched wide from ear to ear, resembling a mix of crying and smiling, stumbling and rambling, filled with resentment toward the world yet hopelessness.
However, the eyes, soaked in blood, were entirely white without pupils.
Hating himself for misjudging people, hating the world for its cruelty and indifference.
An Nanyuan gasped and took two steps backward, nearly stumbling to the ground due to the sudden shock.
But at this moment, the face in the darkness suddenly spoke.
“Mr. An Nanyuan? What’s wrong with you? Are you okay?”
The voice sounded familiar to An Nanyuan, but because it carried an inorganic coldness and a sense of distance, he couldn’t immediately recall who it belonged to.
As the face in the darkness continued to speak, it drifted closer to An Nanyuan.
An Nanyuan stumbled and fell to the ground, gazing in fear at the face drawing closer in the dim light.
In that moment, all that came to mind for An Nanyuan was an image from TV dramas he had watched, a person with a head inflated like a balloon.
It wasn’t until the person’s face appeared in the glow emanating from the building.
That An Nanyuan suddenly realized that this was no balloon.
The figure clad entirely in black was Yang Yun.
“Are you alright?” Yang Yun asked in surprise, extending a hand to help the fallen An Nanyuan.
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