Chapter 59: The Truth

Qiong Cang lay in bed for a while after waking up, waiting for the heaviness in her body to fade before sitting up. She folded her quilt neatly into a square and walked over to draw open the curtains.

Blinding light poured in, instantly brightening the room.

There was no sound in the apartment. Qiong Cang took a quick look around, confirming that He Jueyun had already gone out.

Qiong Cang did not enter the closed rooms, but judging solely by the hallway and the living room, He Jueyun’s living habits were not as terrifying as those of the legendary bachelor. He was still quite a particular person.

Qiong Cang paused for a moment in front of a display cabinet. It held many seemingly useless but actually precious items, including unfinished prototypes that Sanyao had not yet released, as well as various limited-edition memorabilia.

Qiong Cang curled her lips into a smile.

If she were to just take one of these out and find a company to replicate it, she could probably sell the patent for the technology.

Brother Q was quite bold to just let her in like this.

When she had first arrived, Qiong Cang had not looked closely at the apartment’s layout, falling asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. But judging from her brief glances, He Jueyun must have tidied up the place, which explained why there were quite a few items piled up in the hallway leading to the left. The room at the end of that hallway was the guest room he had cleared out for her.

He Jueyun was not usually such a warm person; Qiong Cang had assumed he would not take it seriously.

Qiong Cang found it somewhat amusing. She rarely accepted such clear and straightforward kindness from others; most of the time, she would actively reject it.

In her analysis, relationships were a process of give-and-take; accepting something meant having to give something in return. Adult friendships came with a price tag, and were even exclusive; selfless relationships without blood ties were rare.

The last person to intrude into her life had been Jiang Ling. Jiang Ling had given to her without asking for anything in return because she wanted to find comfort for her own loneliness. What was He Jueyun’s reason?

They were not family, after all.

Qiong Cang paced back to the living room. Standing in the somewhat crowded space, she hesitated over whether she should just head back or wait for He Jueyun to return so she could say goodbye.

Last night had been too chaotic; she only had a pair of pajamas and her phone on her.

Qiong Cang bent down and noticed a sticky note on the coffee table. It said that He Jueyun had to go out for a bit, and if she woke up, she should wait a moment; he would take her back to her place later to pack the things she needed.

So Qiong Cang sat down and turned on the television to look for something to watch.

As Qiong Cang flipped through the homepages of various video apps trying to find some entertainment, her phone rang.

Qiong Cang glanced at it casually. Seeing it was an unknown number, she ignored it.

The caller persevered, waiting until the call timed out before immediately dialing a second time.

When the same number appeared on the screen for the third time, Qiong Cang finally picked up.

“Hello.”

There was no sound from the other end.

Qiong Cang switched her phone to speaker. After waiting three seconds without a response, she spoke again. “Hello?”

A faint breath sounded from the other end, confirming that someone was indeed there, just staying silent.

Qiong Cang’s finger stopped pressing the remote control. She lowered her head, a slight ripple appearing in her calm eyes.

“Hello.”

It was a very brief male voice, so short that his tone was barely recognizable.

Having a premonition, Qiong Cang put down the remote control and brought the phone to her ear.

“Fan Huai,” she said, calling out his name, unsure of what emotion she should feel. “You’re alive.”

It had been over five months since Fan Huai went missing. This was the first time Qiong Cang had received a call from him. The severed connection between them had, after a long time, been subtly reestablished.

Qiong Cang was not particularly surprised. When she participated in 【Case Analysis】, she knew Fan Huai would definitely see it. If he still had anyone he could trust, it was probably her. Who could resist the temptation of a floating straw when they were about to be drowned in a torrent?

Qiong Cang lowered her eyelids, unexpectedly remembering what He Jueyun had said.

In truth, she had not found Fan Huai back then, or rather, she did not think Fan Huai needed her that much at the time.

She lacked He Jueyun’s sharp, warm empathy, which was why she only began to feel a belated sense of guilt after slowly realizing the situation.

Qiong Cang originally wanted to ask him, “Are you okay?” but after speaking just two words, her voice caught.

“Thank you,” Fan Huai said of his own accord. “But it’s no use anymore.”

Qiong Cang stood up and walked toward the balcony.

Fan Huai’s voice was low and raspy. “Teacher, can I trust you?”

Qiong Cang said, “Of course.”

“I watched your Instance, and I reexamined myself,” Fan Huai explained slowly. “Before I was released from prison, I sincerely hoped they had moved on to a life where they didn’t need me. I could just watch them from afar, letting them live their own lives. I can’t tell whose fault this really is, but the fact remains that I owe them.”

Qiong Cang closed her eyes.

Fan Huai: “I wanted to start over, too…”

Qiong Cang called out, “Fan Huai.”

Fan Huai: “But I can’t…”

Raising her voice, Qiong Cang called out, “Fan Huai.”

Fan Huai fell quiet, and Qiong Cang could only hear his heavy breathing through the speaker.

Qiong Cang said softly, “Come back.”

Fan Huai: “Do you want me to forgive them?”

“Who is it you don’t want to forgive?” Qiong Cang said. “If it’s someone else, fine. But if it’s yourself… don’t do this.”

Fan Huai fell silent again.

His silence made his attitude clear, or rather, his stubbornness.

He knew exactly what he was doing, and he was not going to accept Qiong Cang’s advice.

Qiong Cang asked, “Where are you?”

Fan Huai did not answer. “When does Sanyao’s closed beta start?”

Qiong Cang: “Which closed beta?”

The moment the question left her mouth, she realized it was pointless.

What other case could Fan Huai possibly care about? The only closed beta Instance Sanyao could be developing was the death of the fifth witness.

Qiong Cang pursed her lips, forcing herself to calm down.

Fan Huai said, “In the closed beta, there will be clues that actually appeared at the crime scene. When the Instance is officially released, Sanyao will delete all information unrelated to the case. Only by entering the closed beta version can one know the real information from the scene investigation.”

Qiong Cang: “What do you know?”

Fan Huai: “Teacher, can you help me?”

“How do you want me to help you?” Qiong Cang said. “I can’t participate in the closed beta instances.”

“Sanyao has a very good relationship with you. They will believe you,” Fan Huai said. “They were willing to make an exception to let you participate in a few large-scale instances before, so they might agree this time too. Your Inspector has plenty of authority. He is no ordinary person.”

Qiong Cang licked her lips and looked out from the balcony toward the misty mountains in the distance.

“I don’t like using people, especially those who trust me,” Qiong Cang said, her tone leaving no room for argument. “Tell me, what do you want to know?”

“I want to know the truth. I don’t trust them, I only trust you. They are always making mistakes.” Fan Huai seemed to be in a very quiet place, making his voice clear yet sounding somewhat hollow. “An’an is dead, Teacher, and the five witnesses are dead too. If I miss this chance, I will never have another.”

Qiong Cang leaned one hand against the wall, lowering her head to let out a heavy sigh.

When Fan Huai didn’t get a response, he spoke again.

“An’an killed the first three witnesses.”

Qiong Cang’s eyelids twitched violently. “What did you say?” she asked.

“She killed them. I know she did.” A ripple finally disturbed Fan Huai’s flat tone, and he said in a suppressed voice, “An’an killed them. She said she knew I was innocent. She hinted at it to me several times, but unfortunately, I didn’t understand. But there’s no way she could have killed so many people and cleaned up the crime scenes so thoroughly. She didn’t have the means, nor did she have the resolve. Besides, she had been acting completely normal before I was released from prison. There are no such coincidences in this world. She must have been used by someone.”

Qiong Cang heard herself swallow. It felt as if her throat were being constricted, leaving her feeling utterly suffocated and disgusted.

“She said she thought about ending it, but once some things begin, there is no end. I only realized after she died that I didn’t know her at all,” Fan Huai said sorrowfully. “She shouldn’t have had to face this. I had already given up, so why did they have to go after her?”

To lead an innocent person down the path of crime and have her help clean up the witnesses, what kind of chilling malice was this?

Qiong Cang clenched her fingers.

Fan Huai asked again, “Teacher, if it were you, what would you say I should do?”

Silence fell over the line once more.

No matter how high her IQ was, she could not give Fan Huai the answer he wanted.

After a long time, Fan Huai said, “Teacher, you guessed it long ago, didn’t you?”

Qiong Cang’s thoughts drifted. She was in a daze, a strong sense of helplessness washing over her.

If the murderer killed the witnesses from back then, it was either to silence them or to seek revenge.

If Fan Huai wasn’t the one who killed them, who else would go to any lengths to avenge him?

The police said there were five victims and three murderers. They were clearly five interconnected people, so why were there three murderers?

“Li Yujia” had said that misfortune is contagious, and that the answer wouldn’t be something they wanted to know. In fact, the moment she said those words, a figure Qiong Cang was reluctant to consider had already crossed her mind.

The word “misfortune” might not have been her assessment of Fan Huai based on her own life, but rather her assessment of Fan An.

The two of them knew each other. Perhaps they met because of domestic violence, or perhaps because of a shared secret from the past, but none of that mattered anymore.

Unable to bear it, Fan An had stopped halfway, eventually suffering a mental breakdown and committing suicide.

“Li Yujia” used the information she got from Fan An to stage the death scene of her husband, the fourth witness.

Then who on earth killed the last witness?

This was probably Fan Huai’s only chance to get close to the truth.

“Teacher, I want to know the truth… I’ve been searching for it my whole life. After An’an died, I realized that I never had a chance to start over from the very beginning. The past is something I can never bypass. He is enjoying this. He only sees me as prey.” Fan Huai gritted his teeth. “I won’t forgive them. I won’t forgive anyone!”

·

When He Jueyun returned home, he saw Qiong Cang sitting motionless at the dining table, lost in thought. Her upright posture made her look like a kindergartener waiting for the teacher to hand out meals.

“Little genius,” He Jueyun said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “Can you make food appear just by staring at the table?”

Qiong Cang stirred, turning her head to look at him. “You’re back,” she said in a daze.

He Jueyun was slightly taken aback by her words. Carrying the bags, he headed into the kitchen, then walked back out and said, “I bought some clay-pot simmered soup and raw wontons downstairs. You don’t have any dietary restrictions, right? You must be hungry by now. I’ll go cook them for you.”

Qiong Cang’s stomach was empty, but she didn’t feel particularly hungry. She nodded. “Thank you.”

He Jueyun lit the stove to boil water and heat up the chicken soup, then started another pot to drop the wontons in.

Taking advantage of the brief wait, he walked out. Seeing Qiong Cang still in the same position, he leaned against the doorframe and said in amusement, “Are you still half-asleep?”

Qiong Cang: “I’m just thinking.”

“I’ll take you back to your place later to grab some things,” He Jueyun said. “I have quite a lot of stuff at my place, so there might not be room for large items. Wait until I clear some space before we move them over.”

Qiong Cang said softly, “I don’t have many things.”

He Jueyun: “That’s perfect then.”

The water boiled.

He Jueyun brought out the wontons and pushed the bowl in front of Qiong Cang.

The fragrant aroma of chicken soup wafted up, and Qiong Cang’s stomach finally registered a sensation. She picked up the spoon and took a sip.

The scalding liquid slid down her throat, its savory yet light flavor instantly triggering her appetite.

“How is it?” He Jueyun smiled. “This place makes a good soup, right?”

Qiong Cang nodded, finding the taste somewhat familiar.

“It tastes very home-style,” He Jueyun asked with a smile. “How do you think they manage to make the taste of ‘home-style’ so consistent across the whole country?”

Qiong Cang’s spoon froze mid-air. Was this the taste of home? It tasted quite similar to the soup Jiang Ling used to stew.

He Jueyun had been watching her. Seeing that she was out of it and didn’t really want to talk, he fell silent as well.

After they finished eating, He Jueyun grabbed his car keys and said he would take her home to get some daily necessities. Since Qiong Cang had nothing else to do, she obediently followed him out the door.

When He Jueyun arrived at Qiong Cang’s place, he realized that a truly horrific incident had indeed occurred there the previous night.

The entire wall was covered in a messy splatter of red paint, and most of the plaster had been scraped away, leaving it pitted and uneven. Although the cleaners had tidied up a bit, it was still impossible to hide the utter mess.

He Jueyun stared at the insulting words scrawled on the door, anger boiling up inside him. He felt that the way they had handled things this morning had let those four guys off too easily, and they should be held accountable again.

Qiong Cang walked past as if she hadn’t seen a thing and opened the door.

The apartment was almost unchanged from when He Jueyun had last seen it. Carrying the empty boxes inside, he asked, “What do you need to bring?”

Qiong Cang looked around and realized she didn’t have much that she absolutely had to take. Just some toiletries and a few changes of clothes.

Her life didn’t seem to have any indispensable attachments; it had always been very simple.

He Jueyun stood waiting for her instructions. Seeing her looking lost, he raised his eyebrows in confusion.

Qiong Cang pointed casually toward the kitchen and limped over, her leg still stiff.

He Jueyun had deliberately changed into loose clothes before coming. He pulled Qiong Cang back as she was about to squat down, gesturing for her to stand back. Tugging up his pant legs, he said, “Let me pack. Your leg is injured. Just tell me where everything is.”

He Jueyun squatted down and opened the cabinet door, revealing a row of transparent containers.

“Why are there so many lunchboxes?” He Jueyun took them out one by one, lining them up on the floor.

“Jiang Ling brought them all,” Qiong Cang said. “And those aren’t lunchboxes, they’re food storage containers.”

He Jueyun: “…” Could he not just use them as lunchboxes if he wanted to?

Qiong Cang added, “Though they can occasionally be used as lunchboxes.”

He Jueyun looked up, his face twitching as he said, “Thanks for humoring me.”

Qiong Cang shrugged.

He Jueyun packed all the storage containers into the box, then grabbed the leftover cooking oil from her kitchen and put it in too. Qiong Cang almost wanted to praise him for being so thoughtful.

Once the kitchen was mostly packed up, Qiong Cang led the way to the bedroom.

A lady’s bedroom was a private space, and He Jueyun originally hadn’t wanted to go in. But since he had just made such a grand offer, backing out now would make him look like a coward.

So he kicked the empty box and stood guard at the door, first taking the quilt off Qiong Cang’s bed, then waiting for her to slowly pack her clothes.

Qiong Cang packed inside and handed things out to him, and He Jueyun took them and neatly arranged them in the box.

Qiong Cang actually had quite a lot of clothes, including several youthful-looking dresses. However, they didn’t really match her usual style, and He Jueyun had never seen her wear them. The clothes carried a faint fragrance, which made He Jueyun’s mind wander. As his fingers brushed against the soft cotton fabric, images of Qiong Cang wearing the dresses flashed through his mind.

…What on earth?

The silence was so awkward that He Jueyun even felt like singing a song to break the ice.

Fortunately, Qiong Cang didn’t make him handle anything weird. As they neared the end, she asked him to grab her towel and toothbrush while she packed her undergarments herself.

He Jueyun came out of the bathroom, let out a huge sigh of relief, and quickly walked toward the study, calling out loudly to cover his embarrassment, “Do you want to bring your books?”

Qiong Cang followed him and said, “Of course.”

He Jueyun pulled a thick book with a colorful cover from the corner of the desk, saying in surprise, “You know how to wrap book covers^[1]? Did you do this?” This seemed like something he had only done in the first grade of elementary school.

He Jueyun opened the book, saw a few lines of unfamiliar handwriting, and flipped back to the title page.

The entire book was very worn, the corners of the pages curled, and the spine almost unglued. It was clear that the user flipped through it often, and the cover hadn’t done much to protect it.

“Fan Huai’s.” He Jueyun saw the name signed at the bottom. “Did he send you his homework?”

Qiong Cang stood in front of the window with her hands in her pockets, half her body bathed in sunlight, and gave an absentminded “Mm.”

He Jueyun closed the book, set it aside, and asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Qiong Cang turned her head and smiled at him. “Take a guess.”

He Jueyun placed the book at the very bottom of the box and said, “【Case Analysis】 has a new closed beta Instance that is related to Fan Huai, the deceased fifth witness. I can recommend you to participate. The beta test happens to need a few Players of different types.”

Qiong Cang’s smile faded.

He Jueyun continued, “However, participating in the closed beta will be quite troublesome. Before the official public release, you must maintain absolute confidentiality. During the test, your psychological evaluator, supervisor, and law enforcement agencies must all be present. Moreover, the progress of the closed beta is very slow, and every step might be paused to coordinate with all parties. Sanyao will give you some compensation, but not much.”

Qiong Cang stared at him.

He Jueyun said, “What? You don’t want to?”

“Of course not,” Qiong Cang said. “I was just wondering if you guessed this, or if it’s another coincidence of technology.”

He Jueyun stood up and said honestly, “Except for the bathroom, my place has full high-definition surveillance. Of course, I didn’t mean to spy on you, I just didn’t have time to tell you.”

Qiong Cang said, “I understand.” After all, there were so many valuables in his home.

She took a step forward and reached out her hand to He Jueyun. “Thank you.”

He Jueyun took it, tightening his grip, and looked at her seriously. “I can keep it from others because I trust you, and I also deeply sympathize with what happened to Fan Huai. Since he hasn’t done anything wrong, I respect his desire to hide. But I still think his best choice is to come back. At least among us, no one wants to target him.”

Qiong Cang: “That is his own choice.”

He Jueyun said seriously, “Qiong Cang, you can keep secrets from me, but I hope you won’t lie to me, no matter the reason. I truly trust you.”

The corners of Qiong Cang’s lips curled up slightly. “Okay.”