It was past four o’clock in the morning, the time when most people were in the deepest stages of sleep. Yet, in a four-star hotel room in the city center, the lights were still on, and the bathroom was filled with hot steam and the sound of running water.
After a while, the water shut off, and Yan Tuo yanked open the shower curtain with a loud whoosh. Stepping out of the bathtub barefoot, he moved to the large mirror. He wiped the fog from the glass and glanced at his reflection.
The damage was extensive: a large bruise, dark purple and swollen, marred his chin. A neat set of bloody bite marks adorned his right neck, with abrasions scattered across his face. The mouth still tasted of blood from where he had bitten his tongue. Compared to these injuries, the small cuts on his face seemed minor.
He retrieved a medicine box, applied ointment to the various injuries, wincing at the sting, and finished by placing three band-aids on different parts of his face. Pulling on a bathrobe, he left the bathroom and walked to the desk.
The room, though slightly disheveled, was still mostly tidy. The laptop screen on the desk was black. Yan Tuo sat down, woke up the screen, and navigated to a search engine. He typed in a query:
Do I need a rabies vaccine if I am bitten?
Over thirty million results appeared. The sheer volume was startling. He scrolled through some of the articles, feeling a bit relieved when he read that generally, a rabies vaccine wasn’t necessary unless the biter had the virus. While Nie Jiuluo looked as though she could carry such a virus, the thought seemed implausible. She appeared more like someone poisoned by her own bitterness rather than a rabies carrier.
Leaning back in his chair, Yan Tuo thought for a moment before sitting up and typing another search:
Nie Jiuluo
His encounters with her had been marked by intense conflict. These clashes, though troublesome, were also revealing. Observations and analyses had quickly formed a profile of her.
Nie Jiuluo was adept at sudden, aggressive raids and quick battles. Even someone stronger than her could find themselves at a disadvantage due to her unpredictable and swift tactics. Her fighting style was characterized by a willingness to use any means necessary to gain an upper hand, including unconventional methods like biting. Such behavior, while unusual, was indicative of her determination to subdue her opponent by any means.
Her physical strength was not exceptional, especially when compared to men. Once drawn into a contest of sheer strength, she became increasingly disadvantaged. Her strengths lay in her speed and ingenuity rather than brute force.
The bracelet on her wrist should be her final weapon. Even when she was “kidnapped” by him, she didn’t use it, suggesting that tonight, even if she hadn’t revealed all her cards, she had already shown eight or nine. Yan Tuo knew he needed to understand her as much as he could.
As Lin Ling had mentioned, there were many related pages about her, mostly interviews with industry magazines, and some literary and fashion-focused pieces. This was probably because, aside from being talented, she was also beautiful, making it easier for her to gain prominence compared to those who were merely talented but not attractive. Before this night’s encounter, he had already come across a lot of such content.
Yan Tuo clicked to open a new article. The first thing he saw was a large portrait of her, smiling lightly with expressive eyebrows. This irritated him.
Scrolling down, the article’s title read, “The Years Are Quiet, People Are as Light as Chrysanthemums.” Yan Tuo thought to himself, “He might not know if people are as light as chrysanthemums, but ‘teeth are as ruthless as wolves’ is undoubtedly true.”
He continued reading with growing disgust:
Walking into the small courtyard, some people feel as if they’ve stepped from the mundane into a serene world. Some say every artist has an island in their heart, and Nie Jiuluo truly lives on an isolated island. Nonsense. Which island is in the center of the city, a ten-minute walk from the largest commercial building?
I asked her if she found it boring to have such a monotonous routine. She replied, ‘How could it be? The moments spent with them are as turbulent and thrilling as ever.’ Yan Tuo thought about it and felt that reading such elementary-level writing was giving him goosebumps. Of course, she wasn’t bored; she kidnaps, imprisons, bites, and uses axes and knives. Her life is anything but dull.
He clicked on another article. It detailed an encounter with Nie Jiuluo after her vacation on an island. The interviewer asked if she had gathered new creative inspiration while swimming and exploring underwater. She shook her head regretfully and mentioned that she couldn’t swim. This inability, the article suggested, might be due to underdeveloped cerebellum and poor balance. Yan Tuo scoffed at this explanation, noting that unlike her, he had been swimming since the age of two.
He clicked on yet another article.
The mother has been living abroad for a long time, and the father is busy with business, but the gap between time and space has not reduced their love for their daughter……
Yan Tuo sighed inwardly. This description was entirely different from what he had uncovered. According to his investigation, Nie Jiuluo’s mother had “died unexpectedly” during a trip, and her father had “committed suicide by jumping off a building.”
Yan Tuo crossed his arms, pondering the discrepancy. After some thought, he concluded that magazines only present the narrative they want you to see—it’s all part of a carefully crafted image.
His gaze shifted to the bottom right corner of the computer screen, where a new email icon was flashing. He clicked it, revealing an email titled “No. 017 Update” from Lin Ling, sent four hours ago.
Upon opening the email, he saw a photograph of ordinary life. It was a candid shot of an older man at a construction site, wearing a yellow hard hat and holding a cigarette and an apple. He had a warm smile, and the setting was relaxed and genuine.
Below the photo was Lin Ling’s message:
No. 017 Zhu Changyi, currently working as a construction worker on a site in Wuhu High-tech Zone, Anhui Province, is in a romantic relationship with Ma Mei from Jiangxi (37 years old), who is responsible for cooking on the site. Ma Mei divorced her ex-husband Zhou Dachong seven years ago, and their son Zhou Xiao (9 years old) is now raised by Ma Mei.
Yan Tuo read the text again in silence, then opened an Excel sheet buried deep in the storage disk. The sheet contained more than a dozen workbooks, each formatted similarly. He added a new entry, No. 017, including Zhu Changyi’s photo, location, occupation, and relationship details.
After updating the sheet, he glanced at the dense data on the status bar at the bottom and randomly clicked on one of the entries.
No. 006.
The page opened to a photo of a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, exuding a righteous demeanor. His name was Wu Xingbang. He worked as a taxi driver in Anyang, Henan, and had a girlfriend, Xu Annie. Xu Annie, who had been active on the platform, transitioned to working as a cashier in a restaurant after their relationship became official.
He clicked on another entry, No. 014.
This time, the entry was for a woman named Shen Lizhu, in her fifties, from Chongqing. She worked as a waiter in a hot pot restaurant and had a close relationship with her godsister, Yu Caiyan. The two women shared a small two-room apartment of less than 60 square meters. Shen Lizhu was particularly fond of Yu Caiyan’s six-year-old daughter, Sissi.
If you don’t look at it, it’s still the same when you look again: men, women, and children from various walks of life, from east to west, north to south, with no common ground to be found.
He saved the document and replied to Lin Ling with a brief message:
Roger.
Noticing that it was almost five o’clock, Yan Tuo decided to take a short nap. He turned off the computer, but as soon as he stood up, his mobile phone rang. It was Lin Ling calling with a video call request. She had obviously received his email and noticed he hadn’t gone to sleep yet, so she called immediately.
It struck him as odd that she was still awake at this hour.
Yan Tuo answered the call. The light on Lin Ling’s end was dim. She was sitting on the bed, looking pale and disheveled. She began to cry as soon as she spoke: “Yan Tuo, I’m really scared right now. While I was sleeping, someone came in… What’s wrong with you?”
Seeing her concern, Yan Tuo realized she had noticed something off about him. She leaned closer to the screen and asked, “What necklace are you wearing?”
Yan Tuo touched his neck and remembered the necklace—a blood-red pendant with a tooth mark. He said, “It’s nothing. I had a nervous breakdown and fell, scratching my neck.”
In the dim light of the phone screen, Lin Ling’s concern was evident, but she tried to remain casual: “Have you resolved the issue with the medicinal herbs?”
Yan Tuo replied, “Almost. It’s not related to the medicinal materials.”
Lin Xirou, who was originally worried about his tendency to go out recklessly, had been reassured by the fact that Yan Tuo had managed the company for many years and had numerous business partners who were willing to accommodate him. She had accepted his excuse that “there was a problem with the medicinal herbs, and someone died” and had advised him to be cautious.
Hearing that it wasn’t related to medicinal herbs, Lin Ling felt more at ease but still warned him: “You should be careful. I’m afraid I might run into that group of perverts in Panya again.”
Yan Tuo responded, “If it does happen again, it would be fate.”
The address he provided in official documents was indeed his real address, but he had other addresses as well. He had a room in a villa on the outskirts of the city, registered under Xiong Hei’s name, where Lin Xirou, Lin Ling, and Xiong Hei often stayed.
His old phone had long been destroyed at the pig farm, and he now used a new phone with a ghost number.
On this trip, Yan Tuo was driving a car belonging to a junior under Xiong Hei. The driver’s license had been handed over to someone else. The hotel was an agreement hotel through a friend’s company, so his employee ID card was sufficient for check-in; he didn’t even need to complete the check-in process, simply swiping his card to open the door.
In other words, from the perspective of big data, he was invisible—unless someone from Banya could utilize nationwide surveillance, in which case, he would have no choice but to admit defeat.
He refocused on the conversation: “What happened to you? Who came in while you were sleeping?”
Lin Ling looked around nervously, her body tense. She lowered her voice: “I don’t know, but it felt too real to be a dream. I could distinctly feel someone touching my face, neck, and…”
She hesitated, then continued: “I couldn’t wake up. When I finally did, I was drenched in cold sweat.”
Yan Tuo asked, “Do you think someone might have taken advantage of your sleep to harass you?” While it seemed unlikely—given that the villas were all “within their own circle,” and Lin Ling was Lin Xirou’s adopted daughter, which would typically deter any ordinary person—he still offered a practical suggestion: “If you’re really concerned, you could buy a doll with a hidden camera and place it next to your bed to see what it captures. If you’re too frightened, you might consider renting another place for a few days.”
Lin Ling nodded vacantly and asked after a moment, “Yan Tuo, aren’t you afraid of living in the villa…?”
Yan Tuo hesitated before comforting her: “Don’t worry. You’ve been with Aunt Lin for over 20 years. If something were going to happen, it would have happened already.”
Lin Ling forced a smile: “You said, if it wasn’t for… the iron gate at the farm being unlocked, and if I had walked in out of curiosity, would I be more comfortable now?”
When Lin Ling was about two or three years old, she was adopted by Lin Xirou. Although it was termed “adoption,” it resembled more of a “purchase” at that time. Adoption procedures in small places were not well-regulated, and Lin Xirou didn’t go through any official channels. Instead, she went directly into the village, threw down a stack of money, and took the child.
Children that young don’t have clear memories or logical structures; they remember fragmented details. Lin Ling recalled a large, fierce black pig at home that would bump into her and knock her around. She remembered the courtyard wall made of yellow clay mixed with straw, with a section that had collapsed, through which the pig often escaped. She also remembered a framed black-and-white portrait in the room, with cracked glass and an unattractive face of a slightly childish man.
She remembered these fragments.
Stepping from the broken countryside into the bustling city with Lin Xirou, she joined a new family of three. The male head of the household, Yan Huanshan, was terminally ill, frail, and old, his eyes hollow and often lost in thought. Lin Xirou disliked him and instructed Lin Ling to stay close.
The hostess, Lin Xirou, was beloved by Lin Ling, who thought she was more beautiful than any princess or fairy on TV. There was also a handsome younger brother named Yan Tuo, whom Lin Ling liked at first but then grew to dislike. He was fierce, often glaring at her, spitting on her face, kicking her legs and buttocks (which didn’t leave marks due to her thick flesh), and sometimes pulling her sparse yellow hair while calling her ugly. Despite his unpleasant behavior, he was charming and could disguise his true nature, which made adults favor him.
Yan Huanshan passed away a few years later. As Lin Ling grew older and began school, Yan Tuo’s bullying lessened. Perhaps he learned in school that it was inappropriate to bully the little girl, but he still harbored animosity toward her, and they hardly interacted. During puberty, Lin Ling became more introverted and self-conscious, often avoiding others to avoid being in their way.
She was a sophomore in high school when the incident at the farm occurred.
Thank you for reading!
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