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Chapter 33

Yan Tuo followed Xiong Hei down to the second floor of the basement. It was after working hours, and consequently, the area below was eerily quiet. The bright lights illuminated the empty hallway, with no one in sight. When Xiong Hei opened the door to a small room, he said, “Look.”

Immediately, a strong stench of feces and urine hit Yan Tuo in the face, prompting him to instinctively hold his breath. Inside, the lame father sat cross-legged in the center of the room, his hands tied behind his back. He was smiling towards the door; however, his face was grotesquely swollen, resembling a basin, with an unhealthy, pale hue. Even his eyelids were puffy and shiny, and his mouth was twisted. Saliva and blood dripped constantly from one corner of his mouth.

Yan Tuo reminded himself to keep his emotions in check. In this place, he didn’t have the luxury or strength to display any feelings.

Meanwhile, Xiong Hei was visibly distressed. “I saw the old man react to the medicine, so I was happy for a moment and forgot to measure properly. Now, the clues I finally got have been messed up again. This is the second time… Sister Lin is going to kill me.”

Attempting to reassure him, Yan Tuo said, “It might just be temporary. Don’t force him too much—let him rest, drink some water, and eat something. He might recover.”

Nevertheless, Xiong Hei wasn’t optimistic. “What if he doesn’t recover? Then I’m screwed!”

Yan Tuo replied, “It’s not the end. We can always look for other clues.”

At this point, Xiong Hei was so anxious that he almost jumped in frustration. “What other clues? If there were any, I wouldn’t be in such a panic!”

Yan Tuo gestured toward the lame father. “You’ve got him as a hostage. As long as you have him, his accomplices might speak up.”

Xiong Hei looked at Yan Tuo, incredulous. “Are you stupid? His accomplices are in hiding; they won’t just come out and talk.”

“Didn’t you find a way to capture me? How did you manage that? Even if his accomplices are hiding, that doesn’t mean they can’t receive messages from you.”

Xiong Hei pondered for about ten seconds before his face lit up with realization. His excitement turned his cheeks red. “You know, you might be onto something.”

Yan Tuo smiled faintly.

Whether he suggested this or not, Lin Xirou would eventually come up with the same idea. But by giving Xiong Hei this advice now, it would make him feel a sudden sense of trust towards “one of his own.” Consequently, this would make future interactions much smoother.

As he was lost in thought, the lame father suddenly let out an “aha.”

The sound was loud and eerie, almost like a sing-song. Yan Tuo was startled, and Xiong Hei, irritated, muttered, “Here we go again!” He grabbed a small towel from the table and approached his lame father.

The lame father continued to babble incoherently, “Boom knock knock! There are knives and dogs walking on the green soil…”

Xiong Hei seized the lame father’s hair and stuffed the towel into his mouth. Despite the gag, the lame father continued, albeit muffled, “The ghost hand whips the pearlescent light, and the bang knocks… Hmm, hmm, rabies is… Striker, uh-huh, hmm, crazy knife sitting, hmm…”

Finally, he was silenced.

Yan Tuo pretended to be amused. “What nonsense is he spouting?”

Xiong Hei dismissed it with a wave of his hand. “Ah, he’s just a country bumpkin. Who knows where he picked up those country dramas.”


After work, Joya headed to her uncle’s residence to check on Sun Zhou. As soon as she opened the door, she was hit by a musty smell. She assumed it was because the house hadn’t been inhabited for a long time, and the sewer was acting up. “Can you stand this smell? Don’t you know how to open a window?”

She rolled up her sleeves and efficiently opened the front and back windows.

Meanwhile, Sun Zhou was lazily lounging on the sofa, watching TV. “It’s too much trouble.”

“Then don’t eat. You won’t have to deal with the aftermath if you don’t eat,” Joya quipped as she opened the refrigerator. “What did you eat today?”

After settling Sun Zhou at her uncle’s house, she had stocked the fridge with a variety of quick-frozen ready-to-eat meals.

“Dumplings,” he replied.

That was surprising. None of the bread or cakes she had bought had been touched, but he had cooked dumplings. Needless to say, the pots and pans were left for her to clean. Annoyed, Joya hurried to the kitchen.

However, to her surprise, the countertops were spotless, and the dishes were neatly arranged.

Puzzled, Joya looked down and noticed something odd about the garbage can. She squatted down to take a closer look and found raw dumpling skins, now thawed and rotten like cotton wool, collapsed at the bottom of the can.

What on earth? Did he eat just the filling and not the skin? And why peel the skin before cooking? Joya couldn’t make sense of it. Who had ever heard of peeling the skin off quick-frozen dumplings by hand?

She left the kitchen, intending to ask Sun Zhou about it. But as she stepped into the living room, she saw him still in the same position as when she first arrived. Frustrated, she strode over and stood between him and the TV. “Hey!”

Sun Zhou finally raised his eyes to look at her. “Huh?”

Joya was angry. “What are you even thinking about? You caused trouble at the travel agency by losing clients and going AWOL. After a month, you claimed you were starting a business with friends, then got involved in a pyramid scheme, and I had to treat your injuries. Fine, I let all that go because it’s in the past. But now that you’re back, can you at least have a decent attitude? What’s with lying around on the sofa all day at Uncle’s place? Do you have money? Have you bought a house? You’re poor as dirt, and you’re thinking about getting married with nothing to your name…”

Just then, the phone rang, disrupting the uncomfortable atmosphere. Joya checked the number—it was unfamiliar, likely one of the many online merchants she interacted with regularly. Annoyed, she stepped aside to answer the call.

“Hello?” Joya answered, her tone sharp.

A woman’s gentle voice responded, “Is this Miss Joya? Is Sun Zhou with you?”

Before Joya could react, the voice continued, “If he’s there, stay calm and don’t let him see that anything is wrong. If he notices, he might suddenly attack and hurt you.”

Joya felt a wave of confusion. “Oh…”

She glanced over at Sun Zhou, who was still engrossed in the TV, his expression shifting with the changing light and shadow on the screen.

“Miss Joya, don’t be afraid,” the woman’s voice continued soothingly. “Sun Zhou has a serious virus infection, and the alteration in his facial muscles is just one of the symptoms…”

Joya didn’t dare to look directly at Sun Zhou, fearing her expression might give away her concern. Indeed, she had noticed that his face seemed different when he returned.

“He has developed a severe condition,” the voice went on, “and despite our warnings, he has become extremely dependent on raw and bloody food…”

Joya’s eyes flitted to the garbage can where she had found the discarded dumpling skins. Could it be that he was eating raw stuffing?

“If you don’t believe it, you can test it,” the woman instructed. “Do you have any raw meat at home? Don’t observe him directly, as he might disguise his actions. Try it, and keep the phone on.”

Joya, though skeptical, complied. She put the phone down casually, trying to mask her apprehension. “I’m so annoyed. The goods are all messed up, and it’s just frustrating.”

Sun Zhou made a noncommittal sound, seeming distracted by the TV. Joya opened the refrigerator, clumsily pulled out a bag of hot pot beef rolls, and sniffed it. “This smells weird. Is it spoiled?”

She handed the bag to Sun Zhou. “Really? That’s what I’m complaining about.”

Sun Zhou, uninterested, didn’t respond. Joya slammed the bag of meat onto the coffee table. “You’re just lounging around here and complaining about everything?”

Anger fueled her actions, but this time it was feigned. She threw her hands up and stormed into the bedroom, only to open the door a crack after about half a minute.

She saw Sun Zhou’s attention shift from the TV to the meat bag. He had been eyeing it and now looked toward the bedroom.

Joya’s heart raced uncontrollably, and she pressed her hand against her chest to steady her pounding heart.

Slowly, Sun Zhou’s hand reached into the bag, and he pulled out a piece of meat. The frost on the meat slice began to melt at room temperature. Acting furtively, he quickly stuffed the meat into his mouth and ate it ravenously.

Joya’s mind was overwhelmed, and she felt faint. She closed the bedroom door gently, locked it, and shakily brought the phone back to her ear. Her voice was barely audible as she spoke, “Hello?”

The woman’s gentle voice was a comfort amid her distress. “Miss Joya, you must stay calm. This disease is somewhat contagious…”

Joya’s legs felt weak.

“Have you had any physical contact with him recently?” the woman asked.

Joya shook her head vehemently, her voice breaking as she said, “No, no, but we did kiss…” Consequently, she felt nauseous, the mere thought of potential transmission making her stomach churn.

“Have you been scratched or injured by him?” the woman on the phone asked.

In response, Joya felt a fleeting sense of relief and answered, “No, no.”

“That’s good. It shouldn’t be too serious. He doesn’t suspect you at the moment, correct? Send us your location and try to act normally while leaving. Miss Joya, if he attacks you while you’re leaving, don’t resist. Cooperate with him to protect yourself, and we will handle things once we arrive.”

Joya glanced at the window in the bedroom, which was blocked by an anti-theft net. The thought of opening the door and crossing past Sun Zhou made her want to cry.

“Can I just stay in my bedroom and lock the door?” Joya asked, her voice trembling. Given that Sun Zhou was in the living room, she felt safer behind a locked door.

The woman on the phone sighed gently, “It’s okay, but it would be better to find something to block the door.”

Although the other person couldn’t see her, Joya nodded frantically. She recalled the horror movie “The Shining,” where the male protagonist went mad and tried to break down a door with an axe. This memory unsettled her deeply.

After ending the call, Joya sent her current address with shaky hands. Determinedly, she took a deep breath, steeled herself, and began to push the dresser in her room behind the door as quietly and carefully as she could.

Sun Zhou didn’t knock on the door. Instead, he remained absorbed in the TV, oblivious to the cheerful music playing. Meanwhile, Joya, clutching the base of the desk lamp and sitting with her back against the dresser, shivered with fear. The woman’s words echoed in her mind: “It shouldn’t be very serious.” Yet, she wondered if it was really not serious.

Time seemed to stretch on endlessly. The high tension made Joya both highly alert and incredibly exhausted, and eventually, she fell into an uneasy sleep.

In the middle of the night, a loud crash and scuffle from the living room startled her awake. However, the noise soon stopped. Subsequently, footsteps approached the bedroom door, followed by a gentle knock.

“Miss Qiao, are you okay?” It was the woman from before.

Joya’s relief was palpable; her voice faltered as she replied, “Okay, okay.”

She grabbed the edge of the table for support, managed to move the dresser away, and opened the door. A woman in a protective suit and mask stood outside, with only her gentle eyes visible. Behind her, a few figures in similar attire moved about in the living room.

Overwhelmed, Joya saw them so well-protected while she felt exposed and vulnerable. The woman briefly showed her ID, which Joya could only vaguely see as “XX Branch” with a steel seal and a striking red stamp.

“Miss Qiao, I suggest you get a blood test in the next two days,” the woman advised. “This disease is primarily transmitted through blood. As long as your blood cell count is normal, you should be fine.”

Relieved that a blood test seemed manageable, Joya nodded weakly.

“We’ll contact your family for follow-up and sign confidentiality agreements, so I won’t keep you longer.”

Joya nodded again, this time more mechanically, as the figures in the living room began to withdraw. The woman turned to leave, but Joya hesitated.

“That…” Joya finally spoke up, “Can Sun Zhou be cured?”

The woman’s reply was grim. “We will do our best. However, even if he is cured, there is a high probability he will carry the bacteria for life. Additionally, he might lose fertility and face a risk of paralysis in the later stages.”

Joya had hoped to be taken downstairs, but the woman’s words left her paralyzed with fear. Consequently, she grabbed the door frame to steady herself, unable to move.

As she watched the woman’s figure disappear down the hallway, she heard the distant sound of a car, and then everything fell eerily silent. The silence was so cold, it felt like an emptiness in her chest.

Although she should have felt sadness, Joya instead understood the saying, “Husband and wife are birds in the same forest; they fly separately when disaster strikes.” Even though she and Sun Zhou weren’t married, she still felt the sentiment deeply. She wondered why women should feel embarrassed by other women.

If she could avoid carrying the bacteria for life, she wouldn’t be able to stay with someone who was ill. Furthermore, her family had always warned her against hepatitis B. The thought of being unable to bear children or care for a paralyzed patient was unbearable. Thus, the idea of suffering through it seemed too much to bear.

In the back seat of a spacious off-road vehicle, Quecha removed her hat and sighed. She then roughly cut off the one-piece protective suit with scissors.

The man in the passenger seat looked back at her. “Did everything go well?”

“It went well,” Quecha replied, glancing at the fake work card. “The girl was naive and easy to deceive.”

Shan Qiang, sitting beside her, smiled. “You were once a naive girl too, and now you’ve grown up and deceived others. “Why should women feel embarrassed by other women?”

As laughter filled the off-road vehicle, Sun Zhou lay in the back compartment like a struggling, dying fish, occasionally flailing about.

Meanwhile, Quecha laughed along, but her thoughts were somber. She gazed out the window, contemplating the situation. Although she thought it was a grave injustice, she ultimately believed that removing Sun Zhou from Qiao Ya’s life was the right thing to do, even if it meant she had been the villain in this story.


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An Owl Rising From The Green Soil

An Owl Rising From The Green Soil

Love On The Turquoise Land (Drama)
Score 8.0
Status: Ongoing Type: , Author: , Artist: Released: 2020 Native Language: Chinese
Over two thousand years ago on a deep night, Xu Fu* set sail to the eastern seas in a treasure ship to search for immortality, but few people knew that at the same time, a group of black-turban soldiers secretly entered the vast and dense Nanbao forest… A millennium later, the dark legend continues to slowly grow in the shadows. Xú Fú: Qin dynasty court necromancer and was tasked by Qin Shi Huang to look for the elixir of life between 219 BC and 210 BC. He never returned after departing on his second mission in 210 BC.

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