Chapter 398: Long Street

Half of Juanzi's face was severely swollen. Her originally somewhat pretty features were completely distorted.

I looked at her with a smile. "I'll ask you one more time. Do you realize what you did wrong?"

Tears welled in her eyes. Her lips trembled. "I know. I shouldn't have been jealous of her."

Smack! A sharp slap rang out so loudly that even pedestrians outside the alley could hear it. This time, I slapped the other side of her face. "Knowing one's error and being able to reform is the greatest virtue, but unfortunately, I'm not a schoolteacher. I won't spare you from punishment just because you admitted your mistake."

I paused, then asked, "You called her a fox and wanted to stuff mice down her clothes? Do you think what you did was right?"

"No." Juanzi hurriedly shook her head, tears already spilling from the corners of her eyes.

Smack!

Her lightly made-up face was already covered in finger marks. Unable to bear it any longer, Juanzi broke down, her sobs echoing through the back alley.

"If it wasn't right, why do it? When you were bullying her, shouldn't you have put yourself in her shoes and wondered how you would feel backed into a corner?" I raised my hand again, and Juanzi, sitting on the ground, desperately shrank her head back. "Society and the law are so lenient with people like you that it borders on indulgence; that's why these abuses keep happening. Juanzi, listen closely. I recorded everything you just said. Don't even think about revenge. There won't be a next time."

I looked over my shoulder. Xia Qingzhi's eyes were red and swollen, but she hadn't cried. I placed both hands on her shoulders. "If you have anger in your heart, let it out. Do to her exactly what she did to you."

I would have understood whatever Xia Qingzhi did to Juanzi, but the girl just hid behind me, both hands gripping my arm. She kept her head down, her lips pressed tight, looking like she would lose control and burst into tears the moment she spoke.

I smoothed her hair and gently pulled away from her grasp. I walked over to Xiangming, who was still wailing. "I heard Juanzi say earlier that you guys were the ones who wanted to mess with this girl. She's a student. How could she have possibly offended you?"

I grabbed Xiangming's injured shoulder with one hand. "Or were you planning to use her as a breakthrough point to actually target someone else?"

I pulled out his phone and checked the call log. Aside from his flirty voice chats with Juanzi, there were call records with two other people.

One was an old acquaintance of mine—Century New Garden security captain Shi Youfu. The other was someone named She Qian.

"Connected to the Jiang family? I haven't even gone after you yet, but you came looking for me first." I tossed Xiangming's phone aside and smiled. "Shi Youfu is a security captain. Who is this She Qian?"

"You think I'd tell you?" Xiangming spat viciously, his eyes practically shooting fire at me. "At the end of the day, the Jiang family runs Jiangcheng. You'd better think carefully before wading into this muddy water."

"You talk too much." I motioned for Xia Qingzhi to wait outside, dragged Xiangming deeper into the alley, and released a Filthy Ghost. The unknown always inspires terror. Once Xiangming confessed, I dragged Brother Yu into the alley and interrogated him as well.

Their testimonies corroborated each other, leading to a clear conclusion: the Jiang family already knew about the Qicun Maternity and Children's Health Center. Furthermore, someone had seen me going in and out of the Jingying Sanatorium with Wang Yu.

The matter of the Ghost Mother was of massive importance, and the Qicun Maternity and Children's Health Center was one of the Three Yin Sect's greatest secrets. If outsiders found out they were secretly refining a Ghost Infant and raising Little Ghosts in bulk, it would likely draw a siege from orthodox cultivators.

To keep their secret, they wanted to force my hand. Unfortunately for them, I hadn't gone home last night, leaving them empty-handed. The Three Yin Sect was afraid I would flee to another city, which was why they targeted the people around me to force me out of hiding.

The She Qian in Xiangming's call log was a disciple of the Three Yin Sect. He was the individual with the highest cultivation among the Snake Lord Disciples and had inherited the entirety of Lord Snake's teachings.

Having figured this out, I had no desire to linger. Brother Yu and Xiangming were just unpresentable bit players. The true danger was the Jiang family, and the ones I truly dreaded were the Three Yin Sect.

I briefly checked the video the short girl had recorded, then retrieved Xia Qingzhi's phone from Brother Yu and handed it back to her.

"Go home. I remember your house isn't far from here." I lit a cigarette and walked out of the alley. The sound of turning wheels came from behind me; I glanced back and saw Xia Qingzhi silently following me, pushing her bicycle.

The zipper on her school uniform jacket had been torn off, exposing a pure white, fitted short-sleeved shirt underneath. Even though she instinctively tried to cover herself, I could still see several dirty shoeprints on it.

The desolate city shone with unfamiliar neon lights. On the long street, a girl with disheveled clothes pushed her bicycle, following closely behind me like someone who had suffered a great wrong but had nowhere to vent her grievances.

"Go home. It's getting late." I stubbed out my cheap cigarette. Not a single word of what I wanted to say to Xia Qingzhi would leave my mouth. Before I came here, I had spent the entire afternoon preparing all those doubts and questions.

I had outlined every possible scenario, even preparing to use psychological tactics to beat around the bush. But when I actually ran into Xia Qingzhi, I suddenly found myself completely unable to speak.

It wasn't entirely because of what she had just gone through; it was more a sense of resonance. Every time I looked at Xia Qingzhi, it was as if I were looking at myself.

The Underworld Live Show was a term that could absolutely never be mentioned to outsiders. Even my livestream viewers, including Du Yu and the Balding Uncle, only knew that the broadcast they watched was special. They didn't know the platform's name, its address, or any other detailed information.

But Xia Qingzhi was different. She was the one who had come to me with the Underworld Live Show Recruitment Card. Only in front of her did I dare to speak the name of the Underworld Live Show.

To a certain extent, both of us were alone.

Looking at it from another angle, Xia Qingzhi was the only person in this entire city who knew my true identity. If I failed during a livestream, she might be the only person in the world who remembered me.

I was like an undercover cop infiltrating a drug cartel, and Xia Qingzhi was my only handler.

Cars sped past on the road from time to time, and the autumn wind blew down my collar, chilling my neck.

I turned and quickened my pace, stopping just a half-step away from Xia Qingzhi. I looked into her eyes. Those beautiful, pure eyes looked like a mist-covered lake.

In the end, I didn't interrogate her. My lips parted, and I said softly, "I saw your brother."

Xia Qingzhi's fingers trembled slightly. She looked up, her gaze fixed deeply on me. "I wasn't lying, was I? He really does exist, doesn't he?"

I nodded solemnly. I was about to say something else, but I hadn't expected Xia Qingzhi to react so emotionally. Without her even realizing it, tears were already streaming down her face. "There's finally a second person in this city who has seen my brother. Do you know how that feels? Sometimes I'd start doubting myself. Am I going crazy? Did I just imagine him? Even I had slowly started to second-guess myself..."

The Xia Qingzhi in my memories had always been quiet and reserved, but standing there by the street, she poured out her heart. Her words and tears intertwined, making it impossible for me to interrupt her, much less tell her the cruel truth.

A long time passed before Xia Qingzhi violently coughed a few times. I helped her lean the bicycle aside and reached out to wipe the lingering tears from her cheeks.

As my fingertips lightly touched her skin, it felt like brushing against a piece of finely carved jade. The slight chill of her skin made my heart ache. "Qingzhi, right before your brother left, he asked me to do something for him."

"What is it? Is it about me?"

I didn't answer yes or no. Instead, I continued, "He asked me to save Xia Qingzhi."

"Save me? Did my brother ask you to protect me?"

"No." I shook my head. "The Xia Qingzhi he asked me to save isn't the same person as you. That Xia Qingzhi seems to already be dead."

Even I didn't know why I was telling this to the girl in front of me. Perhaps the memory of our very first meeting at the Adult Shop a month ago was still buried deep in my mind. Without her, I never would have gone to the Underworld Live Show. And without the Underworld Live Show, I probably would have already been trampled beneath Jiang Chen's feet.

I didn't know what kind of attitude I should take with her. Gratitude? Resentment? Sympathy?

"My very first commission started with you. You hired me to find Xia Chi, and I found him. But he told me that the real Xia Qingzhi was already dead. Who am I supposed to believe? Which one of you is lying?"

My voice echoed in the cold wind as Xia Qingzhi and I stood face to face.

She stood frozen in place. A long time passed before she finally pulled her phone out of her pocket and held it up to my face.

When she was cornered by the hooligans, she had prepared to call for help. The number displayed right in the center of the screen, waiting to be dialed, was my phone number.

She pressed the call button. A beeping tone rang out between us. I pulled out my phone, answered the call, and held it to my ear. I looked at the girl in front of me while listening to the voice coming through the receiver.

"In my deepest moments of despair, you were the most beautiful accident I ever encountered. In this entire city, you're the only one willing to believe me..."