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The roars in the ward subsided. Huo Xin’s voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping stone, her body trembling as she called out his name.
Memories of the past surged like a tidal wave. Yu Zhu’s left palm felt faintly warm, his gaze calm as he looked at her.
He didn’t remember when it had been.
Perhaps winter. Perhaps summer.
The basement’s cold clung to his bones like maggots. Yu Zhu huddled in a corner, vaguely hearing the creaking and cracking of frozen bones.
Huo Xin opened the door. The thin heel of her stiletto pressed down on his foot, leaving a pale indentation.
“They said because of what happened last time, you were afraid of water and didn’t dare swim anymore, so they sent me to apologize to you.”
“Are you really afraid of water?”
She grabbed his slender arm, turning his head so he had no choice but to meet her eyes. “Just a little lesson, and they want me to apologize to you.”
“Why? On what grounds?”
Yu Zhu’s body was covered in congealed blood and scabs. Even the blood from his forehead had dried before him. He could only open his eyes weakly to look at her.
“Don’t look at me like that!” Huo Xin slammed him to the ground. Seeing he did not move for a long moment, she finally unclasped the chains on his hands.
“Why should I apologize? On what grounds?”
“As long as you’re not afraid of water, then no apology is needed, right?”
Huo Xin dragged him to the bathroom. The chains clinked under the dim light. Only when the bathroom light illuminated did she see that his wounds on the feet had burst open and bled again.
The wet floor soaked through his clothes, and faint red stains spread across his body.
“Are you afraid of water?”
She pressed him against the edge of the bathtub. The cold water vapor seeped through his back.
Yu Zhu’s lips turned unnaturally pale. He opened his mouth slightly, unable to make a sound.
Huo Xin, however, inexplicably began loosening the restraints on his hands, leaning close to catch what he was saying.
“Pain…”
His voice was so light it seemed weightless, discernible only by the shape of his lips.
“Huo… Xin…”
It was the first time Huo Xin had heard her name from his mouth.
————
In the ward, Huo Xin’s emotions suddenly surged. Dirtied and disheveled, her face streamed large, uncontrollable tears.
“Yu… Zhu…”
“Yu Zhu—”
“No… it doesn’t hurt anymore…”
“Doesn’t hurt anymore…”
“Yu… Zhu…”
She had gone completely mad, forgetting everything.
But every day, every single day…
Every day someone whispered in her ears.
“Pain…”
“Huo Xin…”
“Huo Xin, it hurts.”
Save him, save him!
Stop! Stop! Stop!
Heartbeat, heartbeat, heartbeat—not yet steady…
Stop! Stop! Stop!
“Yu… Zhu…”
“Yu… Zhu…”
“Ahhhh—”
Huo Xin threw off all dignity, screaming on the bed without restraint, limbs thrashing and striking the mattress with a clang.
“Sorry.” A doctor outside hurried to the door. “The patient inside is currently emotionally unstable, likely triggered by something external. If you have no other business, please do not stay here.”
“Alright.” Yuan Suhua withdrew her gaze calmly, holding Yu Zhu’s hand and leaving.
Behind them, Huo Xin’s screams grew wilder and sharper, tearing through the air in pain as she called Yu Zhu’s name.
“Yu… Zhu…”
“Yu Zhu—”
Yu Zhu recalled the water choking his lungs, the coarse rope bruising deep red, the puddles of blood, and his left hand losing sensation in the cold…
So when he stood outside the ward watching her, his expression was as calm as if viewing a landscape.
As he left, no ripple arose in his heart.
Why was Huo Xin here? Why had she become like this?
When he had first chosen Huo Xin as the target of lies, seeing the peachwood comb pierce Ming Yue’s palm, he had already guessed her fate.
“Yu… Zhu…”
“Doesn’t hurt… doesn’t hurt anymore…”
“Yu Zhu—”
The hysterical roars behind him gradually faded. Yu Zhu glanced at the sunlight above and walked out the door, never once looking back.
Five forty in the afternoon. Summer light showed no signs of fading.
Yu Zhu and Yuan Suhua sat on a yellow-painted bench. The breeze carried fine mist from the fountain.
“Xi He, do you remember her?” Yuan Suhua asked.
She had previously gathered detailed information on Gu Wanting and the others. This life’s trajectory of the Huo family mirrored the last: the family declined, people abandoned it, the monkeys scattered in flight.
Huo Xin, likewise, had been committed to Qingchuan Sanatorium by Su Zhi due to mental instability.
She had exited the scene too early; Yuan Suhua had not paid her much attention, so she did not know Huo Xin had been sent there—otherwise, today’s events would not have occurred.
“Mm.” Yu Zhu wrote on paper.
He was unsurprised that Yuan Suhua knew about Huo Xin. She knew too much, even things he had never shared with the world.
Yuan Suhua sat in silence for a while, then leaned forward. The sunlight warmed her clothing against him. She pressed close to Yu Zhu.
“It’s all over now, Xi He. It’s okay. This kind of thing won’t happen again.”
Her embrace was soft, her breath brushing Yu Zhu’s neck, carrying the same youthful orange blossom scent as him.
Yu Zhu allowed her to hold him, his gaze drifting toward the deep blue sky beyond her, where a cloud was slowly blown apart by the wind.
Nothing in this world is eternal.
They left Qingchuan Sanatorium. Before reaching the Tianxing Villa, the car stopped on a busy commercial street.
The June evening was noisy and bustling. Loud music played from various malls. Pedestrians hurried by, while a few schoolchildren with red scarves ran past in pairs.
It was Yu Zhu’s first time leaving Tianxing Villa. Yuan Suhua held his hand, walking and talking with him, like an ordinary couple.
Children carried salted pineapples, subway commuters held roses, people carried cakes to anticipated events, and elderly couples crossed streets supporting each other.
Commonplace scenes.
Yuan Suhua had passed luxurious palaces, seen the northern aurora, looked down from impossible heights, and toasted in worldly circles.
Yet her heart was warmed at this moment.
Earthly life, daily necessities.
These words, previously irrelevant to her, now brought genuine anticipation because she held his hand.
The evening wind was cool. Sunset bathed everything in orange, and the morning star shone bright in the sky.
Yuan Suhua walked lightly to his side. A ray of sunset glinted on her hand as she said:
“Xi He, let’s go home.”
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