DNSTU 11. Fragile and Mad

Xiang Ye thought he might have gone a little mad.

He had dashed out and tackled the man who was about to be struck by a stone, pinned him to the ground, and even though his strength had already reached its limit, he could still fight. It felt like his body no longer belonged to him, moving on instinct alone, driven by sheer force of will. When he could not land a punch, he kicked. When he could not kick, he tripped. He clung to the man, not even checking whether he was hurt himself. He was utterly frenzied, yet his mind was crystal clear.

Tang Wan had been frightened senseless. Her mouth hung open as she stared blankly at Xiang Ye fighting. Blood had splattered across her pale, delicate face. When her gaze brushed over him, she jolted in fear.

She scrambled up from the ground and rushed to her daughter’s side, wanting to carry her away, but when she saw the blood on the girl’s body, she faltered, unsure where to start.

“Let go of me!” On the other side, the man had once again been tackled by Xiang Ye. He reached out for the dagger, but Xiang Ye kicked it out of reach. Eyes bloodshot, the man slammed an elbow into Xiang Ye’s stomach in a fit of rage, but still could not shake him off. He cursed furiously, “What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you insane? Let go of me, you fucking lunatic, rabid dog!”

Xiang Ye did not curse back. He had no strength for that. While the man was still shouting, he wrapped an arm tightly around the man’s neck and locked it in place.

The man instantly went red in the face like a chicken being strangled. But Xiang Ye had already spent the last of his strength, and in the end, the man broke free and flung him off.

Coughing violently, the man shook his head, seeing double. When he looked at Xiang Ye again, he was seething with rage. He no longer cared about the little girl. All he wanted now was to take his anger out.

But when he brought the blade down, it struck as if hitting solid iron.

Xiang Ye took the opportunity to counter, using the last of his energy to twist the man’s arm behind his back and pin him down. As he completed the move, he collapsed from exhaustion. At the same time, a talisman slipped from his body, igniting on its own and turning to ash.

The man’s eyes lit up. He thought this was his chance to strike back and launched a final attack. But just then, Chen Junyang arrived.

His sword came slicing through the air and nailed the man’s arm to the ground. The man let out a scream and curled up in agony. Xiang Ye was finally freed and lay flat on the ground, gasping, lungs burning as if they were on fire.

Yet the madness still had not left him. He forced himself up again and staggered toward the little girl.

Tang Wan was still there. As soon as Xiang Ye drew near, she recoiled instinctively, half in terror, half delirious, muttering the same words again and again, “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t kill anyone… I didn’t kill her, it wasn’t me… I was tricked too, please, just let me go…”

“You didn’t kill anyone?” Xiang Ye suddenly turned his head and fixed his gaze on her, his voice light and drifting.

Tang Wan stumbled backward and fell to the ground in fright.

Chen Junyang was tying the man up. When he heard that, he looked back and saw Xiang Ye pick up the dagger from the ground, step by step approaching Tang Wan. His heart skipped a beat. Something felt wrong. He rushed forward and grabbed hold of Xiang Ye.

Xiang Ye kept his eyes locked on Tang Wan and asked, “Didn’t you take that five hundred thousand? If you had the guts to sell, why don’t you have the guts to admit it? If I stab you right now and say I didn’t kill anyone, would people believe me?”

Tang Wan broke down even further. “But I was tricked too! I swear, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, I didn’t… It was just adoption, that’s all. Why does everyone think I was trying to harm her? They could afford five hundred thousand, and she’d have a better life with them, wouldn’t she? And I’d get to start fresh too, what’s so wrong about that? Why blame me, why is everyone blaming me…”

Her wailing echoed through the night, sharp and frantic. Chen Junyang stood in front of Xiang Ye, blocking him, yet at that moment, he felt that Xiang Ye seemed more broken than Tang Wan, like a fragile piece of porcelain, ready to shatter if it fell.

But he never did fall.

What Chen Junyang didn’t know was that Xiang Ye’s earpiece was transmitting Xing Zhou’s voice. He sounded slightly breathless, as if recovering from a fierce fight, but every word carried unwavering resolve.

“Xiang Ye, you said it yourself. What you see isn’t always the truth.”

“Until it is proven, every truth is still a lie. Don’t be fooled by lies.”

“Saving her is what matters.”

“Saving her is more important than anything else.”

Xiang Ye turned toward the girl lying on the ground. In that moment, Tang Wan’s voice faded away. All that remained was the stark, blinding blood. He forced himself to move back, kneeling beside the girl. Staring at her chest, which barely rose and fell, he asked softly, “Can she be saved?”

It was as if he was asking, could he be saved too?

“She can,” Xing Zhou replied.

Chen Junyang was momentarily stunned by Xiang Ye’s words. Snapping back to his senses, he quickly pulled out a pill bottle and placed two white tablets into the girl’s mouth.

Xiang Ye recognized them. When Xing Zhou rescued him on the fishing boat, he had fed him the same pills. They were life-saving. Xiang Ye drew in a deep breath. Reason returned to him, and his thoughts grew clear once more.

“Call the police,” Xiang Ye said.

The police were nearby. Asking for help now was the best course. The Enforcement surely had ways to negotiate with them, and the girl needed urgent medical attention. A death must have consequences, guilty or not, there would be an answer. Xiang Ye, however, could no longer hold on. The protective talisman had shielded him, but he was still severely injured. Exhaustion from the fight overwhelmed him, and he collapsed.

Darkness swallowed him.

In the haze where nothing could be seen clearly, a small boat appeared in his vision, drifting slowly. Onboard was a happy family of three. He stood there, watching them sail away.

Up ahead lay a lonely island. At its center stood a temple, glowing brightly with lights. Faint chanting could be heard, calming the soul. But the boat could never reach the shore. The temple remained just ahead, close enough to see, yet forever out of reach.

When he woke again, Xiang Ye was lying in a hospital bed.

Chen Junyang sat nearby, head lowered, watching something on his phone. When Xiang Ye turned his head slightly, he caught a glimpse of the screen. A scene from Temptation to Go Home was playing. Hong Shixian’s line, “You’re such a tease,” had Chen Junyang watching with great interest.

Xiang Ye shut his eyes again. Never mind. Better to sleep a little longer.

But Chen Junyang had been watching him all along. When he saw Xiang Ye was awake, he quickly hid his phone behind him and handed over Xiang Ye’s own phone from the bedside. “The girl was saved. She’s in the ICU now, out of danger. As for the rest, ask Jueming. He’ll tell you.”

Then he clamped his mouth shut, clearly unwilling to say anything more. But the fact that he had said so much in one go was already more than enough to show how much face he was giving Xiang Ye.

Xiang Ye sat up, took the phone, and opened the app. The customer service sprite had already sent over a full report of the incident and the post-incident procedures.

Tang Wan had been arrested, charged with involuntary manslaughter. The people from Lu Ye had been labeled as traffickers, which was not far from the truth. As for Xiang Ye and Chen Junyang, their names had been omitted, referred to simply as helpful citizens, barely mentioned.

As for the Tang family, it was confirmed that Tang Wan’s ex-husband was one of Lu Ye’s people. Together, they had a daughter named Tang Yining.

Tang Wan had once been a naïve woman, the kind who believed that love alone could fill an empty stomach. She had married a man with no background and nothing to his name, thinking they would build a happy life together. But within two years, her husband died unexpectedly, and the weight of survival came crashing down on her. She had no choice but to worry about putting food on the table, regret her past choices, and send her daughter to the countryside to be raised by her mother.

This year, Tang Wan remarried. Her new partner refused to raise her daughter from a previous marriage. Around that time, someone from Lu Ye approached her, pretending to be a wealthy businessman with no children. He first established contact with her, then later “accidentally learned” she had a daughter and brought up the idea of adoption.

The five hundred thousand yuan was payment to sever her ties with the child.

But Shen Ningxiang, the old lady, would not allow it. She had thought that her daughter had finally come to her senses and wanted to bring her granddaughter back to live with her. She never expected this so-called reunion was just to hand the girl over for adoption. The two had a fierce argument, and the old woman took her granddaughter and returned to Guan Shui Tan.

Tang Wan followed after them. During their fight, she accidentally shoved her mother into the incense table.

Everything that followed was what Xiang Ye had seen. Tang Wan had killed her by mistake and would inevitably be arrested. As the situation spiraled out of control, the people from Lu Ye decided to dispose of the body right then and there.

As for the man who had drowned first, he really had died by accident. The rumors of a water ghost were nothing more than superstitious nonsense. In a mess of half-truths and fabricated lies, the villagers of Guan Shui Tan would never know what had truly happened. As for Tang Wan’s ex-husband, the man from Lu Ye, his cause of death had been ruled a traffic accident. No leads had been found for now.

But Xing Zhou had once said, among those still active outside Lu Ye, the total number did not even reach a hundred. So how could a tiny place like Guan Shui Tan have already produced two? One was Song Ling. The other was Tang Wan’s ex-husband.

And the moment Xiang Ye arrived in Guan Shui Tan, everything began to unravel. He just so happened to board the same long-distance bus as the grandmother and granddaughter. It was too much of a coincidence.

These mounting coincidences felt more and more like someone was pulling the strings. Like an invisible net was tightening around him, trapping Xiang Ye inside.

At the end of the report, Xiang Ye’s eyes once again fell on those familiar “five hundred thousand.” Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the photograph recovered from the Shen family’s old home, still sitting on the nightstand.

He reached for the photo and asked, “Did you send this to Jueming?”

Chen Junyang shook his head. It was Xiang Ye’s, and he had not touched it. Their superior had said it clearly. Xiang Ye should be the one to decide.

Xiang Ye stayed quiet for a moment, then took a picture of the photo and sent it to Jueming.

XY: Help me analyze the handwriting.

Customer Service Sprite: Sure! Who do you think it might be?

XY: My mom.

After sending that, he turned to Chen Junyang and asked, “Can I go see her?”

Chen Junyang froze for a second, then caught on. He turned and walked out of the hospital room. A few minutes later, he came back pushing a wheelchair, motioning for Xiang Ye to sit down.

Xiang Ye: “?”

Chen Junyang: “??”

Xiang Ye: “I don’t need it.”

Chen Junyang replied, “Yes, you do. You have a fracture.”

That was when Xiang Ye noticed the plaster cast on his leg. His arm was wrapped in bandages, and the exposed skin was covered in bruises and scrapes, making his injuries look severe.

At a glance, he looked like a seriously wounded patient. But Xiang Ye knew his injuries were not that bad. He had always been this way. His pale skin made even the slightest injury look dramatic.

No one in kindergarten dared pick on him. They were afraid he would frame them for something.

In the end, Xiang Ye sat in the wheelchair after all. Chen Junyang wheeled him to the entrance of the intensive care unit. Through the window, they could see little Tang Yining lying quietly on the hospital bed, a breathing tube still inserted in her mouth.

She had not woken yet. The medication included a sedative to help her sleep longer and spare her the pain. But eventually, she would wake. And when she did, how would she face the brutal truth?

Xiang Ye stood outside the room for a long time, watching her as if looking at himself. The sun had already begun to set when Jueming finally sent the handwriting analysis results.

Customer Service Sprite: The handwriting is confirmed to be Song Ling’s.

Clang.

It was the sound of everything falling into place. In Xiang Ye’s heart, it echoed like a temple bell ringing through Guan Shui Tan, its lingering tone drawn out and heavy.

It was Song Ling who had written that line on the back of the photo, “Has he gone mad?” That “he” now seemed even more likely to refer to Shen Yanzhi. When combined with the unexplained five hundred thousand yuan, it felt as though Xiang Ye was being pushed to believe the so-called truth.

If Shen Yanzhi really was the traitor, then what had happened between him and Song Ling could not have been just an accident. Chu Lian’s subsequent disappearance, was it possible the people from Lu Ye had captured Song Ling and used her as leverage?

But if Chu Lian had been acting under duress, then he had not truly betrayed the Enforcement. What about the Enforcement agents he killed? How could that be explained?

Who was the real traitor?

The more Xiang Ye thought about it, the deeper his frown became. There were too few clues. No matter how sharp his mind was, he could not reach a conclusion through reasoning alone. The Enforcement must still have more detailed information, such as that surveillance footage, or the complete profiles of the members Chu Lian had killed.

Just then, footsteps sounded behind him.

Xiang Ye turned and found himself face-to-face with Xing Zhou.

Xing Zhou was tall. When he stood in front of Xiang Ye, he cast a shadow that completely enveloped him. His expression was stern, unsmiling. A few flecks of blood stained his rolled-up sleeves. There was a fresh wound on his forearm, layered over older scars. Though his injuries were clearly more serious than Xiang Ye’s, they looked almost ordinary on him.

“What do you think of me?” Xiang Ye looked up at him and suddenly asked.

“Hm?” Xing Zhou had yet to respond, but Chen Junyang, leaning against the wall, turned his head with a look of disbelief. What kind of question was that? It sounded strangely suggestive, with a pink-tinged undertone.

Xing Zhou, being a textbook straight-laced man, asked bluntly, “What do you mean?”

Xiang Ye replied, “Joining the Enforcement.”

Xing Zhou glanced at the cast on his leg and said, “You aren’t afraid of dying?”

Xiang Ye did not answer right away. He looked once more toward Tang Yining and asked, “What will happen to her?”

Xing Zhou said, “She’ll be sent to a designated welfare center, given a new name, a new identity, and a fresh start.”

“But I’ve already changed my name once. That leaves only one path for me. “If you won’t take me in, then I’ll have no choice but to throw my life away.” That was how Xiang Ye put it.

Xing Zhou frowned, while Jueming’s voice came through the earpiece, shouting nonstop, “Just say yes, boss. It’s been ages since we had a new recruit. You know there’s no way to handle this Chu Lian situation without Xiang Ye. He’s not willing to seek protection, and you can’t just lock him up, can you? There’s no safe place to put him anyway. The people from Lu Ye won’t let him go. If anything happens, we won’t be able to do a thing.”

“And where’s the safest place for him to be? Isn’t it right next to you?”

Every word Jueming said made perfect sense, but Xing Zhou still did not give an immediate answer. He said, “I’ll give you three more days to think it over.”