I wanted to throw my shoes at him, but my feet were bare. Standing there in just my socks before such a well-dressed man made me intensely uncomfortable. There was no choice; this was a psychiatric facility, not a human rights commission. When dealing with a "patient" like myself, prone to violence, the primary concern was always the safety of the other party.

"Xiaoyu, I need your help." He looked at me, his eyes seemingly sincere.

I doubted my own sanity. The person who got me committed to this asylum, the one who plunged a dagger into me nightly in my dreams, was standing before my older sister and me, calmly uttering, "I need your help." Were we friends?

"I know you have many questions, unsure of what has happened from that day until now. I can tell you, but you need to listen quietly until I finish speaking."

"Fine," I sat down next to my sister, patting her hand. She neither spoke nor turned her head to look at me; something was definitely wrong.

"Your sister is fine, she has just been affected by Gu."

"Gu? You mean that thing the Miao people use, the legendary kind?"

"Yes." He nodded.

I gritted my teeth in anger. Wasn't this blatant coercion? He asks for my help while simultaneously turning my sister into this wooden statue. If I don't comply, what will happen to her? Electrocuted? Hit by a car? Or perhaps sent to a mental hospital like me? If my sister weren't here, I would lunge at him and bite him to death.

"Don't be angry yet, please let me finish explaining, okay?"

I held my sister tightly, not saying a word. I had already made up my mind: when we leave, I’ll wait for a moment he’s unguarded, then rush him, head-butting him until we both die.

"My name is Li Xiaoshu."

"I know that!"

"The day you got into trouble, I wasn't in Xiangcheng; I was in Germany for an exchange program."

"Then who was it that I saw in the villa? A ghost?"

"That was my twin brother."

"Mmm, this story is quite interesting. Continue."

"He died shortly after he was born. He wanted that stamp album you took that day back. If he gets it, he will continue searching for sacrifices. Many people will be lured to the villa just like you were that day, stabbed through the palm with a dagger until all the blood drains out."

I shuddered. "A person who died at birth—a ghost—is standing in broad daylight talking to me and stabbing people? Do you take me for a child?"

"Sigh," He glanced thoughtfully at my sister. "I cannot explain that particular question clearly to you right now."

"Hmph," I gave him a cold laugh. "There are many things in this world that cannot be explained. Why were you and Officer He here last time?"

"That wasn't me; it was him. Did you see your sister last time?"

"No," I shook my head.

"Shortly after you were hospitalized, he found your sister and gained control over her. That day, he contacted Officer He, planning to bring your sister to coerce your testimony. I took your sister away midway. So, when you arrived, you didn't see her, and consequently, you didn't provide the testimony he wanted to the police."

"Testimony? What testimony?" I began tracing the memory of that day in my mind. I vaguely recalled the doctor saying my mental state was unstable and I couldn't provide legally significant testimony.

"The stamp album is now at the Public Security Bureau. Only if you confirm that you took the album from 'Li Xiaoshu' can the police release the evidence to the rightful owner. Otherwise, the album will just sit in the cold archives of the bureau. Even if he had the greatest ability, he wouldn't dare take it—there are too many skeletal remains in that villa."

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