Xiao Shu squeezed through the cordon and headed toward Building 2, where Wang Jue lived. A police officer spotted her and stepped forward to question her. "What are you doing here?" "A friend of mine lives inside," Xiao Shu replied with surprising calm. "Which room? There's been a homicide here, please cooperate with the police, thank you!" "Room 502." "What's the landlord's last name?" "I'm a friend of the owner's relative. I only know the owner's wife's surname is Wu." "Oh, go on then."

Wang Jue clearly lived in 102, but Xiao Shu deliberately claimed to be a friend of the 502 resident. It was obvious she didn't want the police to know our connection to Wang Jue; she was making an excuse just to get inside the building to see what was happening. I didn't dare say much, only stood silently among the crowd, pretending not to know her, and watched her disappear inside.

Half an hour later, the guardhouse was cleared, the police tape was taken down, and the crowd gradually dispersed. I drifted out of the complex to a nearby coffee shop, ordered a pot of clear tea, and pulled out my phone to dial Xiao Shu's number. He said he'd be right there. I then called Wang Jue's mobile; the speakerphone blared with a notification that the service had been suspended due to non-payment.

A few minutes later, Xiao Shu came sprinting over, sweat pouring down his face. "Well? Did you see anything?" I asked anxiously. "The police ransacked Wang Jue's place—completely turned it upside down. They took some personal effects away for investigation. They didn't find anything else. Apparently, he stabbed three people and killed one. This has blown up big time. We’ll probably see an arrest warrant on the news tonight."

I pressed again, "How could this happen? He was fine when we left him, wasn't he?" An irrepressible surge of agitation hit me; I felt a crushing, unavoidable responsibility for the magnitude of Wang Jue's situation. If I hadn't dragged him around everywhere, he’d still be a psychiatrist at the hospital, using his skillful hands and benevolent heart to relieve patients' suffering, just like any ordinary person. But where in this world could one buy an antidote for regret? This whole disaster had erupted before us, sudden and unstoppable.

Xiao Shu frowned too, his voice laced with a trace of sorrow. "I don't know if it's because of Hua Jinlan. If it is, then I share the blame. Wang Jue was desperate to get to Miao Village to figure things out. If we had stayed with him, this wouldn't have happened. It was me who pulled you out and left him alone at home."

We looked at each other for a few seconds, falling into a shared silence.

Jing-ling-ling… I fumbled for my phone; it was Wenshu calling. "Hello, Xiaoyu? You said you’d call me later, why didn’t you?" Wenshu’s gentle voice floated through the receiver, a genuine balm in my distress, offering significant comfort. "Wang Jue is in trouble," I said quietly. "The hospital knows about it. The police searched his office just now. The whole place is buzzing; everyone is talking about Wang Jue. You mentioned before that Wang Jue was acting a little strange—is that why he killed someone?" "He…" I stammered, unable to form a sentence, swallowing back the words that had almost reached my lips. Telling her the truth now seemed entirely inappropriate. If I told her Wang Jue was possessed by a female ghost, she would never believe it. "Are you with him? The police asked earlier who had been in contact with Wang Jue recently, and I kept quiet. They say his phone is probably being tapped tonight." Perhaps my hesitation had made her uncomfortable; Wenshu's tone grew slightly urgent.

I felt completely adrift, unsure how to explain the current state of affairs, so I resorted to feigning ignorance. "I only just found out about this myself. I wasn't with him when the incident happened. When I got back, I just saw the police taping off the area and clearing the scene. Did the police say anything else at the hospital?" "They didn't say much, just took all of Wang Jue’s things. That stack of magazines I brought back from the reading room for you—they took those too; they were on his desk. The hospital just held an emergency meeting, telling us to cooperate with the investigation and notify the police immediately if we hear anything about Wang Jue." "Understood. If I hear anything from Wang Jue, I'll call you," I told her calmly, feigning composure. After asking a few perfunctory questions about how she was, I hastily said goodbye and hung up. My mind wasn't really on Wenshu at all.