Chapter Ninety-Six: The Details
Page 1/3
Uncle Zhang, of course, never actually saw Fang Xi jump off the cliff. He saw Fang Xi standing at the mountaintop, but in a blink, Fang Xi’s figure disappeared. He was startled at first and instinctively thought Fang Xi had leapt down the mountain. But he quickly “came to his senses.” If someone really jumped off the cliff in front of all the tourists, the whole mountain would erupt in screams and chaos.
The sequence—seeing Fang Xi, then Fang Xi vanishing, then realizing he couldn’t have jumped—happened within a minute. Old Zhang was soon pulled along by Wang Jia to continue hiking and sightseeing, and he pushed the incident to the back of his mind. Yet, he had always been deeply impressed by Fang Xi, especially that “unusual” glimpse of him, which left a lasting mark on his memory, resurfacing recently like sediment stirring up, disturbing his calm.
He had seen a third form of Fang Xi—cold, cruel, resentful. That extraordinary visage and the intense fear it evoked in him... If that “Fang Xi” was a demon clawing its way out of hell after death, everything might make sense. Coupled with the fourth form of Fang Xi he saw two days ago...
Old Zhang felt his body falter. He only dared tell Wang Jia that he had seen someone who should have been dead, but he was too scared to describe the monstrous appearance of that “Fang Xi” in detail. He even thought what he saw that night might have been a dream. Since stepping onto the stone path in Riverside Park, climbing the small hill, winding through the quiet thickets, he had entered another world. When he fainted and then awoke, it was as if he had escaped that realm—a waking from a deep dream, returning to normal life.
But the fight between those two strange creatures—a man and a woman—and especially that “Fang Xi,” haunted him endlessly. He couldn’t wake from that dream.
Before he could recover, today he saw Cheng Yao…
Looking at the young version of Cheng Yao, Old Zhang couldn’t help but think of Fang Xi. His heart raced, gripped by fear. Surely, that “Fang Xi” was a demon risen from hell. He had set his sights on Cheng Yao’s nephew…
Was this really Cheng Yao’s nephew?
Cheng Yao had gone traveling silently, unreachable except by phone. Cheng Yao didn’t seem like the type to travel. True, he had taken trips before with Lao Bai and his wife and his own parents, and after his parents passed, he traveled alone with Lao Bai’s couple. But after Lao Bai recently died, and Cheng Yao had gone traveling—was he really just trying to relax?
Old Zhang grew more suspicious but dared not call Cheng Yao to verify. What could he confirm?
Boss Le saw Old Zhang’s unease and quickly tried to comfort him, urging him not to overthink. Cheng Yao stopped pressing the matter.
Wang Jia’s casual disdain vanished; she took out the cleaned water cup again, poured water for Old Zhang, helped him drink, and even went to find a doctor, inquiring about many things. The emergency doctor on duty, seeing Wang Jia’s urgency, advised her to book an appointment at the psychiatric outpatient clinic later.
Wang Jia anxiously returned to Old Zhang’s bedside, feeling guilty. “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have dragged you to watch that horror movie…”
Old Zhang’s son, A Rui, arrived soon. He resembled Wang Jia more than the outgoing couple, Old Zhang and Wang Jia. Somewhat dull, he repeatedly thanked Boss Le and Cheng Yao for helping Old Zhang into the wheelchair and pushing him to the parking lot.
Cheng Yao sat in the front passenger seat; Old Zhang’s family of three sat in the back.
While driving, Boss Le chatted with A Rui, who seemed low on energy and gave terse answers.
Seeing his son like this, Old Zhang asked with concern, “Did you take the day off? Is work busy? I just broke a bone, nothing serious. Your mother-in-law’s side is busy, so focus there. Take care of yourself too.”
Wang Jia, riding Old Zhang’s mood swings, energetically answered for their son, “You broke a bone, of course he took leave! The mother-in-law’s side doesn’t need constant watching.”
“What about Yunyun?” Old Zhang asked about his granddaughter.
“She’s at school, where else?” Wang Jia replied.
“Who picks her up after school? Who makes dinner?” Old Zhang worried over trivial matters again.
Their back-and-forth finally made Old Zhang temporarily forget about Fang Xi.
Boss Le stopped trying to make small talk.
The car soon returned to the neighborhood.
Wang Jia said, “Come here to remove the cast; no need to go to the Eighth Hospital.” She thanked Cheng Yao repeatedly, “We’ll return the wheelchair later. Thank you, and please thank your uncle for us.”
A Rui, pushing the wheelchair, thanked them again.
Old Zhang said nothing but looked at Cheng Yao with a complicated expression.
Page 2/3
Watching the family of three enter the building, Boss Le parked the car and returned to the shop. Cheng Yao followed.
Boss Le sighed, “Uncle Zhang usually seems so cheerful. I heard he cared for his paralyzed father for many years without losing heart… but people don’t know when they might be struck down. Still, Uncle Zhang should recover soon.”
“What do you think about what he said?” Cheng Yao asked.
Boss Le looked puzzled, then suddenly understood. “Oh, that… maybe he misremembered? You know, when he first met you, he mentioned his old boss and climbing Longshan Mountain. Right, he said it was an old colleague last time.”
Boss Le had a great memory and remembered such small details.
This small discrepancy suggested Uncle Zhang might be a bit muddled.
Boss Le had only heard Wang Jia recount the story. Though Wang Jia had heard about Fang Xi from Uncle Zhang in her youth, she had no clear impression. Decades later, hearing the story again, Fang Xi appeared merely as a remarkable young leader. Nothing more. Fang Xi’s youthful ambition, his solitude atop Longshan, and that night’s sinister, sharp-eyed gaze under the streetlamp—all of which Uncle Zhang kept secret in his heart and never described in detail to Wang Jia. So Boss Le knew even less.
The whole thing sounded like an old man’s muddled mind playing tricks on him, especially since he often watched horror films and scared himself.
But Cheng Yao sensed Uncle Zhang was hiding something—or perhaps it was something too difficult to speak of.
Whether from fear or something else, he did not yet know.
Cheng Yao casually said, “He can’t stay like this. Maybe he should see another doctor.”
Boss Le didn’t think much and replied, “The doctor I recommended to your uncle… I need to call him first.” Then he corrected himself, “Let’s see. That doctor is picky; he won’t take cases unless they are complicated. Uncle Zhang might get better in a few days.”
Cheng Yao smiled, “I only heard from my uncle that you introduced a good doctor. What kind of person is he?”
Boss Le didn’t answer immediately but stared at Cheng Yao.
Cheng Yao raised an eyebrow, “What’s wrong?”
“I remembered something. When I first met Uncle Zhang, you said you were Cheng Shu’s cousin’s son, but Uncle Zhang mistakenly called Cheng Shu your uncle. I didn’t think much and just went along calling him that… You never corrected us, huh? Today, Aunt Wang asked, and you said Cheng Shu was your uncle. Heh, you’re a sneaky one. Didn’t want to have much to do with us, so you didn’t bother correcting our mistakes?”
Cheng Yao smiled, tacitly agreeing.
It was true. He had no choice but to pretend to be Cheng Shu’s nephew. He didn’t care about such details nor felt the need to explain them to Boss Le or Uncle Zhang.
He should have started a new life with Bai Xiao after her rebirth, severing all former connections to protect her identity… Bai Xiao was even more resolute about this than he was.
Thinking of this, Cheng Yao glanced down at the ring on his left ring finger.
Boss Le half-jokingly complained, “Cold and heartless.” He paused, “You’re just like your uncle—friendly and helpful on the surface, but actually indifferent, not caring about anything.”
Boss Le studied Cheng Yao seriously and said with concern, “Cheng Shu has his reasons… You… you’re young, and you have a girlfriend—oh, wait.” He looked at Cheng Yao’s ring again, “‘Girlfriend’... you didn’t bother correcting me. You’re married, right?”
Boss Le shook his head disapprovingly.
This was the same Boss Le who had stared at Cheng Yao during his father-in-law’s funeral, hesitating to speak and finally sincerely urging him to see the Monster Clinic.
Though familiar, Boss Le’s tone was different now.
“Uncle Cheng” was an elder who lost his wife thirty-five years ago and his parents and in-laws since, truly alone; “Little Cheng” was a young man with a wife, once even looking for a pet for her.
Boss Le could only attribute Cheng Yao’s coldness to the Cheng family’s nature.
He thought it wasn’t good.
“Is your relationship with your wife… a bit off? Like with the pet situation before…” Boss Le asked tentatively.
Cheng Yao was taken aback.
“You’d better change your attitude,” Boss Le sincerely advised. “Even I, barely your friend, can see your problems. Your wife definitely feels it too.”
Cheng Yao remained silent.
“All right, I won’t say more.” Boss Le changed the subject. “You called me for a reason, right? I dragged you here to help Uncle Zhang with the wheelchair and discharge. What’s up?”
Cheng Yao smirked, “I wanted to ask about the Monster Clinic…”
Boss Le’s eyes widened briefly, then returned to calm. “So you heard some things from Uncle Cheng after all? No wonder you acted so weird before. Why the clinic? Because of what I said about your... situation?”
The Arrival of Heaven
Cheng Yao shook his head, “Something else.” No excuses this time.
Boss Le didn’t press but said, “I have to call the doctor first. He won’t accept patients unless he wants to. He’s a bit temperamental but very skilled. If he agrees, there won’t be a problem.”
Cheng Yao asked, “Do you have his number?”
Boss Le nodded but added, “I can’t give it to you. I had to ask him myself. He doesn’t give out his number lightly, and I can’t just hand it over.”
Cheng Yao didn’t insist but asked Boss Le to call him now.
Page 3/3
“Urgent, huh?” Boss Le muttered and immediately dialed the number in front of Cheng Yao.
Cheng Yao didn’t use the doctor’s granted ability to peek at Boss Le’s phone screen. He waited quietly for the call to connect.
But the call never went through.
“No answer,” Boss Le was used to this, “I can’t reach him every time. I’ll try a few more times.”
He seemed accustomed to this.
After three attempts, no one answered, and Boss Le showed some surprise.
“Not hung up, just no answer. Maybe he’s out? This is the first time this happened to me.”
Cheng Yao’s heart skipped a beat.
Was it because he was here? Or because of that “patient”?
Cheng Yao smiled, “Forget it. If you ever get through, let me know.”
“All right. I’ll keep trying these days,” Boss Le promised.
Cheng Yao left the pet shop and went straight home.
Upon opening the door, he saw shopping bags on the sofa.
Bai Xiao was in the bedroom trying on new clothes.
She smiled at the mirror.
Cheng Yao was momentarily dazed.
Because the Bai Xiao in the mirror had a different expression—her brows arched, her face and features seemed somewhat altered.
“How’s my makeup? Not bad, right?” Bai Xiao said proudly.
“What’s this…” Cheng Yao frowned.
“I want to visit Huihui and Yuyu,” Bai Xiao said softly, lowering her head. “I still miss them and want to see them… maybe even chat a bit.”
She glanced at Cheng Yao, “If I had a niece, I’d just pretend to be her and visit, no need for makeup like this.”
Cheng Yao smiled and reached out to adjust the wig on her head. “Okay. Want me to go with you?”
“No.” Bai Xiao raised her hand to stop him and returned to the mirror, fixing the wig herself. “I’ll go alone. Makeup can cover it a bit. If you came along, they’d be suspicious. This is makeup, not a disguise.”
Cheng Yao was silent.
He thought of Uncle Zhang.
Uncle Zhang accepted his “identity” calmly but was terrified when he met his former leader again.
No, it shouldn’t be just because he saw the unchanged youthful face after decades…
That Riverside Park…
Bai Xiao turned her head. “How’s Uncle Zhang?”
Cheng Yao immediately answered, “Just a fracture, discharged today.”
“Really? I think he’s seventy this year? Fell down?”
“Yeah. He’s in good health, just fractured and some bruises.”
“That’s good.” Bai Xiao sighed.
Cheng Yao watched Bai Xiao busily fixing her face and continued, “But his spirit isn’t good.”
“Of course, he’s been hurt and hospitalized,” Bai Xiao didn’t understand.
“No, it’s different. He was scared. He said he saw someone he hadn’t seen in decades, who looked exactly the same as in youth, not aged at all. He was startled when he saw me.”
Cheng Yao leaned against the doorframe, watching Bai Xiao’s hand freeze.
Bai Xiao was surprised. “What a coincidence? Or did he missee?”
She added, “Like I said, if two people who look alike appear one after another, you’d definitely notice.”
Cheng Yao smiled and nodded, “Yeah. You definitely would.”