Liu Hong looked at Yin Wen in disbelief and struggled to open his mouth. He turned the knife in his hand and wondered whether to kill the little monk or avenge himself against Yin Wen.

Yin Wen screamed crazily, pushed Liu Hong to the ground, and stabbed him with the knife over and over again.

From Chen Shi's point of view, only Liu Hong's twitching legs could be seen as the white clothes on Yin Wen's body were gradually dyed red. Finally, his feet stopped moving.

Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue exchanged looks with each other. Even if Yin Wen had been brainwashed, she was still a mother after all. Her urge to protect her child was engraved in her genes.

Yin Wen stood up, her eyes empty as if she were dead. The young monk was sitting on the ground with a lot of blood coming out from him. The three pairs of eyes in the room were looking at her.

Chen Shi said, “Yin Wen, put the knife down. You are a victim and the law will protect you!”

Yin Wen looked as though she didn’t hear his words. She smiled gently at the young monk. “Chen Xuan[1], I'm sorry. I'm not a good mother.” Then, she raised her knife and stabbed her throat.

“No!” The young monk shouted.

Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue rushed over and the two tried to stop the bleeding. However, Yin Wen's wound was too deep, and several large blood vessels had already been severed.

“It's too late!” Chen Shi shook his head sadly.

Yin Wen's convulsions became weaker and weaker, and she stopped moving at last. Her pupils had dilated, but she held a smile on her face.

After the young monk finally untied himself, he crawled over to Yin Wen's body, pressed his palms together and chanted a sorrowful scripture as tears kept falling from his eyes. After watching this scene, Lin Dongxue was also infected. Her tears also began to fill her eyes.

Until the police came, the silent, bloody room echoed with the chanting of the little monk...

Three days later, Chen Shi, Lin Dongxue, and other policemen opened the door of Liu Hong's house. The hungry dog that had been starved for the past few days barked at them, but finally calmed down after being fed some dog food.

The police began to search every corner of the house. Liu Hong was a cautious person and left no evidence, but this was not important anymore.

In fact, Peng Sijue had found Li Biao's DNA in one of Liu Hong’s cars. Even if he wasn’t dead, it was enough to convict him.

Chen Shi found a hidden door behind a cabinet. He pushed it open, and there was a small chamber at the back, less than five square meters large. It was built in the bedroom with an additional wall.

The walls of the cubicle were unpainted and neat red bricks were exposed. A steel nail was nailed to the wall with a metal dog chain tied to it. There was some domestic garbage on the ground, lunch boxes, used water cups, and a toilet bucket. It also had sanitary napkins.

Lin Dongxue couldn't believe it. “Yin Wen was held here for 13 years?”

Chen Shi said, “There is more than just this place that was renovated. There is a door next to the bedroom. From this closet, you can perfectly avoid the surveillance of the window and leave from the main entrance. On the day Li Biao disappeared, Yin Wen evaded our line of sight this way.”

“She was willing to be Liu Hong's slave and even murder for him?”

“Who knows what happened between them?” Perhaps psychologists would be interested in Yin Wen's case, but Chen Shi wasn’t willing to think about it. In this small area, he could see the darkest and most distorted side of human nature.

A person can become a beast completely. A beast hidden under human skin.

On this day, the young monk who was discharged from the hospital said goodbye to them. Before leaving, the young monk wore clean monk's clothes and his mother's ashes were held to his chest. Chen Shi asked, “What are your plans for the future? Will you continue to be a monk?”

The little monk smiled bleakly. “After that night, I have wanted to calm my heart, but it always lingers in me. I always wondered why the human heart is so terrible. There’s no answer in the Buddhist scriptures, so I want to travel around and find the answer.”

Lin Dongxue said, “Be careful outside!”

The little monk pressed his palms together in greeting. “I am all alone and have nothing to lose. I hope we will meet each other again if we are fated to do so!”

He walked away with his bag on his back, and the simple monk's clothing disappeared in the hustle and bustle of the city. Lin Dongxue said, “Do you think he’ll become a master in the future?”

“Master or not, I don't care. I just hope he can be safe!” Chen Shi said.

Suddenly, the two found that they were too close to each other. Lin Dongxue was about to create some distance between them when Chen Shi asked, “Ah, yes, do you have time today?”

“Why? Do you want to invite me to dinner?” Lin Dongxue asked with a smile.

Chen Shi's opened his hands to reveal the two tickets in his hand to Lin Dongxue. “I bought two movie tickets and I don't know who to watch it with.”

“You’re just blatantly trying to cover up the truth!” Lin Dongxue giggled and hid her head on Chen Shi's chest.

Holding Lin Dongxue's body, Chen Shi felt like he had tasted something sweet. He felt like it was time for him to take that step. The fierce danger that night had changed his thoughts more or less.

Danger is not only from wanted criminals. Danger is also hidden in many places, so we should cherish what’s in our eyes.

The two spent a pleasant afternoon together and returned home in the evening. Chen Shi planned to make a delicious meal and discuss the housing issue. He had a rental contract on his computer and planned to ask Lin Dongxue to live with him.

But just taking out a piece of paper? It seemed a bit dry.

After much deliberation, he decided to go out and buy a bouquet of flowers - a romantic bouquet of roses.

The soup was stewing in the pot. Chen Shi washed his hands and said, “I’m going out!”

Lin Dongxue threw away the apple she was cutting and said, “I’ll go too.”

Tao Yueyue was sitting on the couch and playing with the tablet as she noticed the subtle changes in the air. She wisely decided to return to her room.

Considering that Lin Dongxue was going to be pleasantly surprised, Chen Shi said, “No, I'll be right back. I'll buy you what you want.”

“A bottle of orange juice with pulp!”

“Sounds good!”

Chen Shi went to a nearby flower shop and bought a bunch of fresh roses. On the way back, a boy in a sweater bumped into him. Chen Shi looked back suspiciously. Suddenly, he felt something was on his body, and he felt an envelope in his pocket.

Chen Shi opened it and stared in shock. He turned around to chase the suspicious boy, but he had disappeared long ago.

A slight tingling sensation brought his thoughts back to reality. The roses in his hands were held too tightly. He stared at the roses silently, shook his head, and finally stuffed it into the trash bin...

1. Once again, the mother says “Chen Guang” (the dad’s name) instead of “Chen Xuan”, which is her son’s name… I suppose it makes sense if she’s so traumatized that she’s mixed everything up, but I changed it to Chen Xuan since she says “I’m not a good mother” right after.