Du Hong

The wind outside gradually died down.

Yin Chao stood up and looked through the window at the mountain village before dawn. It was utterly different from its lively daytime appearance, with cooking smoke curling into the air.

It was as still as a painting, one that held nothing but empty shells.

Unable to sleep again, he stood by the window for a long time.

Only when the sun rose did everything begin to stir.

That was the scene Luo Lingyue found when she came to Yin Chao's room. She said nothing, waiting quietly at the door.

Yin Chao spoke first. "There seems to be something different about this instance."

"Why?" she asked.

"I feel a little uneasy," Yin Chao said. "I think I might have figured out the answer, but I don't want this instance to end so soon."

Luo Lingyue didn't quite understand, but she knew Yin Chao's decisions wouldn't steer them wrong.

So she asked no more questions and followed him out of the room.

Today was the third day of the instance.

Everyone seemed frazzled, as though the answer were right before their eyes, yet the most important piece of the puzzle was missing.

"Where are we going to look for clues today?" Unable to bear the oppressive silence at the breakfast table, Zhong Mingnan asked the person beside him.

The tall, thin man sitting beside him was someone Yin Chao remembered being called Wang Buhui.

Over the past two days, Zhong Mingnan, Wang Buhui, and Lin Xue had realized they couldn't fit in with the others and formed a team of their own.

At Zhong Mingnan's question, Wang Buhui's expression soured. "How should I know? Can't you think for yourself?"

His tone was unpleasant enough to grate on anyone who heard it.

An argument erupted out of nowhere. In the end, the two parted on bad terms, and their three-person team fell apart.

Lin Xue chose to go after Zhong Mingnan, leaving Wang Buhui to head out alone.

"Looks like everyone's getting a little impatient." Mo Nan wiped the corners of their mouth with a handkerchief they carried.

Fang Tang and Xu Zhou said nothing. They stood up and left after finishing their meal.

Once most of the others had gone, An Nian leaned toward Yin Chao and whispered, "Long Zang and I found a woman named Du Hong yesterday."

Du Hong?

Yin Chao recalled his dream. The girl who had sent a message arranging to meet her boyfriend in the abandoned warehouse was named Du Hong.

"Did she say anything?" he asked.

An Nian glanced at Long Zang. When he showed no reaction, she continued, "She told us not to trust Li Meihe. She said Li Meihe wants us to die in her place, and that all the deaths in the village are Liangzi's revenge."

Yin Chao pondered this. On one side was Li Meihe, who claimed to be Liangzi's close friend. On the other was Du Hong, who had handed Liangzi over to her boyfriend to abuse.

Whose words should they believe?

When he didn't respond, An Nian asked, "Do you want to come with us to see her again?"

Yin Chao nodded. "Sure."

Du Hong's house wasn't far from Li Meihe's. It was right beside the meeting room where they had first met.

An Nian knocked. "Hello! Is anyone home?"

The wooden door was old, riddled with insect holes and so rotten it looked as though it hadn't been used in ages.

Creak...

Someone inside opened the door a crack. A bloodshot eye shifted up and down through the gap, seemingly sizing them up.

"Why did you bring so many people?" she asked.

Her voice was terribly hoarse and distinctly breathy, as though she didn't dare speak loudly.

An Nian explained, "They're here on the same sketching trip as us. They all believe what you said and wanted to visit you in person."

At the mention of people believing her, the woman's eye quivered with excitement.

Her voice betrayed none of it, remaining just as calm and hoarse. "Come in."

The door slowly opened, revealing an interior untouched by daylight.

The stench of rot mingled with a sour odor, the two pungent smells making everyone's eyes water.

Du Hong shuffled inside, her back hunched, and lit a candle on the table, where a thick layer of wax had accumulated.

Only then did Yin Chao get a clear look at Du Hong, who resembled an elderly woman nearing the end of her life.

"How old are you?" he asked bluntly.

Du Hong didn't answer. Instead, she stared fixedly at Yin Chao like a bloodthirsty jackal.

Everyone went on guard.

After a long standoff, Du Hong sighed and said slowly, "Thirty-six. I don't look it, do I?"

"No," An Nian answered honestly.

"I should have been a girl in the bloom of youth, too. I should have had a life full of color. But twenty years ago, I made a mistake..."

Du Hong sat on a chair piled with rubbish and began recounting her story. "I was sixteen that year. Like every teenage girl, I longed for love. A thug named Chen Wei barged into my world.

"He pursued me for a long time, but I didn't like him. I even looked down on him a little for being ignorant and good-for-nothing.

"Then one day, a girl in my class saw Chen Wei and me walking together. In truth, he was just pestering me, but after that, my classmates began to change.

"They started trying to please me, whether deliberately or not. They all flattered me and curried favor with me. I enjoyed it immensely. It fed my vanity.

"Little by little, I accepted Chen Wei. All the special treatment I received seemed to come from him.

"I couldn't leave him. But deep down, Chen Wei was nothing more than a thug, and I began to fret over losing him.

"Then one day, I saw Liangzi, who lived in the same village. She was wearing a bright red dress, and an older man from the village led her into a secluded grove. I was curious, so I followed.

"When I saw clearly what they were doing, I was terrified and ran straight home.

"That night, I tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.

"The next day, I saw Liangzi again. She was crouching outside her house and greeted me. I asked her, 'Do you want to be my friend?' She said yes..."

What followed was what Yin Chao had seen in his dream.

Du Hong had made Liangzi strip naked and lie on a woven sack.

When the story ended, no one spoke.

The room smelled foul and was filthy and cluttered everywhere, but none of it compared to the filth in the soul of the woman before them.

An Nian sobbed softly. "You wanted to test your boyfriend, but why did you have to hurt Liangzi? You were hiding in that pile of junk. You could have stepped out and stopped it..."

Du Hong didn't know how to answer. She was vain, cowardly, and filthy.

In the end, she hadn't even confronted Chen Wei over what had happened, yet he had dumped her anyway.

Twenty years ago, she had hidden behind a pile of clutter and watched Liangzi being hurt.

And now, she was still hiding in a filthy room that never saw daylight, fully aware, suffering, and repenting.

The candle flame trembled in the breeze.

Following the direction of the wind, Du Hong looked at the light seeping through the crack in the door.

She stood, walked to the doorway, and pushed open the rotten wooden door.

Outside, the sunlight was bright. Du Hong lifted her face into the gentle breeze and smiled.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered.

Then blood ran from her eyes, and she collapsed to the ground.

Terrified, An Nian hurried to her side, wanting to use her healing ability.

Long Zang caught her wrist. "She's stopped breathing. Don't waste your energy."

Du Hong was dead. It seemed she had been waiting for this very moment.