When Xu Zhihan came downstairs, there were three more people in the living room.
One was a middle-aged man in a white coat, with an ID badge hanging from his chest. The name on it was Jiang Ren, director of a Private Sanatorium.
The other two were tall, dressed in plain clothes, and looked like orderlies.
They carried a faint medicinal smell, along with a trace of something unclean.
As soon as Xu Zhihan reached the foot of the stairs, he saw that gray-black aura coiling around Jiang Ren's cuff. It was thin, but it trailed the cries of many people.
His steps faltered.
Lu Wenchuan followed behind him, his voice low. "What did you see?"
Xu Zhihan said, "You're about to lose your job."
Lu Wenchuan blinked. "Why?"
"This man's even dirtier than the Xu family."
Lu Wenchuan looked at Jiang Ren, his gaze shifting.
When Xu Chengyuan saw the two of them coming down together, his expression soured.
"Zhihan, you're just in time."
Xu Zhihan looked at him. "Here to send me away?"
Xu Chengyuan frowned. "Don't make it sound so ugly. Your condition is unstable, and the doctor said you need rest. Director Jiang's sanatorium has an excellent environment and a professional medical team. Staying there for a while will be good for your health."
Xu Mingji stood to one side without speaking.
Zhou Man wore a worried expression, but she didn't dare meet Xu Zhihan's eyes.
Jiang Ren stepped forward with a smile, his tone gentle. "Young Master Xu, don't be nervous. We're only taking you somewhere better suited to your recovery."
Xu Zhihan looked at him. "How many people have died at your place?"
Jiang Ren's smile stiffened.
"Xu Zhihan!" Xu Chengyuan snapped.
Xu Zhihan ignored him.
His gaze settled on Jiang Ren.
There were many Sin Lines behind Jiang Ren. They weren't deep, but they were tangled and varied. Those lines connected to hospital rooms, restraints, medicine bottles, and people whose mouths had been gagged.
A Private Sanatorium.
It sounded respectable.
In reality, it had done plenty of business that couldn't stand the light of day.
Jiang Ren quickly regained his composure. "Young Master Xu, you may have misunderstood us."
Xu Zhihan said, "I haven't."
Jiang Ren said, "Our center has all the proper licenses, and we have many successful recovery cases."
Xu Zhihan's tone was calm. "Does getting out alive count as a success?"
Jiang Ren could no longer keep his smile in place.
Standing nearby, Lu Wenchuan nearly laughed aloud.
Even sick, Xu Zhihan's tongue spared no one.
Xu Chengyuan's face was livid. "Enough. You're going with Director Jiang tonight."
"On what grounds?"
"On the grounds that I'm your guardian."
Xu Zhihan lifted his eyes to him. "I'm twenty-one."
Xu Chengyuan faltered.
Jiang Ren immediately picked up the conversation. "Mr. Xu, legally speaking, of course we must respect Young Master Xu's own wishes. But if his family can provide relevant documentation confirming that he poses a risk of harming others, harming himself, or psychiatric instability, we can admit him into protective care first."
Protective care.
Such a pleasant way to put it.
In reality, it meant taking him away by force.
Lu Wenchuan toyed with the ID in his hand and asked leisurely, "Director Jiang, you seem pretty practiced at this."
Only then did Jiang Ren look at him. "And you are?"
Lu Wenchuan smiled. "Just passing through."
Jiang Ren frowned.
Xu Chengyuan said coldly, "Captain Lu, this is a Xu family matter."
Lu Wenchuan nodded. "The basement was a family matter just now, and now the private sanatorium is a family matter too. Mr. Xu, your family matters are awfully criminal."
Xu Chengyuan's expression grew uglier.
At the words "Captain Lu," Jiang Ren's gaze shifted slightly.
The Special Investigation Bureau.
He clearly knew something about it.
Yet he didn't panic. Instead, he smiled. "Captain Lu, we provide legitimate medical services. Your Special Investigation Bureau deals with supernatural threats. Medical arrangements should be outside your jurisdiction, shouldn't they?"
Before Lu Wenchuan could speak, Xu Zhihan suddenly said, "They're outside his. Not mine."
Everyone looked at him.
Xu Zhihan slowly walked up to Jiang Ren.
He was frail and moved slowly, yet Jiang Ren instinctively wanted to retreat.
This young man was clearly pale, but something about his eyes made Jiang Ren uncomfortable.
Too cold.
As though he could see through everything a person kept hidden.
Jiang Ren forced himself to keep smiling. "Young Master Xu, don't get worked up."
Xu Zhihan asked, "Who did you lock up in the room at the far end of your center's third floor?"
Jiang Ren's expression changed instantly.
Xu Zhihan continued, "A woman. Twenty-seven. A broken right leg. Her mouth had been gagged. She kept calling for her mother before she died."
Jiang Ren's breathing hitched.
The living room fell silent.
The casual look on Lu Wenchuan's face vanished completely.
He lowered his head and sent a message to his team.
Xu Chengyuan still tried to regain control. "Xu Zhihan, you're spouting nonsense again!"
Xu Zhihan didn't look at him.
His gaze remained fixed on Jiang Ren.
"And the first basement level. There are no registered wards down there, but there are eight beds. You sedate people and help their families deal with anyone who won't obey."
Sweat began to bead on Jiang Ren's forehead.
"W-where did you hear that?"
Xu Zhihan said flatly, "The dead told me."
At those words, Jiang Ren's face went white.
Xu Chengyuan's heart lurched too.
Yesterday, those same words had frightened Zhou Man into losing her composure.
Jiang Ren was about to speak again when he suddenly heard a faint sob behind him.
His whole body froze.
The living room lights flickered.
Several indistinct figures slowly emerged behind Xu Zhihan.
The Xu family couldn't see them clearly. They could only feel the cold.
But Jiang Ren saw them.
He saw a woman standing beside the stairs, her right leg twisted, blood covering the corners of her mouth. Several more figures stood behind her, all staring fixedly at him.
Jiang Ren's legs buckled, and he nearly fell.
"Stay away..."
The two orderlies' expressions changed too.
They clearly knew what Jiang Ren had done.
Lu Wenchuan took the opportunity to step forward. He seized one orderly's wrist and pulled a syringe from his sleeve.
He glanced at the label and sneered. "You came well prepared. Young Master Xu hasn't even agreed yet, and you've already brought sedatives."
The orderly went pale. "That's a routine medical supply."
Lu Wenchuan raised the syringe. "Fine. Explain that to the investigation team later."
Jiang Ren panicked and turned to leave.
Xu Zhihan spoke. "Kneel."
Jiang Ren's body went rigid.
The next second, his knees slammed into the floor.
It wasn't that he wanted to kneel.
The spectral figures behind him had dragged him down.
Zhou Man screamed in fright.
Xu Mingji took half a step back, his face deathly pale.
Xu Chengyuan finally lost his composure too. "Xu Zhihan, what exactly did you do?"
Xu Zhihan raised his eyes to him.
"I didn't do anything."
He paused, his voice faint.
"They've come to collect what they're owed."
Jiang Ren knelt on the floor, trembling all over.
"I didn't kill anyone! Their families signed off on all of it! They were the ones who wouldn't obey! Their own families didn't want them anymore! It had nothing to do with me!"
Lu Wenchuan's eyes grew cold as he listened.
"Got that recorded?"
A young team member's voice came from the doorway.
"Got it, Captain."
Xu Chengyuan whipped his head around.
At some point, the Special Investigation Bureau's people had arrived outside the door.
Lu Wenchuan smiled. "Busy night, Mr. Xu. We just finished sealing off the basement, and now you've handed us someone for unlawful confinement and improper administration of medication."
Xu Chengyuan's expression was as ugly as it could get.
He finally realized that his own move had been turned against him.
He had wanted to send Xu Zhihan away.
Instead, the man he had brought in went down first.
Xu Zhihan stood in the middle of the living room, his face very pale, his fingers slightly cold. He was actually close to his limit, but no one could tell.
Except Lu Wenchuan.
Lu Wenchuan stepped closer and said quietly, "That's enough. Don't push yourself."
Xu Zhihan glanced at him.
"You talk too much."
Lu Wenchuan murmured, "And you look alarmingly pale."
Xu Zhihan didn't respond.
He looked at Xu Chengyuan, his tone as calm as ever.
"Next time you want to send me away, find someone cleaner."
Xu Chengyuan stared at him hard.
Xu Zhihan added one more thing.
"Though you probably won't get a next time."