Zhou Man froze when she saw the record of Zhou Qiliang's questioning.
People from the Special Investigation Bureau had arrived in the Xu Family's living room.
This time, Lu Wenchuan had not come alone.
Two agents stood by the door, along with a staff member taking notes. Xu Chengyuan was also in the living room, his expression frighteningly dark.
Zhou Man sat on the sofa, holding the photocopy.
She read it very slowly.
When she reached Zhou Qiliang's statement that He Guilan had still been alive when she fell into the well, her hands began to shake.
When she saw her own signature on Lin Wan's medication records, the color gradually drained from her face.
When she read that Xu An had been taken into the basement with Xu Chengyuan's knowledge, she suddenly looked up at him.
"Did you tell them to show me this?"
"No," Xu Chengyuan said coldly.
Zhou Man quickly realized who it was.
Xu Zhihan.
It had to be Xu Zhihan.
He had not come, but he had sent the evidence straight to her.
Zhou Man suddenly felt even more afraid.
In the past, however resentful Xu Zhihan was, he would only hide in his room without saying a word. Now, he could drive someone into a corner, bit by bit, without even showing his face.
An agent from the Special Investigation Bureau spoke. "Ms. Zhou, please cooperate with our investigation. We need a truthful account from you regarding He Guilan's death, He Xiaoyun's unlawful admission to the Sanatorium, the irregularities in Ms. Lin Wan's medication, and the Soul-Sealing performed on Xu An."
Zhou Man gripped the document, her voice trembling. "I don't understand what you're talking about."
The agent looked at her. "Zhou Qiliang has already given a statement."
"He's lying!" Zhou Man sprang to her feet. "He's trying to pin the blame on me! I didn't do those things alone."
Xu Chengyuan's expression changed instantly.
The agent immediately seized on that point. "Who else was involved?"
Zhou Man looked at Xu Chengyuan.
There was resentment in that glance, and hatred too.
She had done so much for Xu Chengyuan: dealt with Lin Wan for him, kept Xu Zhihan down, raised Xu Mingji, and maintained the Xu Family's respectable facade.
In the end, all he wanted was to throw her to the wolves.
Zhou Man suddenly laughed, tears rolling down her face.
"Who else? Why don't you ask Xu Chengyuan?"
The living room fell silent.
Xu Chengyuan spoke in a low voice. "Zhou Man."
Zhou Man acted as though she had not heard him.
She pointed at Xu Chengyuan, her voice turning shrill. "You didn't know about Lin Wan's medication? You didn't know Xu An was taken into the basement? You really didn't know about the medication Xu Zhihan has been taking all these years?"
Xu Mingji stood at the stairs, his face deathly pale.
He had heard everything.
Although he had suspected it for some time, hearing Zhou Man implicate Xu Chengyuan herself still sent a chill up from the soles of his feet.
"You're no longer in your right mind," Xu Chengyuan said coldly.
Zhou Man looked at him, her smile growing uglier.
"I'm not in my right mind? Xu Chengyuan, who invited that man in black into the Xu Family's home back then? Was it me? Could I have set up the Xu Family's formation all by myself? Now you think I'm dirty?"
The agents from the Special Investigation Bureau immediately took notes.
Xu Chengyuan's expression changed. "Enough."
"It's not enough!"
Zhou Man suddenly broke down.
"Why should I shut up? All these years, I've been the villain while the Xu Family reaped every benefit. Lin Wan died, and you married me. Xu An was gone, and the Xu Family's formation stabilized. Xu Zhihan fell ill, and you no longer had to worry about the Lin Family holding you accountable. Now that it's all gone wrong, you want me to take the blame alone?"
She grew more agitated as she spoke, her eyes bloodshot.
Xu Mingji stood at the stairs with his fingers gripping the railing, barely able to stay upright.
For the first time, he heard the whole story.
It was not speculation, nor Xu Zhihan's cold remarks. It had come from Zhou Man's own mouth.
The things he had always fought to take had never been clean.
The preferential treatment the Xu Family gave him, his marriage arrangement with the Gu Family, his status as the favored child all his life-every bit of it had been built on these past crimes.
Xu Mingji suddenly felt a little sick.
Just then, the living room lights flickered.
Zhou Man's voice cut off abruptly.
She stiffly turned her head.
A blurred figure had appeared beside the stairs at some point.
He Guilan.
The strangulation mark was still around her neck, part of her right little finger was missing, and her eyes stared straight at Zhou Man.
Ordinary people could not see her clearly. They could only feel the sudden chill in the living room.
But Zhou Man could see her.
She screamed and collapsed onto the floor.
"Don't come near me!"
Xu Chengyuan's expression changed as well.
He could not see the spirit's full form, but he could feel that chill.
The agents from the Special Investigation Bureau immediately went on alert.
One of them pressed his earpiece. "Captain Lu, we're detecting vengeful spirit activity at the scene."
Lu Wenchuan's voice came through the earpiece. "Leave her alone. She's not there to hurt anyone."
In the living room, He Guilan walked toward Zhou Man, one step at a time.
Zhou Man braced both hands against the floor and scooted backward, tears smearing her face.
"I didn't push you! You fell in yourself! I just... I just stopped anyone from saving you."
He Guilan stopped in front of her.
Zhou Man had already backed up against the sofa. There was nowhere left to go.
She covered her face and broke down completely.
"I was wrong, all right? I shouldn't have had the well sealed, shouldn't have sent Xiao Yun away, shouldn't have switched Lin Wan's medication, shouldn't have let Xu An go into the basement. But what else could I do? I only wanted Mingji to have a better life. I only wanted to secure my place in the Xu Family!"
The living room was deathly silent.
The bureau's note-taker paused briefly, then quickly resumed writing.
Xu Mingji's tears finally fell.
This time, he did not cry out loud.
He was afraid, and ashamed.
With those words, Zhou Man had confessed.
To everything.
Xu Chengyuan stood where he was, his eyes dark.
He knew it was over.
Zhou Man was finished.
And she had just implicated him in far too much.
He Guilan's spirit stood before Zhou Man without attacking her.
She merely watched her.
After a long time, she turned toward the agents from the Special Investigation Bureau, as though seeking confirmation.
Although the agent could not see her clearly, he somehow understood what she meant.
"We'll put it on record," the agent said quietly. "He Xiaoyun is under protection now, too."
He Guilan's spirit trembled.
Then she slowly lowered her head.
As though she had finally heard the answer she had waited so many years for.
Zhou Man, however, was still shaking.
"Don't take me away. Mingji, Mingji, say something for your mother."
Xu Mingji stood at the stairs, his face pale and his lips trembling.
He looked at Zhou Man and tried to speak, but no words came out.
Despair slowly filled Zhou Man's eyes.
An agent stepped forward. "Ms. Zhou, please come with us."
Zhou Man began to struggle. "I'm not going! Xu Chengyuan, say something! You said you'd protect me!"
Xu Chengyuan did not move.
Zhou Man looked at him and suddenly laughed, her voice hoarse.
"Xu Chengyuan, do you think you can escape this?"
Xu Chengyuan's expression was frighteningly cold.
As Zhou Man was led out, she was still shouting his name.
Xu Mingji stood on the stairs, his tears falling one by one.
After the door closed, the Xu Family's living room was terrifyingly quiet.
Xu Chengyuan looked up at Xu Mingji.
"You heard everything?"
Xu Mingji stiffened all over.
Xu Chengyuan's tone was perfectly level.
"Then forget it."
Xu Mingji looked at him and suddenly felt that he had never truly known his father.
Meanwhile, in the Special Investigation Bureau's medical room, Xu Zhihan leaned against the headboard, having listened to the live feed from the scene.
He Guilan's spirit had already left the Xu Family's home and now stood a short distance from his hospital bed.
She bowed to Xu Zhihan.
Xu Zhihan looked at her. "He Xiaoyun is still alive."
He Guilan's spirit trembled.
Xu Zhihan continued, "She'll have a good life from now on."
He Guilan raised her head, bloody tears flowing from her eyes.
This time, she did not cry out loud.
Xu Zhihan glanced at her, his tone indifferent.
"This is good."
No noise.
He Guilan seemed to smile, and her spirit slowly faded away.
Lu Wenchuan stood beside them, watching the scene without speaking for a long while.
Xu Zhihan leaned back against the headboard, looking a little tired.
"Was Zhou Man taken away?"
Lu Wenchuan gave a quiet hum of assent.
"She was."
"What about Xu Chengyuan?"
"It's not time yet."
Xu Zhihan briefly closed his eyes.
"Soon."
Looking at his pale face, Lu Wenchuan suddenly pushed the peppermint candy on the bedside table toward him.
Xu Zhihan opened his eyes and looked at him.
"What are you doing?"
"A reward," Lu Wenchuan said.
"I'm not a child," Xu Zhihan said coldly.
"I know." Lu Wenchuan's tone was casual. "It's a reward for a god."
Xu Zhihan stared at him.
Lu Wenchuan added, "If you don't want it, forget it. It's not taking up any room anyway."
Xu Zhihan looked at the candy for a few seconds, then picked it up after all.
He unwrapped it and put it in his mouth.
The peppermint tasted a little cool.
It went down better than milk candy.
Seeing that he had not frowned, Lu Wenchuan smiled.
With the candy in his mouth, Xu Zhihan's voice was slightly muffled, but still cold.
"Don't smile."
Lu Wenchuan lowered his head and held it back.
"All right. I won't."
But there was still a hint of a smile in his eyes.
Xu Zhihan couldn't be bothered to call him out.
That night, Zhou Man was taken away, He Guilan left, and He Xiaoyun's old case was reopened.
Yet the lights at the Xu Family home stayed on all night.
Because everyone knew.
Zhou Man wasn't the end.
Xu Chengyuan was next.