TNSFC – Chapter 84

The hospital room was frighteningly quiet. The two of them had been placed in a large ward, with You Lanqing and Que Hanyi sitting beside them, the elderly couple’s faces etched with the same sorrow and confusion.

“Xixi wanted to harm Ningning? How could that be? Although they always bickered, they had a very good relationship.”

You Lanqing couldn’t bring herself to believe it. Her two daughters were about the same age, and she had raised them together. Although she sometimes doted on her younger daughter more, she wasn’t unfair to Zixi. When Zixi was bullied, she always gave in to her younger sister, and whenever she brought back good things, the first person she thought of was her sister.

“Let’s wait until she wakes up and ask her clearly. We don’t even know where she ran off to these past few days to end up like this.”

Que Hanyi was relatively calmer. Looking at Que Zixi’s condition, he sighed.

He didn’t know what was wrong this year. Ever since the New Year passed, things had been exceptionally unlucky. The children at home were all having problems, the company was having problems too; troubles kept piling up both inside and outside the home.

“Should we call the Eldest and the Second? Ask them if they know anything?”

You Lanqing held her husband’s hand and suggested.

“They’re working. Why bother them?”

Que Hanyi shook his head, his heart sinking further.

As far as he knew, the Eldest and the Second seemed to have had some conflict recently and were quite at odds at work.

He used to think that more children meant more blessings, but once conflicts arose between them, it was truly difficult to handle.

You Lanqing said no more, sitting by the bed and sighing.

After keeping watch for most of the night, the couple slept on the companion bed.

You Lanqing was a light sleeper, her mind weighed down by worries. She opened her eyes a little after six, went to the bathroom to wash up, and saw Que Zixi awake when she returned.

Que Zixi didn’t make a sound, just lay with her head turned, staring at the gloomy gray sky outside. When she saw You Lanqing, her eyes moved, and she called out, “Mom.”

Her voice was tiny, almost a whisper.

After Que Zixi called out, tears streamed down her face.

You Lanqing felt both heartbroken and confused, completely bewildered. She quickly woke her husband.

“What happened last night? Why did you call Ningning to such a desolate and remote place? Ningning even fainted and still hasn’t woken up. The bodyguard said you lit incense and did some strange things. Why did you do that?”

Que Hanyi asked in a grave voice. He needed to know the reason.

Que Zixi lay with her eyes open, looking at her parents before her, her heart filled with sorrow.

“Dad, Mom, Ningning… she’s not coming back. She’s never coming back!”

Que Zixi hadn’t intended to confess to her parents. After all, they weren’t young anymore and couldn’t withstand such a blow. But looking at their faces at this moment, she couldn’t hold back.

The one lying there clearly wasn’t her parents’ biological daughter. How could she replace the original person and live on? If she wasn’t, she wasn’t.

“Don’t talk nonsense! What do you mean, not coming back? Ningning is lying right there, perfectly fine!”

You Lanqing instinctively scolded, clutching her husband’s hand.

“But the one lying there isn’t the original person anymore! Ningning… she was harmed, sunk in the river. Her resentment couldn’t dissipate, that’s why it’s like this now…”

Que Zixi was almost sobbing uncontrollably. She didn’t look at Que Yining beside her, merely stating this.

“Cause and effect, cause and effect. Where there’s a cause, there’s an effect. Ningning being harmed was the cause, and another soul entering is the effect. If Ningning hadn’t been killed in the first place, things wouldn’t be like this now.”

You Lanqing was about to tell her to stop talking nonsense, but Que Hanyi stopped her.

“Continue.“

Que Hanyi’s expression was grave as he tightened his grip on his wife’s hand.

How could the couple, who cared most about their youngest daughter, not have noticed the changes in her? But they thought Que Yining had simply grown up, wasn’t as clingy as before, and so had become somewhat distant from them. They would never have dared to entertain the most absurd idea.

They would rather believe Que Yining was just sick, that she had developed schizophrenia due to some trauma, than believe what Que Zixi was saying.

Talk of ghosts and spirits, mysterious and profound matters – it sounded absurd. If it had been a stranger, Que Hanyi would have categorically disbelieved it. But it came from the mouth of his third daughter.

Que Zixi told them everything she knew, her voice growing calmer as she narrated.

You Lanqing, however, felt the world spin and nearly fainted. Looking at Que Yining lying there, alive, she found it impossible to believe these words, feeling they were utterly fantastical.

Que Hanyi had experienced much and appeared calmer, but his mind was in turmoil.

He was somewhat unwilling to admit it, yet he couldn’t help but believe it in his heart.

Previously, Ningning loved to act spoiled with him; no matter how old she got, she would still jump into his arms. But these days, his daughter gave him a sense of unfamiliar strength. Even when talking to him, there seemed to be a strange distance and awkwardness.

Que Zixi turned her gaze to the woman still sleeping soundly, and Que Hanyi and You Lanqing’s eyes followed.

“If what you’re saying is true, then she…”

You Lanqing looked at Que Yining, her emotions suddenly becoming complex.

“She said she didn’t know how she got here either. I think… Ningning must have brought her. The master said that method could reveal cause and effect. I don’t know if she could see it; we’ll only know when she wakes up.”

The three people in the hospital room fell silent. After a while, Que Hanyi finally spoke.

“Who was it?”

Sorrow and anger made this always smiling, amiable old man look even older. Que Hanyi had his youngest daughter late in life, in his forties. Now, in his sixties, he had to endure the somewhat absurd pain of losing his daughter.

The car accident two months ago was enough to fill him with rage. But back then, he thought his daughter was still alive. Now, knowing her very soul was gone, he would investigate even if it meant risking his old bones.

“She said it was Que Linyang…”

Que Zixi almost spat out Que Linyang’s name through gritted teeth. She relayed everything Que Yining had told her, including how people around her had been approached by Que Linyang to monitor her.

“She didn’t tell me the specific reasons, but she said she has evidence and will explain it to you. She was also worried you wouldn’t be able to handle it… Actually, she’s a very good person, and very capable.”

Que Zixi said this, but her face was full of bitter smiles.

This soul inhabiting her sister’s body was strong and confident, completely different from her sister. She didn’t actually resent this person; she just couldn’t accept that someone she knew had disappeared just like that.

Even if the original Que Yining wasn’t outstanding at all, even if she was spoiled, arrogant, and willful, even if she was ordinary, even if people disliked her – to Que Zixi, she was still the sister she cared about. She shouldn’t be forgotten, shouldn’t be replaced, shouldn’t be erased from memory.

“How could it be…”

You Lanqing nearly lost her voice and fainted under the successive shocks.

“Mom!”

Que Zixi, disregarding herself, pressed the call bell for a nurse.

You Lanqing was lying in the adjacent hospital room. Que Hanyi stood before the doors of the two rooms, his eyes red.

He took out a tissue and wiped his eyes. When Que Zixi came out, he forced himself to stand tall.

“Never before today have I felt such failure as a person.”

He sighed, his back gradually hunching over, exuding an air of stooped old age.

“I thought I was paving the way for Ningning. She, ah, had a delicate disposition since she was little. When she was studying, she wasn’t interested in all those business intricacies. I thought, in the future, I’d just let her live happily with her money, doing whatever she wanted.”

As Que Hanyi spoke of the past, a faint smile appeared on his face, but it gradually faded into the lines etched there.

“Xixi, tell me, was I wrong? I thought finding a husband for her wouldn’t be reliable; what if he was only good to Ningning for her money? So, I thought it better to entrust her to the Eldest. The Eldest watched her grow up, doted on her endlessly, and was always filial and gentle in my presence. I truly couldn’t believe he would do those things. But it’s true that you can’t judge a book by its cover.”

Que Hanyi sighed. Thinking about the company projects, even if he was unwilling to suspect, he had sensed something was amiss.

Que Zixi wanted to say something, but Que Hanyi shook his head, walked into his wife’s hospital room, and closed the door.

Que Zixi knew he needed to calmly process those things. She hesitated at the door for a moment, then returned to her own room with a somewhat vacant mind. She sat by the bed, looking at the still-unconscious Que Yining, a hopeful expression appearing on her face.

She watched for a while, then lay back on the bed, her eyes vacant, forcing herself to accept this reality.

Que Yining regained consciousness to find herself in a mysterious, dim obscurity.

A hazy wisp of white smoke guided her forward in this darkness. She pondered and calmly moved ahead.

The moment she lost consciousness, she had actually wondered if she shouldn’t be here. After all, such unfamiliar, supernatural things she had never encountered might bring unknown dangers. But since it had already happened, she might as well see it through.

Where the white smoke disappeared, Que Yining felt as if she had stepped on air, her consciousness plummeting.

Everything before her eyes changed from dim to bright, from blurry to clear.

Fragmented images flashed before her like snowflakes. In a brief moment, she watched the first half of the original owner’s remembered life.

Most of it was spent with family, and Que Linyang appeared very frequently.

It seemed that in the original owner’s heart, Que Linyang was truly a good older brother. This deception had begun in childhood and had gradually become something she firmly believed.

The flashing fragments gradually slowed, and the original owner in the images was also growing up. The face of the swollen corpse she had seen now had a definite shape; indeed, it bore a three-tenths resemblance to her.

Gradually, one person began to appear with increasing frequency in these images – undoubtedly, it was Fu Wenjing.

Que Yining actually wanted to fast-forward through this part of the memory. After all, she didn’t want to know how a tragic, obsessive love had occurred. But she still watched it all, trying not to miss any information.

These memories were not complete, silently narrating the first half of a girl’s life.

These memories were all subjective. Que Yining couldn’t glean any other information from them. In most of the fragmented memories after the original owner fell for Fu Wenjing, she didn’t see anyone else.

Soon, a turning point occurred, because in these images, a woman entered the original owner’s line of sight.

Que Yining perked up, watching with keen interest how the Miss Gu from the book appeared in the original owner’s eyes.

Although she had an identical face, Que Yining could immediately sense that the Gu Shanxue appearing in this memory and the Gu Shanxue she knew were not the same person at all.

That feeling was quite magical; one could instantly distinguish between unfamiliarity and familiarity. As long as one was sufficiently familiar and fond, even if the other person had an identical face, one could detect that subtle difference in an instant.

The original owner’s attitude towards this Gu Shanxue was undoubtedly one of rejection. From her perspective, Fu Wenjing, who had previously only treated her with indifference, began to actively reject her. The jealousy and hatred in her heart grew like weeds, almost engulfing her entirely.

She committed one foolish and malicious act of framing after another. After being discovered, she was targeted even more severely, but she didn’t give up. That twisted emotion of hatred had far surpassed her love for Fu Wenjing. The last time, she collaborated with Gu Shanxue’s enemy and almost got Gu Shanxue killed.

After that, Fu Wenjing began his revenge.

The Que family’s businesses ran into successive problems. Only then did this arrogant, foolish, and malicious woman realize the consequences of her actions.

But regret was useless; she had to pay the price for her actions.

Que Yining didn’t sympathize with her; after all, she had brought all of this upon herself.

She was merely an outsider, continuing to observe everything.

The original owner was willing to submit to the law. She planned to beg Fu Wenjing and Gu Shanxue, hoping to bear all the blame herself and not implicate her family further. It was at this moment that she received a phone call.

Que Yining, like a spirit, stood opposite the original owner, looking at her face.

“Ningning, quickly pack your things and go abroad! Hurry, the farther the better!”

On the other end of the phone, Que Zixi’s voice was anxious, her tone urgent.

“Sister… I can’t. I did all of this. I implicated all of you. I will…”

“No, you quickly…”

Que Zixi’s voice abruptly stopped.

“Sister?”

“Beep, beep, beep…”

Only the sound of a disconnected line came from the phone, like some ominous premonition.

The scene before her twisted, and the balcony Que Yining had seen before appeared.

An unfinished portrait, paintbrushes fallen on the floor, red paint snaking across the ground, a corpse lying on the ground with its eyes open.

“Fell to her death by accident? Impossible, absolutely impossible! My sister was murdered!”

Shoving, shouting, crying, a cold verdict. She walked forward, distraught, when suddenly a possibility occurred to her.

“It must be his revenge! If he hadn’t signaled it, how could the case have been closed so quickly… It must be…”

Que Yining watched her run forward, already knowing what scene would follow.

Arguing, being knocked unconscious, being murdered.

The icy river water carried a fishy smell; the moonlight falling on the river surface rippled with the waves.

The images Que Yining had seen before were now pieced together completely. The memories stored in this body emerged in their entirety.

Que Yining thought the scene would end there, but unexpectedly, it wasn’t over yet.

The corpse sunk at the bottom of the river floated to the surface because the ropes loosened. The bloated body, with its black hair drifting, looked desolate and eerie under the moonlight.

In that instant, Que Yining saw the corpse open its eyes. Like something out of a horror thriller, the corpse stepped onto the shore, its figure slowly slimming down, returning to its appearance before death. Oblivious to Que Yining standing nearby, it walked towards a certain place.

The Que family was in utter chaos. She stood in the mourning hall, with Que Yining standing beside her.

A condoling guest shook their head and sighed, “Who knows what sins the Que family committed? The third daughter just died, the fourth daughter went missing, the second daughter just had a car accident and is critically ill in the hospital. Old Master Que couldn’t take the blow, had a cerebral hemorrhage, and couldn’t be saved. The old madam is also bedridden and doesn’t have much time left. In an instant, only the eldest son is left in the entire family. How pitiful.”

“Shh, not so loud! Don’t you know? It’s all because of the sins of their youngest daughter.”

Que Yining tilted her head and saw tears of blood streaming down her face.

In that instant, she suddenly understood. The original owner’s resentment perhaps wasn’t about her own death at all, but because she believed she had caused her entire family’s demise.

Just like the content of her argument with Fu Wenjing: she could die for her mistakes, but she hoped he wouldn’t retaliate against her family anymore.

Que Yining couldn’t help but sigh, sighing that the original owner never knew, even in death, who truly wanted to harm her family.

This matter was truly both tragic and laughable, but for those involved, it was very difficult to see through.

After that great fire back then, she too had believed those relatives who wished they could skin her alive and tear her apart, thinking they were genuinely protecting her. When she learned the truth, it was incredibly ironic.

The mourning hall before her was gradually submerged by blood-red river water, a sense of oppression coming from all directions.

In this blood-red expanse, Que Yining saw a leap in time.

At a certain moment, the river water turned into flat land. The overgrown, desolate area reeked of the fishy smell of water.

‘She’ walked towards the shore, drenched, her hair spread out behind her, like a ghost in broad daylight.

Passing through the desolate land, through the traffic, the sky’s light was obscured by grayish-white clouds, casting a dim and unclear light upon the mortal world.

‘She’ was a lone soul, indifferent to any obstruction.

She walked into an alley, water seeping from beneath her feet as she passed through.

‘She’ walked back to her own home. On the bed lay her former self, quiet, already without breath.

‘She’ lay down, but a moment later, ‘she’ sat up again, letting out a mournful cry.

The dense resentment allowed Que Yining to see an almost tangible blackness. That blackness mixed with blood-red, and in an instant, space distorted.

In a sea of flames, Que Yining saw herself smiling, sitting on that chair, a high-heeled shoe dangling from her toes.

This was also what she had once seen in the original owner’s memories. At that time, she thought she had merely dreamed of herself; it turned out that was also the original owner’s memory.

A wisp of white smoke appeared again before Que Yining. She looked at her past self, looked at the ‘her’ gazing at her, and grabbed the wisp of white smoke.

The world spun, and in an instant, clarity returned.

Que Yining opened her eyes and saw a white ceiling.

The smell of disinfectant floated in the air. She had been here for a long time and immediately realized it was a hospital.

She sat up and saw the Que parents and Que Zixi sitting on the sofa.

Thankfully, she hadn’t gone to some strange place.

The sky outside was already dark. Que Yining looked at the smart clock on the wall and realized she had actually slept for a day and a night.

“You’re awake! Did you remember anything? Did you see anything?”

Que Zixi noticed she was awake and immediately walked over, asking her anxiously.

You Lanqing also hurried over, but as she neared Que Yining, her steps slowed hesitantly, her expression complex as she looked at Que Yining.

Seeing their expressions, Que Yining knew they must have found out something.

This was good too. Que Yining silently breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. It was much better than her having to cruelly state all of this herself; she wasn’t very good at handling such scenes.

“Yes, let me gather my thoughts.”

Que Yining nodded. As soon as she spoke, it completely shattered any lingering delusions the Que parents might have had. You Lanqing’s eyes filled with tears, and she leaned on her husband to keep from collapsing.

Que Yining saw everything very clearly, even understanding how she herself had come here.

The original owner’s resentment was very strong. Her soul had lingered at the bottom of the water, refusing to disperse. She must have used some method to return to the past, wanting to start over herself. But for some reason, she couldn’t re-enter her own body, so she used some method to find her and have her live on in her place.

But she hadn’t said anything, not even leaving a single word. When Que Yining arrived, she knew nothing.

“Who harmed her?”

Que Hanyi stared at Que Yining, waiting for her answer.

“Que Linyang.”

Que Yining said with certainty.

That passage she had once heard became clear just now; that sighing, sarcastic voice undoubtedly came from Que Linyang.

‘Sitting alone beneath the yellow glow of the rapeseed oil lamp, I contemplate Xianglin Sao—this utterly desolate soul, a discarded relic once left to rot in the refuse heap, her remnants lingering in the dust as a tiresome spectacle to those who lead vibrant lives, who surely questioned why she persisted at all—now finally swept clean by the hand of impermanence.’

“I’ve already found a lot of evidence. He has done many things you don’t know about.”

Que Yining took out her phone and presented the data backed up on it to the Que family, one by one.

The room was so quiet that only her voice could be heard. The other three seemed as if they had stopped breathing, huddled together, shrouded in gloom.

After Que Yining finished speaking, she sighed and then recounted what she had seen.

She concealed the matter of the book and omitted Gu Shanxue’s name from the story, only saying that person was Fu Wenjing’s lover, and recounted the events.

Without any concealment, including the original owner’s faults, her repentance, her resentment, and their ending.

This was actually a closed loop. If she hadn’t been brought here by the original owner, then the future would have been just like that past.

The Que family looked as if they had lost their hearts and souls. It took them a long time to recover, finding it somewhat difficult to accept this reality.

You Lanqing was having trouble breathing. Que Zixi, tears streaming down her face, comforted her, afraid she might pass out.

You Lanqing muttered, “What a sin,” crying until her voice was hoarse. She clung to Que Zixi as if for support.

Que Hanyi was also shedding tears freely in his old age. He wiped his eyes with a handkerchief.

“If Ningning really did those outrageous things as you said, she deserved to be punished, she deserved to admit her mistakes. If we had to bear responsibility for her, we would have no complaints. It was us who didn’t teach her well, letting her become like that. But we didn’t owe that beast anything at all, not a single thing!”

Que Hanyi’s voice sounded as if he was about to weep blood, his eyes wide and glaring, filled with rage.

“It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t been blind back then and brought that ungrateful wolf into our home, things wouldn’t be like this now.”

You Lanqing said bitterly. She had seen Que Linyang was pitiful and brought him into the family. She didn’t even change his given name, only gave him their surname. Her second daughter was brought back by her husband from an orphanage when she was seven or eight, and her name wasn’t changed either. She had hoped they would remember the kindness of their biological parents and also remember their kindness.

But she had thought too well of people. She never expected them to be such ungrateful wolves, not only biting the hand that fed them but even trying to drive them to their deaths.

“Uncle, Auntie…”

Que Yining began hesitantly, but You Lanqing immediately interrupted her.

“No, don’t call us that. Still call us Dad and Mom,” You Lanqing sobbed, nearly getting agitated again at hearing ‘Auntie’. “Child, I know you’re a good child. Ningning asked you to come, also for you to live well in her stead. You’ve done so much for our family without a word. Looking at you, I also feel a connection. Please don’t be so distant…”

You Lanqing was sobbing uncontrollably, her voice full of tremors.

They couldn’t treat Que Yining as their biological daughter now, but they also couldn’t treat her as a stranger.

“Okay, Dad, Mom. Don’t be too sad. Take good care of your health. This is her greatest wish – for you to be safe, sound, and healthy.”

Que Yining comforted them sincerely. She didn’t mind if Papa Que and Mama Que saw her as a reminder or a continuation of their feelings for the original owner. Regardless of the reason, she had gained a new life because of the original owner.

Even though the original owner had never said a word to her, she knew this must be her wish.

She comforted the elderly couple, then told them her plan, asking them to take care of themselves. She had already made arrangements; they just needed to follow her plan and not reveal anything to Que Linyang yet.

Que Hanyi and You Lanqing nodded, without any objection.

They were no longer young, and their mental energy had been severely drained that day. They supported each other and went to the next room to rest. Que Zixi also went with them.

Que Yining looked at her right leg, still unable to walk, and let out a sigh.

In the silence, Que Yining suddenly thought of something.

When she first arrived here, Xiao Lin from the beauty salon had mentioned seeing her walk into an alley, soaking wet, while giving her a facial… Wasn’t that what she had just seen? How could Xiao Lin have seen the original owner’s spirit?

Que Yining immediately made a call to inquire, and her heart sank when she heard the answer.

“You’re asking about that Xiao Lin? Sigh, it’s sad to talk about. She passed away almost six months ago. Drowned while saving someone. So young, what a pity.”

After asking for the approximate time, Que Yining hung up the phone.

Xiao Lin passed away a few days after saying those words. Perhaps it was because she was close to death that a living person could see a ghost.

Que Yining stared at her palm, somewhat lost in a daze.

Her heart felt an indescribable complexity, and another emotion quietly emerged. The illusion that never belonged to her, which had made her fearful, was now broken. Logically, she should feel relieved, but along with the relief, she also felt a sense of loneliness.

The door opened again. The sound of footsteps made her look up, her gaze meeting a pair of anxious eyes.

“You’re awake! Why didn’t you reply to my messages? After you messaged me last night, you didn’t reply to any today. I called Uncle and Auntie, but they didn’t pick up, and Xiao Qiao didn’t know anything either. I only found out you were unconscious for a day after I investigated. Are you okay now? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”

Gu Shanxue had probably run from the elevator; she was still a little out of breath and had uncharacteristically said a long string of words.

She had immediately booked a ticket and flown back upon hearing the news. Originally, she had planned to compress her work until Wednesday morning and return after finishing, but unexpectedly, Que Yining had an accident first, so she couldn’t care about anything else.

Que Yining shook her head, looking quietly at Gu Shanxue. Her eyes were veiled with a layer of mist, refracting the light.

She reached out, wrapped her arms around Gu Shanxue’s waist, and leaned into her embrace.

Gu Shanxue felt the warmth in her arms, her breathing calmed, and she raised her hand to gently and soothingly stroke the top of her head.

She’s sad again, Gu Shanxue thought.

She didn’t ask why, just quietly stayed with her, waiting for her to get through these negative emotions.

“Shanxue…”

Que Yining murmured, silently thanking Gu Shanxue in her heart.

Thanking her for making her feel that this world wasn’t so lonely after all.

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