Jiang Nanshu entered, Zhou Yanbai was looking up at the hibiscus tree in the courtyard.
Although it was not the blooming season, the leaves were lush green.
Uncle Qi was sitting outside the main gate, with Xiao Xiao squatting at his feet.
This scene seemed harmonious, but the person who appeared was Zhou Yanbai, the Demon.
Jiang Nanshu stopped, her gaze coldly fixed on him, “What are you doing here?”
When Zhou Yanbai heard her, he turned his head to look at her, his handsome face showing not the slightest annoyance but rather a curious gaze.
“This is my brother’s house, can’t I come?”
Jiang Nanshu felt sick just listening to him casually mention Zhou Yanxu.
“This house is now registered in my name. Please leave, don’t force me to act.”
“Pfft.” Zhou Yanbai suddenly burst out laughing, pulling a fruit knife from his sleeve and throwing it at Jiang Nanshu’s feet, “I actually wish you would act, better yet, stab me to death.”
Jiang Nanshu kicked the knife away, “Your blood is too dirty, don’t dirty my doorstep, roll away on your own.”
Zhou Yanbai tilted his head slightly; he was taller than Jiang Nanshu, but she was no less imposing than him.
Zhou Yanbai laughed, “You’ve changed, Jiang Nanshu. I still prefer the old you who, in madness, disregarded everything. You should be stabbing me. How can you remain so calm? You make me feel estranged. Couldn’t it be that your year-plus life in the Otherworldly actually gave you a conscience?”
Saying this, Zhou Yanbai laughed out loud, tears rolling down his cheeks.
Jiang Nanshu watched him with a complexity of emotions.
He truly needed the mental hospital, seeing what a demented state he was in.
Laughing and talking on his own.
When Zhou Yanbai noticed Jiang Nanshu’s gaze, his laughter abruptly stopped, and he asked bewilderedly, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Jiang Nanshu, “This is my first time seeing Dian Gong in a frenzy, just a bit curious.”
Zhou Yanbai smiled, “We are the same kind, Jiang Nanshu.”
Jiang Nanshu’s breath hitched, what was that?
Was this how others saw her in the past?
She wasn’t that exaggerated, was she?
Zhou Yanbai, still talking to himself, “In another world, the first moment I saw you, I felt inexplicably familiar. You know what this is called? Only kindred spirits can resonate with each other.”
“But you’re even greater than me, managing to make others die for you. You know Lu Qingyan, right? I heard he pulled your body from the sea, holding on to it, not letting go, not allowing anyone to touch you. He went mad, mad enough to hide a corpse.”
“Then one morning, he was found having committed suicide by wrist-cutting, truly so foolish. How could there be such a fool? Jiang Nanshu, your heart is quite cruel, just abandoning him like that. The more I think about it, the more I admire you, what should I do?”
Jiang Nanshu watched him coldly.
His words couldn’t harm her in the slightest.
Zhou Yanbai also realized this.
His gaze transformed from initial probing to obsession.
“Only a calm woman like you, who could abandon me at any moment, suits me. Su Ran is too clingy, she’s disgusting. I still prefer the feeling when she abandoned me to return to our country to find another man; I’ll find that pleasure in tormenting her.”
Jiang Nanshu watched him, holding back words, his mental state was truly twisted.
“Could he be a masochist or something?”
She grabbed his collar and yanked him out vehemently, throwing his knife out along with him, “Psycho.”
Jiang Nanshu slammed the door shut, and the world finally regained its peace.
But there sat Uncle Qi, unmoving.
Although he might not have heard their conversation, he must have seen Zhou Yanbai’s unstable demeanor.
He didn’t say anything,
just a hint of pity in his eyes.
Jiang Nanshu hadn’t noticed before, since she used to be the one who acted crazy.
Now that her mood had calmed down, Zhou Yanbai seemed like a lunatic to her.
It was truly horrifying.
“Uncle Qi, don’t you think there’s something wrong with him? Like he’s high or something.”
Hearing this, Uncle Qi sighed deeply, “The young master’s worldview is somewhat distorted, possibly due to the environment he grew up in. I only realized today that the lively and cheerful young master of the past is dead, and now, he is filled with hatred inside.”
Jiang Nanshu was silent for a moment before slowly saying, “Then do you know the cause of Zhou Yanxu’s death? He was killed by a scheme devised by Zhou Yanbai. Just because Zhou Yanbai is filled with hatred, does that give him the right to plot and kill his own brother? How innocent Zhou Yanxu was to be treated like this… He could have lived much longer.”
If Zhou Yanxu hadn’t died, none of these things would have followed.
She wouldn’t have possibly traveled through time, met so many people, and encountered so much.
She should have been revolving around Zhou Yanxu, focusing solely on his emotions, only learning skills that could help him.
If things were a bit better, she would have already married Zhou Yanxu
by the time she turned twenty.
Uncle Qi just sadly looked at Jiang Nanshu.
At that moment, Jiang Nanshu’s heart plummeted.
She suddenly understood something.
Her throat choked up, her eyes filled with disbelief, “So, you knew all along… Uncle Qi?”
With his head lowered, Uncle Qi’s expression showed some helplessness, “I’m sorry, miss. I knew everything from the beginning, but I couldn’t expose his crimes because he is the young master… the brother who was told to be well taken care of even on his deathbed.”
Jiang Nanshu’s heart grew colder inch by inch.
She thought there wouldn’t be another betrayal in her life, but when it actually happened, it hurt to the marrow of her bones.
“Then do you know… how I got through those three years after Zhou Yanxu died? I spent them under his oppression, being toyed with and tormented. I couldn’t even study properly; I had to satisfy his disgusting whims every day. I was Zhou Yanxu’s designated heir but never recognized. I treated you like family. I didn’t want you to be in danger, didn’t want you to become a thorn in Zhou Yanbai’s side, and I even kept you from knowing the reasons behind Zhou Yanxu’s death. I feared you would be heartbroken, feared being utterly alone again, but now you tell me you knew all along. You watched me struggle to survive under his hand. You could have helped me, but you chose not to, didn’t you?”
With each word Jiang Nanshu said, she felt her strength draining.
She thought… Uncle Qi would be like family to her in this world, despite not being related by blood.
But she had forgotten.
Uncle Qi… was the Zhou family’s butler.
Uncle Qi was in pain too, suddenly not wanting to hide it anymore.
His figure seemed even more aged as he deeply sighed, “The young master was traumatized as a child, his mind isn’t right. He was diagnosed with manic-depression at the age of ten, and it was the elder young master who stayed by his side and healed him. Only when he was with the elder young master would he not become ill. And you, cherished by the elder young master… When you were taken away, I thought letting him vent his anger would be enough… but one wrong step led to another. Miss, it was my fault.”