Best-Case Scenario

If it was the old Liu Xiaodan, he would have been scared to the bones by the way Tang Mingming smiled at him. However, he was different now... and he did remember Guangru saying it clearly: he threw the bodies in the incinerator. Because of this, he only laughed out.

"Ming... Guangru told me where the bodies went. Don't mess with me." Liu Xiaodan even reached out and petted the pretty boy. Tang Mingming's eyes grew wider as he was voluntarily touched by someone, and even if he hated human touches, his body didn't repulse Liu Xiaodan's hands.

It was as if a fellow ghost was touching him after all.

The pretty boy only twisted his lips. "Fine, well, maybe most bodies from that time were sent to the incinerator, but I'm pretty sure I had eaten a number of dead people already. Besides, if I haven't, with the number of ghosts in here; it would be strange if bodies don't turn up, don't you think?"

Liu Xiaodan recalled his hand and smiled kindly at one of the supposed apex haunters of the prison. "Alright, I'll believe you now. Do you mind coming with me later? Talking to the woman in the black bag?"

"Hmph, I'm in a sulky mood now because of you." Tang Mingming pouted before getting to his feet. "I'd rather watch from the sides than to be seen with you for now. Is that okay?"

"It's okay. Take care in roaming around." Liu Xiaodan didn't force Tang Mingming and Yi Junhai to come with him later. He only rolled to his side and closed his eyes to sleep. The presences behind him vanished gradually after receiving a patting at his shoulder.

He was getting used to this life... the life that came after he met Guangru. Perhaps it was a mistake to talk to the child back then. However, the freedom that came with it weighed more than the price he had to pay in his heart.

The magic one who had long kept to himself was now unchained from the scrutinizing eyes of society. He could speak with ghosts as much as he wanted to without being scolded and labeled a liar.

Without much effort, Liu Xiaodan fell asleep.

All that useless worrying from earlier was enough to feel exhausted. In his sleep, he dreamed about his parents and their smiling faces. Before the storm had hit them, he could still face everyone with nonchalance and still hope for their adoration and unadulterated laughs.

Days ago, he could still hold onto Chuan Nayi...

Perhaps she was the biggest bill he used to pay for his freedom. He could still speak with his friends and family, but he could never look at Chuan Nayi's eyes anymore. There was too much turbulence between them now, and he had already accepted the fact that she gave up on him.

In turn, he had also given up on her.

A pang echoed in Chuan Nayi's heart out of nowhere. She was still in her hospital bed, and a vacant bed was still next to her. Even if she asked for a room change before, she decided against it.

Liu Xiaodan was sent to jail because of his actions, and she felt so afraid because of it. She knew that she was the one that severed their ties, but why was she the one suffering?

"Nayi..." Jiang Yanyu walked in with a few folders in her arms. She was looking into the incidents and the court trial for her scoops. Now that the whole city heard that Liu Xiaodan was absolved from his charges, a majority of citizens were in an outrage. "Nayi, are you awake?"

"I am, Mom." Chuan Nayi sighed before looking up at her. "Did I choose wrong? Why does it hurt?"

"You didn't choose wrong; you just chose yourself over him." Jiang Yanyu only reached out and rubbed her daughter's face. That was the same for her and Chuan Nayi's father; they stepped away from each other and out of each other's lives.

The man soon remarried and lived with Chuan Nayi and the step-mother for a while before dying in an accident. The step-mother had left Chuan Nayi alone as well. Right now, all she had was her mother.

Chuan Nayi brought her gaze down and hugged herself. Her legs were healing quite well despite the state of her mind. She then leaned into her mother's touch. "Will Xiaodan forgive me for leaving him? When he needed me the most, I chose myself..."

Jiang Yanyu only stared at her daughter's face. "Feeling sad about it is normal. However, it's already too late to regret it, Nayi. Do you know? Liu Xiaodan just went to court earlier... but he was absolved. Then again, the judge ruled that he was still mentally unstable so he's going to be sent to Cherry. Do you know Cherry?"

The daughter felt like she had heard about that place before, but she couldn't pinpoint where she did exactly. Her eyes then met with her mother's gaze again before she was given a file.

Chuan Nayi frowned at the title page... as it was the documentation report of the four horsemen's legendary work, The Stimulus of Fear. She opened the file and scanned it.

Before she could ask her mother why she received it, her eyes caught familiar characters written on a certain page of the report. Her mouth went agape as she read the passage again and again.

It seemed that most research papers that built the foundation and theme of the documentary film... were produced by the doctors of Cherry Medical!

"Will Xiaodan be okay?" Chuan Nayi hurriedly brought down the papers and looked at her mother. "Mother, could you see him from time to time?"

"I'm sorry, honey. No one is allowed to see their patients. If you want me to source news about him for you, I might have to get support from someone 'big' enough to get a free pass." Jiang Yanyu had gone to this facility before, but their security and lockdown were so strict no one could possibly disturb them. "However, maybe the Li family could do something about it."

"The Li family?" Chuan Nayi frowned. Wasn't that where Li Feng came from? Why would they care for Liu Xiaodan who caused one of their youngsters to lose everything he worked so hard for? "Wouldn't it be quite a long shot, thinking that the Li family would still be interested in him?"

"Of course, they will be. Not only was Liu Xiaodan a blood cousin of their Li Feng, but the Mian family also wanted to get their hands on him." Jiang Yanyu only smiled at her daughter. "Why would they want a family member to be stuck in a nutcase...

"Which purpose was to secretly conduct experiments on their patients? They only say things that the patients had given consent to the examinations, but how could a retarded person understand the contract properly?

"Best-case scenario... they would be getting Liu Xiaodan out of there without overstepping the judicial sector. A simple change of mind due to considerations could land Liu Xiaodan in the lap of the Mian family... with the considerations named money."

Hearing about all these didn't make Chuan Nayi feel better. She was still scared for the man she had thrown away. Her hands clutched on her blanket, and her shoulders seemed to have doubled in weight. She had no more rights to worry about him, and yet...

How could she make these people let her have a say with what happens to Liu Xiaodan?

She pursed her lips. Right, she knew the answer all along.

Li Feng!

...

Ever since Li Feng ran out of the Mian Residence to avoid Mian Tianni, he was nowhere to be found. Every day and night, Li Yunru had left voice messages on his phone; but he refused to answer them all. He didn't even return her calls.

How could he when he hadn't received them at all?

Li Feng had run out much that day, and he had met with an accident. The very next moment he woke up, he felt coldness was all over him.

Blood was all over his clothes, and a sharp pain was on his head. His fingers then crawled to his head and felt that cut on his scalp. He hissed and realized that he had been bathing in his blood for a while now.

"Where am I?" Li Feng tried to move, but his legs were also busted. He wanted to stand and get help for himself, but he was stuck in that paddy-field-like area. Was he thrown in a ditch?

"Right... I remember what happened." An angry roar then followed as he tried to make people notice someone was down there. "Ah! Help! Help me! I'm down here!"

Last night, he was headed home after escaping. However, he was cornered by some guys from school who were actually Ren Ditian's people. He denied his involvement with Liu Xiaodan and got into a fight with them.

When he saw an opening, he managed to run away from them. The next thing he knew was that he got hit by an incoming car. The state of his body sure did have traces of being hit by a rushing car.

At this moment, he was so sure that the person behind the wheel was among Ren Ditian's people. That stupid wastrel had been involved in a lot of bad dealings and syndicates. He was only safe up until then because he was using his status as the young master of the Ren family.

Right now, his men actually dumped Li Feng at a paddy? What were they thinking?!

Churn! Li Feng suddenly felt his tummy turn, and he had no choice but to hold onto it. Cold sweat ran down his back and the sides of his face. Without knowing, Li Feng was so sure that he was in the company of a ghost.

"Big Brother..." He twitched and felt his instincts scream in fright. "Big Brother..." The same voice echoed from behind him. "Big Brother, are you here to take Xiao Su home?"

Li Feng slowly turned and regretted it instantly. Just a meter behind him was a little girl crawling along the ground of the paddy. She was coated in mud, but her face still had visible areas.

What made her grotesque and worth the fear and panic... was that her head was turned upside down while her body was crouching properly. It was like her neck was rotated a-hundred-and-eighty degrees.

The little girl smiled, but blood trickled from the corner of her lips... and eyes and nose. "Please take Xiao Su home..."