He said: "A Xu."
You Mingxu forced back her tears, instinctively glanced around, and remembered that with Guan Jun present, perhaps the police hadn't noticed at all.
Even if they had, she had nothing to hide. She would say what needed to be said.
A text input box appeared at the bottom of the screen. She typed: "I'm here."
The screen remained silent for a moment.
Then he said: "Everyone judges me guilty. What about you?"
You Mingxu replied: "Perhaps."
He paused again before saying: "Then what do you intend to do?"
You Mingxu's nose stung, and her vision blurred with unshed tears. Yet she typed slowly and clearly, character by character: "Search for evidence. Either clear your name, or arrest you and wait for you."
He asked: "What if the waiting never ends?"
You Mingxu: "Then it never ends."
After a long silence, he finally replied: "Alright, it's settled."
You Mingxu could no longer see clearly through her tears. She pressed her hand against her face, droplets falling onto the screen.
On the other end, Yin Feng sat alone before the computer arranged by Guan Jun. Had anyone seen him then, they would have witnessed how this man who seemed to have shed no tears for years now held the lonely shimmer of an entire starry night in his deeply set eyes.
He typed again: "A Xu, listen. The most likely possibility is that I have a second personality. He created the Punisher. I saw it in memory fragments—the person we've been searching for all along is me."
You Mingxu had vaguely guessed this answer, yet she didn't know how to respond. In the end, she only typed two words: "Understood."
Facing the screen, Yin Feng slowly formed a soundless smile. He knew she understood—she always understood him. Even the filth and darkness within him.
Yin Feng said: "If it's truly confirmed to be me in the end, I will commit suicide. That way, we'll be even."
You Mingxu covered her mouth tightly, her fingertips trembling faintly. She couldn't type a single word.
Yet he continued: "From now on, whenever you encounter someone with the surname Yin, walk the other way."
...If something happens to you, I won't forgive you. I won't kill myself either—I don't live for you. But I will never think of you again, never see Chen Feng and the others again, never return to the villa. I won't even mention your name. Any conclusions from criminal psychology behavioral analysis—I'll never listen again. Whenever I see someone with the surname Yin, I'll walk the other way.
...
Those past words spoken in anger still echoed vaguely in her ears. So he remembered them so clearly.
You Mingxu only replied with two words: "Enough."
He fell silent for a moment before saying: "I'm sorry. It turns out there's another thing in this world that would make me choose suicide."
You Mingxu wanted to weep bitterly but couldn't make a sound. She had countless words she wanted to say to him, questions she wanted to ask, yet she couldn't type anything. She thought back to the first day she met Yin Feng—he had always been a scoundrel, always owing her, and now he wanted to remain indebted forever. He promised affection then forgot; vowed not to trouble her again, yet held her saying he was a Paranoiac begging her to return.
Swore she couldn't have anyone else, yet now told her to avoid anyone named Yin for the rest of her life.
You Mingxu slowly typed a line: "Are you trying to take my life?"
On the other end, Yin Feng turned to look out the window. The line of his jaw was rigid as stone.The silence seemed to seep through the screen, spreading wordlessly. You Mingxu suddenly felt as if all her strength had drained away, and she asked quietly, "Yin Feng, is this the outcome for you and me? Is this our ending?"
From Tibet to Guizhou to Xiangcheng, from You Yingjun to Yin Feng, from separation to companionship—how many mountains had they crossed together? How many guilty people had they caught? How many innocent lives had they saved? And this was their ending? In the end, he was merely a passerby in her life. He wouldn’t stay with his A Xu forever after all.
It took Yin Feng a long while to reply: "No, it’s not. I’m not ready to admit defeat yet."
You Mingxu froze for a moment, tears streaming down her cheeks, yet she let out a foolish laugh. She knew it—how could he possibly give up so easily? This was probably the outcome he feared most in his heart, and he had spoken it aloud to her. But… unease spread through You Mingxu’s heart. Even if he refused to admit defeat, what could they do? If the real culprit truly was his second personality…
Yin Feng said, "I don’t believe it."
You Mingxu asked, "Don’t believe what?"
He replied, "I don’t believe this Soul has already fallen into depravity. I don’t believe I’ve been living in sin without even realizing it. I don’t believe all the torment and perseverance I’ve endured have been nothing but a joke. Most importantly, I don’t believe that if there really is a 'him' out there, I would lose to him without putting up any resistance. That’s impossible."
You Mingxu’s heart trembled. Yin Feng’s words were purely his subjective will and belief, yet she found herself believing him. It was like catching a glimpse of light in the pitch-black depths of a valley—a slender, bright sliver, narrow as a crescent moon, yet compelling enough to make her reach out, grasp it tightly, and use it to tear through the darkness and the abyss, returning to a world of clarity and light.
"Go on!" You Mingxu urged, her tone even somewhat impatient.
On the other end, Yin Feng, reading her words, slowly smiled. Yet his smile remained pale and subdued.
He said, "A Xu, right now, all the evidence and witnesses point to me. Including Chen Feng’s testimony, including the memories in my own mind. But what if all of this is a frame-up?
You once said something to me—unreasonable, yet full of reason. You said, if a certain hypothesis leads us to an outcome we absolutely don’t want to see, then why should we even consider it? If everything really was done by my second personality, then it’s all over. My life would be a complete failure.
So I’ve decided—no matter what reason and evidence tell me—I’m going to treat that hypothesis as invalid.
Chen Feng may have seen me and Su Ziyi tormenting Li Mingdi. I may have recalled standing alongside Yin Chen. But what if these are merely appearances, and there’s more beneath the surface? Or what if this is exactly what they want us to see and believe? What if I don’t have a second personality at all? Then what is the truth? A Xu, are you willing to follow this hypothesis and keep investigating with me?"
Reason whispered that this possibility might be slim, but emotion urged her to follow without hesitation. You Mingxu blurted out, "Yes!"
Seeing those two words appear, Yin Feng felt as though a small, fiery red flower had bloomed amidst the ruins of his heart.
He fell into silence.That night, when he heard Chen Feng's accusations and glimpsed that unfamiliar version of himself in his memories, they struck suddenly yet had long been foreshadowed, falling seamlessly into place. His beliefs and rationality nearly crumbled instantaneously, beyond any resistance. Overwhelming rage and agony threatened to drown him in an instant.
With bloodshot eyes, he saw Li Mingdi lying on the hospital bed.
This man who appeared innocent and fragile, yet whom he detested to the extreme.
A voice abruptly echoed in his mind:
Kill him, and all witnesses and evidence will become void.
Kill him, as if nothing had ever happened.
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