Qingshan Hospital, 11:30 PM.
Old Liu, the doctor on duty tonight, had just poured himself a strong cup of tea when the door was kicked open with a loud bang.
"What are you doing?" Old Liu shouted angrily.
"Second Blade, hold him down."
"Where?"
"On the table."
Second Blade strode over to Old Liu and slammed his head onto the table with a thud.
Half of Old Liu's face burned with pain.
Brother Pao, pushing Chen Shuo and Wang Huiling into the room, spoke calmly, "Chen Shuo confessed that you took fifty thousand from him to conspire and lock his nephew in a mental hospital?"
Old Liu roared, "Help! Help! There’s a disturbance!"
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed in the hallway, but Brother Pao remained unfazed.
He slowly took off his Tang suit, rolled up his shirt sleeves, revealing tattoos and muscles.
Like a primal beast shedding its disguise, everyone in his sight should value their lives.
As two male nurses appeared at the door, Brother Pao leaned slightly to the right, dodging a punch.
In the next second, his hook fist struck one nurse’s jaw, leaving him stiff.
Before the other nurse could react, Brother Pao moved like a jaguar and delivered another hook punch to his jaw.
"Too weak."
Only after he spoke did the two nurses collapse like logs, unconscious.
Brother Pao turned to Old Liu, still pinned to the table, "Anyone else?"
"N-no."
"Can we talk properly now?"
"Yes! Yes!"
"Good. All three of you, squat in a row," Brother Pao pulled up a chair, crossed his legs, and lit a cigarette, "Does Chen Ji really have a mental illness?"
"No, no," Old Liu stammered, "He’s just a bit eccentric, with slight violent and depressive tendencies. He’s not really ill."
Brother Pao took a drag, "Strange. If he anticipated your moves, why did he end up here?"
"He wanted to use you to get back at us!"
Brother Pao shook his head, "No, he knew what I do. He could’ve just paid me to break your legs. Why go through the trouble of getting himself locked up?"
Chen Shuo: "..."
Brother Pao suddenly asked, "Did you kill his parents?"
Chen Shuo looked like he wanted to cry, "His parents died in a car accident. The driver was found. It had nothing to do with us."
Brother Pao gestured for Chen Shuo to hold out his hand, then flicked ash into his palm, "A seventeen-year-old kid loses his parents, and within six months, his uncle and aunt are after his house. Disgusting. And you, doctor, you’ve done this before, haven’t you?"
Old Liu panicked, "I’ve never harmed anyone! Those patients came to me willingly to avoid jail."
"Oh?" Brother Pao pondered, "What did they do?"
"Recently, there was a man named Wang Long in the underworld, dealing in earthworks. Half a year ago, he hit a couple with his car..."
Old Liu suddenly looked up at Brother Pao in terror.
With a sizzle, Brother Pao pressed the cigarette butt into Chen Shuo’s palm.
A scream echoed down the hallway.
Brother Pao put on his black Tang suit, grabbed Old Liu by his thinning hair, and dragged him out, "I know why he had to get into the mental hospital. You people are truly despicable. Second Blade, teach them a lesson. I’m taking this doctor to the sixth floor. Wang Long isn’t an easy man to deal with."
Chen Shuo trembled like a sieve, "This is a hospital! There are cameras! You can’t do this here!"
Second Blade scratched the scar on his bald head, "Brother Pao, execute immediately?"
"Repeatedly."
......
In the ward, snores filled the air.
Chen Ji lay on the bed, wide awake, staring at the ceiling.
He noticed that the patients here talked a lot in their sleep, and their words were hard to decipher.
In a daze, he felt like he was back in his childhood, hearing the clatter of a green train starting up.
As a child, Chen Ji was often sick.
In his dreams, he’d hear shouts of battle, so his father would take him to the capital for treatment.
When they couldn’t afford tickets, they’d buy standing room on the green train.
They’d sit in the space between carriages.
When Chen Ji got tired, he’d sleep in his father’s arms.
When he was hungry, his father would take out instant noodles from his bag, queue for hot water, and let Chen Ji eat first.
When he woke up, Chen Ji would press his face against the window, asking endless questions, and his father would patiently answer.
By the time he was twelve, his illness was cured, and his father had made enough money to buy a villa.
On summer nights, his mother would teach him to use a flashlight to find cicadas that had just emerged from the ground.
They’d soak them in saltwater and fry them.
During the New Year, his mother would cut paper decorations with him, paste spring couplets, and steam beautifully shaped buns.
On the hospital bed, Chen Ji absentmindedly wiped away a tear.
Li Qingniao appeared by his bedside, "Now, sell me something, and I’ll answer one more question."
Chen Ji’s eyes were empty yet deep, "What do you want to buy?"
"Cicadas."
"How old?"
"Twelve."
"Not for sale."
Just then, Chen Shuo’s screams echoed through the hospital.
Time was running out.
Chen Ji jumped off the bed, took a dagger from a strap on his thigh, and ran to a corner of the ward.
He was scared—scared of what he was about to do, and scared of the consequences.
But he had no choice.
Wang Long, drunk, had hit and killed a couple, then fled the scene.
The victims died due to delayed treatment.
The next day, Wang Long turned himself in but had already obtained a diagnosis from Qingshan Mental Hospital.
The court was supposed to review the diagnosis, but Wang Long’s family gathered over sixty earthwork drivers to cause a scene, and the case was dropped.
Wang Long escaped trial and stayed in Qingshan Hospital.
But how could he escape judgment?
Chen Ji silently approached Wang Long’s bed and thrust the dagger down.
Wang Long’s eyes snapped open, and he grabbed Chen Ji’s wrist with strong hands, sneering, "Did you really think I didn’t know you?"
During the lawsuit, Chen Ji had always let his lawyer handle things, so he and Wang Long had never met.
But Wang Long, wanting to settle with the victims’ family, had naturally investigated him.
So when Wang Long saw Chen Ji here, he knew exactly what Chen Ji was up to.
He said urgently, "I can give you more money! A lot of money! Your parents are gone, you need to move on!"
He didn’t want to kill again.
If he did, he’d be stuck here forever.
Chen Ji silently pressed the blade down, inching closer to Wang Long’s chest.
"Looking to die!" Wang Long, much stronger than the young boy, roared and wrestled the dagger from Chen Ji’s hand, stabbing it into Chen Ji’s left side, piercing his ribs.
Wang Long thought this strike would render Chen Ji powerless, but to his surprise, Chen Ji didn’t resist.
Instead, he took advantage of Wang Long’s open stance and lunged like a beast, biting into Wang Long’s carotid artery.
Blood seeped from Chen Ji’s lips, staining the pillow dark purple.
Chen Ji felt the metallic taste of blood, the sensation of it spurting into his mouth and flowing out.
This was his first act of revenge, and his heart trembled with fear, but he clenched his teeth and refused to let go.
Wang Long felt the pain in his neck, like an electric shock, a sense of impending death.
He pulled the dagger from Chen Ji’s abdomen and stabbed again, "Let go!"
"Let go!"
"Let go..."
With each shout and stab, Chen Ji remained silent, only biting down harder, tearing a chunk of flesh from Wang Long’s neck.
Wang Long’s pupils began to dilate.
As he twisted the dagger, he muttered, "Was it worth it? Was it worth it..."
But Wang Long didn’t understand—for Chen Ji, his life had been stuck in the past since that car accident, endless and inescapable.
The dark purple blood spread over the white pillow, just as it had spread over Chen Ji’s life.
With a click, the iron door of the ward opened from the outside.
Brother Pao, in his black Tang suit, dragged Old Liu by the hair into the room.
Wang Long’s right hand finally released the dagger, falling limp.
Chen Ji, covered in blood, looked up at Brother Pao, trembling—whether from fear or the rush of adrenaline, it was hard to tell.
Brother Pao sighed, "Too late."
Chen Ji slumped at the foot of the bed, clutching his wound, and whispered to Brother Pao, "Sorry."
Brother Pao knew the boy was apologizing for using him.
He grinned, "It’s fine. Even if you’re about to die, it’s not too late to get to know each other. My real name is Chen Chong, but my friends call me Brother Pao."
"Alright, Brother Pao."
"First time killing someone? Calm before the act, full force during, no nonsense. I like that," Brother Pao kicked Old Liu aside and lit another cigarette.
Chen Ji smiled bitterly, "Still going to die."
As he spoke, blood continued to flow from his wound.
"Want a smoke?"
"No."
"Need help?"
"My phone is with Dr. Liu. It should have evidence of his illegal dealings with my uncle. Help me send it out."
Brother Pao didn’t expect the boy to still seek justice for his enemies even in his final moments...
He sat beside Chen Ji and asked, "Any last wishes?"
"None," Chen Ji’s voice grew weaker.
Sleepiness washed over him, but he didn’t want to close his eyes.
He gazed out the window at the crescent moon.
In the ward, the patients slowly got up, silently watching.
Li Qingniao approached Chen Ji, gently closing his eyes, and whispered, "Sigh for the fleeting horse in the gap, the fire in the stone, the body in the dream. The forty-nine heavens can’t keep you. Go, to where you belong."
After speaking, he returned to his dazed state, sitting by the bed.
Brother Pao draped his black Tang suit over Chen Ji and walked into the darkness outside the ward, "What a pity, we met too late."
(End of Chapter)