“A few questions.”
After an unknown amount of time had passed, Li Yuan finally heard the girl’s voice from the back seat. Even she couldn’t explain why she felt relieved. She was almost ten years older than the girl, yet in terms of presence, it was like she was handing her holiday homework to the class teacher for checking, while she herself stood nervously in the teachers’ office waiting for the teacher to finish reading through it. ‘These ten years have truly been lived like a dog’s,’ she thought resentfully. Somewhat sulkily, she turned the steering wheel and pulled over to the side of the road, then asked the girl behind her, “So, what’s the problem?”
Qi Xin nodded and handed her a photo. “Here, the bloodstains found in the living room, besides my mother’s, there are other people’s. Whose? Where exactly? Why is there blood here? Did they… get into a conflict?”
Li Yuan took the photo and tapped on the disheveled tables and chairs in the picture, and on a lace cushion on a pulled-out wooden chair soaked through with blood. “The bloodstains near the seat, after testing, all came from your mother. But the bloodstains near the corridor, after testing, are not human blood—”
“Evil Ghost blood?” Qi Xin asked. “Can ghosts get injured?”
Li Yuan shook her head. “It might not be an injury. The owner of that blood is clearly your mother’s companion. With ghosts, anything is possible. Some ghosts are covered in blood from the moment they are born and leave bloodstains when they walk even without being injured. Another possibility is that your mother made some kind of contract with her, so injuries are shared and transferred. Of course, all of this is just speculation for now. There’s too little solid evidence…”
Qi Xin listened quietly. She suddenly noticed that Li Yuan had hard calluses on the web of her right hand and the joints of her slender index finger—obviously, she was right-handed and often gripped something like the handle of a single-handed cold weapon… Or maybe it was just from playing badminton a lot?
She suddenly asked, “Do you like to play badminton?”
Li Yuan was taken aback, and said a little embarrassed, “I’m not very good at badminton… Uh, among sports, I prefer swimming and mountain climbing.”
Qi Xin nodded. “I see. Go on.”
If it were anyone else, she wouldn’t have interrupted so abruptly to ask. But from their brief interactions these past few days, she had roughly figured out how unguarded the woman in front of her was—it was a naturalness that couldn’t be faked. At heart, she wouldn’t be the first to suspect someone’s intentions. She had been too well protected by those around her. Qi Xin didn’t understand why the silent police officer had let her take charge of her. Could it be that they really intended to play the emotional card all the way? Wasn’t that too idealistic?
But regardless, she didn’t dislike interacting with someone like that. That was why, back in the interrogation room, even though Li Yuan had played the good cop so clumsily it was almost blatant, she still chose to go along with it—after all, they couldn’t keep dragging it out forever, so it was best to yield to someone who was easier to deal with.
As for her statements about her mother and father, she hadn’t really lied. Her mother had never revealed any information to her. Even the hidden door under the bed in her mother’s bedroom, she had discovered by accident long ago. But she also understood why Li Yuan had to accompany her now. That Fang Qi, who played the bad cop and seemed rough on the surface, was actually very meticulous. Earlier, during the interrogation, he had already conveyed those warnings about The Circle through intimidation. For example, by threatening to hand Qi Xin over to the people looking for her outside, and that even if she called the police, no police would come to rescue her—the other meaning of that statement was that Insiders wouldn’t receive legal protection.
She put that photo away and flipped to the next one. When she clearly saw the image on the photo, her fingers suddenly tensed. Keeping her expression calm, she glanced out of the corner of her eye at Li Yuan, who was sitting in the driver’s seat looking a bit bored. Then she asked in a normal tone, “What’s this picture?”
Li Yuan took the photo and looked at the school uniform jacket hanging on a hanger in the picture. She rubbed her forehead a bit painfully. “This is also my biggest puzzle right now. This school uniform jacket was found in your mother’s wardrobe. It should be your sister Qi Ran’s school uniform, but the inside of the uniform is stained with your mother’s blood—Based on speculation, your mother tried to put on this jacket after she came home injured, but ultimately gave up on that decision and hung the jacket back in the wardrobe…”
Li Yuan’s words became more and more awkward. Facing the girl’s gaze, she covered her face a bit embarrassedly. “I know this sounds ridiculous, but that’s the only guess I can come up with. I don’t know why there is your mother’s bloodstain on the uniform, nor why it was carefully hung back in the wardrobe. It’s just a guess, a guess!”
Qi Xin nodded and asked in a low voice, “Where is my sister now? What is she doing?”
Li Yuan hesitated for a moment, then honestly said, “She is now at an Insider’s company… That company is called Wen Hongyuan Construction Engineering Technology Consulting Co., Ltd. It should be quite safe, since it belongs to that Li Siwen.”
“Li Siwen?” Qi Xin asked.
“He’s a rather famous old fox in The Circle, very good at reading the situation,” Li Yuan said. “He wouldn’t do anything detrimental to his own interests. So in a sense, your sister being at his company now is a good thing. Of course, this good thing is not for her, but for us.”
Qi Xin pondered for a moment, as if she had understood something. “The relationship between The Circle and the Executors is not exactly harmonious?”
This was an obvious fact. The Executors weren’t that interested in the two sisters themselves. They knew Qi Ran was at Li Siwen’s company, but they had no intention of arresting her as well. They didn’t even consider continuing to interrogate or monitor Qi Xin, who was now under their control. The silent police officer had directly handed her over to Li Yuan to supervise, letting the newcomer gain experience—her own identity was more like an important vase, a decoration. Important in status, but of no practical use.
The only explanation Qi Xin could come up with was that The Circle and the Executors were seeking a balance. Their conflict was already very intense, so they had to seek stability. Even the two daughters of Qi Jianguo had to be divided—one in The Circle, one with the Executors. The two of them might be useless, but they couldn’t do without them.
That was why Li Yuan said Qi Ran being with Li Siwen was a good thing. Because no matter how well Li Siwen understood the situation, no matter how close he was to the Executors, he was not a true Executor, but a thorough Insider. Since Qi Xin was now in the hands of the Executors, Qi Ran had to be in the hands of The Circle. Even if she was a completely useless waste, her symbolic meaning outweighed her actual value. She was an extremely heavy bargaining chip.
In short, the Executors tacitly allowed Qi Ran to be handled by The Circle. This was a balance that had to be maintained, the stability the Executors had always pursued. Had the conflict between the two sides reached such a serious state? Qi Xin thought to herself, filing it away in her mind. This conflict might be useful someday.
Li Yuan seemed to take her silent contemplation as worry for her little sister. She wanted to say a few comforting words, but then suddenly realized that from her position as an Executor, she truly had no right to comfort her—it would be as hypocritical as a weasel pretending to offer condolences to a chicken. In the end, she had to sullenly shut her mouth and restart the car.
