False evidence

Chapter 285 Suzhou River
"Night leaves behind a desolate scene, not a soul in sight by the river. I hold your arm, you hold mine, we walk back and forth on the riverbank street..."

Listening to the melodious and nostalgic songs and looking at the scene before me, I felt a sense of intoxication.

The singer was a woman.

A modified blue and white porcelain cheongsam, paired with white high heels;
It was just her back view, but it made her mature and beautiful figure stand out even more.

"The night leaves behind only loneliness; there are only the two of us in the world. I look at you, you look at me, and a thousand words turn into silence..."

The singing continues.

The woman singing, with light, rhythmic steps, slowly approached me.

She still had her back to me.

My gaze involuntarily lingered on her long, fair legs.

Suddenly, a hand landed on my shoulder.

My face flushed, and I quickly looked up.

However, I was immediately stunned by what I saw.

My gaze moved upwards, and the beautiful woman in the cheongsam in front of me still had her back to me.

But when I looked her in the eye, we met face to face!
I could see her face clearly.

Looking at her features, this face should have been beautiful, but at this moment it has nothing to do with beauty.

Following the pale face diagonally downwards, one can see that her neck is clearly twisted.

And the hand she was holding was also extended backward at shoulder level!
"Sanqi..."

Someone called my name.

As the sound rang out, blood tears suddenly streamed from the woman's slightly bulging eyes, and she abruptly tilted to one side.

I was terrified and screamed, "Ah!"
"Sanqi! Wake up!"

As I was shaken, I regained consciousness.

Gao He held the steering wheel with one hand and rested the other on my shoulder, looking at me with his eyebrows raised and his eyes of varying sizes:
"You're really something, falling asleep on such a short walk. What? Did you have a nightmare?"

I shook my head instinctively, wiped my forehead, and found my hands were covered in sweat.

I did have a nightmare; it was absolutely terrifying.

However, I am certain that I have never seen that woman in the cheongsam.

Looking out the window, we've arrived at Sanfen Middle Street.

The car was still running, and music was playing on the radio. It wasn't a recent hit, but it wasn't the song I heard in my dream either; it was Cui Jian's "The Girl in the Flower Shop."

I didn't rush to get off the bus. I turned off the radio and hummed the song from my dream to myself.

I'd only hummed two lines when Gao He patted my shoulder:

"Hey, I'm nostalgic enough, but you're even more so! This song came out before you even existed!"

"What song is this?"

"The Suzhou Creek! It must have been around the same time as Shanghai Nightlife and Night Fragrance."

Gao let go of me and hummed a couple of lines, "I have to say, the older the song, the better it is."

He then said, "Alright, you've had a long trip. Go home now. Oh, by the way, your sister-in-law's family made some rice cakes; I'll bring you some later."

As I walked home, I was still thinking about that dream.

Along the Suzhou River...

I asked Gao He, and he said that this song had never been played on the radio.

I may have heard it by chance before, but I could never remember the lyrics.

How could I have such a dream, and have such a vivid memory of the lyrics, melody, and even the woman's voice?

"Hey!"

As soon as I heard the sound, I bumped right into someone.

The other person pushed me away, holding the dog leash in one hand and glaring at me with the other on their hip:
"What's wrong? You look so lost."

"Uh, I was a little distracted."

I realized what was happening and reached out to hug the preserved egg.

Pidan pushed me away again and gestured with his lips toward my back.

Turning around, I saw Monkey and Meng Chao grinning mischievously, pointing and gesturing in our direction from a short distance away.

The two walked up to me with smiles on their faces. The monkey winked at me and said, "You know what, you saw the mirage too, and you even saw a beautiful woman. That's why you're so confused."

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Meng Chao shoved him and said to me, "What are you thinking? I called you several times just now, but you didn't hear me."

Just as I was about to speak, Fang Ling came out of the courtyard: "You've come back just in time. A Mr. Liu is looking for you."

"oh oh."

I gestured for the group to go inside, and whispered to Pidan, "You're so unreliable, you didn't even tell me you had guests."

"I just came back from walking Shuanzhu, I didn't know someone came to my house."

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I was taken aback to see a person standing at the entrance of the main room.

After Liu Hong disembarked yesterday, he drove away alone. Fang Ling told me that a guest surnamed Liu had arrived, so I naturally assumed it was him.

However, the person who came was indeed surnamed Liu, but not Liu Hong, but Liu Yi'er.

I turned to look at the monkey.

The monkey slapped its forehead: "Oh dear, I almost forgot, someone else is coming to get their medicine later!"

After saying that, he left in a hurry.

I secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to myself that Brother Monkey still had a good sense of self-awareness.

The monkey was present when he first met Liu Yi'er.

After that incident, I made a bold guess.

Whether it's right or wrong, this guess must never be known to Liu Yier.

The monkey knew my 'guess' and knew that it sometimes couldn't control its mouth, so to avoid saying something inappropriate, it simply made an excuse to leave.

Liu Yi'er was still fully covered up, but his demeanor was noticeably less composed than before.

Before I could even enter the house, he rushed over to me, grabbed my arm, and said urgently, "Help me!"

He had a really strong grip; my left arm was aching from his pinch, but I couldn't show it, so I forced myself to say:
"Let's talk inside..."

"Time is running out!"

I could feel him trembling slightly, so I quickly asked, "What happened?"

"Xiao Hong is missing!"

"Liu Hong? I just saw him yesterday."

Liu Yi'er shouted, "I sent him to find you! But you're not with him right now! His phone is off, we can't reach him at all!"

I realized something was wrong: "What's wrong with him?"

Liu Yi'er was still holding onto me, but he staggered back a step. "He was born on the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month at three in the morning."

My mind went blank for a moment: "How old is he this year?"

Liu Yi'er trembled even more violently: "After tomorrow, he'll be forty..."

I couldn't help but gasp, "So that means..."

Liu Yi'er finally let go of me, took off his sunglasses, and wiped his eyes: "This silly child, he knew he couldn't escape the curse, so he..."

These few lines of dialogue are only half-finished, but I have already completely understood the situation.

Because of the Yin-Yang Fan, Liu Yi'er was in a coma for twenty-four years, after which he became a half-human, half-ghost who was immortal.

However, his descendants seemed to be cursed, none of them lived past forty!

I still pulled Liu Yi'er into the living room, forcing my brain to work quickly, but I wasn't really familiar with Liu Hong, so how could I have imagined where he would go?

Liu Yi'er had completely lost his former composure, and his sobs continued, filled with self-blame and curses against Lü Xin.

Hearing the door open, I looked up at Xie Xiaohuan, who had just come out of the house.

Her expression was easy to interpret—completely bewildered, she had no idea what had happened.

In other words, the strange diary she brought with her did not provide any clues.

Liu Yi'er finally broke down, leaning weakly against the bench, looking up and murmuring:

“I’ve had enough, I’ve really had enough. If anything happens to Hong’er, there’s no point in me living. I’ve had enough of living…”

My heart skipped a beat, and I turned to look at him: "Do you really want Liu Hong to live?"

(End of this chapter)