Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

"Who are you? You've trespassed! I'm calling the police!"

As Zheng Hongwen spoke, he steadied himself, straightened his askew collar, and quickly switched to the demeanor of a male homeowner: "This is my girlfriend's house. We had a fight and a misunderstanding. It has nothing to do with outsiders. Please leave immediately."

Upon hearing this, Su Wan abruptly raised her head from the corner of the entryway, her voice hoarse but each word emphasized: "Who's your girlfriend! I don't know him! He brought drugs, he wants—"

Zheng Hongwen turned around and glared at her, his gaze cold and venomous, and Su Wan's voice suddenly stopped.

She was trembling all over, not because she was afraid of Zheng Hongwen's glare, but because when the dust cleared, she saw that the person standing at the door was Shen Qinghou.

It's been two years.

When they broke up, his tendons had just been severed, and the doctor said he would never be able to play the piano again. He didn't want to be a burden to her, so he locked himself in his rented room and refused to see anyone.

She knocked on the door for an entire afternoon, but he locked it from the inside and didn't say a word.

Later, she delivered money and food to them, leaving them at the door each time. The next day, when she checked, the items were still there.

After receiving no response for a long time, Su Wan was forced to leave and never saw him again.

He was standing at the doorway, holding an old guqin in his arms, his fingers pressing on the strings.

Looking at his face, his unharmed hands, and the dense red veins in his eyes, her first reaction was one of being moved, followed by an overwhelming sense of grievance rising from her chest—this man, who had forcibly removed her from her life two years ago, was now suddenly kicking open the door and standing in front of her.

"Shen Qinghou." She called his full name, her voice trembling, tears streaming down her face, "Why did it take you so long to come?"

Shen Qinghou abruptly shifted his gaze from Zheng Hongwen to her face.

He was deaf and couldn't hear what she was saying. He could only see her lips move, tears streaming down her cheeks, and the red marks from when she was pinched still on her face.

The mark on her pale face was particularly glaring, like a red-hot branding iron, burning directly into his brain.

His fingers gripped the strings tightly, the strings digging into his fingertips and leaving a deep red mark.

When Zheng Hongwen saw that Su Wan knew this man, he couldn't maintain his "master of the house" expression anymore. He knew he had been exposed, so he had no choice but to use his status to intimidate her.

He took half a step back, his voice rising to a blatant threat: "Did you hear me? I'm from the provincial song and dance troupe, and my uncle is Deputy Director Zheng. You can't lay a finger on me today—"

Shen Qinghou couldn't hear what he was shouting.

His gaze swept over the broken glass on the ground, over the bleeding wound on Su Wan's foot, over the purplish-blue finger marks around her wrist, and finally landed on the shattered glass bottle in the corner.

The liquid in the bottle had all drained, leaving a small damp patch on the floor. Mixed with the spilled juice from the fruit bowl, it emitted a cloyingly sweet and pungent smell.

He knew about this medicine.

Shen Qinghou angrily turned the zither sideways and pressed his fingers onto the first string.

"If you dare to lay a hand on me, your whole family—" Zheng Hongwen's threat was not finished.

Shen Qinghou released the first sound wave.

The sound wave swept across the ground, lifting the entire wooden floorboard beneath Zheng Hongwen's feet. Amidst the flying debris, he was thrown into the air, his back slamming hard against the sofa armrest, a sharp crack echoing through his spine.

He fell heavily to the ground like a sack of potatoes, all the air squeezed out of his chest, and the pain made it hard for him to breathe.

Before he even landed, Shen Qinghou's second sonic wave arrived, its high frequency penetrating his right knee.

His kneecap shattered with a crack, and fragments of bone protruded from under his skin. His dark blue trousers were instantly soaked in blood, leaving a large, dark stain.

Zheng Hongwen's scream was sharp and long. He lay on the ground with his right leg twisted at an impossible angle behind him. He tried to crawl forward by pushing off the floor with his left leg, his fingernails scraping the floor with a piercing sound.

"My leg—my leg—!" He looked down and saw the bone in his right leg protruding from under the skin. His pupils contracted violently, and tears and snot streamed down his face.

His once arrogant face was now contorted in pain as he rolled on the ground, his suit jacket covered in dust.

Su Wan shuddered, her eyes fixed on Shen Qinghou's hand.

She had known him for a long time; they had been together since he was in school.

She had seen him on stage receiving an award, the spotlight shining on him, him holding his violin and bowing, his back ramrod straight.

She had seen him practice the piano late into the night until his fingertips were wrapped in tape, his fingers were worn raw and bleeding, he would put on a band-aid and continue playing, the blood on the strings dried and turned into brown marks.

She had seen him curled up on the hospital bed after his tendons were severed, not saying a word, staring at the ceiling, not eating a single bite of food for three whole days, and even needing to be fed water by the nurses.

But she had never seen him like this before—pluck a string and a person would fly out, kneecaps protruding from under the skin, blood soaking through his trousers.

This is not playing the piano, this is not playing the piano at all.

She watched Zheng Hongwen lying on the ground, dragging his crippled leg and screaming in agony, without feeling the slightest bit of sympathy.

The man was on top of her, his knees pressed against her chest, his hands covering her mouth. No matter how she kicked or struggled, it was no use. She even broke her nails trying to push him away.

He was lying on the ground like a dead dog, and she felt he deserved it.

But as she stared at Shen Qinghou's back, another thought surged in her mind: When will his finger be healed? What did he go through to become like this? What will happen after he killed someone today?

She used her strength to push herself up against the wall, leaving a bloody footprint on the floor from the wound on the sole of her foot. She took a step towards Shen Qinghou: "Qinghou—you've already crippled him, that's enough—"

Before she could finish speaking, Shen Qinghou unleashed a third sonic wave.

The sound wave penetrated Zheng Hongwen's wide-open mouth, twisting his tongue into minced meat. Blood gushed from his mouth, and his screams instantly turned into muffled gurgling sounds.

He covered his mouth with his hand, blood gushing out from between his fingers, dripping down his chin onto the floor, staining a large area red.

He rolled around on the ground in pain, his head hitting the coffee table leg with a dull thud.

Su Wan stood frozen in place, her outstretched hand still hanging in mid-air.

She watched him bounce off the fourth and fifth balls, and watched as Zheng Hongwen's legs were completely useless, his spine was broken, and he could no longer crawl. He could only lie on the ground writhing like a maggot.

The last sound wave landed on his Adam's apple, and Zheng Hongwen's body convulsed violently. He collapsed to the ground, motionless, with only a hissing sound coming from his throat.

Zheng Hongwen stared wide-eyed at the ceiling, his mouth agape, exhaling but not inhaling, his throat emitting only a hissing sound like air leaking out.

His face turned purplish-red from lack of oxygen, his eyes bulged out, and he stared intently at Shen Qinghou, his pupils filled with fear.

Shen Qinghou placed the zither on the overturned coffee table, knelt down on one knee, reached out and pinched Zheng Hongwen's jawbone, forcing him to look at him.

His fingers were cold, like ice, pressed against Zheng Hongwen's skin. Zheng Hongwen's body trembled violently, and tears mixed with blood flowed even more fiercely.