Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Nan Mu took a savage bite of his steamed bun, feeling like he still couldn’t untangle the core of the mystery.

His thoughts drifted back to Gu Zhishu and Su Yu.

He had investigated them in the first place because Gu Zhishu knew Wen Miao, and then the two of them had been killed one after another in the same year. This gave Nan Mu a strong premonition that there had to be countless threads connecting their deaths.

However, this hypothesis had been proven unrealistic by Wen Miao yesterday; after all, she seemed to know nothing about the circumstances surrounding Gu Zhishu’s murder.

But speaking of which, why did Su Yu disappear as well?

Su Yu definitely didn’t choose to stay away from home on his own…

Although he had an unreliable third uncle, according to the description from the neighbor boy, that uncle seemed like nothing more than a common street thug. If he had imprisoned or gotten rid of Su Yu, he wouldn’t have had the patience to wait over half a year without touching Su Yu’s house…

It seemed most likely that Su Yu’s disappearance was related to Gu Zhishu.

But between them, who had implicated whom?

Was it possible that Su Yu was the one who implicated Gu Zhishu?

As soon as the thought surfaced, Nan Mu immediately dismissed it.

If Su Yu had implicated Gu Zhishu, then upon learning of Gu Zhishu’s disappearance, he should have been able to predict that Gu Zhishu might have been killed. Could Su Yu have remained so calm, staying in his own home and waiting for the killer to come for him?

If he had been mentally prepared, he never would have sat around waiting for death.

So it couldn’t have been Su Yu; it could only have been Gu Zhishu. Thus, caught completely off guard, Su Yu was also…

But what exactly did Gu Zhishu know that would bring about a fatal disaster?

Nan Mu reached out and traced the names of Gu Zhishu and Su Yu on the foggy glass.

Suppose there was a secret that passed from Gu Zhishu’s hands to Su Yu… and so the two were killed in succession…

But if Su Yu knew the secret and knew Gu Zhishu was missing, wouldn’t he have been the least bit wary?

Perhaps they learned of it through different channels, but wouldn’t that be too much of a coincidence?

Unless… Su Yu only learned the secret after Gu Zhishu died…

No, that’s not right. If Su Yu learned a world-shaking secret, logically, he would have immediately guessed the truth behind Gu Zhishu’s disappearance and started being on guard…

Nan Mu’s head throbbed from the effort of thinking.

He even thought, somewhat self-destructively, that since Gu Zhishu’s death didn’t seem to have any connection to Wen Miao’s case anyway, he might as well drop it. His main purpose in coming back to investigate Gu Zhishu was to uncover the truth behind Wen Miao’s death. Since the two events were unrelated, he should just leave Gu Zhishu’s matter to Qiu Ziyu to solve.

Furthermore, now that he had laid his cards on the table with Wen Miao, one of the benefits was that he could use Wen Xin’s influence to investigate Xu Lei.

He couldn’t stay in this timeline for long; it was better to focus his energy on Wen Miao and Xu Lei.

Thinking this way, his path forward seemed much clearer. His mood improved significantly, and he finished the rest of his bun with satisfaction.

Just as he was about to swallow the last bite, his phone suddenly buzzed with a message.

Wen Miao: [Do you have any way to get Xiao Shu’s phone?]

Nan Mu: [?]

Wen Miao: [I’ve been thinking. Asking the Gu Family directly will definitely arouse suspicion. Why don’t you use that special talent you displayed yesterday and help me go in and get it?]
Nan Mu sent an image: [Speechless.jpg]

Wen Miao: [Alright, it’s settled then. I’ll come find you tonight. Oh, by the way, is your head okay?]

Nan Mu: [Isn’t it a bit late to be worrying about my head now?]

Wen Miao: [Seems like you’re fine. See you tonight.]

Nan Mu: …

It seemed that although he had wanted to stop investigating, Wen Miao was now starting to look into Gu Zhishu’s matter.

Nan Mu sighed. Just as he was about to reply, the ward door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

Nan Mu looked back to see Nurse Xiao Ai walking in carrying some supplies, looking at him with a strange expression.

Following Nurse Xiao Ai’s gaze, Nan Mu saw the names and symbols he had written on the window. He quickly reached out and rubbed the glass haphazardly to wipe them away.

“What were you drawing?” Nurse Xiao Ai asked curiously.

“Nothing, just had nothing to do, so I was doodling,” Nan Mu said. He finished his soy milk in a few gulps, tossed the cup into the trash can, and pointed at the items on Nurse Xiao Ai’s tray. “What’s this?”

“Didn’t you run off yesterday? I’m here to give you a check-up.” Nurse Xiao Ai pulled back the covers and signaled for him to lie down.

Nan Mu lay on the bed. As Nurse Xiao Ai was finishing up the examination, he urgently announced that he needed to use the restroom.

“Alright, alright,” Nurse Xiao Ai said as she packed away the medical equipment. “Go on, then.”

For some reason, Nan Mu suddenly felt a desperate urge to go. He threw on his shoes and bolted out. Nurse Xiao Ai shouted after him, “Don’t run! Walk!”

Nan Mu hurried toward the restroom, but before he had gone far, he realized he hadn’t brought his phone. Driven by the firm belief that one must have a phone while using the toilet, he hurried back to his room.

As soon as he entered, he saw Nurse Xiao Ai holding his phone.

Nurse Xiao Ai paused for a moment, then extended the phone toward him. “You’re back just in time. Don’t leave your phone out like this next time… with people coming and going, someone might just walk in and swipe it.”

“Sorry, sorry, it definitely won’t happen again.” Nan Mu hurriedly took the phone and rushed back toward the restroom.

=

Coming out of the restroom, he was stopped by an elderly man asking for directions.

Nan Mu ended up leading the man halfway across the hospital before finally finding the orthopedic clinic.

The orthopedic clinic was on the third floor. As he was taking the elevator from the third floor back up to the seventh, he spotted a familiar couple supporting a young man as they stepped out of the elevator.

It was his parents and his younger self.

“Slow down, slow down, Mom, slow down…”

“Slow down for what? Can’t you see your head is bleeding?” Nan’s mom was worried sick. “I’m telling you, child, with so many people around, why did you have to go and play the hero?”

“Alright, alright. Stop scolding the boy. What he did was a good thing; he saved that child’s life… otherwise, a whole family would have fallen apart.”

“Exactly… instead of praising me, you’re yelling at me…”

“You shut your mouth!” Nan’s mom glared at the young Nan Mu. “Are you even sure you’re still alive? What if you hadn’t caught that kid when he fell? What if he had hit your head or your spine? Do you want me to die right along with you…”

The three of them continued their bickering as they hurried off toward the orthopedic clinic.