Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Wen Xin moved quickly. Nan Mu had just finished eating when the information Wen Xin had investigated was sent over.

Su Yu had indeed undergone a physical examination at the First Affiliated Hospital of A University of Science and Technology Medical School and had returned for a follow-up shortly thereafter. The physician who saw him at the time was Doctor Jia.

“That… the doctor who was responsible for taking care of Gu Zhishu? The one you said went abroad?” Wen Miao asked, visibly shocked.

Nan Mu carefully verified the information Wen Xin had sent. “That’s right. It’s him.”

“Then the lead… hasn’t it gone cold again?”

A lead they had finally managed to grasp had slipped away once more. But what made Nan Mu even more anxious was that today was already the 22nd.

Based on the travel time calculated from his previous trips, he would be leaving this place tomorrow, the 23rd, at 9:00 PM…

If he had known then what he knew now, he wouldn’t have set the return time for the 23rd; he should have delayed it by a day.

Because October 24th was the date Wen Miao had died again after his last attempt to change the past.

If he were here, he could at least try one more time, instead of just waiting helplessly for that day to arrive as he was now.

Seeing Nan Mu’s heavy expression, Wen Miao assumed he was troubled by the case and tried to comfort him. “Forget it! It’s fine. If one lead is gone, we’ll just find another. It’s not the first time we’ve dealt with this, right? If this path doesn’t work, we can change direction-like looking into how Lin Zhengfeng died?”

She believed that as long as a killer acted, they would inevitably leave a trail.

“Maybe when we wake up tomorrow, the police will have some good news for us?”

Afraid of worrying Wen Miao, Nan Mu forced a small smile.

He was terrified that he wouldn’t be around to see the day good news arrived. But he was even more afraid that Wen Miao wouldn’t live to see that day either.

After a long silence, he finally looked up at Wen Miao and asked with the utmost gravity, “Wen Miao, can you promise me one thing?”

His expression was dead serious, yet Wen Miao couldn’t help but think of Wen Tangtang’s comment about Nan Mu having a crush on her. Her heart skipped a beat, and she unconsciously held her breath. “Wh… what is it?”

Even though they were sitting at a roadside stall surrounded by a constant stream of pedestrians, the moment she met Nan Mu’s dark eyes, the surrounding noise seemed to vanish, replaced by a profound, snow-hushed stillness.

In his eyes, she saw the reflection of the starlight, but she also saw a flicker of an unusual emotion.

“The day after tomorrow, October 24th… no matter who asks you out, please do not go. Okay?”

“Eh?”

“No matter who it is, please do not go. No matter where you go, please have Wen Xin stay with you the entire time… and if you see Xu Lei, do not hesitate. Run! Get as far away from him as possible.”

Wen Miao froze. She had so many questions that she didn’t know where to start.

Her unconditional trust in the man before her made her swallow her other questions, asking only one: “Xu Lei… he’s going to hurt me, isn’t he?”

Nan Mu nodded with difficulty. “Yes.”

“You…” Wen Miao stared at him for a long time before asking softly, “Can’t you be by my side that day?”

Nan Mu’s entire body trembled. His eyes grew hot and stinging as he lowered his gaze. “I’m sorry.”

Wen Miao pinched her fingers hard, forcing a lighthearted laugh. “Then never mind… haha, it’s okay. Actually, with Wen Xin there, it should… probably be fine.”

As she spoke, she glanced at her phone. “Oh, Wen Xin sent me a message. He’s out. Then I… should head back to school with him first?”

This had been the plan they agreed upon earlier.

Because they didn’t know how long it would take Wen Xin to crack the password and enter the hospital system, they hadn’t wanted to take any risks. That was why Wen Miao had used the balloons to block the security cameras, preventing them from being immediately spotted by the monitoring room.

Now that Wen Xin had obtained the information, there was no longer a need for concealment-mostly because it was impossible to hide anyway; one way or another, an extra person was going to come out. Since it couldn’t be avoided, they just let Wen Xin walk right out the door; it was easier for one person to stay out of sight on their own.
Wen Xin was dressed in black and wore a face mask, concealing his features as he made his way out. The low resolution of the surveillance cameras made it difficult to distinguish faces to begin with, but to be safe, Wen Xin headed straight for the nearby snack street after leaving the hospital to wander around for a bit.

The snack street was crowded, making it hard to track anyone, and there was a stretch in the middle without any cameras. He waited there for Wen Miao to pick him up in a taxi. Once he was in the car, the cameras would have no way of determining how he left, allowing his movements to vanish completely from the grid.

“Okay…” A thousand words seemed to hang in the air, but in the end, he only said, “Be careful on the road.”

Wen Miao bit her lip. “I’m going then. Goodbye.”

Because of the direction they were headed, Wen Miao ran to the opposite side of the street to hail a taxi. As she climbed in, she looked up and caught a glimpse of Nan Mu across the road.

He stood under a streetlamp, his figure tall and lean. The flickering light poured down over him, and for a fleeting moment, Wen Miao didn’t know why, but she saw an emotion in his eyes that could almost be described as sorrow.

In that split second, Wen Miao felt a desperate urge to turn back and give him a hug.

But…

He had crossed ten years of time solely to return and investigate Gu Zhishu’s death. He had revealed secrets of the future and given her the chance to avoid danger; he had already done more than enough. He hadn’t been able to protect her that day… She had no right to blame him in the first place. Because between her and him…

There was never really any relationship at all.

Wen Miao withdrew her gaze, sat back in the taxi, and closed the door.

===

Nan Mu watched Wen Miao’s car pull away before slowly drifting back to his hospital room.

After a quick wash, he lay down on the bed as the day’s exhaustion washed over him.

His mind was a mess.

One moment he was thinking about the deaths of Gu Zhishu and Su Yu, and the next, his thoughts drifted back to Wen Miao.

Initially, he had used the Time Machine to return to the past solely to change the fact of Wen Miao’s death.

The first time, he had taken Wen Miao away from the site of the murder, but the result was that her time of death was merely delayed from October 8th to October 24th.

The second time, he had killed the murderer, Xu Lei, but Wen Miao still died. Not only did the time of death remain unchanged, but even the traces of him stabbing Xu Lei had vanished.

Was it that everyone’s future could only be changed once, or that everyone’s past could only be altered once?

Nan Mu didn’t know. The only thing he could do was return to the past and figure out the truth behind Wen Miao’s death.

He had originally thought that since Gu Zhishu and Wen Miao were murdered one after the other, knew each other, and had both been adopted by the Gu Family, there might be some intricate connection between their deaths.

As it turned out, the investigation into Gu Zhishu’s murder had been repeatedly blocked.

With only one day left before he had to return, it was impossible for him to uncover the truth of Gu Zhishu’s murder before then.

He felt an overwhelming sense of frustration.

Could he have been looking in the wrong direction from the very beginning?

Qiu Ziyu had said that the method used to kill Wen Miao was different from the one used on Gu Zhishu. Facts had also proven that Gu Zhishu was killed by Lin Zhengfeng, while Wen Miao’s killer was Xu Lei.

Xu Lei, Lin Zhengfeng…

What connection could there be between a high-level researcher and a thug from a rural suburb?

Except for that business card found in Lin Zhengfeng’s room…

Wisdom Biotech Company.

But what connection could Wen Miao and Gu Zhishu have with Wisdom Biotech Company?

Oh, wait-there was also the missing Su Yu.

What could possibly link the three of them?

…

His body was exhausted, but his mind refused to sleep.

As he turned onto his side and buried his head in the pillow, his eyes suddenly snapped open.

He remembered something-a fact he had always known but had never given enough weight to.

Wen Miao, Gu Zhishu, Su Yu…

They were all orphans!