Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Liang Yucheng arrived that afternoon.

He looked even gentler in person than he did on television. Wearing rimless glasses and a white shirt buttoned to the very top, his cuffs were spotless, and even his speech seemed carefully measured.

“Miss Shen.” He paused slightly when he saw me, his smile almost perfectly polite. “You look very much like your mother did when she was young.”

My mind suddenly began to buzz.

“You knew my mother?”

“We worked on a project together years ago,” he said naturally, as if mentioning it in passing. “Lin Qingyan was very capable; she used to organize folklore archives in Wanghe back then.”

My mother had never told me she knew Liang Yucheng.

She certainly never told me she had once worked at the Wanghe Etiquette and Customs Museum.

Liang Yucheng walked over to the autopsy table. He looked at the Red Rope around Qin Yanxi’s ankle, then at the Yellow Paper with my name written on it. His expression was excessively calm.

“This is a folk ‘Evil-Dispelling Knot.’ Its original purpose was to tie away misfortune. Later, many charlatans began to package it as a life-substitution ritual. Similar symbols appeared in that Wanghe case ten years ago, though they were likely just a smokescreen.”

Jiang Huaixu asked, “What’s your take on Shen Zhiyao’s position in this case?”

Liang Yucheng adjusted his glasses, seemingly weighing his words.

“From what I gathered back then, her mental state was under constant pressure. Her mother avoided talking about her father for a long time, creating a stifling home environment. Combined with the fact that she happened to have contact with several missing girls when the case broke, it’s easy for someone to display avoidant behavior once the public outcry magnifies the situation.”

He spoke so steadily-like a pre-written expert conclusion.

I stared at him, suddenly seized by the urge to hurl that recording right into his face.

But I held back.

Because I noticed a very old wear mark on the inside of his leather watch strap. It looked like the kind of mark left by a metal buckle being repeatedly pried open over a long period.

In that moment, I recalled the images from before Qin Yanxi died. When her hand had scraped across the floor, her fingertips had hooked onto something hard.

Liang Yucheng sensed my gaze and looked over at me. His eyes were gentle, even carrying a hint of elder-like concern.

“Miss Shen, you don’t look well. When dealing with a case like this, try not to project the past onto it too much.”

I twitched the corner of my mouth. “That depends on who was responsible for the past.”

He didn’t respond to that, merely offering a soft smile.

That night, I went home.

My mother had passed away from illness three years ago, and the old house had been empty ever since. I rummaged through it for two full hours before finding a peeling blue ledger hidden in a secret compartment of the wardrobe.

A yellowed old photograph was tucked inside.

In the photo, my mother was sitting at the entrance of the Wanghe Etiquette and Customs Museum, holding me in her arms when I was just a newborn. The person standing behind her was Liang Yucheng.

And on the very last page of the ledger, there was only a single, short line of text.

“If Liang Yucheng finds you, do not trust him. He isn’t an outsider; he is your biological father.”

Standing there amidst the dust, I suddenly felt the entire house turn cold.