Chapter 23: Lament on a Rainy Night

The night was devouring, heavy with dark clouds, and torrential rain poured down like a relentless flood, swallowing the entire world in endless darkness and chaos.

Wen Yunan drove his car through the curtain of rain, heading once more toward the hospital that filled his heart with dread.

His mood was unbearably heavy, as if a massive stone pressed upon his chest, making it almost impossible to breathe.

The sound of the rain hammered against the car window like thunder, striking chords of anguish deep within him.

Just one day ago, on a night like this, he had stood here before the cold corpse of Qing’er.

At that moment, his heart felt pierced by countless arrows, the pain unbearable.

Qing’er, the girl whose smile once blossomed like a flower and whose spirit radiated with vitality, now lay quietly in the hospital morgue, her face ravaged by acid beyond recognition.

Wen Yunan could not fathom the terror and despair she must have endured in life.

His thoughts drifted back to the day Qing’er was abducted—when he suddenly received a call from Wan’er, and Qing’er was forcibly dragged into a white van by several unfamiliar men.

Wan’er confessed everything to Wen Yunan in her anxiety, and he also learned of Yun Qiuyia’s ordeal. Though he could understand Wan’er’s actions, he still reproached her for being too rash and not telling him sooner.

Yet, blame was meaningless now; they could only search blindly like headless flies.

Wen Yunan swiftly contacted all his friends, launching a massive search operation. They reviewed every roadside surveillance camera, desperate to track the white van.

But all they knew was that it was a white van carrying three men—one stout, two lean—and all wore masks. Beyond that, they found nothing.

The van’s license plate had been skillfully concealed, making the search even harder. The police were powerless.

The van had driven out of the city, beyond the suburbs where no surveillance existed, vanishing without a trace.

After two days of fruitless searching, Wan’er’s spirit declined with mounting despair. Just as everyone clung to hope, a phone call plunged them all into the darkest abyss.

The cold voice of a police officer on the other end informed him that the reported missing person had been found beside a filthy drainage ditch.

Wen Yunan’s heart leapt into his throat. Without hesitation, he rushed to the scene.

What he saw tore his heart to pieces.

Qing’er’s body lay still, silently washed by the rain, appearing desolate beyond words.

Her clothes were shredded and ragged, her body marred with wounds.

The police told him she had been abused while alive, and the murderer had tried to destroy the body, even attempting to erase her identity.

Suppressing his tears, Wen Yunan sent Qing’er’s remains back to the hospital.

Standing again in the hospital lobby, his heart felt unbearably heavy.

He entered the morgue and saw Qing’er’s face, so horribly disfigured it was unbearable to look upon.

At that moment, his heart was cut as if by a knife, and a wave of nausea surged through him.

He ran out wildly, vomiting in the rain, which only poured harder as Wen Yunan stood there, letting the water wash over his body.

“Sir, why haven’t you left yet? Aren’t you afraid to stand here at the hospital at night?”

When he returned, he leaned against the cold brick wall. A nurse passed by.

“Not afraid. The thing to fear most isn’t ghosts, but the human heart,” Wen Yunan replied with a faint, bitter smile.

At that moment, he resembled a homeless ghost, with nowhere to go.

Leaning outside the hospital morgue, Wen Yunan fell asleep without knowing when.

“Ring, ring.”

A sudden phone call jolted the sleeping Wen Yunan awake.

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he stood and cleared his throat. “Hello?”

“Sir, please come back quickly! Miss—she… she’s in trouble!” Madam Li’s sobbing voice struck like thunder, sending Wen Yunan’s heart plummeting.

The voice on the other end was urgent and panicked.

Wen Yunan’s heart dropped deep into his throat.