Shen Liu sat at the conference table, the light from the projector casting a kaleidoscope of colours in his pupils.
The screen displayed information on the Baolijian case. Though the contents were complex and the handwriting varied, every detail reflected the meticulous and consistent rigour of the person who compiled it.
First there was Xiao Chengzong, and now Qin Mu. This master and disciple shared the same stubborn streak—so obstinate that even ten oxen wouldn’t be able to drag them back once they had made up their minds.
As Shen Liu read, he sighed inwardly.
He wasn’t the least bit surprised that Qin Mu got himself involved.
On the surface, the man seemed intelligent, calm, as immovable as a mountain. He always wore a cold and indifferent expression that kept others at a distance. But in truth, it was nothing more than a carefully painted mask, hiding his real emotions deep beneath. He had drawn a small, tightly defined circle around himself, and anyone inside it held enormous weight in his heart. Xiao Chengzong had been his mentor, the one who guided his path. Now that the man had died tragically because of the case, there was no way Qin Mu would just stand by and do nothing.
Shen Liu knew his character all too well. That was why, the moment he learned of Xiao Chengzong’s death, he contacted Chu Yu to try and hold him back—but even that failed. The only fortunate thing was that Qin Mu had now landed in his hands, safe and sound. He couldn’t let Qin Mu touch this case again—at least, not right now.
But there was no way Qin Mu would just let it go.
After weighing the options through a sleepless night, Shen Liu finally decided to step in himself. He gathered his team of lawyers to analyse and assess the value of the case files.
The lawyers were well aware of how serious the case was. Their expressions were grim as they engaged in heavy discussion. Two of them got so worked up they nearly broke into an argument. All the legal jargon flying around reminded Shen Liu of the old days, when Qin Mu used to memorise statutes word for word. A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
The lawyers noticed and felt a chill. One of them cautiously asked, “President Shen, is there a problem?”
“No. Carry on,” Shen Liu said, giving them ample time to discuss. He propped his chin in one hand and flipped through the documents with a solemn expression. But his gaze drifted, lost in the sight of Qin Mu’s neat and slender handwriting.
Fate as truly something beyond one’s control. Like a pair of invisible hands, it stirred the vast and dusty world at will—causing countless twists of destiny, entanglements of love and desire, joys and sorrows, unions and partings, blooming and withering in turn. One moment, the dust seemed to settle; the next, the waves surged again. All living beings, as small as ants, lay hidden within it—rising and falling with the tide, directionless and adrift.
It had once turned its face on them cruelly, tearing apart their deep affection with ruthless indifference, erecting mountains and chasms between them. And now, with that same capricious hand, it had brought Qin Mu back to his side—as if caught in a fated cycle no one dared to speak aloud, yet could no longer deny.
The thread of time suddenly drew tight, yanking Shen Liu back to that snowy night fifteen years ago.
The night they first met.
Back then, he was in the throes of reckless youth—full of cynicism and defiance, hating nothing more than being told what to do. Among all the descendants of the Shen family, he was particularly troublesome.
The Shen family had already grown into a massive clan by his generation. Old Shen military achievements for the country had long been recorded in history, studied and praised by generations to come. His descendants were all sharp and capable, like stones forming the foundation of the towering edifice that was the Shen family.
His father, Shen Lan, was the youngest and most beloved son of the Shen family patriarch. As Shen Lan’s only child, Shen Liu held a status no less prestigious than that of Jia Baoyu, the jade-born darling of the Grand View Garden1from Dream of the Red Chamber. But for some unknown reason, perhaps his mother had eaten something wrong while pregnant; he was born rebellious, headstrong, and full of opinions. The older he got, the harder he was to control.
Shen Lan, being a domineering man, had little patience for parenting and usually resorted to sheer force to impose discipline. But wherever there was suppression, there was rebellion, and so their household was often a battleground.
The father and son’s confrontations continued all the way through Shen Liu’s high school graduation. Defying Shen Lan, he gave up his guaranteed spot at J University, secretly changed his application to the architecture department at K University, and flew off like a bird out of a cage—leaving behind a furious Shen Lan who overturned the dinner table in rage.
Freed from his original environment, Shen Liu found life relaxing and pleasant. The thorns the family had raised in him slowly retracted, and he made quite a few like-minded friends.
That winter, just before the New Year, he and eight or nine classmates went to visit the hometown of one of their roommates, located in a rural county near K City. The roommate’s name was Ji Chunyang, and because of his extreme nearsightedness, he wore thick glasses like the bottom of a wine bottle. People nicknamed him ‘Glasses’.
Glasses’ dad had an old Jeep. Shen Liu and a chubby guy named Liu Qiang egged Glasses into sneaking out of the car so they could practice driving. Their sneaky plan was spotted by another classmate, Li Feiyan, and to keep her quiet, they had no choice but to bring her along.
That night, snow began to fall. Though Shen Liu and the chubby guy could drive, neither of them had a license. Glasses kept muttering, ‘This isn’t safe,’ like an old monk, so Shen Liu eventually turned the car around to head back.
Just then, a dark figure suddenly darted out from the empty hillside—right into their path. It was almost too late to avoid a collision. Startled, Shen Liu slammed the brakes all the way down. The chubby guy banged his head on the seatback and yelled, “Ow, fvck!”
The car came to a halt.
With his soul just barely returning to his body, Shen Liu cursed and jumped out of the vehicle. But as soon as he approached the person, he shrieked and scrambled backwards, crawling away in a panic until they vanished into the darkness beyond the reach of the headlights—as if utterly terrified.
The chubby guy and Glasses followed behind. Feiyan poked her head out of the backseat and shouted furiously, “You idiots left a girl alone in the middle of nowhere! What if someone jumps out and tries to assault me?”
The chubby guy laughed. “Heroine, just lock the doors. With your kung fu, you could punch a man to death. We gotta leave those guys who try to molest you some chance to live.” Then he leaned in close to Shen Liu and whispered, “Just say Glasses was the one driving. He’s got a license. If not, you’ll get hauled in for driving without one. We’ll all stick to the same story so no one can extort us later.”
Glasses, ever timid, nervously scanned the area and suggested, “The guy’s still moving and breathing. He doesn’t look seriously hurt. Let’s just go. Feiyan’s right—what if there really are robbers hiding around here?”
Shen Liu lifted his eyelids and shot them both a look. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. What other car would be out here? What kind of brainless thief hides in the snow waiting to rob people? They would have frozen into popsicles by now.” He jerked his chin toward the chubby guy. “Go set up the triangle reflector so a passing car doesn’t rear-end us. Glasses, get in the driver’s seat and keep watch. If anyone is lying in wait, run them over—one down is one less to worry about. I’ll go see what’s up with him.”
“Got it,” the chubby guy replied, heading to the back of the car. Glasses took a few steps, then turned back and added, “Be careful. Even if it’s not a trap, mentally ill people can still hurt you—and that’s not even against the law.”
Shen Liu waved him off dismissively and walked toward the figure. After observing for a while and seeing no movement apart from heavy breathing, he crouched down at a distance. “Hey, I mean no harm. Don’t be scared.” He paused. “Are you hurt anywhere? Do you want us to take you to a hospital to get checked out?”
At the mention of ‘hospital’ and ‘checkup’, the person started trembling violently, curling up into a tight ball and burying their face deep in the crook of their arm.
Shen Liu noticed this detail and frowned slightly in confusion. He switched tactics. “Or… do you live nearby? I could take you home.” He thought that if this person really had a mental condition, the safest option was to find a family member or guardian.
But the person just trembled harder.
Later, Shen Liu would learn the reason for Qin Mu’s fear. The school he had been in ran so-called ‘sting’ experiments to prevent escape and crush any courage they had left. Teachers would deliberately relax their guard, creating fake opportunities to escape—only to trap those who took the bait and punish them with electric shocks. After being in that unsafe environment for so long, Qin Mu had lost the ability to trust anyone.
But back then, Shen Liu didn’t know that. Seeing that no matter what he asked, the person remained silent, he ran out of ideas. He pulled three bills from his pocket and pressed them under a rock.
“Alright, here’s the deal. There are three hundred yuan here. Use it to get checked out. No matter what they find, you can come find me. I won’t go back on my word. I’m a first-year architecture student at K University. My name’s Shen Liu. I’m pretty well-known at school—ask anyone, they’ll know me. K University. Shen Liu. Got it?”
He turned and took a few steps. He seemed to hear something behind him—a sound faint and uncertain, mingled with the wind. He thought he was imagining it, but when he looked back, he saw that the person who had been curled up on the ground was now crawling toward him on all fours. The figure clutched at his pants leg, the pale yellow headlights illuminating the falling snow and the tear-streaked, still-bruised face.
“Please… save us…”
Shen Liu was stunned by that wretched expression. He swallowed hard before coming back to his senses, bending down to ask, “Us? You and who? What happened? How did you get all those injuries on your face?” Seeing the person shivering uncontrollably, he quickly took off his coat and wrapped it around them, offering comfort, “Don’t be scared. I’m not leaving. You’re half-frozen—let’s talk in the car, okay?”
The person nodded but couldn’t stand up—their legs had completely given out, collapsing into the snow again. Shen Liu shouted, “Fatty! Come help me!”
The two of them helped the person into the back seat of the jeep. Feiyan, who was still inside, had just opened her mouth to scold them when she caught sight of the face and gasped, “What the hell happened? Did we hit him that hard?!”
“Idiot, he was beaten up.” Shen Liu pushed her into the front seat and climbed in beside the dirt-covered boy, sandwiching him between himself and Fatty. “Where’s the thermos? Give him some hot water.”
Feiyan quickly poured a cup from the thermos and handed it over.
The person didn’t drink it. Instead, clinging tightly to Shen Liu’s clothes, he choked out through tears, “Please… save my friend. He didn’t make it out. If they catch him, they’ll beat him to death.”
His voice trembled violently—part cold, part terror.
“Calm down and tell us slowly. What happened? Where’s your friend?” Fatty asked.
The boy slowly composed himself. His words were a bit clearer now, though still shaking. “My name is Qin Mu. His name is Lang Feiran. We were both locked up in Yongning Correctional School up ahead… I escaped, but he got stopped by the gate guards. The teachers there… they’ll drag him off for electroshock… they’ll beat him…”
“Those injuries on your face… Were from those teachers too?” Shen Liu asked with a frown.
Qin Mu nodded.
“What kind of bastard teachers beat people like this?” Feiyan cursed in fury.
“I thought corporal punishment was banned?” Fatty added.
Feiyan glared at him. “This isn’t corporal punishment—this is abuse! Assault!”
Fatty’s flabby flesh quivered as he jumped in, outraged, “Yeah! We should report them to the Ministry of Education!”
“No one’s going to do anything. That place isn’t even a proper school,” said Glasses, the local among them. He adjusted his thick-rimmed glasses and said, “Four or five years ago, the government was pushing some economic development goals and brought in an investor. It was originally built as a senior care facility. Once it was built, the investor ran off and sold it off cheap to some guy named Liang Yong, who turned it into a school in name only, taking in kids whose parents couldn’t control them. Think about it—if parents can’t manage their kids, what makes you think the teachers can? They rely on methods that can’t be made public.”
He gave Qin Mu a glance and added, “They claim it’s ‘fully enclosed education.’ We’re not relatives or guardians, so we wouldn’t even be allowed to meet anyone there, let alone take someone out. And besides—it’s already late…”
Hearing this, Qin Mu grew more frantic. Tears streamed down his face again as he pleaded, “Please… help him… He’ll die in there… the electroshock will fry his brain…”
“If there’s a problem, we should go to the police,” Feiyan suggested.
“It’s useless,” said Glasses, shaking his head. “A student escaped and tried that once. But all those kids were sent there by their parents. When the parents said they approved of the teachers’ methods, even violence, the police couldn’t do anything. As soon as the kid left the station, the parents just dragged him right back. Plus, the people behind that place… they’re not easy to deal with. The principal, Liang Yong, is a well-known ‘Model Citizen’ and ‘Education Pioneer’ around here—he’s got strong ties with the higher-ups.”
“So we’re just gonna do nothing?” Feiyan gritted her teeth. “Kids aren’t their parents’ property—why should they have to suffer like this?”
Glasses hesitated, then said, “Let’s at least take him to my place to rest. He looks like he’s barely hanging on.”
“No… no…” Qin Mu shook his head frantically, clinging to Shen Liu’s arm as he broke into sobs again. “Please, I’m begging you—please save him…”
The car was filled with heavy silence, broken only by the sound of his ragged crying.
Shen Liu looked at the battered, bruised teenager, feeling something twist hard in his chest. After a long moment of silence, he said, “Glasses… drive.”
“Go back?” Glasses asked.
“To that school. To find his friend.”
“Huh?” Glasses’ actual glasses nearly fell off.
Shen Liu curled his lips into a smirk, kicked the back of the driver’s seat in annoyance, and said, “So what if he’s one of those ‘Top Ten Model Citizens’? I was the damn campus singing champion, for what it’s worth. Drive! Tonight, I’ll use whatever bluff I’ve got—you guys just be brave and come along for the ride.”
Fatty burst into laughter and gave him a thumbs up. “Now that’s bold.” He clapped Glasses on the shoulder and shouted, “Let’s go, bro!”
Glasses sighed and shook his head helplessly before stepping on the gas.
There was no time for Shen Liu to come up with a detailed plan. He figured they would go ask for the kid first—if that didn’t work, he would stir up some trouble, wait for the cops to show, then accuse the staff of assault. Once things escalated, he would pull out the trump card—his father’s name—and see if it carried enough weight in K City. He had never told his friends much about his background, but it looked like the truth might come out tonight.
But the world has a way of making a mockery of plans.
As the car rounded the hill, what they saw was blood-red snow under a burning sky.
Flames soared into the air. Smoke billowed, thick and black.
The firelight reflected in Qin Mu’s eyes as if setting him ablaze too. Sensing something, he bolted from the car before it even stopped. He was stumbling and scrambling like a wild animal out of control. As he ran into the crowd, he shouted Lang Feiran’s name over and over.
It didn’t take long before he got the news from a student who had escaped.
After Qin Mu’s escape, Lang Feiran had shaken off the guards and lit the fire he had long prepared. That night, he left the dormitory doors unlocked, giving the other students a chance to run.
But he never left.
This was the last rebellion of a young and angry soul against the cruel world.
Blood and fire lit up the sky, staining the snow crimson, but could not drive away the darkness.
Qin Mu’s hoarse and anguished cries pierced the icy night and stabbed into Shen Liu’s heart, making his chest ache with unbearable pain.
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