"So scary!"

Under the watchful eyes of the snake and the toad, Madam Bai and her daughter retreated from the children's room. Both of them looked grim.

Weren't *they* supposed to be the most terrifying presence? How could Su Xuan's house look even scarier?

"Mom, the swing! Look at the swing!" Bai Wei suddenly cried out, her astonished gaze fixed on the swing in the corner of the courtyard.

"Daughter, didn't we just look... Ugh!"

Madam Bai glanced over, and her eyes widened in shock. The swing was still moving, but unlike before, someone was on it.

A woman in red sat on the swing, her scarlet dress spreading out around her like a blood-red datura flower blooming in the night.

"If I were you, I would leave immediately," the woman in red said suddenly. "Don't disturb him in the slightest. Otherwise, you might never return."

"Do you hold a grudge against him, too?" Madam Bai asked cautiously. Ever since laying eyes on the woman in red, she had been overcome with a deep sense of dread, unable to muster any of her usual arrogance. She could sense that this person was an existence far more transcendent than she and her daughter could ever hope to be.

The woman in red simply offered a mysterious smile. She didn't speak.

Madam Bai mustered her courage to prod, "If you have a grudge against him, join me in killing him!"

When the woman in red looked up again, a flicker of anger crossed her face.

Madam Bai didn't dare say another word. She exchanged a glance with her daughter, and they moved toward another room. Su Xuan's house was so large that finding his room was proving difficult. Before stepping into another room, Madam Bai glanced back at the swing. It was as if it were frozen in time, completely still, and the woman in red was gone.

"This mansion is truly eerie," Madam Bai muttered as she and her daughter entered the room.

It was an empty guest room. They tried another room. And then another. Finally, they found Su Xuan's location.

In Su Xuan's room, they saw him lying on the bed, one arm dangling over the side. On the nightstand sat a watch, three car keys, a gleaming gold pen, and several throwing knives. Leaning against the wall beside it was a rust-covered iron rod. Su Xuan was breathing steadily, sleeping peacefully.

"Daughter, do you see this?" Madam Bai's voice trembled with sudden fury. "He destroyed our family, and yet he sleeps so soundly!"

She spread her arms wide and lunged at Su Xuan, looking as if she wanted to tear him to pieces.

Just as she came within half a meter of the bed, the unimpressive, almost shabby-looking iron rod suddenly emitted a wisp of red mist. The mist wrapped around Madam Bai like a tendril.

"Daughter!" Madam Bai cried, twisting her head to look back.

Then, the red wisp yanked her, and she vanished completely. From Bai Wei's perspective, it looked as though her mother had been dragged into the iron rod by the red mist—swallowed whole.

Immediately, the wisp of red mist shot out from the rod again, snaking toward Bai Wei.

Bai Wei scrambled backward out of Su Xuan's room, but the red mist pursued her relentlessly. It phased through the door and caught up to her in an instant. The mist enveloped her, dragged her back into the room, and she, too, disappeared.

"I did warn you," a soft voice sighed. "Why didn't you listen? Now, there's nothing left, is there?"

The woman in red stood in the courtyard, gazing at Su Xuan's door and shaking her head slightly. A moment later, the wisp of red mist shot out of Su Xuan's room again, this time extending toward her. It seemed to have just savored a delicacy, exuding a gluttonous satisfaction.

"Hee hee," the woman in red giggled, watching the tendril approach without making a move.

The red mist stopped instantly before her and began to sway obediently. It seemed to be thanking her.

The woman lifted her slender, jade-like hand and tapped the tendril lightly. "I wouldn't deign to fight you over something of that quality," she said softly, as if speaking to a pet. "I intended to feed them to you from the start. Your thanks are accepted. And you certainly *should* thank me."

Without my guidance, that iron rod would probably still be gathering dust on Zhuilong Mountain.

The red mist seemed to nod before retreating into Su Xuan's room.

「The next morning,」

Su Xuan got up and noticed something interesting. The iron rod, which he could never manage to polish, had shed some of its rust on its own.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

He didn't think much of it, gave the rod a couple of swings, and went to wash up. Just as he finished, he received a WeChat message from Du Zilong.

"Master Su, we're leaving now. I hope we didn't cause you any trouble. If anyone comes looking for you, just tell them the truth. Our business has nothing to do with you."

Su Xuan knew at once that Du Zilong had succeeded in his revenge. He sent an emoji in reply, only to discover Du Zilong had already deleted him as a contact.

"Master, there's a young woman at the door for you," old housekeeper Liu announced, walking over at that very moment.

"Su Xuan, I need to talk to you about something," the beautiful police officer, Long Xiwen, said as she stepped out from behind the housekeeper.

"I didn't let her in, Master," old housekeeper Liu said sheepishly. "She forced her way in."

"What is it?" Su Xuan asked, glancing at Long Xiwen. She looked a little different today, wearing light makeup that enhanced her already striking features.

"Here." Long Xiwen took out several photos and handed them to Su Xuan. "Take a look for yourself."

Su Xuan took the photos. They showed the gruesome scene at the Bai family's villa.

"You recognize this mother and daughter, don't you?" Long Xiwen asked.

"I do," Su Xuan nodded. He then briefly explained his feud with the Bai family. "Because of Bai Yongnian, the two of them always wanted to get revenge on me, but they never succeeded."

"I'm aware of that history," Long Xiwen nodded as well.

"Do you think I did this?" Su Xuan asked.

Long Xiwen handed him another photo. "Do you recognize this person?"

Su Xuan looked and saw it was a photo of Cai Ruifeng. The image quality was poor, likely captured by a surveillance camera. He instinctively shifted his body, blocking Long Xiwen's view as her eyes scanned his room. Cai Ruifeng's throwing knives were still sitting on his nightstand.

"I recognize him, too," Su Xuan said. "He once caused trouble for me on behalf of the Du's Tai Chi Clan."

Su Xuan briefly explained his conflict with the Du's Tai Chi Clan. After all, Du Zilong had told him to tell the truth.

"He's the one who committed the massacre at the Bai family home," Long Xiwen said, taking the photos back from Su Xuan. "Do you know why he would go there and kill them?"

"Well..." Su Xuan paused for a moment before saying, "It seems they had a grudge against the Bai family as well."

"What happened?" Long Xiwen asked, her lipstick-coated lips parting slightly.

"I think the Bai family tried to manipulate the Du's Tai Chi people, using them to try and kill me," Su Xuan explained. "But it seems the Du clan found out and decided to take revenge on the Bai family instead."

Long Xiwen furrowed her delicate brows, thinking for a long while before she spoke again, her voice low.

"Su Xuan... did you want the Bai family dead?"

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