Ye Liuxi said, "You mean me?" Chang Dong nodded, "Who else?" Ye Liuxi remained silent. After a while, she rose up from the mat. It felt rather sudden, unexpected, and unprepared—like she had been building up momentum, gathering strength, preparing a full-scale campaign. The wind was in her favor, supplies were ample, reinforcements were on the way, and she had been poised to launch a powerful offensive. Yet, just as she drew her sword to shout, "Charge!" the door opened on its own, with grace and courtesy, inviting her in. She found herself somewhat disconcerted. She still had so many moves up her sleeve, and Chang Dong wasn't exactly difficult to pursue. Of course, it all depended on who took the initiative. Ye Liuxi glanced at him sideways, her lower lip now pressed between her teeth, the little smugness that had been playing at the corners of her eyes and brows now slipping away. With the relationship just broken, she felt a bit out of her depth, and with polite reserve, asked, "May I do two things?" "Chang Dong said, "As long as you don't cut my legs, go on." Ye Liuxi reached out, bringing her hand close to his face. She brushed her knuckles against his chin, slowly moving from chin to cheek. He had recently shaved, but not quite smooth—his beard was just beginning to grow, brushing gently against the back of her hand. That was the feel she had always imagined. She found it delightful, almost addictive, yet still needed to remain composed, not to scare away the little snail, Xiao Tianluo. She withdrew her hand. Chang Dong looked down at her, "Weren't there two things?" "There's more," he added. Before he finished speaking, Ye Liuxi lifted her hand and tilted his brim askew. She had been holding it in for a while—he always wore his hat straight and stiff, and every time she saw it, she felt the urge to either remove it or gently push it off. Chang Dong felt his scalp tingling. Closing his eyes, he endured for five minutes before finally saying, "Liuxi, wearing my hat crookedly is actually quite uncomfortable..." Ye Liuxi nearly fell off her chair laughing. Well then, she reached out and helped him straighten his hat. Chang Dong reached up and drew her into his arms. It was strange—just a couple of days ago, he had thought they weren’t a good match. With the differences between the inner and outer regions, and the memory lapses, he had expected countless complications. But now, everything felt settled. Ye Liu Xi lay her head against his chest, lifting her finger slowly to tug at the buttons on his shirt: "Didn’t you say we weren’t at the best time to fall in love?" Chang Dong smiled. If people had set plans, then in his carefully laid-out life, his ideal match had never been her. Since childhood, he had always been drawn to quiet, gentle girls like Kong Yang. Even the celebrity posters on the walls of his room in high school had always been of that type. He only pursued girls who immediately struck him as appealing—anyone who didn’t impress him at first glance, no matter how good, he would politely decline. He preferred the woman to be reserved, letting the man take the lead. … Yet, there’s always one person who makes you break the rules. She burst in, challenging his preferences and disrupting his world—yet he still sat amidst the chaos, sweetly thinking: "What a tasteful mess." With her, the future remains uncertain, yet he understands that tomorrow might not be better either—there's no such thing as the perfect moment. The moment itself only becomes meaningful when you grasp it; otherwise, you'll never know what you've been handed. He doesn't want to miss anything, so he reaches out—there are risks ahead, but he can't let go just because she never takes a step. Chang Dong said, "I can't bear to see my favorite girl unhappy, even once or twice." Ye Liuxi replied, "You're just the one who's always playing catch-up." Whatever she says, Chang Dong never challenges it. Pausing, he added, "You've accomplished both things you set out to do—shouldn't it now be my turn?" Ye Liuxi looked up at him, "What would you like to do?" Then glanced down at the warming pads stuck to her shirt, "I've been a bit busy these past few days." Chang Dong was almost amused: "Could you please not take such long strides?" He reached out, tucking the hem of her shirt aside and resting his hands on her waist. Her waist was good—slender and rounded, with firm, well-defined muscle. To make repairs easier, he had removed the gauze from his right hand down to just two layers; with the gauze still between them, he held her waist firmly, feeling a soft, resilient strength with a subtle, lingering ache—better than he had expected. Ye Liuxi looked up at him and asked, "Is my waist slender?" Chang Dong smiled, leaning down to rest his forehead against hers, and murmured, "Yes, quite slender." Suddenly, the room went dark. Ye Liuxi paused, then realized— the lights had been turned off. Without the light, other senses became especially acute; the warmth of his breath brushed gently against her face. Closing her eyes, Ye Liuxi thought: If he doesn't kiss me now, he's not a man at all—better end things here. Chang Dong kissed her lips. … The town's mountain river seemed listless; the rooster, naturally night-blind, could not see. People are so boring. Holding someone's leg or waist—well, to her it's just like holding a chicken leg or a chicken body. There's really no difference. Chickens never hesitate; if any chicken ever lounges around, talking and fumbling, it'd have been slaughtered long before it even reached the pot. Her hair was tousled, her demeanor lazy, her cheeks flushed, her lips full and moist. The grace and charm in her eyes and corners of her face made Ding Liu's heart flutter. Ding Liu's heart leaped and she gasped, "Xi-jie, are you in a relationship?" Ye Liuxi nodded. If it weren't for the sounds coming from outside, Ding Liu would have been eager to shout—she pressed herself closer to Ye Liuxi, whispering, "Is it my elder brother?" Ye Liuxi nodded. Ding Liu felt so eager she could hardly bear it, her face buried in the blanket, murmuring, "My elder brother is quite good." The look of such deep satisfaction was as if she herself were in love. Ye Liuxi was puzzled, "Why are you so happy?" Ding Liu was utterly enchanted, "The men I admire and the women I love—though I may not end up with my elder brother, nor be able to help you with the lace trim, I still feel delighted... Xi-jie, you'll soon lose your virginity." "Why?" "Because wolves that bite don't always make a sound. Isn't my elder "Once I take off my clothes, I'll be nothing but a beast—my movements will be swift." Ye Liuxi said, "You're always thinking about some complicated thing in your head..." Reaching out to fan her head, she suddenly remembered that she couldn't touch or move her now—stuck between hesitation and indecision—so she simply pulled her hand back. Ding Liu glanced at her sideways. "Xiao Jie, I've managed my dry-goods store for three years now. Do you think a nightclub is just about singing?" "In our nightclub, we focus on three kinds of relationships: male-male, female-female, and male-female. Of these, male-female pairs are the most common. Xiao Jie, don't underestimate me—just when a man and a woman first arrive, even if they don't know each other, I can usually predict whether a story will unfold between them just by glancing at them." Ye Liuxi smiled. "That's impressive. Then, what kind of connection do you see between you and Gao Shen? Could you tell me?" Ding Liu grew so frustrated that her words stumbled. "Me... him... what kind of relationship could they possibly have? Oh, I'm still so young, this whole thing... Suddenly, Fat Tang's voice comes from outside: "Xi, have you both woken up? Can you come out for a moment? Something's come up." —— Ye Liuxi puts on her clothes and steps out with Ding Liu. The layout is a suite, with the outer room being larger. Between the bedrooms is a living area where Chang Dong and Gao Shen are seated by the sofa, a suitcase open on the coffee table. Upon hearing their footsteps, Chang Dong lifts his head and says, "Everyone's here." Ye Liuxi feels a little uneasy, brushing her neck—last night, he had kissed her so long that her neck had gone stiff. Now, seeing him so reserved and composed in front of others, she finds it quite amusing, and remembers what Xiao Liu had said. A wolf that bites doesn't howl. A wolf is good—she simply loves her man to be a true wolf. Ding Liu steps closer and asks, "Whose suitcase is this?" This question reminds Ye Liuxi—the suitcase is quite old and doesn't belong to either of them. Chang Dong said, "Do you remember that weak man with the scorpion's eye who attacked us? I threw him onto the car and also loaded his luggage, but when I locked him in the ward later, I forgot the luggage and left it on the car. Last night, when Gao Shen helped everyone carry their luggage into the rooms, he didn't pay much attention and carried it all in." Ye Liuxi opened the zipper slightly with her hand: "Is there anything inside?" She reached out and produced a fur pouch, stitched in the shape of a water bag, yet light in weight, with a plug at the opening secured by a rope and hanging loosely. Ye Liuxi said: "What's inside this, yet it's empty... I suddenly remember." Li Jinao had mentioned that the twins should be packed in thick animal fur pouches. Chang Dong pointed to the hanging plug: "I recalled—it was left undisturbed in the car, and no one touched it. After entering the ward, no one else came in. The only possibility is that during the collision when we left Xiaoyangzhou, the plug came loose from the impact." "Ding Liu stared in disbelief: 'It escaped?' Chang Dong shook his head: 'I just asked Fei Tang and Gao Shen. After the collision, the headlights remained on. The twins can't be exposed to light—no matter if the plug came loose, they wouldn't have been able to move. And when the morning came, there was no place for them to go.' Ding Liu suddenly realized: 'So it must have escaped after we turned off the lights last night?' Chang Dong nodded: 'It's very likely that it found an opportunity last night and made its escape.' The twins have no weight or form—they're just shadows. Doors can't contain them, people can't block them. At night, they're incredibly easy to move around. Ding Liu felt a bit uneasy: 'Well, it escaped—so what? Is there a serious consequence?' Chang Dong replied: 'There are so many guests staying here, it's hard to say whether or not someone with Scorpion Eyes has already blended in. While the twins may still be unable to imitate our speech, they've been living with that frail man for so long—they're almost like his double, don't you see?' Ding Liu caught on. If the guests at the inn were indeed those with the scorpion's eyes, then the twins' encounter with them would be equivalent to the frail man establishing contact. She instantly felt a cold shiver run through her body, stammering, "Then what... what should we do?" Chang Dong said, "Pack up and leave right away. From now on, until we step out of this inn, don't let your breath slacken—something might happen at any moment." Fei Tang suddenly remembered something: "Shall we bring Li Jin'ao with us?" Chang Dong shook his head. No, no one unrelated should be brought in—better to keep it simple. —— Indeed, suspicion breeds its own ghosts; once they stepped out of the room, every person they met seemed to be a member of the scorpion's faction. At check-out, the front-desk staff didn't even lift their heads, took the room charge, and gave a tug to the bell rope dangling at their side: "The people outside will open the door—just drive your car right out." After leaving the lobby, passing through the small market, and then through a long corridor, the parking area was reached simply by pushing open the door at the end. Though it was still early in the morning, the market had already come alive. As the sounds around him grew louder, Chang Dong suddenly felt a spark of inspiration. He gave a subtle signal to Ye Liuxi, waiting for her to come close before whispering, "When the time comes, choose a moment that won't draw attention, and go with us separately—straight up the stairs to the ground level." "Why?" "I'm afraid we'll all be taken together. Going separately would be safer." Splitting the group would be too conspicuous. While he was capable in his physical movements, he lacked agility—both in body and mind. She, on the other hand, was the most suitable choice. Ye Liuxi responded calmly, "I don't want to. I won't let go of you." Chang Dong was genuinely amused, "Stop being dramatic." "Then kiss me." "With so many people around, how?" "Then I won't do it." As they were walking past a clothing stall, Chang Dong was thinking about how to convince her when the support frame beneath his hands suddenly collapsed, causing the clothes hanging on it to fall down. Without thinking, he reached out to steady himself. When the vendor hurried over to assist, Li Liu Xi had already disappeared. Chang Dong was puzzled—having looked around, he turned back to the stall and noticed a long dress gently shifted aside, revealing half of Li Liu Xi’s face, who winked at him before disappearing again. How could the frame have simply collapsed so neatly? She must have been playing some kind of trick on him, completely unnoticed. With that, Chang Dong felt reassured and hurried to catch up with Gao Shen. Ding Liu glanced over and noticed Li Liu Xi was missing, instinctively exclaiming, "Hm?" Just as she was about to ask, Chang Dong raised his index finger to his lips, making a quiet gesture. — Walking down the long corridor, the parking lot remained empty. Zhun Shan He nestled against the roof of the car, clearly growing impatient; the cover door to the ground was slowly opening, sunlight streaming in in broad strips. Chang Dong exhaled, feeling as though he had overthought everything. He instructed Gao Shen, "Just place the items in the back compartment." Before he finished speaking, a sudden roar echoed— the cover door slammed shut. At the same time, a rustling sound of iron chains shifting came from the newly opened door. Gao Shen realized what was happening and rushed over, grabbing the handle and pulling hard, opening only a narrow crack. Through the gap, he could just make out the iron chains and the hanging locks on the other side. Fei Tang’s scalp stood on end; he clutched his watermelon knife tightly. Chang Dong stared intently at the crack. A few moments later, wisps of brownish-red smoke began to drift in through the opening.