Returning to the modern world, Lu Zheng arrived at Lin Wan’s home.
This time, Lin Wan opened the door. Her mother had returned to work in their hometown since her leave ended, and Lin Wan had fully recovered, so she no longer needed to take time off.
Entering, they embraced and kissed.
“I’ve mastered the first form!” Lin Wan said excitedly.
Under Lu Zheng’s near-month-long hands-on guidance, Lin Wan had finally learned the first form of the *Eighteen Forms of Mountain Bearing*.
“Come, show me your stance.”
Lin Wan nodded eagerly, moving to the living room to perform the first form.
Lu Zheng inspected her posture, starting from her feet and working up to her shoulders.
“Not bad,” Lu Zheng nodded. It wasn’t perfect, but it met the standard, and she could refine it over time.
“Does that mean I can develop a sense of qi in the future?” Lin Wan’s eyes sparkled.
Lu Zheng smacked his lips, “It’s not that easy. It also depends on how well you master the next seventeen forms.”
“Teach me the second form quick!” Lin Wan said enthusiastically.
Lu Zheng leaned back on the sofa, “Where’s the tuition fee?”
Lin Wan bit her lip, “I’ll pay!”
The sofa rocked for two hours.
…
“Looks like morning’s out, afternoon then,” Lu Zheng teased.
Lin Wan’s eyes flickered, “You’re free this afternoon?”
Lu Zheng shook his head, “Nothing on, I’m yours all day.”
A smile spread across Lin Wan’s face. She got dressed and stood, “I’ll make lunch.”
“Knock, knock, knock!” A rap at the door.
“Lin Wan! I’m here to see you! Got good news too!”
“It’s Xiumin, it’s Saturday!” Lin Wan whispered in surprise.
“How far have you recovered?”
“Over two months now, I can walk with the mobility aid.”
Lu Zheng fetched the walking aid for Lin Wan, “I’ll get the door.”
Lin Wan positioned herself, and Lu Zheng opened the door for Huang Xiumin.
“Xiumin.”
“Lu Zheng! Why are you here?”
“Are you kidding? Why can’t I be here?”
“Hehe, slip of the tongue. You weren’t here the last few times I visited,” Huang Xiumin said, carrying a bag of fruit inside.
“More stuff? I told you we don’t need anything,” Lin Wan said, shuffling to the bedroom door with her aid.
Lu Zheng, standing behind Huang Xiumin, gave Lin Wan a playful thumbs-up for her acting.
Lin Wan shot him a look, this guy really took advantage and gloated.
“Just some fruit,” Huang Xiumin placed it on the dining table, looking at Lin Wan, “You’re recovering well.”
Lin Wan nodded, “Another month, and I’ll be off the aid, fully recovered.”
Huang Xiumin shook her head, “That’s just off the aid, not fully recovered, right?”
“Pretty much there.”
“Really? That’s great! I’m the only woman in our unit now, sometimes I can’t find anyone to chat with.”
Huang Xiumin followed Lin Wan around the living room twice. Lin Wan feigned difficulty and soon sat back on the sofa.
She stuck out her tongue at Lu Zheng, glad they’d tidied up.
“Oh, the good news!”
“What’s that?”
“Liu Yifan turned himself in!”
“What?” Lin Wan was shocked. Why would Liu Yifan surrender?
Huang Xiumin sounded a bit miffed, “We’d just found some evidence, and then Liu Yifan surrendered. It left us feeling unaccomplished!”
“What happened?”
“It’s about those two drowning cases and the car accident,” Huang Xiumin glanced at Lin Wan at the mention of the accident.
Seeing Lin Wan’s calm expression, she continued, “We found evidence for the car accident and were about to dig deeper, but then Liu Yifan returned and surrendered. However, his confession was incomplete, only admitting to minor cases, not the suspected hired killing of Li Yanjie or the fatal drowning.”
“But why?” Lin Wan asked, puzzled.
She’d followed the third unit’s progress on gathering evidence against Liu Yifan and planned to continue tracking it after returning.
Huang Xiumin smirked, “Couldn’t handle being tormented by the Tai Sui deity, I guess. I’ve never seen someone go two months without deep sleep.
It’s not just lack of deep sleep, whenever he enters it, nightmares wake him up.
As his health worsened, the scares came more often, it was miserable. Last night, he caused a ruckus in the detention centre all night.”
Lin Wan couldn’t help asking, “What’s going on? Didn’t he go abroad for treatment?”
Huang Xiumin sneered, “Yeah, went abroad for treatment, travelled the world, from the US to Western Europe, psychologists to priests, a whole month, no effect.
Hypnosis, sleeping pills, even knocking him out didn’t work.
Whenever he hit deep sleep, that ghost infant appeared in his dreams, killing him in all sorts of ways, and before killing him, it called him a bad person.”
Lin Wan looked stunned, “It called him a bad person?”
Huang Xiumin’s face twisted as she nodded, “Yeah, called him a bad person, told him to return to China and surrender, or it’d devour his soul in dreams every day, making his life worse than death.”
“Told him… to surrender?”
Lin Wan blinked, why did this mystical tale suddenly feel so grounded?
Huang Xiumin nodded, “Exactly, or why do you think he came back to surrender?”
“So, he was forced by a ghost?” Lin Wan said, incredulous.
Huang Xiumin looked awkward, “Yeah.”
“Do you believe it?” Lin Wan asked.
“Don’t know,” Huang Xiumin shook her head, “He surrendered yesterday, and last night he was wailing in the detention centre, saying things like, ‘I’ve surrendered, why are you still here?’”
Lin Wan, “…”
Lu Zheng, “…”
When he’d cast the nightmare curse on Liu Yifan, he used the ghost infant’s image to invade his dreams. The first few killings were Lu Zheng’s design, but the ghost infant’s later actions were reflections of Liu Yifan’s own psyche.
In other words, the more twisted his mind, the more torture and killing methods he knew, the more the ghost infant would mirror them in his dreams.
There was also a small suggestion, each time, before killing him and waking him from the nightmare, it said, “You’re a bad person, hurry back to China and surrender…”
Pretty clever, right?
So, after trying every method to no avail, the broken Liu Yifan could only return and surrender.
However, hoping for a fluke, he only confessed to less serious crimes.
What he didn’t expect was that Lu Zheng hadn’t set the nightmare curse to automatically lift under certain conditions!
Lu Zheng: (◔◡◔)
Sorry, I did it on purpose!
