See the true heart

The video call abruptly ended before Lu Chenyang could even wipe the smile from his lips. The screen gradually went black, revealing his slightly tired face and the costume he hadn't had time to change out of.

During the video, he noticed the screen shake for a moment, followed by a phone ringing. Lu Chenyang clearly saw Yu Sheng's bright smile instantly freeze, turning deathly pale.

The words "Have you missed me?" caught in his throat halfway through. The man's mouth was slightly open, his eyes were glazed, and his pupils contracted rapidly, as if he had seen something that terrified him.

Lu Chenyang recognized that look. He had seen a similar fear on the night Yu Sheng had a high fever and delirious speech. But the fear in Yu Sheng's eyes in the video was magnified hundreds of times, thick and tangible, like the suffocation of being dragged into an abyss by a giant python, or the despair of falling into an icy pool and struggling helplessly.

Those terrified eyes pierced his heart, causing him to tremble with pain. He immediately called back, but the call was busy. Lu Chenyang stared at the torrential rain outside the window for a moment, then quickly went into the dressing room to remove his makeup.

When he came out again, he had already tidied himself up and changed into his own clothes. Lu Chenyang picked up the phone again and tentatively dialed, but this time his heart trembled even more; the phone was already switched off.

"Lan Feng!" Lu Chenyang called out to his assistant. He was used to doing everything himself and had always declined the personal assistants arranged by the company since his debut. Whenever he was filming, the crew would arrange a temporary assistant for him.

A crew assistant named Lan Feng jogged over and saw him standing alone at the door. The rain, whipped up by the wind, had already blown into the house, and Lu Chenyang's trouser legs were half-soaked. "Brother Chenyang, what are you doing standing here? Come in quickly!"

"Give me the car keys!" Lu Chenyang ignored him and reached into Lan Feng's pocket. "I'm going back to Beijing. I'll ship the car back."

"This won't do!" Lan Feng exclaimed, grabbing Lu Chenyang's hand. "Driving in this heavy rain is too dangerous. I've booked a flight for tomorrow. Even if we're in a hurry, one more night won't make a difference!"

Heavy rainstorms hit Pingyao, Shanxi, causing flight cancellations. Lu Chenyang had just checked his high-speed rail tickets; the earliest train was at 6:30 the next morning. But he couldn't wait. Every second he waited, Yu Sheng's terrified, lifeless eyes pierced his heart even deeper.

"Give me the key!" Lu Chenyang practically shouted, his voice booming through the rain.

Lan Feng trembled from the shout, and even the actors and crew in the corridor turned to look in astonishment. Lu Chenyang was usually humble and polite, and it was rare for him to get angry or even blush. This shout startled everyone.

Several familiar actors tentatively came over to inquire, but Lu Chenyang just wearily put his hand to his forehead and said he was fine.

He took a deep breath and placed his hand on Lan Feng's shoulder, who was already stunned. The old Lu Chenyang would never have lost his temper with a junior intern, but he had no extra energy or time to blame himself now. He breathed heavily, trying to control his trembling lips and appear as calm as possible. "Xiao Feng, I'm sorry, I... I really have an urgent matter. I... I have to go back to Beijing. I can't wait a moment longer."

“Brother Chenyang, I understand, you don’t need to apologize. Wait for me.” Lan Feng looked at him worriedly, then quickly dialed a number, said a few words, and hung up. “Just one minute, Brother Chenyang, just one minute. I’ve borrowed a car with heavy load capacity for you, it’ll be safe.”

Lu Chenyang pinched the bridge of his nose to hide the tears welling up in his eyes. "...Thank you."

The torrential rain seemed to tear a hole in the sky, pouring down wildly. The raindrops were no longer just drops, but dense fists, pounding against the car roof, hood, and windshield. Lu Chenyang gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles almost digging into the leather.

Outside the car window, everything was a hazy gray, with violently swirling mist engulfing everything. The wind whipped and shook the nearby trees, snapping branches, and the twisted taillights of the car in front flickered on and off.

Lu Chenyang turned the windshield wipers up to the maximum and frantically waved them across the windshield, but could only briefly tear open a blurry view.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, and the engine roared dully in the downpour, echoing in the small space as Lu Chenyang's heart pounded wildly with anxiety and tension.

Before getting into the car, Lu Chenyang got Lan Zhong's phone number from Wu Luoyu. Regardless of the distance or whether it was presumptuous, he dialed the number directly. The moment the call connected, he blurted out, "President Lan, this is Lu Chenyang. I can't reach Asheng!"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a loud thud as someone threw off the covers and got out of bed. Lan Zhong's voice instantly rose, "What?! What happened to A Sheng? Explain yourself!"

Lu Chenyang forced himself to calm down, his eyes fixed on the road blurred by the torrential rain: "Around eight o'clock, I was video chatting with Asheng when he suddenly received a phone call... He... he looked very scared! Then the video call cut off. When I called back, his phone was off! I just checked the security camera footage from outside my house... Around 8:30, he left on his own... And, the cast on his leg... it looks like he removed it!"

"Damn it!" came a furious shout from the other end of the phone. "It's Yu Zhengcheng! It must be that bastard father of his!"

"No matter who made the call, the most important thing is to find Ah Sheng!" Lu Chenyang forced himself to stay calm under pressure.

Driving in torrential rain is extremely dangerous; a single misstep could lead to catastrophic consequences. He can't afford to get hurt; Yu Sheng is still waiting for him. "President Lan, you're in Beijing. Could you please go and look for him in the places he might be? I'm on my way back; it'll take about seven hours. Let's stay in touch!"

“Okay!” Lan Zhong replied.

After hanging up the phone, Lu Chenyang glanced at his phone's navigation. Driving from Pingyao Ancient City in Shanxi to downtown Beijing involved taking the Beijing-Kunming Expressway and the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway. 577 kilometers.

The steering wheel was burning hot in his hands, and every time the wipers futilely shoveled away the hazy mist, Lu Chenyang's heart clenched with the unseen danger in his blurred vision. But he still pressed the accelerator harder.

His heart pounded in his chest as Lu Chenyang recalled Yu Sheng's final, desperate look as she lay dying. That look overlapped with countless familiar faces in his memory: that domineering, shameless, and unreasonable manner; that pitiful yet endearing look that inadvertently revealed, making one both angry and helpless; and that broken and helpless look when she was sick.

In the end, Lu Chenyang even thought of that forceful kiss, reeking of alcohol, at the very beginning at the Shuye Hotel... All the images churned wildly on his taut nerves, like a dull knife cutting into his flesh.

When did it begin? He allowed this person to use those seemingly clever "tricks and schemes" in front of him... He saw it all clearly, yet he didn't expose it.

Watching the man gloat over his successful "little trick" like a victorious kitten, he felt a strange sense of indulgence and even tacitly approved of those little actions, sometimes even giving him a push without making a sound.

This belated realization struck like a lightning bolt, cleaving through my chaotic thoughts; my heart ached and throbbed.

He gripped the steering wheel tightly and pressed the accelerator even harder. The engine roared up suddenly, and the car cut through the rain, rushing forward recklessly.

Faster, faster!

Midway through, Lu Chenyang received a call from Lan Zhong, who was equally anxious. "I went to Shuye, I went to Veilde, I searched everywhere he could go, I even went to Yu Zhengcheng's old house, but I still couldn't find him."

The sound of a car door slamming shut came from the other end of the phone. "Damn it! Where did that idiot go?!"

"President Lan, calm down." Lu Chenyang tried to persuade the other party to relax, but his own lips trembled uncontrollably. In a moment, he suddenly thought of something, "That's right, I have friends at the police station. I'll ask them for help, maybe it will be faster."

"Okay!" Lan Zhong sighed deeply. "Keep an eye on your home security camera. Tell me as soon as he gets back."

"good."

After hanging up the phone, Lu Chenyang immediately used voice dialing to call his classmate from police academy, his voice choked with undisguised sobs, "Qin Nan!"

There was a visibly momentary hesitation on the other end of the phone. "Chenyang? What's wrong? What happened? Your voice sounds off!"

“Anan, help me find someone named Yu Sheng.” Lu Chenyang spoke very quickly, somewhat incoherently, “You can find his picture online. He’s missing and injured… Please help me find him… Please help me…” He choked up more and more as he spoke, his voice completely unintelligible.

"Okay, okay! I'll help you. Don't worry, tell me the details." Qin Nan reassured him. He and Lu Chenyang were classmates and roommates for four years in college, and he knew Lu Chenyang's personality best. He had never seen Lu Chenyang so nervous and flustered. "But it's difficult to file a case for an adult who has been missing for less than 24 hours. However, I'll contact the patrol officers and the local police station to help keep an eye out. Oh, right, and the list of people involved in car accidents, and the list of people receiving emergency treatment for external injuries at the hospital. I'll check them for you right now."

After hanging up the phone, Lu Chenyang's tension and anxiety actually decreased, but his mind was filled with Qin Nan's words about the car accident and the list of people in need of emergency care. This was the worst-case scenario, and Lu Chenyang didn't want to think about it, but he couldn't help but picture Yu Sheng covered in blood, lying on the ground, being wheeled into the operating room.

He had already experienced it once in the final scene of "Shattered Light," and then again when Yu Sheng was in a car accident. The fear that had been worn away by time was resurrected once more.

He prayed, prayed that this time it would be another close call.

He didn't want anything to happen to that person, not even a tiny, non-bleeding cut. Because you are also my pain symbiote; any pain you experience will be magnified countless times for me… I'm in pain…

As the car drove further and further away, after an unknown period of time, the heavy, leaden rain clouds were left behind, and the sky gradually transformed into a pale blue velvet, with a few sparse, cold stars hanging on it.

All around was boundless darkness and deathly silence, with towering trees casting silent shadows. There was no wind, and no chirping of insects. Yu Sheng didn't know how she had gotten here; her body felt as if all her strength had been drained, and only the cold, rough touch of stone could be felt on her cheeks and arms.

He was curled up, prostrate before a tombstone. His cheek was pressed tightly against the engraved name, the lifeless stone offering no warmth.

His eyes were open, his pupils reflecting the light of a few cold stars, but they were empty and unfocused, without tears. Like a bird abandoned in the cold night, its feathers soaked, completely hypothermic and unable to fly, it could only futilely cling to the only thing it could feel—the stone surface.

Like a little animal, he rubbed his face against the words on the tombstone, unconsciously murmuring, "...Mom, he...is coming back."