Chapter 82 He's Back "You're back? What for?"...

Footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, each one striking Li Leshan's heart.

He climbed the concrete steps one by one. The motion-activated light had been broken for years and no one had ever fixed it. Only the moonlight filtering in from the window barely illuminated the few steps ahead. He could hear another person's footsteps not far behind him—not too loud, not too soft, but always close.

It's not Jiang Yueming's. Jiang Yueming walks lightly, not this heavy.

The voice sounds like that of a middle-aged man, but it's hard to tell exactly what kind of person he is.

Li Leshan subtly glanced back and saw a figure in the darkness, realizing someone was following him. He quickened his pace, calculating that he still had four floors to go before reaching home; those four floors should be enough for him to shake off the man.

But who exactly is this person? And why are we following him?

"Count to three and then run up." Li Leshan clenched his fists, thinking to himself.

one……

"Where do you think you're going? How long do you think you can run?" The man's voice was hoarse and tinged with mockery.

Li Leshan felt as if something had hit his head, and suddenly, he froze on the spot, his blood rushing to his head.

!

That sound!

He would never forget that voice. It haunted him like a nightmare every night he slept. Every night, as soon as he closed his eyes, he could hear that voice yelling, cursing, and smashing things…

But why?

Li Leshan was completely bewildered. Why could he come back now? Wasn't his sentence supposed to be ten years? It had clearly been less than ten years yet—

Li Leshan took a deep breath, his nails digging into his palms. Although he tried to appear calm, his hands were still trembling slightly.

Li Yong.

Let's change the way we address each other.

His father.

“Son, why haven’t you come to see your dad all these years?” Li Yong said, his figure in the dark stairwell giving off an inexplicable sense of fear. He was wearing old clothes, his hair was shaved very short, and there was a scar across his face.

Li Leshan frowned, and his hand slowly clenched.

Looking at you?

A cold smile tugged at the corner of Li Leshan's mouth. Why should he go see such a rotten person, a rotten person who had tormented him and his family for so long?

Li Yong rushed forward, and the face that had once inspired fear reappeared before Li Leshan's eyes after many years, causing him to involuntarily close his eyes.

"What are you afraid of? You've grown up now, I won't hit you anymore." Li Yong laughed, the laughter particularly grating to Li Leshan's ears. "You've grown so much over the years. You guys actually ran back to Shengping, I really had to look for you for a long time."

"Why did you come back?" Li Leshan raised his trembling hand and used sign language.

Li Yong frowned. He could read sign language, and he was trying to get money from his elderly grandmother, but it had been a long time since he had seen her. It took him a while to react. "Are you really mute?"

Li Leshan suppressed his fear, stepped forward, stared intently into Li Yong's eyes, and repeated the sign language, "Why did you come back?"

Li Yong's eyes suddenly turned extremely fierce. He slapped Li Leshan across the face with all his might, then growled in a low voice, "You've really grown bold! You dare to talk to me like that? I should have killed you along with you back then!"

A sharp pain shot through his face, and Li Leshan felt a little dizzy. He staggered a step, regained his senses, grabbed Li Yong's shoulder, and slammed him against the wall with all his might!

“I’m telling you, don’t come back.” Li Leshan looked at him.

The narrow, dark corridor was eerily quiet, too quiet, like the calm before a storm.

“You’re still in school, right?” Li Yong looked at him, his eyes devoid of any affection for his own flesh and blood. “You’re going to school, right? That teacher is excellent, and I heard your grades are good.”

"What are you trying to do?" Li Leshan moved a little further away from him.

"Money." Li Yong grinned, revealing his ultimate goal. "I know that woman left you some money, and there's also the money your grandmother left. Hand it over, and I won't cause you any trouble."

"You think I believe what you say?" Li Leshan sneered.

"Are you fucking mute and deaf too?" Li Yong dropped his slightly normal facade, revealing his true colors. "I want money!"

"What do you need the money for?" Li Leshan asked in sign language.

"What the hell are you interfering with? That's none of your business!" Li Yong said impatiently.

"Gambling? Or are you in debt?" Li Leshan knew perfectly well what kind of person Li Yong was, and he knew him best; it was even possible that he was involved in both. Giving money to Li Yong would only embolden him and make him even more reckless, causing more trouble than it would reduce.

"I have no money," Li Leshan refused decisively.

Li Yong is a bottomless pit; Li Leshan can't give him this money. If he does, he'll only be harassed to death.

"What are you pretending for?!" Li Yong grabbed Li Leshan's hair. "You don't have money? Ask your grandma for it. Otherwise, do you want me to go ask her for it?"

Li Leshan's body suddenly stiffened.

At that very moment, the creaking sound of an iron gate turning suddenly came from above the stairwell. Immediately afterwards, a ray of warm yellow light shone down from the fifth-floor entrance, obliquely cutting through the darkness of the stairwell.

"Leshan...is Leshan back?" A frail, aged voice trembled as it came through the door, filled with obvious worry. "I'm inside...who are you talking to?"

It's Grandma.

Li Leshan's blood seemed to freeze. He abruptly turned his head to look at the source of the light, then quickly turned back to stare intently at Li Yong, his eyes revealing a look of near panic for the first time.

Li Yong also heard the sound. He subconsciously loosened his grip on Li Leshan's hair, glanced up, and a look of calculation and cruelty flashed across his face.

He lowered his voice, "Perfect, saves me the trouble of knocking."

"You dare!"

"You think I dare?" Li Yong sneered. "I've been in jail for so many years, I have nothing left, what am I afraid of? I'll go tell your grandma right now, let her see her son is back—"

After saying that, he grabbed Li Leshan's arm and started to walk upstairs.

Li Leshan gripped the stair railing tightly, his fingers turning white from the pressure. His heart pounded as if it would explode, his mind racing—no matter what, he absolutely couldn't let Li Yong see his grandmother!

Li Yong turned around impatiently.

Li Leshan breathed rapidly, and finally, as if all his strength had been drained, he closed his eyes and made a short sign language gesture, "Downstairs... say."

Li Yong squinted at him for a few seconds, then finally snorted and let go.

Li Leshan stood still, quickly glancing back towards the upstairs entrance. The light was still on, and his grandmother's blurry figure seemed to be leaning against the door, looking out anxiously. But he couldn't respond now; he could only immediately chase after Li Yong.

He stepped into the darkness of the next floor, feeling as if he had stepped into another world.

Li Yong waited for him at the corner of the corridor, lit a cigarette, and the embers flickered in the darkness.

"Where's the money?" He didn't waste any words and stretched out his hand directly.

Li Leshan looked at the hand that had been swung at him and his mother countless times, and his stomach churned. He remained silent. "I don't have the money on me. Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Li Yong glared at him fiercely. "Are you kidding me?"

“Then search,” Li Leshan said, opening his arms and making eye contact with Li Yong for two seconds before continuing, “Grandma is going out tomorrow…I’ll give it to you.”

He must buy time.

One night.

He needs a night to figure out a solution.

Li Yong cursed, then finally asked, "How much can you give me?"

Li Leshan gave a number. That was what his mother left behind when she left; as for what his grandmother had saved up through frugality, he couldn't give her that.

"That's all? You're kidding me!"

"That's all," Li Leshan gestured expressionlessly. "If you don't want it, then forget it."

Li Yong silently took a few puffs of his cigarette, then finally threw the butt on the ground and crushed it out with the sole of his shoe.

“Fine, tomorrow.” He pointed at Li Leshan’s nose. “Noon, at the very end of the alley. Call the police, or you’re messing with me…”

He paused, then gave a sinister smile. "I'll go to your school gate every day, look for you, your classmates, your teachers... and have a good chat. Then I'll go up to your grandma and chat about everyday things."

Every word was like an icicle, piercing Li Leshan's heart. He knew Li Yong wasn't joking; he was absolutely capable of doing something like this.

Li Leshan nodded stiffly.

Li Yong seemed satisfied. He gave him one last glance, then turned and swayed out of the building. His footsteps gradually faded into the night outside.

Li Leshan stood alone in the cold darkness, leaning against the crumbling wall, and slowly slid down to sit on the ground. The lingering smell of smoke from Li Yong's cigarette hadn't completely dissipated, mixing with the damp, musty odor unique to the old building, and it all rushed into his nostrils, making him nauseous.

He felt his heart pounding. Li Leshan bit his lower lip hard, tasting a little blood in his mouth, trying to calm his racing heart. He leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and finally told himself that this wasn't a dream.

The whole world fell into a deathly silence once again.

Only his heavy breathing and the muffled thumping of his frantic heartbeat could be heard.

Li Yong is back.

This nightmare, which he thought he could escape for at least three more years, which he fantasized about escaping by going to university, has brutally and without warning torn apart the peaceful life he was barely maintaining.

He remembered his mother's pale face when she left, and the scene of his grandmother's trembling hands holding him in her arms; all of those memories lingered in his mind.

Call the police?

The thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly suppressed it. Li Yong's threats were still ringing in his ears. He was capable of it. He would definitely go to the school and cause a scene, make a scene that everyone would know about, make a scene that would make him unable to hold his head up again, and make a scene that would disturb his grandmother's peace.

Moreover, Li Yong only made verbal threats and didn't actually do anything. Even if he were arrested, how many days would he be locked up? And then what? Once he gets out, the retaliation will only be more severe. He knows this man too well.

He had to go; he had no way out.

What happens after you go? You give him the money? Then you watch him throw it into casinos and bars, just like before, and lose it all again... It's a bottomless pit; once you start, there's no peace.

Li Leshan abruptly closed his eyes, pressing his forehead against his cold, hard knees. In the darkness, he clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, trying to force himself to calm down with the slight pain.

We must not panic, we absolutely must not panic.

Grandma is still upstairs; she knows nothing, and she can't know.

He needs time, he needs a solution.

In the distance outside the building, a few indistinct barks of dogs could be heard. Li Leshan slowly raised his head and, through the broken window of the stairwell, realized that it was getting darker and darker.

The peaceful days had finally come to an end. The darkness ahead was so thick that he could hardly see a ray of light.

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Author's Note: The biggest villain in this story has arrived.

I set the stage beforehand, so it didn't seem abrupt to everyone, right? [pity]