"Brother, what's wrong?"

"Let's not go in for now, let Dad comfort Mom properly."

Chen Zhuo hesitated for a moment at the door, then gently closed the ward door.

Just then, hurried footsteps came from the corridor, and Li Guaizi and Xu Manling rushed over.

"How is she? Is Aunt Song alright?" Li Guaizi asked anxiously before he could even catch his breath.

Xu Manling also said, "What did the doctor say? I have a friend in this hospital, I can ask him for help if I need anything."

"Don't worry, my mom is fine, she's awake now." Chen Ke said, gesturing for Li Guaizi to sit down. "Thank you for your concern."

After Li Guaizi breathed a sigh of relief, he asked, "Why did Aunt Song faint? She looked quite well the last time I saw her."

Chen Ke glanced at Li Guaizi, "Because... Aunt Liu was shot and killed on her way to our house."

"Aunt Liu is dead?" Li Guaizi was extremely shocked.

Although people die every day, you can't truly empathize with grief unless it happens to someone close to you. But now, the person who was smiling at you and saying they would cook you delicious food has suddenly become a cold, lifeless corpse. That anger and sorrow has finally become crystal clear.

Li Guaizi's eyes suddenly reddened, and his voice choked with emotion, "What, what exactly happened?"

Xu Manling then suddenly asked, "Was it this morning, on East Street?"

The three of them suddenly turned their attention to Xu Manling.

Chen Ke: "Miss Xu, do you know what happened on East Street this morning?"

Seeing this, Xu Manling knew she had guessed correctly. She sighed deeply, "I don't know much. I only know that a Japanese ronin and a British man had a dispute over something. The Japanese ronin drew his sword first, but the British man fired his gun."

"Damn it, they're all bastards! They started a conflict, but it's us Chinese who are dying!"

As Li Guaizi roared out his words, the corridor suddenly fell silent, and the few pedestrians who were walking around stopped and looked at them with puzzled expressions.

Li Guaizi glared back fiercely, "Look, what are you looking at! Look at your father!"

Perhaps the other party saw that Li Guaizi's group had more people, or perhaps they were intimidated by the scar on Li Guaizi's face, because after being scolded, they turned around and left with an embarrassed expression.

"This is a hospital, there are many people around, so please be more careful what you say next time," Xu Manling kindly reminded her.

Although Li Guaizi looked indignant, he could still tell right from wrong, and he didn't say anything more.

The last few people waited outside the ward for almost two hours before Zhou Shanhuai finally came out looking exhausted.

"Dad, is Mom asleep?" Chen Zhuo quickly got up and asked.

"She's asleep, she cried herself to sleep, and nothing we did could comfort her. If she weren't pregnant, she would definitely have gone to see Aunt Liu one last time."

"Let Mom rest well, we'll go to Aunt Liu's place."

To avoid disturbing Song Xiaowen, the group stood at the door and spoke quietly. In the end, Li Guaizi stayed there with Zhou Shanhuai to watch over Song Xiaowen, while Chen Ke and Chen Zhuo went to see Aunt Liu off on her final journey in Song Xiaowen's place. Xu Manling went home, as she would need to keep an eye on things there if Chen Ke couldn't go to the company in the next few days.

As they left the hospital, a light rain suddenly began to fall from the already darkening sky. Chen Ke and Chen Zhuo walked straight into the rain, got into the car, and headed towards Aunt Liu's house.

Shanghai at night is devoid of the daytime hustle and bustle, and even the pedestrians on the streets walk in a hurry.

The car stopped at the entrance of the alley where Zhou Shanhuai was robbed. Chen Ke and Chen Zhuo got out of the car and walked into the dark, muddy alley.

“This is a shortcut, but no one in the alley dares to walk on this path. Dad once took it by chance and was robbed. Luckily we came back in time, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable.”

In the quiet alley, the only sounds besides Chen Zhuo's voice were the footsteps of the two people walking through the mud.

"Brother, if it were you, what would you choose? The safer, longer route, or the more dangerous but much shorter route?"

"For me, it doesn't matter which path I take."

“If it were me, I would choose the shortcut.” Chen Zhuo took a heavy step, the sound of mud splashing under his feet was clear. In the darkness, Chen Ke heard Chen Zhuo continue, “I’m not afraid of danger. If we really run into each other, it’s not certain who will kill whom.”

It had been a long time since Chen Zhuo had spoken so arrogantly. His calm and mature demeanor, always dressed in a suit and tie, almost made Chen Ke forget how crazy Chen Zhuo used to be.

The darkness of night seems to amplify the dark side of people's hearts, allowing things that cannot be seen in the light to grow unchecked.

"Brother, if anyone dares to hurt you or Mom and Dad even the slightest bit, I will chop them into mincemeat."

Chen Ke paused, "I won't let anyone hurt me, nor will I let anyone hurt my parents." He didn't want Chen Zhuo to become gloomy and violent again, and hoped that he could be sunny and cheerful. Even if he joined the army in the future, it would be for the greater good of the country and for the revolutionary cause.

Chen Ke had always thought his methods and strategies were quite successful, until Chen Zhuo said in a sinister tone in his ear at this moment: "But if you dare to betray and abandon me again, I... will not let you off the hook again."

Chen Zhuo has been faking it all along!

When this thought suddenly appeared in Chen Ke's mind, a sharp, piercing sound rang out in his head at the same time. It felt as if something had hit his head hard, and the intense pain made Chen Ke involuntarily cover his head and bend over.

Sensing that something was wrong with Chen Ke, Chen Zhuo immediately stopped and tried to touch Chen Ke to ask him what was wrong, but his hand reached out and touched nothing.

"Brother?" Chen Zhuo couldn't believe it. He had clearly felt Chen Ke beside him just a second ago.

"Brother?...Brother! Brother!" Chen Zhuo shouted as he groped around like a blind man.

But there was nothing, absolutely nothing!

There was no one, and no sound!

Apart from his own footsteps and terrified shouts, there was not a sound in the alley!

Chen Ke seemed to have suddenly vanished from his side...out of thin air...

When this thought came to Chen Zhuo's mind, an uncontrollable panic and fear spread through his body.

"No! Impossible! Brother, come out! I was just talking nonsense, I was joking, brother, don't tease me! I'm afraid of the dark, brother, I'm afraid of the dark..."

This time, Chen Zhuo wasn't pretending and he really wasn't lying. He was genuinely afraid of the dark. The first time his brother sold him, he was only five years old. It was also a dark night with light rain. His brother put him in a basket on his back, saying he was going to buy him candy, and carried him towards the city.

Then, while he was asleep on the way, they sold him to human traffickers. But he woke up midway and, with his eyes open, clearly heard their sounds of the transaction in the darkness. He hid in the basket, terrified and helpless, while the people outside seemed like two evil demons…

He remembered people in the village saying that children bought by human traffickers would be cooked and eaten.