Half an hour later.

The private room on the third floor of the banquet hall.

"I don't need to introduce this person any further, right? Your famous teacher Bai."

At the round table, Song Yecheng sat between Zuo Jianqing and Jiang Que, giving Zuo Jianqing a thumbs up.

He didn't know that the two men had already had a brief and friendly "cordial conversation" at the gate and were now diligently fulfilling their duties of introduction.

Before Zuo Jianqing could even open his mouth, Song Yecheng had already turned to Jiang Que, patted Zuo Jianqing on the shoulder, and said, "This is my childhood friend Zuo Jianqing, a psychiatrist who specializes in mental illness."

Jiang Que was about to nod when Song Yecheng continued, "The research subjects also include himself. If you want to write about this kind of subject in the future, you can discuss it with him. He has extensive experience in treating diseases."

Jiang Que: “…”

Zuo Jianqing: “…”

Song Yecheng and Zuo Jianqing had been accustomed to bickering since childhood, a love-hate relationship that lasted until Zuo Jianqing left for further studies abroad. The past two years of no one engaging in verbal battles had left Song Yecheng feeling particularly bored, so upon meeting today, he immediately engaged in verbal sparring.

However, he forgot that the opponent who could fight with him for many years and still be in a close battle was definitely not an ordinary person.

Just as he turned his head like a victorious general, ready to meet Zuo Jianqing's death stare, he saw Zuo Jianqing curling the corners of his mouth at him with an evil smile, reaching out meaningfully to open the backpack on the seat next to him, and slowly taking out two things from it.

The moment his eyes met those two things, Song Yecheng's expression changed dramatically, as if a Shiba Inu with a crooked smile suddenly turned into an owl with dull, staring eyes.

That was after he had lied to Jiang Que at noon, "My friend is a fan of your book so he wanted to invite you to dinner," and he had specially asked Zuo Jianqing to buy a book on the way to pretend to be a "book fan."

At this moment, he wished he could go back ten seconds and cover his smacking mouth, but that was obviously impossible. So he reached out quickly and "snapped" the book in Zuo Jianqing's hand, then scolded him with a very deliberate smile, "Look at you, what are you doing? You haven't even eaten yet, and you're so anxious to get an autograph? You should let Teacher Bai rest for a while, right?"

Jiang Que, who was standing behind him, hadn't even had time to see the title of the book. He was completely baffled by what he heard. He thought, "He just took out two books. How do you know he wants an autograph?" It would be so embarrassing.

However, Song Yecheng no longer cared about how many flaws his actions had. He was concentrating on raising the white flag to Zuo Jianqing with his eyes, conveying the meaning of "Brother, we can talk it out."

Zuo Jianqing looked at him with a half-smile on his face, his face full of the confidence of someone who had grasped his opponent's vitals. He said in a pretentious tone, "Alas - there's nothing I can do. After all, I have a lot of experience with illnesses. When I get sick this time, I tend to lose control of myself."

Song Yecheng choked for a long while, but finally, under Zuo Jianqing's loving and encouraging gaze, he endured the humiliation and submitted his final surrender. "How could it be? - Did you hear me wrong? I said I was the one who had the most experience with illnesses. How could you, the wise and powerful Zuo Master, who saved lives with his miraculous healing skills, possibly fall ill? Stop it."

Although Zuo Jianqing knew that the only sincere words he said were "stop making trouble," he still let him go while he could. Finally, he turned to Jiang Que with mercy and said politely, "Teacher Bai, could you please sign an autograph for me after dinner?"

Song Yecheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, while Jiang Que, who had watched this bizarre farce, was thinking: These two are actually not very normal, right?

It's not that he didn't see that Zuo Jianqing seemed to have caught some handle on Song Yecheng, and that handle was even related to his book, but he couldn't figure out what it was for the time being.

However, he did not delve into it and just replied politely, "Okay."

At this moment, the box door knocked twice.

Song Yecheng almost couldn't wait and said gratefully to the door: "Come in!"

The waiter who pushed the food cart in to serve the dishes was like an atmosphere regulator. He introduced the dishes to them one by one in a fluent manner while serving them. When all the dishes were served, the waiter politely said "Enjoy your meal" and left. The private room was once again filled with a lively and relaxed atmosphere.

"Come on, come on, eat, eat."

Song Yecheng reached out and pushed the turntable, transferring the plate of artemisia to Jiang Que. He raised his chin to signal him to try some, then turned to Zuo Jianqing and said casually, "Didn't you say you had some bizarre cases you wanted to tell me about? What were they, and how bizarre were they?"

Jiang Que stared at the plate of reed grass in front of him for a moment, then picked up a few pieces with chopsticks and put them into the bowl. After a pause, he picked up a few more pieces, and then followed Song Yecheng to look at Zuo Jianqing.

"Oh, I wouldn't say it's weird," Zuo Jianqing lowered his head and took a bite of his food, "it just left a deep impression on me."

"Hmm?" Song Yecheng motioned for him to continue.

Zuo Jianqing originally wanted to say that since Teacher Bai is still here, it might not be appropriate for us to always talk about my affairs, but when he turned around, he saw Jiang Que looking at him expectantly, and seemed quite interested.

"Okay... then I'll tell you?"

Zuo Jianqing stopped shirking his responsibilities. After thinking for a moment, he cleared his throat and began to speak: "When I was in England before, there was a patient who said that he often saw ghosts, which scared his family members to death. Later, when I chatted with him, he said that the ghost he saw was the same one every time. I asked him if it was a man or a woman, and what it looked like. He said it was a woman with short blond hair, wearing dark blue overalls, carrying a beige bag, with red marks on her neck, and her whole body was dripping with water. I asked him if he could still see ghosts recently, and where he saw them, and he said -"

He dragged out the last word, causing the two people beside him to look at him fixedly. Zuo Jianqing then said slowly: "Yes, she is behind you now."

Song Yecheng choked suddenly: "...Are you talking about a case or a ghost story?"

Jiang Que asked, "And then?"

Zuo Jianqing took a sip of tea and said, "Then I looked back, and of course there was no one behind me. I asked him, 'Did she talk to you?' He said yes, saying that the woman kept repeating the same words - 'My boyfriend tried to strangle me'."

Zuo Jianqing seems to have a talent for storytelling. Although he just narrates the story in a plain and unadorned manner, he imitates the eerie feeling of the key sentences vividly.

"Two weeks later, local police received a report that a female corpse had been found floating in a lake in a suburban park. Her appearance and clothing matched his description perfectly. Forensic examination revealed she had been strangled to death, then tied to a huge rock and thrown into the water. Investigations revealed the murderer was indeed her boyfriend."

Song Yecheng frowned suspiciously: "Could he be a witness who saw the murder?"

Zuo Jianqing remained noncommittal and, to keep him suspenseful, asked, "Then how did he know the murderer and the victim were in a relationship?"

Song Yecheng said without hesitation: "Maybe the murderer had an argument with the victim before he attacked, and he judged their relationship based on the content of the argument?"

Zuo Jianqing curled his lips in an inscrutable manner. "I originally thought so, but then the police confirmed two things: First, the patient was on a business trip on the day of the crime. There were witnesses or various surveillance footage throughout the entire process, so he had no chance to witness the crime. The second thing is quite outrageous - the conversation between this patient and me took place a full week before the crime. This means that when he claimed to have seen a ghost, the murder had not yet occurred."

The second one did sound a bit scary, so much so that Song Yecheng was stunned for a moment.

However, his mind raced, and he quickly came up with a new idea: "Could it be that he knew the murderer and knew he was going to kill, or that he knew the victim and knew she was already entangled with her boyfriend? Wouldn't that explain why he knew they were in a relationship?"

Zuo Jianqing nodded. "The logic is sound, I've thought so too. But the police investigation showed that he had no connection with either of the couple, or rather, no proven connection. At least, both he and the murderer denied knowing each other, and the police found no evidence to prove a connection between them."

He paused, then added, "And there's actually another issue that concerns me—even if he knew the murderer's intended time, place, and method of murder in advance, it's unlikely he could have easily predicted what the victim would wear that day. Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that the victim simply liked to dress that way, or that the murderer asked her to wear that way when they met."

Song Yecheng nodded, pondering for a moment before dropping his doubts. After all, finding more suspicious points in a foreign country where he couldn't investigate personally wouldn't be of much practical significance. However, he noticed that Jiang Que seemed to have remained silent after asking, "And then?" So, he turned with interest and asked, "What do you think, Teacher Bai?"

As he asked this question, he glanced down and found that the artemisia in Jiang Que's bowl had indeed been eaten, so he gently moved his hand on the table and turned the turntable a little circle, so that the plate of artemisia was back in front of Jiang Que.

Jiang Que keenly noticed this detail, but because Song Yecheng asked him what he thought and Zuo Jianqing was waiting for him to speak, he didn't have time to think about it. He turned around and replied, "Actually, I'd rather know what happened to the patient. Is he still able to see that girl?"

Zuo Jianqing shook his head and sneered, "According to him, the girl hasn't appeared since the murderer was apprehended, and our psychiatric evaluation also showed no abnormalities in his mental state. So, many of the local legends that followed were similar to 'ghosts complaining about their grievances'. After all, people these days tend to be more curious."

Jiang Que didn't ask any more questions, but nodded with an ambiguous attitude, and then asked, "Are there any other cases?"

"Yes, there are so many cases."

Zuo Jianqing smiled and waved his chopsticks at the table, signaling the two to continue eating. Then, as he picked up some food, he said, "There's also an American patient who's only 22 years old, but after a car accident, he claimed to have participated in the 19th century Civil War."

"He said he served in the cavalry regiment of the Army of Northern Virginia. He was seriously injured in the Battle of Fredericksburg, but he didn't receive timely treatment. He was left lying in a wasteland littered with corpses for two whole days. Finally, he closed his eyes from exhaustion, and when he woke up, he appeared here..."

Two hours later.

Mountain Manor Forest Area.

It was already late at night, and soft landscape lights were lit in the quiet garden. On the winding covered bridge over the lake, Song Yecheng and Jiang Que were walking side by side towards the back mountain.

Zuo Jianqing had to leave early the next morning and attend a multinational video conference in the second half of the night, so for convenience, he directly stayed in the hotel above the reception hall and did not come to the back mountain with them.

The retro hollow lanterns hanging under the eaves cast mottled shadows like paper-cuts, decorating the vermilion columns and the slender figures of the two people walking slowly like window grilles.

After turning a corner, Jiang Que suddenly tilted his head and asked, "Is he really a fan of my book?"

When they finished their meal just now, none of the three of them remembered about signing. In the end, it was the waiter who chased them out of the box and said that they had forgotten to bring two books. Only then did Zuo Jianqing wake up as if from a dream and hurried to find Jiang Que to sign.

Song Yecheng was taken aback by the sudden question and subconsciously wanted to answer "of course". However, perhaps because the atmosphere was so good in the quiet night, and Jiang Que's beautiful eyes looking at him were so clear under the light, he actually felt that lying at this moment was a sin. He hesitated for a moment, and finally gave up and smiled under Jiang Que's gaze: "No."

Jiang Que also smiled faintly, as if he already knew the answer. He walked slowly forward and said, "So you asked him to buy those two books?"

Since he had already told the truth, Song Yecheng simply stopped hiding it and frankly admitted, "Well, he's my best buddy. I actually wanted to introduce you to each other, but I thought you might not be used to dealing with strangers, so I told him that he's a fan of your book and asked him to take the initiative. I thought that this might put less pressure on you."

Jiang Que didn't expect it was because of this. He was stunned for a moment and didn't know how to react for a moment.

However, Song Yecheng didn't seem to intend to let him react, and quickly changed the subject: "Did you eat enough tonight?"

Speaking of this, Jiang Que immediately remembered something that puzzled him during dinner: "Oh, why is there Artemisia selengensis here?"

Artemisia selengensis is not a common dish found throughout the country. It usually grows in humid areas at low altitudes. Moreover, due to its strong seasonality, it is not available in any restaurant at any time even in its growing place, let alone in this remote suburban mountain villa in this season.

Hearing this, Song Yecheng smiled proudly: "Guess?"

He rarely shows this kind of expression on his face. After all, he has been admired for many years since he was a child, and he has long developed the ability to remain calm in the face of all kinds of praise and compliments. There are few things that can make him show pride on his face.

Seeing his expression, Jiang Que quickly understood something and asked uncertainly, "Did you buy it yourself?"

Song Yecheng smiled and didn't take credit for Douzi's work: "Douzi bought it. I asked him to look for it in Yinling to see if there was any for sale. He searched for an entire afternoon before he found it."

Jiang Que nodded, seeming to understand, and guessed, "Do you like to eat this?"

Song Yecheng thought about how to answer with a hiss, then seemed to want to laugh: "To be honest, this is only my second time eating it. The last time I ate it was several years ago when I was filming in Jiangnan."

Jiang Que was a little confused: "Then why did you suddenly ask Douzi to find this?"

Song Yecheng glanced at him mischievously and meaningfully with his perfectly shaped eyes beneath his prominent brows: "Isn't it because I think you like to eat?"

Jiang Que was stunned.

That’s right, although his current state is completely “eating just to survive”, it does not mean that he does not have his own preferences - there are only a handful of dishes he likes, and artemisia is one of them.

but……

"How do you know?" Jiang Que asked in surprise.

They had not known each other for long, and Jiang Que was not a person who cared much about food. He was sure that he would never casually mention what he liked to eat when he had nothing better to do.

Song Yecheng smiled silently, looking at him suggestively, and said in a suspenseful manner: "Can you recall it yourself?"

Jiang Que: “?”

His face was full of genuine confusion. Even his usually relaxed brows were slightly furrowed as he pondered over the matter. His long, fine eyelashes fluttered gently as he blinked in confusion, but he couldn't figure out the reason for a long time.

Song Yecheng finally had enough of his rare expression, couldn't help but chuckle, and reminded him: "Do you still remember what dishes Fang Zhi and his family of three ate when you wrote about them having dinner in the original novel "Searching for the Lantern"? "

Jiang Que thought about it for a few seconds, and finally revealed a look of realization. However, Song Yecheng didn't wait for him to speak, and rushed to answer the question, "Brine shrimp, glutinous rice lotus root, stir-fried pork with artemisia, and winter melon and pork rib soup."

That’s right, these are the dishes Jiang Que wrote about in the original novel, and the reason why this detail was changed in the script is because the main purpose of this scene is to use "peeling shrimps" to express Fang Zhi’s love for his daughter, so in order to facilitate filming, only the "shrimp" dish was retained unchanged, and the other dishes were replaced with home-cooked dishes commonly used throughout the country.

"But……"

Jiang Que still had questions, but Song Yecheng, presciently asking for him, "But you clearly wrote three dishes and a soup, so why do I think you like artemisia?"

Jiang Que nodded. This was indeed what he was wondering about.

Song Yecheng revealed the same smug expression as before, as if he was thoroughly enjoying the thrill of deciphering the mystery. "Because you've written about the dinner table three times in the twelve stories of 'Dust,' and you've changed up all the other dishes, but you've never changed up the artemisia."

This was a detail that even Jiang Que himself had not noticed, so after listening to Song Yecheng's explanation, he actually asked himself in surprise: Is that so?

"Also," Song Yecheng's reasoning wasn't over yet. "Although the other dishes have changed, they're still mostly Jiangsu and Zhejiang dishes. Plus, the trees that appear most frequently in your book are camphor and white magnolia. Whenever you write about winter, it rarely snows, and when it does, it melts quickly. And in summer, there are often heavy rains, flooding, and even typhoons. So if my guess is correct—you grew up in southern Jiangsu or northern Zhejiang, right?"

If Jiang Que was just surprised just now, he was truly shocked now.

Although it is not uncommon for an actor like Song Yecheng to read the original novel in order to perform well in the remake, and it is not uncommon for him to read all the other stories in "Dust" except "Searching for the Light" and "Twins", but it is also not uncommon for him to pay attention to so many insignificant details while reading the book, and even speculate on the author's preferences and hometown based on these clues. Isn't this too outrageous?

Although Jiang Que was hesitant to answer, Song Yecheng had already gotten the answer from his puzzled look. He couldn't help but curl his lips slightly, raised one eyebrow and asked, "So - is it Southern Jiangsu or Northern Zhejiang?"

He was the kind of person with absolutely no flaws from his face shape to his facial features, and at this moment, with the light and shadow rendering him with such a clever expression, he looked indescribably impressive.

Jiang Que couldn't help but stare at him for a few more seconds. Finally, under his gaze that seemed to be waiting for an answer, he chuckled helplessly and gave in. "Su Nan, I grew up in Su City and came to the north for college."

Song Yecheng snapped his fingers as if to say, "I see," and then he remembered something: "What about your parents? Are they still living in Sucheng?"

A hint of sadness flashed across Jiang Que's face, and he shook his head: "They went abroad."

Song Yecheng silently said "Oh", and somehow remembered the block of buildings waiting to be demolished when they first met. He asked curiously, "Then what was the house you lived in before?"

Jiang Que immediately understood where he was referring to and replied, "That's what I rented."

Song Yecheng was a little surprised. Although he didn't know Jiang Que's specific income, the royalties from the best-selling book "Dust" both at home and abroad should be generous enough for him to buy a house even in the capital. Even if Jiang Que didn't want to buy a house and only wanted to rent one, he wouldn't have to choose such a remote and dilapidated house, right?

However, he did not pursue this question. After all, Jiang Que's family situation was rather complicated, and income was a sensitive issue. If this matter was related to his adoptive parents, asking about it would inevitably embarrass him.

At this time, the winding corridor bridge has come to the end. The shadows of the trees and garden vegetation on the shore are swaying. Connecting to the bridge deck is a winding gravel path. The lotus-shaped ground lamps on both sides emit a faint white light, dotted with stars, winding forward, like a quiet Milky Way leading to the Moon Gate.

After stepping onto the gravel path, they both slowed down their pace, seemingly unwilling to disturb the tranquil scene before them. However, in reality, Song Yecheng was simply enjoying the rare opportunity to stroll peacefully without being disturbed by the outside world, while Jiang Que was distracted by something else.

Perhaps it was because the night always gave people an infinite sense of security, or perhaps it was because such a quiet and peaceful environment made it easy for people to relax and daydream. As Jiang Que walked, his mind couldn't help but emerge with the scene on the dining table where Song Yecheng calmly turned the plate of artemisia in front of him several times.

He had not expected Song Yecheng to be so attentive. He had not expected that he would read his book so carefully, that he would let Douzimanyinling look for Luhao, and that he had not expected that he gave Zuo Jianqing the identity of a book fan in order to relieve his own pressure.

This feeling was so unfamiliar to Jiang Que that he couldn't find a proper way to describe it for a moment.

But what is certain is that this feeling is like a small brush, gently sweeping away a layer of protective dust that has long covered certain secret truths buried deep in his heart, making him unable to help but have the thought that "maybe it's okay to say it out."

However, just as this thought was floating in his mind, another scene blew into his mind like a gust of wind, blowing the already uncertain idea aside -

That was the scene when Song Yecheng and Zuo Jianqing were discussing the case.

"What are you thinking about?" Song Yecheng, who had been walking in silence for a long time, suddenly asked softly.

Jiang Que suddenly came back to his senses and subconsciously turned his head to look, just in time to meet Song Yecheng's curious and inquiring gaze.

In just a short moment, the balance in his heart swayed back and forth a few times, and finally, it tilted slightly in a certain direction -

Perhaps, even if I can't tell everything for the time being, I can try to give some hints?

"I was thinking about the case Zuo Jianqing mentioned," he said.

When they talked about the case at the dinner table that night, Jiang Que had been listening in almost the entire time, not expressing any opinions from beginning to end. As a result, Song Yecheng thought he wasn't very interested. So when he brought it up, he couldn't help but feel a little surprised: "Why are you still thinking about that? Did you find any problems?"

"Not really."

Jiang Que retracted his gaze, lowered his eyelids slightly, and seemed to consider his words for a moment before he slowly spoke, "I was just wondering, usually when we hear about cases like this, our first reaction is always to assume that 'the person involved is lying'. We treat the case as a suspenseful mystery and analyze the clues to solve the case. Isn't this way of thinking a bit preconceived?"

Song Yecheng was momentarily stunned, then Jiang Que continued, "Take the case of 'the ghost complaining' for example. After listening to it, you immediately questioned whether he was a witness, and then kept trying to prove that he knew the murderer and therefore knew about it. Zuo Jianqing was the same. Besides raising doubts, he repeatedly used words like 'he claimed,' 'he insisted,' 'refused to admit,' and 'according to him' during his narration. These words clearly express subjective distrust, and clearly, from the very beginning, he was inclined to believe that the person involved was lying."

Hearing this, Song Yecheng couldn't help but recall the details of his discussion with Zuo Jianqing in his mind, and found that it was exactly as Jiang Que said. At the same time, he seemed to have a premonition of what Jiang Que wanted to express.

Sure enough, the next second, Jiang Que changed the subject: "But have you ever thought... maybe there's a tiny possibility that they're not lying, but have told the truth, but no one wants to believe it?"

At this moment, Song Yecheng finally understood why Jiang Que did not participate in the discussion at the dinner table - it was not that he was not interested, on the contrary, he actually listened very carefully, but because Song Yecheng and Zuo Jianqing had been discussing with a questioning attitude, and he could not agree with this attitude, so he politely remained silent.

As he said the last word, Jiang Que turned his head again to look at Song Yecheng.

Not sure if it was an illusion, but Song Yecheng actually felt that he saw a hint of uneasiness in those eyes, as if he had made a great determination before tentatively saying these words, and his next answer was crucial to him.

This judgment made Song Yecheng not speak immediately. He thought silently for a long time, and seriously asked himself this question in his heart -

Clairvoyance, precognition, time travel... and so on.

If an "eyewitness" tells me the truth, will I choose to believe it?

After a long while, he finally came up with a rigorous answer: "I don't deny that there must be some phenomena in this world that science cannot currently explain. But given my current level of knowledge, if I ever believe a similar story, it would probably be due to one of two reasons."

Jiang Que didn't say anything, waiting quietly for him to continue.

"The first possibility is that all the details in the story that aroused my doubts were perfectly explained or proven, leaving me with no reason to doubt it."

Jiang Que nodded in understanding: "What about the second option?"

"The second one..."

Song Yecheng dragged out his words slightly, turned his head and looked at him, his deep eyes showing a hint of tenderness. "The person who told me the story made me want to trust him from the bottom of my heart, so even if the 'truth' he said was bizarre, I was willing to try to believe it."

The night wind gradually picked up, and the lush grass and trees made a rustling sound.

The bright moon shone through the heavy clouds, casting its light into the eyes of the two people as they looked at each other, and also imbued the words lingering in their ears with both subtle and obscure temptations and expectations with deep meanings.

After a long moment, Jiang Que finally withdrew his gaze and nodded gently in that gentle gaze: "Okay."