Past Blade, Present Shield
The red taillights of the police car drifted away in the morning mist, finally disappearing around the corner. I stood at the entrance of the nursing home, the chill of the morning breeze penetrating my thin clothes was nothing compared to the chill deep in my heart.
Chen Que put his coat on my shoulders and said, "Go back and rest first."
I shook my head, still looking in the direction the police car had disappeared. "That last look of his...it's not over yet."
By the time I returned to my apartment, daybreak had already broken. The old neighborhood was beginning to wake up, the aroma of breakfast stalls drifting through the windows, and the laughter of children drifting from downstairs. These ordinary sounds of life seemed especially precious at that moment.
Lawyer Li was already waiting for us, her laptop open in front of her, her brow furrowed.
"The situation isn't optimistic." She pushed her glasses up. "Gu Yanshen's legal team has already taken action. They're applying for bail."
"So fast?" Shen Que paused in pouring water.
"His power is greater than we imagined," Lawyer Li said, pulling up a document. "Also, we face another problem—the chain of evidence is incomplete."
I took the tablet, which displayed a childhood photo of Gu Yanshen. A thin boy stood in front of the mansion, his eyes gloomy, and he looked out of place with the magnificent building behind him.
"This is?"
"I hired someone to do a background check," Lawyer Li said. "Gu Yanshen's mother left home when he was ten, and his father was an alcoholic who often abused him. These experiences shaped his extremely insecure personality."
Photos flashed by: a torn-up family portrait, an empty dining table, and the image of a young boy, Gu Yan, huddled in a corner. My heart inexplicably tightened.
"What does this mean?" Shen Que asked.
"If the case goes to court, his lawyer will likely use this as an excuse to argue that his actions were caused by psychological trauma and seek a lighter sentence."
I suddenly remembered Gu Yanshen's tears that night when he was drunk, and remembered him saying, "I can't control myself... I'm too afraid of losing..." It turns out that those were not performances, but the true cries for help from a soul trapped in the shadow of childhood.
"But that's no reason for him to hurt others," I said softly.
"Of course not," Lawyer Li said, closing his laptop. "But we need more evidence to prove his actions were carefully planned, not impulsive."
In the afternoon, we decided to split up. Shen Que went to contact more witnesses, while I faced a difficult task - to meet Gu Yanshen's father.
Gu's father lived in an old villa on the outskirts of the city. Unlike the luxurious apartment where Gu Yanshen lived, this villa seemed dilapidated and gloomy. The garden was overgrown with weeds, and the iron gate was rusty.
The person who opened the door was a white-haired old man wearing faded house clothes and holding a bottle of wine. But his eyes were clear and sharp, which was not in line with his appearance.
"Are you Mo Xiaoyu?" He looked me up and down. "Come in."
The room was dimly lit, the furniture covered in white cloth, and only one corner of the living room showed any signs of use. On the wall hung a yellowed photo of Gu's father in his youth, a gentle woman, and a young Gu Yanshen standing between them.
"Are you here for my son?" Father Gu asked directly.
"I want to know about his past."
The old man sneered. "Want to know why he became like this?" He pointed at the photo on the wall. "Do you see his mother? She ran off with someone because she thought I was poor."
I silently looked at the boy with a shy smile in the photo. It was hard to connect him with the current Gu Yanshen who had a strong desire for control.
"I worked so hard to give her the best life, but she's never satisfied." Gu's father took a big gulp of his wine. "So I taught my son to hold on to what he wants. Feelings? They're the most unreliable thing."
"Did you hit him?"
The old man was stunned for a moment, then smiled sarcastically: "What? Are you going to hold me responsible now?"
At that moment, my cell phone rang. It was the nursing home calling. My mother had woken up and wanted to see me.
Before leaving, Father Gu suddenly said, "Let me tell you something. When Yan Shen was fifteen, he had a dog. Later, the dog ran away, and he searched for it for two days and two nights. When he found it, the dog was dead. From then on, he never kept anything that would leave him."
On the way back, these words kept echoing in my mind.
In the nursing home, my mother's condition had clearly improved. She held my hand, her eyes clear as she said, "Xiaoyu, I remember now. Those documents... Yan Shen made me sign them while I was unconscious after taking the medicine."
"Are you sure?"
"He brought a bunch of documents that day, saying they were all routine procedures. I was so dizzy at the time that I couldn't even read them clearly..." The mother choked up, "I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble."
I hugged her tightly and said, "You are not the one who should say sorry."
After putting my mother to sleep, I met the attending physician in the corridor.
"Miss Mo, I have something to tell you." He said seriously, "We checked the previous surveillance footage and found that Mr. Gu always brought a special kind of incense with him whenever he came to visit. Testing has shown that it contains hallucinogenic ingredients."
I was chilled. "So..."
"So your mother's unconsciousness when she signed the document was most likely not a side effect of the medication, but rather a deliberate act."
At this moment, all the clues came together. From engineering my father's bankruptcy, to controlling my mother with drugs, to imprisoning me with surveillance—this wasn't a loss of control caused by psychological trauma, but a carefully planned conspiracy.
In the evening, Shen Que brought back an important news: he found Gu Yanshen's former assistant, who was willing to testify that Gu Yanshen had systematically studied psychological manipulation.
"He still has the book list that Gu Yanshen gave him." Shen Que showed the photos. "Emotional Blackmail," "Invisible Control," "How to Make People Depend on You"... These book titles gave me the chills.
Late at night, I was alone on the balcony, sorting through the evidence. The city's neon lights flickered in the distance, like countless shattered dreams.
My phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number. I hesitated for a moment, then picked up.
"Xiao Yu." It was Gu Yanshen's voice. He had apparently been released on bail.
"How do you know this number?"
He chuckled and asked instead, "Have you met my father? What a pathetic old man, isn't he? He's lived in fear of being abandoned his whole life."
"Aren't you the same?"
There was a long silence on the other end of the line. "It's different." His voice suddenly turned cold. "I'm smarter than him. I know how to keep the important people by my side forever."
"By deception and control?"
"By any means necessary." He paused. "You know, I've been reading your columns lately. They're really good, especially 'The Price of Tenderness.'"
My heart skipped a beat.
"But you were wrong about one thing." His voice was tinged with sarcasm. "You said the victims would eventually wake up. But you forgot, what happens after they wake up? Are you truly ready to face the cold reality, to face the shattering of your life?"
The phone was hung up, and the busy tone was particularly harsh in the night.
I gripped the railing tightly, my knuckles turning white. He was right. Awakening was only the beginning; the real challenge lay ahead. But this time, I wouldn't back down.
Because understanding his pain is one thing, and paying for his distortion is another.
Everyone is responsible for their own choices, and Gu Yanshen is no exception.
The morning light comes again, and I know that a new day and a new battle are about to begin.
I understand your pain, but I don't have to pay for your distortion.
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