“What’s going on?” Qin Jinhuan asked the doctor hastily while staring at the emergency room.

The doctor calmly explained, “The patient’s high fever hasn’t subsided, and she isn’t in full possession of her senses, which conjured up something at the bottom of her heart that she usually refused to confront. So we need to find her family members to understand her situation to solve her problems by taking the correct actions.”

Feng Rubing’s scream could be heard again from the emergency room as the doctor spoke. Mu Yu’s heart clenched as she asked, “So is Madam Feng in a serious condition right now?”

“Are you referring to the patient? She’ll stop exhibiting such symptoms once her temperature comes down and she’s come to her senses,” said the doctor. Then, he changed the subject. “Does she often suffer from insomnia and nightmares?”

Mu Yu was startled for a moment before she nodded immediately. She didn’t know whether Feng Rubing was often unable to sleep, but she had frequently seen the latter yawning at work, so she nodded.

Apparently, the doctor had expected that, for he then proceeded, “She has these symptoms because she kept repressing something at the bottom of her heart, which made her extremely anxious. It’ll be bad for her health if the problems that are troubling her aren’t solved.”

“But…” Mu Yu stared at Qin Jinhuan. Her voice weakened as she continued, “We don’t know what happened to her that is bothering her so much.”

The doctor felt both a little disappointed and helpless upon hearing her answer. He sympathetically suggested, “If you really care about the patient, you should communicate more with her.”

Mu Yu nodded vigorously. “Thank you, doctor. We will do so. Can we go inside to take a look at her?”

“She still needs to be put under observation right now. We’ll send her to the ward when she’s alright, so you all may visit her in the ward later,” said the doctor before turning to go back to the emergency room.

“Alright. Thank you, doctor.” Mu Yu walked a few steps after the doctor; she didn’t pause until the doctor entered the emergency room and closed its door.

“It seems that she doesn’t look good. Let Ying take her to Fraternity Hospital.”

Mu Yu nodded and watched dazedly as Qin Jinhuan called Rong Ying.

Half an hour later, Feng Rubing was taken to Fraternity Hospital using the ambulance Rong Ying had dispatched. Mu Yu and Qin Jinhuan also rode in the ambulance to Fraternity Hospital.

Feng Rubing came to her senses while the ambulance was on its way. Seeing that Mu Yu was beside her, she was surprised. She struggled to get up, but Mu Yu held her down.

“Madam Feng, you haven’t recovered from your illness yet, so you need more rest.”

Feng Rubing was weak, so she didn’t insist. After lying down, she asked Mu Yu, “Are we going to the hospital?”

Mu Yu nodded. “We’re going to Fraternity Hospital.”

“Fraternity Hospital?!” Feng Rubing turned pale with shock. “Does Qiqi know that I’m sick?”

“She doesn’t know that, for we didn’t tell her.”

“How did you know that I was sick? And how did you get into my house?”

“Didn’t we make an appointment for me to visit you at your home this afternoon? I couldn’t reach you on your phone, so I went to your house right away, but nobody answered when I knocked on the door.” Fearing that Feng Rubing would have a bad impression of Qin Jinhuan, Mu Yu lied. “We worried that something might have happened to you, so we found a locksmith and had him open the door to your house. I’m sorry, Madam Feng; I had someone pick the door lock of your house because I was too worried about you.”

“I won’t blame you for that.” Feng Rubing wasn’t suspicious, though. She urged with a sigh, “Don’t let Qiqi know that I’m sick. She thinks that I’m still studying out of town.”

“Yeah, I know that. I’ve told Ying about it.”

“Thank you.”

Feng Rubing’s weak voice and frail appearance made Mu Yu worried, so she hurriedly persuaded Feng Rubing to stop speaking and take some rest.

Feng Rubing indeed still felt unwell, so she gave a slight nod without saying another word. However, she didn’t close her eyes and rest; instead, she kept her eyes open and stared at the ambulance’s roof.

After leaving the municipal bureau the night before last, she made a phone call to her younger sister and went home alone. She was in no mood to eat anything when she got home, so she lay on the bed in a trance until she fell asleep. When she woke up, she felt weak all over. Knowing that she had fallen ill, she forced herself to crawl out of bed, ate a few biscuits, and took several anti-inflammatory pills before lying down on the bed to continue sleeping. While she was in a sleepy haze, she received a phone call from Mu Yu, so she gave the latter a few vague replies. After hanging up the phone, she had wanted to put her cell phone on the nightstand, but she accidentally dropped it to the floor. Since she felt really unwell, she lay quietly on the bed instead of getting up to pick up her cell phone.

After that, she had a long dream, in which the scene she couldn’t bear to recall repeated over and over again, trapping her in a state of extreme fear. She tried desperately to escape from the scene, but her body couldn’t move at all. She was so terrified that she nearly went insane.

Fortunately, she finally woke up right now. At last, she no longer had to face the hideous and disgusting face.

Seeing Feng Rubing staring at the ambulance’s roof without blinking, Mu Yu was worried that she was still thinking about the troubling matters that the doctor had mentioned. She advised in a whisper, “Madam Feng, why don’t you close your eyes and take some rest?”

Feng Rubing ignored her and continued to stare fixedly at the ambulance’s roof. She didn’t dare to close her eyes, nor did she dare to fall asleep; she was afraid of being trapped in the horrifying dream again.

“Madam Feng…”

Sitting at one side, Qin Jinhuan tugged at Mu Yu’s clothes lightly. When she turned to look at him, he shook his head slightly.

Understanding what he meant, Mu Yu stopped persuading Feng Rubing to close her eyes and rest. She did nothing else but look worriedly at the haggard-looking Feng Rubing.

Feng Rubing’s temperature had basically returned to normal when they reached Fraternity Hospital. At Rong Jian’s request, Rong Ying arranged for the doctors to perform a full-body checkup. After confirming that Feng Rubing was alright despite needing rest and nourishment, she transferred Feng Rubing to the VIP ward and specifically had some nurses look after her.

It was already past 8.00PM when all this was done. By Rong Ying’s arrangement, Qin Jinhuan, Mu Yu, and the others had working meals provided by Fraternity Hospital.

Seeing that there were nurses specifically looking after Feng Rubing—who had drifted off to peaceful sleep while on transfusion—Qin Jinhuan wanted to take Mu Yu home to have a rest, but Mu Yu refused to leave.

“Madam Feng is hospitalized, but she doesn’t have a family member by her side, so I want to keep her company.”

Qin Jinhuan didn’t want to upset her, but he couldn’t help saying frankly, “No matter how long you keep her company, she won’t tell you what she has gone through.”

Mu Yu sighed with a choke in her voice. “I just want to keep Madam Feng company. I think that her life has been too difficult and miserable.”

Qin Jinhuan gently stroked her hair while comforting softly, “People live in the world to go through trials and tribulations, not to enjoy a life of ease and leisure.”

“But I think Madam Feng suffered so much more than the regular people! Just look at her! She lost her parents at such a young age, had to look after her aged grandmother and young sister, and she had to shoulder the burden of life all on her own! Now that Qiqi had grown up, she was finally about to get out of her misery, yet she got involved in a murder case and became a suspect. She may even become the murderer’s scapegoat!”

She thought that Qin Jinhuan would respond with another lengthy speech, but to her surprise, he didn’t speak again even after she waited for over ten seconds. She couldn’t help expressing her curiosity by asking, “Why aren’t you saying anything this time?”

Qin Jinhuan stared at her for a while before asking softly, “Don’t you ever suspect that Feng Rubing might be the actual murderer?”

Mu Yu almost jumped. “That can’t be possible! Madam Feng can’t possibly be the murderer!”

Qin Jinhuan didn’t agree, though. He slowly voiced his opinion, saying, “Currently, all the witness testimony and physical evidence you have—including the time and conditions of the crime—points to Feng Rubing as the murderer. The only thing that you all haven’t figured out is what exactly has happened between her and Li Jianyun, and this is likely the precise motive of this crime. I have a guess right now.”

“What guess is it?” asked Mu Yu.

Qin Jinhuan stared at her while speaking seriously, “Li Jianyun has something to do with the matter that is troubling Feng Rubing.”

Mu Yu was stunned before she quickly took out her notebook. After leafing through it for a while, she pointed at one of its pages and began analyzing. “Feng Rubing is from Guangyang County, A Province. She graduated from Guangyang First Middle School 11 years ago; after being admitted to the Forensic Medicine program at An University of B Province, she graduated with distinction ahead of her class. Li Jianyun is from Huacheng, Daokou County, C Province. He is single and doesn’t have a family. He came to An City six years ago to seek a living; half a year ago, he rented a two-bedroom apartment in the Phoenix Gardens with Lao Mao. As far as we know, the dispute between Li Jianyun and Madam Feng happened in recent months. Nobody ever saw him coming into contact with Madam Feng before he moved into the Phoenix Gardens. In other words, the conflict between him and Madam Feng might have happened only in recent months. But as you have also heard from Ying just now, Madam Feng suffers from long-term insomnia and nightmares, so I don’t think that your inference is likely. Instead, I think that they probably never met before.”

Qin Jinhuan thought about her words for a while and found that they made some sense, so he no longer insisted on his opinion. He then asked in reply, “In that case, what do you think might be the reason Feng Rubing is so seized with fear?”

Mu Yu shook her head. “In any case, I don’t think that the incident that has been troubling her happened after her adulthood. The incident should have happened while she was still a minor. I hope that Chief Rong can find out something in Madam Feng’s hometown.”

Qin Jinhuan suddenly thought of a question. “Feng Rubing severed ties with her relatives after leaving Guangyang County with her grandmother and younger sister. Perhaps it was because her relatives were aware of the incident that she is unwilling to confront.”

“Do you mean that we may find out what has been troubling Madam Feng once Chief Rong finds her relatives?” Mu Yu was delighted. However, she was discouraged immediately after that. “Chief Rong can certainly think of whatever we can think of. He’s been in Guangyang Country for almost two days, so he must have found Madam Feng’s relatives and the school she attended, but he said he hasn’t found any clues.”

Qin Jinhuan suddenly knitted his brows. “If Rong Jian found out what has been troubling Feng Rubing and proved that she was sexually assaulted but Li Jianyun wasn’t the perpetrator, it’d be even more difficult for Feng Rubing to be cleared of the murder charge.”

Not expecting Qin Jinhuan to suddenly say so, Mu Yu was astounded. “Why would you say that?”

“If my presumption is true, the lewd Li Jianyun’s harassment of Feng Rubing would cause her to have an emotional breakdown. One would resort to extreme actions during an emotional breakdown. The phone call Li Jianyun made to Feng Rubing that night was probably another harassing call, but she was probably already agitated because Qiqi had run away from home. Hence, she might have lost her reason and killed him in a fit of rage.”

“No! That can’t be possible!” A tearful cry was heard from behind them.

Qiqi?!

Mu Yu panicked.