The woman’s name was Zheng Yuyan. She met Liang Rui when she came to Jiang City for work.
His education, income, and manner of speaking all suited her, and they married soon after.
After the wedding, Liang Rui continued running his business, while Zheng Yuyan stayed home to rest during her pregnancy.
The first time Liang Rui laid a hand on her was when she gave birth to their daughter, Liang Shuyi.
“He slapped me while I was still recovering from childbirth. I wanted a divorce right then, but every day he either bought me a gold necklace or brought me flowers. He even asked his parents to come and talk me out of it. In front of all those people, he knelt down and apologized, saying one of his projects had fallen through and he’d hit me in a moment of anger.
“My heart softened, so I forgave him.”
Liang Rui wanted a son and sweet-talked her into having a second child.
But for some reason, after she’d finally managed to get pregnant, the fetus stopped developing at three months.
“The day I came home after the miscarriage procedure, he hit me several times again. Then it was the same routine: kneeling, apologizing, swearing he’d never do it again. He even had Liang Shuyi crying and begging me not to leave. I couldn’t bear to abandon my child…”
After that, as Liang Rui’s business gradually declined, he beat her more and more often.
Because her cooking was too salty, because she made too much noise mopping the floor, because she hadn’t opened the door for him quickly enough, because she’d come back late from grocery shopping…
Each time, he hit her harder—and each time, his apologies seemed more sincere.
She took six-year-old Liang Shuyi and fled to her parents’ home. Liang Rui followed her there and knelt on the ground, slapping himself in the face.
Her parents and relatives all tried to persuade her. A husband and wife might quarrel at the head of the bed, but make up at its foot. She hadn’t worked in years; if she really divorced him, how would she support her daughter?
Once again, they sent her back to Liang Rui. In return, he beat her even more viciously.
“He grabbed me by the throat and asked if I was seeing someone else, and if that was why I wanted a divorce. I told him I wasn’t, but he didn’t believe me.
“After that, he took away my phone and installed surveillance cameras in the house. Whenever he noticed I wasn’t in view of one, he’d come home at once, find me, and beat me.
“I tried calling the police, but when they came, he told them I’d cheated on him and he’d lost his temper. When the neighbors heard the noise and came to stop him, he told them the same thing.
“Two years ago, his business went completely under, and our whole family moved to this residential complex. Once, he was beating me and your father caught him. Your father stopped him, and the two of them had a huge fight.”
Xiao Ciyou’s eyes lit up. Her father was a man with a strong sense of justice.
Zheng Yuyan said, “After that, he decided your father and I were having an affair.”
Not only did he beat her even more brutally, he would also gag her and beat her until she passed out.
“A week ago, your father came home after closing his food stall with quite a bit of chicken left over, so he brought half of it to my house. Liang Rui saw him.
“He went berserk. Liang Shuyi tried to stop him, but he threw her to the floor and she passed out. I was so furious that I grabbed a cleaver and tried to fight him…”
Xiao Ciyou frowned. Her gaze fell on the wound running from the woman’s left shoulder across her chest. Beneath it, her heart, flesh, and bones were rotting.
“You lost?”
Zheng Yuyan gave a bitter smile. “Yes. He cut me once, then grabbed me by the throat…”
Bright red blood seeped from Zheng Yuyan’s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
She covered her face and wailed, “But when I came to my senses again, I never saw my daughter. I don’t know where Liang Rui took her. My Liang Shuyi—she’s still so little…”
“Liang Rui is telling people that you and your daughter went on a trip. He’s hiding the fact that you’re dead and concealing your daughter’s current situation. Your condition can wait a little longer, but your daughter may not have much time. Tell me her birth date and time.”
Zheng Yuyan gave it to her immediately, down to the exact minute.
Xiao Ciyou calculated on her fingers, and her expression suddenly darkened.
“Southeast. Somewhere high up. She’s close to death.”
“What?!”
Zheng Yuyan dropped to her knees and kowtowed repeatedly. “Master, please save Liang Shuyi! I’ll do anything, as long as she can be saved! Please!”
Xiao Ciyou grabbed her backpack and ran out. Jian Ningshuang called after her, “Xiaoci, where are you going?!”
“I have something to do! I’ll be back later!”
She hailed a taxi. The driver asked, “Where to?”
“Somewhere high up in the southeast.”
“…A specific address?”
Xiao Ciyou slapped her forehead. “Just drive southeast. I’ll pay you!”
The taxi headed southeast, and Xiao Ciyou leaned over the window, looking around incessantly.
Somewhere high up, somewhere high up, somewhere high up…
“Does your husband know anyone in the southeast? Or is there somewhere he often goes?”
The driver glanced at Xiao Ciyou in the rearview mirror. “Miss, who are you talking to?”
Xiao Ciyou had no time to worry about that. She pressed Zheng Yuyan instead. “Have you ever been in that direction? Does anything come to mind?”
Zheng Yuyan shouted, “The project Liang Rui lost was over there! There’s an unfinished building!”
Xiao Ciyou immediately called to the driver, “Go to the unfinished building! The tallest one!”
The driver glanced at her suspiciously. Was she mentally ill?
The unfinished building and Happiness Garden weren’t even in the same district. By the time the driver reached it, more than an hour had passed.
Xiao Ciyou transferred the fare on her phone, then sprinted upstairs, shouting, “Liang Shuyi! Liang Shuyi!”
There was no answer.
Xiao Ciyou yelled, “Cat! You’re faster than me. Go on ahead!”
Xiaomao shot up the stairs with a whoosh. The gust it kicked up slammed Zheng Yuyan against the wall.
She shuddered instinctively. “W-what was that?”
That terrifying pressure felt as if it could reach right into her soul!
Xiao Ciyou pulled her out of the wall. “You’re worried about that right now? We have to find the girl!”
The ruined building was more than ten stories tall. By the time Xiao Ciyou reached the seventh floor, Xiaomao had already dashed back down.
“She’s on the roof. You’d better hurry.”
Xiao Ciyou called an ambulance as she huffed and puffed her way up the stairs.
When she reached the top floor, she found the door to the roof locked.
Zheng Yuyan passed through the door and saw her daughter huddled against the wall.
“Master Xiao, help! Help!”
Xiao Ciyou flung out a yellow talisman and shouted, “Break!”
The lock snapped. She yanked the door open and ran to Liang Shuyi.
The eight- or nine-year-old girl was curled up in a corner, her face deathly pale and her lips cracked. She was barely breathing.
Xiao Ciyou hoisted Liang Shuyi onto her back and let out a long sigh. “Why… didn’t I practice sword flight properly…”
I really can’t run anymore!
But Liang Shuyi’s life was in her hands now.
She bit the tip of her tongue, took a deep breath, and retraced her steps.
The ambulance arrived soon after. The medical staff took Liang Shuyi off her back, then bundled Xiao Ciyou into the ambulance with her and rushed them to the hospital.
After catching her breath for a while, Xiao Ciyou saw Zheng Yuyan beside her, weeping tears of blood, and silently sighed.
Even the fiercest beasts don’t eat their young, but a man like Liang Rui was worse than an animal.
He deserved to be dealt with, too.
At the hospital, Liang Shuyi was taken into the emergency room, while Xiao Ciyou waited outside.
After a while, a doctor came out and asked, “May I ask how you’re related to the patient?”
Xiao Ciyou blinked. “…I’m her neighbor, I guess.”
“Can you contact her parents or other family members?”
Beside Xiao Ciyou, Zheng Yuyan frantically shook her head and waved her hands. “Don’t tell him! Don’t tell him! Liang Rui is a practiced liar. If Liang Shuyi is sent back to that animal, she’ll surely die!”
Xiao Ciyou pressed her lips together. “I can. She lives at Jinyuan, and she has an Older Brother named Pei Xiuyan. I’ll call him now and ask him to come pick her up.”