This was the seventh year since Xu's Mother left.
Xu Yaqian, who had just entered society as a university intern, had gradually grown accustomed to this life.
The brother and sister depended on each other for survival.
That day, Xu Zhi picked up Xu Yaqian, who was interning at the hospital, after work and took her home.
When they passed by the station, they saw an old man lying on the ground and convulsing nonstop.
The bystanders standing along the roadside merely pointed and whispered, showing no intention of stepping forward to help.
Xu Yaqian was very introverted, but kindhearted.
She did not stand by and watch. She immediately stepped forward to administer first aid.
Xu Zhi had originally intended to stop her, but seeing how nervous his sister was, he still stepped forward to help.
“Goodness, that girl is really bold. Isn’t she afraid of getting tangled up in a wrongful-death lawsuit?”
Someone nearby muttered under their breath.
Xu Yaqian paid no attention.
The old man’s condition was extremely grave.
It was sudden cardiac death!
From the onset of the illness to death, the optimal rescue window was only a few short minutes, and even then, the chances of success were slim!
In the end, the result was obvious.
Although Xu Yaqian had tried her hardest, by the time the ambulance arrived, the old man had completely stopped breathing.
Xu Yaqian stood by the roadside, her eyes red.
She felt guilty for failing to save the old man’s life.
Xu Zhi walked over to his sister, gently patted her shoulder, and comforted her, “You did everything you could. Compared with those people who stood by indifferently, you did far, far better.”
Xu Yaqian did not reply.
She merely stared blankly as the old man’s corpse was carried into the ambulance.
Afterward, Xu Zhi wanted the contact information of one or two bystanders, but when the onlookers saw that the old man had died, they all ran away as fast as they could.
The matter was thus dropped without resolution.
For several days afterward, both siblings thought the matter had passed.
Until several days after the incident, when a lawsuit was filed that directly took Xu Yaqian to court!
At the same time, numerous media outlets began building overwhelming public pressure.
When Xu Yaqian returned to the hospital, she saw that her mentor, whom she usually respected like an older sister, wore nothing but icy indifference.
“Sister Nan…”
“Xu Yaqian, you have truly disappointed me!”
Chen Nan cut Xu Yaqian off and glared at her fiercely. “Do you really think that studying under me for a few days qualifies you to Treat Illnesses for other people? Do you know how great a loss your actions have brought to our hospital?”
“Sister Nan, I’m sorry.” Xu Yaqian lowered her head aggrievedly, tears welling in the corners of her eyes.
Seeing her like this, Chen Nan snorted and said without mercy, “Considering the hospital’s situation, we have already punished you. From this moment on, you are no longer an intern nurse at our hospital.”
Hearing this, Xu Yaqian raised her head and looked at Chen Nan, her face filled with disbelief.
How much effort had she put in for this day!
And they were firing her just like that?
“Sister Nan, I only wanted to save him…”
“Is that wrong too?”
Xu Yaqian pleaded with Chen Nan.
Chen Nan let out a cold laugh.
She looked down at the young girl before her, her eyes filled with contempt.
“You can’t even save yourself, yet you still want to save others?”
“Xu Yaqian, you’re far too naive!”
“You say you went to save someone, but who knows the truth?”
“There isn’t a single witness, and the surveillance equipment at the scene just happened to be broken.”
“Now they’re accusing you of murder!”
“The other party is an influential figure in Shangdu. Do you really expect the hospital to shield you from this disaster?”
Chen Nan’s every word struck home, and each sentence left Xu Yaqian completely panicked.
She stood rooted to the spot, at a loss for what to do.
Chen Nan continued coldly, “The hospital has only driven you out for now. We haven’t yet pursued your responsibility for damaging our reputation.”
“And don’t put on a pitiful act in front of me. Pack your things and leave immediately.”
Xu Yaqian had never imagined that the mentor who usually cared for her so much could suddenly become so unfamiliar.
She left Chen Nan’s office in a daze, her mind blank.
At that moment, voices of discussion reached her ears.
“She’s only an intern. Does she really think she can Treat Illnesses and save people?”
“Exactly. She probably still thinks Sister Nan actually treated her well.”
“Ha ha, if it weren’t for her having a bit of beauty and Sister Nan planning to use her to curry favor with that person, how could she ever have become an intern?”
These rumors weighed even more heavily on Xu Yaqian’s heart.
She dragged her exhausted body through packing her things, gazed reluctantly at her former workstation, and left the hospital with her head bowed in dejection.
Everyone pointed at her and whispered among themselves.
But none of that mattered anymore.
Because she no longer belonged here.
Xu Yaqian arrived at the entrance to the first-floor lobby feeling empty inside, only to see Xu Zhi standing there and looking at her with a bright smile.
“You silly girl, let’s go home.”
Xu Zhi ruffled her hair, cheerfully took Xu Yaqian’s suitcase, and swaggered out of the lobby.
Watching her brother’s back, Xu Yaqian shed tears.
She slowly straightened her chest, forced a smile onto her face, and followed behind him.
Over the next few days, Xu Zhi had Xu Yaqian rest properly at home while he went out early and returned late every day.
At first, nothing seemed amiss—until Xu Zhi suddenly disappeared!
At the beginning, Xu Yaqian was still able to remain calm.
Afterward, she began searching everywhere.
Only then did Xu Yaqian learn that the old man’s family insisted that she had caused his death.
Moreover, the news media throughout Shangdu all had astonishingly consistent stories.
Xu Zhi had tried to find the bystanders at the scene, hoping they could prove Xu Yaqian’s innocence, but not a single person was willing to step forward.
The desperate Xu Zhi disappeared just like that!
In other people’s mouths, he was helpless and, knowing he could not save his sister, had simply abandoned Xu Yaqian.
But Xu Yaqian did not believe that.
She knew clearly that her brother, who had cherished her since childhood, would never just leave her behind all alone.
From this point onward, the notes became disorganized.
Xu Yaqian seemed not to have found Xu Zhi.
“This doesn’t make scientific sense.”
Xu Qing muttered under his breath.
He knew that Xu Yaqian had died unjustly.
The diary should not have contained only this.
After searching the boudoir for a long time without finding anything, Xu Qing went to the room beside it.
Strangely, this room had actually been locked with an iron chain.
“Why lock it up when nothing is wrong?”
Xu Qing did not quite understand, but at that moment, every second counted.
Afterward, he went to the guest bedroom.
The layout here was completely different from the other places.
The instant Xu Qing entered, an eerie wind swept past, and a thick smell of blood rushed toward him.
It was accompanied by repeated wails like ghosts and howls like wolves.
The entire room was filled with an extraordinarily intense resentment!
“What kind of cursed place is this? It’s practically the two worlds compared with outside.”
Xu Qing muttered as he slowly took in the room’s layout.
Compared with the warmth outside, this place was more like a cold, brutal hell.
Directly opposite the door stood a huge wooden cross.
A woman was locked to the cross with black iron chains.
Her hands and feet had been pierced by iron nails as thick as thumbs and firmly nailed to the cross.
When the woman heard the door open, she did not move at all.
Her eyes were hollow and lifeless, as though she had been dead for a long time.
However, the instant she saw Xu Qing, an endless desire to survive ignited in her eyes!
“Save… save me!”
The woman spoke weakly.
She was actually alive?