The question from Feng Mu was like a poisoned knife, piercing straight into Feng Ju’s heart.

On the way here, the car wheels rolled over countless mottled tree shadows, just like the turbulent thoughts in his mind.

The clues that were linked together, the details that were overlooked, the terrifying possibilities upon careful thought.....he thought he had already thought it through enough.

Except for this question.

Only this most crucial question, which he deliberately and cowardly avoided.

"Yes, I want to catch Yuhuai, want to ask her if she’s still my daughter, want to rip out her heart and see what color it is..."

"But then, what..."

"Do I have to kill her?"

Listening to Feng Mu’s question, Feng Ju felt as if his heart was being ripped apart, experiencing the pain of being killed once again.

"Why is it Yuhuai, if the one who tried to kill me was this unfilial child, if this unfilial child turned into a monster, I wouldn’t be in such pain, so hesitant!!"

"If...if back then I had given the memory card to this unfilial child..."

This assumption gnawed at his rationality like a poisonous snake,

"Yuhuai would still be that well-behaved daughter who would leap into my arms to act cute..."

Feng Ju’s fingers gripped his chest tightly, as if wishing to dig out his heart.

"Turns out, even when turning into a monster, it still hurts—"

He suddenly wanted to recall his daughter’s slender arms wrapping around his shoulders, the warm tears dripping on his back, burning his heart like molten wax.

The warmth of that moment was so real, it seemed to still flow in his veins.

"My Yuhuai..."

This call seemed forcibly squeezed out from his shattered chest cavity, carrying the stench of bloody foam.

"When she was young, she’d cry even if she accidentally stepped on an ant...she was always the most obedient child...after becoming a monster, she must have been so scared."

His voice suddenly turned exceptionally soft, yet it sent a chill down one’s spine,

"You say, how scared...how desperate...must she be to plunge her fingers into her father’s chest?"

Feng Mu’s pupils contracted slightly.

He could feel it—not hear it, but truly feel—the wrenching distortion and pain emanating from his father’s heart.

Feng Ju seemed to have figured out the answer, wanting to wail in tears, but was horrified to find not a single tear could be squeezed out, only a cold countdown ticking away.

[334:45:27]

[334:45:26]

[334:45:25]

[...]

Feng Ju’s eyeballs moved stiffly, finally locking his gaze onto the face of the unfilial child, before pulling up the corners of his mouth into a "benevolent father" smile he often showed to his sister:

"My Yuhuai, your sister, must be in even more pain and helpless now, we have to help her, help her come out of this pain as soon as possible—"

On his way here, Feng Mu thought a lot too, but even he—the greatest filial son in the world—did not expect his father to give such a perfect answer.

If Feng Mu’s reading comprehension wasn’t wrong, the central idea of his father’s thoughts was to kill his sister, supposedly "in the name of love."

Feng Mu secretly praised his father, while the hook jade behind his glasses itched faintly.

Feng Mu frowned, a look of struggle appearing on his face: "Dad, are you going to...kill Yuhuai?"

Feng Ju took a deep breath, stared into his son’s eyes, and corrected him word by word:

"Your sister has already turned into a monster, we need to help her find release."

Feng Mu’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down before he could finally speak with difficulty:

"I...can’t do it."

He looked up, a painful glint in his eyes:

"No matter how much I dislike Yuhuai, she’s still my sister..."

The streetlights outside shone through the window, casting mottled light and shadow on Feng Mu’s face.

His clenched fist trembled slightly, fully embodying the image of a heartbroken good brother.

"Moreover,"

Feng Mu’s voice suddenly softened a bit,

"Yuhuai is our family’s pride and hope. If she..."

He paused: "Who else could bring us to Upper City?"

Feng Ju’s expression instantly froze.

He stared hard at his son’s face, suspecting the unfilial child of sarcasm.

But Feng Mu’s eyes were so clean they stung, making him realize the unfilial child was sincere.

He wanted to scold the unfilial child for being pigheaded, but found he couldn’t open his mouth because, this was the only belief he had repeatedly instilled in the whole family.

"Even though Yuhuai has become a monster..."

Feng Mu adjusted his glasses, the lenses warming his cold gaze,

"She’s my sister, and the family should always be together, even if one of us is missing from the dinner table."

Feng Ju’s lips began to tremble violently.

He wanted to scold his son for being foolish beyond cure, but found that the curses poised on the tip of his tongue were all his own "family teachings" that he’d taught for decades.

Now those "teachings" turned into sharp boomerangs, stabbing right into his throat, dealing back all his words.

Feng Ju’s face turned from blue to black, the blue veins throbbing at his temple like twisting worms.

"Turns out, both the unfilial son and the filial daughter have been very well educated, adhering strictly to the education I imparted."

Feng Ju was suddenly awakened, as if having an epiphany.

His brain seemed to crash, unsure whether to feel gratified or regretful.

Gratified that he’d educated his children so successfully;

Regretful that he’d educated them too damn well!

Feng Ju’s voice grew hoarse to the point of unrecognizability, as if countless glass shards were grinding in his throat.

Only after a long while did he rasp:

"But your sister killed me."

Feng Mu gently nodded, the eyes behind his glasses incredibly warm.

He leaned forward slightly, speaking with the patience one uses with a child:

"Dad, I know you feel wronged, but Yuhuai is our family’s pride and hope. Could you endure a little, sacrifice a bit, for the family’s future?"

In the original memories, Feng Ju had never coaxed him like this.

Imagine, if Feng Ju had coaxed the original like this, perhaps the original would not have taken his own life.

Feng Mu, however, was different. He was filial and willing to coax his old father.

Yet Feng Ju seemed ungrateful, gritting his teeth, almost ready to burst with anger:

"Your sister is a monster now, she’s going to drag the whole family into the abyss."

Feng Mu curved his lips into a gentle smile:

"Dad, you’re the same!"

Feng Ju froze in his chair as if struck by thunder, his face ashen, his lips mouthing silent words.

Feng Mu slowly stood up, he moved around behind his father, the shop’s lights stretching his shadow long, silently merging with his father’s shadow.

When that cold hand rested on his shoulder, Feng Ju gave a violent shiver.

The touch did not feel like a human hand but more like some metallic object, the chill penetrating the fabric, cold enough to even surpass his post-mortem body temperature.

"Dad, how can there be overnight enmity in a family..."

Feng Mu whispered close to his father’s ear, his icy breath and warm voice creating an eerie contrast,

"You may have some misunderstandings about your sister, why not, let me invite her here for a midnight snack together, and if there are any misunderstandings, we can talk it out face to face, don’t you think?"

Feng Ju’s pupils suddenly contracted, a choked gasp escaping his throat.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Feng Mu’s phone screen illuminate with a faint blue glow, with the familiar number underneath, the words "calling" flashing rhythmically.

The countdown in the center of his retina continued to tick away mechanically:

[334:39:19]

[334:39:18]

[334:39:17]

[....],.

Yet at this moment, those ticking numbers seemed somehow laughable.

But a wave of intense dread suddenly gripped Feng Ju:

"Perhaps I don’t need to worry about the countdown reaching zero at all, because it might not even come to that before I die... again?!!"