That night was a relatively perfect ending. Yang Hao was particularly excited to see that batch of arms and played around with them for a long time but didn’t dare to take any. Su Wan and the others gathered the body parts and buried them according to the original plan. Su Wan even bought incense to light. Later, Su Wan treated the group to abalones at Wanlong Island, swiping his card for over ten thousand. As a result, Li Zu decided to temporarily forget about paying back the five hundred.

After parting ways with Yang Hao, Su Wan said to Li Zu, “Yang Hao has the potential to be a leader of a gang. Usually, a punk who gets his hands on a real gun would flaunt it everywhere and try to impress girls, and he’d definitely be discovered in a few days. We might end up being exposed too. Yang Hao clearly understands that this gun needs to completely belong to him, and keeping us as insurance is the safest bet.”

Li Zu didn’t really take this in. After returning, a storm of events occurred, and everything seemed illogical yet inevitably connected. He felt he was definitely caught up in some conspiracy. At this point, if he continued to be foolish, he might end up not even knowing how he died. He decided he needed to find a way to figure things out; if he couldn’t, he resolved to call the police and listen to the authorities, abandoning any thought of money.

After parting with Su Wan, he had a night full of nightmares. The next morning, he went to the hospital to find Liang Wan. This matter was largely instigated by her, and she must know something. Initially, he didn’t want to have any more contact with all of this, but now he was at a dead end and could only start from the one lead he had. However, when he arrived at the hospital and inquired, he learned that Liang Wan was on vacation.

He traced his way to Liang Wan’s home. When he knocked on her door, Liang Wan looked surprised. She was dressed in shorts, her long, fair legs exposed, and wore only a tank top—yes, just a tank top. The mature curves of her body made Li Zu pause for a moment: Damn, I can’t afford to think about this right now.

“What do you want?” Liang Wan loosened her grip on the door, letting him in. “Skipping class is not good.”

“I need to talk to you,” Li Zu replied. As he entered, he saw Liang Wan casually lie back on the sofa, making him feel unsure where to look.

“Speak, what is it? You’re not asking me for that five hundred bucks, are you?”

“No, but if you want to pay me back, that’s fine too.” Li Zu sat far away, thinking that if he called the police, his assets would only amount to that five hundred.

Liang Wan glanced at him, “Why sit so far away? Afraid I’ll eat you?”

“We’re not that familiar. I just have a few questions, and I’ll leave once I’m done,” Li Zu said.

Liang Wan sighed and picked up some nail polish to apply, “Wow, trying to chat me up. What, just because we had a meal together you think I’m your ex-girlfriend? I won’t cooperate with you if you keep that attitude.”

Li Zu knew she was relentless with her words, so there was no need to argue with her. Without saying much, he turned around and took off his shirt.

Liang Wan was startled and sat up, “What are you doing? I’ll hit you.”

Li Zu turned and took out the “seven-fingered monster” from his bag, then positioned it alongside the pattern on his back.

“With a bit of humanitarian spirit, you should cooperate with this poor person,” Li Cu said. “I’m almost being driven to death by your ex-boyfriend’s boss.”

Liang Wan frowned, looked closely at Li Cu’s back and that thing, and asked, “What do you want to know?”

Li Cu replied, “I want to know everything you know about this matter, what you and Wang Meng have talked about, what he has told you—everything.”

Liang Wan looked at Li Cu and suddenly said, “You should go to Hangzhou.”

“Hangzhou? Why?” Li Cu asked in surprise.

“I’ve been hesitating whether to go once myself. If you want to get to the bottom of this matter, Hangzhou is the key.” Liang Wan took out her phone, scrolled through it, and found a text message. “This is the address of their shop. Wang Meng told me that it’s their headquarters. I really don’t know anything else, but if you want to investigate, you definitely need to go to this place.”

After boarding the plane to Hangzhou, Li Cu felt a bit uneasy. It was a strange feeling; partly because Liang Wan had paid for his ticket, and he thought she looked really cool when she was on the phone booking it.

As a minor, there was always a sense of inferiority when watching adults do anything, and this feeling made Li Cu feel lost, especially since he really liked girls like Liang Wan. But the age gap was too big, making him increasingly hesitant to think about it.

Moreover, there was a sense of fear. He only had a few dozen yuan on him and was heading to a strange city, which was different from going to the desert. In the desert, he was worried about his life, but in Hangzhou, if Liang Wan abandoned him, would he have to beg his way back?

Although Liang Wan saw through his thoughts and said to him, “Don’t worry, sister will take care of you. Just remember to take care of me when you start making money,” he still felt uneasy. Liang Wan was too emotional; if he said the wrong thing one day, she might just slam the door and leave. At that point, the thirty-four yuan and twenty-eight cents in his pocket would be his only lifeline. Damn it, every time he found himself in this situation, he just wished he could grow up faster.

“What are you so nervous about?” Liang Wan asked, noticing his changing expression. “This can’t be your first time on a plane, right?”

“No, of course not. I fly often,” Li Cu replied, thinking about the last time he flew with Wu Xie. “I have my reasons to be nervous; you need to understand.”

“I understand, I understand.” Liang Wan glanced at his back. “But don’t overdo it; you might attract the attention of the flight attendants and get pulled off the plane.”

Li Cu exclaimed, realizing that he had been more nervous about being tricked onto the plane than he was now, and no one had warned him about that danger.

“By the way, did your suitcase go through security?” Liang Wan asked while flipping through a magazine on the plane. “If they see a hand in your suitcase, will they confiscate it?”

“How would I know?” Li Cu replied. “They wouldn’t open the suitcase, would they?”

“Nowadays, they use X-ray scans, so there’s no need to open it, you country bumpkin.”

“Ah?” Li Cu became worried at her words. If the baggage security officer found a severed hand in his luggage, that would be a serious problem. Why did she have to remind him? Wouldn’t that just make him more anxious?

But he glanced at Liang Wan and found that the page she was looking at in the magazine was a real estate advertisement? She seemed to be concentrating, but her gaze was unfocused. She was also very nervous, and Li Zu immediately realized that her rambling was because she was anxious as well.

Indeed, if one puts themselves in her shoes, even a woman as bold as Liang Wan would naturally feel scared in such a situation; ordinary people would definitely want to avoid it. Now that she was spending money to take him to find the source of this matter, Li Zu suddenly felt a sense of gratitude. Or perhaps this woman had her own unresolved issues that needed to be addressed in this matter?

The plane landed in Hangzhou around three in the afternoon. They did not check into a hotel but took a taxi directly to a place called Xiling Seal Engravers Society. Liang Wan sat in the car looking out the window, and she hadn’t said a word since they got off the plane.

Li Zu suddenly sensed something was off; he realized that he had always thought Liang Wan was accompanying him to find answers here, but now it seemed that it might be the other way around.