Around the Red Mansion Mental Hospital, mountain shadows loom, trees rustle in the wind, and the night breeze weaves through, issuing intermittent low moans.
Late at night, everything is pitch black and a slight rain starts to drizzle again.
Lin Zhiyun runs through the woods with her hair down, her pale face smeared with a mess of blood and tears, as if in a ghastly nightmare. The cold wind engulfs her from all sides, her eyes are fixed and blank, her bare feet scraped by stones until the flesh rolls, her smooth skin cut open by tree branches and bloodied. But she seems to feel no pain as she desperately charges forwards.
It seems as though someone is chasing after her from behind, and sporadic barks can still be heard.
Finally, she sees the street lights, the wide road, and an oncoming car. Her lifeless eyes spark with a glimmer of hope, she wants to rush over!
But in that very instant, she feels an excruciating pain on her scalp, someone is violently dragging her back by her hair!
Lin Zhiyun's body quivers, her hands cold as ice, she struggles to scream, "Help! …"
Because she has not spoken for a long time, her voice is strange and hoarse.
The car speeds past her, the surrounding dog barks increase, her hope shatters with the departing tail lights.
"It's raining in the middle of the night, this damned woman really knows how to cause us trouble!" The man grabbing Lin Zhiyun vents his frustration by hitting her on the head.
Lin Zhiyun is hit until her head buzzes and for a moment, she couldn't make out what they were saying.
"Let's go back! We'll deal with her properly when we get back!" The man leading the hunting dogs shines a flashlight on Lin Zhiyun's face to confirm her identity.
"That vehicle seems to have stopped, what if someone comes over?" the dog leader worriedly asks.
Not far away, the car that just sped past seems to be coming back after hearing the noise on this side.
"We're catching an escapee from our mental hospital, there's nothing illegal about that, what is there to fear!"
"Don't forget, people outside are looking for this madwoman! They are highly ranked. Better safe than sorry, first turn off the flashlight!"
"Cover this lunatic's mouth! Let the dog go!"
The car stopped under a street lamp not far from Lin Zhiyun. The car door opened.
First to get out were two strapping men with blond hair and green eyes in black suits, followed by the umbrella-holding chauffeur. The last to be escorted out of the car was a man wearing a black coat and golden-rimmed glasses.
Lin Zhiyun's mouth was covered, and both her hands and feet were restrained. She twisted her head arduously to look in that direction.
Suddenly, she recognized something. Her eyes widened, and tears continually slid down from the corners. She stared at him through the veil of tears, her gaze firmly locked on him.
Wei Wei!
Lin Zhiyun's eyes shone. Her hands excitedly gripped the wild grass behind her, her slender fingers sinking deeply into the mud.
After getting out of the car, the chauffeur raised the umbrella over Wei Wei. The two bodyguards glanced around briefly, not noticing anything unusual.
"Nothing but a few barks, no sign of anyone."
Wei Wei coughed lightly, gently pressing a finger to his nose. His gloved hand swept across the pitch-black woods encircling them. He said, "Let's go!"
The car departed once again, and under the dim street light, the drizzle still fell like threads without pause.
Lin Zhiyun was taken back to the psychiatric hospital, to Dr. Lin.
"Trying to escape? Done pretending?" Dr. Lin Yanwan wore a white coat that suggested sanctity, an air of superiority mixed with a hint of mocking disdain.
Lin Zhiyun knew that there was only one chance to escape. This failure meant that she would never again have a chance to break free.
"Lin Yanwan! Do you believe in retribution?" Lin Zhijun's face was as pale as transparency.
"Have you forgotten what you have done?
Who was expelled from school due to poor grades?
Who indulged in puppy love instead of focusing on studies?
Who angered their mother to death?
Who led to the passing of their own grandparents?
If retribution truly exists, why is it you who are now leading a miserable life?" Lin Yanwan gently answered with a smile.
"All of you are to blame! You caused my family's downfall and death!" Lin Zhijun screamed in hysterical tears.
"So what if we are the culprits? Would Dad believe it? Would anyone else believe it?" Lin Yanwan asked with a triumphant smile.
Her words caused Lin Zhijun an immeasurable amount of pain.
Yet, Lin Yanwan didn't think it was enough, "Do you know who owns this Honglou Mental Hospital?
It belongs to your very own uncle. He had a short life and left no descendants, so he left this mental hospital and a hefty inheritance to me.
He even saw me as you!
All these new drugs clinically tested on you over the years have been successful. I should thank you for that!
You've made me a lot of money!"
"There's another thing, the dam in your village collapsed. Your mom and your maternal grandparents' tombs were swept away and we have no idea where they ended up.
Such a pitiful thing, isn't it?
However, I've already donated two hundred thousand yuan to rebuild that dam.
Loss sometimes brings gain, doesn't it?"
Lin Yanwan insinuated something through her words, making Lin Zhiyun gnash her teeth, her eyes almost bursting with fury.
Lin Zhiyun was inherently resolute and fierce; it was why she never ceased fighting with her biological father's family. For years, she acted like a fool for revenge and now, given the hopeless situation of her failed escape and hearing her family couldn't even rest in peace after death, she was so desperate that she would die dragging someone down with her.
As Lin Yanwan screamed, security guards outside the room stormed in, crazily assaulting Lin Zhiyun with electric batons.
But Lin Zhiyun, seemingly oblivious to the pain, her furious eyes glowing crimson, bit onto Lin Yanwan's neck adamantly despite having sustained injuries from the assault.
When Lin Zhiyun regained her senses from the chaos, she was surprised. She should have been beaten to death, yet she felt no pain anywhere on her body or head.
Touching her unscathed head, Lin Zhiyun's dubious gaze fell onto her surroundings.
The familiar yet strange place—most prominently the brand-new piano in the corner of the living room—made her narrow her eyes.
When Lin Zhiyun bit her tongue, the intense pain didn't make her uncomfortable. On the contrary, it made her laugh.
This was the Lin family's house when she first moved into the city, and that piano was what Lin Hongyuan bought to compensate Lin Yanwan.
Why was it considered compensation?
Because it was her who, when she first moved into the city, accidentally brought fleas from the countryside into the house. The fleas carried countless bacteria, thus infecting the always frail and easily sick Lin Yanwan.
Lin Zhiyun clutched the clothes over her chest tightly, feeling that she was choking, as every cell in her body trembled with exhilaration, screaming out.
Just as Lin Zhiyun was unable to contain her excitement, the front door opened, and Xu Yifang returned carrying a bag of fruit.
"Zhiyun, have you taken out all your stuff yet?" Xu Yifang asked as soon as she entered the room.
Lin Zhiyun blinked, looking at Xu Yifang, who seemed much younger, but remained silent.
"It's not that I'm being critical of you. Your sister is really weak right now. Wait a few days until her health improves, then I will take both of you out shopping for new clothes," deducing from her silence that she was still not responding, Xu Yifang then said in an attempt to persuade her.
Sensing the present situation, with the sound of footprints approaching from outside the door, Lin Zhiyun remembered that Lin Hongyuan also came back at home this time in her past life. Coincidentally, she heard her words......
Thus, a plan formed in Lin Zhiyun's heart, she replied: "If throwing all my things away could help my sister recover, then let them be thrown away!”
