Five minutes later.

Lin Chu was lying on the bed, breathing steadily.

A faint sound came from near the door.

The sound was so soft, like a feather falling to the ground.

If Lin Chu’s five senses hadn’t been enhanced by the modified core pill, she wouldn’t have been able to detect it.

For someone to move that quietly—this intruder probably had some kind of skill.

Soft footsteps crept forward, step by step, gradually approaching.

Finally, they stopped at her bedside.

A sharp pain stabbed her neck—just like in the danger warning she’d seen. Her body went limp.

“Sorry, Lin Chu.”

The voice in her ear was low and hoarse.

But Lin Chu immediately recognized it. It was Bai Wei’s voice.

She could sense a sharp blade, carrying a chill, hovering just in front of her.

“Actually, after these past few days, I realized you’re not a bad person.”

“It’s just a pity… that you’re Lin Hongfu’s daughter.”

Bai Wei sighed, and right after came the sound of a blade slicing through the air.

Just three centimeters from Lin Chu’s neck, the hand holding the blade was suddenly seized by a strong force—completely unable to move forward.

The person in bed opened her eyes with a sharp swish.

Shock and confusion were written all over Bai Wei’s face.

“You—how—”

Before she could finish, she lifted her uncontrolled left hand, aiming for Lin Chu’s arm.

Lin Chu glanced over—there was a syringe in Bai Wei’s hand!

A familiar syringe.

Not only was it the same as the one just used on her, it also matched the syringe used earlier in the day on the fish-scaled mutant.

Lin Chu swiftly reversed her grip and locked onto Bai Wei’s syringe-wielding hand.

Before Bai Wei could make another move, Lin Chu twisted both her hands at once.

Two sharp cracks echoed through the room.

Both of Bai Wei’s wrists were dislocated.

The knife and syringe clattered to the carpeted floor.

“Mmph—”

Bai Wei’s cry of pain was instantly muffled—Lin Chu had already clamped a hand over her mouth, allowing only a stifled groan.

Bai Wei struggled, but her body felt like it was trapped in steel—she couldn’t move at all under Lin Chu’s overwhelming strength.

Pinning the now-disabled Bai Wei to the ground, Lin Chu fluidly pulled a roll of duct tape from her pocket and slapped a strip across Bai Wei’s mouth.

Then, from under the bed, she retrieved the hemp rope she’d prepared five minutes ago and tied Bai Wei’s hands and feet tightly.

Throughout the entire process, Bai Wei glared at Lin Chu, eyes full of unwillingness and burning hatred.

She never imagined Lin Chu’s physical capabilities had become so strong that she couldn’t even begin to fight back.

Even her innate skill hadn’t worked.

And when they actually fought, she was taken down without even a chance to resist.

Lin Chu didn’t care what Bai Wei was thinking. She gave her a couple of light slaps on the cheek.

“No need to stare at me like that. If I hadn’t heard you apologizing before you made your move, you’d already be in hell by now.”

Bai Wei clearly didn’t want to die.

After hearing Lin Chu’s words, she closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, the hatred had been buried deep—now her gaze was full of unwillingness and confusion.

Lin Chu noticed the change and raised an eyebrow.

“Want to talk?”

Bai Wei nodded once.

Lin Chu got off the bed, picked up the fallen knife, and tossed it lightly in her hand.

“I can take off the tape, but if you’re too loud, I won’t be so patient.”

Bai Wei glanced at the knife and nodded twice, obediently.

Only then did Lin Chu peel the tape off her mouth.

Bai Wei took a couple of deep breaths before looking at Lin Chu, lips tightening.

“You didn’t pass out just now?”

Lin Chu stared at her, face expressionless.

Bai Wei was at a loss for words.

She cursed herself internally—why would Lin Chu honestly tell her anything?

As she sighed and looked down, a cold voice came from above.

“What grudge do you have against Lin Hongfu?”

The moment those three words were spoken, the string of reason in Bai Wei’s mind nearly snapped.

Hatred flared once more in her eyes.

She didn’t even notice the icy undertone in Lin Chu’s voice when she mentioned that name.

With fire in her eyes and gritted teeth, Bai Wei spat out her next words.

“Lin Hongfu… he’s the man who killed my father!”

“He murdered my dad.”

“And you—you’re his accomplice!”

Lin Chu’s heart sank. She was beginning to understand.

“You’re Bai Zhengde’s daughter.”

This wasn’t a question. It was a statement.

She remembered what the system had interrupted her from earlier.

She’d seen Lin Hongfu’s file before—a colleague had shown it to her.

After drinking too much, he suddenly went berserk, grabbed a kitchen knife from the back of the restaurant, and decapitated the owner on the spot.

That owner’s name was Bai Zhengde.

Hearing her father’s name from Lin Chu’s lips, Bai Wei finally looked her in the eye.

Her expression twisted into something between a sob and a smile.

“So you finally remember. I thought only victims’ families like me still clung to the past.”

“You’ve probably long forgotten all about it.”

Bai Wei seemed to accept her fate. Though she was tied up, her face dripped with sarcasm.

Lin Chu tapped her finger lightly against the wall but didn’t respond.

Bai Wei didn’t care. She kept talking.

“What did my dad do wrong? That day he just wanted to close early and come home to celebrate my birthday.”

“Lin Hongfu was drunk and wouldn’t leave. He wouldn’t let my dad go. And when my dad insisted on leaving… he killed him.”

At this point, Bai Wei’s face was twisted in pure hatred.

If Lin Hongfu were in front of her now, she looked like she could tear him apart with her bare hands.

Her emotions surged. Her body trembled.

“It wouldn’t have mattered if I didn’t have a birthday… so why…”

Drip.
Drip.

Tears splashed onto the carpet.

“Why did I have to tell him I wanted to eat his longevity noodles…”

Bai Wei couldn’t even maintain the posture of looking up at Lin Chu.

She collapsed sideways, trembling uncontrollably, her face streaked with tears.

Only after she had cried for a while did Lin Chu slowly walk over and squat down beside her, frowning slightly.

As Lin Chu came into view, Bai Wei’s tear-clouded eyes slowly regained focus.

She looked at Lin Chu, opened her mouth, and let out a mocking laugh.

“He killed someone—he deserved to die. But unfortunately, he had a good daughter like you, who kept getting his execution delayed.”

Lin Chu’s eyes flashed with realization.

“You hate me for that?”

Bai Wei didn’t seem to hear her. She continued bitterly:

“Don’t think I don’t know you helped him. He told us himself when he got arrested.”

“He said he had a daughter who was a forensic doctor, skilled in all sorts of methods, who’d find a way to get his sentence reduced. He said he wouldn’t die.”

Lin Chu knew how hatred could blind a person.

But she still asked, unable to help herself:

“And you just believed him?”

“Not at first.” Bai Wei shot her a cold look. “But then I saw you.”

She would never forget—on the day she lost her father, just after identifying his body at the police station, she heard that murderer shouting from the hallway.

She thought the law wouldn’t allow such monsters to defy justice.

But then she saw the killer’s daughter—wearing a uniform—visiting him.

Even though they didn’t interact, Bai Wei looked at her own powerless hands and was terrified that justice wouldn’t be served.

Later, Lin Hongfu’s execution date was set.

She was happy—she thought the forensic daughter wasn’t that capable after all.

But two days before the execution, Lin Hongfu suddenly announced he had important case information to report.

The execution was postponed.

She knew it—his daughter must have stepped in.

After hearing all this, Lin Chu tapped her index finger again.

“I never helped him. I would never help him.”

“Impossible!” Bai Wei shouted, tears still hanging from her lashes. She glared at Lin Chu with bloodshot eyes.

“His execution got delayed. He never died. If not for your help—then who else?!”

“And you’re his daughter. Who else but a daughter would do everything in her power for a murderer condemned by the world?”

Lin Chu gave her a calm glance and walked toward the window.

Outside, the sky was pouring as if the heavens had been torn open.