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After Lu Nanzhi left, Qu Wanwan clutched Fu Ciyu’s arm tightly.
“Why do you want me to get checked? I’m in perfect health.”
He was taken aback. He’d always been in good health—what was she implying?
“Have you ever had a meal with her?”
“Wanwan, there’s really nothing between us—”
“Answer me!” Qu Wanwan’s voice suddenly rose sharply.
Outside, Qingye and Qingjiu both jumped in surprise. This was the first time they’d seen Madam lose her temper so badly.
Did Master do something wrong???
“…Yes. We had two meals together,” Fu Ciyu admitted when he saw how upset she was.
“Qingye!”
“Madam—”
“Bring the car around. We’re going to see Gu Yichen.”
Qingye glanced at his master, whose complexion didn’t look so good, but wisely chose to follow Madam’s orders and went to get the car.
“If the results show nothing wrong, I’ll tell you everything,” Qu Wanwan said in a low voice.
Fu Ciyu didn’t press further. If this could ease her mind, he didn’t mind undergoing a full-body examination.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the hospital where Gu Yichen worked.
Qingye had already called ahead, so Gu Yichen was waiting in the examination room.
“What happened?” Gu Yichen’s expression was solemn.
Qu Wanwan lowered her gaze and spoke softly. “A full-body scan—especially the brain.”
Gu Yichen froze for a moment. Was she implying that Ciyu had a brain injury?
Fu Ciyu let out a soft sigh. “Do as she says.”
Gu Yichen snapped out of it and had Fu Ciyu lie on the examination bed, beginning a series of comprehensive scans.
After repeating the tests twice, they found nothing unusual—not even the slightest anomaly in the brain.
“One last time—just scan the brain,” Qu Wanwan said firmly.
Gu Yichen sighed, but still carried out the final scan as instructed.
He stared absentmindedly at the monitor, when suddenly, his expression changed. He pressed pause, then zoomed in—again and again—on a specific area.
Qu Wanwan immediately noticed something was off. She rushed over to the monitor.
“What is that?” her voice trembled.
Gu Yichen glanced at her. “How much do you actually know?”
“I asked you—what is that?” Qu Wanwan’s tone turned icy.
“Mind-corrupting Gu.”
“What?” Her body swayed, and she quickly grabbed the nearby chair for support.
“It causes the victim to lose their sanity,” Gu Yichen said, his expression darkening—this was clearly something rare, even for him.
“I’m going to find her.” Qu Wanwan turned to leave, but Gu Yichen blocked her way.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to find Lu Nanzhi and get the antidote.”
“Lu Nanzhi?” Gu Yichen looked puzzled.
“There’s a lot I can’t explain right now. But Lu Nanzhi approached A-Yu with a motive—I suspect she’s the one who planted it.”
Seeing how agitated she was, Gu Yichen said in a low voice, “We need to talk this over with Ciyu.”
He opened the examination room door and motioned for Fu Ciyu to come over.
Fu Ciyu looked at the two of them, sensing the heavy tension in the air. His gaze darkened. “There’s something wrong.”
Qu Wanwan quickly turned her face away and forcefully wiped her tears.
Gu Yichen furrowed his brow, his voice grave. “You need to prepare yourself.”
“Just tell me.”
“Mind-corrupting Gu.”
“What does that mean?” Fu Ciyu already sensed it wasn’t something simple. He wanted to know how it would affect him.
“It causes mental disorientation—irrational anger, mood swings, possibly violence,” Gu Yichen explained briefly.
Fu Ciyu’s gaze turned sharp, his voice icy. “Is there a cure?”
“Not yet. I need time. I’ll have to search the hospital’s database.”
“How long until it takes effect?”
“It’s still in the early stages,” Gu Yichen said, “so those symptoms won’t appear yet. I’ll work on an antidote before it matures.”
Fu Ciyu gave a small nod, then took Qu Wanwan’s hand and left with her.
The entire way, Qu Wanwan didn’t say a single word.
Because she didn’t know how to begin telling him everything she had gone through—including his own…
Once they arrived at Yuyuan, Qingye silently stepped away, leaving the two of them to walk into the study together.
They stood facing each other. Fu Ciyu’s voice was low and steady. “Tell me—what’s really going on?”
Qu Wanwan closed her eyes, organizing her thoughts. When she opened them again, her gaze was clear and calm.
“Then are you ready to hear my story?”
Fu Ciyu paused, unease rising in his chest.
As expected—
“Ah Yu, I’ve died once already.”
Just eight quiet words, yet they struck Fu Ciyu like a thunderclap.
He suddenly seized her wrist, his voice tight with disbelief. “Say that again!”
Qu Wanwan let out a sorrowful smile. “I, Qu Wanwan, have already died once.”
Instinctively, Fu Ciyu let go of her. He staggered back two steps, gripping the edge of the desk so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
His body trembled. “Wanwan—”
“You know that…”
“I don’t like being lied to.”
Qu Wanwan spoke softly, “The afternoon I woke up… that was the day I came back to life.”
He stood frozen, pale as a ghost, his eyes filled with a deep, bloodshot red.
“In my previous life,” she said, voice trembling, “I lived in utter failure. I lost everything—my family was ruined, and even you…”
“I never got to see you one last time.”
Fu Ciyu’s mind went blank, a dull buzzing filling his ears as everything around him seemed to fade into noise.
“What was the cause?” he finally rasped out, his voice hoarse and strained.
Qu Wanwan began slowly, her tone filled with remorse. “I trusted the wrong people—Shen Man and Lu Yu. I ignored all the warnings you gave me. By the time I realized it, it was already too late.”
“They plotted against me, against the Qu family… and even you weren’t spared—”
“I never understood the violent tendencies that started showing in your body,” she continued. “Until one day, I overheard Shen Man and Lu Yu talking. Only then did I realize someone behind them was pulling the strings, trying to destroy both the Fu family and you.”
“That person was Lu Nanzhi?” Fu Ciyu asked, his voice rough with disbelief.
“Yes… because—”
“Her younger brother died at your hands.”
“That’s why you got so worked up the moment you heard her name?” he pressed.
Qu Wanwan nodded faintly. “Yes. But… it still seems like I was one step too late,” she murmured.
“How did I die?” Fu Ciyu looked straight into her eyes, his voice steady but heavy.
She couldn’t meet his gaze. Lowering her head, she whispered, “It was for me…”
“For you?”
“Mm. I was trapped. There was no way out. And to save me… you chose to end your own life.”
“Heh—” Fu Ciyu let out a cold laugh.
He, Fu Ciyu, would actually end his own life with his own hands?
“And you?” he asked suddenly.
“Me?” Qu Wanwan smiled bitterly. “I was locked in a basement, doused in gasoline… In the end, I died in that fire.”
“They actually—”
“It was retribution, wasn’t it?” Qu Wanwan said calmly. She had always believed it was what she deserved.
Fu Ciyu’s expression grew darker. He stared into her eyes and asked one final question, his voice heavy: “Then what about me?”
“What?”
“In your eyes… was I just your guilt? Your debt? Is that why, after coming back to life, you chose me, stayed with me?”
Qu Wanwan hadn’t expected that question. Her heart clenched, and she rushed to explain, “I—I just wanted to love you. I wanted to make up for the regrets of the past life—”
“You wanted to love me? So—”
“You don’t truly love me?”