Chapter 207: Su Yuqing on a Stormy Night

Cold raindrops splattered onto the back of Su Yaxi’s hand, running down the blade of the knife, mirroring the violent turmoil of her emotions and her uncontrollable trembling.

Su Yuqing’s icy fingers covered the hand holding the knife, forcefully pressing the sharp edge against her own fragile carotid artery.

The touch was bone-chillingly cold, carrying a terrifying resolve.

"If you’ve made up your mind, then do it."

Su Yuqing’s voice was colder than the night rain, as if she were discussing not her own life and death, but some trivial matter that had nothing to do with her.

Those eyes, which had once held a myriad of emotions but now contained only a dead stillness, stared blankly through the rain, fixed on the empty space behind Su Yaxi. It was as if she were awaiting a final verdict, or perhaps had already given up on everything.

"You... Don’t you push me!" Su Yaxi’s voice was torn between fear and anger, sharp yet feeble.

The calmer and more proactive Su Yuqing was, the more the invisible pressure of the confrontation suffocated Su Yaxi.

’This wasn’t how it was supposed to go! She had only wanted to force Su Yuqing to sign the papers and sever their ties, to completely remove this eyesore of a "sister" from her family life—but she didn’t mean remove her *physically*!’

"I’m just giving you the choice. If you’re not going to choose, then go home. It’s raining so hard." Su Yuqing’s tone was terrifyingly flat. Her words, almost "considerate," were the ultimate mockery to Su Yaxi, lashing at her pride like a whip.

’She wanted to see Su Yuqing flustered, begging, surrendering! Not this condescending calm!’

Just as Su Yaxi, pushed to the brink of losing control by the immense psychological pressure and humiliation, was about to drop the knife from sheer tension—

A figure suddenly burst out from the shadows of a dim awning!

It was Lin Ranhai! He had been hiding in the dark, watching the two sisters’ confrontation.

But by now, they had moved into an even darker area, making them difficult to see.

Yet the cold blade of the knife was unnaturally conspicuous in the rain. Because it was so dark, even with eyes adjusted to the gloom, all he could vaguely make out was the image of someone pressing a knife to another’s throat!

’In Lin Ranhai’s eyes, the scene screamed of mortal danger. Whose hand is the knife in?! He couldn’t see the details. He could only assume in terror that Su Yuqing, that "dangerous person," was doing something extreme to Su Yaxi! Yaxi is my sister’s daughter, the apple of my eye! If Yaxi gets hurt here, whether by her own hand or by Su Yuqing, and something irreversible happens... I could never forgive myself!’

There was no time to think. Overwhelming fear for Su Yaxi’s safety crushed all reason.

At the very moment Su Yaxi’s nerves were stretched thinnest and her hands were trembling most violently, Lin Ranhai shot out from his hiding place like a startled wild dog!

’His goal was clear: rush over, snatch the deadly knife from the one holding it, and pull Yaxi away from the "dangerous" Su Yuqing!’

But he never could have imagined that his sudden appearance and nearly frantic charge would be the last straw.

"AH—!" Su Yaxi was already on the verge of a mental breakdown. Startled by the black shadow that had suddenly lunged out, she instinctively used all her strength to break free from Su Yuqing’s grip.

As for Su Yuqing, the moment Lin Ranhai charged, a flicker of unexpected confusion crossed her dead eyes.

She had wanted to ignore everything in this world. But as the unknown, ferocious figure charged, her body’s instincts still triggered a faint defensive reaction. Just as Su Yaxi violently wrenched her hand free, Su Yuqing lost her footing on the slippery pavement and stumbled instinctively forward, right into Su Yaxi.

A fatal chain reaction occurred:

In her extreme panic, Su Yaxi struggled free, losing her balance. She instinctively reached out with both hands to grab onto something, but one of those hands was holding a knife!

Her center of gravity lost, she stumbled toward Su Yuqing. At the same time, Su Yaxi instinctively brought her hands together while Lin Ranhai lunged to grab the hand holding the blade. The combination of these three forces sent the sharp fruit knife carving a short, deadly arc through the dim light!

SQUELCH—

A soft, dull tearing sound, almost completely drowned out by the torrential rain.

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

Lin Ranhai’s hand finally closed firmly around Su Yaxi’s wrist, the one holding the hilt. He let out a sigh of relief, thinking he had succeeded.

Su Yaxi’s eyes were wide, her body rigid, her breath coming in ragged gasps of terror.

And Su Yuqing, caught between them, shuddered slightly.

She felt a cold, fleetingly sharp pain, so brief she couldn’t even register its location.

She looked down, seemingly confused.

But the cold was instantly replaced by a surging, unfamiliar heat that spread from below her neck.

She could feel a warm liquid rapidly soaking her cold, wet clothes. The heat quickly faded, a stark contrast to the icy rain.

The confusion in her eyes hadn’t faded, but now it was mixed with a deeper, more profound sense of release.

She didn’t even cry out in pain or groan. The strength simply drained from her body like a receding tide, and she collapsed backward, landing heavily on the cold, water-logged ground.

The resulting splash was a mixture of water and a rapidly spreading, darker liquid.

Rain beat mercilessly on her pale face. The focus of her eyes, staring into the endless, dark, rainy night, seemed to shift slightly one last time. It swept past Lin Ranhai’s face, twisted in shock, and past Su Yaxi, who was pale with fright and shaking like a leaf...

Then, the light in them faded completely.

Lin Ranhai was still gripping Su Yaxi’s wrist, so hard he could feel the cold hilt and the tremors running through her arm as if she were trying to crush it.

He stared down blankly at the knife he had just "successfully" secured. A shocking red was streaming down the blade, quickly washed away by the rain, yet somehow constantly replenished.

’He had lunged and blocked with all his might, trying to separate them... How could the knife, in that motion, have sliced... something?’

He snapped his head toward Su Yuqing on the ground and saw the blood pooling beneath her. His mind went blank, filled with a deafening roar.

At that moment, he didn’t even know if he had been the one to knock into Su Yaxi’s hand, causing the blade to cut Su Yuqing.

Or if Su Yaxi had already slit Su Yuqing’s throat before he even rushed over.

Immense terror and confusion instantly enveloped Lin Ranhai’s heart.

It also enveloped Su Yaxi’s heart. At that moment, she was thinking the exact same thing.

[Core Plot Breakdown]:

Many readers have found the recent reveal of Su Yuqing’s cause of death hard to accept.

However, I have already laid sufficient foreshadowing in the previous Chapters.

First, the description of the state of Su Yuqing’s body: although her clothes were slightly disheveled, there were no signs of a struggle before her death.

Second, Su Yuqing was carrying a knife on her person.

Okay, now if we combine these two factors, we find that there are some core issues that cannot be avoided when making deductions.

Su Yuqing’s death falls into one of three scenarios: first, premeditated murder; second, accidental death; third, suicide.

Let’s talk about suicide first.

It’s impossible for a forensic examiner to not detect a suicide.

And even if it wasn’t detected, the weapon should have been found nearby. But Chen Mo doesn’t know about this knife, which means it was obviously taken by someone.

On a stormy night like that, in the pitch-black darkness, why would someone deliberately search for and take a knife from a dead person’s body when they didn’t even know where it was hidden?

It’s clearly illogical.

Now let’s talk about premeditated murder.

In a premeditated murder, the killer would have to prepare a weapon in advance. Even if the killer was confident they could kill with their bare hands and didn’t bring a weapon,

how would they have known that Su Yuqing was carrying a knife?

How could they use Su Yuqing’s own knife to kill her?

If the killer brought their own weapon and killed Su Yuqing with it, then what happened to the knife Su Yuqing originally had on her?

How would the killer know she had a knife hidden on her? And then take it? Why would they need to take a weapon that could be used to confuse the investigation?

Some might say that Su Yuqing could have encountered an attacker, pulled out her knife for self-defense, and had it taken from her. That would explain why her knife was missing.

That’s a valid point, but anyone who says that has forgotten the first of the two key pieces of information I mentioned earlier.

That is: Su Yuqing had no signs of a struggle. It’s not easy to take a knife from someone defending themselves without getting hurt, even if that person is just a girl. Even if the attacker managed to take the knife unscathed, the victim would inevitably show many signs of a struggle.

Since Su Yuqing had no signs of a struggle, the scenario of her knife being taken from her can be ruled out.

So where did Su Yuqing’s knife go?

Therefore, the premeditated murder theory cannot explain why Su Yuqing’s knife is missing.

The third possibility, a purely accidental death or a crime of passion, likewise fails to explain the above problem.

Namely, why did the knife she was carrying vanish without a trace when there were no signs of a struggle?

After eliminating all other possibilities, only one explanation remains.

That is, Su Yuqing gave her own knife to someone else and ultimately died at their hands.

The pool of potential candidates for such a person is not large.

After all, you can’t just hand a knife to a random passerby and expect them to commit murder.

And Su Yuqing isn’t the kind of girl who would randomly drag someone down with her just before her death.

So, if Su Yuqing was willing to give someone her knife and let them kill her,

then something must have happened between them to lead to this outcome.

After laying all this out, if you look back at this part of the plot, does the outcome still feel abrupt?

If you still think it’s abrupt, then ask yourself: what scenario can you construct that explains all the anomalies?

Many things in this world are unexpected, yet perfectly logical in hindsight.

This ending was set in stone before I even started writing the book, which is why I provided corresponding clues to help with interpretation.

In any case, for those of you who are only here for the murder mystery, I’m doing this so you don’t have to renew your subscription next month or spend any more money.

The murder mystery plotline will be completely wrapped up this month. After that, it will be pure, sweet, slice-of-life content.

For those who enjoy the sweet, slice-of-life stuff, please continue to read and support the novel. I’ve planted some very sweet foreshadowing earlier on, and I hope I get to the point where I can resolve it!