The Absent-minded Trio

Shen Mengli didn’t rush to gather Ye Feng’s clothes after leaving the cabin. Instead, she took a detour to the storage shed nearby. Inside, she swiftly retrieved a tattered strip of cloth stained with dried blood from a bamboo basket. Seeing that the outer garment bore no noticeable traces, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Thankfully, the fabric strips used to bandage Xiao Feng’s wounds weren’t thrown away. Given those people’s persistence, they won’t give up so easily. We must create the illusion that Xiao Feng is already dead, or this place won’t remain safe for long."

Muttering to herself, Shen Mengli immediately took the cloth strips and headed downstream along the river. After walking for some time, she found a spot with relatively rapid currents. After a quick preparation, she tossed the strips into the water and then made her way to the nearest village.

Normally, if she ran out of ingredients, she would walk to the village to purchase supplies. Of course, whether conversing with the villagers or asking for advice, Shen Mengli concealed her identity flawlessly. As long as she didn’t arouse suspicion, no trouble would arise.

......

"Young Mistress, we still have no updates. According to expert analysis, the cliff’s height is so extreme that falling into such turbulent waters would cause disorientation, likely leading to choking on water. Combined with Ye Feng’s injuries..."

"Enough!"

Li Mucheng’s hoarse voice cut off Ah Fu’s report from inside the room, a clear indication of how poorly she had been these past few days.

"I only want to hear the answer."

"Yes!"

Ah Fu responded promptly, sighing quietly as he looked at Li Mucheng’s tightly shut door. No one could have predicted that Ye Feng would take a bullet for Xie Yuyan. Since then, Li Mucheng’s world had turned upside down.

When Li Mucheng descended the mountain, Li Jing was already waiting with his men. Seeing his daughter unharmed, the frantic Li Jing cast aside all decorum and rushed to her side.

"Mucheng, are you hurt? Are you feeling unwell? The medical team is here—come with me, get in the car!"

Seeing Li Mucheng’s dazed state, Li Jing assumed she had suffered psychological trauma. Just as he was about to guide his silent daughter away, Li Mucheng suddenly collapsed to the ground, wailing uncontrollably.

"Waaah! F-Father... I... I pushed Teacher off the cliff! Please, save him... I didn’t mean to..."

Watching his daughter break down in tears, Li Jing was utterly bewildered. It was only after Ah Fu’s explanation that he grasped the situation.

"Mucheng, don’t panic. I’ll send people to search the river for Ye Feng immediately. You mustn’t torment yourself—Ye Feng is resilient. He’ll pull through."

"No... it’s not like that..."

Li Mucheng shook her head violently, the image of her shooting Ye Feng flashing relentlessly in her mind.

"I only wanted to save him... I just wanted to save him..."

Realizing rational communication was impossible, Li Jing signaled Ah Fu with a glance. Understanding, Ah Fu quickly summoned two maids to forcibly escort Li Mucheng into an ambulance before speeding away.

Li Jing then turned his gaze toward the mountains before addressing his trusted subordinates.

"Today’s events stay buried. I’ll handle Su Wanli. As for Ye Feng..."

His voice trailed off as he glanced at Su Wanli, who was comforting his own daughter not far away.

"No matter what, find Ye Feng for me! Alive or... bring me his body."

"Yes!"

Just as Li Jing prepared to leave and follow Li Mucheng’s ambulance, his bodyguards brought forward a disheveled woman with a deathly pale face.

"Master, what should we do with this woman?"

"Hm?"

Li Jing turned and observed Xie Yuyan, whose pupils trembled as she muttered incoherently. He frowned slightly.

He had some prior knowledge of Xie Yuyan, as his daughter had once asked him to investigate her background. Never did he imagine things would come to this. Clearly, Ye Feng’s accident had devastated them all...

"Keep her under house arrest. We’ll deal with this after Mucheng recovers."

"Understood, Master!"

After watching Li Jing depart, the guards, considering gender propriety, called for several maids to escort Xie Yuyan—now handcuffed—into another vehicle.

Once Li Corporation had left, Su Wanli also managed to piece together the gist of events from his distraught daughter, Su Yuxin.

He had never seen his daughter in such a state of despair. Were it not for him mentioning Ye Feng’s name, she might still be sobbing hysterically.

Ultimately, yielding to his daughter’s pleas, Su Wanli dispatched a team to investigate the mountains. Meanwhile, he took the emotionally exhausted Su Yuxin away from the amusement park.

For the three young women, this day was the most agonizing and crushing of their lives...

The scene returns to Li Mucheng, curled up on her bed with vacant eyes. A full day had passed, her face ghostly pale, drained of all color.

"It’s all my fault... I’m the one who hurt Teacher... Just when our relationship was improving, why did it end like this?"

Li Mucheng drowned in regret, even wondering whether Ye Feng might still be alive had she never sought him out. She could have accepted that.

Yet, of all possibilities, the one she couldn’t bear had come to pass—she had harmed the person she loved most with her own hands.

"Why...? I’ve already learned from my mistakes, so why did this happen again?!"

During her self-imposed isolation, Li Mucheng had repeatedly contemplated ending her life to atone to Ye Feng. But a sliver of hope lingered—when Xie Yuyan had stabbed Ye Feng, the knife had miraculously bounced off, leaving him unscathed. She had witnessed it clearly.

And so, she waited desperately for news of Ye Feng.

If word came confirming his death, she would follow without hesitation—to apologize to him, the one she loved most, in the next life...