There, no matter how much she struggled or fought with all her might, what was meant to happen still did—she had no choice but to confront the most brutal scene head-on.

“Brother!”

Ming Yue cried out in agony, kneeling beside those mangled, blood-soaked body fragments. Yet there was no longer a tall man smiling back at her.

All that remained was endless darkness—so dark that her once crystal-clear heart longed to take root and detonate this filthy world.

But then she thought of her stroke-stricken maternal grandfather, her paralyzed younger brother, her mad mother…

A flicker of tenderness stirred within her, and the weight on her shoulders settled back onto them. Ming Yue had no choice but to drag herself forcefully out of that deepest darkness and keep calling out into the chaotic world, “Brother…”

“Brother!”

“Brother!”

Again and again.

With guilt.

With longing.

Yet no one ever answered.

The unnamed male operative who had gone was, after all, truly gone forever—he would never utter another word in response.

Tears streamed down Ming Yue’s face as she let out a long, anguished howl toward the heavens, cursing the unfair heavens above and this filthy world below. As she ranted and ranted, she grew exhausted and collapsed to the ground, slowly closing her now-red, tear-streaked eyes.

“Yueyue, go now—go to Yaoyao and Grandpa. Take good care of them for Mom and me. Leave everything here alone; if you get involved, you’ll die!”

Suddenly, an all-too-familiar, gentle voice reached Ming Yue’s ears.

It was her brother!

Her deceased brother, Ming Kai!

Ming Yue was overjoyed and quickly scrambled to her feet, wiping the tears from her face as she frantically searched for the source of the voice. “Brother, where are you? It’s Yueyue!”

No answer.

Refusing to accept defeat, Ming Yue bit her lip and kept searching. “Brother, if you’re really here, why won’t you show yourself? Do you know how much I miss you? So much! So very much! I really, really miss you! If you’re here, can’t you at least come see me just once? I’ll be good—I’ll listen!”

Still no response.

All around was a gray, hazy gloom—thick fog that wouldn’t clear, nothing else to be found, let alone the man she’d been thinking of day and night, the one she longed to see just one more time.

“Brother, why won’t you reveal yourself? Can’t you just show yourself for a moment? I miss you so much! Please, just come out and see me—just once! I’m begging you!”

Tears began to well up again in her eyes, pooling slowly before finally breaking free and streaming down her cheeks.

“Brother! I’m sorry! I’m truly sorry! I didn’t mean to ignore that call back then! It was my fault! Hit me if you want! Scold me if you want! Just don’t ignore me like this!”

More tears poured down Ming Yue’s face.

“Brother! Brother? Are you still there? Please, say something! Brother, please come out! Let me see you just once!”

She screamed like a madwoman, searched like a madwoman.

Yet there was still no response.

That voice was like a fleeting passerby—arriving in a rush and departing just as quickly, vanishing in an instant.

No matter how hard she shouted, no matter how desperately she tried to hold on, it was all in vain!

Just like back then, when she rushed to the scene upon hearing the news, no matter how heart-wrenching her cries or how unbearable her pain, the one who was gone was truly gone—

and could never return!

The only thing left behind by her beloved older brother, Ming Kai, was those severed limbs and shattered remains that made both her and her mother faint upon first glance.

She kept calling and calling, but the hazy, murky world around her seemed like a sleeping infant—no sign of her brother’s reply, not even any other sound at all.

Amidst the gray, misty expanse, there was only one poor soul, drained of spirit, slumped on the ground, sobbing and trembling, then roaring helplessly into the boundless void in every direction.

She roared countless times, over and over again.

End of Chapter 27: The One She Thinks of Day and Night