Chapter 239: Rupture Chapter 239: Rupture He sighed, “Besides, even if you know, it can’t change anything. Mu Yanzhou’s health has deteriorated over the past year, and he won’t be able to hold on much longer!”

Wen Zhi’s eyes filled with confusion, “What do you mean he won’t be able to hold on much longer? What are you trying to say?”

Zhan Feng opened his lips as if to speak ——

But Gu Rang suddenly cut him off, stealing the words Zhan Feng was about to say, “After his wife passed away, Mu Yanzhou lost the will to live; he has no intention to keep on surviving.”

Zhan Feng looked at Gu Rang with a complex expression.

What he had been about to say was the truth, but Gu Rang had stopped him.

Well, perhaps it was for the best that Gu Rang had spoken instead. If the young miss learned that Mu Yanzhou was ill, she would probably feel even more self-reproach and pain.

However, things often go contrary to one’s wishes.

Wen Zhi noticed something was amiss.

She sensed that Gu Rang deliberately interrupted Zhan Feng, she realized Gu Rang had lied to her!

“That’s not the case, is it?” she asked Gu Rang calmly, her eyes holding the last shred of trust in him.

Gu Rang, meeting Wen Zhi’s gaze, felt a lump in his throat, and as he was about to continue the deceit, Wen Zhi raised her voice, “You still want to deceive me, you actually still want to deceive me…”

Seeing the disappointment in Wen Zhi’s eyes, Gu Rang felt panic, but he also knew he couldn’t continue lying, so he finally told her the truth.

Mu Yanzhou’s illness was related to psychosomatic issues; he was suffering from conversion disorder. His physical condition was increasingly diminished by the disease, and the results of his medical examination three months ago were already terrible, serious enough that he needed to be hospitalized. His untreated conversion disorder was also getting worse.

Aside from when he was in front of others, where he seemed like a normal person, once he was alone, he looked like —— a living dead man.

“When Mu Yanzhou was in front of you, he always managed to hide his sickness very well, not letting you see any signs. At first, nobody else noticed either, until these past few months when he became thinner and thinner, and his deteriorating health could no longer maintain his usual demeanor. When recuperating elsewhere, he had to use a wheelchair…”

In Wen Zhi’s mind emerged the memory of the last few times she saw her father, always pale-faced. Back then, she resented him, never thinking to worry about his health.

Little did she know, his health had become so poor.

Wen Zhi silently listened to all that Gu Rang had revealed and remained silent for a long, long time.

When Gu Rang and Zhan Feng left, she no longer remembered.

When her wounds were treated, she had no idea.

She sat on the sofa hugging the wooden box, staring blankly for a long time.

The silence around her ears was so deep, no noise at all, no one to disturb her, until darkness fell, and she still maintained the same position, holding the wooden box motionless.

A ‘click’ sound.

The lights in the ward came on.

Someone approached Wen Zhi slowly; the steps were steady, one by one, until they stopped beside Wen Zhi.

Broad palms settled on her shoulder, gently turning her around, then pulling her into an embrace.

Wen Zhi didn’t care to see who was embracing her, but a familiar smell of cold fir reached her nose, and at that moment, her bloodshot eyes slowly began to focus.

“Shang… Hexing…” she pronounced his name, one word at a time.

“It’s me.”

After replying, Shang Hexing let her go, his gaze falling on the urn she hugged in her arms, and he said with regret, “I’m late.”

When he had found out that Wen Zhi had suddenly gone to Lin City, he had guessed the reason and rushed to Lin City as well, only because he had learned about it late, he had only just arrived.

Wen Zhi looked at him calmly.

The two exchanged glances, and Shang Hexing spoke a great deal, but Wen Zhi didn’t really listen to what he was saying.

She stared at his face, and suddenly, in the midst of his speaking, she interrupted him, asking, “You knew too, right?”

As she asked this question,

Wen Zhi felt an unusual silence.

Suddenly, she clutched the wooden box in her arms tightly, and the emotions she had kept calm for the whole afternoon surged again.

Her crimson almond eyes twinkled with tears as she asked again, “That day, my father and Chong Wanyin perished together at Wufeng Mountain, you knew about it, didn’t you?”

Facing Wen Zhi’s repeated questioning, Shang Hexing realized for the first time what it meant to lose the ability to speak.

It was a question that could obviously be answered in a word or two.

Yet he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

Wen Zhi had already gotten the answer she wanted from Shang Hexing’s expression. She closed her eyes in pain, turned her body away, and would no longer face him, “You can go now.”

Facing Wen Zhi’s sudden cold attitude, Shang Hexing felt a heaviness in his chest. He tried to explain, but Wen Zhi didn’t want to hear a single word and coldly shouted, “Get out!”

“Wen Zhi, I didn’t know how to tell you at that time…”

Wen Zhi lost control of herself, “Get out! I don’t want to see you! I don’t want to see you for even a moment!”

Shang Hexing, no matter how Wen Zhi cursed or struck him, did not rise to leave.

He thought that by staying, he could calm Wen Zhi down, but he was wrong. Holding the wooden box, Wen Zhi suddenly stood up. Before Shang Hexing could react, she was already at the window.

Shang Hexing realized something was wrong and got up to stop her, but at that moment, Wen Zhi shouted loudly, “If you come any closer, I’ll jump.”

Shang Hexing froze.

The window sill behind Wen Zhi was high, the sliding window opened only halfway, and she couldn’t climb over by hand, but to threaten him, she chose to do so anyway.

He could easily ignore her threat and pull her back, but he didn’t do that. After a moment of silence, he said, “Alright, I’ll go.”

He slowly backed away, under Wen Zhi’s unfamiliar and guarded gaze, turned around, and left.

Gu Rang and Zhan Feng had been outside the door the whole time, listening to any sounds from inside the ward.

Seeing Shang Hexing enter and then immediately leave, Gu Rang guessed the reason, “She hates all of us right now.”

Shang Hexing’s eyes were chilling as he asked in a deep voice, “Who told her?”

Gu Rang’s eyes on his nose, he lowered his head slightly, “Mr. Nian Xun.”

“Nian Xun…” Shang Hexing murmured the name, it was this person again.

In the following two days, Wen Zhi still clung to the urn, not letting go. Not only that, but she also stopped eating, drinking, and sleeping. Her body was now overly exhausted, and her state was terribly dire.

Having no choice, the doctor administered a nutrient shot and used a small dose of sleeping medicine to force her into sleep; otherwise, if it continued this way, it would be dangerous.

But the situation did not improve, presenting a very thorny problem.

Nobody’s attempts to counsel her worked.

Every day, she sat quietly in a corner, holding the urn, not interacting with anyone, not looking at anyone.

She rejected any approach by anyone, including Shang Hexing. Whenever someone came close, her body would tense up rigidly in resistance, until she lost control of her emotions and trembled all over.

Every time the doctor came to check on Wen Zhi, his brow furrowed deeper, followed by a helpless shake of his head.

Outside the door, Gu Rang asked impatiently, “So what exactly needs to be done for her to get better?”

After deliberation, the doctor suggested, “We could try an electroconvulsive therapy session.”

Gu Rang, not understanding these things, furrowed his brows and asked, “Can she get better with electroconvulsive therapy?”

“Not exactly,” the doctor said with precision. “Electroconvulsive therapy mainly induces temporary loss of consciousness in the patient to achieve the goal of treating the disorder, but it also has significant side effects.”