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Chapitre 40

Another flash of lightning illuminated the night sky.

An eerie atmosphere permeated the abandoned classroom. Lightning illuminated the podium, revealing countless memorial tablets neatly arranged upon it. The wooden plaques the middle-aged man had brought out were indeed memorial tablets; the densely packed tablets resembled pairs of cold, icy eyes, radiating a chilling light that could pierce the soul. Then another flash of lightning revealed the characters 'Duan Gan' clearly engraved on each tablet.

After resting for a while, the middle-aged man took out an incense burner and candles from his bag, muttering incantations in a low, incomprehensible tone, seemingly some kind of incantation. The flickering flames of the lit candles cast shadows on the man's face, making him look extremely sinister. He seemed to be performing an evil ritual. All around was silent; the thunder had ceased, and the air seemed to have solidified. Then, the man cursed fiercely, "That old devil from the Duan family, who decided on this damned ritual? Can't we just do it our way?"

After the three incense sticks burned out, the man took out a gleaming blade from his backpack. Extending his left pinky and ring fingers, his eyes flashed with ferocity as he gritted his teeth and said, "Tian Zi, you've gone mad. Two fingers should be enough to kill you. Don't blame me, it wasn't my intention to kill you. It's your fault for offending that wicked woman." As soon as he finished speaking, the man swung the blade and chopped off both fingers at the root. The man couldn't help but scream in agony as he collapsed to the ground. Crimson blood splattered onto the memorial tablet, which seemed to tremble slightly, emitting a pleasurable sound.

The man trembled as he took a white towel from his backpack and pressed it against his wound. In no time, the towel was stained crimson with blood. After a while, he removed the towel; the bleeding had stopped, and the wound was healing at a visible speed. The man chuckled wickedly, "My little darling, it's time to wake up."

The moment the words left his mouth, the two fingers that had been lying on the ground moved!

The man chuckled smugly, put the memorial tablet and incense burner back into his bag, wiped away the bloodstains splattered everywhere, cleaned the room as if nothing had happened, then slung his backpack over his shoulder and left the classroom with the two severed fingers in his hand.

Outside the window, the rain was still falling.

001 The Horrifying Boneless Corpse

Fear is a human instinct. Many people are afraid of fear, afraid to face it, and deliberately avoid its existence. Little do they know that fear surrounds them at all times, and can sneak out from the darkest corners of their hearts if they're not careful, making their heart race and cold sweat pour down their backs. No one can escape fear, yes, no one! Right now, fear is watching you from behind! Unless…

Qianhuangtai, a beautiful name, but the citizens of Shangjing City don't see it that way. In Shangjing City, there are two places whose very names inspire chills and fear. One is Yishi Academy, with countless terrifying legends surrounding it and numerous unsolved murders, many of which remain unsolved. The other place, equally infamous as Yishi Academy, is Qianhuangtai, home to the city's largest mental hospital. Its prison-like iron bars hold many severely mentally ill patients, including some psychologically disturbed and deranged killers, inspiring dread. But compared to the horrific cases that followed, it all pales in comparison.

The exact cause of the incident is unclear, evolving into several versions over the past decade, but one thing remains constant. The mentally ill patients confined here launched a riot, which escalated into a frenzied massacre. When the police arrived and broke down the heavy iron gates, the horrific scene before them reminded them of hell. Blood flowed like rivers, limbs were scattered everywhere, and the heavy stench of blood in the air was suffocating. Even the police, accustomed to corpses, vomited up their stomachs and bile. It was unimaginable what had happened. Of the more than one hundred dead, not a single body was intact, and more than twenty had vanished forever, leaving only piles of unrecognizable flesh. Only a dozen or so mentally ill patients survived, covered in blood, huddled together, trembling, their eyes filled with terror. No matter what questions they were asked, their answer was always the same two words—"insects!" After the case was reported by the media, meat prices in Beijing plummeted, and many citizens went three months without eating meat, simply because they had witnessed a scene that was, in comparison, the least gruesome.

Speaking of which, I almost forgot to mention that more than 20 years ago, while acquiring Yishi College, the Xia Group also quietly bought the former Huangtai Mental Hospital.

As time passed, this horrific event gradually faded from people's memories, whether intentionally or unintentionally concealed. But just because people can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist; in some dark corner, evil is emerging.

After the rain, the sky cleared, and the world, cleansed by last night's downpour, was refreshed. The leaves shone a vibrant green, and the grass, having absorbed enough moisture, had grown taller. The moist air carried the fragrance of earth; a deep breath was invigorating, leaving one feeling energized for the entire day. The world seemed vibrant and thriving, except for one place: Qianhuangtai, a place perpetually lifeless. From a distance, you could almost see Qianhuangtai shrouded in a gray mist, so much so that even the smallest sparrows wouldn't perch there. In fact, since the massacre, everyone within a five-mile radius had moved away, fearing that the mentally ill man in Qianhuangtai might escape and repeat the same massacre.

Under the bright sunlight, there stood a cluster of white buildings of varying heights, surrounded by a three-meter-high wall with barbed wire. An unsuspecting observer might mistake it for a heavily guarded military facility, but in reality, it was just a hospital—or more specifically, a mental hospital. Astute readers have already guessed; indeed, this is the infamous former Huangtai Mental Hospital.

It was time for exercise, and patients with mild mental illness were allowed to move around freely in the courtyard. A fat man with a tattered towel draped over his head, holding a plastic bottle with a large, bright green scallion stuck in it, stood on a round stone table, his palm raised, muttering, "I am Guanyin Bodhisattva, the savior of suffering." Not far from him, a woman lay prostrate on the ground, her face covered in a thick layer of white powder, deathly pale, her long hair hanging down in front, obscuring half her face. Her eyes were wide open, bloodshot. She crawled on the ground like a spider, making clicking sounds. This was just the tip of the iceberg; all the patients were doing what they imagined. The doctors in charge of monitoring them were already used to it.

A woman sat quietly in the corner of the courtyard, holding an easel and intently painting. If it weren't for her white hospital gown, no one would mistake her for a mental patient. She was beautiful, her paintings even more beautiful, and her every move was like that of a normal person. Two medical staff members nearby were discussing her. "This woman is quite pretty and has a lot of poise. She doesn't seem to have any mental problems. How did she get in?"

"She was a teacher at Yishi Academy, but her life was quite tragic. I heard that her husband died, and soon after, her student also died. She suffered a major mental blow and developed severe dissociative identity disorder. One moment she would say her name was Tian Zi, and the next she would say she was Su Youqing. Actually, she was a fairly easy patient to manage, and she rarely had episodes. Usually, she would just paint or space out by herself. She received the best treatment here; Yishi Academy reimbursed all her medical expenses."

"Doesn't she have any relatives? It seems like very few people come to visit her."

“A young policeman often visits her, along with some of her students. I heard she’s an orphan,” the doctor said with a sigh. “If all patients could be as quiet as her, our lives would be much easier.”

Su Youqing was almost finished with her painting. It depicted the earth after the rain, a vibrant green landscape filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers—a truly beautiful scene. A gentle breeze stirred the sunlight above her head, and a large, fat green worm landed on her canvas. She stared wide-eyed at the worm wriggling its massive body on the canvas, the sight awakening a deep-seated fear within her. She screamed, threw the canvas away, and scattered throughout the yard, startling the other mental patients.

Two medical staff members gave chase, but Su Youqing shook them off. She shouted, "Bugs! Bugs are coming to kill us! Run! If we don't run, we'll all die!"

"Patient A0315 has suddenly had a seizure and needs backup." Six strong male medical workers rushed out of a building. It took all six of them to subdue Su Youqing, give her a sedative injection, put her in a restraint suit, and throw her into the bakery. The bakery was a room with walls filled with soft stuffing to prevent patients from committing suicide by hitting their heads against the walls.

In the dead of night, it was unclear whether Su Youqing or Tian Zi awoke from a deep sleep. A sealed room. Only a small pane of glass, about the size of a palm, pierced the iron door, casting a dim, yellowish light from a five-watt bulb in the hallway outside. The light shone through the glass, illuminating the room slightly. The interplay of light and darkness created an unsettling atmosphere, like a nightmare from which one couldn't wake—long, oppressive, suffocatingly so.

Su Youqing struggled to her feet. Because her hands were bound to her sides with a straitjacket, and the effects of the sedative hadn't worn off, she leaned against the wall for five minutes before finally standing up. A wave of dizziness nearly made her fall. She leaned against the wall, panting heavily. Sweat soaked her hair, which clung to her cheeks, making her feel itchy and uncomfortable. But she was helpless, her hands bound behind her back.

She walked to the door and shouted, "Let me out! Let me out!" No one paid her any attention; it was late at night, and even the medical staff on duty were already asleep. Even if they weren't asleep, they wouldn't hear her, because the door was completely soundproof. Her voice became hoarse, and she even tasted blood in her mouth before she stopped shouting. She felt like she was going crazy.

A tremendous fear surged through her like a sudden flood. Her beautiful eyes widened as she stared at the unbelievable scene: the wall opposite her was moving!

Upon closer inspection, she was horrified to discover that the opposite wall was covered with a thick layer of slugs. Gray, yellow, white—slugs of all colors were wriggling upwards, leaving a sticky trail on the wall. Su Youqing had seen these insects before, and they hadn't frightened her; she had even laughed at them, comparing them to homeless snails. But now, she was utterly terrified. She had never seen so many slugs gathered together. The hospital staff cleaned twice a day—where had all these slugs come from?

She dared not look at the slugs any longer and wanted to close her eyes. Among the swarm of slugs, two crawling in the center caught her eye. They weren't actually slugs; to be precise, they were two caterpillars. Their bluish-white bodies looked strangely out of place among the slugs. After staring at them for five or six minutes, she felt that these two caterpillars seemed to be the leaders of the swarm. They crawled faster than the slugs and soon reached the lead. They climbed from the wall to the glass window of the iron gate opposite.

The two green caterpillars turned around and faced Su Youqing, which made her feel inexplicably frightened. She seemed to see the two caterpillars with human-like expressions, grinning at her. She took two steps back in fright and squatted down by the door. After more than half an hour, she finally mustered up the courage to stand up and look at the opposite door.

The caterpillars are gone! The swarms of slugs are gone too, leaving only traces of their crawling on the walls and doors.

Su Youqing's eyes widened. Swarms of insects couldn't just vanish into thin air; where had they gone? She quickly found the answer: there were two round holes in the glass of the iron gate opposite, their edges smeared with slug slime. How did they get in? She didn't know. Suddenly, she heard a heart-wrenching scream! Although she knew it was a hallucination—there was no way she could hear anything through the two soundproof doors—the screams still relentlessly reached her ears. She knelt down, her body trembling uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face. She didn't even know why she was crying.

Wait, she seems to have seen those two blue insects somewhere before...

Shanghai Police Department.

Young policeman Ye Cheng sat leisurely in a chair, sipping his coffee. Behind him, a beautiful policewoman was massaging his shoulders. Ye Cheng said, "A little harder, a little harder, ah, that's it, that's the pressure." Soon, he let out a comfortable groan.

Seeing that the time was right, the policewoman said obediently, "Master, we've been bored for half a month now. Shouldn't we do something? It's too boring to stay in the office all day. I'll get moldy if I don't get some sun."

“Li Xiao, this isn’t good!” Ye Cheng said impatiently. “We’re criminal police. When we’re on the job, it’s either death or serious injury. Wouldn’t it be better if we had some free time? If we don’t have anything to do, it means the city is safe and the people are living in peace and contentment. That’s a good thing, you know?” Ye Cheng glanced at Li Xiao out of the corner of his eye. This young girl looked like a recent college graduate and intern police officer, but if you really thought she was just a junior officer, you were wrong. She had too many secrets. Ye Cheng had secretly investigated. Li Xiao’s internship materials were personally signed by Li Tingjiu, the director of the Provincial Public Security Bureau. How could a mere intern police officer be connected to the director of the provincial bureau? She could even access confidential files that even the bureau chief had no right to see. Furthermore, Ye Cheng had asked several friends from out of town, and there wasn’t a girl named Li Xiao in her graduating class listed in her file. These were all minor issues. What unsettled Ye Cheng the most was that this young girl seemed to have an unclear relationship with his arch-rival, the Xia Group. Ye Cheng felt a burning hatred whenever the Xia Group was mentioned. He vowed that one day he would find evidence of the Xia Group's crimes and make this evil conglomerate disappear completely.

Li Xiao said anxiously, "But I'm here to learn during my internship. I won't learn anything if I stay in the office all day." Ye Cheng turned his head and saw tears welling up in Li Xiao's eyes. He sighed inwardly at her superb acting skills; she could totally be a movie star. If he hadn't discovered her problem, he might have taken her side by now.

Ye Cheng spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "It's not that I don't want to take you to solve cases, but as you know, there haven't been any cases lately. How about I take you to catch a couple of thieves on the street, or go with the anti-prostitution squad to arrest prostitutes and their clients?"

Li Xiao looked down at the floor, feeling wronged. She keenly sensed Ye Cheng's hostility towards her. She carefully recalled the recent events, but hadn't given herself away?

A male police officer who had overheard their conversation outside the door came in. "You two wanted to solve a case, didn't you? Well, here comes one, Xiao Yezi. It's one of your favorite cases. The chief specifically instructed you to investigate. If you can solve it, that's fine. If you can't, then follow the old procedure and hand over the file to the archives. After that, it will be permanently sealed."

Ye Cheng frowned. The director's words were definitely not a good thing. He asked, "What case did the director personally assign me to solve? And it's a case I like? I don't know what kind of cases I like."

The male police officer leaned close to Ye Cheng's ear and said in a low voice, "Someone reported to the former Huangtai Mental Hospital that a mental patient was murdered in a locked room. The body was very strange. The medical staff who found the body were almost driven insane by fright and couldn't even speak. The report was made directly to the bureau chief by the director of the mental hospital."

Ye Cheng gave the male police officer a disdainful look. "It's just a mental patient who got killed. We've solved more than ten locked-room murder cases. What's the big deal?"

The male police officer smiled slightly and continued in a deep voice, "I heard that the deceased's bones were all gone, leaving only a pile of soft flesh, yet there wasn't a single knife wound on the body."

Ye Cheng and Li Xiao were taken aback at first. Ye Cheng then laughed and scolded, "Are you kidding me? A person has hundreds of bones. Let alone all the bones in the body, it's impossible to remove any bone without leaving a wound."

“That’s why I said it’s weird.” The male police officer raised his hand to look at his watch and said, “By the way, the chief said that if you can’t get to the crime scene within forty minutes, he will deduct your bonus for this month as your utility bill for living in the police station. Just a friendly reminder, five minutes have already passed.”

"How could the director treat me like this? It's so unfair!" Ye Cheng pulled Li Xiao into the office. Li Xiao was very capable in crime scene investigation and trace evidence identification. If the case was really as strange as the male police officer said, bringing her along was a wise choice.

Thirty-five minutes later, Ye Cheng stood panting at the entrance of the Qianhuangtai Mental Hospital, large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. Li Xiao was in the same state, complaining, "Maybe the chief was just joking with you. Was it really necessary to rush over like this?" Ye Cheng wiped the sweat from his forehead and straightened his police uniform. "The chief wasn't joking. He's been watching me for a long time. I won't let him find any fault with me and deduct my bonus. A month's work plus bonuses only amount to a few thousand yuan. Prices are so high these days. Deducting bonuses is just asking for trouble."

Li Xiao chuckled and said, "Who told you to stay at the police station even after you've finished get off work?"

"I call this dedication." Ye Cheng knocked lightly twice on the iron gate, and it opened immediately. Two nurses in white coats stood at the door, their eyes welling up with tears of excitement upon seeing Ye Cheng and Li Xiao. "Officer, you've finally arrived! We were terrified. We would have run away if you hadn't come. Please come with me."

Ye Chengqi said, "Is it really necessary? Two grown men are so scared in broad daylight."

"You've seen it, you know how terrifying it is. I've lived for over thirty years, and I've never even imagined that a person could turn into that. Come with me." The caregiver's voice trembled; she was clearly terrified.

Two caregivers led the way, with Ye Cheng and Li Xiao following behind, full of curiosity. On the way, the other male caregiver said, "Officer, it's not that we're cowards, but you don't know how terrifying it is until you see the body. Old Zheng, the first person to find the body, just glanced at it, and this man who was almost forty years old was so scared that he wet his pants on the spot. Our hospital director was so frightened when he saw the body that he almost had a heart attack and is still lying in his office right now."

Five minutes later, Ye Cheng and Li Xiao stood at the door of the ward and saw the horrific corpse the caregiver had described. Indeed, the corpse was terrifying. The moment they saw it, their brains went numb, felt hot as if they were about to explode, their hair stood on end, and a chill ran down their spines.

Being police officers, they quickly suppressed their fear. Ye Cheng stared at the figure in the center of the house, which was barely recognizable as human, unsure where to begin his investigation. Li Xiao walked to the body, put down his toolbox, opened it, took out a pair of white gloves, put them on, and gently touched the body with his fingers. The body trembled twice like tofu.

The bones on the corpse were gone, and its body had swelled up. The facial features were squeezed together, like a crumpled rag. Because the swollen skin was stretched into a thin layer, the flesh and blood vessels beneath were clearly visible. Li Xiao dared not exert any force, for fear that the corpse would explode with a bang if he wasn't careful.

Ye Cheng put on gloves and went into the bakery to examine it carefully. As soon as he entered, he smelled a strong odor of urine. Looking down, he saw a puddle of water near the entrance, presumably left by the caregiver who discovered the body. The two male caregivers were still at the door. Ye Cheng asked, "How is Old Zheng, who found the body? I have some questions to ask him later."

A male caregiver replied, "It's hard to say. Before we went to wait for you at the door, we went to see Old Zheng. He was trembling and couldn't even speak. We don't know when he'll get better."

Ye Cheng glanced at the corpse and asked, "What was the deceased's name? And why was he locked up in the 'bakery'?"

The caregiver took a piece of paper out of his pocket and read it aloud.

"The deceased, Yun Yuan, was thirty-eight years old and a local resident. Before being admitted to the hospital, he was a businessman. I heard his business was quite large, with assets reaching as high as fifty or sixty million. At the height of his success, he met a woman, but unfortunately, she was a con artist who swindled him out of all his money and then dumped him. He developed severe cycloplegia, and recently it relapsed. He thought he was a pangolin and would bang his head against the wall for no reason, so he was locked up in the bakery. He was a long-term patient; he had been living here for seven or eight years."

Ye Cheng said, "You guys are well prepared!"

"It was the dean's order to cooperate with the police to solve the case as soon as possible."

Ye Cheng looked around the room, found nothing suspicious, and came out. "You should have someone on duty here tonight, right? Who knew about this last night? Go find him for me."

The two caregivers shuddered. "We were the two on duty last night."

Ye Cheng took out a pen and notebook. "Tell me, what happened during your shift last night?"

A caregiver said, trembling, “Last night at 10 p.m., after the ward lights were turned off, the two of us made a round of the ward area and didn’t find anything wrong. At midnight, the two of us made another round of the ward area, and the patients were all asleep. After that, the two of us went back to the duty room, had a couple of drinks, and then fell asleep. At 8 a.m., we heard Old Zheng, who was cleaning, let out a scream, and that’s when we woke up and realized something had happened.”

Ye Cheng glanced at the two of them. "Did you hear anything unusual last night?"

"No!" The two caregivers shook their heads like chicks pecking at rice. One of the caregivers pointed to the iron gate and said, "These doors are soundproof. Even if there is any noise, you won't hear it from the outside."

Ye Cheng closed his notebook; he couldn't get any useful information from the two caregivers. Following their fingers, Ye Cheng saw two small, round holes in the glass window of the iron gate. He had seen similar holes somewhere at Yishi Academy before. There was some strange slime around the holes. He turned his head and found the same slime on the wall next to the door. "Xiao Xiao, collect some of the slime and analyze it when we get back. See what it is."

Li Xiao finally managed to untie the corpse's bindings after some effort. Gently lifting the corpse's right hand, he discovered two small wounds on the palm. "Wait, I've found something!"

Upon hearing the discovery, Ye Cheng approached. He raised the corpse's right hand slightly to examine the wound more closely, when suddenly a stream of white liquid spurted from it. Li Xiao pulled Ye Cheng back several steps, avoiding being splashed by the liquid. The corpse underwent a horrifying transformation, and even the two, despite their vast experience and boundless courage, were nearly scared out of their wits by what happened next.

The corpse's right hand, like a ripe pomegranate, had split open, from which yellowish-white liquid oozed. Maggot-like creatures wriggled out of the wound, their triangular tips protruding from the liquid and swaying from side to side. The two caregivers coughed up their phlegm.

Li Xiao said unhappily, "If you're going to spit, spit somewhere else. You're ruining the scene."

After the liquid drained, the corpse quickly shriveled, becoming unrecognizable as human. Ye Cheng looked at the things wriggling in the yellowish-white liquid and asked, "Are those maggots?"

“No!” Li Xiao shook his head. “It’s a kind of slug. How did they get into the corpse? Where did the bones go?”

No one could answer her question.

"Quickly, find me two large bottles and tweezers!" Two caregivers jogged over to bring Ye Cheng the things he needed. Even though it was a mental hospital, these things were still readily available.

Ye Cheng and Li Xiao's stomachs were churning violently, but they forced themselves to collect the slugs and yellowish-white liquid into a large bottle. Ye Cheng roared, "I want the chief to give me a bonus. This is inhuman work. Contact the police station and have them take the body back for a thorough autopsy."

The two came out of the room, and Ye Cheng saw the ward across the hall and casually asked, "Is anyone in the ward across the hall?"

"Yes, she was just locked up yesterday. It's a woman named Su Youqing!"

"What! Say that again!" Ye Cheng's eyes widened like saucers, startling the two caregivers.

002 The Death of Su Youqing

Enraged, Ye Cheng grabbed the caregiver by the collar and dragged him in front of him. "She's a mildly mentally ill patient. How did you end up locking her up here? Did you abuse her? Confess honestly, or I'll put both of you in this dark little room too." Su Youqing had fallen to this point entirely to break the spell on Ye Cheng, triggering the mental toxins within her body. Su Youqing had someone who saved her life—Ye Cheng was the young policeman who often visited her. The patients in the 'bakery' were treated worse than prisoners. Knowing that his savior was being treated this way, Ye Cheng naturally flew into a rage.

The caregiver was frightened by Ye Cheng's angry appearance and hurriedly explained, "It's not our fault. We were on the night shift yesterday. We heard that she fell ill in the morning. She was painting when a caterpillar fell from a tree, which made her condition worse. She screamed hysterically, 'The caterpillar! The caterpillar is going to kill us!' It took six strong male caregivers to hold her down. It was her attending physician who locked her up."

Ye Cheng regained some composure; it was impossible for a caregiver to move a patient's room. Ye Cheng released his grip and said apologetically to the caregiver, "I'm sorry, I got a little emotional and couldn't control myself. I hope I didn't scare you both. The woman locked up inside saved my life; she's my savior. Can I see her?"

"No, no." The two caregivers shook their heads vigorously. Even if they were really scared, would they dare to say it directly? "Her condition is still unstable. Even if you see her, she might not recognize you. Besides, we don't have that right. If you want to see her, you need her attending physician's permission."

"I'll come see him after I finish this case." Ye Cheng walked to the door and looked through the small window in the iron gate. Su Youqing was lying on the ground, her once beautiful hair now a tangled mess covering most of her face, leaving only a pale, ashen white face. The contrast between her white and black skin was almost frightening.

Li Xiao stood silently to the side. For some reason, Ye Cheng sensed that ever since Li Xiao learned that Su Youqing's other identity was Tian Zi, he had developed a hostility towards Su Youqing, seemingly related to Tian Zi's killing of a man surnamed Xia. Ye Cheng glanced at Li Xiao, who was staring at the floor.

Ye Cheng asked the caregiver, "Where is Lao Zheng, the first person to discover the body? He needs to give a statement, and we have a few questions for him."

"Old Zheng is resting in the small conference room. The dean asked him to wait for you there. I'll take you there."

Ye and Li followed the two caregivers to the small conference room. Pushing open the door, they saw an elderly man in his forties huddled in a room, trembling. Ye Cheng pulled out a chair and sat opposite him, while Li Xiao took out a notebook and pen and sat down beside him. Old Zheng looked up at the two men and recognized them as police officers. The situation improved slightly.

Ye Cheng said to the caregivers, "Could you please pour him a cup of hot water?" A moment later, the hot water arrived, and the two caregivers obediently left the meeting room. Ye Cheng chuckled and pushed the hot water towards Old Zheng, saying, "Have some hot water and relax. I have a few questions to ask you."

Old Zheng, still shaken, picked up his water glass, his hands trembling, spilling a lot onto the table. He drank a few sips of hot water, which calmed him down slightly. Ye Cheng then asked, "Shall we begin? Li Xiao, take notes. What's your name?"