Chapter 10 - The Hanged Man's Shadow
Bai Shi devoted himself to the meticulous task of shadowing Pei Cangyu.
Yet, Pei Cangyu’s daily movements remained bafflingly mundane. The only deviation from his usual route was the extended periods he spent sitting alone on the rusted equipment of the abandoned fitness grounds; otherwise, everything was the same. Bai Shi couldn't fathom it. If the boy’s life was truly this monotonous, where was the opportunity for him to have been "caught" by something or someone?
That evening, having trailed his classmate until the sky turned a bruised purple, Bai Shi returned home late. By chance, he encountered his brother, Bai Hai, descending the stairs with a female companion. They were draped over one another in a state of lingering intimacy, but the woman hastily pushed Bai Hai away the moment she spotted an outsider.
Bai Hai looked up, and seeing it was only Bai Shi, he pulled her back into his side. "It’s fine," he murmured dismissively.
The woman, however, maintained a sense of decorum. She didn't allow herself to be pulled back into the entanglement, instead stepping forward with a poised grace to greet Bai Shi and introduce herself. Bai Shi shook her hand, noting her refined background and polished upbringing. He wondered briefly how someone of her standing had ended up entangled with a man like Bai Hai.
After escorting her to the door, Bai Hai turned back. Seeing Bai Shi standing by the window, staring out into the twilight, he walked over. "Interested in women now? I thought you were dead to the world." He flicked Bai Shi’s forehead playfully, noting with a start that the boy seemed to have grown taller again.
Bai Shi didn't look at him. His gaze was fixed on a sleek, silver car parked in the garden. He tilted his chin toward it. "Whose is that?"
Bai Hai followed his gaze. "Bai Yinhua’s."
"Tch."
Bai Hai froze for a second, startled to hear such a sharp sound of disdain from his usually silent younger brother.
Bai Shi turned to face him, his eyes cold. "So, it seems I’m the only one left without a car."
Bai Hai frowned. It had been a long time since he’d truly spoken to his brother. In his memory, Bai Shi was a porcelain doll devoid of presence—a creature that knew neither joy nor sorrow, a gloomy, submissive shadow. Though the boy had suffered some sort of breakdown recently, he seemed to have returned to his usual self shortly thereafter.
But now, Bai Shi seemed to have aged years in an instant. He had burst forth from his shell with a violent suddenness, bypassing the slow process of maturation entirely. When he spoke of "not having a car," his tone was a chilling echo of their father, Bai Yilong.
Bai Shi cast one last look at the ostentatious silver sports car before turning and walking away without another word.
***
"So? What did your investigation yield?" Ms. Shang was in the mood for blue nails today. She was meticulously mixing her polish, adding drops of white to achieve the perfect cerulean shade.
Bai Shi shook his head. "Nothing definitive. It’s strange."
"In what way?"
"His life is a closed loop: home and school. This semester, he hasn't even been frequenting Peace Road. I asked that underclassman who usually hangs around him; apparently, they haven't seen each other in a while."
Ms. Shang finished mixing her color. "And his grades?"
Bai Shi glanced at her. "They’ve improved significantly."
"Doesn't stalking a classmate prove distracting?" she asked with a knowing smile, her words laced with subtext.
Bai Shi shook his head. "It trains my focus."
Ms. Shang offered a noncommittal laugh but didn't press the point. "Then, Detective Bai, what are your thoughts?"
Bai Shi leaned back against the chair. "I’ve thought about what you said, and I’ve done some reading. It’s likely as you suspected. There aren't many things that can cause such a violent, sudden shift in a person's character. His family is healthy, there’s no sign of debt, and his biological mother hasn't resurfaced. I suspect he’s encountered something related to... sex. After all, he spent an inordinate amount of time agonizing over just the discussion of it."
"Can you be more specific?"
Bai Shi shook his head. "I don't know. But his temper has been atrocious lately. He got into a fight with a student from the neighboring class—Pi Gou could barely hold him back. And apparently, it was all because the boy accidentally stepped on his foot."
Ms. Shang let out a casual "Ah," then asked, "Anything else?"
"I wonder if he’s being extorted by some troublesome woman?" Bai Shi looked up at her. "Is that a possibility?"
Ms. Shang merely shrugged.
"But one thing is odd. Why hasn't he told his friends?" Bai Shi knit his brows. "I imagine they would find that sort of thing... exciting."
Ms. Shang blew gently on her freshly painted nails. "Who knows?"
Bai Shi reached into his bag. "Can I do my homework here?"
"Go ahead." She began painting her other hand.
The room was quiet, the curtains tied back in elegant folds. Half the window was open, allowing the evening breeze to drift in. The orange-red sky stained a patch of the floor with brilliant light, meeting the soft glow of the indoor lamps. Bai Shi worked at the desk while Ms. Shang sat with her legs crossed, bare feet resting on the tabletop, as she carefully applied the polish.
They worked in a comfortable, shared silence. Bai Shi turned a page, about to write the word "Solution," when Ms. Shang spoke.
"Bai Shi, have you ever been a girl?"
Bai Shi didn't even turn his head, his pen never faltering. He let out a small, dry laugh. "How could I have?"
Ms. Shang smiled as well. "True. But for a girl, realizing she is a 'girl' happens through various catalysts."
Bai Shi finally turned to look at her, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Did you know? Women share a strange, intuitive language," Ms. Shang said mysteriously, waving her colorful nails. "When we talk about a man making a certain gesture, we don't need the details. We just know what happened."
Bai Shi was still lost. "Are you saying you're oversensitive?"
Ms. Shang shook her head. "No, it’s not our problem." She stared directly at him. "It’s a male problem."
Bai Shi set down his pen. "I don't follow."
"Has anyone ever put their arm around your waist?"
Bai Shi paused, searching his memory, before shaking his head honestly.
"Moments like that... you can magnify them a hundred times or shrink them to a fraction. Within that spectrum, women who have been 'hinted at' understand exactly what certain movements signify." Ms. Shang looked at him. "There’s no helping it. You haven't had that experience, so you may never truly understand."
"What are you trying to say?"
"That’s just the way he is," Ms. Shang said, gently capping the nail polish. "He doesn't understand it, yet he insists on finding an answer. He hopes to find an excuse for the perpetrator so that he doesn't have to accept being a victim. Do you know the most terrifying part of something like this?"
She rested her chin on her hand, watching Bai Shi. "It never fades. It never goes away. It grinds one's self-esteem into dust until they feel utterly worthless. The more they force themselves to return to 'normal,' the easier it is to break."
Bai Shi stared at her for a long time. Finally, he asked, "Are you saying... it wasn't voluntary?"
Ms. Shang’s silence was her confirmation.
"But..." Bai Shi stammered. "There’s no one in school who can beat him in a fight. Even the seniors are no match for him..."
Ms. Shang said nothing.
A sudden realization choked Bai Shi. "An adult?"
Ms. Shang began tidying the table, casting a side-glance at Bai Shi, who had suddenly stood up.
Bai Shi’s mind raced. "The pool hall owner? Mahua from the barbershop? Could it be a teacher at school...?"
Ms. Shang stood up as well. "I’m leaving. Go home and finish your homework."
"Oh." Bai Shi packed his things, his mind still spinning with possibilities.
Ms. Shang jingled her car keys. "Want a lift?"
"No, I'll walk."
Armed with this new hypothesis, Bai Shi’s observational powers reached a new peak the following day.
Liu Yaosheng appeared again, having been absent for a while. This time, she brought a small booklet featuring an interview with an author. She presented it to Pei Cangyu, hoping to motivate the classmate whose grades had been fluctuating wildly.
"It’s about mindset," she said earnestly. "That’s the most important thing. Behind every hardship lies a new opportunity. We all hit plateaus in our studies, but once you break through... haven't you noticed? The horizon just opens up."
Pei Cangyu didn't even lift his head. He pushed the book back toward her. "I don't want to read it."
Then, he slumped onto the desk.
Liu Yaosheng looked awkwardly at Bai Shi. Bai Shi offered a thin smile but remained silent.
"Is he in a bad mood?" she whispered.
Bai Shi shook his head. "I'm not sure."
Liu Yaosheng reached out and patted Pei Cangyu’s shoulder. "Come on, it’s not that bad. At our age, we don't have to worry about anything except studying. This is the best time of our lives. Look at the protagonist in this book; he has to struggle just to survive. That’s what you call a hard life..."
Pei Cangyu suddenly bolted upright, his movements sharp and impatient. He glared at Liu Yaosheng. For a moment, Bai Shi thought he was going to explode, but Pei Cangyu merely looked at her, then turned his head away, his voice low and strained. "I don't want to read it. It’s too fake. I don't want to see it."
Liu Yaosheng persisted, repeating her earlier point. "It’s based on a true story. There’s a real-life prototype."
Pei Cangyu knit his brows and turned his face further away, preferring to stare at the blank wall. He didn't want to snap at her, nor did he want to argue. More than anything, he seemed to want to simply vanish.
Bai Shi gently took the booklet from Liu Yaosheng’s hand and flipped through a few pages. "Forget it."
Liu Yaosheng’s eyes lit up. "You want to read it?"
Bai Shi smiled as he reached the final page. "Isn't it a bit foolish to project reality onto trash like this?" He handed the booklet back to her, his hand stopping just in front of her face, his smile a polite mask as he waited for her to take it.
Liu Yaosheng froze in awkward silence. Even Pei Cangyu, usually lost in his own world, turned to glance at Bai Shi. Liu Yaosheng took the book back. She didn't argue—perhaps it was something in Bai Shi’s expression or the cold edge in his voice—but she simply turned and walked away. Even Tang Qi, who usually stood up for her, remained silent.
Pei Cangyu looked at Bai Shi again, perhaps attributing the interaction to the "aura" of a top student, before slumping back onto his desk.
That night, Bai Shi’s tailing was particularly difficult. Pei Cangyu didn't stop to sit anywhere; he simply wandered. He drifted from one street to the next, his sagging backpack threatening to slip off his shoulders until he finally remembered to hitch it up and tighten the straps. When he reached Peace Road, he saw a group of eighth-graders eating barbecue at a beer stall in the distance. Bai Shi saw them too and expected Pei Cangyu to head over, grab a few skewers, and chat. But he didn't. At the sound of their boisterous shouting, Pei Cangyu flinched. Before he could even step into the light of the stall, he turned and hurried away into the shadows.
Bai Shi followed.
He had to admit, his stalking skills were becoming masterful.
Pei Cangyu walked slowly ahead, his head down. He moved like an animal navigating by scent rather than sight. As they approached the residential complex, Bai Shi felt a pang of disappointment, thinking he would gain no new insights today. If there were an external threat, wouldn't they have appeared by now? But the streets were empty.
It was truly strange.
Pei Cangyu was about to enter the complex. Bai Shi stopped at the corner, preparing to turn back; any closer and he’d be spotted.
At that moment, someone brushed past Bai Shi and called out Pei Cangyu’s name. Bai Shi jumped, certain that Pei Cangyu would turn and see him.
But when he looked, Pei Cangyu hadn't turned. He was frozen in place as if struck by lightning. His shoulders collapsed instantly, the strength seemingly drained from his bones. His feet shuffled sideways against the pavement, as if he were trying to merge with the wall.
Bai Shi stood perfectly still, watching as a man strode toward the boy. The man reached out and slung an arm heavily over Pei Cangyu’s shoulders, pulling him close.
In an instant, Bai Shi remembered the gift Pei Cangyu had bought that day—the gift for his father. He realized who the man was.
The man held his son just as any father might. Bai Shi saw nothing overtly suspicious in the gesture, yet he couldn't understand why Pei Cangyu looked so broken. The boy seemed to have forgotten how to walk, moving only when prompted. From a distance, it looked as though he were being dragged inside.
Bai Shi didn't leave. He followed them, driven by an impulse he couldn't name.
The man had his arm hooked around Pei Cangyu’s neck, leaning down to murmur something. Pei Cangyu nodded, his hands gripping his backpack straps with white-knuckled intensity, his head hanging even lower than it had during the day.
Bai Shi was now directly behind them. He spoke. "Pei Cangyu."
Both of them turned.
Bai Shi was instantly horrified by the expression on Pei Cangyu’s face. It was a face that looked as though it were about to shatter. His eyes were hollow and glazed, his skin a deathly, ashen grey.
The man looked down at Pei Cangyu. "A classmate?"
The rhythmic slapping of slippers echoed from behind them. Pei’s grandmother came scurrying out, clutching a blanket. "Oh dear, you’re back so late! Your father went out looking for you..."
In that moment, Bai Shi understood. One look into Pei Cangyu’s eyes was all it took.
The source of the nightmare.
Bai Shi took a step forward, looking up at the man who was barely taller than himself. "Is it you?"
The man frowned. "What?"
Pei Cangyu jolted violently, as if struck. He thought Bai Shi knew.
The grandmother draped the blankets over the father and son, then noticed Bai Shi. "Oh, isn't this Young Master Bai?"
Bai Shi reached out to grab Pei Cangyu’s arm, but Pei Cangyu was faster, seizing Bai Shi’s hand first. His face had transformed; he stared at Bai Shi with a fierce, savage intensity, his voice a low, dangerous hiss. "Get lost."
Bai Shi tried to pull him. "You—"
Pei Cangyu repeated it, his teeth clenched in a snarl. "I said, get lost!"
The man watched them, picking up the blanket that had slipped from Pei Cangyu’s shoulders and draping it back over him.
Bai Shi withdrew his hand and nodded slowly. "Fine."
He cast one final look at the man before turning away. He walked toward the empty street, not daring to look back.
