Chapter Four: Unspeakable Atrocity

"He is Gao Jinfai's daughter. As a relative of the first soul to enter Hell, it is necessary for you to help this girl." The butler's somber voice startled Qin Yang so much that he nearly jumped. He asked in his heart, "You can see?"

"By borrowing your eyes, I can see everything. Of course, I do not observe anything I shouldn't." The butler replied coolly, "The reason I want you to help this girl is that once you fulfill a soul's final wish, you can obtain one of their special skills for free, and also raise Hell’s favorability toward souls. As for what that does, it increases both the number of souls you can absorb daily and the range from which you can absorb them."

"There are limits to this?" Qin Yang felt he had boarded a pirate ship.

The butler continued, "Right now, you can absorb at most a hundred souls per day. But as Hell’s favorability increases, this number will steadily rise. Also, currently, you must be within a hundred meters of the ashes to absorb a soul. As favorability increases, this range will broaden. Most importantly, the higher a soul’s level, the stronger their will. High-level souls have the right to refuse absorption by Hell, but if your favorability is high, they will prioritize choosing Hell. This is why you must help Gao Xiaolan—after all, Gao Jinfai was the very first soul to enter Hell."

Qin Yang understood and made up his mind. He stepped forward, carefully supporting the girl, and spoke softly, "The dead cannot return to life."

"Who are you?" Gao Xiaolan’s tear-stained face was pale and lost in a way far beyond her years.

Qin Yang smiled gently. "I was a friend of your father’s. I've heard about what happened to Brother Gao Jinfai."

"Hey, kid, who are you? Mind your own business!" The fat man shot him a glare, his tone full of arrogance.

From Gao Jinfai’s memories, Qin Yang knew this domineering fat man was Liu Shuang, director of the Golden Sail Shipyard. People called him Fat Liu behind his back. He was sharp-tongued, mean-spirited, and his character was utterly rotten. He had just barely become a half-millionaire, yet he always put himself in the ranks of millionaires. As for the Golden Sail Shipyard, it was a subsidiary of Tianfeng Group in Haitian City. Rumor had it that Fat Liu had some shady connections with Yang Qi, the group’s vice chairman.

"Don’t think I don’t know how many at the shipyard have taken your hush money. You know how many people you've killed, don’t you?" Qin Yang was infuriated by his arrogance. He was, after all, a genuine second-generation rich kid in Jianghai City—he was always the one intimidating others, never the other way around.

A simple sentence made Fat Liu’s heart skip a beat. He knew exactly what he'd done, but felt confident he'd wiped out all evidence; anyone who knew too much was either a close confidant or dead. Was this kid just bluffing? He blustered, "Are you threatening me? If you don’t have proof, I’ll sue you for slander."

"You’ll sue me? I’d like to see who sues whom." Qin Yang replied with contempt.

Just as he was about to retort, Fat Liu received a call. After hanging up, he shot a vicious glare at Qin Yang before leaving in a hurry. Qin Yang snorted, then led Gao Xiaolan into the hospital ward. Meanwhile, Yang Yaxin and another girl had returned after buying food and clothes. The two, having witnessed the prior scene, were burning with anger at Fat Liu’s behavior. Once inside, Yang Yaxin immediately tried to comfort the still-weeping Gao Xiaolan, while Qin Wu was so angry she looked ready to explode. Seeing Qin Yang eating heartily, she grew even more irritated.

"Hey, didn’t you say he killed a lot of people? Go report him!" Qin Wu protested. "I don’t believe he can get away with this."

"Please, do you think the police will just take my word for it?" Qin Yang rolled his eyes. "Evidence. Everything requires evidence."

"My father was killed by a falling object. It wasn’t like Fat Liu said—he wasn’t electrocuted doing illegal work," Gao Xiaolan sobbed. "I saw his body, but they wouldn’t let me see him again."

"That’s outrageous! Then let’s report him for this! Someone will surely investigate," urged Qin Wu.

Qin Yang didn’t want to dampen her righteous spirit, but he sighed, "It’s useless. The nurse already said the body was cremated. There’s nothing left to investigate. Besides, if Fat Liu dares to act so brazenly, he must be sure he’s covered his tracks. If it were as easy as you think to uncover the truth, would he still be so arrogant?"

"Whose side are you on?" Qin Wu snapped.

Qin Yang quickly finished his food and said, "Whose side am I on? Of course I’m helping Xiaolan. But to help her, we need evidence. I have some vague clues, but they’re not enough. I need to gather more, bit by bit. Right now, the most important thing is to help Xiaolan stop crying."

But fate had other plans. Just as he finished speaking, a man entered, carrying a box. He placed it on the table, tried to say something, then sighed and left. Seeing this, Gao Xiaolan broke down again, and at the peak of her grief, she fainted. Yang Yaxin and Qin Wu rushed to lift her onto the bed.

Qin Wu clenched her fists, trembling with anger. "This is inhuman! How can they be so heartless?"

Yang Yaxin’s eyes brimmed with tears as she sat by the bed, gazing at Gao Xiaolan’s deathly pale face. "It’s too cruel. She’s only sixteen. How can they be so ruthless?"

The three fell silent.

No one knew how much time passed before Gao Xiaolan slowly awoke. She opened her eyes weakly and saw the three faces full of concern. She murmured, "Where’s my father?"

Qin Yang pointed to the side. Only then did Gao Xiaolan remember. Her whole body shook as she sat up. Seeing the urn on the bedside table, she broke into fresh, uncontrollable sobs. Qin Yang stepped forward, gently patted her shoulder, and spoke softly, "Don’t cry. Didn’t your father always tell you those four words? Live with purpose. His greatest wish in life was for you to live happily. Now that he’s gone, it’s up to you to fulfill that wish."

"How…how do you know?" Gao Xiaolan trembled violently at his words, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I met your father before. We drank together. He was so proud of you," Qin Yang scratched his head. "Whenever I was with him, I barely got a word in edgewise—he was always talking about you. You were always top of your class, and the walls at home were covered in your awards. You loved chocolate and chips, loved watching Detective Conan, loved the color blue, loved to draw, especially with watercolors, and you liked the piano. But to shoulder the family responsibilities, you kept that passion in your heart and studied hard. Whenever he took you to the mall and saw you staring at the pianos, he felt ashamed. But you always managed to comfort him. He even said that when you graduated, he’d buy you a piano."

Her crying grew louder and more intense. In Qin Yang’s arms, she suddenly felt a sense of familiar comfort—fatherly care. But the thought that her father was now only ashes brought an even deeper wave of sorrow. This time, she wept all the harder, clinging to Qin Yang for comfort.

Yang Yaxin quietly wiped her own tears away, while Qin Wu grew angrier the more she thought about it, wishing she could flay Fat Liu alive.

After a long while, Gao Xiaolan’s sobs subsided and faded. When Qin Yang looked again, she had fallen asleep. He sighed and helped her onto the bed, then left the ward with the other two girls. As soon as they stepped outside, Qin Wu exploded, "Are we just going to let Fat Liu off like this? He’s despicable!"

"We have no evidence," Yang Yaxin said helplessly. "No matter how upset you are, Xiaowu, it won’t help." She paused, then turned to the silent Qin Yang. "Qin Yang, do you have any ideas?"

"An idea? Not yet," Qin Yang shook his head. "Fat Liu covers his tracks too well."

He knew the truth about Gao Jinfai’s death, but without proof, Fat Liu would still walk free. From Gao Jinfai’s memories, almost everyone who knew of Fat Liu’s crimes had died. Where could he find evidence? But wait—died? Didn’t he only get Gao Jinfai’s memories after his death? Could he get the memories of the others too? Thoughts of that mysterious Hell flashed through his mind, and Qin Yang’s heart surged with excitement.