"I also..."
Liu Xiumin suddenly clutched her head. "Let me think first."
Lin Fan looked at Li Jian and asked, "Old Li, you said before that you were a section chief in the town. Which town was it?"
"Shimen Town."
Li Jian forced a smile. "The moment I started working, I was sent to the Resource Bureau in Shimen Town. To be honest, that was a tough job."
"Shimen Town..."
Lin Fan took a deep breath. As expected!
"Doctor Lin, what do you mean?"
Li Jian was puzzled, not understanding Lin Fan's seemingly premonitory reaction.
"To be honest, I'm from Shimen Town."
Lin Fan thought for a moment, then added, "Perhaps the one who acted maliciously... no, you guys tell me first."
He stopped short, leaving Li Jian and his wife utterly bewildered.
The couple, who had been immensely grateful to Lin Fan, now felt a sense of unfathomable mystery surrounding them.
Seeing their stunned silence, Lin Fan asked, "Old Li, before your wife had her accident, did anyone approach you? It's highly likely it was related to Luofeng Mountain?"
"Yes!"
Liu Xiumin was the one who responded first.
She had been in a subconscious state for eleven years, and the events of that time felt like yesterday.
"If there were any signs before my accident, it was that someone stopped me by the roadside on my way home from work two days prior."
Liu Xiumin's thoughts drifted back eleven years.
It was a late afternoon, with the sun setting in the west.
After a day's work at the cardboard factory, she pushed her bicycle and browsed the market for a long time, finally buying affordable vegetables and pork.
Her son was growing, and although the couple didn't earn much, they never scrimped on food at home.
"You should go home soon. I think it's going to rain," the vegetable vendor reminded her.
"Thank you," Liu Xiumin replied.
She looked up at the sky.
It was overcast, and a gust of cold wind blew, suggesting rain was imminent.
She mounted her bicycle and rode on the pitted, cracked cement road.
Suddenly, a shout echoed, "Wait, I'm calling you!"
The wind howled, and she faintly heard someone calling her name.
She turned her head.
Under the solitary streetlamp, she saw a person wearing a long robe, looking peculiar, waving at her.
"Are you calling me?"
Liu Xiumin applied the brakes, resting one foot on the ground, and asked in surprise.
"Come here, I have something to tell you."
The person beckoned, and beneath their hat, a pair of eyes gleamed with a cold light.
Those eyes were utterly unlike human eyes, making her scalp tingle.
Yet, for some reason, she felt as if she were enchanted, pushing her bicycle forward.
"You are Li Jian's wife, aren't you?" the person asked in a hoarse voice.
"Yes, I am. What is it? What do you want with me?" Liu Xiumin asked, her voice a little dazed.
"Tell your husband that the quarry's application is not approved, do you understand?" The person's eyes sharpened with cold light. "Otherwise, I'll make your whole family suffer!"
...
As Liu Xiumin recounted this, she suddenly trembled, clearly experiencing great emotional distress.
Li Jian hastily embraced his wife, comforting her. "It's okay now, honey, it's okay."
He gently patted her back. "It's all my fault."
Lin Fan interjected, "So, the quarry at Luofeng Mountain was approved by you back then?"
"I remember something like that, but..." Li Jian reminisced, "The situation back then was that Shimen Town finally had an investor, so how could I possibly refuse? Not only the town but also several surrounding villages supported it. I had no reason to refuse."
Lin Fan shook his head with a sigh.
A snake demon, oh, a snake demon. You truly are vengeful.
Lin Fan mused that perhaps Li Jian's family wasn't the only victim. Anyone connected to the quarry likely suffered the snake demon's retribution.
He really should investigate.
Lin Fan had always thought that if the snake demon escaped, it wouldn't have many opportunities to cause trouble in modern society.
He never expected that such a small ploy would make Li Jian's family suffer for over a decade.
If not for a fortunate turn of events that allowed him to save Liu Xiumin, their family might have continued to live like this.
"Doctor Lin, please tell me if there are any hidden secrets." Li Jian said with righteous indignation. "I've always believed that evil cannot triumph over good. No matter who is behind this, the organization will give us an explanation."
Lin Fan looked troubled.
If it were a dispute between ordinary people, Li Jian's position might allow him to seek justice.
But the other party was a demon!
And a demon that could escape from heavily armed SWAT forces while severely injured.
"Believe me, this is not something you should get involved in," Lin Fan said with a serious expression. "Moreover, the organization you mentioned should also be looking for the culprit."
"What?" Li Jian was greatly surprised.
Didn't his wife only recover today, and then they found a clue to the perpetrator?
How did the organization already know?
"It's a long story," Lin Fan said, shaking his head. "In short, this matter is very complicated and not something ordinary people can get involved in. However, I believe there will come a day when you get your justice."
Next time he saw that demon, he would definitely take its life!
"Doctor Lin, I understand." Li Jian said, but his mind was in turmoil.
"It's getting late. Sister Zhou and I should be going. If there's any change in your wife's condition, have Sister Zhou call me." Lin Fan got up and put on his medical bag.
Zhou Yi also stood up.
"Doctor Lin..." Li Jian opened his mouth, but did not ask further.
"Healing the sick and saving lives is what I should do." Lin Fan waved his hand. "Let's go."
Li Jian and his wife saw Lin Fan and Zhou Yi all the way to the entrance of the residential complex. Only after their car disappeared from sight did they turn and go back home.
In the car.
Zhou Yi's expression was complicated. She kept glancing at Lin Fan.
Lin Fan noticed this and asked, "Sister Zhou, do you have something to say?"
"Xiao Fan, is the culprit you mentioned really human?" Compared to Li Jian, Zhou Yi had always been more inclined to believe in the supernatural. It's better to believe it exists than not, right?
Lin Fan smiled helplessly. "Sister Zhou, you'd better not ask. This has nothing to do with you." He didn't want to involve others, fearing the snake demon might harm more people.
"Xiao Fan~" Zhou Yi shivered. "By curing Li Jian's wife, did you offend... something?" She didn't know how to refer to the entity.
"Heh, I've already offended those who needed to be offended. It's not the first time."
"Xiao Fan, I came with you. Could it be that..." Zhou Yi was a little scared. She wasn't like Lin Fan; she didn't have the ability to subdue demons. What if that thing couldn't defeat Lin Fan and came after her?
Lin Fan smiled and comforted her, "It's okay, this matter has nothing to do with you." He thought to himself that the snake demon had fled during the New Year and wouldn't dare to return.
"Xiao Fan, it's better to be safe than sorry!" Wealthy people fear death the most, and Zhou Yi, with her billions, naturally feared it more. "How about you be my bodyguard? I can offer..."
"Sister Zhou~" Lin Fan raised three fingers and said earnestly, "I can guarantee it."
"Oh." Zhou Yi felt a little relieved. "By the way, Xiao Fan, do you have any protective amulets or magical artifacts?"
Lin Fan couldn't help but laugh wryly. As a small traditional Chinese medicine practitioner from a village, where would he get protective amulets or magical artifacts? However, if he said no, Zhou Yi wouldn't stop. Lin Fan had a flash of inspiration and asked, "Sister Zhou, is there anything you never leave without?"