Madness Born of Love

While everyone was still hesitating, Ji Changge dragged back the individual who had been bound and subdued.

"What kind of courage is it to launch a sneak attack? If you've got the nerve, face me one-on-one," Baili Moshou said, his face full of rage.

Ji Changge curled the corner of his lips without answering, which only made Baili Moshou even more furious as he continuously tried to break free.

"My Lord, a man claiming to be Fang Yuankang, the Chief Imperial Physician of the Imperial Hospital, is asking for an audience. Should we let him in?" a guard asked, looking at Ji Changge.

"Let him in."

Fang Yuankang? Wasn't he the father? Why is he here at a time like this? Ji Changge thought to himself that this must be related to Fang Tingyu.

"Your father is here," Ji Changge turned and said to Baili Moshou.

"My father died long ago. That is Fang Tingyu's father," Baili Moshou replied.

"Take him down first and keep a close eye on him," Ji Changge instructed Ding Wu.

Just as Ding Wu reached the doorway, Fang Yuankang walked in. The two crossed paths, yet Baili Moshou acted as though he didn't recognize Fang Yuankang at all, merely casting a faint glance at him. To Ji Changge's surprise, Fang Yuankang also said nothing, his expression rather complicated.

After the prisoner was led away, Fang Yuankang looked at Ji Changge with deep concern: "Lord Ji, what crime has my daughter committed?"

"Murder."

Fang Yuankang's face filled with astonishment as he blurted out, "No, no, no, Lord Ji, there must be a mistake. Although my daughter has an illness, she would never commit murder."

A flash of doubt crossed his eyes as Ji Changge looked at Fang Yuankang: "An illness? You've known for a long time that she has dissociative identity disorder?"

Fang Yuankang lowered his head, sighed, and said, "Yes. This official doesn't know what dissociative identity disorder is, but sometimes my daughter suddenly turns into a completely different person, someone even I don't recognize. It was precisely because of this reason that I sent her to the Taoist temple to recuperate, hoping she could be cured of this ailment soon. I never expected..."

"Lord Fang, do you know someone named Baili Moshou?" Wen Jing asked.

Fang Yuankang pondered for a long while before saying, "I have a slight recollection. I crossed paths with his father a few times. After the Baili family was wiped out, I never saw that child again."

"Was your daughter's lover Baili Moshou?" Wen Jing asked directly, setting aside all formalities.

"Lover?" Fang Yuankang seemed completely baffled by Wen Jing's question.

"Before coming to the Taoist temple, didn't she attempt suicide multiple times because of a man?" Wen Jing continued to press.

Fang Yuankang offered a bitter smile, shook his head, and said, "We never saw that person at all. That man was entirely a figment of Tingyu's imagination. Ever since then, Tingyu became extremely strange. Before that, she was just like any normal woman."

Both Wen Jing and Ji Changge were startled. That mysterious man had actually been merely a product of her imagination; no wonder no one knew who he was.

"Whom did Fang Tingyu learn her martial arts from?" Ji Changge asked.

"From this official. Initially, it was just for physical fitness and self-defense, certainly not intended for murder. The Fang family is most skilled in lightness techniques, nothing else. My wife mentioned that Lord Ji had previously come to inquire about my daughter. I pondered over it and felt increasingly uneasy, so I rushed over to see what was happening. But alas, it's all my fault for failing to keep a close eye on her," Fang Yuankang said with a sorrowful expression.

Seeing Fang Yuankang's profound guilt, Ji Changge said, "This is not your fault. The investigation is not yet complete, and later this official will interrogate her. Lord Fang might as well rest in the guest room first."

Fang Yuankang wanted to say something more, but swallowed the words back, nodded, and followed a guard away.

Stepping into the interrogation room, Baili Moshou stood there expressionless.

"Why did you steal this bust?" Wen Jing asked, pointing at Huang Jingxian's sculpted head.

Baili Moshou glanced sideways at Wen Jing: "Seventh Lady, are you mistaken? The one who stole the bust was Xuan Yu. I didn't do anything; I'm a victim myself, having fallen into the cellar right along with you."

"Is that so? Since you don't know her, keeping this bust has no meaning. We might as well destroy it," Wen Jing smiled, raising the bust high as if about to smash it onto the ground.

Baili Moshou's expression shifted, his gaze locked tightly onto the bust in Wen Jing's hands, his lips pressed firmly together.

Wen Jing took a deep breath and threw the clay bust toward the ground.

"No!" Baili Moshou finally could not help crying out, lunging forward, only to be held back by Ding Wu.

Just as the bust was about to hit the floor, Ji Changge caught it securely from beneath.

Baili Moshou breathed a sigh of relief, the look in his eyes as he gazed at the bust turning infinitely tender.

"A-Xian, I never expected we would meet again in this lifetime."

Watching Baili Moshou gaze tenderly at the bust and affectionately call out Huang Jingxian's name, the relationship between the two needed no further explanation.

"What is your relationship with Huang Jingxian?" Ji Changge asked.

"Childhood sweethearts. A-Xian is the only girl I ever wanted to marry in this life," Baili Moshou smiled, his gaze drifting out the window.

According to Ding Wu's investigation, Huang Jingxian had come to the temple only after her father was imprisoned. Chronologically speaking, she should have arrived before the other woman.

"Did you kill the Abbess and Mingqing to avenge Huang Jingxian?" Wen Jing continued to question.

"They drove A-Xian and so many others to their deaths. Shouldn't they die?" Baili Moshou withdrew his gaze, fixing it directly on Wen Jing.

"They deserve death, but it is not for you to judge them," Ji Changge said coldly.

Baili Moshou chuckled: "You mean I should have gone to the capital to report them, and then waited for assassins to silence me?"

Ji Changge fell silent. What Baili Moshou said was not unreasonable. Given the Abbess's influence, the defendant's own strength was utterly insufficient to shake it, and for someone with Baili Moshou's background to make such accusations would be sheer absurdity—he would likely only have been burned alive as a demon. Put in his position, he probably would have chosen this exact path as well.

"So you orchestrated a scheme. After killing the Abbess and Mingqing, you cast all suspicion onto Ruan Qinglian and Xuan Yu. You dressed in Ruan Qinglian's clothes, stole the bust, and pretended to flee so that Lord Ji would pursue you. You lured everyone to that dilapidated house, watched them fall into the cellar, quickly discarded the clothes and the bust at Qinglian Residence, and on your return journey, upon seeing me and Dongsheng, you feigned extreme terror and tricked us into the cave as well. But you didn't want us to die; you merely wanted to frame Ruan Qinglian. Therefore, you jumped down after me, pointed us in a direction, and rescued us all. This plan was truly flawless, save for two missteps," Wen Jing said.

"Two missteps?" Baili Moshou looked at Wen Jing with slight surprise. He only knew of one—that Xuan Yu had lost his internal energy. What was the other?

"The second misstep is that you did not know one of the busts belonged to Ruan Qinglian's mother. Perhaps Ruan Qinglian was telling the truth; she may genuinely not have known that her mother was also buried in that grave."

With a bitter laugh, Baili Moshou suddenly tilted his head back, stared up at the ceiling, and roared, "Cruel heavens, since you allowed me to come here, why not let me avenge A-Xian?!"

Witnessing the manic expression, everyone felt a creeping sensation of dread and profound strangeness. Clearly possessing the body of a woman, the entity residing within was entirely, undeniably male.

"Have you always been Baili Moshou? Where has the original owner gone?" Wen Jing suddenly asked.

Baili Moshou stopped laughing, looked at Wen Jing, and a cold smile touched his lips.

"Even if you seek revenge, you shouldn't shift the blame onto Ruan Qinglian," Wen Jing said coolly.

Baili Moshou narrowed his eyes, fixed his gaze on Wen Jing, and sneered: "Do you think I would shift the blame onto an innocent person? She was merely slightly better than those two bitches, which is why I arranged that particular death for her. Otherwise, do you think she would have lived this long?"

"You've talked for so long, what crimes did they actually commit?"

"This place is the filthiest corner of the capital. You could say half of the capital's evil deeds take place right here. To put it simply, this place is a brothel, a gathering ground for traffickers, a slaughterhouse. Normal people who come here turn into madmen, and madmen who come here mostly end up dead. Within this Taoist temple, the Abbess is the supreme deity who holds absolute power over life and death. Whoever she lets live, lives; whoever she decrees must die, dies. Mingqing and Ruan Qinglian were her executioners. If only I had come a little sooner, A-Xian wouldn't have died."

Seeing the profound pain etched across Baili Moshou's face, everyone was deeply shocked. What he described made their hair stand on end. A place that should have been the purest and most righteous had been turned by a pack of scoundrels into the filthiest place on earth. Although law enforcement officers shouldn't say such things, the Abbess and Mingqing truly deserved to die.

"When did you arrive at the temple, and how did you uncover all of this?" Ji Changge asked. Even if it was for justice, murder still demanded a life. Yet the killer was not the original owner, but rather her physical body—how should such a case be judged?

Baili Moshou shook his head and remained silent for a moment before saying, "I am not sure when I arrived here. It was like waking up from a very long, long dream. When I awoke, I found myself here. Many memories poured into my mind as if they were part of my own body. I suppose those must belong to the original owner's memories."

It seemed that only by awakening the original owner's own personality could the full sequence of events be uncovered. Though timid, she was not stupid; after coming to the temple, she gradually saw through everything and learned the truth about Huang Jingxian's death. But being weak and helpless, she wanted to exact vengeance yet felt utterly powerless, thereby giving birth to another bold and meticulous personality—someone she surely admired deeply, hoping to transform into such a figure to resolve all her troubles. It seemed the original owner had known Baili Moshou; what relationship did she have with Huang Jingxian, and why was she so driven to avenge her? Ji Changge pondered.

"What have you done to her? Have you been impersonating her all this time, haven't you?" Wen Jing asked, staring at Baili Moshou.

"Yes. That timid, cowardly nun hasn't appeared for a long time. Isn't it much better for me to control this body? Everything she dared not do, I have done for her," Baili Moshou said with a calm expression.

The fact that this aggressive, confident, and intelligent personality had completely usurped the original body left Wen Jing feeling immensely astonished.