Volume One, Chapter 13: Mount Ku
Song Fan lowered her head, gazing at Wei Qing’s photo, then glanced at Shen Bei standing beside her.
What a perfect couple.
Such a pity...
“Miss, we’ve arrived.”
Song Fan put down her phone and turned to look outside the car window. “Where is this?”
The car had somehow arrived at a desolate place.
Around them, there were only weeds and graves.
Uncle Qi opened the car door, his voice stiff. “Miss, don’t blame me. It’s Second Young Master’s order.”
“Second Brother?”
“Yes!” Uncle Qi sneered. “Second Young Master said as long as Miss kowtows a few times now, he will forgive her.”
Song Fan looked at Uncle Qi and couldn’t help but ask, “Kowtow?”
“Yes.”
Uncle Qi raised his head, waiting for Song Fan to kowtow.
Song Fan didn’t move but dialed Song Sinian’s number.
Soon, the call connected.
Before Song Fan could speak, Song Sinian said, “Do you know what you did wrong?”
It really was Song Sinian.
Uncle Qi, standing outside the car, looked tense but visibly relaxed when he saw Song Fan’s expression.
“Miss, I told you it’s Second Young Master’s instruction.”
From the phone, Song Sinian asked again, “Fan Fan, do you realize your mistake? If you admit it, I promise you will never bully Minmin again, and everything will be as if it never happened.”
He believed he had been very patient with his sister.
If Fan Fan weren’t his sister, it wouldn’t just be about admitting a mistake now.
Uncle Qi interjected at the right moment, “Second Young Master, Miss refuses to admit her fault.”
“Fan Fan, won’t you admit it?”
Song Fan glanced at the smug-looking driver, Uncle Qi, and heard Song Sinian’s dissatisfied voice in her ear.
“So this is your punishment for me?”
Second Brother knew better than anyone how terrified she was of such desolate places, especially ones with graves.
Yet, he purposely brought her here near sunset.
Just to force her to apologize to Song Min.
“Yes, this is the punishment. Fan Fan, you have two choices now,” Song Sinian’s tone was deliberately harsh. “Either admit your mistake or spend the night there.”
“Think carefully.”
He hung up.
During the call, Song Siyen had heard everything clearly. “What did you make Uncle Qi do?”
Song Sinian sat on the sofa, eyes lowered, staring at the phone screen. “Sent Fan Fan to Kushan.”
“Kushan! That’s the infamous grave hill in Jiangcheng!” Song Siyen was shocked. “You actually dared to do that?”
As soon as Jiang Zhiyi heard it was Kushan, she immediately said, “How could you send Fan Fan to Kushan? That’s a graveyard, and they say it’s haunted. She’s terrified of such places.”
Song Sinian replied, “Precisely because she’s scared, that’s why she has to go.”
“Mom, our past parenting of Fan Fan was too lenient. Even after years abroad, she still hasn’t learned empathy,” Song Sinian clenched his phone tightly. “As long as she admits her mistake and never bullies Minmin again, I’ll have Uncle Qi bring her back immediately.”
Song Siyen walked over, embracing Jiang Zhiyi, trying to comfort her. “Mom, sometimes you have to be tough to get results. Fan Fan’s character has gone astray. If we don’t correct her now, that would truly harm her.”
“Dad, what do you think?”
He looked toward Song Lin’an, who had been silent.
Song Lin’an lifted his head, glanced toward Song Min upstairs, and said, “As long as she admits her fault, bring her back immediately.”
The whole family stared at the phone.
One minute.
Ten minutes.
Half an hour.
Song Sinian’s phone remained silent.
As time passed, the expressions of the Song family grew increasingly grim.
Outside, the sunlight slowly descended; in under an hour, darkness would fall.
Just then, Song Sinian’s phone rang.
The whole family sighed in relief.
Without even looking at the caller ID, Song Sinian answered, “Do you know what you did wrong?”
“Second Young Master, Miss refuses to admit her mistake.”
The words “refuses to admit” made everyone’s faces fall.
Especially Song Siyen, who scoffed, “I knew what kind of person she was all along. Only you still have illusions about her.”
“Bring Qi An back!” Song Lin’an stood up, his face dark as iron. “Since she won’t admit it, she can stay there and reflect.”
“But—” Jiang Zhiyi was about to say something but was cut off by Song Siyen. “Mom, if we don’t discipline her properly, who knows what she’ll do next.”
He glanced upstairs. “Think about Minmin too!”
Mentioning Song Min silenced Jiang Zhiyi.
Minmin had already suffered so much; she couldn’t endure any more hardship.
“Keep your voice down,” Song Lin’an warned quietly, nodding toward upstairs.
Everyone lowered their voices.
Song Sinian clenched his phone, barely hiding his anger. “Uncle Qi, stop worrying about her and come back!”
“Second Young Master, isn’t this a little harsh? Miss looks really scared of this place,” Uncle Qi responded.
Song Sinian retorted, “Afraid? Afraid but still won’t admit it? That means she’s not scared enough.”
After hanging up, Uncle Qi’s expression bore contempt, but his tone was resigned. “Miss, it’s not that I don’t want to take you back, but Second Young Master won’t let me.”
“Why don’t you just kowtow a few times?”
He pulled out his phone and turned on the video feature. “I’ll record it and send it to Second Young Master. He’ll surely let me take you home.”
The sky was ablaze with fiery red as the sun dwindled to just a third of its height.
Song Fan stood silently beside the car.
After waiting a while, Uncle Qi put away his phone. “Then, Miss, I’ll leave first.”
Opening the car door, he muttered not too loud, “If you don’t have a princess’s fate, then don’t act like you have a princess’s attitude. You really think you’re the old lady of the house, that the world revolves around you!”
He got in, started the car, and drove off.
Only the car exhaust and a cloud of dust remained, enveloping Song Fan.
The last trace of light vanished.
All of Kushan was swallowed by darkness.
The swaying shadows of the trees suddenly seemed sinister.
The occasional breeze carried an eerie, otherworldly aura.
Holding his phone’s flashlight, Uncle Qi cautiously retraced his steps. Just as he neared the spot where he left Song Fan, he switched off the flashlight and turned on the video recording.
But when he reached the place, he found no sign of Song Fan.
“Where is she?”
He looked around but saw no figure.
Just then, a hand suddenly slapped him from behind.
“Are you looking for me?”
That ethereal voice appeared right behind him.
Uncle Qi screamed in fright, instinctively turning around, but something quickly covered his head.
Before he could react, a flurry of fierce punches rained down on him.
He was knocked unconscious without even seeing his attacker.
Song Fan looked down at the unconscious Uncle Qi, took his phone, unlocked it with his fingerprint, and opened his messages and WeChat.
“So that’s how it is.”