CHAPTER 620: 239 LET’S GO TO HELL TOGETHER_2

This room gave her a particularly strong feeling of discomfort.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she turned and walked away.

"Where is she?" Yu Ruohuan narrowed her eyes and glanced at the guard.

The guard replied respectfully, "A few days ago, Supervisor Wei brought a female doctor up the mountain. The doctor is staying here to look after the two elders. Perhaps she moved rooms—Guo Cui."

The guard called out.

No response came.

The guard furrowed his brows slightly.

Just as he was about to proceed forward, the door to the main room suddenly opened from the inside, and a young woman stepped out, closing the door behind her.

Yu Ruohuan squinted, assessing the woman.

Jiao Long glanced briefly, then quickly lowered her gaze, her pinky finger at her side slightly curling.

The woman appeared to be in her twenties, wearing a bulky gray cotton jacket; her hair seemed utterly unkempt, plastered heavily to her scalp, obscuring her forehead and ears. It gave off an impression of slovenliness.

Her skin was dark, her nose bridge adorned with a pair of thick black-framed glasses, plain and nondescript—a person one could easily overlook in any crowd.

The woman approached and spoke woodenly, "Miss, hello. My name is Zhu Keke, the doctor hired by Supervisor Wei to look after the two elderly patients."

Her voice was hoarse and grating, as if perpetually caught on a lump of phlegm.

This voice was deeply unpleasant, and Yu Ruohuan instinctively furrowed her brow.

"How are they?"

"Their condition is not great." The woman lowered her head, making her expression hard to read.

"Are you sympathizing with them?" Yu Ruohuan narrowed her eyes.

"You’re teasing me, Miss. I work in a hospital and have long grown numb to partings and death."

"Good that you understand."

Yu Ruohuan strode forward, and the woman followed cautiously. Yu Ruohuan turned her head and snapped displeased, "You wait at the door."

"Yes." The woman stopped, standing respectfully by the door.

Yu Ruohuan pushed the door open and stepped inside, shutting the door behind her.

The door sealed tightly; nothing could be seen from outside.

The woman lowered her gaze and stood silently, as if she were an emotionless stone statue.

The room was warmer than Yu Ruohuan had anticipated.

The windows were tightly closed, allowing not even the slightest draft of cold air inside.

On the bed lay an old man, asleep under the covers.

By the window, on a mahogany armchair sat an elderly woman, holding a wooden comb and ceaselessly brushing her silver hair.

Her hair, though entirely gray, was dry and brittle from years of malnutrition, like parched straw. However, judging by the still-abundant volume despite her frail grip, she must have had remarkably thick and lustrous black hair in her youth.

The old woman sat there, resembling an empty husk devoid of soul, mechanically repeating the motion of combing her hair—at first glance, it was rather eerie.

Yu Ruohuan saw her and immediately recalled the humiliating moment inflicted by Gu Bichen. In a flash, she darted forward and smacked the wooden comb from the old woman’s hand.

Shen Qiunong froze for a moment, her unfocused eyes aimlessly searching. "Who?"

"Old crone, are you blind? Or have you gone deaf too?"

Shen Qiunong came to her senses, her face making a resigned smile as she crouched to the ground and touched around.

She found the broken wooden comb, now split in two.

"What a pity—it snapped."

"What are you smiling about?"

Her smile seemed to provoke Yu Ruohuan, pushing her to the brink of rage.

"The last time I saw you must’ve been ten years ago. You tricked us with a snake—still up to the same antics after all these years."

Shen Qiunong’s voice carried no blame, as though she were simply narrating calmly.

Yu Ruohuan, at seven years old, had once sneaked up the back mountain to play and stumbled upon this place, discovering the old couple confined within Silent Garden.

Seven was not an age of innocence for her. On the contrary, back then, her grandmother was still alive, and she grew up in an upright scholarly household. She greatly disdained her great-grandmother’s behavior, leading to frequent conflict between them. She had overheard one of their quarrels once.

It was the first time she heard the name Yu Yisen.

Growing up in a family like the Yu family, how could she remain naive? It didn’t take long for her to piece together the truth of the matter.

Her father instilled in her the notion that the victor rules, and the defeated are mere prey—never admit defeat under any circumstances.

Her grandmother, however, taught her that young ladies shouldn’t brandish weapons all day. She should read more books, especially history, not to become a scholar but to ensure she understands reason and sees the broader picture.

Her great-grandmother strongly opposed her grandmother’s teaching approach. The issue caused major disputes over her education, and in the end, her great-grandmother used the principle of filial piety to silence her grandmother, taking her away to raise instead.