Endless despair engulfed Ye Qingqing.
She clung desperately to Lady Jiang's legs, pleading for mercy, but Lady Jiang had completely lost her senses, gone mad, and couldn't hear a thing. With a wave of her hand, Ye Qingqing was dragged away.
"Lady Jiang... Lady Jiang... please let me go, I beg you, release me... Lady Jiang..."
Even as her figure vanished into the basement, her heart-wrenching pleas and sobs could still be heard.
After Ye Qingqing was dragged away, Lady Jiang, leaning on her cane and walking unsteadily, exited the basement and headed to a room at the end of the second-floor corridor.
The room was pitch-dark except for the flickering red lights on the incense table, under which Jiang Sha'an's portrait was quietly placed. In the portrait, a handsome young boy smiled happily, his eyes twinkling like stars in the night sky.
Lady Jiang took down the portrait and, with her wrinkled hands, tenderly caressed Jiang Sha'an's beautiful face as tears dropped onto it.