Toward Wildfire

At seven, Lu Zhuo rescued a deaf-mute child and hid him in the sheepfold, treasuring him like a secret. But everything changed. Lu Zhuo grew cold, discarded the wooden doll carved with devotion, and refused to meet those trusting eyes. Years later, the child returns as Jiang Ye—no longer helpless, no longer silent. With fingers wrapped around Lu Zhuo's throat, he demands answers: "Brother, if you hate me, why do you call my name in your sleep? If I disgust you, why is every page of your diary filled with me?" Lu Zhuo has no words left. Filthy, wretched, and hollow, he has nothing to offer but…