Iris 7

That was easy to say, but at the thought that the terrifying killer might return to this church at any moment, they all unconsciously quickened their search of the little church. They searched through every chair and corner, hoping to find some valuable clue.

Mu Qin walked up onto the church's stage. It was neither large nor small, normally used for clergy to stand on while delivering sermons. Occasionally, a choir of nuns would be invited to stand there and sing hymns as well. A musical instrument had been placed on the stage: a piano.

Nearly everything of value had been carried away from the abandoned orphanage, yet this obviously expensive piano had been left here as though forgotten. It was lacquered black, its surface covered in a thick layer of dust. Mu Qin approached it and touched the piano lid, leaving a distinct handprint in the dust.

He then lifted the lid. Beneath it were sharply contrasting black and white keys, well protected by the cover. Mu Qin chose one of the lowest keys and pressed it lightly. The piano gave a brief, deep note.

It was only a low, brief sound, but the sudden piano note still startled Qiu Zijia and Cheng Guoxu, who were searching elsewhere nearby. Qiu Zijia shuffled over in tiny steps and warned Mu Qin, "At a time like this, you still feel like playing the piano?"

Mu Qin turned a deaf ear to Qiu Zijia's warning. He continued gazing at the piano with a kind of fascination, because it had stirred up certain memories.

After his adoptive parents died, Mu Qin had essentially lived on his own. He lived in the eighty-square-meter apartment they had left him. Although that apartment was later seized and sold to someone else by his unscrupulous uncle, Mu Qin still remembered the beautiful piano in his adoptive parents' study.

Mu Qin had no talent for music. As a child, he had actually been a mischievous little brat, bursting with energy and eager to play everywhere. He caught birds, climbed trees, and came home covered in mud. He had no patience at all for sitting quietly to study, much less for learning something as demanding of patience as music.

So his adoptive parents had never forced him to learn any special skill. During the years they were alive, they gave Mu Qin a very happy childhood, allowing him to grow up carefree. Even now, he remained deeply grateful for the way they had raised him.

Unlike Mu Qin, both his adoptive parents possessed musical talent, especially his adoptive father. He was said to have won an award for piano performance in some world-class competition, and the trophy had always stood on a shelf in the study.

But Mu Qin had been young then and had no real concept of competitions or awards. He did not know what they meant. He only knew that his adoptive father played the piano beautifully. Whenever his father lifted his hands and began to play, Mu Qin would slip into the study and lie obediently beside his father's legs, listening to him.

Thanks to his adoptive father, Mu Qin had a particular fondness for people who could play the piano after he grew up. Perhaps it was the refinement and depth his adoptive parents possessed... Through music, they had left him with an impression so profound it could never be erased. Whenever he heard piano music, he was deeply drawn in.

Mu Qin had met his first love through music.

At the time, he was still a high school student at one of the city's top schools. His adoptive parents had long since passed away, and his uncle had been granted custody of him. His uncle had no particular vice except gambling.

His uncle always insisted that he never gambled large sums, that he only played casually with a few dozen or a few hundred yuan. But it was clearly a bottomless pit. Before long, he had squandered all his property, and his wife and son had both left him. After gaining custody of Mu Qin and control of Mu Qin's adoptive parents' estate, he still could not kick the habit. Unwilling to watch his adoptive parents' property be squandered like that, Mu Qin tried every possible way to get away from him.

But Mu Qin was only a minor. Apart from wasting money on gambling, his uncle did not neglect him in daily life or beat and scold him, so getting away from him was not easy at all. With no other choice, Mu Qin could only study desperately, hoping to get into a good university far away and leave that unscrupulous old man behind for good.

Mu Qin studied desperately and began attending evening self-study sessions in his first year of high school. At the time, the school did not require first-year students to attend evening study; that only began in the second year. But Mu Qin wanted to speed up his progress, so he tagged along with several second-year students and studied with them in the evenings. He sat in a corner of the classroom, bent over a stack of test papers and writing furiously.

While the other students whispered during evening study, passed notes, played on their phones, and found all sorts of ways to have fun, Mu Qin alone did his homework honestly.

At that time, there was a music room next to the second-year students' study room, and there was a piano inside.

The school's music students would go to the music room to practice during evening self-study. Thus, every night, Mu Qin worked through his test papers and homework while listening to the beautiful piano music drifting from the room next door.

As time passed, Mu Qin gradually realized that the person playing piano in the neighboring music room seemed to be improving. He was very familiar with the piece the other person had been practicing, and its performance became smoother and more skillful by the day. Always drawn to music, Mu Qin finally could not resist any longer. He wanted to go over to the music room and see who was playing the piano inside.

Mu Qin acted quickly. During a ten-minute break in the study session, he went to the music room next door. Its door was shut, and he did not dare push it open. He merely stood by the window and took a look inside.

Then Mu Qin saw his first love, a boy who looked tall and slender.

Yes, a boy.

Even after he reached adulthood, Mu Qin was not certain whether he was gay. Before his first love, he had never felt attracted to anyone, male or female. But the first person he ever liked truly was a boy. That boy's name was Zhou Yue.

Zhou Yue was also a first-year student, though not in Mu Qin's class. Mu Qin was in a regular class, while Zhou Yue was in an advanced one. Zhou Yue's family was said to be very wealthy. He was an outstanding student molded by an elite education, excellent not only in every academic subject but also highly gifted in music. He had studied piano since he was a few years old and had won countless awards growing up. He was a genuine prodigy.

The school was eager to take in a student like him. The moment Zhou Yue enrolled, he received attention from every direction. The principal, the administrators, and teachers of every subject all looked after him. Combined with his excellent grades and handsome looks, he was a gentle, refined young man with an elegant air. In the words of certain youthful campus novels, Zhou Yue was like a dazzling prince of the school.

Mu Qin should have been out of reach of such a "Prince Charming," and he had never thought of reaching for him. He was simply captivated by the sight of that person sitting before the piano, completely focused on playing. Every evening study session, he would sneak to the music room window to watch Zhou Yue play. Before long, Zhou Yue naturally noticed him. He opened the music room door and invited Mu Qin inside.

Mu Qin still remembered the first thing Zhou Yue said after he entered the music room: "Why were you standing there spying on me?"

The question made Mu Qin flush bright red. He stammered for a long time before finally telling Zhou Yue the truth. "The piece you've been practicing was my father's favorite piano piece before he died. When I see you playing, I... miss my father."

Mu Qin had always missed his adoptive parents. To him, they had been his guides in life. Though they were not his biological parents, they had given him nearly everything.

His answer seemed to surprise the boy at the piano as well. Rather than taking offense at Mu Qin's rude habit of peeping at him, Zhou Yue began talking with him. He even told Mu Qin that if he wanted to listen to him play in the future, he could come straight in instead of watching from outside.

And so Mu Qin and Zhou Yue became friends, secret friends. At the time, few people at school knew of their relationship. No one would have associated the school's much-admired "Prince Charming" with an ordinary, low-key student like Mu Qin.

Yet they were very close then. Mu Qin often went to the music room during evening study to talk with Zhou Yue. They talked about everything. Zhou Yue would even teach Mu Qin to play the piano hand over hand. Even now, Mu Qin remembered the feeling of Zhou Yue's clean, slender fingers resting in his palm.

It was as though an ugly duckling had been shown favor by a noble, beautiful swan.

They later began dating, the intimate kind of dating between lovers. Mu Qin could not remember exactly how it began. He only remembered that one day, they sat together on the bench before the piano in the music room. As usual, Mu Qin watched Zhou Yue play. When he finished, Zhou Yue lowered his head and met Mu Qin's eyes. Mu Qin looked back and saw his own face reflected in Zhou Yue's night-dark eyes. Unable to stop himself, he moved closer, wanting to see more clearly. Unexpectedly, Zhou Yue leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

After that kiss, they were no longer friends. They became lovers.

That was Mu Qin's first love, a first love destined to have no ending. No one else discovered their relationship. No teachers, parents, or classmates stood in their way. From their first year of high school through their third, they remained sweetly together. Then, after the college entrance exams... Zhou Yue vanished without a trace.

Mu Qin had no money for college. Despite grades good enough for him to attend the same prestigious university as Zhou Yue, he might have been able to explain his situation to Zhou Yue, who could perhaps have found a way to support him. Zhou Yue's family was well-off, after all, and Zhou Yue had always liked Mu Qin very much. He was very good at communicating and would tell Mu Qin his thoughts without reservation, telling him how much he cared about him.

But in the end, Mu Qin gave up on that idea and chose to enlist in the military.

Part of it was his pride, but the greater reason was that Mu Qin knew things could never work out between him and Zhou Yue.

They had never belonged to the same world. Zhou Yue had family backing, status, and ability; he was destined to rise effortlessly through the ranks. Mu Qin had nothing. He might even hold Zhou Yue back, saddle him with the label of being gay, and bring him all kinds of ridicule and criticism.

So in the end, he left without saying goodbye.

Thinking this far, Mu Qin sighed softly and casually closed the dusty piano lid before him.

In the end, it was because Mu Qin had been too timid. From the very beginning, he had entered into that relationship expecting the worst. He had never dared hope for the possibility of a happy ending, so he ultimately chose to give up.

That had been many years ago. Mu Qin had served for five years and worked for another four or five after getting out. He was twenty-eight now, no longer the callow youth who would lose himself in an innocent romance. He had matured so much that it was as though every part of him, from head to toe, had been replaced, turning him into someone else.