She shook off Sisu's hand and started to spin around, looking for a place to hide as if playing hide-and-seek.
Sisu reached out to grab her a few times, but she always managed to escape.
The police officer who had been guarding the door said to Sisu, "Is your friend's mind not right? You should take her back to see a doctor quickly. In her condition, you should never let her travel far; it would be very dangerous."
"Thank you, I understand." Sisu, seeing that she couldn't get any more information now, could only coax Sophie and take her away from the police station back to the hotel room.
Following Sophie's words and comforting her emotions, Sisu took her back to the hotel, thinking about buying train tickets to return to Lancheng as soon as possible.
In the hotel room, Sophie finally quieted down and fell asleep with her head on Sisu's lap.
Sisu removed the weeds from Sophie's hair, feeling an unspeakable guilt towards her whenever she saw her like this.
Sisu felt that if Sophie didn't get better, it meant heaven was still punishing her, leaving her conscience restless at all times. She shouldn't have asked Sophie for help back then.
Otherwise, Sophie would have become a designer in Paris by now, living her own comfortable life, perhaps finding a boyfriend. What enviable days those would have been.
Sisu sat leaning against the bed, letting Sophie sleep like that, not having the heart to wake her.
Sisu booked the earliest train ticket back to Lancheng for the next day on her phone and sent a text message to Tianyi, saying that Sophie had been found and he didn't need to call now, as she would bring Sophie back to Lancheng tomorrow.
Qin Tianyi was still awake late at night. Seeing the message from Sisu, he asked her for the specific train schedule, planning to pick her up at the train station the next day.
Meanwhile, Shu Yan's mental state was still under evaluation, and Sophie had caused such a stir. He felt as if Sisu were a grasshopper tied to a rope, being pulled in two directions.
He didn't want Sisu to remain in such a state and wished he could resolve these matters for her.
Sisu had just dozed off on the bed when she was woken by Sophie's cry.
"Yang Sijie! I'm going to kill you... I'm going to kill you!"
Seeing that her eyes were closed, Sisu patted her back and comforted her, "It's okay, it's okay. Yang Sijie is already dead."
Sophie, sweating profusely, opened her eyes and woke up. Seeing Sisu beside her, she finally realized she had been having a nightmare.
She stared for a moment, then looked up at Sisu and whispered mysteriously, "He's not dead, he's still alive. I saw him."
Sisu asked, "Who is he?"
"Yang Sijie..." As soon as Sophie said the name, she acted as if Yang Sijie would suddenly appear and snatch her away, shrinking towards Sisu and vigilantly scanning every corner of the room.
Sisu thought she hadn't fully woken up from the nightmare and said softly with a smile, "That was just a nightmare. Go back to sleep."
As she spoke, Sisu arranged the pillows for her to sleep on the inner side of the bed, while she slept on the outside, saying, "We'll take the train early tomorrow morning. We still have a few hours to sleep. Don't be afraid, I'm here."
Sisu turned her back to Sophie and closed her eyes, feeling extremely sleepy.
Sophie desperately tried to hide further inside, her body almost pressed against the wall.
She kept her eyes wide open, afraid to sleep, her mind still filled with the image of Yang Sijie sitting in his wheelchair, his eyes vacant and his expression blank.
That bone-deep fear began to spread through her body again.
The next morning, they left Eshan County and boarded the train back to Lancheng.
All the way, Sisu felt that Sophie was constantly nervous, but whenever she asked her anything, Sophie couldn't answer properly.
Sisu could only try her best to accompany her and stabilize her emotions.
The train arrived in Lancheng around one or two in the afternoon. As soon as they stepped off the platform, Sisu saw Tianyi waiting at the exit.
She ran over and hugged Tianyi tightly, saying, "It's good that Sophie wasn't lost, but I don't know what happened to her when she was alone at the orphanage. Her condition has become much worse now."
Tianyi also hugged her and said, "It's good that you brought her back safely. We'll figure out how to deal with her situation later."
As they spoke, Tianyi also saw Sophie standing just a few steps away from them. However, Sophie's condition was strange, as if she couldn't see him. She was just looking around nervously.
Sisu said softly, "Not later. I want to take her to a mental health treatment center right now. I asked the psychologist who treated her, and she introduced me to this treatment center."
"Will she go obediently without any fuss?" Qin Tianyi asked worriedly.
Sisu quietly slipped a note into his shirt pocket. "You drive to this address later. I'll talk to her in the car and try my best to persuade her."
Qin Tianyi agreed. Seeing Sophie about to walk in another direction alone, he quickly said, "Quick, stop her! She seems to be going somewhere on her own."
Sisu quickly let go of Qin Tianyi, turned, and took Sophie's hand, saying, "Come on, we're going this way, not that way."
As Sophie got into the car like a wooden doll, she suddenly said, "He's still alive. He'll catch all of us..."
"I won't let him catch anyone," Sisu could only agree with her words and signaled Tianyi to drive.
Sophie fell silent again, her expression vacant. Sisu tried to communicate with her, saying, "We're not going back to your place first. I want to take you somewhere where people can talk to you, help you get better, and make you feel happier..."
Sophie's eyes stopped their vacant rolling and she interrupted, asking, "Are you talking about a mental hospital?"
"Not a mental hospital," Sisu immediately denied. "You don't have a mental illness, why would you go to a mental hospital? It's just a treatment center."
"Is it fully enclosed?" Sophie asked again.
Sisu smiled and said, "You can stay there until you feel better, and I'll visit you often."
"If it's fully enclosed, that's good. I want to go there." Sophie, without any doubt or argument, actually took the initiative to go to the treatment center.
This surprised both Sisu and Qin Tianyi. It seemed Sophie's condition had indeed taken a new turn.
Sisu held her hand and said, "We'll take you there now. You must cooperate with the staff there and get proper treatment."
"Okay," Sophie turned to look at her and said, "If I go to that enclosed place, even if he finds me, he won't be able to catch me, right? But what about you? Will he catch you again, and make you stay in a place like that to entertain guests, just like before?"
"No, you go to the treatment center and take care of yourself. Don't worry about me." Sisu hadn't noticed the change in Tianyi's expression after hearing Sophie's words.
Sophie said nervously, "He will. I saw him holding you, forcing you to stay in the same place as me. He won't let any of us go, but he might let..."
As she spoke, she began to become agitated and flustered again.