Qin Rui heaved a long sigh. “Nothing, really. I just wanted to say that it would be better for you to stay away from Lu Ming and the others.”

“What is your relationship with him?” Yao Tangasked, ignoring his advice.

Qin Rui pursed his lips and gave the matter some thought. “I guess you could say thatLu Mingis a relative on our mother’s side. If you want to be technical, you could say that he’s a distant cousin of mine.”

And an illegitimate child.

He didn’t say this out loud, though.

Yao Tang’s face remained neutral, aside from the spark of interest in her eyes. “Go on.”

“This Lu Mingand that other kid from the Yan family… I heard that they used to be promising figures back in the capital. They all had extraordinary abilities. However, three years ago, they were involved in an incident at their school, which caused them to become fools.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, their memories deteriorated, along with other cognitive functions. They could barely concentrate on anything they did. Their families hired the best doctors in the province, but no amount of medication or treatment could bring them back to their former selves. When it became clear that there was no hope for recovery, they all just… disappeared without a trace. I eventually came to know that one of them, Lu Ming, had transferred toCity A.”

“Oh.” Yao Tanglooked out the window, her voice quiet. “How many of them are there?”

This was the last thing Qin Ruiexpected her to ask. He was just giving her a brief background of the boys; he hadn’t imagined that she would be interested.

Not only had she asked a follow-up question, but she had also given him the impression that it was of the utmost importance.

When he didn’t say anything, Yao Tangturned to look him in the eye.

“All right,” he sighed, resigning to his fate. “I’ll tell you everything.”

“The incident became a sensation at the time. Everyone lamented the fact that so many geniuses had turned into fools overnight.

“It happened when their class took a camping trip. These boys just disappeared, and when they were finally found, they were lying unconscious on the ground.

“They had two teachers chaperoning them on the trip, along with a survival coach. I believe there were twenty people all in all. By some terrible twist of fate, one of the teachers and a student lost their lives in the same incident.

“As for the boys, they had no memory of what happened.

“It would have been left at that, but the parents later realized that something was wrong with the boys. They just… became useless. They couldn’t retain simple lessons, let alone take the advanced classes that they used to breeze through.

“The families grew desperate and enlisted medical experts all around the country and even abroad, but none of them could figure out the case. The only thing they knew for certain was that the boys had suffered severe damage to their brains.

“The strangest thing of all, and perhaps the most frustrating, is that there were no clues on the site of the incident, so they couldn’t really start a proper investigation. In the end, the case was dismissed as an accident. It was hushed up, and everyone was forbidden to speak of it.”

Qin Rui was sporting a scornful look on his face by the time he finished talking.

He had always thought that those parents hadn’t done enough for their children. Those poor boys had their futures shattered in the blink of an eye, but instead of turning the world upside down for a solution, their families had hidden them away like some dark, shameful secret.

“The boys were eventually sent away from the capital and continued their studies elsewhere.”

Qin Rui gaveYao Tanga knowing look, as an older brother would to an errant younger sibling. “I know you want to help them, but I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do. Even if there is a cure out there, the families had already ordered for the affair to be swept under the rug. You would do well not to interfere.”

“What if I told you that I can cure them?” Yao Tangasked.

Her words dropped heavily between them. She still looked as aloof as ever, but the confidence in her voice was unmistakable.