Where is Song Shengsheng? This was the first question that needed to be solved urgently.
In addition, there were complicated issues about the girl who slit Li Jingtian’s throat. Why did Xu Ran run away and then get hit and killed? What role did CA play in Song Shengsheng’s unjust imprisonment? These questions needed to be resolved, but before that, they had more important things to do, and that was to rest.
This time they came to Yongchuan on official business, so according to accommodation standards, they checked into an express hotel near the embassy street. The triple hotel room had an extra bed in the double room, so the space was a bit cramped.
Lin Chen and Xing Conglian sat on both sides of the simple desk. After they finished eating the takeout, it was already nine in the evening. For nearly 48 hours without sleep, though Xing Conglian looked as energetic as when he was getting enough sleep, his bloodshot eyes still betrayed him.
Looking at the newly grown stubble on Xing Conglian’s chin, Lin Chen pointed to the bathroom and said to him, “I’ll clean up. You can take a shower first.”
Xing Conglian said, “Leave it. Wang Chao will come back and clean it up.”
Lin Chen looked at the time again. That young kid was busy all afternoon while they were like two retirees waiting to die. Now they were leaving leftovers for children to clean up, which seemed inappropriate. “It’s so late…”
He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence.
The doorbell rang hurriedly. Lin Chen knew that it was Wang Chao based on the rhythm of the doorbell.
Xing Conglian pulled back the safety bolt and opened the door. Wang Chao rushed into the room, quickly took off his shoes, threw himself face down on the pillow, and then let out a long cry. “I… am… dead…!”
After shouting, he began to mumble in a low voice, similar to the sound of a pig rolling in a haystack.
Lin Chen and Xing Conglian glanced at each other. Suddenly, Wang Chao sprang up from the chair, rushed to the table, and began to eat. The teenager broke apart a pair of bamboo chopsticks and wiped out the remaining leftovers on the table.
Lin Chen finally knew what Xing Conglian meant when he said to leave it to Wang Chao.
For the first five minutes, the only sound in the room was the boy’s desperate slurping of food. Five minutes later, when he started to drink his soup, Lin Chen had the time to ask, “It’s so late. Didn’t the Yongchuan police give you something to eat?”
“They did, but I don’t want to eat it.” Wang Chao started to gnaw on a duck leg.
“Why?”
“I want to come back to see you sooner.” Wang Chao put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and said, “A’Chen, is your hand okay?”
The teenager’s eyes were so sincere that Lin Chen couldn’t help laughing. He always felt that Wang Chao’s sweet-talking skills might have something to do with Xing Conglian.
“I’m fine. It’ll heal in a few days,” he replied.
“Then you still have to pay attention. Don’t get it wet, avoid meat, and don’t drink carbonated drinks or alcohol. They say that food with a lot of soy sauce isn’t good because it will color your wound…”
“I know. Dr. Xing has already ordered it.”
Xing Conglian slapped the back of Wang Chao’s head. “Eat your food. Why are you talking so much!”
Wang Chao put down his chopsticks and raised his head. “Captain, I’m done, but I’m not full yet!”
Sure enough, all the takeout boxes were empty. Xing Conglian glanced over with a little shock. “Did the Yongchuan police abuse you?”
“I did a lot of physical work today. Advanced technicians like me have to eat more to replenish their brain power when they do physical work.” Wang Chao knocked on the table and emphasized the word “advanced”.
“So, what do you want?” Xing Conglian narrowed his eyes and asked.
“I want to eat at Bali Crayfish…” The teenager’s tone suddenly became flattering. “I know, there’s a chain not far from here!”
“Hm?”
“And… Captain… also, can you go out and buy me a set of pajamas, t-shirts, and underwear? I’m all smelly!” As the teenager spoke, he fanned the wind. Sure enough, there was a faint smell of sweat. He laid on the table and said weakly, “I really can’t walk anymore. Please.”
“Why didn’t you buy them when you were coming back?” Xing Conglian said it coldly.
“I was in a hurry to see A’Chen Gege!” Wang Chao replied smoothly.
A perfect logical chain.
Xing Conglian didn’t bother to talk to him anymore. He turned and walked to the door. When he opened it, he stood at the entrance and suddenly glanced back. “Consultant Lin?”
Looking at the gentle questioning eyes of Xing Conglian, Lin Chen could probably translate his intentions: Are you tired? If not, let’s go for a walk together?
He couldn’t refuse.
Lin Chen nodded, stood up, and said, “Let’s go. I’ll go with you.”
……
It’s already late at night. If they went out at this time in Hongjing, they would probably only see empty streets and lonely streetlights glowing peacefully.
However, they were in Yongchuan. The nights in major cities were always bustling. There was a long river outside the express hotel where they were staying. On one side of the river were old and new buildings and food stalls, and on the other side was a peaceful trail through a forest along the river.
Lin Chen followed Xing Conglian across the bridge. In the early summer night, there was a cool breeze blowing by the river. The opposite bank of the river was bustling with people, but the forest was so quiet that frogs croaking could be heard.
The tree shadows were still, and the ink-like river surface rippled with floating lights.
Walking side by side with Xing Conglian, he felt at peace. Most of the malice and fatigue from facing Li Jingtian today seemed to have dissipated.
He suddenly understood why Xing Conglian asked him if he wanted to go with him. Walking was indeed a great way to rest, especially after a thrilling day. Taking a walk with the person you like, even if it was just casually walking by the river without saying anything, was extremely comfortable and relaxing.
“Consultant Lin,” Xing Conglian said suddenly.
“Captain Xing?”
“It’s always necessary to chat for a bit while walking,” Xing Conglian said slowly.
“What are you talking about?” Lin Chen was a little surprised. “To be honest, I am very worried about Song Shengsheng.”
“You can’t center your life around cases. You have to live more,” Xing Conglian said. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll have news on Song Shengsheng.”
Hearing this, Lin Chen looked to the other side.
Although he couldn’t see clearly what was being broadcast on TV in the food stall opposite him, he could vaguely hear the words Song Shengsheng coming from the news across the banks.
Many diners were drinking beer while watching the news. They were talking to each other. It might be difficult for the police to find Song Shengsheng alone, but the power of people was a bottomless ocean. If Song Shengsheng was still living freely in this world, then he should be found by tomorrow at the latest.
“I understand.” Lin Chen nodded. He suddenly looked at Xing Conglian. “Is Captain Xing doing my ideological work?”
“That is better done by Consultant Lin.” Xing Conglian replied. “I obviously just wanted to talk to you.”
Lin Chen’s heart skipped a beat. When Xing Conglian was coaxing people, it was really heartwarming and unobtrusive.
Some old songs came from the other side of the river that sounded like they were sung by Song Shengsheng. There was another gust of wind by the river, blowing rose-red petals onto Xing Conglian’s shoulder. Lin Chen subconsciously reached out to wipe off the petals, then said, “I found that Captain Xing is really a loyal lover of walking.”
Whether it was early in the morning or in the evening, whether it was before breakfast or after dinner, Xing Conglian was always happy to walk; sometimes with him, sometimes with Wang Chao, and sometimes the three of them together. They would talk about work, the weather, or how food prices had increased recently. In this place, Xing Conglian always showed an easy-going side that wasn’t in line with his temperament.
Xing Conglian laughed and continued to walk forward. “When I was a kid, no matter how busy my parents were at work, as long as they were home, they would take me for a walk. Therefore, I always feel that walking is a very pleasant thing.”
“It’s very good research,” Lin Chen murmured.
“What research?”
“For example, research on family walking time and the happiness index.” Lin Chen looked at the couples or groups of friends sitting close to each other on the opposite bank.
Xing Conglian laughed dumbfoundedly. “Does it matter?’
“Family happiness and personal growth are always closely related,” Lin Chen said as he walked. “You must have grown up in a strong, loving, free, and democratic family, while Li Jingtian probably has an unfortunate family. Although he was spoiled, he lacked true love and correct guidance. His family relationship is tense. Both his parents, especially his father, are likely to have personality disorders or mental illness…”
“Listening to what you say, it made me think that Li Jingtian is quite pitiful, and it was out of his hands, so he became what he is now,” Xing Conglian interrupted him.
“Of course I’m not excusing Li Jingtian.” Lin Chen lowered his head slightly. He picked up a stone from the ground and threw it into the river. He looked at the ripples on the dark water and said, “But humans are really not as rational and powerful as people think. Even the simplest stone thrown into the water will cause ripples on the entire water’s surface. The influence of parents on their children’s lives is the same. Even the casual words and actions of an ordinary person on any mundane day may affect others to a greater extent.”
“A very profound statement,” Xing Conglian said with emotion. “Didn’t we come for a walk?”
“I’ve been feeling a lot lately. Can’t you let me say a few words?” Lin Chen said helplessly.
“Of course, truthfully, it’s a good walk when there’s Consultant Lin talking by your side.” Xing Conglian also picked up a stone from the side of the road and threw it into the river.
This was almost like hot milk with honey. It wasn’t sweet, and it wasn’t expensive. Lin Chen thought for a moment and could only say, “Thank you, Captain Xing, for your compliment.”
They were about to reach the end of the trail. The voices of people came through the trees beside the road.
Only then did Xing Conglian speak again. “There’s a reason why I don’t like that kind of argument very much. For example, people can’t choose their origin, can’t control themselves, and then commit those despicable choices—I feel like it’s shirking from responsibility.”
Lin Chen thought for a while and said, “I did a thesis when I was in college. It was a study on the creativity of painting. Basically, we gave the subject a proposition and asked them to paint, and then we asked them to explain what they saw based on the painting we gave them.”
“Hmm… then?” Xing Conglian asked.
“That was the first time I realized how fantastic and magnificent human thinking was. The same proposition would never have the same answer. Among those people, there are those who are morbid and dark, those who are kind and beautiful, some who are rigid in their thinking, and some who are full of whimsical ideas. To be honest, although we always emphasize the proposition of individual differences, it was only then that I really discovered that everyone’s mind is so different. We must admit that there are indeed people in this world who cannot control themselves, and the pain of mental illness lies in this. But we must also admit that among those who are fully capable of behavior, there are people like Li Jingtian and people like you. Some shirk from responsibility, some take responsibility; some people choose to use harm to others to solve problems when facing a desperate state of mind, and some people have ordinary lives, but in desperate situations, they shine the greatest and brightest light of human nature. The world is like this, so the key to the problems is, in this world, what you agree with, what you choose, and what you have done—all of these, in the end, determine how you will affect the entire world.”
While talking, they had already walked off the trail.
Xing Conglian hadn’t spoken for a while. At the end of the water bank was a night market street. There were various stalls full of various stalls, and the smell of fireworks suddenly reached their noses.
“I understand,” Xing Conglian said earnestly. “I thought about it for a while, and I think Consultant Lin was praising me just now…”
“I spoke so euphemistically. You can hear it?” Lin Chen was a little surprised.
“I’m smart. I want to express my gratitude to Consultant Lin. I’ll buy you a drink.”
As Xing Conglian spoke, he walked to a small stall on the street. He stood in front of the counter and observed the selection of drinks in the cupboard.
Standing in the night outside the store, Lin Chen watched Xing Conglian carefully order a drink in the small shop and pay for it. He thought the feeling of having someone take you on a walk and buy you a drink was really a joyful thing.
Suddenly, Xing Conglian turned his head and gazed at him deeply, with a gentle smile in his eyes.
A pure black car with an embassy license plate drove out of the main gate of the embassy right on time. The moment the car drove out of the iron gate, flashes of cloud-like lights lit up. All the cameras were running, and reporters were taking pictures non-stop, but other than that, no one spoke.
The street in front of the embassy was deathly silent. The fans in red clothes were like crushed petals falling all over the ground. They sadly helped each other up. Some had covered their mouths and turned around, still immersed in extreme sadness and shock.
Of all the people present, no one dared take a step closer to the black car. It seemed like it was the shadow of death in motion. Everywhere it passed, it left behind ultimate malice in the world.
Under the blue sky, under the piled-up cotton-white clouds, a whistling siren broke the tranquility of the entire embassy street.
A team of mounted police officers came from a distance. They were wearing navy blue uniforms and driving snow-white motorcycles with red and blue police lights flashing.
The car stopped slowly, and the captain of the mounted police just parked his vehicle next to the car window as it was lowered.
The captain saluted earnestly and said in a businesslike tone, “The Yongchuan Traffic Police received a call from the Hongjing Police for help to specially escort Mr. Li Jingtian to the airport.”
The driver didn’t know whether to salute or nod. In short, there was no conversation between them. The captain of the mounted police turned the car around. Then, four motorcycles escorted the black car with extreme understanding and dedication.
The car drove toward the end of the street.
……
14:05.
Xing Conglian walked into the attic.
The live broadcast had long since ended. The embassy staff had begun dismantling the cameras installed in the four corners. The black curtains covering the window were removed, allowing the bright sky to illuminate everything in the small room.
Lin Chen was still sitting at the table, looking at the drawing Li Jingtian had made.
The cards on the table were a mess. Seeing him enter, Lin Chen suddenly raised his head. His eyes suddenly flickered, like those of a child who had done something wrong and was now facing the dean. “Why are you here? Are we going to the cultural center to find the evidence now?’
Lin Chen casually opened up a topic.
Xing Conglian didn’t answer him. His gaze fell on Lin Chen’s arm. Lin Chen had pressed one of the wounds with his hand, so his fingers were covered with reddish-brown, dry blood.
The real scene was always more shocking than live TV.
“Take the drawing and follow me,” Xing Conglian said to Lin Chen.
Lin Chen didn’t know why, but he was taken aback for a moment. He bid goodbye to the operators who were dismantling the equipment and walked out of the bloody and murderous room calmly and firmly, just as he did when he first entered.
Even though such a big event happened, it was still difficult to see any staff coming and going in the embassy. The corridors here were long and covered with vines that wrapped around the upper end of the corridor, enveloping the large area in dark, green shadows.
Lin Chen followed Xing Conglian from behind. Along the way, Xing Conglian didn’t say anything to him, but judging by the direction they were heading, he guessed that Xing Conglian wasn’t taking him to the scene, as they were heading deeper into the complex.
Just when Lin Chen thought Xing Conglian would take him to appreciate the magic of this land again, Xing Conglian had brought him into the infirmary at the end of the corridor.
There was no one in the infirmary. Wang Chao wasn’t there either.
The small room was filled with all kinds of medicines, and there was even a simple operating room. The air was filled with a strong smell of disinfectant. Here…
How could he describe it? Except for a simple hospital bed by the window, which was fairly clean, the rest of the place looked like it had been severely ruined by someone. Most likely, the people who came and went in this infirmary were in a hurry and didn’t care too much about the cleanliness of the medical facility.
“Sit down first.” Xing Conglian pointed to the hospital bed as he said this to him.
After saying this, Xing Conglian turned around and found iodine, alcohol, gauze, tweezers, slotted needles, and silk threads for suturing among the chaotic pile of medical supplies. Lin Chen’s eyes straightened.
“I think I still need to go to a professional hospital in this situation.” Lin Chen loosened the fingers and pressed on the wound, and some blood seeped out. The knife wound looked bad, but in fact, it wasn’t that serious.
Xing Conglian took apart a pack of gauze and walked up to him with the medical tape. Lin Chen hadn’t reacted yet, and the wound was already covered by the gauze.
The next moment, Xing Conglian took his hand and pulled him to the edge of the sink.
Lin Chen felt the cold and powerful palm of Xing Conglian’s hand, and he felt that he should find something to talk about. “Where is the military attaché Shen? When are we going to the cultural center? If Li Jingtian is allowed to leave the country, it’ll be very difficult to arrest him.” Lin Chen looked at the sink and frowned. When he was speaking, Xing Conglian had just opened a bottle of iodine and poured it down his arm.
Lin Chen woke up from all the pain, but he didn’t dare scream. He shouted in a low voice, “Captain Xing, it hurts a little.”
“Bear with it.” Xing Conglian picked up the soft brush on the side, dipped it in the sterile, soapy water carefully, and began to clean the skin around the wound.
The feeling of the brush cleaning his wound was both painful and itchy. Lin Chen was surprised by Xing Conglian’s professional actions but seeing that he still had a cold face and was silent, it made him a little uneasy.
Finally, Xing Conglian finished cleaning his wound. Lin Chen subconsciously held Xing Conglian’s arm for a moment before the other party picked up the saline water again.
The other party glanced at him and then said, “Consultant Lin, I’m also a professional, so please, don’t doubt my professionalism.”
Lin Chen felt that what Xing Conglian said sounded very familiar.
……
14:20, Yongchuan Airport Expressway.
Two live news broadcast vehicles were flanking the embassy convoy heading to the airport.
Inside the Yongchuan Satellite TV live broadcast car, the reporter was narrating in a solemn tone. “Now, an escort team composed of Yongchuan traffic police is escorting the embassy vehicle that Li Jingtian is in to the airport. Please understand that this is an escort operation. Now, there is still one hour and fifteen minutes before the plane takes off, which means the police in our country need to find the key evidence that can detain Li Jingtian in time. Time is running out. Let us quickly connect with our reporters who are rushing to the Yongchuan Christine Cultural Center…”
In the back seat of the black car.
The singer in a light gray suit was also watching the live broadcast at the same time. He held his phone tightly and turned to look at the mounted police outside the window with a neurotic smile on his face.
“Drive faster. I’m running for my life,” he said to the driver.
……
14:25, Xinni Embassy Infirmary.
The cold hydrogen peroxide was poured down again, washing away the fine floating foam and residual blood clots. Strands of blood flowed into the drain.
Lin Chen pursed his lips, not daring to raise his head.
Xing Conglian looked at the person in front of him, who seemed to swallow the pain for fear of his anger. Looking at the other party’s supple black hair and pale face, he felt the irritability in his heart when he saw Lin Chen hurt, and the tension he had when he saw Li Jingtian draw the knife suddenly disappeared.
He suddenly realized that all his emotions now were because he was blaming himself.
To be honest, he rarely blamed himself. Since he was young, his family taught him that men should not blame themselves or feel sorry for themselves. If they had time, it was better to use that time to think about how to remedy it or what they can do if the situation ever arises again. In short, when one gradually handled many things properly, they gradually moved away from self-blame because they knew well that the choices they made were the only, necessary, and the best. But Lin Chen—he didn’t belong to those things, so he couldn’t handle it well, because Lin Chen could handle everything by himself. He was smart, wise, courageous, and strong. He was simply so good that there was no one better. Such a teammate, colleague, and friend should be what everyone dreams of, but when he was sitting in front of the monitor and thinking over and over again about whether he could make a better choice so that Lin Chen wouldn’t have to injure himself or be put in a dangerous situation, he found he had no way to do it.
Of course, if Lin Chen heard what he was thinking now, he would say that necessary sacrifices were okay, and he was sure that Li Jingtian wouldn’t really use the knife on him. The scene was just a little tense, that was all.
However, multiple-choice questions were always the most difficult propositions in the world.
Xing Conglian thought for a while, dried his hands, rubbed the tips of Lin Chen’s hair, and sincerely said, “Sorry, it’s my fault.”
Lin Chen’s gaze was hesitant, but it contained a kind of tenderness, as if he had guessed what Xing Conglian was thinking, but he didn’t say anything.
……
14:30, Yongchuan Airport.
Li Jingtian got out of the car and entered the VIP counter to go through the check-in procedures.
There were many reporters around him, taking pictures. Everyone passing him seemed to be pointing at him, as if they were conjuring up a scourge or a virus that would kill him as soon as it touched him.
But so what?
As long as he could get on the plane, get out of customs, and see his family, those damn Chinese police couldn’t do anything to him. Grandpa had promised him repeatedly on the phone just now.
Moreover, the cultural center was enormous. Even if those stupid policemen were looking for it, it would take them a very long time.
He raised his head and saw that the TV in the airport lobby was also repeatedly showing the picture of him pointing the knife at Lin Chen. His face looked so hideous that everyone looked at him.
Lin Chen was right. Now, everyone was watching him. The feeling of being feared by the world was even better than being worshiped.
“Mr. Li Jingtian.”
The voice of the staff brought his thoughts back.
The little girl standing at the check-in counter looked crisp and delicious. When she looked at him, her body seemed to tremble uncontrollably.
Li Jingtian took the boarding pass, pulled down his sunglasses, and smiled at the little girl. “Don’t be nervous. All that on TV are all lies.”
……
14:35, Yongchuan Christine Cultural Center.
Wang Chao finally arrived here with Shen Chenggong. The Yongchuan police had already removed everyone from the vicinity and blocked off the scene in advance, but there were still many staff members who were watching and taking pictures.
He and Shen Chenggong successfully raised the cordon and took the elevator to the highest point of the stage.
Early on, the police had started searching from the top floor to the bottom. Standing in the auditorium on the top floor, Wang Chao looked around and could feel what A’Chen had said.
Indeed, Li Jingtian was here to show off his evil deeds to all of Song Shengsheng’s fans.
……
14:40, the infirmary of the Xinni Embassy.
Warm sunlight poured on the hospital bed through the window edges. The interior was bright.
The suture work had come to an end. Xing Conglian had spent a long time with his head lowered, meticulously stitching Lin Chen’s wounds.
Lin Chen looked at the person sitting in front of him. Maybe it was because of the lush and fresh vegetation outside the window, or because he felt good about being treated carefully but he wasn’t thinking about Li Jingtian or Song Shengsheng. He was just thinking about Xing Conglian.
Xing Conglian’s fingers pressed on his skin. His eyelashes were thin and curled, and he had an extremely serious expression when he lowered his head. Looking at Xing Conglian, Lin Chen always felt that the other party did have rich experience in wound suturing, but this experience shouldn’t have come from a hospital internship, but more like the skill was naturally acquired after experiencing hardships like going through blood and fire.
Lin Chen’s thoughts drifted further.
Outside the window, there were a few but clearly audible cicadas chirping.
Sometimes, Xing Conglian was really kind to him, so kind that it was easy to misunderstand.
Like now, in this tense moment of chasing a suspect, the first thing Xing Conglian thought of was to disinfect and treat his wound. Although he could guess that this probably had nothing to do with Xing Conglian’s worry that he wouldn’t be able to use antibiotics after the wound was infected, no matter what he thought, they were just framed by Li Jingtian in front of the entire country as an adulterous couple, and now they were sitting intimately in an infirmary, which didn’t seem appropriate.
But when he thought of this, Lin Chen felt aggrieved. If something really happened between him and Xing Conglian, it would be fine, but right now he didn’t have the guts, afraid it could make things worse.
At this moment, Xing Conglian’s phone suddenly rang.
As soon as Xing Conglian finished disinfecting Lin Chen’s arm, he suddenly stopped impatiently, stood up, and turned his left side trouser pocket to face him.
Lin Chen felt embarrassed that someone had broken his obscenity. He looked at Xing Conglian’s lower body and then saw him reach his hand in.
“Captain, Captain, can you give A’Chen Gege the phone for a bit? We can’t find the master tape. Ahhh, begging here!”
Lin Chen held the phone and put it close to Xing Conglian’s ear. Xing Conglian was holding tweezers and was about to tie the final knot of the suture wound when Wang Chao’s excited voice came out ahead of time.
“I’m here. Tell me.” Lin Chen didn’t ask Xing Conglian; he simply put the phone to his ear.
“A’Chen Gege, you said the master tape is in a high spot at the cultural center, but the staff here said that if there’s such a thing, they would have found it a long time ago. It’s impossible for Li Jingtian to hide a CD here quietly for so long without it being discovered!”
“Wait a moment.” Lin Chen turned the phone over and put it on his lap. Then he took out Li Jingtian’s drawing from his pocket. The blood on the drawing had already dried. He looked at the painting for a while, frowning. It was impossible that the object wasn’t in a high spot at the cultural center.
Thinking of this, he looked at the time on the phone. It was getting closer to boarding time…
Suddenly, he felt Xing Conglian squeezing his hand.
“Don’t worry,” Xing Conglian simply said.
Lin Chen glanced at the painting again, then suddenly said to Wang Chao, “Go to the lighting area above the stage and look for it.”
“What?”
“According to Li Jingtian’s anxious state of mind when he drew this, those clouds should be blackened or accentuated, but they are white and clear. The master tape should be…”
“But there are many places with bright white lights!” Wang Chao shouted loudly before hanging up.
Lin Chen picked up the phone and also hung up helplessly.
When he recovered, Xing Conglian was still holding his hand.
……
14:50, Yongchuan Airport, VIP waiting room.
As the boarding time approached, Li Jingtian gradually became nervous. He felt he was about to get away with his crimes, but was afraid of the sudden drop of the guillotine, which made his muscles tremble uncontrollably.
He would be able to enter the passage and board the return flight in ten minutes. There were no annoying Chinese police around him. The embassy staff also left after sending him out of customs. The elites dressed in suits and ties in the VIP waiting room didn’t care who he was.
He was about to be free soon, but as the minutes and seconds passed, as Lin Chen’s bright red blood dripped on the table, he felt the steel wire that was wrapped around his neck get tighter, that he could hardly breathe, but he couldn’t see the shadow of the steel wire…
He would be exonerated, and no one could stop him.
At least, that was what Li Jingtian thought.
……
15:20, Yongchuan Christine Cultural Center.
Wang Chao commanded a group of police officers to carefully search all the light stands.
A lighting engineer who was in charge of Li Jingtian’s concert at the time stood next to him with a tangled expression. “I seem to remember that Li Jingtian rehearsed very late the day before the concert. He seemed to have told us he wasn’t satisfied with the lighting on the stage. I don’t remember if he put anything in the light stands because we had left work and he was still here rehearsing…”
Dense police boots stepped on the high-altitude steel plate, making clacking sounds.
“Found it!” Someone shouted, and everyone stopped their work.
……
15:30.
At the moment the flight took off, Li Jingtian breathed a sigh of relief. This was simply the most thrilling, turbid breath he had ever exhaled in his life. He shouted with all his strength.
He had never experienced this kind of refreshing feeling in his life—more refreshing than when he entered Song Shengsheng’s body over and over again.
Lin Chen, no matter how awesome you are, you still can’t catch me.
He pounded on the armrest of the first-class seat and laughed maniacally.
……
At 18:00 in the evening, it was a beautiful time for all families to happily have dinner together.
Mu Wenhua put her little daughter in the dining chair and served a bowl of simple vegetable noodles, but she forgot to put in a fork.
The girl simply grabbed the noodles with her bare hands and stuffed them into her mouth. The soup dripped down, but Mu Wenhua didn’t seem to notice.
On the TV in the living room, the live broadcast of Yongchuan Satellite TV wasn’t over yet.
The tarmac of Xinni International Airport.
Li Jingtian walked out of the plane and down the gangway.
Except for the busy airport staff and shuttle buses, there was no one else around. Even the expected flashing lights weren’t there.
The sky was full of deep indigo, and the city lights were faintly visible in the distance.
There were no police, no reporters. He was really free…
Li Jingtian took a deep breath of the fresh air. There was nothing more pleasant than freedom.
He put on his sunglasses, followed the passengers, and slowly walked out of the checkpoint.
He had already seen the old housekeeper waiting outside the crowd not far away, and he waved his hand to him.
Li Jingtian wanted to rush to him, but suddenly, just as he was about to walk out the passage, someone kicked him hard in the knee and he fell to the ground; his face smashing into the marbled floor.
His face was in severe pain, and warm liquid oozed from his mouth and nose. He looked at the old housekeeper running from afar. It was as if someone had smashed his head with a heavy hammer. He struggled violently. “Let me go. Who are you? Why are you arresting me? This is Xinni! This is Xinni!”
The person who pressed on him said in a very businesslike tone, “Mr. Li Jingtian, you have been arrested in accordance with the law for committing a number of serial rape crimes in China with conclusive evidence.” After saying this, the man added, “Uh, the police from China also asked me to tell you this, although it’s secondary, but… Li Jingtian, game over.”
Mu Wenhua was fixed in front of the TV with tears rolling down her cheeks.
In a school cafeteria, in a commercial center square, and on countless big screens, everyone stopped and watched as Li Jingtian was pressed to the marble floor.
The once famous singer was now disheveled and blood-stained. His eyes were crazy as he spat out all kinds of dehumanizing words, no longer having any dignity as a human.
Truly like a lunatic.
The picture gradually darkened.
The anchor recited in an unprecedented, excited tone, “The master tape hidden by Li Jingtian was in the ceiling of the lighting area of the Yongchuan Christine Cultural Center. It was then identified by Mr. Shen Chenggong, a famous sound pattern expert from Xinni. It is indeed the audio file recorded by Li Jingtian during the violent assault against victim Song Shengsheng. The Xinni police have arrested the suspect Li Jingtian in accordance with the law and will extradite Li Jingtian back to our country at a later date. Let us thank the Xinni government for its profound sense of justice and for the justice that came late but finally arrived.”
……
The TV turned off.
“Did you make arrangements early on?” Lin Chen looked at the table full of takeout, and finally understood why Xing Conglian would calmly let Li Jingtian leave. The despair of “rebirth and death” would drive people crazy.
“After all, it’s an allied country, so we have to give Xinni a chance to regain face.” Xing Conglian rolled up his cuffs and began to serve the porridge.
“It’s still Captain Xing who has such foresight.”
“Same to you.”
Lin Chen put down his chopsticks, looked at the blood-replenishing flood in front of him, and fell into contemplation.
“It’s fine to detain Su Fengzi at the embassy for another hour.” Xing Conglian put down his porridge bowl and said with relief.
Lin Chen raised his head as he asked, “No, I was thinking, where is Song Shengsheng?”
Ten cards that symbolized victory were arranged one after another on the long table.
It was just fifteen minutes—a five-round game. No matter what, the world couldn’t change in fifteen minutes. Li Jingtian looked at the closed wooden door, put down his hand from the doorknob, turned around, and walked back to the long table and sat down again.
“Then, please start,” he said humbly.
Lin Chen bowed his head slightly and no longer talked nonsense.
The calm psychologist that was sitting across the table folded up ten sun suit cards with his slender fingers, casually shuffled them on the table, and then laid them out.
Under the light, the pattern on the back of the card was exactly the same, laid out in a horizontal row. Li Jingtian narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, “Who will draw first, Consultant Lin?”
Lin Chen made a gesture of invitation.
Li Jingtian smiled slightly, casually tapping a card with his fingertips and dragging it out of the pile. “Shall we turn over our cards together, or should I turn over mine first?”
Lin Chen pointed to the camera behind Li Jingtian and said, “Let’s do it together, lest you say I’m cheating.”
“I’m becoming more convinced that this is a fair game.” Li Jingtian’s fingers were still pressed on the card.
Lin Chen also picked one out and said, “I heard that the people of Xinni pay most attention to the first hand in gambling. They think that if they can win the first hand, they are likely to win. In fact, this habit isn’t just reserved for all Xinni people. Gamblers in general have this common understanding, but I find it very strange, Mr. Li Jingtian.” Lin Chen raised one of his hands and looked up at him. “Whether it was choosing the sun suit that represents victory, or winning the first hand—even the fact that the pressure of your finger on the card in your hand shows that you really want to win. In this game, what is it that you cannot afford to lose?”
Li Jingtian’s first reaction was to let go, and then he realized that he had reacted too much to Lin Chen’s words, so he sat with his arms crossed. “Maybe because I have been an artist for a long time, so my competitive spirit is strong. I hope Consultant Lin doesn’t overinterpret it.”
“No, I’m not interpreting anything. You see, I was just explaining some background knowledge of Xinni card games.” Lin Chen tapped the card in front of him with his hand and asked, “Then as a Xinnian, how would you feel if you lost the first match in a best-of-five rounds without incident?”
After he finished speaking, he quickly turned over his card.
Li Jingtian looked intently and found that Lin Chen had the “Sun 9” in his hand. In a card game where the cards ranged from 1-10, he only had a very small chance of drawing a card that was higher than this number.
He frowned slightly. Obviously, this game was set by Lin Chen, and the environment was inside the embassy. Everyone knew the reason the embassy staff had diplomatic immunity was because the embassy had always been a den of spies. All kinds of spies and countless tools for “cheating” lurked here. It was entirely possible for Lin Chen to find the tools to deal with him. He even secretly made up his mind that if Lin Chen wanted to win, he would just let him win. It wasn’t a big deal.
Thinking of this, Li Jingtian flipped over his card and looked at the number. For a moment, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
Unbelievably, despite the small probability, he had turned over a “Sun 10” which symbolizes extreme brightness and victory. Li Jingtian couldn’t control his expression for an instant, He was ecstatic inside and laughed. “Consultant Lin, it seems that your luck is pretty bad.”
It was part of human nature to attribute victory in gambling to luck and think it was God’s blessing, so they would feel as if they were invincible.
Li Jingtian’s doubts disappeared in an instant.
Lin Chen turned the cards back upside down and stuffed them into a pile. Although he looked surprised, he still raised the corners of his lips provocatively and said indifferently, “Please ask your question.”
Li Jingtian’s fist tightened slightly under the card table.
In fact, he could ask a simple question such as “How are you feeling today?” or “Are you in a good mood today?” to let the round pass quickly, but seeing Lin Chen’s indifferent expression and calm appearance, he suddenly didn’t want this matter to end so easily. When he thought of this, he glanced at the clock. The first round of the game took longer than he thought. Two minutes and thirty seconds had passed, so as long as he delayed time a little, the fifteen minutes would pass in no time.
“Mr. Lin, I’m afraid my question will be a little candid. You see, you have already pushed me so hard today. Can’t I also fight back a little?”
“Well, you don’t have to pave the way for your own filth. Just ask whatever you want. However, I suggest you restrain your nature. In case you can walk out of this room intact, you still have to maintain your status as an idol singer and a moral role model.”
“You have already poured sewage on me like this; how can I have any morals to be a role model to speak of?” Li Jingtian leaned back and suddenly realized that there wasn’t a backrest behind his chair, so he stumbled a bit before regaining his balance. This sudden gaffe displeased him. He said, “In fact, the content you satirized me wasn’t too wrong. Having humility, decency, and kindness was imposed on me by the company. Over the years, every time I encountered ridicule or maliciously fabricated scandals, I had to deal with things with a nonchalant attitude because this is what the public requested of us. But we artists aren’t really saints. I’m truly tired that everyone wants me to just endure it, but since we’re being honest with each other now, I suddenly don’t want to endure it any longer. I can honestly say that although I’m indeed not as noble as how I usually act, in any case, I’m not as bad as you say.”
“Can you cut the crap?” Lin Chen knocked on the alarm clock and interrupted his tirade.
Li Jingtian suddenly leaned forward.
Although Lin Chen controlled his expression very well, he still showed an irritable look. Li Jingtian saw this and said slowly, “Are you gay, Consultant Lin?”
If Lin Chen could watch the live broadcast on the big screen in the square or in any crowded place at this moment, he would definitely be able to hear the involuntary exclamations of the audience.
“Oh my god, he’s gay.”
“How gross.”
Similar words rang out among many people watching the live broadcast across the country.
Li Jingtian’s move was absolutely clever. He easily transferred the audience’s curiosity about him to Lin Chen.
Everyone in front of the TV waited for the answer with bated breath.
Lin Chen didn’t have much expression on his face. Li Jingtian was being stared at by these cold eyes and felt so excited that he was about to get an erection.
The second hand ticked three times before Lin Chen moved.
He got up slightly and took the dagger from the wooden box. A silver glint flashed, and blood overflowed. He didn’t hesitate to cut his arm.
All the viewers in front of the TV exclaimed again. They look at the knife wound on the hand of the psychological consultant with the police. The wound wasn’t deep, but blood was slowly oozing out. They silently thought, ‘Is he really gay? Is that why he decided to cut himself instead of answering?’
Li Jingtian looked at the knife wound on Lin Chen’s arm and was stunned for a moment, but he quickly realized that the question he asked offhandedly probably really poked at Lin Chen’s weak spot. It wasn’t natural for a person like Lin Chen to choose self-harm over answering the question.
“Consultant Lin seemed to have accidentally exposed his sexual orientation just now. Since it’s already exposed, why don’t you admit it frankly?”
“That’s a second question.”
Lin Chen allowed the blood to ooze from his wound and didn’t take any measures to stop the bleeding. He didn’t even have an expression of pain on his face.
“Consultant Lin, to be honest, I don’t understand why you insist on playing this game with me.”
“This Xinni card game contains an excellent collective subconscious. The game of drawing cards seems simple, but whether it’s tarot cards or other divination games, fortune is predicted by drawing cards. But for a psychologist, divination isn’t so much a mystery as it is a study of the human subconscious… So, when playing cards, remember to hide your fox tail, Li Jingtian.” Lin Chen raised his head and smiled slightly at Li Jingtian.
“Consultant Lin is really a master of serious nonsense.” Li Jingtian laughed dumbfoundedly, seemingly unconvinced by what he was saying. “Moreover, if cards can really be used for divinations, does this indicate that the Goddess of Victory is on my side?”
“You can try and test if she will stand by you forever.”
Hearing this, Li Jingtian picked up the cards on the table, shuffled the ten cards, and then spread them out upside down.
11 minutes and 30 seconds.
Li Jingtian took out a card.
Lin Chen didn’t speak. He picked the one on the left side of Li Jingtian’s hand with calm eyes.
His arm was still bleeding, and a stream of blood dripped down his elbow onto the table. The table was dotted with beads of blood, creating a shocking sight.
Without counting down, they both turned over the cards at the same time.
“Sun 5”. “Sun 6”.
Li Jingtian couldn’t hold back his ecstasy again. He even forgot to maintain his expression.
“It seems the Goddess of Victory really is on my side.” He threw his card back into the pile. “May I ask a second question?”
Li Jingtian stared at the person sitting opposite of him. Even under the warm light, Lin Chen’s face was gradually turning pale. Li Jingtian couldn’t control himself not to look at the wound on Lin Chen’s arm. Blood really did make him extremely excited.
Lin Chen nodded.
Li Jingtian stared at Lin Chen’s dark pupils and said softly, “Since you’re gay, have you ever slept with any of the police officers?”
After Lin Chen heard this question, his eyelashes drooped slightly. Li Jingtian couldn’t see his expression well. Just when Li Jingtian thought Lin Chen would speak, he actually reached out to draw the knife again.
Li Jingtian grabbed Lin Chen violently.
This feeling was too good. Under his palm was the back of Lin Chen’s hand. Lin Chen’s bones were distinct, and his skin was delicate. To his surprise, Lin Chen’s skin wasn’t cold but warm. He could almost feel the gurgling blood under the thin layer of skin that was burning…
“Consultant Lin, I’m sorry to ask you another question that you can’t answer and embarrass you like this. You don’t need to answer or self-harm. I take back the question just now,” Li Jingtian said apologetically. He believed that the expression he made was sincere, and the audience in front of the TV would be moved by his performance. He was also convinced that when he finished his lines, Lin Chen and the criminal police officer behind him should be unable to explain their way out. He even began to fantasize that Lin Chen would lose his job, and he would use any means to seize him.
“You go back on your words so easily. Your character must be bad,” Lin Chen said coldly.
Li Jingtian withdrew his hand.
Lin Chen took out the knife from the box without hesitation and slowly cut his arm again. The knife slit open his skin, and blood overflowed from the wound. Finally, Lin Chen put down the knife that was stained with dark, red blood, and laid it quietly on the table.
Li Jingtian looked at the two knife wounds on Lin Chen’s arm and was surprised by Lin Chen’s principle. Wasn’t this just a game with causal lies?
……
“Lin Chen, pay attention to your hand strength. Wound infection is no joke. I remember you’re allergic to broad-spectrum antibiotics.”
Xing Conglian’s deep, metallic-like voice came through the miniature headset in his ears. Perhaps it was because the embassy’s equipment was so advanced that Xing Conglian’s voice seemed to be flowing gently into his ear clearly. Lin Chen was surprised that Xing Conglian did not blame him for destroying his reputation, but instead warned him about his wound.
But this was all planned. What could be done?
Lin Chen glanced at Li Jingtian and said, “Continue.”
Hearing this, Li Jingtian naturally gathered the ten cards on the table and began to shuffle them again. “Don’t you know that cutting yourself with the knife is basically admitting your relationship with Captain Xing? Why would you rather hurt yourself than just give an answer?”
“Because for psychics, blood will make divinations more effective,” Lin Chen replied seriously.
Li Jingtian sniffed lightly. He didn’t know if it was the dim atmosphere deliberately created around him or for some other reason, but the smell of blood was mixed with a hint of sandalwood. Of course, it could be because of the old furnishings here that just gave him such an illusion.
Li Jingtian shook his head and said to Lin Chen, “You really know how to joke. Are you going to use this set of cards for divination?”
“I’m looking for something.”
Li Jingtian was taken aback for a moment.
Lin Chen knocked on the table with his knuckles and said to Li Jingtian, “Continue. Don’t waste time.”
Li Jingtian arranged the ten cards one by one on the table. He took one for himself. “If we follow the conventional best-of-five system, if I win the third round, we can end the game early, right?”
“Yes, but you will definitely not win.”
After Lin Chen finished speaking, he heard Xing Conglian whisper into the headset, “The third from the left.”
He pulled out the card according to Xing Conglian’s instructions and flipped it over.
It was the “Sun 9”.
Li Jingtian’s face changed as he turned over the card in his hand.
Coincidentally, they drew two adjacent card numbers this round.
Li Jingtian flipped over a “Sun 8”.
“It seems that my luck isn’t very good this round.” Li Jingtian shook his head.
9 minutes and 40 seconds.
Lin Chen finally got his chance to ask a question. All the audience members in front of the TV held their breath, waiting for him to ask.
Lin Chen said simply, “My question is as follows: Li Jingtian, among the countless crimes you committed in our despicable life, did you retain the original material because of your arrogance?”
Li Jingtian remained expressionless. Ever since Mu Zhuo made that phone call, he certainly knew that Lin Chen was looking for the master tape. Now that Lin Chen had finally raised this question, he was certainly not surprised, so he was able to control his expression well.
“What are you talking about? I don’t know,” he said sincerely. “What material?”
However, what he didn’t expect was that Lin Chen didn’t entangle more on this issue. Lin Chen simply smiled at him and let him go easily.
Li Jingtian became vigilant.
This round only took 30 seconds, and they had already entered the fourth round of the game with 9 minutes and 10 seconds remaining.
Lin Chen’s arm was still bleeding, so he could only hold the cards with one hand; thus, Li Jingtian had to gather the cards and shuffle them.
Li Jingtian began to think carefully about Lin Chen’s movements. He had no idea what Lin Chen wanted to do. There were only two rounds left. Lin Chen only had two chances left to ask him a question about the master tape, but how could that be possible?
While thinking of this, he realized he had subconsciously shuffled the cards and laid them out again.
He looked up suddenly.
However, Lin Chen was looking at him with a profound gaze and said, “Do you think it’s strange? You were lost in your thoughts and weren’t even thinking about shuffling the cards, yet you had already shuffled the deck and laid them out. Do you really think your consciousness can control your behavior? As long as you don’t speak, I won’t know where you hide your things?”
“Is this a question, Consultant Lin?” Li Jingtian thought for a moment before he shot back.
“Of course it doesn’t count.” Lin Chen suddenly sat straight up.
“I always draw first every time, so I’m afraid it’s Consultant Lin’s turn, right?” Li Jingtian finally started having doubts.
……
“1, 3, 5, 9, 8, 7, 10, 2, 6, 4.”
Lin Chen raised his brows and sat upright. Xing Conglian was revealing the sequence of the cards to him through the mini headset. After he reported the sequence, Xing Conglian said, “I suggest you choose the fifth on the right. That’s number 7, which is safer, but the question is, how can you make the number Li Jingtian draws be lower than yours?”
Lin Chen didn’t act immediately. After thinking for a while, he pressed his finger on the second card on the left but didn’t immediately flip over the card. His pale fingertips slid across the cards in the middle, one by one, and finally stopped on the second card on the right.
He pulled out the card and flip it over in one go.
Xing Conglian sat in front of the high-definition monitor and looked at the Sun 6 on the card table that Lin Chen just pulled out. There was a sense of tension accompanied by a rapid heartbeat. Lin Chen was really bold.
When Lin Chen explained the entire game to him earlier, he said that the fourth round of the game was the most difficult to grasp because the only thing he couldn’t control was the order of who drew the cards this round.
Lin Chen said that as a Xinnian, Li Jingtian would want to take the lead. He even suggested that if Li Jingtian won first, based on his personality, he would take the initiative to draw first. Li Jingtian wouldn’t have any doubts if he won the first two rounds, but once he lost the third round, according to his personality, he would inevitably suspect them of cheating. At that time, Li Jingtian would make him draw first, so he had to draw a card that wasn’t high enough that Li Jingtian would suspect they were cheating.
But just now, Lin Chen gave up the “Sun 7” and chose the smaller “Sun 6”. Xing Conglian found that even he couldn’t figure out what Lin Chen was thinking.
If Lin Chen could talk to Xing Conglian right now, he would tell him that because of his actions just now, the cards Li Jingtian would choose would only be out of four cards; the first from the left, the second from the left, the first from the right, and the third from the right. He was vigilant and was likely to choose the left at the end.
In the attack, Li Jingtian turned his gaze to the card table. Because of Lin Chen’s actions just now, he had various doubts in his heart.
He first put his finger on the “Sun 3” that was second to the left and found that Lin Chen had no change in his expression. Then he put his hand on the first on the right. Lin Chen had a slight frown on his face. The pattern on the cards was exactly the same, so there were no hints. Li Jingtian was about to flip it over. When his fingers touched the card, he quickly returned to the left and flipped over the “Sun 1”.
When he saw the unique bronzing sun pattern on the card, Li Jingtian felt dejected. He leaned back in his chair and staggered again.
Many viewers in front of the TV laughed out loud, and Li Jingtian seemed to feel their laughter. His face was as black as the bottom of a pot. After adjusting his breathing, he said, “Consultant Lin, you may ask your question.”
Lin Chen took out a pencil from the pocket of his shirt, then the pages from the file he was reading just now, and randomly pulled a page out and shoved it towards Li Jingtian together with the pencil. Because of the motion of him stretching his arm, blood dripped onto the surface of the card, making the scene particularly hideous.
Lin Chen sat back and said to Li Jingtian, “Please draw on this piece of paper the five elements of house, people, bird, sun, and flower of the Xinni cards suits, and then use this drawing to tell me where you stored that item.”
Li Jingtian was still holding the pencil that Lin Chen handed him, but after hearing what Lin Chen requested, he threw the pencil away. “What Consultant Lin said was just questions and answers. You didn’t say I need to draw, right?”
“Well, as psychologists, the way we ask for answers may be a little different. Please forgive me,” Lin Chen said casually.
“You didn’t explain this in advance, so I decline.” Li Jingtian pretended to be helpless.
“Well, if you don’t draw it, I won’t let you go in 15 minutes.” Lin Chen paused, then said, “Moreover, it would be very suspicious if you didn’t do it. It’s just a picture. Do you really believe I can guess your black and dirty heart from a picture?”
Li Jingtian observed Lin Chen for a long time before realizing that Lin Chen wasn’t joking with him from the beginning. He wanted to refute, but he didn’t know what to say.
He suddenly remembered that person. In the same dim recording studio, that person was lying on the ground, looking at him with the same tenacious eyes as Lin Chen. In the background was the song he made. He pulled that person’s hair and forced him to listen to that song over and over again, but no matter how many times he listened to it, the person would only say, “Trash”.
Trash was obviously referring to both himself and the music he created.
Thinking of this, Li Jingtian collected himself. Somehow, under Lin Chen’s guidance, he really started thinking of Song Shengsheng. This wasn’t good. He couldn’t think about it anymore. Otherwise, he would likely be exposed.
He picked up the pencil that he had thrown on the ground. No matter what, Lin Chen was right. If he didn’t do it, it would look suspicious.
Finally, he started to draw the first stroke on the blank piece of paper. “How do you need me to draw?”
“You can draw whatever you want, but first draw me a person.” Lin Chen stretched his neck and glanced at the content drawn by Li Jingtian, then continued, “Don’t draw a stickman. At least draw a person doing something.”
When Li Jingtian heard this, he really drew it on the paper.
On either side of the card table, one person was drawing vigorously, while the other was leaning back in his chair leisurely watching as he nagged. “Don’t reveal the information to me, Li Jingtian. I can guess things if you make it too accurate.”
“I have a suggestion. You better block out where you put that thing in your mind. Otherwise, it’s easy to project it onto your drawing.”
“There’s no such thing,” Li Jingtian raised his head and responded irritably.
“Okay, you can draw the house now.” Lin Chen spoke in an almost teasing tone, switching from the norm. “Pay attention when you draw the house. The things you draw in the room can easily show whether you are hiding what I’m seeking indoors or outdoors. It’s recommended that you just draw something simple. My request isn’t that troublesome…”
Li Jingtian reluctantly started drawing the house according to Lin Chen’s words, followed by flowers, sun, and birds…
Every time he drew something, Lin Chen kept talking, so that by the time he finished, his forehead was actually covered in a thin layer of sweat.
“Draw me another tree, Li Jingtian,” Lin Chen said.
……
In the surveillance room, Wang Chao looked at Li Jingtian, who was drawing obediently, with his mouth wide open, almost forgetting to observe the data on his screen.
“A’Chen Gege is so amazing. Li Jingtian is drawing innocently.”
However, Xing Conglian’s face was serious, and he remained silent.
He knew better than anyone that the reason Li Jingtian was obediently drawing on paper was because Lin Chen deprived him of the possibility of making other choices. This was the exchange for the two knife wounds on Lin Chen’s arm.
Lin Chen had told him a lot before the start of this gamble, including analyzing the physiological characteristics of people with antisocial personality disorder. Lin Chen said that people like Li Jingtian had a very low level of cerebral cortex excitement. This was the reason that prompted Li Jingtian to constantly seek abnormal stimulation in order to maintain the excitement level of the cerebral cortex. It also made it difficult for him to feel fear or panic. People with antisocial personality disorder were best at hiding it, so it was difficult for the police to break through his mind in a normal interrogation situation to infer the truth from their reactions.
The reason he wanted to set up a bet with Li Jingtian was to excite him. The victory and blood in the first two rounds would stimulate Li Jingtian and activate his cerebral cortex, and the subsequent defeat would make him flustered. Of course, this panic wasn’t comparable to the helplessness of ordinary gamblers, but it was enough to make Li Jingtian start to doubt. He would doubt their motives and the purpose of the bet, and of course, the most important thing was that he would begin to doubt his luck.
For anyone, once they lost their faith, they would become easy to deal with.
Not only that, but the wonderful thing about this game was the option of refusing to answer. In normal interrogation, Li Jingtian could prevaricate by relying on the questions, but since Lin Chen lost the first two rounds, this induced him to ask more offensive questions. Lin Chen’s refusal to answer and cutting his hand twice made Li Jingtian realize that rejection was tantamount to admission, so no matter what Lin Chen asked, Li Jingtian would not refuse to answer. He only had two choices: to answer positively or to lie. But what if he encountered a question that he couldn’t lie but also couldn’t answer?
For example, drawing a picture…
Lin Chen had reported these processes to him. When he heard that Lin Chen had set so many traps on a simple bet, his first reaction was that, fortunately, Lin Chen was on his side, and he usually treated him well. However, when he saw the knife wound on Lin Chen’s arms, Xing Conglian suddenly became extremely irritated.
It was better just to kill Li Jingtian, was what he thought at that time.
……
The moment Li Jingtian stopped drawing, there were 7 minutes left.
He handed the drawing to Lin Chen with both hands, and Lin Chen stretched out his hand to take it.
Li Jingtian looked at the card table and asked, “Do you want to continue?”
Lin Chen stared at the drawing Li Jingtian handed in and waved his hand casually.
“Did you see anything?” Li Jingtian asked in a good-tempered manner while shuffling the cards. He then took out a card and put it in front of him without flipping it over.
Lin Chen put down the drawing. The white paper was underneath his wound. His blood stained the paper and swelled, dyeing the drawn figurine red.
Lin Chen sat upright and slowly said, “10 years ago, you used illegal means to imprison Song Shengsheng and subjected him to inhumane sexual abuse for months or even years. You raped him, beat him, and regarded him as a plaything for your lust. After you felt things couldn’t go on like this, you conspired with Mu Zhuo to accuse Song Shengsheng of raping him. Song Shengsheng was wrongfully convicted and spent 8 years in prison in vain. When you were at Royal One three weeks ago, you met Xu Ran, a longtime fan of Song Shengsheng. Xu Ran refused to provide you with sexual service, so you used the same cruel methods you used on Song Shengsheng and raped her…”
Lin Chen spoke slowly, word by word, tearing apart the dark past from nine years ago with an extremely calm voice.
Both inside and outside the room, as well as outside the building, and the entire world fell into silence.
Everyone thought they heard it wrong. What’s going on? What is Song Shengsheng? Who is Song Shengsheng? Xu Ran was a fan of Song Shengsheng, and Li Jingtian raped them? What the hell was going on?
The audience watching the live broadcast felt that they didn’t know what to expect. First, it was a gambling game in which the policeman self-harmed himself because he didn’t want to admit his sexual orientation. Then the policeman was looking for something, and now it changed to Li Jingtian raping Song Shengsheng.
After the silence, everyone started whispering. They asked each other what was going on, so their second action was to take out their phones and open a webpage. They started to frantically search for the words “Song Shengsheng”.
——”The young star that lost his voice. Song Shengsheng’s cruelty finally exposed.”
——”The famous singer who went to jail, now looks like a skeleton.”
Various news headlines appeared in a flash. It didn’t take long for people to fully understand the situation. Song Shengsheng became the champion of Weibo keyword searches with an unstoppable trend.
As for Song Shengsheng’s only remaining tenacious fans, as early as when Lin Chen said “Song Shengsheng” they burst into tears.
Mu Wenhua was such a girl. Nine years ago, she was a student who had just finished her college entrance exam in Hongjing. Because of her good grades, her parents knew how badly she loved Song Shengsheng, so they specifically rewarded her with a front-row ticket to his concert. Her father not only said he would personally take her to Yongchuan Stadium for the concert, but because it would be too late to return home, they would stay in Yongchuan for a night, so he even booked a hotel.
Mu Wenhua had been looking forward to this day’s itinerary since the ticket was issued. She would buy lots of merchandise at the concert. Just looking at the exquisite booths would take up her whole day. When the concert started, she would enter and sit down. Everyone would be spontaneously singing. Then at eight o’clock sharp, Shengsheng would dazzlingly appear on stage.
But these were things she had fantasized about for a long time and were broken by the rape case. There was no Yongchuan, no concert, and even the sound was gone. She cried, yet she was mocked by her friends and scolded by her parents. They all said she was blind to actually like a rapist. Her parents tore up all her posters and threw away all her CDs. Song Shengsheng had never appeared in her life since that summer.
Until now… Until that person on TV said Shengsheng was wrongfully accused and imprisoned.
She covered her mouth tightly. Tears flowed involuntarily. Her two-year-old daughter sat next to her, tugging at her clothes, for unknown reasons.
Mu Wenhua’s heart was broken.
However, Lin Chen’s narrative stopped.
After he finished his words, a handwritten letter appeared in the middle of the screen. Xu Ran’s tearful accusation moved everyone on the TV.
Thick and dark clouds enveloped everyone’s hearts. After reading Xu Ran’s letter, many people couldn’t help but cover their eyes and stop watching. They obviously came to watch entertainment gossip. Why did it become like this?
Yet the game in the dim attic continued.
Li Jingtian was silent for a long time. He put his hands on the table and said to Lin Chen, “So you’re just adding insult to injury.”
Lin Chen pointed to his ears and said, “Now all the audience will hear a song. That is your Illi’s famous single, ‘Peaceful’. At the beginning of the climax of this song, at 1 minute and 31 seconds, you inserted a large scream as background music, including Song Shengsheng’s screams of pain when you violently abused him.”
“That’s material from a music library. I don’t know the source,” Li Jingtian said.
“If it’s not material from a music library but instead full audio of Song Shengsheng that you personally recorded, does it mean that if a master tape exists, it can prove all this?” Lin Chen finally pressed on the wound on his arm and didn’t give Li Jingtian a chance to speak. “Li Jingtian, do you know that although you’re worse than a beast, you still at least belong to a species called humans. If you’re human, then you can’t escape the innate inferior nature of humans—a nature we have cultivated in tens of thousands of years of survival and reproduction. No one is immune to it.”
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” Li Jingtian glanced at the clock, as if waiting for the moment the alarm would go off. “Is the game going to continue?”
“This nature includes one thing. You think you can hide your crimes, but in fact your brain activity time is three seconds faster than the time you feel you have to make a decision.” Lin Chen tapped his temple with his fingers. “In other words, no matter how restrained you are, your brain still precedes your consciousness and exposes lots of things…”
Li Jingtian interrupted him, “Consultant Lin, are you giving me a popular science lecture in psychology? I’m not interested.”
“No, I’m advising you. It’s better to close your eyes and walk to the corner with your back to me going forward, so that I won’t notice any abnormalities in your reaction, and I may not guess where the master tape is.”
“I’m not guilty, so I won’t go,” Li Jingtian said firmly.
……
In the surveillance room, Wang Chao touched the goosebumps all over his body and said, “A’Chen Gege nailed Li Jingtian to that chair and cut off all his escape routes. So cruel. I’ll never fight against A’Chen Gege in the future!”
Xing Conglian turned his head to face Wang Chao. “Don’t be distracted. Look at your own stuff.”
Wang Chao hurriedly turned his head. In front of him were two other display screens.
In the center of one display screen was a three-dimensional dynamic graph. The data flow in the lower corner of the graph was constantly changing, while the other screen in front of Wang Chao displayed a series of data such as Li Jingtian’s heartbeat, body temperature, and pulse. Naturally Li Jingtian wasn’t aware that most of his physiological data was hidden in the table and turned into specific model diagrams for analysis.
……
“Very good.” In the attic, Lin Chen smiled at Li Jingtian. “You just said that you’re not interested in psychology. In fact, I advise you to learn some relevant knowledge. For example, there’s a famous term called the ‘rebound effect*’ in psychology. To the effect that the more you suppress certain thoughts, they will emerge in a more violent manner. The simplest example is that if I tell you not to think of ‘a white bear’, then the reaction in your mind is ‘a white bear’. You see, this is what I’m saying when I tell you about the uncontrolled state of people.” Lin Chen raised the corner of his mouth and continued. “It’s like when I repeatedly ask you to hide the clues on the master tape. It will appear in your mind in subtle ways that you will not notice. Then those images that appear repeatedly would be reflected in your drawing.”
*Refers to suppression of a particular thought often result in subsequent increased return of the unwanted thought.
After he finished speaking, he held up the drawing so that all the audience in front of the TV could see it.
“I still don’t understand what master tape you’re talking about. After all, there’s no such thing, so how can it be reflected in my drawing?”
“Because the drawing you drew is a bit special.” Lin Chen put Li Jingtian’s drawing back on the card table and said calmly, “The reason why you chose the Sun suit is simple. Among the five suits, Sun contains two elements of psychology’s most famous ‘House-Tree-Person Test*’. The House-Tree-Person Test is a personality test commonly used in psychotherapy. It can systematically release your subconscious, including your motivation, perception, insights, past experiences, and the like…”
*(HTP) is a projective test intended to measure different aspects of personality. Test takers are asked to draw a house, a tree, and a person. The interpretation of these drawings is used to create a picture of the person’s cognitive, emotional, and social functioning.
“So, did you see anything from my House-Tree-Person Test just now?” Li Jingtian maintained a decent and humble smile.
“It’s unfortunate that I’m a national licensed psychiatrist and have forensic authority. Based on this drawing, I can identify that you have full civil capacity.” Lin Chen pointed to the simple white paper on the table. “You see, this is like a baseline. When your legal team wants to defend your innocence in court on the ground of mental illness, it will never cross that threshold.”
A crack finally appeared on Li Jingtian’s fake calm face. Seeing this situation, Lin Chen continued, “But mental appraisal is an afterthought. Now, please wipe out the white bear in your mind. Let’s talk about this drawing of yours.”
“I would like to hear more about it.”
“First of all, the intermittent brushstrokes in your drawing indicate that you’re impatient. You have difficulty controlling your impulsiveness; the roof of the house you painted has sharp corners, indicating that you are impulsive and have an abnormal interest in morbid things. The horizon line on the right side of this tree is deepened and emphasized, indicating that you’re afraid of what’s coming; the eyes of the person you painted are very round, showing that you have a strong desire to control, are willful and selfish…”
“You can just call me a rotten person. Anyway, what you’re doing is just lip service.”
Lin Chen smiled. “Mr. Li Jingtian, this is a scientific analysis based on test norms, and I am a professional.”
“So, Consultant Lin. Is it your specialty to create fictitious things? Where is that master tape that you’re talking about?
“Your provocation towards me is tiresome.” Lin Chen stained his fingertips with some blood. He circled the house drawn by Li Jingtian with bloodstains and said, “Well, let’s get to the point. I have always suspected that you hid the master tape at home, but after looking at the house you drew, I think this is unlikely. The line on the left side of the house is particularly unstable, indicating that your family relationship is bad, not to mention the distorted walls. In your mind, your family, and thus your home, is an unreliable place, so you wouldn’t hide things in your own house or someone else’s house..”
While Lin Chen spoke and observed Li Jingtian’s expression, Wang Chao kept reporting Li Jingtian’s physiological index to him through the headset.
Li Jingtian was worthy of being a top psychopath. Under such circumstances, he was still able to stabilize his heartbeat.
Lin Chen moved his gaze to the exterior of the wall of the house on the paper. “You were very relaxed when you heard what I said just now, so the master tape really isn’t indoors. Where did you hide it?”
“Wait A’Chen, when you said ‘isn’t indoors’ just now, Li Jingtian seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.”
Hearing this, Lin Chen stared at the door and windows drawn by Li Jingtian, then questioned, “Actually, the master tape isn’t ‘in your home’, but it’s still indoors?”
“Li Jingtian is beginning to panic,” Wang Chao whispered.
“The master tape isn’t in your home, but it’s certainly inside a building?” Lin Chen looked at the trees and flowers in the picture and continued, “The flowers and trees you painted are far away from the building, which shows that there’s very little vegetation around that place. It shouldn’t be a cemetery or a wilderness. There are clusters of buildings in the cities, so you wouldn’t hide it at CA Entertainment headquarters, right?” Lin Chen glanced at Li Jingtian, then shook his head. “No, it’s not at the headquarters of CA Entertainment. What kind of building is it?”
Li Jingtian’s complexion was getting worse.
“We’re going to talk about the beauty of the Xinni cards again. One of the five suits is a bird, and in your subconscious, the bird is a symbol of Song Shengsheng. Of course, this kind of psychoanalysis is more abstract, so you don’t need to refute me. It’s a pure coincidence that I just observed that you originally planned to draw the bird on the roof of the house, but your strokes suddenly changed midway. Instead, you drew the bird in the sky and then drew lots of clouds around the bird. These clouds show that you subconsciously want to hide things better, and it also means that there are many things wrapped around the master tape. So did you hide that tape high up in a building with many things around it?”
Accompanied by the ticking sound, Li Jingtian was losing control of his muscles.
“What are you nervous about? This limit is for me.” Lin Chen finished speaking and stared at Li Jingtian’s drawing again. “The door of the building you painted is very large, and the windows are very small. There’s a problem with this ratio… The door is huge and will reflect the proportions of the building. Based on the ratio of the person you drew compared to the building, it should be a very large building. This should be correct. It’s a building with a big door but no windows?”
Lin Chen stopped after saying this.
Li Jingtian clasped his hands and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Because the following content doesn’t use this picture, it is purely a guess. If you keep a piece of incriminating evidence, it means that it’s of great significance to you. A pervert like you will always keep something that you think is a trophy. If you don’t have the master tape by your side, then it must be in a very meaningful place. It’s a place that can prove you’re stronger than Song Shengsheng and can continue to humiliate him after he’s in jail.”
A large building, huge door, area away from vegetation…
Lin Chen looked up in shock. He felt some fear for his guess. He couldn’t think of how devastated Song Shengsheng’s fan would be if his guess was true.
“You hid that master tape in a certain building where Song Shengsheng held a concert?’
“A’Chen, Li Jingtian’s heartbeat has obvious signs of acceleration.”
“It’s not an ordinary concert venue. It should be a place where Song Shengsheng once graced the stage, and you also held concerts there later. In that venue, you experienced extraordinary power. That place tells you that Song Shengsheng is already a thing of the past, and you are the greatest singer now… And you hid that master tape there to show off to all of Song Shengsheng’s fans, thinking the idol they like is a bitch who moans under you.” Lin Chen felt uncomfortable, but he still had to go on. “So, tell me, Li Jingtian. Where did you hide it? Of the four places, is it Zheliu Mesa Performing Arts Center, Fengchun Anhe Stadium, Yongchuan Christine Cultural Center, or Yangcheng Tianli Stadium?”
“Enough!” Li Jingtian slammed his fist on the table.
The second hand counted down to 30 seconds.
“It’s not enough. Of course not.” Lin Chen finally held down the headset. He took a step back, pushed the chair away, and stood up. “Is it at the Yongchuan Christine Cultural Center?”
Li Jingtian finally showed a completely crazed expression on his face. It was insane, bloody, and hideous, as if only a repulsive, primitive creature in the mud could display.
Lin Chen still didn’t let Li Jingtian go. He said condescendingly, “Do you want to know why I guess so accurately? Because the table in front of you is loaded with the most sophisticated pressure detector. And the reason why you had to sit on that square stool is because people subconsciously seek support in a state of tension, so without a backrest, you will definitely put your hands on the table. This table will accurately record your pressure reading when you hear every word I say. I said earlier that your body’s response will be more honest than your mouth’s, so Li Jingtian—the Christine Cultural Center. You’re finished.”
The next moment, Li Jingtian suddenly grabbed the knife on the table and stood up abruptly.
“Performing a murder in front of audiences all over the world?” Lin Chen actually laughed.
The next moment, Li Jingtian moved the knife across his neck. “Consultant Lin, why are you pushing me so hard?”
“If you die now, you’ll never return to your country.”
Lin Chen looked at the alarm clock on the table.
The second hand returned to its place, and the alarm rang through the air.
Li Jingtian consciously threw away the knife and rushed to the door, vigorously pulling it open.
The moment he saw light, Lin Chen walked in front of the table and flipped over a card. The card was covered with dazzling golden sunlight.
Sun 10.
Pass, kill.
“Li Jingtian, remember to run faster,” Lin Chen said softly.
Kinky Thoughts:
This is probably my favorite chapter of this novel.
The moment Li Jingtian opened the door, he almost thought he was hallucinating.
He never thought he would see Lin Chen again in this way.
The ambient light in the attic was extremely dim. The small chandelier on the ceiling shook gently when the door was pushed open. Someone was sitting under the small chandelier, reclining on a dark brown chair. Li Jingtian looked at the person sitting under the chandelier and didn’t immediately react to the danger.
The reason was probably because Lin Chen’s reclining chair looked too peaceful, or perhaps it was because Lin Chen rarely wore glasses. The slender, black frame was really suitable on him. Coupled with the warm yellow light and his movements of lowering his head and flipping through some documents, this made Li Jingtian suddenly feel an impulse.
Of course, he was always impulsive, but he was also good at restraining them, so he was extremely vigilant after entering the room. He didn’t immediately slam the door and leave or say anything rude, leaving himself in a passive situation.
After all, he was a professional singer, and the habits of maintaining a good demeanor were already seared deep into his bones.
He looked around and quickly noticed that four professional 4K high-definition cameras were set up at the top of the four corners of the room. The cameras were lit up in red, indicating that they were working.
Li Jingtian inadvertently looked at the window again, only to realize that the window of the attack was covered by a professional studio black veil, in order to create a subtle atmosphere, regardless of day or night.
Although it wasn’t clear what Lin Chen was doing, all the atmosphere showed that he had just stepped into a trap. Li Jingtian smiled. Fortunately, he still maintained his good tongue and actions just now, having been born the son of a noble family and was a famous singer.
“Consultant Lin, I didn’t expect we would meet again in this way. I thought you wouldn’t come.” He stood by the door but didn’t close it as he greeted Lin Chen in an amicable tone.
“Oh, that’s just because you haven’t thought about it.” Lin Chen was still staring at the paper in his hand and responded without even raising his head.
“Consultant Lin, you’re really so aggressive toward me,” Li Jingtian said with emotion. He looked at Lin Chen’s slender neck, which was exposed when he lowered it to read. His skin was fair and delicate, like fine China, making him wonder what it would taste like if he took a bite.
Li Jingtian swallowed carefully and became more vigilant because of his instinct.
Although Lin Chen was pretending to be a seductive prey, he knew better than anyone else what kind of experienced hunter his opponent was; steady and precise. Once he locked onto a target, he would never let go of the trigger.
Li Jingtian glanced at Lin Chen’s calm face again, feeling more creeped out. He realized that his best choice now was to leave immediately—at least not step into this room—but when he was thinking this, Lin Chen raised his head.
“Please close the door, Mr. Li Jingtian,” Lin Chen said in an imperative tone.
Li Jingtian laughed instead and asked, “Are you restricting my personal freedom?”
Lin Chen shook his head. He pointed to the corners of the room as he spoke in a voice that was as calm as water. “As you can see, there are four high-definition cameras mounted in the four corners of this room. These four cameras belong to Yongchuan Satellite TV, Central News, CATV, and MeTube, the world’s four largest media stations. Now, these four media giants will broadcast the entire process of my conversation with you, so you can make a conservative estimate of how many people are watching your conversation with me… If you don’t want to look too guilty, then say hello to our audience friends in front of the TV first.”
Following Lin Chen’s words, Li Jingtian raised his eyes and looked at the four cameras. The space was filled with a buzzing sound from the cameras. His back was cold, and he could only feel the four cameras suddenly turning into countless empty eyes, staring at him at this moment.
He understood that Lin Chen was intimidating him to increase his psychological pressure, but he couldn’t move his feet because of these words.
The live broadcast, countless viewers, and the caring eyes of hundreds of millions of stars were all temptations that he couldn’t refuse.
He thought for a while, then turned his head and asked Lin Chen, “Conversation? In fact, isn’t it more appropriate for you to say interrogation? First of all, I don’t know what crime I have committed and need to be interrogated by the Chinese police. Secondly, since it’s an interrogation without any formal procedures, naturally I can refuse, no?”
“Of course you can refuse, but you should know first of all, it’s difficult for a person like you to find a better opportunity to be watched by the public in this lifetime… Secondly, let me remind you that if you turn around and leave, this behavior will be very suspicious in the eyes of the audience. I advise you not to do this,” Lin Chen said calmly.
Li Jingtian looked at the four corners of the room again. He knew better than anyone else that when he walked into the room, there was no chance of escape.
With a long sigh, he walked up to Lin Chen helplessly and sat down on the stool opposite him.
“Consultant Lin, you can ask anything you want, but I have a plane to catch, so I hope you can complete the interrogation as soon as possible.”
“I understand.” Lin Chen nodded, then fell silent.
For the first time, Li Jingtian felt the silence was a bit uncomfortable. He discovered that he was feeling uneasy because he was sitting on a small square stool that was extremely uncomfortable, whereas Lin Chen was sitting comfortably with his legs crossed on a chair with a backrest. The distance between them was also awkward. They were about two meters apart—a distance that wasn’t too short nor too far, and there was nothing in the middle. The feeling of facing each other was extremely nerve-wracking.
“That half an hour was hard just now, right?” Lin Chen suddenly asked him.
Li Jingtian’s heart skipped a beat. He suddenly felt he had fallen into Lin Chen’s trap again, but he had to pretend to answer calmly. “Actually, it wasn’t. I was simply packing my luggage and felt that time passed by quickly.”
“Didn’t you just remind me you have a plane to catch and for me not to delay you too long?” Lin Chen paused, then continued, “In fact, you can bluntly tell me what you’re thinking. If you’re too pedantic, the audience will think you’re being hypocritical.”
Li Jingtian had never met such a person as Lin Chen. He adjusted his thoughts, leaned forward slightly, and said, “It’s a bit embarrassing to be guessed by you. If you can be considerate of my eagerness to go home, that would be great.”
“I understand.” Lin Chen nodded. Then, to Li Jingtian’s great surprise, Lin Chen actually clapped his hands.
The crisp sound of clapping echoed in the attic.
The next thing he knew, the door behind him creaked open.
Li Jingtian suddenly turned his head and saw that the wooden door of the attic was violently pushed open, and two people walked into the room carrying a long table.
Li Jingtian recognized one of them. It was Shen Chenggong, the embassy military attaché responsible for protecting him during this trip.
Shen Chenggong looked at him with cold eyes full of anger. Li Jingtian didn’t know what tricks Lin Chen had used to make him follow his orders, but this scene gave him intense psychological pressure. This was probably another one of Lin Chen’s tricks.
However, Li Jingtian thought mockingly that even if it was, it didn’t matter. No matter what, the initiative was in his hands, and it was impossible for Lin Chen to get anything out of him in a short conversation.
More importantly, Li Jingtian felt that after sitting face-to-face with Lin Chen for a while, he had gradually calmed down. He thought that Lin Chen was right. Thinking of the millions of eyes watching him, he actually had a crepey sense of excitement.
It could be said that the person who knows you best will always be your nemesis.
He looked up at the quiet psychologist opposite him and felt that he was about to fall in love with Lin Chen.
……
The old man who lived in the Li mansion in the capital of Xinni was also stimulated.
But his kind of stimulation wasn’t due to excitement, but because of tension. Looking at the picture of his grandson sitting opposite of the Hongjing policeman, Mr. Li felt that his blood vessels were about to burst.
He called Ambassador Luo Qiusheng’s number for the third time; his fingers trembling with anger.
Several long waiting sounds passed, and this time, the phone finally connected.
The moment it was connected, Mr. Li yelled into the phone with all his might, “Luo Qiusheng, are you crazy? Why is Jingtian in that room? You let him out. You must let him out right away!”
“Sorry Mr. Li. I can’t do it,” Luo Qiusheng replied calmly.
“You are selling out our country. You’re trampling on the dignity of our country!”
Mr. Li, who was far away in the Xinni Capital, threw his cane hard at the living room clock. The clock rang as glass shattered. The loud noise echoed in the empty hall, making people dizzy.
The servants were all silent. Mr. Li restrained his urge to smash the phone. He took a deep breath and threatened in a very calm tone, “Luo Qiusheng, don’t forget who has supported you and brought you to the position you’re in now. How dare you say that to me? You can’t do it?”
“It’s you,” Ambassador Luo replied humbly. “You have always been kind to me.”
“You recognize my kindness? Yet you’re repaying me with this? That is my only grandson of the Li family. Why don’t you just come to my doorstep and stab this old man to death? Isn’t that more straightforward?”
Ambassador Luo stood by the window and moved the phone away from his ear.
Although the old man who went crazy for the sake of his future generation still remembered his status, he left all righteousness and benevolence behind. Mr. Ambassador rarely showed a mocking look on his face and said bluntly, “I’m really sorry, Mr. Li, but I can’t refuse because the ‘door’ is open.”
After Luo Qiusheng finished speaking, there was a long pause on the phone. Luo Qiusheng even suspected that Mr. Li might have had a heart attack because his breathing had become stagnant.
Thinking of this, the mock on his lips became more intense. He felt that overwhelming others wasn’t too bad.
After a while, the old man began to question him with the same tone as if what he said was a joke. “Luo Qiusheng, you don’t need to find such an excuse to prevaricate with an old man. Not to mention that my grandson was falsely accused of raping a Chinese, if Jingtian really killed her, the door wouldn’t open because of some small incident the size of a bean!”
“But the door really is open,” Ambassador Luo Qiusheng rebutted calmly.
The other end of the line fell silent again. Mr. Li thought for a while and finally seemed to make up his mind. He said solemnly, “I want to talk to the ‘knocker’!”
On the other end of the phone, Ambassador Luo Qiusheng looked at the man standing in front of him but didn’t immediately agree to Li Lao’s request.
However, the other party had guessed what he was thinking. Not only did he look away from the screen, but he also stretched out his hand towards him.
Hearing the breathing sound at the other end of the line becoming quieter, Mr. Lu used honorifics for the first time in the countless calls he made today. “Hello.”
But the person on the other end of the phone didn’t respond. Not even the rhythm of his breathing changed. Perceiving that the other party might hang up in the next moment, Mr. Li made up his mind and hurriedly said, “I don’t care who you are, but please believe me that Jingtian has really been wronged. Please let him go. As long as you let him go, it’ll be a great favor to our Li family. If you make a condition, I will accept it. Anything can be discussed. All of it can be negotiated!”
The old man’s tone became more anxious, until the person on the other end of the line finally responded.
“Mr. Li, what did I just say?”
“You… You didn’t say anything,” the old man said humbly.
“Since I didn’t say anything, why do you think there’s room for negotiations between us?”
“What do you want? No matter what, name the price!”
There was no sadness or joy in the man’s face—no contempt, ridicule, or emotions.
He said, “First of all, there are really not many people in this world who are qualified to bargain with me. You obviously don’t belong in that category.” As he spoke, he looked down at the people sitting on either side of the long table on the screen. Looking from the surveillance camera, they both had calm faces under the dim chandelier light, giving off a mysterious feeling.
And his existence was just to prop up some possibilities.
“Please!”
Hearing this, he said to the old man on the other end, “And you should know, in fact, if I want to deal with Li Jingtian, there are many ways to make his life worse than death, but now, I have chosen the most upright method. You should be happy.”
After saying this, the man moved the phone away from his ear and casually hung up.
……
The attic was dim but calm.
There were some things on the long table that had been newly moved into the room.
From left to right, there was a clock, a deck of cards, and a square wooden box.
The wooden door was shut again as the personnel retreated.
Lin Chen put his hand on the wooden table, picked up the deck of playing cards, and pushed it face up and sideways.
Like facing an old friend, he casually said to Li Jingtian, “I have always liked Xinni’s cards. Although it’s not much different from the cards that are common all over the world, I always think that the design of Xinni cards is very interesting, and people can’t help but delve into its meaning.”
Lin Chen drew out five cards at random, as if showing them inadvertently, and continued, “I once flipped through a research book on Xinni cards. It’s said that the designer of Xinni cards was to commemorate the Red Sun War, so he designed five different suits, among which ‘house’ symbolizes homeland, ‘people’ symbolizes the warriors, ‘bird’ symbolizes freedom, ‘sun’ symbolizes victory, and ‘flower’ symbolizes heroic spirit. This kind of symbolism is something I have never seen in gambling systems in other countries.”
“Consultant Lin, since you took cards out, do you want to gamble with me?” Li Jingtian interrupted.
Lin Chen acted as if he didn’t hear Li Jingtian’s question. He put the five cards of different suits back into the deck, then began to shuffle the deck. “And I heard that in Xinni’s underground bars, they play cards in a very interesting way. This kind of card game was born out of the most primitive way of betting, and influenced by the bar’s quick knife and finger game, and evolved into what it is now.”
As Lin Chen spoke, he knocked on the table and asked Li Jingtian, “What suit do you like best? Just pick one.”
Li Jingtian was taken aback, as if he suspected there was something hidden in this question. After careful consideration, he finally answered, “Sun.”
Lin Chen laid out the deck again and took a golden sun ace out of the pile. “This game is very simple. It’s mainly about luck. Both sides will draw one from the ten inverted cards from 1-10. The person who draws the highest number wins. Of course, the game of pure ratio is a little stupid, but the interesting thing about this game is the bet. The winner of each round may ask the loser any questions. The game stipulates that the loser must answer truthfully. If you really don’t want to answer, you can cut yourself with a knife to show your determination.”
Lin Chen opened the wooden box on the table with his other hand.
A short knife lay quietly inside, against the backdrop of black velvet. The blade of the dagger shone with dazzling silver light.
Li Jingtian laughed. He could hardly restrain the corners of his mouth, but he had to maintain an innocent attitude. “This game is too dangerous for you. We can play a match, but can we not bet?”
“As long as you’re willing to tell the truth, this game isn’t dangerous at all.”
Li Jingtian shook his head, as if he felt Lin Chen’s proposal was too outrageous. “But how can we tell if the other party is answering truthfully?”
“It’s simple. All the viewers in front of the TV and computer can help us check.”
Li Jingtian almost burst out laughing. He pushed away the wooden stool and stood up and said in an apologetic tone, “Although I think this game is quite interesting, I do have a plane to catch so I can’t accompany you. If possible, Consultant Lin is welcome to come to Xinni one day, and I will entertain you.”
“Oh, I know you have a plane to catch. Your flight takes off at 15:30. Suppose you need to go through security checks 40 minutes in advance, plus the time to reach the airport from the Xinni Embassy—it’s estimated that if you leave the embassy at 14:00, you can still catch your flight.”
“But it’s almost time now.” Li Jingtian tapped on his watch, looking helpless.
“Well, there’s still a quarter of an hour left, which is enough for five rounds. Whoever wins three out of five matches wins.” Lin Chen picked up the clock on the table, twisted it, and set the timer for fifteen minutes.
His gesture was irresistible. The ticking of the old-fashioned alarm clock immediately began to echo through the room.
Li Jingtian turned his head slowly, staring at the clock on the table. His expression changed instantly.
Lin Chen said, “Come back. The door is locked, and it won’t open until fifteen minutes later.” He looked at Li Jingtian and dragged his tone as he said, “Of course you can choose not to play, but the audience in front of their TVs will definitely be very disappointed…”
The Jeep drove through Wutong Avenue and turned into an alley.
The alley could only accommodate two cars at most. Central air-conditioning units of the surrounding buildings hung on either side of the alley, making it even narrower.
Lin Chen looked out the window and could see the iconic main building of the Xinni Embassy from a distance. From the route, they had roughly entered the living area behind the embassy.
Sewage was flowing, with discarded newspapers occasionally flying in the air. There were scattered cast iron parts thrown on the ground at random. Besides the air conditioners, the most common thing in the alley were doors.
Those were side doors in various sizes and different national styles.
They stood on both sides of the alley. Sometimes there would be people sitting by the door, and sometimes it was empty. Most doors were closed, while those that were open looked as if there was a bottomless void inside them.
Xing Conglian finally stopped at a random door.
It was an ochre-colored iron door that opened to a dark green wall. There was an old man smoking a cigarette in the concierge’s position. The old man was dressed in an ordinary yellow-gray plaid shirt, and he was wearing a hat that didn’t match his shirt.
Xing Conglian unbuckled his seatbelt. He looked back at the people in the car and said, “Professor Fu, I have to trouble you to drive Mr. Lu to a coffee shop to rest later.”
After he finished speaking, he picked up the cigarette case and his phone, then got out of the car.
Wang Chao began to pack up his backpack without saying a word. Fu Hao looked at Lu Xu in disbelief and finally asked, “Shi… Shixiong… I always think you’re brave and righteous. If you don’t come out in two hours, should I call the police?”
Fu Hao started rambling, but Lin Chen only said to him, “Be good.”
After speaking, he and Wang Chao nodded and opened the car door, respectively.
When they got out of the car, Xing Conglian had already walked to the edge of the ochre-iron gate. Half of his body was obscured by the shadow from the concierge’s awning.
Xing Conglian knocked on the window. The old man in the concierge’s office glanced at him impatiently, as if he were evaluating whether it was worth opening the window to let the air conditioning out.
Before the old man could make up his mind, Xing Conglian had already casually opened the window. The old man became irritated due to the influx of heat and slammed down a cigarette pack. Lin Chen thought the old man was going to curse, but he didn’t.
The old man pressed the brim of his hat, put his thumb and index finger together, and rubbed them lightly.
Lin Chen was stunned for a moment because he also saw Xing Conglian do a similar action before.
This was an obvious way of asking for money. Lin Chen estimated that the asking price from the concierge wouldn’t be low. The next moment, just when Lin Chen thought Xing Conglian would take some membership cards out of his pocket, Xing Conglian only took out a pack of cigarettes.
The half-removed plastic packaging was still wrapped around the pack, which was the pack Xing Conglian had just bought.
Xing Conglian opened the cigarette pack, took out a slender cigarette from the inside, and casually threw it at the window.
The old man frowned and picked up the cigarette nervously. He held the cigarette filter with his rough, callused fingers and turned it clockwise for half a circle. As if it were inlaid with a silver edge, there was a subtle gleam between the filter and the rest of the cigarette, like it was a high-end cigarette adorned with decorations.
Under the sun, when the old man turned the cigarette to a specific location, he turned it counterclockwise in half a circle. As if some special magic was activated, the old man put down the cigarette and looked up again, with a completely different expression from before.
“I haven’t smoked such a fine cigarette for a long time.” The old man opened a drawer, took out a lighter, and lit the cigarette. After taking a puff, he asked, “What are your requirements?”
At that moment, determination and perseverance shown in the old man’s eyes.
Xing Conglian gave a sideways glance at the iron gate and casually said, “I heard that Mellonella is eating and just waiting to die at your place, so bring him to see me.”
……
Lin Chen knew Xing Conglian had secrets from the start, but that didn’t mean they would involve some confidential events beyond his comprehension.
Just now, Xing Conglian had used a menthol cigarette that was priced at 5 yuan to successfully break through the heavy guards of the Xinni Embassy. If normal logic were to be used, it would take several years to complete such a task. Ten calls from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and consultations of various levels, not to mention that they were probably the number one target of the Xinni Embassy right now. But Xing Conglian managed to lead them into the corridors of the Xinni embassy with only a single menthol cigarette.
The area was surrounded by tall and dense subtropical plants with lush vines.
After the old man opened the iron door for them, he sat back in his place again. He didn’t even forget to close the small concierge window, as if nothing had happened.
Lin Chen recalled the scene when the old man sat back in his seat and picked up the phone. He felt that whatever secrets were involved, they might be more incredible than he had thought.
For example, he just barely managed to search for the word Xing Conglian had said in English, and found it should be a code name, which originally referred to a moth with excellent hearing*.
*Clarity: Mellonella is a moth found throughout the world. Males are able to generate ultrasonic sound pulses, which, along with pheromones, are used in mating. They are equipped with a sensitive tympanic hearing organ that allows them to perceive high frequency sounds.
As another example, after they entered the Xinni Embassy, Xing Conglian acted like he was the owner of the entire embassy, leading them to an office on the ground floor.
It was more appropriate to describe this office as more of a cellar. It was surrounded by hard lead plates. The biggest role of lead used as a metal for protection, was to isolate radiation. The reason Lin Chen was able to judge this was because when he walked into the room, Wang Chao let out a cry from behind, indicating that all his communication tools had lost signal.
It was also cold all around, revealing a kind of absolute chill. The air smelled like metal from the lead plates, and because the metal layer was so thick, there was no sound in the surrounding area.
This place was like a secret room that every spy novel would have. The moment they walked into the room, the iron door automatically locked and closed.
Lin Chen sat crossed-legged against the corner of the wall. Xing Conglian walked to him and sat down with him.
“Captain Xing,” Lin Chen said lightly.
“Consultant Lin.”
Xing Conglian took out another cigarette and lit it in front of him.
“May I ask a question?”
“Of course, you can always ask me anything.”
Xing Conglian stared at him with dark green eyes, without any concealment.
But Lin Chen still chose a less poignant question. “What is Mellonella?”
“At the Ridan Peace Conference 15 years ago, there was a very famous eavesdropping expert who reversed the entire peace talks by himself. The codename of that eavesdropper was Mellonella.”
“How did he do it?”
“At the time, all heads of state participating in the Three Rivers Basin stayed at the central hotel in Ridan to negotiate a ceasefire agreement. In fact, this isn’t a secret. Before the opening of important international meetings, the intelligence agencies of various countries would carry out intense espionage activities. After all, at the international negotiating table, everyone hopes to be a roundworm in the stomach of the other party, knowing exactly what they want and thus being able to take the initiative in the actual negotiation process. At the time, spies from Xinni sent an eavesdropping expert named Mellonella to eavesdrop in the hotel rooms where the president of Fuxuli was staying.”
“Quite amazing, no?”
“Through some method, Mellonella managed to infiltrate the room for a full 48 hours. He used his brain to record all the sound details of the Fuxuli president’s room, such as which floor would make a sound or when the wind blew on the curtains. Not only that, he also recorded the sound frequency. At night, in the pitch-black room, he tried not to make any sound as he walked around the room.”
“Like a bat.”
“No, he’s Mellonella. They have sharper hearing than bats.”
“What happened after?”
“You see, in fact, for spies, installing bugs in hotels isn’t for eavesdropping on intelligence, because national leaders wouldn’t be stupid enough to talk about state secrets in a hotel. Their purpose is to eavesdrop on something else, like some trivial information from scraps, and hope to infer the mood or physical condition of the people attending the summit.”
“Physical condition?”
“Yes… Very coincidentally and fortunately, on the night of the third day of the talks, Mellonella discovered the breathing rate of the Fuxuli’s president had a small change when he was asleep, which was almost undetectable. The change was probably caused by the change in climate, but Mellonella didn’t let this go. He reported it to his superiors, and finally, Xinni passed this message along to the Fuxuli’s intelligence agency in a clever way. From this, they were able to find a small dose of chronic poison in the president of Fuxuli…”
“Someone wanted to kill him and ruin the peace talks process?”
Xing Conglian took a puff and exhaled a ring of smoke. “Incredible, right?”
Lin Chen thought for a moment and said, “So, are you bringing me to find this real expert in soundprint identification?”
“He’s not an expert. He’s a genius.”
The heavy lead door was pushed open forcefully. The hinges creaked, accompanied by brisk footsteps that eventually came to a heavy halt.
Lin Chen’s gaze fell on the visitor’s feet, then slowly moved upwards. From the black leather shoes to the black trousers and then the black sunglasses, his gaze finally fell on the visitor’s face. After being as stiff as the other person for a few seconds, he slowly turned his head to Xing Conglian and said, “This is the genius you mentioned?”
Xing Conglian was stunned until the cigarette burned his finger. He grimaced and shook off the cigarette butt and asked tentatively, “Mellonella?”
The other party had a depressed expression. He stood at the door and thought for a while, then turned around and left.
“Shen Chenggong, stop!” Xing Conglian shouted.
……
Although Shen Chenggong didn’t like Li Jingtian, he never thought he would become a key figure in convicting a noble son of a diplomatic family.
He looked at the Hongjing policeman in front of him, who had beaten him mercilessly, and reluctantly sat down in the cold cellar. He didn’t know how this policeman found his true identity. After all, this kind of thing had never been recorded in any file, but obviously, he had no right to refuse anyone who walked in through that door.
“I want you to distinguish whether the victim’s screams are really included in Illi’s famous single.”
A laptop computer was spread out in front of him.
Shen Chenggong looked up at the laptop in front of him, knocked on the metal case, and said angrily, “In public? At least give me a pair of headphones, captain.”
Well, since he had beaten Shen Chenggong mercilessly, Xing Conglian could only politely say, “Sorry, it was our negligence.”
Wang Chao quickly pulled out some headphones from his backpack, knelt on the ground, and tried to plug it in.
Shen Chenggong immediately made the same gesture to Wang Chao. He said depressingly, “Please don’t be so polite to me. It’s creeping me out. Why don’t you just beat me up again to vent your anger?”
“This is important.” Xing Conglian nodded to Wang Chao, who clicked on the video of Song Shengsheng’s interview.
“The victim’s name is Song Shengsheng, who was once a very famous singer in our country. We believe Li Jingtian sexually assaulted him, recorded his screams, and included them in his album. Time is running out, so we can only ask you to help confirm whether our speculation is true.”
Xing Conglian spoke solemnly.
Shen Chenggong was shocked when he heard this. He pondered for a moment and said, “Okay, let me hear it. But first, let me explain. You can’t force me to give a false testimony.”
“Please rest assured. This is the biggest difference between us and Li Jingtian.”
With this guarantee, Shen Chenggong didn’t hesitate to plug in the headphones and click on the two pieces of audio.
……
The expression on Mellonella’s face changed from suspicion to solemnity. Finally, the moment he turned off the audio and put down the headphones, his expression was already the same as when he heard the frequency change of the middle-aged president of Fuxuli. He reported his findings in an extremely calm and sober tone. “Captain Xing, if you believe my judgment, then I’m pretty sure Song Shengsheng’s screams were mixed in Illi’s famous single, and I’m even more sure that it should be a whole cry that was cut into 15 parts and mixed into the climax of the song. The screams contained the breathing sounds of two people, so I suspect your speculation isn’t wrong. It is indeed possible that Song Shengsheng’s screaming was recorded during the sexual assault.”
Shen Chenggong worded it carefully. He didn’t even mention Li Jingtian at all.
Their heavy breathing echoed in the heavy isolation room.
Finally, Shen Chenggong yanked up his headphones and smashed them to the ground. He turned around and grabbed Xing Conglian’s collar and said gratingly, “I don’t care who you are or what your identity is, but since you can walk in here, you must have the ability to bring Li Jingtian, that beast, to justice, so please!”
After Shen Chenggong finished speaking, he bowed to Xing Conglian respectfully.
There was no sadness or joy in Xing Conglian’s face. Lin Chen saw him turn his head, looked at him deeply, and said to Shen Chenggong, “It’s not me who can bring Li Jingtian to justice. You should bow to him.”
Shen Chenggong looked at Lin Chen hesitantly. Lin Chen shook his head. “I’m not too sure.”
“What do you need?” Xing Conglian asked.
“I need to get Li Jingtian to confess.”
Xing Conglian quickly realized what he wanted to do, so he said, “If it’s secretly recorded evidence of your private conversation with Li Jingtian, it can’t be used in court.”
“Yes, so I need a room, four high-definition broadcast cameras, and of course, Li Jingtian himself.”
……
It should be said that the embassies of various countries abroad always assume the heavy responsibility of foreign exchange. They often held various press conferences in the embassies, but even so, no sovereign country had ever opened its embassies to the judicial departments of other countries as an interrogation room, let alone broadcast the entire interrogation process nationwide.
So when Ambassador Luo Qiusheng received this request, his first reaction was to prevaricate. No matter how much he disliked Li Lao’s style, the old man wasn’t wrong. If he allowed this to happen in the embassy, he would never advance in parliament or have any opportunities for further career advancement.
But sometimes, people had to face difficult choices.
Luo Qiusheng looked out the window at the demonstrators, who were about to disperse. As long as he shook his head now, all disputes would disappear in two hours. But unfortunately, diplomacy itself was a game, and the winner was the one with the biggest chips.
Luo Qiusheng pondered for a moment, shook his head in distress, and said to his secretary, “Does the other party have any other requirements?”
“The other party needs us to invite Li Jingtian into that room, Mr. Ambassador.”
“I understand.” Luo Qiusheng pushed aside his chair and stood up from behind his desk.
“Sir?”
“Since they ask for this, then I must personally handle this matter.”
……
The moment the live TV screen came on, Mr. Li, who was far away in the capital of Xinni, couldn’t believe his eyes.
He looked at the black room on the TV screen. As an old man who worked for the Xinni Embassy in China for many years, he recognized the location of that room instantly.
It was the attic on the fourth floor of the embassy dorm area, which was just above the room where his grandson was staying now.
In the attic, a chandelier hung in the middle of the room. Dim light spread out in a complete circle, illuminating the floor.
Two simple wooden chairs were placed under the lamp; one had a backrest, and the other was a simple square stool. They were placed opposite each other. Apart from that, there was nothing else in the room.
The anchor of the Xinni TV station broadcast the report in a calm tone. “In response to many controversies caused by our citizens, the Chinese police have decided to adopt a live broadcast method to broadcast the interrogation process of Mr. Li Jingtian to the entire country. There are still five minutes left before the formal interrogation will begin.”
Mr. Li trembled and dialed the number of Mr. Luo Qiusheng, the ambassador of Xinni to China.
The long, ringing tone coming from the receiver made the old man’s hand gradually tremble.
The reason why Ambassador Luo didn’t answer the phone immediately was because he was preoccupied with an important matter.
He walked on the red steps inside the embassy, and behind him followed the initiator of this series of events.
“Uncle Luo, where are we going?”
Li Jingtian suddenly had a very bad premonition in his heart. He almost wanted to flee downstairs immediately.
But when Mr. Ambassador stepped on the last step, he suddenly turned his head and stared at him with an indifferent gaze, which made him dare not make any movements.
“We?” Mr. Ambassador pointed to the dark, red wooden door with the same floor color as the steps. “There is no we, only you.”
The conversation between Lin Chen and Li Jingtian at the press conference was brief, but the information it disclosed was rich in layers. This kind of plot was like a TV series that had exploded one after another. The reporters and the media were going crazy with joy. After all, this kind of police confrontation with a singer was actually far more exciting than any TV series.
But in reality, there weren’t many people who were really excited, because countless people were experiencing the pressure of that hour.
Li Jingtian’s fans almost stopped their work. While frantically refreshing WeChat and Weibo to get the latest developments, they released various support messages for their idol through the media. And there was a resurgence of people who didn’t like Li Jingtian. They launched a scolding war with Li Jingtian’s fans with a resolute attitude.
In the torrent of public opinion, everyone felt that what they said was deafening enough, as if it could really turn things around.
Among all the tense, excited, and crazy people, the one who felt the most pressure right now was, naturally, Mr. Li Jingtian.
As soon as the call was over, he was escorted back to his guest room on the third floor by the embassy staff. Looking out the window from his perspective, he could only see a pool of swimming fish and a few stalks of bamboo. The place was so clear that he couldn’t hear the voices of the people surrounding the embassy.
But he felt that every corner of the room was full of people. The slogans of those fans and the broadcasts of reporters kept echoing in his ears. He could hardly restrain his desire to drag up a chair and smash everything in the room to pieces, but he knew he couldn’t do that. On the way back, he clearly noticed a change in the way the embassy staff looked at him.
Those eyes had changed from sympathy to disdain and suspicion. With just a few words, Lin Chen had turned him into a criminal suspect again. He didn’t even need evidence to destroy the image he had worked so hard to build.
Lin Chen… Truly, he was amazing.
Li Jingtian bit his fingers hard until the strong taste of blood appeared in his mouth. He was finally able to suppress the voices in his ears.
He looked out the window again. Although he knew in his heart that Lin Chen couldn’t get past the heavy guards, let alone arrest a protected distinguished foreign guest in another country’s embassy, he couldn’t stop the panic in his heart. He stood up abruptly and took out his phone.
Xing Conglian’s phone suddenly rang. At that time, they had just gotten into the Jeep and were about to set off for Yongchuan.
Because the ringtone was special, he could already tell who was calling before the call was connected. Without hesitation, he pried the phone away from his ears. Lin Chen heard the old director’s furious voice sputtering out of the speaker.
“Xing Conglian, are you fucking crazy? You made such a big mess for laozi!” the old director, who only liked to drink tea and walk birds*, roared.
*Activity where you literally take your birds out for a walk. It’s generally associated with the elderly.
Xing Conglian said, “Chief, isn’t this the proper procedure for handling a case?”
“Due process? You made our entire group appear all over the news at noon!”
Xing Conglian protested, “This is the oppression of public opinion on our front-line police officers!”
“Oppression my ass! So it’s fine for you to oppress others?!”
Xing Conglian held the phone further away. Lin Chen took it from him and said softly, “Director Wu.”
“Let me speak to Xing Conglian!” The old man was enraged. No matter what he says, it wouldn’t matter.
Lin Chen lowered the volume to its lowest setting and bitterly handed the phone back to Xing Conglian.
“Give me the bottom line, Captain Xing!” The old director’s voice suddenly became serious. “What do you want to do next, and do you need me to do something?”
Lin Chen was a little moved. He knew well that the old director didn’t make this call to rebuke them, but he really wanted to help. If they wanted to break into the Xinni Embassy, it would inevitably involve a series of complex diplomatic consultations and could even lead to a diplomatic dispute. All those who wanted to help could be under extraordinary pressure. Given his position, he was well aware of the challenges, but he still called them without hesitation.
Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian.
He couldn’t see any emotion on the captain of the criminal police division’s face. Xing Conglian opened a cigarette pack and glanced at it, then said, “I… I want to buy a pack of cigarettes. Can you transfer me some money through Alipay, old man?”
After he finished speaking, he let the old director roar for a bit, then hung up.
……
Of course, the old director wasn’t the only one who was mad. Mr. Li, who was far away in Xinni, was also on the verge of panic.
Everyone in the Li family knew that although the old man had a really bad temper, he always showed a trace of the demeanor of a master of the family outwardly. For example, when scolding, the old man would only say a few sarcastic comments at most. Rarely was he so angry that he would smash things.
But just now, after the old man received a call from the young master, he directly dropped off a custom-made tea set by Gu Jingzhou*.
*A famous ceramic artist from China who specializes in teapots. His works are highly valued and can sell for as much as $2 million USD.
They didn’t know what the young master said on the other end, but the old man’s expression was both distressed and angry. He hung up the phone and directly dialed the number for the current Xinni ambassador to China.
At this time, the servants were awed. After all, not everyone in the country could scold Mr. Ambassador bloody.
The old man shouted, “Luo Qiusheng, I don’t care what you are thinking, but today, you dare let people humiliate the citizens of our country in public. Have you abandoned your duties? Whether you intended it or not, you have lost face for our country!”
After a while, Mr. Ambassador seemed to have promised something, as Mr. Li’s anger finally subsided. He lowered his voice and said slowly, “Qiusheng, it’s not that I’m selfish. I’m really doing it for your own good. Think about it. If you really cause any serious diplomatic disputes due to your improper handling, it’s not just you who will suffer. With this stain, it will be very difficult for you to make further progress in your future career…”
Hearing this, Mr. Ambassador looked at the bustling crowd outside the embassy and said calmly, “Li Lao, please advise me?”
“What advice can an old man give, but since it has come to this, if I were you, I wouldn’t let the two Hongjing policemen have the opportunity to step into the embassy gate. As long as they don’t meet, when Jingtian returns to the country, you’ll be clear of any faults. It shouldn’t be difficult to do this, right?”
“I understand.”
Mr. Ambassador hung up the phone and looked at the secretary standing at his desk silently.
“Sir?” the secretary said with concern.
“Is there any movement from China?”
“No.”
“What do you mean no?”
“The China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs hasn’t consulted with us yet. The Hongjing Police haven’t submitted any applications. Could it be that the police are just bluffing?”
Mr. Ambassador pondered for a moment, then slowly said, “Let’s wait and see what happens.”
Although Mr. Ambassador did not issue any direct orders, Fu Hao, who was standing at the Xinni Embassy’s gates, noticed that the security personnel guarding outside had been doubled.
Su Fengzi, who was “invited” in, hadn’t come out yet. He anxiously held his phone, but he didn’t know who to call.
His shixiong just said that he would be there in half an hour, so he didn’t want to call him again, but now that the one-hour time limit had passed, the group of fans around the embassy gate were getting crazy, as if they had turned into maniacs.
The sun was scorching hot at noon. Reporters squatted on the side of the road in groups of two and three, eating their lunch. Impatient expressions had already appeared on their faces. If his shixiong did not arrive, this group of reporters would most likely be harshly critical of him.
Lin Chen was unaware of Fu Hao’s irritability. He was sitting in the front passenger seat of the Jeep. Outside the window were the iconic green reeds on the Yongchuan Freeway.
Xing Conglian had adjusted the air conditioning of the car to the lowest setting. Wang Chao and Lu Xu were sleeping in the backseat, with their heads resting against each other. Lin Chen looked away and gazed at Xing Conglian, wanting to speak, but he didn’t know what to say.
He hesitated because, during the past hour of driving, Xing Conglian hadn’t spoken once after he finished his joke with the old director.
Lin Chen wanted to ask him, “Did I cause you trouble”, or “What are you planning?”, but he thought for a second. Since this was Xing Conglian, he probably had a way, so such questions were superfluous.
Then Lin Chen realized that he just really wanted to talk to Xing Conglian.
At this moment, his phone rang softly. When he took it out, the ringing stopped.
Lin Chen looked at the number and was surprised.
While still shocked, the ringtone sounded again. Envisioning the tangled caller on the other end, Lin Chen didn’t answer.
Xing Conglian, who was driving, seemed to have guessed who was on the other end. He suddenly stretched out his hand. Looking at the arm that was outstretched to him, Lin Chen naturally handed over his phone.
Xing Conglian didn’t pick up and didn’t even bother looking at the caller ID. He casually said, “Wang Chao.”
“Here!” The teenager in the back suddenly woke up.
Xing Conglian threw the phone back at him. “Add a blacklist number for your A’Chen Gege.”
Wang Chao happily said, “I’ll take care of it!”
Seeing the tacit cooperation between these two, Lin Chen even suspected that if Wang Chao added the blacklist, Huang Ze’s number might never appear in his phone address book for the rest of his life.
……
Inspector Huang Ze was sulking because he couldn’t connect the call, while Professor Fu was squatting at the intersection two blocks away from the embassy, waiting for Xing Conglian’s iconic Jeep, which had finally arrived.
As soon as he got into the car, he shuddered from the cold air blowing into his face. He shouted anxiously, “Shixiong, what the hell is going on with Li Jingtian? Su Fengzi, that psychopath, dragged me to the gates of the embassy without saying anything. Now he’s being detained inside. What are you going to do? The armed forces of the embassy aren’t messing around. How do we get in?”
“I don’t know,” Lin Chen replied calmly.
“Then, if you can’t see Li Jingtian, are you going to publish the evidence directly on the internet?”
“There is no evidence,” Lin Chen replied calmly again.
Fu Hao had an expression that was saying “what the fuck?” on his face. He turned stiffly out the window, feeling that this world was too unreliable.
Suddenly, as if seeing something, Fu Hao leaned forward, patted Xing Conglian’s chair, and shouted, “Lao Xing, you’re going the wrong way. This isn’t the way to the embassy.”
On the side of the street were two rows of sycamores. There were no bustling crowds of people around. In early summer, when the branches and leaves were dense, the shade of the tree covered the sidewalks.
Xing Conglian slowly parked the car by a sidewalk and braked.
“Lao Xing, what are you going to do? Don’t you know that time is tight?” Fu Hao continued to question.
But at that time, Xing Conglian had already opened the door and gotten out of the car. He walked through the shade of the trees into a stall on the side of the street.
“Oh, don’t worry, Professor Fu!” Wang Chao patted Fu Hao’s back to comfort him. “Captain has a plan.”
Hearing this, Lin Chen looked towards the stall. It was an ordinary, run-down store. The shop looked dim, and there was an old lady sitting by the window.
Lin Chen raised his head and saw the sign written in large letters: [Panpan Duoyan Mart]. The red paint on the name of the store was almost invisible due to fading.
The appearance of an old mart on a street that was close to the embassy, where land was quite expensive, seemed a bit suspicious. Lin Chen read the name carefully, and found that under the name of the store, translations in six languages could vaguely be seen…
He then looked at Xing Conglian.
Xing Conglian had already reached the store. The golden sunlight fell on his straight back through the gaps between the leaves.
He knocked on the glass window of the store and handed in some money. Lin Chen couldn’t hear what Xing Conglian said, but when the old lady took the money, she looked uneasy. She was staring at the banknotes for a while. Finally, the old woman took out a pack of cigarettes from the shelf and casually threw it at Xing Conglian.
Xing Conglian took the cigarette, didn’t take any change, turned around, and left. The process was short, as if he deliberately took a detour just to buy a pack of cigarettes.
“Lao Xing, you really just bought cigarettes?!”
Because of this, after Xing Conglian got into the car, Fu Hao was full of complaints.
Hearing this, Xing Conglian unwrapped the plastic packaging of the cigarette case, stuffed a cigarette into his mouth, and remained silent.
The five-day quarantine inspection was finally over.
Yin Ren stood in front of the door to Ping’an Manor and looked around with emotion.
Everything seemed strange. The neighbor’s anti-theft door had a brightly colored number, and the scratches on the wall were full of artistic sense. Zhong Chengshuo opened the door with his head down, and even the click of the key inserted into the lock felt like a brand-new feeling.
Yin Ren stared at the pleats behind Zhong Chengshuo, which he also found novel, putting him at ease.
The door slowly opened.
At noon, the evil spirits were resting somewhere. The warm lights scattered on the wooden floor, soaked by the sun, and the room was full of greenery, giving it an emerald color.
The smell of the room was particularly strong after being away for so long. The scent of plants and wood was mixed with their own smell. The weather had turned cooler recently, which gave the aroma quite a refreshing scent, but everything still smelled warm.
Every pore of Yin Ren seemed as if it were immersed in warm water, making him stretch his body subconsciously. When his back was halfway arched, a pair of arms came from behind and gently hugged him.
Zhong Chengshuo’s body heat enveloped his back.
There was a little more weight on Yin Ren’s shoulders as Zhong Chengshuo lowered his chin and pressed it against his shoulder and neck, breathing lightly and evenly. They all slipped into the crook of Yin Ren’s neck without a single leak.
Up and down, perhaps like the gentlest tide in the world.
For five full days after their relationship was confirmed, the two were unable to contact each other. Yin Ren didn’t have too strong of a concept at first, but at this moment, when he felt the familiar body heat, the memories of those five days suddenly stretched as far as five years.
He had expected that after five days of separation, they would have many questions and things to say. Shian, Sunken Society, the mysterious peeper… and each other; there were too many mysteries around them.
But he didn’t want to change his mind.
Yin Ren leaned back and worked harder to absorb the heat. He kicked inwardly at the mysteries sending them to the bottom of his heart.
His hair swam along Zhong Chengshuo’s limbs, hooking around his waist, wrists, and ankles. Yin Ren “hugged back” hard in his own way, carefully feeling the soft, warm skin of the other person.
…Yin Ren remembered that Zhong Chengshuo usually didn’t like being touched by others.
He proudly collected his hair and brought them closer together.
Ten minutes passed, and Zhong Chengshuo was still motionless.
Yin Ren: “……”
He yanked at Zhong Chengshuo’s calf with the tip of his hair, causing him to lose his balance and fall onto the carpet, surrounded by hair.
Yin Ren took advantage of this and laid next to Zhong Chengshuo. Their feet were covered by the golden sunlight, and the temperature was just right.
“Don’t stand if you can lie down.” Yin Ren muttered solemnly as they lay shoulder to shoulder.
Zhong Chengshuo rubbed a strand of long hair with his fingertips, and responded with a smile in his voice. “Nn.”
They stared at the sunny ceiling, maintaining a comfortable silence. It was like two ordinary people laying down on an ordinary afternoon.
Zhong Chengshuo: “What do you want to eat tonight?”
“Chocolate cake.”
“Don’t you want to go out to eat?”
“I don’t want to go anywhere.” Yin Ren quietly let go of the perception of the tip of his hair and felt the other’s fingertips. “I’m going to celebrate and want to have takeout.”
It was like celebrating a full week of their relationship.
“No luosifen or stinky tofu,” Zhong Chengshuo said quickly.
“Don’t worry. I remember. We’ve lived together for a while now.” Yin Ren couldn’t help laughing.
Zhong Chengshuo’s fingers froze for a second, before he clenched them harder. Yin Ren took a slow, deep breath of home. Just as he started to let out a sigh of satisfaction, it choked at his throat…
A few seconds later, Dog Thing came out of Yin Ren’s most tightly pressed pocket, limping with four thin black legs. It climbed firmly between the two heads and turned around vigorously as it displayed “low battery” on its black screen.
‘Oh, this thing is about to explode,’ Yin Ren thought to himself.
It wasn’t Dog Thing’s fault. They ran into the Archive and Dog Thing gave him reminders and warnings, but it didn’t get to eat even half the food there. After they left, it stayed with Yin Ren in confinement for five days, not daring to say a word.
Now that it was finally released, the two of them still had the gall to talk about dinner openly in front of it.
Dog Thing arched angrily at Yin Ren. He stretched out his fingers justifiably and a bit of black Evil Force condensed from his fingertips.
The Evil Force was extremely condensed, bending at his fingertip like a pitch-black, extra-large mercury bead.
Dog Thing jumped high, and the screen was directly covered by the Evil Force. It absorbed all the power and then reluctantly restored its screen display, showing a perfunctorily low 2% battery power.
“My phone spirit weapon.”
Yin Ren decided to reintroduce this non-human thing and let his lover, who didn’t possess human common sense, study it. Perhaps these two negatives would become a positive. King Yama might be able to figure something out.
“It reacted when we were in the Archive. Take it and have a look.”
“Really?” Zhong Chengshuo turned his face away.
“Well, it says that I’m ‘weak’.” Yin Ren snorted. “And said those little monsters in Guo Laifu’s head were also ‘weak’.”
“Woof, woof, woof!” Dog Thing barked wildly, slamming the screen into Yin Ren’s face.
“What? You said it yourself.”
Yin Ren took off the bold phone and placed it between the two of them.
“Just in time. I want to ask you, the thing that is watching us in the Archive—”
[Moderately strong.] Dog Thing couldn’t wait to answer.
Yin Ren frowned.
It was the same rating given to the mysterious sniper. Was it really true that there were masters walking everywhere now, and an Evil Spirit wasn’t even comparable to a dog?
“Then Chengshuo and me…”
[Siren: Zhong Chengshuo, weak at the bottom.]
[Siren: Yin Ren, I can’t be sure.]
It slowly squeezed out the answer, word by word.
[Siren: Aura is weird.]
[Siren: Unable to judge.]
Zhong Chengshuo hesitated. “Is it scolding us?”
Yin Ren: “……”
Yin Ren: “Maybe.”
Zhong Chengshuo examined Dog Thing for a while, then turned his attention back to his phone.
“I want to disclose the news of our relationship. Minister Fu hasn’t said anything, as Lu Jie and the others haven’t responded.” Zhong Chengshuo slid his thumb up and down his phone as he went through his contact list. “If you have no objection—”
Yin Ren stretched out his hand and covered Zhong Chengshuo’s phone screen. “Don’t do it yet.”
Zhong Chengshuo looked at Yin Ren in confusion; the tips of his hair drooped a little.
“To be honest, I seriously don’t meet your parents’ acceptance standards, so I need formal approval.” Yin Ren’s expression was more serious than before. “Let’s take care of those two first, uh, the elders.”
……
Night.
Zhong Chengshuo went back to his room and closed the door. Two seconds later, as if he had reacted to something, he gingerly stuck himself to the door and opened the tightly closed bedroom door.
The man stood still in front of the doorway, looking tangled.
Mr. Yin, who witnessed the entire process: “……”
Yin Ren raised his voice. “Do you want to sleep together?”
“Not for the time being. I need time to adapt.” Zhong Chengshuo responded after taking a century to think on it, then he pulled down his nightcap and almost covered his eyes. “I’ll be extremely nervous, which can affect the quality of my sleep.”
After that, he floated into the bathroom like a ghost and began to wash up.
Yin Ren laid back on the sofa a little sadly. He quietly parted his hair and crept into Zhong Chengshuo’s pillow, ready to steal a little warmth and heartbeat.
As a result, his strand of hair was arrested on the spot by Zhong Chengshuo. He clutched them firmly into his palms and fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, the lock of hair shrank with difficulty and slipped out of Zhong Chengshuo’s hand.
Yin Ren took out a piece of chocolate cake from the refrigerator and packed it together with various snacks and drinks, turned on the tablet, and pulled out an e-book reader.
He quietly laid out white paper on the sofa and began to draw a circle of complex patterns with cinnabar. After confirming Zhong Chengshuo was asleep, Yin Ren lay down in the center of the white paper.
The white paper swallowed him up like a swamp.
When he saw Yin Ren, Guo Wei almost fell off the edge of the rooftop.
The escape game was long over, and Guo Wei was sitting on the roof of the main teaching building in a daze.
Guo Laifu’s consciousness had gradually become clear, so it was only a matter of time before he would be executed. Guo Wei thought he would pass away quietly…
Instead of being surrounded by food and movies he had never seen before.
“Yin Ge, you…” Unlike the phantom in the dream, Yin Ren clearly came to visit in the flesh.
“Shh.” Yin Ren made a quiet gesture. “Help contain my aura so Shian doesn’t find out.”
Guo Wei didn’t ask much and just stared at the visitor in shock.
Kong Wanqing told him that Yin Ren was a powerful evil being, but as Guo Wei looked right and left, “powerful” could be determined, but he didn’t find where the other party looked like an evil being.
“These are all payments. I want to rent the rooftop for three hours every night until you… leave.”
Yin Ren put down the sumptuous food and electronic products, and sat down next to Guo Wei on the rooftop, giving him a piece of chocolate cake. “This is a gift. It’s a celebration cake for my relationship with Chengshuo.”
Guo Wei: “……”
There was no need to explain so clearly. He didn’t want to know about the world of adults.
Guo Wei held the cake plate and looked at it for a while, carefully licking the edge of the cream. The cake was just the right amount of sweetness and had a fragrant smell that couldn’t be compared to the commissary pastries, which he hadn’t had time to taste while he was still alive.
Guo Wei lowered his eyes at the cake for a while, then pursed his lips and sighed like an old man. “Aren’t you afraid I will miss these things and want to become a ghost?”
“That’ll be your choice as well.” Yin Ren savored the thick and slightly bitter chocolate sauce.
“Forget it.” Guo Wei chewed on the dessert cherishingly. “I tried it before. If I go too far away from the campus, I’ll forget about it. Then my heart will be empty. What I found is always here… I’ve been looking for this place all my life, and I don’t want to keep looking.”
Yin Ren opened a can of soda and gave it to Guo Wei. “Then live happily until the end.”
“Tell me what else you want to eat. This place is very loved. I’ll take advantage of it and exchange food to use it.”
“Then I want to eat fried pork and cold noodles.” Guo Wei thought for a while. “Li Xiaoya mentioned that she likes these two dishes the most.”
“No problem.” Yin Ren pulled out the tablet and e-book reader. “The e-book reader is for you. I bought a lot of books on it. There’s also a tablet that you can watch movies on, but I have to take it back at dawn—take it and watch what you like.”
Guo Wei’s dead eyes exuded some vitality that shouldn’t have been there. “What about you?”
Yin Ren stood up and beat his waist. “Doing some exercises.”
Under the night, above the rooftop.
Guo Wei was lying on the rooftop, eating snacks while watching a movie. His cloudy eyes flickered with bright lights and shadows.
Yin Ren built a large hemisphere next to him and tightly locked himself in it.
Making sure that Guo Wei couldn’t see the scene inside, Yin Ren took a deep breath and launched a little bit of Evil Force.
Sure enough, the dizziness and pain that got out of control were countless times greater than the outside world.
In the dark, Yin Ren twitched and curled up his body. His five senses were confused, and his internal organs seemed to be tearing apart. As if he were descending into a never-ending fall, the sense of chaos almost made him vomit out his dinner.
Thin arms protruded from his chest, and his calves were covered with weird black feathers. Yin Ren grabbed the cement floor fiercely with both hands. Afraid of hurting Guo Wei’s memory, he didn’t use any Evil Force to protect his body, leaving only bloody scratches.
Ten minutes passed, and in a painful gasp, the arms retracted, and the black feathers disappeared. Yin Ren flicked his bloody fingertips and began a new round of attempts.
He repeatedly tamed the power in his hand.
Three hours passed. Yin Ren repaired his fingertips and staggered to open the barrier. Guo Wei had just finished watching a movie and had eaten all the snacks around him.
It was just after seeing Yin Ren, the happiness on his face faded a little, and he became a little more worried.
“Are you okay?” Guo Wei asked in a low voice.
The child was sensitive to “pain”. Yin Ren rubbed his face. “Fine, just a little tired from practicing.”
“You’re already very strong, so why are you…” Guo Wei clenched the e-reader in his hand.
“Well, I wanted to take things slowly, but unfortunately, I fell in love with a troublesome guy. At a critical moment, I have to catch him.”
Yin Ren didn’t have any haze on his face.
“I can only be a little less lazy. It’s all his fault.”
Guo Wei wasn’t deceived by the relaxed tone. The boy didn’t hide the worry in his eyes.
“I’m really fine.”
Yin Ren stretched his limbs.
“I have long been used to this.”
……
Shian Campus.
Shian obtained valuable information about the birth of a ghost, but they didn’t take their eyes off of two suspicious elements.
“Something is wrong with those two in Unit 9.” Li Nian looked through the mission report.
“Who says they aren’t?” Fu Xingchuan collapsed on the sofa. His tassel earrings were scattered in a mess. “Guo Wei was half a step from becoming a fierce ghost. He was brewing in there for almost half a year. Yin Ren is a powerful person, and his battle was even more exaggerated than Guo Wei’s. To say this kid’s a genius, why didn’t it look like that during the entry exam?”
When he was still in the Archive, according to the wristband records, Zhong Chengshuo had no negative emotion throughout the entire process. He could be described as the first person in the history of visitors to the Archive to do this. This symptom could no longer be explained by a simple “mental abnormality”.
Fu Xingchuan decided to relieve himself of the entanglement and temporarily ignored the part where these two little beasts were in love.
Kong Wanqing, one of Shian’s old acquaintances, had the ability to “resonate”. After being strengthened by the Evil Force, this ability should’ve been invincible in the Archive.
As a result, he faced a pair of partners in Unit 9 and ended up dead. The etiology of Guo Laifu’s illness was suspected to be destroyed, but no one gave the content of what was the cause.
That closed campus had completely become a black box.
Strange things were always happening around these two people. Things could only happen three times. As a metaphysician, Fu Xingchuan never believed in so many coincidences.
Unfortunately, this was all just suspicion, and they had no clear evidence.
“Liang Shan’s cognitive pollution was very thorough. Could it be that he missed something?” Fu Xingchuan sighed towards the ceiling. “At that time, he swore that Zhong Chengshuo and Yin Ren are both humans.”
Li Nian shook the thermos cup and looked at the city under the sun.
“It’s not uncommon for them to be humans. Haven’t there been many strange things recently?”
“In less than two months, there have been four cases involving sources of corruption from an Evil Force. Xiang Jiang had just returned from Luotian some time ago. Sunken Society seems to also be spreading corruption over there like crazy.”
“It’s suspected that an Evil Spirit seal was broken and ran out of control, causing corruption sources to scatter everywhere. This situation is a bit like the original—”
“Wait, wait, wait.”
Fu Xingchuan bounced up in horror. “Fuck me. Don’t open that crow’s mouth. This is not a joke!”
“How many years has it been? Isn’t the interval every thousand years? I want to live a few more days.”
Li Nian remained silent. He quietly pulled up something and turned on the screen in the direction of Fu Xingchuan.
“There’s no evidence that the interval between occurrences of ‘that phenomenon’ is every thousand years.”
“I’m not looking.” Fu Xingchuan covered his eyes and slowly lay back on the sofa, turning his back towards Li Nian. “I don’t want to experience bad luck for the second time in my life. Not watching it.”
“Trying to escape reality.” Li Nian pointed out coldly.
“You want to know the situation of those two. I’m just providing a starting point.”
What was on his computer was a document about anomalous phenomena with black characters on a white background, which looked ordinary.
[Phenomenon A-A2: Divine Descent]
[Insufficient data, no unified judgment standard yet]
[Overview: A large number of Evil Force eruptions without a source. Cause is unknown.
The duration of Divine Descent is less than 24 hours and will not cause physical damage. The Divine Descent affects an area with a radius of about 100 kilometers. Evil qi value in the central area may exceed 60,000fR.
There will be a large number of deaths from biological corruption, mental disorders, and disappearances in the central area of the Divine Descent. Organisms in marginal areas are less corrupted, and those that are corrupted are prone to mental diseases.
According to records, the act of killing after the Divine Descent will trigger a “sense of gaze”, and a small number of murderers claim to have received a “blessing from God” and seen “the road to eternity”. From July to September 2xxx, Sunken Society organized six large-scale sacrifices after the Divine Descent, during which the number of homicides in and around Haigu soared 46.3 times higher.
The “Divine Descent” doesn’t last long, and the danger rating of the phenomenon itself is lower than that of an “Evil Spirit”. However, its appearance predates the Evil Spirits, and is suspected to be one of the causes of the Evil Spirits. The two recorded “Divine Descent” occurred around 4xx and 2xxx, respectively, and the central locations were near Haigu.]
[Handling method (reference): Immediately strengthen police resources in the outbreak area after the disaster and refer to the <Level 1 Emergency Plan for Major Phenomenon and Events> to immediately carry out a comprehensive cleanup of the outbreak area to eliminate the corruption of the Evil Force.
Please pay special attention to secondary effects of the Evil Force, and properly treat and place people with special abilities.]
Fu Xingchuan couldn’t avoid it. He rolled over in grief and looked directly at Li Nian’s computer screen—
The date of the last “Divine Descent” was exactly 28 years ago.
“Because in the end, you’ll always understand. Compared to being on the run, the police station is the place that will give you complete peace of mind.”
The mask took a round stainless steel jar from the shelf and put a new label on it. The mouth of the round jar was wide open, making it look like a deep well from the side.
The man arranged the small objects in an orderly manner; they circled Guo Laifu one after another. There were countless sensor wires connected to the ends of these spirit weapons. The computer screen flashed with cold light, and the mainframe emitted a loud heat dissipation sound.
…Yin Ren had seen science posts do similar things. This was a researcher preparing to collect data.
Guo Laifu let out a muffled roar, which sounded like a curse. The masked man turned a deaf ear as he walked slowly to the office chair. He leaned forward and supported his hands on the armrest.
The two dark eye holes of the rabbit mask were directly facing Guo Laifu.
“Hm,” he said. “Now you have more panic than fear. You never imagined that you would be in a position of prey.”
The masked man went back to the computer and muttered a few words. “The basic data is determined. Empathy ability is poor, and fear of oneself is relatively dull…”
After finishing the recording, he moved and returned to Guo Laifu again.
“Let’s get started,” the masked man said quietly.
The next moment, Guo Laifu’s memory turned into melted butter.
They didn’t know what the masked man had done, as there were only chaotic colors in Guo Laifu’s vision. The colors quickly deformed and merged as Guo Laifu’s screams overshadowed the buzzing vibration of the spirit weapons. It was hard to imagine a human making such a sound.
The chaos continued, and time seemed to have lost its concept.
Guo Wei thoughtfully fast-forwarded the memory.
At the end of the boundless chaos, it was pouring rain.
After the indescribable chaos was over, Guo Laifu’s vision finally returned to normal. He was standing on a deserted road. The masked man was wearing a translucent raincoat and stood silently beside him.
Guo Laifu was soaked all over. His eyes were wide open, and he looked dumbly at the night in front of him. His limbs were free, but he remained motionless.
“Two days later, leave Haigu and return to Qingjiang Public Security Bureau to surrender,” the masked man commanded deftly.
“Ah… Ah…” Guo Laifu spoke in a broken voice, as if he had awoken from a dream. He nodded his head desperately.
“Don’t hurt anyone during this time.”
“Ahh… That tricky evil…”
Guo Laifu folded his hands and bowed desperately like a drowning dog*. He moved his tongue with difficulty, spitting out ravings that no one understood.
*(落水狗) Refers to a bad person who has lost favor or power.
At the end of his screaming, Guo Laifu’s knees went weak, and he knelt heavily on the muddy ground.
The masked man lowered his head. Though Yin Ren couldn’t see the man’s expression, he knew that there was no sympathy in them.
“Very good,” he said flatly.
Just then, a blood-red lightning bolt flashed across the sky.
The masked man paused.
He raised his head and looked at the dark clouds rolling in the sky. In the crazy rainstorm, blood-red lightning flashed one after another, filling the darkness with a bloody color in the middle of the night.
“……Ah.” The masked man sighed. “Trouble. Things are getting unbalanced.”
Before the man finished speaking, Guo Laifu seemed to sense something. Like a sudden illness, Guo Laifu stared at the man’s back. His body fell onto the uneven asphalt road and convulsed frantically.
Melting chaos once again appeared in Guo Laifu’s vision. He yelled, shook his head desperately, and rolled back wretchedly. This road was close to a garbage dump. Guo Laifu rushed into it like crazy as he gouged out his eyes with both hands.
There was no hesitation in his movements as a sticky noise sounded from his eye socket.
Immediately afterwards, ignoring the sharp pain in his eyes, he groped around a pile of household garbage and grabbed a dirty fruit knife…
Yin Ren knew what happened next.
Guo Laifu used the fruit knife to cut off his nose and jabbed disposable chopsticks into his ears. Until a security personnel appeared, he was madly mutilating himself.
…Like trying to escape his five senses.
The heavy rain and thunder covered everything as Guo Laifu lost his eyesight. The masked man also disappeared, and everything sank into nothingness.
The memory ended, and the darkness dissipated.
The three of them returned to the sunny campus again.
“This is the process of Guo Laifu going crazy.” After seeing the record, Guo Wei’s face was a little distorted with joy. “Unfortunately, I can’t reproduce his thoughts at the time, so I don’t know how helpful that was to you.”
“No.” Yin Ren swallowed. “Thank you, you’ve helped us enough.”
The masked man in the memory, Zhong Chengshuo, was standing behind him.
Yin Ren turned his head slowly to look at him. The culprit who drove Guo Laifu crazy was standing under the sun. Behind the transparent glasses, those black eyes were moist and stable, and he even looked slightly innocent.
There was no sense of guilt on Zhong Chengshuo’s face. He blinked at Yin Ren, with a slight expectation in his eyes.
This kid…
“Come with me.”
Yin Ren grabbed Zhong Chengshuo’s wrist, and the two went into the main teaching building and found a relatively hidden corner. Yin Ren skillfully cut off all communications and took a deep breath.
“Zhong Chengshuo, what the hell is going on with Guo Laifu?”
“He should have gone to Qingjiang to surrender himself.” Zhong Chengshuo stood upright as he spoke with a trace of regret in his tone. “But the Evil Force that broke out that night… Well, you broke the seal, causing the Evil Force in Haigu to be thrown into disorder. He was affected by the drastic change in environmental conditions.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose.” His tone was still calm. “This has never happened before.”
Before?
Zhong Chengshuo’s voice surfaced from the memories.
[…The people in those recordings are all death row prisoners. Except for one of them, the rest have been executed.]
That was the day they visited Feng Qi after the case was over.
When they visited, Feng Qi was using some recordings to consolidate his ability to “interpret ravings”.
The tablet screen was full of “Mom, Mom, I’m so scared”, “Help, help”, “I’m scared, I’m scared”.
It was the same as Guo Laifu’s situation.
[Guo Laifu, a serial murderer on the run… This person is completely mentally disturbed and is still undergoing treatment. The other death row prisoners only showed symptoms of ravings, but they have no mental problems.]
At that time, this was what Zhong Chengshuo said while he was joking with Feng Qi, saying that some big case might be unearthed from this.
A prophecy.
“Besides Guo Laifu, how many people are there?” Yin Ren patted his face.
Zhong Chengshuo leaned in front of a window in the corridor of the teaching building. Outside were the bright sunlight and swaying flowers. Coupled with the handsome face of that person, this image was soft and harmless… which made it particularly deceptive.
“Plus Guo Laifu, forty-two people,” Zhong Chengshuo replied calmly. “All of them are murderers from Sunken Society, who carry at least three lives or more and are wanted by the police. They only left behind the sequelae of ravings—I dealt with them very cleanly.”
Ravings, a language disorder that occurred after a specific mutation appeared in the brain. The specific cause was unknown, but most of them appeared in people who had been greatly stimulated.
Yin Ren: “……”
Yin Ren: “…What did you do to them?”
“Secret.” Zhong Chengshuo stared at Yin Ren earnestly while holding his index fingers to his lips. “We just started dating, so we need to get to know each other slowly.”
Yin Ren silently looked at the ground.
Forty-two murderers related to Sunken Society.
Was “King Yama” of the Nightwalkers uninterested in living tasks, or was the spontaneous “murderer hunter” already full?
He wondered why King Yama insisted on developing in the Nightwalkers—whether it was to get rid of evil beings or study them, even if Zhong Chengshuo had such eccentricities, with King Yama’s strength, Shian would give some leeway.
But it was absolutely impossible for Shian to accept a “murderer hunter”.
Seeing Yin Ren unresponsive, Zhong Chengshuo looked at him with some confusion. “What’s wrong with you?”
Yin Ren looked at the black ballpoint pen in his hand.
A few strands of hair quickly wrapped around the body of the pen and cut it directly into pieces. In Zhong Chengshuo’s surprised gaze, there was a creepy chewing sound in the black hair, and the remains of the ballpoint pen were swallowed up.
“Now we’re real accomplices.” Yin Ren let out a long exhale.
He believed in him.
Zhong Chengshuo’s past, his motivation; Yin Ren decided to continue to explore—this wasn’t to obtain some kind of victory. He just… simply wanted to understand this person.
The wing ball covered them again, isolating the two of them from the bright and noisy campus.
Zhong Chengshuo looked at Yin Ren suspiciously.
“What are you waiting for?” Yin Ren rubbed his face vigorously as he spoke sternly. “I’ve made up my mind about what to say. Let’s make a confession quickly. We have to go out and have a serious, ahem, relationship.”
Zhong Chengshuo was stunned for a moment. In the shadow, his entire face blushed slightly.
“But before that, I have a question I must ask,” Yin Ren muttered. “Is it really a coincidence that you met me that night?”
“Nn. Guo Laifu went crazy, and I have no way to deal with it,” Zhong Chengshuo replied sincerely. “But I still have time to save my dad’s two potted plants.”
“…Pfft.”
“What are you laughing at?” Zhong Chengshuo scratched his nose. Yin Ren saw this human’s expression of “embarrassed” for the first time.
“Has anyone ever told you your character is really…”
“Strange? Many people have said it.”
“No, special,” Yin Ren whispered. “It’s very special.”
……
“Therefore, that child intends to stay here and doesn’t want to turn into a ghost,” Fu Xingchuan concluded.
Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo were rescued out of the school, and were interrogated by Fu Xingchuan on the spot. He obviously didn’t intend to let them leave the Archive before asking for a clear overview.
The two partners quickly handed in the fragments of the red rope full of Evil Force. In order to show their sincerity, they even put their luggage 800-miles away.
“Yes, I seriously asked Guo Wei several times and told him Shian could help him turn into a ghost.” Yin Ren only had one set of clothes left. He leaned “weakly” on his partner as he said, “He refused.”
“It’s not like it’s a good thing—not much better than being a ghost.”
Fu Xingchuan let out a sigh. His eyes were still firmly locked on the two of them. He vaguely guarded the members of Unit 7 behind him. Yin Ren could see that there were several hidden attack arrays around him, ready to go.
Fu Xingchuan was warning them.
…As cultivators, their Minister Fu was really conscientious.
Yin Ren pretended not to notice and continued his “weak” act. “Guo Wei was affected by Kong Wangqing’s corruption source. I used a dream technique to recruit Guo Wei’s teacher and classmates. When Guo Wei was about to return to normal, Kong Wanqing appeared…”
“He… He forcibly controlled Guo Wei and began to use strange powers. I was hit by his technique and barely held on, delaying him to let Zhong Ge take the others and run first.”
Fu Xingchuan looked at them silently.
Yin Ren specifically confirmed that after he returned to his original state, Guo Wei was beside him, safe and sound—that was to say, he was able to control the spread of the Evil Force.
As long as the source of corruption was handed in quickly, even if Fu Xingchuan wanted to doubt him, there would be no conclusive evidence.
After all, a dead man tells no tales. Yin Ren lowered his head, showing a sad look.
“Kong Wanqing claims that his ability is emotional ‘resonance’, which can amplify negative emotions. After I was hit by him, everything fell into chaos. I may have been influenced by the Evil Force. After Zhong Ge woke me up, I realized… I killed Kong Wanqing.”
In a sense, everything he said was the truth.
“I have no idea how I killed him. I just remember being in great pain and feeling like the Evil Force was about to smash me into pieces. Minister Fu, will I go to jail?”
Fu Xingchuan raised his hand and glanced at the reading instrument on his wrist. His brows arched, but he didn’t say much.
“Do you have an impression of how Zhong Chengshuo saved you?” Fu Xingchuan showed no sign of relief and continued to ask sternly.
“He…”
Zhong Chengshuo: “I hugged him and fed him a bag of chocolate chips.”
Fu Xingchuan: “?”
Fu Xingchuan: “…Chocolate chips?”
Minister Fu’s tone was so confused that even his alert posture titled for a moment.
The two members of Unit 7 looked at each other and felt that this style was completely incompatible with the ferocious ghost just now. It was more credible to say that Zhong Chengshuo gave him ten shots of tranquilizer than the current statement.
The dark ghost fetus just now wouldn’t be defeated by a few chocolate chips.
Fu Xingchuan looked at the lie detector device again. What Zhong Chengshuo stated wasn’t nonsense; the honesty index was surprisingly high.
“You hugged Yin Ren and gave him some sweets.” Fu Xingchuan tried to make sense of the statement. “Is he normal now?”
Did these two think it was that easy to deal with a frenzied non-science post? Combined with the previous abnormal readings, Minister Fu felt that these two in Unit 9 must be crazy.
Yin Ren: “……” Zhong Chengshuo told the truth too quickly that he couldn’t think of a reasonable way to amend at this moment.
Damn it. He originally wanted to describe the entire process in a more touching way. As a result, Zhong Chengshuo gave a brief summary, making him look like some kindergartener who was throwing a tantrum during lunch.
King Yama obviously had his own ideas.
Zhong Chengshuo gently grabbed Yin Ren’s hand and made sure the other party couldn’t break away. He took a deep breath. “Yes, Yin Ren’s will is very strong—I wanted to go back before because I know him and have the confidence I could wake him.”
“Minster Fu, we just started dating.”
He added the final sentence with extra emphasis and solemnity.
Fu Xingchuan fell completely silent.
It was hard to tell whether the expression on his face was lost in deep thought or complete blankness. After a long time, he waved his hand as if he had given up..
“Forget it. You guys go back first and isolate for a while,” Fu Xingchuan said wearily. “We’ll verify your statements… Well, apart from the relationship thing.”
The faces of the two members of Unit 7 were still shocked. Their eyes swept between Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo.
“Hurry up and pack your things.” Although Fu Xingchuan lowered his guard, he didn’t release the protective spirit weapons. “Xiao Zhong, take care of Xiao Yin. We—”
Suddenly, something frantically moved in Yin Ren’s pocket.
Oops, it was Dog Thing.
The black ballpoint pen had been destroyed, which meant Guo Laifu would return to normal soon. Those little monsters that only exist in the minds of lunatics would no longer appear, so Dog Thing had lost the opportunity to freely eat the “weak”.
Yin Ren quickly held it down and patted it soothingly. Now he had been strengthened by a lot, so it wasn’t like he couldn’t share some of his Evil Force and feed that dog.
Despite its poor intelligence, the dog was well-versed in current events and knew who it shouldn’t mess with. Since Fu Xingchuan was here, it wouldn’t continue—
But it backfired. The cell phone began to struggle more vigorously. At the same time, Yin Ren’s scalp became cold.
“Get down!” Fu Xingchuan yelled. “Don’t even look up!”
The three of them hit the ground instantly except for Wang Zhou, who was still distracted by the outrageous love story. Fu Xingchuan threw out an explosive spirit bomb and directly blasted him to the ground.
Wang Zhou’s leg knocked against some ruins and made a “crack” sound.
Wang Zhou: “Ahhhh!”
“Quiet.” Fu Xingchuan gritted his teeth.
Yin Ren didn’t say a word.
He finally knew the reason for Dog Thing’s struggle—
Something was watching them.
The line of sight descended from above, pierced the direction of the center of the vortex, and stared at the five of them steadily. He didn’t know if it was because of the special environment in the Archive, but the sense of peeping was hundreds of millions of times stronger than the “sniper” from the outside world.
It was like a cold, foul, barbed tongue.
The sight licked the five of them, one by one, causing Yin Ren’s back to become horribly numb.
“Zhong Chengshuo, Wang Zhou, don’t push yourself. Do not look at it.” Fu Xingchuan lay down under an abandoned wall, staring at the dust on the ground.
“What is that?” Zhong Chengshuo asked curiously.
“I don’t know,” Fu Xingchuan said. “Know when you are outmatched. I have a hunch that it’s very bad.”
……
At the same time, Haigu Municipal Hospital.
Sun Qi’an cracked her sore shoulders and neck and went to dinner with a familiar nurse friend.
Her nurse friend was in a single room that belonged to an elderly man.
Speaking of which, this old man was considered a legend here…
The old man had been in a vegetative state, lying unconscious at the hospital for over seven years. Just six years ago, the old man miraculously woke up, but his body was so weak, he couldn’t leave the hospital.
His kids made quite a hearty living, so there was no shortage of money. Counting the moment he was admitted to the hospital, the old man had been hospitalized for thirteen years.
He was introverted, didn’t talk much, and wasn’t a picky eater. On weekdays, except for reading books and watching TV, the elderly man didn’t have any other requirements. All the nurses had a pretty good impression of him.
Usually, when people came to visit, the old man would always look their way and nod quietly.
But this time, it was different.
The old man didn’t look at Sun Qi’an, as if he hadn’t noticed her arrival. His wheelchair was parked by the window of the ward. The location of the ward was quite good, as he could see most of Haigu.
Perhaps the old man was tired of reading and wanted to look at the scenery. Sun Qi’an didn’t think much about it and just waited politely at the door.
At this moment, the old man moved…
He raised his hand, straightened his skinny fingers, and made a gun gesture.
The direction of the muzzle was pointed towards the Shian Building at the center of the city.
“Mr. Qiu?” Sun Qi’an called out in surprise.
The old man turned his head stiffly and smiled at her.
It was a twisted smile that bared all his teeth.
The author has something to say:
Cleansing wipes and chocolate chips save the world!!!
Good news: We’re in love!
Bad news: Medical examination and separation into isolation rooms.
Seeing several speedboats getting closer, Li Han’er said in disbelief, “Didn’t they land on this island? Why are they coming here again on a speedboat?”
Dong Zhi joked, “It may be we’re seeing things, and it’s actually a group of zombies.”
But no one thought he was joking. Everyone actually thought it made sense, and they grabbed their weapons, looking wary.
The speedboat quickly docked, and the Americans jumped off the top. William, who was shouting on the speedboat just now, was the first to get off.
He looked excited. “Hey, Dong! What a coincidence. I wanted to call you, and we just ran into you!”
Yang Shouyi: “If he has turned into a zombie, with this language ability, he must be at least a level 6 zombie or above.”
Dong Zhi couldn’t laugh or cry.
But it wasn’t just the Americans. A total of three speed boats came over. The other two were carrying the British and the Southern Europeans. Compared to the Americans, the latter two looked much more miserable.
Seeing their faces were strange and motionless, William’s steps slowed down, and his smile faded a bit. He asked suspiciously, “What happened? Why are you all looking at me like that?”
Dong Zhi: “My companions suspect your existence is an illusion, but in fact, you’re all zombies.”
William laughed. “My god, why would you think that? Are you so crazy about killing zombies? I’m the real William—your old pal. Don’t you remember the cell phone I gave you? Zombies won’t remember this!”
Liu Qingbo sneered. “That’s not necessarily true. The zombies we met before were using weapons to attack. How many living experiments have you done on that island, and how many people have turned into zombies?”
Seeing the scowls on their faces, William quickly put away his joking demeanor and raised his hands. “Don’t get angry. Calm down. I didn’t put zombies on that island!”
Dong Zhi said, “Zombies are different from monsters. They were all ordinary people during their lifetime. The zombies we encountered have evolved and are able to use tools. This shows that sooner or later, they will evolve to a level of human wisdom. You must know something.”
“Let me explain.” A young woman walked over from behind William. It was Lilith, the captain of their team.
“The discovery of the zombie virus was accidental, but unlike in movies, TV shows, or novels, some people deliberately research it with malicious intentions. Once, when we were chasing a wolf demon, we found a victim who was infected with this unknown virus. It was initially suspected that this virus was composed of wolfsbane, the rabies virus, and demonic qi. However, the discovery was too late. A group of people have already been infected. In order to avoid the continued spread of this virus, Group 51 transported them to one of the islands here for long-term observation.”
Lilith frowned, then continued, “This island was originally an experiment base, but it was abandoned later. In order to observe the zombies, some staff members left behind tracking records. Who knew that later the zombies would have mutated and evolved, and the staff would also fall? We found that although these zombies are fearless, they still have some fear of exorcism marks, which may be due to the demonic qi in their initial composition. In the end, we could only set up an exorcism barrier on the edge of the forest to prevent them from escaping. As for the zombies using tools, we really don’t know. It seems that they have evolved after long-term wandering. That’s all I know.”
Hearing her explanation, the faces of Dong Zhi and the others finally improved.
Dong Zhi asked, “The forest is full of zombies, and there’s no food. How can they maintain their attack power?”
Lilith said, “At the beginning, we would regularly airdrop some live animals down. Later, we stopped feeding them and wanted to see how long they could survive without any food source. We later found that these zombies were almost immortal. They did show signs of exhaustion, but this took at least three years, so there are signs, but it’s very slow.”
Speaking of this, she hesitated for a moment. “I heard that some people in Group 51 think that humans may be able to get inspiration from the delay of life exhaustion from the zombies. They hope to extract anti-aging elements that can benefit ordinary people.”
Liu Qingbo sneered. “So you guys have been treating them like treasures all this time? Come on, the reason they don’t easily get tired is because they have demonic qi inside their bodies! Do you guys also want to try injecting some demonic qi in your bodies?”
Lilith smiled bitterly. “Some people think that demonic qi can be controlled within a certain safe range and can benefit mankind. This issue has been debated by the Minister of Internal Affairs for a while now, but I can only tell you this. The party that proposed to completely eliminate the zombies finally won. We can’t risk dancing with the devil.”
Zhang Song sneered. “In other words, you have long known that there will be zombies on that island, and you brought us here to help destroy them!”
William yelled from the side. “You can’t say that. Every island is dangerous. We don’t know which island you would draw. Moreover, didn’t I provide you with a lot of information?”
Dong Zhi said, “We didn’t encounter anything dangerous that your information provided so it’s useless. Since you have concealed the zombies from us, then there must be other things that you’re also hiding.”
William: “Come on, we don’t know a lot about the contents of the competition. We’re just newcomers to Group 51. Even if we have the advantage as the host, those above won’t tell us much. Just like this Full Moon Island. We thought it was dangerous, so we didn’t get very close at all. We turned around and went to another island. Since we’re all here, why not explore together?”
It was best not to bite the hand that feeds you. Dong Zhi realized that even though the Americans might know a lot, they weren’t necessarily obligated to tell him everything. The fact that he could come to them for cooperation was an opportunity, and he naturally wanted to take advantage of it. Therefore, he relaxed his expression.
“Let’s talk about the situation on your side first.”
William told them that the news they had received in advance was just piecemeal. They only knew that the golden apple was related to a certain behemoth, but they didn’t know exactly what that behemoth was. After they landed on Full Moon Island, they saw this earthen city and wanted to send out two people to investigate first. If the situation wasn’t good, or if they felt that there might not be the golden apple on it, they would immediately leave and go to another island instead of wasting time. If they encountered any danger, they would release flares in time and let the people outside come rescue them.
Lilith said, “I went in with Tom.”
After Lilith and Tom entered, they found the earthen city was actually a huge maze made of earthen walls. The walls inside divided the huge space into countless roads, which were intricate and complex. If one wasn’t careful, they could get lost in it forever. The two of them didn’t dare to separate too far, sticking extremely close to each other for fear that something might happen. They didn’t even walk too fast and made many marks along the way to prevent themselves from getting lost. However, something did go wrong.
“Tom was walking in front of me. There was a corner at that time. I hadn’t seen it clearly, but he seemed to have been suddenly dragged away by something. He disappeared before my eyes without making a sound!”
Recalling the previous events, Lilith became a little nervous. Her other companions patted her on the shoulder silently to comfort her. She took a deep breath, then continued, “I hurried to catch up, but something strange happened. The front was completely empty, and there was no Tom, as if he had just simply vanished.”
Dong Zhi and the others looked at each other.
“What do you mean vanished?”
Lilith: “Vanished. I don’t know how to explain it. You have to know that he was right in front of me. From being dragged away to me catching up, it took at most two seconds. Tom is agile and strong, but he just disappeared out of thin air. I was stunned at the time. I shouted for him and looked around for a while, but found no trace of him. I knew he must have encountered some kind of unknown danger, so I took advantage of the fact that the exit wasn’t far and decided to leave first and discuss this with William and the others.”
William said, “Among our members, we all have mobile phones to contact each other, but we can’t contact Tom. The rest of us argued for a long time and finally decided to go in and save him, but after entering, everyone searched for a day and couldn’t find Tom. There was nothing inside except the maze of earthen walls. At that point, we decided to give up and go to another island.”
Liu Qingbo looked at the city wall that was at least six meters high and asked suspiciously, “How did you back out and return the same way? Flying Chinese kung fu?”
William asked curiously, “What is flying Chinese kung fu? “
Liu Qingbo rolled his eyes. “Don’t change the subject.”
William shrugged. “Well, actually, um, we brought a personal aircraft.”
He turned around and showed Liu Qingbo and the others his aircraft. It actually looked like a backpack but contained flying machine’s equipment. Only half the space was used to store things. They had never seen this kind of equipment before, so it was probably the latest black technology from the United States.
Li Han’er looked at it curiously. “How do you control this aircraft? Does everyone have it?”
William smiled. “This requires a little skill. Of course not everyone can do it. For example, it requires body balance. We all need to receive special training before we can use it.”
He didn’t elaborate, and Li Han’er didn’t ask more. She felt that the world was so big and that there were so many wonders. These Americans weren’t like practitioners but more like people who only used modern technology and strayed into a fantasy world full of monsters.
William then added, “But when it comes to beautiful ladies, I certainly have nothing to hide. After the competition, let’s go for a cup of tea, and I’ll slowly tell you all about it. How does that sound?”
Li Han’er said, “Forget it. I rather not know.”
William looked deflated while the Englishman next to him laughed mercilessly.
Lilith became irritated. “Gentlemen, can we get down to business?”
William hurriedly said, “Okay, okay.”
William described that after leaving the maze, they went to Rose Island, but encountered an overwhelming number of harpies. The harpies attacked them mercilessly, as if they were crazy. The British and Southern Europeans also encountered the Americans in the process of fighting the harpies, so everyone joined forces to defeat them and then left the island.
Dong Zhi said, “I remember the Russians also went to Rose Island. Didn’t you see them?”
The British captain, White, shook his head. “No, we didn’t encounter any Russians along the way, but those harpies were definitely strange. I have encountered them once before in Scotland and know they understand human language and don’t act that crazy. I don’t know what’s going on, but it seems as if they were suddenly bewitched by some kind of magic.”
He looked at William and the others. “Could it be that the organizing committee did something?”
William smiled bitterly. “The competition is for competitive exercise, not for killing people. I think something must have gone wrong in this competition.”
Dong Zhi interjected. “It may be related to the influx of demonic qi.”
He briefly talked about his team’s experience in the forest. It was just as thrilling as the other islands. After hearing that a Japanese was possessed by demonic qi and could command zombies to ambush and besiege them, Lilith’s face changed drastically. She muttered, “Things really are wrong. It shouldn’t be like this!”
White had lingering fears. “So, the sudden madness of those harpies may also be related to demonic qi?”
During their discussions, the Southern Europeans kept silent as if they were invisible. Most of the time, they just went along with the commands of others, reducing many disagreements.
William said, “The only good news is now we have ruled out two islands. Diana Island and Rose Island. The golden apple shouldn’t be there. What’s left are Full Moon Island and Princess Island, where the French is. Let’s hope God blesses Princess Island with no golden apple!”
Dong Zhi asked, “So what’s in the maze?”
William shook his head. “We don’t know. If we knew, maybe we wouldn’t have lost Tom. Now that we have four teams here, maybe we can make plans so we can be more efficient without harming each other’s interests.”
Everyone had no objections. At this time, the sky gradually darkened. Everyone decided to rest first, come up with a plan, and enter the maze early tomorrow morning.
There were few trees on Full Moon Island. They were scattered about on the periphery of the maze. The old trees were withered and dying, but it was enough to give them firewood for the night. With many hands of varying strengths, the task became easy. In no time at all, they all returned with several large bundles of branches on their backs.
Putting some branches against the stone wall, White took out his lighter but couldn’t light it, most likely because it was too damp. He borrowed a different bundle from his companions, but even those branches were damp as well. After several attempts, he failed to light a fire.
Zhang Song, who was next to him, curled his mouth when he saw this and directly pulled out a talisman. His mouth opened and closed a few times, and the talisman caught fire between his two fingers. He threw the talisman at the piled-up firewood, and it instantly burst into flames. The fire was raging, glowing in everyone’s eyes.
The British: ……
William grinned and thought in his heart that it was wise for him to choose the Chinese to form an alliance. He couldn’t help but gloat, and he said to White, “Why don’t you seek help from our Chinese friends?”
The Americans and the British didn’t have much conflict, but they didn’t really get along privately either. They often didn’t see eye to eye with each other, so White responded coldly, “You can seek help yourself. No need to use us as an excuse.”
William shrugged. “We don’t need it!”
He turned his head and fired a shot at the pyre. It wasn’t a bullet that came out of the barrel, but a flame. Fire instantly ignited at once, but in order to pose in a handsome posture, his shooting technique was a little awkward, making a twig bounce off from the flames and hit Lilith in the forehead.
Lilith was furious and raised her hand to beat him, which William quickly avoided.
White laughed mercilessly.
When fire was finally lit for all four teams, the captains and vice captains on each side sat around the fire to discuss strategies.
Now that the Americans were missing Tom, there were only five people on their team.
The British didn’t lose anyone, but the red-haired Grace had caused so much trouble with Dong Zhi’s team that White was afraid she would cause more trouble after she came, so he left her at the hotel and didn’t bring her. Now there were only six of them; the same as Dong Zhi’s side.
One of the Southern Europeans was seriously injured in the fight with the harpies. The injured person was still in a semi-comatose state and was placed by his companions to rest by the fire, which was equivalent to losing a fighting power. Thus, they only had five people on their team.
Lilith said, “I have a suggestion. There are many forks in the maze. We won’t always be together and will inevitably be separated. Whoever finds the golden apple first must signal before leaving the island so others can see it. What do you think?”
Everyone thought this was a good idea. Not only would it prevent robbery, but it would save everyone time, so they all nodded in agreement.
The British brought their own flare guns, so Lilith gave Dong Zhi and the captain of the Southern Europe team a flare gun.
Lilith: “Our companion is Tom. If you see him tomorrow and he’s still alive, please help him. We’ll be very grateful!”
White asked, “Do you have any photos?”
William thought for a moment and then said, “I’ll draw a picture.”
He took out a pen and paper and drew a sketch on it.
Dong Zhi leaned over curiously to look. In the next second, he couldn’t wait to slap himself from two seconds ago.
William turned his head to him and asked, “Nice, right?”
Dong Zhi: “…Does he have a lot of acne on his face?”
William: “That’s nonsense!”
Lilith rubbed her forehead. “Alright, stop drawing! He’s probably around six feet tall, quite burly, bald with a golden beard, and round-faced. You should be able to recognize him when you see him.”
Everyone looked at William’s sketch and felt that Lilith’s description was more graphic.
They all agreed they would look out for him. Lilith once again expressed her gratitude and asked, “Do you have anything to add? If not, let’s rest early.”
Dong Zhi thought for a moment, then said, “I hope that in this competition, everyone will try to stand united when facing monsters. Even if you see the golden apple, don’t ignore the safety of your competitors. After all, monsters are our true enemies, and the glory that comes from that is more worthy of respect.”
Naturally, everyone nodded and agreed. As for whether they truly thought so in their hearts, it was unknown. White secretly laughed in his heart, feeling that Dong Zhi’s seriousness was a bit naïve. Of course, it was easy to say this kind of thing when it was all talk, but in a real battle, those who wanted to snatch the golden apple were considered enemies. And who would be merciful to their enemies?
However, he would later discover that it wasn’t Dong Zhi who was naïve but himself. The other party had said these words not to make their enemies merciful, but for their own good.
But at this moment, White had no such experience for the time being.
The author has something to say:
A small theater that has nothing to do with the text:
The applause stopped and Li Jingtian finally took his seat.
He nodded to the host and dragged the microphone in front of him. He looked weak, but his temperament was neither too humble nor overbearing. He didn’t even need a script. He faced the camera and spoke slowly.
“Today, I specially invited everyone to come here because of my business. I’m really sorry. Before I went on stage, I thought about a lot of things to say, including how to correctly state that I have proven my innocence. To tell you the truth, I even thought about how to say things that would make me appear more credible. For this reason, my company has drafted a great speech for me. Believe me, it was written professionally, but the moment before I got on stage, I felt I didn’t need it. My fans, including you, didn’t come to listen to some formulaic report, so I came here to say two things. First, I did not rape Xu Ran, and second, I didn’t have any role in the Ansheng International Mall throat-slitting case.”
After Li Jingtian made his two points clearly, he got up and bowed again. “I’m done.”
No one expected Li Jingtian’s speech to be so concise and straightforward.
It was also because of the simplicity that there was an unspeakable strength.
“How amazing,” Lin Chen said coldly.
“Have you figured out what to do?” Xing Conglian asked.
“No.”
“Eh, A’Chen Gege, don’t you have a plan?”
“What plan can I have?”
“But Professor Fu and that pervert have entered the venue. What do we want them to do? No matter what, we have to fight back since Li Jingtian is so arrogant!” Wang Chao clenched his fists.
“We don’t have any substantive evidence so far.” Lin Chen emphasized the word “substantive”.
“But… but…” Wang Chao pointed to the tough and confident singer on TV and said, “He’s right there. We have to do something.”
“That’s right.” Lin Chen nodded.
Following Li Jingtian’s brief speech, the press conference entered the question session.
Li Jingtian was familiar with the major media platforms. Most of the reporters who could enter were good friends with CA Entertainment, so the first reporter he picked naturally asked a question that suited him best. “Hello, Mr. Li Jingtian. I’m a reporter from LA International TV. My question is, it’s true that you experienced a very difficult few weeks after being accused of rape, but during that time, you didn’t hold any press conferences. What prompted you to come to the stage today and face the public?”
Hearing this question, Li Jingtian’s face was serious. He put down the cup of water and slowly said, “I’m very happy to answer your question. If you ask me why, I can tell you it’s because of my own selfishness. I am also a human. After all these kinds of unfair investigations, I will also feel resentful and don’t want to bear it any longer. Why should I bear these trumped-up charges? Of course I have to come out and explain everything.”
“I’m afraid your purpose is not so simple. You just mentioned ‘unfair investigation’. Are you protesting the investigation of our country’s police?”
“Actually, it can’t be called a protest.” Li Jingtian and the reporter matched each other tacitly, as if they were dancing in perfect harmony. “I know that the police in your country are only doing what they are supposed to do. To be honest, my reputation has been ruined after this incident. I’m afraid that it will be difficult to gain a foothold in the entertainment industry in the future, but what did I do wrong? Just because some prostitute accused me of raping her, do I have to be humiliated hundreds of times? Is this the so-called judicial justice of your country? Because, compared to a vulnerable prostitute, I’m a glamorous foreign star, so the police must think that I’m at fault. No, I don’t believe this is the so-called fairness and justice.” Li Jingtian took a deep breath and continued, “I don’t think the police should look at everyone with colored glasses, let alone identify us as criminals based on our identities. No matter if your status is high or low, you are entitled to the same investigation. This is true. This is the justice we all deserve.”
After Li Jingtian finished speaking, the audience was silent.
A criminal was talking about justice on stage. Was there anything more ridiculous than this? However, what was even more unbelievable was the reactions of everyone in the assembly hall, which showed that they seemed to be convinced by Li Jingtian’s words. Indeed, what Li Jingtian said made sense.
The person who interrupted the tranquility of the house was Lu Xu.
“That’s a beast wearing human skin,” the manager of the PR department of CA Entertainment, who had never done anything good, said.
Lu Xu’s words made Lin Chen recover from an emotion that questioned the rationality of the world. He took out his phone and made a call.
……
The phone rang abruptly. It was an absurd ringtone of agricultural heavy metal music, which was commonly used in the repertoire of square dancing by aunties or fringe drag racers in urban-rural areas.
Everyone in the entire conference looked at the source of the sound. Before the conference started, the host had warned everyone to silence their phones, so they all looked at him with anger and contempt. This kind of unqualified reporter was simply embarrassing all his colleagues.
However, the reporter-like person didn’t immediately stop the ringing. He pushed his seat away and stood up. What was unexpected was that he not only stood up but also walked up the aisle leading to the podium.
The music singing, “I love you. You don’t love me, you big bastard” was still playing. The host finally reacted and quickly picked up the microphone and shouted, “Sir, please abide by the venue etiquette!”
However, the other party didn’t have any intention of stopping. That person walked at an unhurried pace, as leisurely as if he were walking down a street covered with fallen leaves.
“Security, please escort this gentleman out of the venue,” the host angrily said.
As soon as his voice fell, the perpetrator happened to walk up to the reporter who had asked Li Jingtian his question earlier. He took the microphone from the dumbfounded reporter, nodded to the other party, and said, “Your question just now is really shameless!”
The embassy’s security had already rushed over. Just as they were about to capture the man, everyone suddenly heard the man speaking leisurely into the microphone. “Wait~ Actually, someone wants Mr. Li Jingtian to answer the phone.”
The first reaction of the security personnel was to snatch the microphone out of the reporter’s hand, but the man held it with a strange force. The moment he was pressed to the ground, everyone heard him say, “Hongjing Police is calling. Is Mr. Li Jingtian really unwilling to answer it?”
The venue fell into a deathly silence again. Even Mr. Li Jingtian, who had always behaved decently, had a frigid expression on his face.
The phone was still ringing.
Lin Chen held the phone and watched the live broadcast.
It was a completely deadlocked situation. The man who changed the situation was a man named Sheng Chenggong, because he did nothing.
It was hard to understand, given that, from another angle, Su Fengzi should have been taken down by Xinni’s security personnel before he even made it halfway to the stage, but he managed to walk safely under the podium and pick up the microphone from the first row of reporters.
Truthfully, for the staff of the Xinni Embassy, it was shameful for them to come forward to protect a citizen of their country who may have violated the law. For example, Mr. Shen Chenggong, the embassy military attaché who was previously subdued by Xing Conglian at lightning speed, thought so. At his level, there was no need to stand up for a noble son, but the orders of his superiors couldn’t be disobeyed. In short, it was difficult for a child from an aristocratic family to win goodwill wherever he went.
So when the phone rang just now, Shen Chenggong just chewed gum as he stood on the sidelines and didn’t give any orders, perfectly pushing the situation to a neutral point again.
Because of Shen Chenggong’s inaction, Su Fengzi had the chance to add one more sentence before the microphone was snatched away from him. “If you dare not talk to the police directly, it’ll look very suspicious on live TV.”
Li Jingtian finally recovered from his consternation. He was always good at hiding his emotions. He responded with a good temper, “Actually, you really don’t need to do this. If the Hongjing Police want to talk to me, they can do it at any time, but your attitude and methods just now are a bit rude.”
“Then, are you going to pick up… or not?” Su Fengzi asked indifferently. He was really good at dealing with people like Li Jingtian.
Li Jingtian’s face stiffened again. Everyone’s eyes were burning, as if expecting something.
Finally, Li Jingtian could only grit his teeth and say, “Of course. Please connect the phone.”
After the phone connected, there were about three seconds of silence.
Su Fengzi pointed the microphone at the phone’s speaker, but neither Li Jingtian nor Lin Chen spoke first.
Lin Chen took a step back and sat down on the sofa. He looked at the silent singer on the TV screen, and finally, just before Li Jingtian wanted to speak, he said, “Mr. Li Jingtian, hello.”
Lin Chen’s calm voice came through the speaker of the phone, then through the microphone. It wasn’t clear, but anyone at the scene could hear the solemnity in it.
“Consultant Lin, long time no see.” Li Jingtian nodded at the live broadcast camera with a gentle smile.
“Don’t be so polite. It hasn’t even been 24 hours since we last saw each other.”
“Yes, it really hasn’t been long. I still remember the humiliation you inflicted on me yesterday, so, choosing to talk to me at my press conference—do you want to humiliate me again?”
“Oh, because you just asked us a question, I have to answer.”
“What question did I just ask?”
“You asked us, what did you do wrong?” Lin Chen’s tone was full of sarcasm.
“I don’t understand,” Li Jingtian said.
“Indeed, it’s impossible for people like you to understand that anyone has the right to say no when it comes to sex. This power has nothing to do with gender, status, or identity. Whether it’s an intimate lover or a husband and wife, even a decent prostitute has the right to say no, and any sexual intercourse against their will is rape.”
Lin Chen’s voice was calm, as if he had transcended time and was expounding a kind of innate human power. Xing Conglian looked back at his friend sitting on the sofa and saw Lin Chen slowly open his mouth while bathing under the sun. He’d never felt stronger than he did now. Lin Chen was good—really good.
Whether it was in front of the TV or inside and outside the venue, many people were silent.
A woman knitting a sweater stopped her needle motion in her hand, and a girl wandering on the streets stopped and looked up at the big screen on the square. The reporter stopped their shutters, and the photographer stopped shaking their heads. Even the embassy security personnel restraining Su Fengzi let go.
Su Fengzi held up the microphone and stood upright.
Everyone was silent; everyone was no longer silent.
After Li Jingtian finally pinched the palm of his hand to the point of pain, he slowly said, “Consultant Lin, I wholeheartedly agree with your point of view, but I hope what you just said is not implicitly alluding to what happened between me and Xu Ran.”
Lin Chen interrupted Li Jingtian with a tone as if he couldn’t care less about what he had to say. “I’m just talking about the things you did to Xu Ran. It’s 12:10. Before we actually meet, you still have about an hour to consider turning yourself into the police for a lighter sentence.”
Li Jingtian frowned slightly, not feeling happy or angry. “I’m sorry. No matter how hard you force me, I won’t admit to these false charges. Because of your prejudices against me, for my own personal safety, I’m afraid I won’t see you.”
“You can try,” Lin Chen said.
Li Jingtian’s face tightened. “I thought we were having a good exchange. Did you just threaten me?”
Lin Chen said, “Huh, put away your hypocritical rhetoric. After an hour, there will be no need to maintain your facade. If I were you, I would carefully think about it in the next hour. Among the despicable, nasty, and disgusting crimes I have committed, did I accidently miss something, and it was found by others? Of course, you can also eat and drink and find a woman or two. After all, that may be the last two hours of your freedom. I hope you can cherish it.” Lin Chen paused and added, “Please understand, this is really a kind reminder.”
Li Jingtian wanted to retort, but Lin Chen had already hung up.
The media inside and outside the venue was in an uproar. They didn’t know what was going on, but just a phone call made them look at Li Jingtian differently.
Li Jingtian couldn’t hold back his expression anymore. He got up angrily from his seat and rushed off the stage, even forgetting to bow.
Shen Chenggong raised his brows, yawned, and waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to temporarily detain the fake reporter who made a scene.
The sun was still shining on Song Shengsheng’s house. Lin Chen slowly put down his phone and was silent.
Wang Chao suddenly asked, “A’Chen, won’t it take us an hour and a half to reach the Yongchuan Embassy?”
“Yes,” Lin Chen said lightly.
“Then why did you tell Li Jingtian he only has one hour left?”
“Because a long-delayed guillotine is frightening, anxiety-provoking, and brings out desperation. There’s no similar suffering in the world that can make people more likely to make mistakes.”
Hearing Lin Chen finish his words, Xing Conglian looked at Lin Chen and stretched out his hand to him. He knew very well that their siege on Li Jingtian had already begun the moment Lin Chen decided to make that call.
Although there was no chance of winning, they had to move forward.
Lin Chen put his hand lightly on Xing Conglian’s palm and stood up.
Kinky Translations 