On the day of the funeral, Beijing’s skies, which had been overcast for most of the winter, made an extraordinary exception and let the sun shine through.
Sun Dingyi’s father carried a photograph of his son, while his mother held his uniform and peaked cap. Together, they walked out of the dormitory.
Two straight rows of uniformed firefighters stood at attention on either side of the station’s training ground.
Suppressing the ache in his nose, Ren Yi shouted, “Salute!”
The firefighters raised their hands in a synchronized military salute. Their eyes were red, their lips pressed tightly together, as they watched their comrade pass across the training ground where he had trained countless times, climb into his favorite fire engine, and depart for the funeral home.
Except for the officers and firefighters who had to remain behind on duty, everyone went to the funeral home.
A large crowd had gathered outside to pay their respects to Sun Dingyi, along with leaders and firefighters from headquarters, the regional fire corps, and other stations.
Ren Yi spotted a familiar figure immediately: a tall, slender man wearing a dark navy police uniform. It was Gong Yingxian. The uniform seemed tailor-made for him, making him look even more striking and handsome than he did in his usual collection of expensive suits.
Gong Yingxian walked up to Ren Yi and said softly, “I’m here on behalf of the district bureau to pay my respects.”
Ren Yi nodded. “This is the first time I’ve seen you in uniform.”
“And it’s the first time I’ve seen you in yours.”
“When we wear our uniforms, it means something major has happened. It’s either good news or bad news.” Ren Yi lowered his voice. “I’ll go inside first.”
“Go ahead.”
The funeral hall was filled with people who had been close to Sun Dingyi or known him well. Yan Jue had also made a special trip from Xijiao to attend.
Throughout the funeral, Ren Yi remained in a daze. It was as though he were enclosed within an invisible membrane, shutting out the mourning, the sobbing, and the tears around him. Everything happening before his eyes felt unreal. He still, still couldn’t fully accept reality. He continued to suspect that all of this was just a dream.
After the funeral ended, Ren Yi didn’t return to the station with the others. Instead, he found a bench in a quiet corner of the park within the cemetery grounds and sat down, silently watching the bare tree branches and the sparse, barren grass.
His injuries had not yet healed. Pain tormented him constantly, and he was still having difficulty breathing. Even after a busy morning, he was so exhausted that he could barely remain standing. Now, the warm sunlight falling across his back brought him a little relief.
Footsteps sounded behind him. Ren Yi knew instinctively, without turning around, that it was Gong Yingxian.
Gong Yingxian sat beside him and handed him a can of hot tea.
Ren Yi accepted it, cupping it between his hands. “It’s not that cold today. It’s rare to see the sun.”
“But you’re not wearing enough.” Gong Yingxian touched Ren Yi’s hand. “It’s freezing.”
Ren Yi took Gong Yingxian’s hand in his own. Thinking back over the dazed, disconnected state he had been in lately, he suddenly felt a little guilty.
“I haven’t really talked to you much these past few days. Please don’t take it personally.”
“How could I?” Gong Yingxian paused. “I know how it feels.”
Ren Yi’s heart tightened with sadness. “I’ve made you worry.”
“Yes, you certainly have.” Gong Yingxian drew a deep breath. “Do you have any idea what it was like for me down there, watching you teeter on the edge of life and death on that connecting passage?”
Even now, when he thought back to the terror and despair he had felt at the time, he still shuddered.
“…I’m sorry.”
“If I…” Gong Yingxian gently bit his lower lip. “If I told you that I wanted you to stop being a firefighter, and in exchange, I would agree to any condition you set…”
Ren Yi stared blankly at Gong Yingxian.
Their eyes met, but neither of them could utter a sound.
After a long while, Ren Yi managed a faint smile. “You’re… joking, right?”
They both knew Gong Yingxian wasn’t joking. But Gong Yingxian also knew that Ren Yi had evaded the question because he couldn’t agree to it.
Ren Yi regarded his profession as a calling. Only death itself could probably make him give it up.
Gong Yingxian lowered his head in dejection. Why did he have to fall in love with this particular man? All his life, he had desperately tried to stay away from fire. Now, he was desperately trying to draw closer to someone whose entire life revolved around fighting it. What a cruel irony.
Ren Yi felt a little guilty. He gently bumped Gong Yingxian’s shoulder, changing the subject.
“You look really good in uniform.”
“Do I? It’s inconvenient when I’m investigating cases, so I rarely wear it.” Gong Yingxian looked at his own uniform, then at Ren Yi’s. “You look good in yours, too.”
“I haven’t worn mine in ages. Training clothes are still the most comfortable. We have so many different outfits. The chemical protective suit is probably the most uncomfortable, followed by the fire-protective suit.”
He stopped when he mentioned the fire-protective suit.
Gong Yingxian sensed the shift in Ren Yi’s emotions and clasped his hand tightly, trying to lend him strength.
Ren Yi closed his eyes, overwhelmed by grief. His eyes grew wet again.
“I’ll… I’ll recover. You don’t have to worry.”
“I need you, Ren Yi. I need you to help the police find the person responsible for Squad Leader Sun’s death.”
“I know.” Ren Yi wiped his eyes. “Just tell me what you need me to do.”
Gong Yingxian spoke gently. “Right now, I need you to let yourself cry as much as you need to, and then accept what has happened.”
Ren Yi stiffened. Then, slowly, he leaned his head against Gong Yingxian’s shoulder and let the tears flow freely.
Gong Yingxian intertwined his fingers with Ren Yi’s, listening to his silent sobs. He wished he could give up everything he had, if only he could protect this man from ever being hurt again.
Ren Yi took a day off instead of returning to the station. He first went to the hospital to have his dressings changed and receive an IV infusion, then went home with Gong Yingxian.
They bought ingredients and cooked a meal together. After dinner, they watched sports and chatted. When the night grew late, they held each other and fell asleep beneath the same blanket. Such ordinary moments together were enough to warm the heart and mend the cracks in the soul.
The next morning, they went to the Hongwu District Public Security Bureau together. The fire investigation unit had completed a preliminary report on the Wenhui Mall fire, and Ren Yi needed to provide his eyewitness account.
Previously, whenever Ren Yi visited the Hongwu District Bureau, he was always greeted enthusiastically, especially by the female officers. This time, however, everyone was unusually reserved. They greeted him cautiously and asked how his recovery was going.
Ren Yi thanked them before following Gong Yingxian into the conference room.
Gong Yingxian handed him the fire investigation report. Ren Yi could easily have accessed it through the internal system at any time, but he had deliberately avoided reading it. He had even put off writing his own incident report, and no one had pressed him to do so.
Now, he had to face it.
He took a deep breath, opened the report, and read it page by page.
The point of origin was a wholesale clothing shop in Building A, near the connecting passage. There were clear traces of an accelerant.
At the time the fire started, all the shops in Building A had closed for the day. Only the security guards remained, making their rounds and preparing to lock up.
The fire had spread rapidly toward the connecting passage because the mall had illegally rented out the passageway itself as additional stall space. As a result, one side of the already narrow corridor was crowded with combustible materials.
The security guards had initially attempted to extinguish the fire using the building’s fire hydrants. But the mall’s stalls were packed tightly together, and the flames spread rapidly. After failing to put out the fire, the guards fled the scene and called the emergency services.
By the time the firefighters arrived, Building A was already burning fiercely. Chen Xiaofei had sent in two stations, but a sudden explosive flashover occurred almost immediately after they entered, forcing them to withdraw. From that point onward, the fire in Building A was completely out of control.
After finishing the report, Ren Yi asked, “The report establishes that it was arson, but there’s no evidence proving who did it?”
Gong Yingxian shook his head. “All the surveillance footage was destroyed by the fire. The accelerant was ordinary gasoline. We’re currently looking for eyewitnesses among the people who survived in Building B next door. We know the time window. Quite a few people were still coming and going in Building B then, so someone might have seen a suspicious person near Building A.”
“I want to go to the scene and take a look,” Ren Yi said. “This afternoon.”
“That’s fine. The scene is still largely intact.”
“Besides this case, has there been any progress on the other investigations lately?”
Gong Yingxian nodded, his expression darkening. “There have been a few developments. Do you remember that a few months ago, we found a possible connection between Red Flame and the murder of a homeless man several years ago? The location where the body was found and the method of killing were consistent with Red Flame’s pattern.”
“I remember. I haven’t heard anything about it since.”
“That’s because we ran out of leads at the time. But I’ve always had doubts about the man’s identity. According to the autopsy, he was a young man in his early twenties. He had no physical disabilities, though he might have had a mental illness. We couldn’t determine that for certain. Since no missing-person report matched him, and he was wearing clothes associated with the homeless, we assumed he was a homeless man.”
Gong Yingxian paused before continuing.
“But the elderly couple who discovered his body walked along that stretch of riverbank every morning and evening. They had never seen a homeless person in that area. Generally speaking, homeless people have regular areas where they spend their time. A young homeless man with no physical disabilities would have been even more noticeable.”
“So you think he wasn’t homeless?”
“I don’t know. But there’s been a development in the case recently, although we still can’t be certain whether it’s connected.”
“What development?”
“A financial company reported a missing borrower to the police. They’re unable to recover a loan of 200,000 yuan. Among the missing-person reports filed over the past two years, this man is the only one who might match the homeless victim. He came from a rural family with nine children. Both his parents are dead, and he has been out of contact with his relatives for a long time. They don’t seem particularly concerned about his disappearance. We’re investigating further.”
Ren Yi nodded. “I hope something comes of it.”
“There’s one more thing, related to the lead you gave me last time.”
“The mask?”
Gong Yingxian took a deep breath. “Your theory may have been correct.”
“You remembered something?”
“No. My memory has always told me it was a bird mask, but my memory may have been lying to me.”
Ren Yi looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“Someone tampered with my memories.”
Ren Yi’s eyes widened. He was so shocked that he couldn’t speak for a moment. Could it be…
“I know you suspect Dr. Pompey, but it wasn’t him. It happened much earlier, because I was the one who first brought up the bird mask.”
“But who else could alter someone’s memories?”
“A professional psychologist could do it to a six-year-old child who had suffered severe trauma,” Gong Yingxian said coldly. “After the incident at my family’s home, my grandfather arranged for doctors to provide me with psychological intervention. I barely remember any of it now, because I saw so many different doctors during that period—for myself, for my older sister, and so on. It took a great deal of effort to track down the medical records from that time.”
“Which doctor was it?”
“A psychological specialist named Wang Minde.”
“Th-then you should…”
Gong Yingxian’s gaze turned icy.
“Just one week ago, that man named Wang Minde was drinking alone at home. He choked on his own vomit and died of asphyxiation.”
Ren Yi’s entire body went rigid.