Ren Yi turned to go back inside, but Gong Yingxian stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t rush. Let’s organize your thoughts first. Think back over your conversation with him. How did you feel while you were talking to him?”
“How did I feel?” Ren Yi rolled his eyes. “Angry. What else?”
“Anything besides that?”
Ren Yi thought about it calmly. “Sometimes, I felt like he was deliberately saying things to provoke me.”
“Exactly. He wants to attract your attention. The way he behaves when he’s facing us is completely different from how he behaves with you. Although he’s infuriating in both situations, in front of us, he acts contemptuous, frivolous, and dismissive. He downplays what he’s done and relies on his age and family background, without the slightest concern about being punished. But he doesn’t behave that way in front of you. He wants to show off.”
Ren Yi thought back over his conversation with Fang Zhixu. It seemed that Gong Yingxian was right.
Qiu Yan said, “He idolizes you and pays close attention to you. He wants you to agree with his views, so he keeps expressing his opinions and testing your reactions. For example, when he brought up Squad Leader Sun, he did it deliberately. He wanted to test your limits.”
“What does that mean? What the hell is he trying to do?” Ren Yi irritably raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t believe he genuinely idolizes me. Didn’t you hear what he said? He thinks everything firefighters do is futile, that we’re failures and can only lose by varying degrees. How does that count as admiration?”
“There’s no contradiction. If you carefully analyze every sentence he said, you can piece together the portrait of a fanatical admirer. He idolizes you, and at the same time…” Gong Yingxian frowned. “We suspect he wants you to die.”
Ren Yi froze.
“To him, it isn’t you as an individual that he worships, but the image you represent: the righteous, courageous hero of a firefighter. He worships fire, and he also worships the warriors who dare to fight against it—even if their struggle is futile, because that makes them fit his fantasy of tragic heroes even better. In his mind, you have to fulfill his heroic ideal. You have to sacrifice yourself like a hero, just as Sun Dingyi did.”
“Fuck.” Ren Yi felt his head swelling. “What the… What kind of fucking lunatic is this? Who the hell thinks like that?”
Qiu Yan gave a sardonic smile. “Of course people like that exist, and there are a great many of them. Most aren’t actually crazy; they’re simply carried away by temporary fanaticism. For example, when a celebrity’s wholesome image falls apart, the people who attack them most viciously are often the very fans who once supported them. Sometimes, the celebrity doesn’t even have to do anything that serious. They only need to behave in a way that doesn’t match their fans’ expectations to provoke resentment. In those fans’ minds, the celebrity is no longer a person. They’ve become a shared fantasy, an idealized image. When that image steps out of line, it feels like disappointment and betrayal. Of course, most people eventually calm down. But judging from that boy’s expressions, his words, and his entire pattern of behavior just now, this clearly goes beyond a passing fit of enthusiasm.
“Actually, after the news of Squad Leader Sun’s death came out, he posted a lot of extremely emotional comments. We were worried that reading them would upset you, so we didn’t show them to you. If you’re sure you can handle it, I can send them to you. Then you’ll understand the boy’s psychological state.”
Ren Yi took a deep breath. “So, the arsonist at Wenhui Mall…”
“It wasn’t him. He was attending classes at a university entrance exam prep center at the time, so he has a perfect alibi.” Gong Yingxian looked concerned. “However, even though he hasn’t committed a crime yet, he has considerable potential to do so.”
“What should we do, then?”
Gong Yingxian shook his head. “We can only do our best to stop him. Then we’ll speak with his parents and arrange for him to receive psychological treatment.”
“What should I do when I go back in? How do I handle him?”
“First, you have to preserve the image he has of you. If he feels that his idealized image of you has collapsed, he might react violently. We must do everything we can to avoid that. Second, you need to make him feel that he’s the one who has disappointed you. You’ve been a worthy role model, but he hasn’t been a worthy admirer.”
Ren Yi listened in bewilderment. “What am I supposed to say?”
“Tell him that sneaking into the ruins of Wenhui Mall and leaving a shoeprint was incredibly stupid. He may have wanted to follow in your footsteps, but he was both cowardly and foolish. If people found out he was your admirer, it would seriously damage your future and your reputation. Tell him to focus on his studies and stop doing stupid things like this.” Gong Yingxian continued, “The key is not to suggest that you suspect him of having criminal motives. Instead, treat his actions as nothing more than the foolish, meaningless behavior of an immature boy—just as he himself claimed they were.”
“I understand.” It was essentially an indirect provocation. If Fang Zhixu wanted to prove himself, he would first have to prove that his actions had meant something.
“All right. Go back in.”
Gong Yingxian suddenly caught Ren Yi by the wrist and gazed into his eyes. His voice softened.
“Remember, don’t let him provoke you. You have to remain in control. Once you sit down, glance at your watch from time to time. Sit on only the front half of the chair without leaning against the back. Angle your body toward the door, cross your legs, and point both feet toward the exit. All these gestures communicate that you don’t intend to stay long and want to leave as soon as possible.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Ren Yi caught Qiu Yan looking at them with a curious, searching expression. He quickly pulled his wrist free from Gong Yingxian’s hand and murmured, “Mm,” before pushing open the door and walking inside.
Fang Zhixu watched him with a bright smile.
Ren Yi sat down opposite him again, an impatient expression flickering across his face.
“They just told me that you were at your exam prep class on the day of the Wenhui Mall fire. Is that right?”
Fang Zhixu nodded. “I have an alibi.”
“Yeah. I didn’t think a kid could have done much anyway. I mean, these cops are really… making a mountain out of a molehill.” Ren Yi muttered, “What a waste of my time.”
Fang Zhixu’s brows drew together slightly.
“Kids like you—I’ve seen plenty. Exploring the ruins of a fire scene must be exciting, huh? More realistic than a haunted house, and free too. Did you take a girl with you? Try to show off a little?”
“I’m not that bored,” Fang Zhixu said with a frown.
“You’re not bored?” Ren Yi laughed. “Who in their right mind runs off to a burned-out building in the middle of the night for fun? Isn’t it cold? And the place was cordoned off by the police. If you were an adult, they’d throw you in detention for a few days. How embarrassing would that be? Not only did you go there, but you even got caught. You probably thought you’d covered your tracks pretty well, didn’t you? Well, that’s kids for you. Always thinking they’re smarter than everyone else.”
“My shoe cover tore!” Fang Zhixu protested indignantly. “It was an accident.”
“Oh, an accident.” Ren Yi shook his head. “I really don’t know what goes through kids’ heads these days. They’re always doing stupid things that are both boring and pointless.”
Fang Zhixu clenched his fists discreetly.
“Oh, I know!” Ren Yi said, feigning sudden realization. “Last year, we caught someone just like you. He went to the ruins of a fire scene in the middle of the night, taking pictures, recording videos, and livestreaming the whole thing. A complete idiot. He was an unemployed drifter who couldn’t find a job and was trying to scrape together enough money to eat. Are you short on pocket money?”
Fang Zhixu was furious and immediately protested. “No! I’m not short of money, and I wasn’t doing it for money!”
“Fine, fine. Those cops are under pressure to improve their case numbers, so they’re going crazy looking for arsonists and dragging even little kids like you in here.” Ren Yi glanced at his watch. “Go home and study. Stop running around and doing stupid things. Do you have any idea that this kind of behavior could reflect badly on me?”
Fang Zhixu pressed his lips together and said nothing.
“You spend all your time following me and my station online. Imagine what people would say if they found out you’d been learning from us, only to end up sneaking into a fire scene for fun and making the police investigation more difficult. What would that make me look like?” Ren Yi made a pleading gesture. “Please, stop fooling around, okay?”
With that, he stood up to leave.
“I wasn’t fooling around.” Fang Zhixu took a deep breath, suppressing his anger. “I made an important discovery.”
Ren Yi stopped in his tracks.
Gong Yingxian immediately spoke through his earpiece. “Leave directly. Don’t engage with him.”
Ren Yi gave a scornful laugh and headed toward the door without looking back.
Fang Zhixu stood up indignantly. “I wasn’t doing something pointless and stupid! I’m not that bored! You—you stop right there!”
Ren Yi turned to look at him and sneered. “Oh, really? Then what were you doing? What did you discover?”
Fang Zhixu gritted his teeth, hesitating.
“Go tell the police, then. My station has a ton of work to do. I don’t have time to play games with a kid.” Ren Yi opened the door and walked out without looking back.
“You’ll regret this!” Fang Zhixu shouted after him, his voice left behind on the other side of the door.
Once he was out of the interrogation room, Ren Yi took several deep breaths. He wasn’t particularly good at acting, and his palms were now damp with nervous sweat.
Gong Yingxian and Qiu Yan soon emerged from the monitoring room as well. Qiu Yan applauded softly. “Captain Ren, you did very well.”
Ren Yi gave a bitter smile. “Will he talk?”
“Not right now, and especially not to the police. He’s very guarded. That’s why we told you to leave quickly. Otherwise, he might have realized we were deliberately provoking him.”
“What do we do next?”
“Let him go,” Gong Yingxian replied. “The best-case scenario is that he’ll come looking for you privately. The worst-case scenario is that nothing comes of it. Since he won’t talk, we have no way to force him. We have to let him go either way.”
Ren Yi waited for his heartbeat to settle. “Feilan goes to the same school as him. I don’t think that’s safe.”
“They’re in different grades and different buildings, and they’ve never had any contact before. Besides, when the Blazing Angels exposed our personal information, I had already arranged double-layered security for her. She’s never alone after leaving school, so there’s no need to worry.”
Ren Yi nodded. “Good. You should remind Feilan to be careful, too.”
“Mm.” Gong Yingxian handed Ren Yi his insulated mug. “Have some water.”
Ren Yi glanced at it. “No, thanks. If there’s nothing else, I’m going back.”
Gong Yingxian opened his mouth as if to ask him to stay, but he couldn’t find a suitable excuse.
“Captain Ren, why don’t you join us for a meal?” Qiu Yan suggested.
“No, I really need to get back to the station.”
“You’ve helped me out so much, and I’ve never treated you to a meal. Let’s just eat in our cafeteria. It won’t take long.” Qiu Yan paused, then said guiltily, “Please give me a chance to apologize to you. All right?”
Ren Yi sighed. He had always found it difficult to refuse a woman’s request.