Ren Yi had been sitting in a daze for an entire day.
Ever since he woke up in the hospital, he hadn’t said a word or taken a single sip of water. He simply sat there, staring blankly into space.
And yet, his mind had never stopped turning. It was as though some tremendous force had torn his body and soul apart. One had become rigid and immobile, while the other continued to function, but they could no longer coexist. In fact, they seemed to repel each other, because his heart refused to believe what his eyes had witnessed.
He had been shot. Although the bullet had been stopped by his bulletproof vest, the close-range gunfire had fractured two of his ribs, leaving a large area of bruising across his lower chest. It looked almost like a deadly poison spreading outward from the wound. Even the slightest movement, such as breathing, caused waves of dull pain.
But all of that was insignificant compared with what he had been through.
Qiu Yan was dead. She had died on the spot after being shot, without even making it to the hospital.
The first thing Ren Yi had asked after waking up was about Qiu Yan. The answer he received had struck him like a bullet straight through the forehead, scattering his mind and soul and leaving him in unbearable agony.
He couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe any of what was happening. He couldn’t believe that Gong Yingxian would disregard both Qiu Yan’s life and his own just to capture Ziyan.
He refused to believe that the person who had done this was Gong Yingxian. He absolutely refused to believe it!
Not long ago, he and Gong Yingxian had still been exchanging words of affection, imagining their future together. The more dangerous the road ahead seemed, the more precious their hopes for the future had become. And all those hopes rested in each other.
Was he the only one who had thought that way? Had he overestimated his importance in Gong Yingxian’s heart from beginning to end?
Perhaps Gong Yingxian hadn’t lied. His affection might have been genuine, but it was also insignificant—at least compared with his obsession, which was something he could abandon at any moment.
Was that it, Gong Yingxian? So you didn’t care about hurting me. You didn’t care about abandoning me…
But what about Qiu Yan? Wasn’t she family to you? How could you stand by and watch her life slip away?
Gong Yingxian, what exactly have you done?!
Ren Yi felt like an apple that still retained a little color on the outside, while its insides had long since been infested with worms. Just as his suffering spread silently through his body, it gnawed away at his flesh, second by second, without ever stopping.
He neither ate nor drank nor slept. He simply kept replaying the events of that night over and over, as though possessed. The struggle between reason and emotion was tearing him apart, and he was even beginning to lose the ability to distinguish reality from illusion.
He knew that people had been coming to see him constantly over the past two days. Some were there out of concern for him, such as Qu Yangbo, Yan Jue, and the brothers from his fire station. Others were there because of the case, such as Captain Zhao and Zheng Pei.
He could see their expressions and hear their words, but he couldn’t respond. He didn’t dare to, didn’t want to, and simply had no desire to. What was he supposed to say? Even he couldn’t make sense of what had happened. How could he possibly answer anyone else’s questions?
Why had Gong Yingxian done this?
Yes. Why?
Why did everyone keep asking him why, when he wanted to know the answer more than anyone else in the world?
Why had Gong Yingxian allowed the criminals to shoot Qiu Yan and him?
Why had Gong Yingxian disregarded their lives in his pursuit of Ziyan and his quest for revenge?
How could Gong Yingxian be affectionate and intimate one moment, then cold and heartless the next?
All the complicated, chaotic events and images gradually faded into the background. In the end, the only thing that became increasingly clear in Ren Yi’s mind was Gong Yingxian’s eyes.
Those eyes had once held arrogance, shyness, and deep affection. They had also held cruelty, coldness, and madness.
Gong Yingxian was a man of many sides, and Ren Yi had thought he loved every single one of them. Now, however, he finally realized that the man who could shoot someone without hesitation, who could wield a dagger with practiced precision and slit someone’s throat, had gone beyond what he could comprehend in the person he loved. In the end, that side of Gong Yingxian had become a nightmare he could no longer bear.
“I’m sorry.”
Those were the last words Gong Yingxian had said to him.
They were, without a doubt, the three most grating words Ren Yi had ever heard in his life.
It turned out that when pain and fear became too overwhelming to face, all a person really wanted to do was run away.
Ren Yi had fled into his own body, curling up inside himself like a turtle retreating into its shell, cutting off all contact with the outside world.
By the second day, Zheng Pei had finally lost his patience. He grabbed Ren Yi by the collar and shouted furiously at him, trying to “wake him up.”
Qu Yangbo rushed forward. If the people nearby hadn’t intervened, he would almost certainly have gotten into a fight with Zheng Pei.
The protective shell Ren Yi had built around himself cracked under the shaking. He finally looked directly at Zheng Pei with his bewildered, clouded eyes and said wearily, “What do you want to ask?”
Zheng Pei straightened his clothes and snapped, “I was wondering how long you intended to keep pretending to be an idiot.”
Ren Yi’s voice was low and heavy. “Is there any… news about him?”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to ask you,” Zheng Pei replied coldly. “You helped him evade the police, helped him arrange the hostage exchange, and ultimately helped him escape again. Are you telling me you don’t know where he is?”
“He went to find Ziyan,” Ren Yi murmured.
“Explain clearly what happened that night.”
Ren Yi looked at Zheng Pei with his swollen eyes, then glanced at Qu Yangbo, whose face was full of concern. He realized that he couldn’t keep going on like this. He might be able to hide for a little while, but he couldn’t hide forever. Sooner or later, he would have to come clean, either to himself or to the police.
His voice hoarse, he said, “Give me some water.”
Qu Yangbo poured him a glass of water and helped him drink it before voluntarily leaving the hospital room.
Once only Zheng Pei and Ren Yi remained, Zheng Pei stood at the head of the bed, looking down at Ren Yi from above. Even though there was a chair nearby, Zheng Pei had no intention of sitting. Instead, he used his height to exert an invisible pressure on Ren Yi.
“Go on. If you still refuse to talk now, you might not get another chance later.”
“What do you want to know?” Ren Yi knew he still wouldn’t tell Zheng Pei absolutely everything. But this time, it wasn’t to protect Gong Yingxian. He was also concerned that Zheng Pei might have ulterior motives. When he didn’t know what he should or shouldn’t reveal, he at least needed to keep his cards close to his chest.
“Everything,” Zheng Pei emphasized. “Everything you know.”
Ren Yi looked at Zheng Pei, his gaze somewhat vacant. “I don’t know where to begin.”
“How did Captain Qiu die?”
“…”
Ren Yi hadn’t expected Zheng Pei to stab him with the sharpest knife right from the start. For a moment, he was at a loss, pain and regret surfacing on his face.
Zheng Pei said coldly, “You feel guilty, don’t you? You blame yourself, don’t you? Deep down, you know that if you hadn’t covered for Gong Yingxian and helped him, Captain Qiu would probably still be alive.”
Ren Yi’s body began to tremble. Guilt sliced through his heart like a knife, cutting back and forth.
That was right. It was his fault. He had even been the one to take the initiative to find Qiu Yan and bring her to that warehouse.
He had thought himself clever. All he had cared about was Gong Yingxian, and in the end, he had harmed both others and himself.
“If you don’t want history to repeat itself, answer all my questions,” Zheng Pei said sharply. “Let’s start with the first one. How did Captain Qiu die?”
Zheng Pei gave Ren Yi no chance to catch his breath. He pressed him relentlessly, leaving Ren Yi no choice but to answer with difficulty.
“She was… shot and killed by Huang Yan.”
“And the bullet that hit you? Was that Huang Yan too?”
Ren Yi nodded and gave a rough account of what had happened that night.
After listening, Zheng Pei remained silent for a long time before finally speaking.
“Both of you were shot, yet Huang Yan, Bai Yan, and Gong Yingxian all left. If you were in my position, how would you interpret that outcome?”
“…”
“Why did Gong Yingxian leave with them?”
“I told you. He went to meet Ziyan.”
“Isn’t Ziyan supposed to be mysterious, with no one ever having seen his true face? Did Bai Yan really manage to contact Ziyan?”
“I don’t know. Even if that person was a fake Ziyan, we wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference.”
“How did those six people at the factory die?”
“…Six?” Ren Yi repeated in surprise, momentarily stunned.
“Yes, six. You didn’t know?”
Ren Yi thought back over the events. If six people had died, that meant Ziyan must have sent at least five people. Adding the two men who had disguised themselves as hostages and Huang Yan, there had been eight people in total. Only Huang Yan and the last man they had subdued were still alive.
Ren Yi replied, “From what I saw, Gong Yingxian shot and killed two of them and subdued one. I don’t know about the other three. Perhaps… Captain Qiu took them out.”
He felt a little puzzled. Had Qiu Yan really been able to deal with so many people on her own?
“Which area of the warehouse were you mainly operating in?”
“The southwest side.”
“Other than one body found in the storage area, the remaining bodies were scattered throughout different parts of the site. The criminal we captured alive said there had been five of them in total. Based on the area where you were operating, at least two of them must have been killed by Captain Qiu.” Zheng Pei narrowed his eyes, looking thoughtful.
Ren Yi felt a complicated mixture of emotions.
“But Captain Qiu’s gun wasn’t found at the scene. Whose gun did she use? Her own had already been turned in when she was suspended.”
“One of the criminals’ guns. The man who disguised himself as a hostage and was the first person Gong Yingxian shot and killed. Captain Qiu took his gun.”
“Then it was a Smith 9mm pistol. They were all using the same type. But why did that gun disappear?”
“…Perhaps Huang Yan took it.”
“Huang Yan had already kidnapped her. He had no reason to take her gun. The other criminals’ guns were left at the scene too, so he clearly had no need to destroy evidence. Why would the gun used by Captain Qiu be the only one to disappear?”
Zheng Pei kept bringing up Qiu Yan, forcing Ren Yi to relive her death again and again. Exhausted, Ren Yi said, “I don’t know. Is that really important?”
“Of course it is. Anything that doesn’t make sense at a crime scene could be the key to solving the case.” Zheng Pei stared at Ren Yi. “Are you still hiding something from me?”
Ren Yi looked at Zheng Pei expressionlessly. He neither answered nor denied it.
“At a time like this, what could you possibly still be hiding from me?” Zheng Pei asked in a low voice. “Do you still believe in Gong Yingxian?”
“Even if I don’t believe him, does that mean I should believe you?” Ren Yi replied quietly. “Why are you so determined to obstruct their attempt to reopen the case?”
Zheng Pei took a deep breath and spoke calmly.
“You’ve been brainwashed by Gong Yingxian. I’m not determined to obstruct the reopening of the case. I was assigned to investigate every possible instance of dereliction of duty on their part throughout the entire case. That’s a separate matter from whether the case from nineteen years ago should be reopened. Gong Yingxian has been using you all along, over and over again, from beginning to end. You’ve become his best assistant and his most effective defense attorney. Why do you keep helping him? Even now, when he was willing to disregard your life to achieve his goal, you’re still defending him?”
“I’m not!” Ren Yi suddenly roared. “I want to know what the hell he’s thinking and what the hell he’s doing even more than you do!”
He wanted to know how much of Gong Yingxian had been real and how much had been fake. He wanted to know whether everything he had once believed in had been nothing more than an illusion. He wanted to know whether Gong Yingxian had truly cared for him at all, or whether he had only ever been using him.