“Old Company Commander’s emergency call was extremely important. It saved the Bali Fire Station at least three to five precious minutes.”
“Considering that most of those trapped were elderly people with limited mobility, the fact that we avoided a major loss of life was a blessing in an otherwise terrible tragedy.”
“Old Company Commander devoted his entire life to the fire service. Even in his final moments, his thoughts were still focused on saving others. He is a role model for every firefighter. Headquarters has already decided to posthumously award him a First-Class Merit for Heroic Sacrifice.”
“Ren Yi, you need to grieve and then find the strength to carry on as soon as possible. Your father’s love for the fire service must now be carried forward by you.”
Ren Yi listened to the words spoken by the leaders, whose faces seemed somewhat blurred to him. He responded when appropriate, but hardly any of their words truly registered.
After seeing the leaders off, Ren Yi slowly returned to his seat and took a sip of tea that had already gone cold.
The bitter taste slid down his throat, leaving no sweetness in its wake.
Two days had passed. It felt as though he had been trapped in an endless nightmare, and even now, he couldn’t tell whether the world around him was real.
He couldn’t believe his father was gone. He kept thinking that if he picked up the phone, he could still have a chat with him. When he had some time off, he could still bring him some good food and visit him.
How could everything have changed overnight?
How could he suddenly have no father anymore?
He kept thinking back to the last time he had seen his father. They had argued until both their faces were red, then parted on bad terms. In truth, Ren Yi had regretted it that very day. He had already decided that he would apologize in person and make it up to the stubborn old man. They would have a couple of drinks together, and everything would be fine again.
Why hadn’t he even been given that chance?
Before his mother died, she had asked him to take good care of his father. Had he done that?
His father had survived the most dangerous years of his career, only to lose his life after retirement, when he should have been enjoying his golden years.
His father had rescued so many people from fires, yet he couldn’t save himself.
It was so unfair.
So damn unfair!
But yes, what kind of fairness was there in this world?
Why did good deeds go unrewarded and evil deeds go unpunished? Why was destruction so easy, while protecting something was so difficult?
Ren Yi sat motionless for a long time. Eventually, he rubbed his face and stood up to leave the room.
He was in the hospital now. He had been coming and going from hospitals frequently over the past few months, but this was the one time he wasn’t the person lying in a hospital bed being visited by others. This time, it was the other way around.
The reason the headquarters officials had come to the hospital wasn’t simply to see Ren Yi. They had also come to visit Chen Xiaofei, who had been injured in the explosion and was unconscious.
As for Ren Yi, aside from making arrangements for his father’s funeral and other affairs, he spent all his remaining time at the hospital keeping watch over Gong Yingxian.
Ren Yi gently pushed open the door and entered the hospital room.
Gong Yingxian lay on the pristine white bed, breathing steadily.
Ren Yi sat down beside him and gazed at him without moving.
His bangs fell softly over his temples. His skin was luminous and translucent as jade, and his lips resembled pale pink flower petals. The strongest colors in his face came from his sharply arched eyebrows and feather-like eyelashes.
He slept so peacefully, his expression as beautiful as a painting. Who could have imagined what he had gone through just two days earlier?
The doctors had told Ren Yi that, besides inhaling toxic smoke and suffering burns to his legs, Gong Yingxian had also gone into shock from the extreme stress. If he had arrived at the hospital any later, his organs would have begun to fail, and there would have been no saving him.
Ren Yi couldn’t bear to imagine what Gong Yingxian had felt at the time.
Gong Yingxian was so terrified of fire that he couldn’t even tolerate food being heated up. He was so afraid that merely seeing the aftermath of a fire could make him vomit. Fire had been his nightmare for nineteen years, a demon that had tormented him throughout his life and brought him the deepest fear and despair he had ever known.
Yet, for the sake of saving Ren Yi’s father, he had rushed into the burning building without hesitation. He had even given away both his gas mask and his fire blanket.
How terrified and helpless must he have been?
The toxic smoke must have been agonizing to breathe. The burns must have hurt terribly. Had he been wondering when Ren Yi would come to rescue him? Had he regretted charging so recklessly into hell?
Ren Yi thought of Gong Yingxian suffering in despair amid the flames, and of the words he had murmured in his delirium—Uncle, please save me…
His heart felt as though it were being torn apart.
Gong Yingxian nineteen years ago. Gong Yingxian nineteen years later.
Why did one person have to endure so much suffering?
He had once been a child. Now he was a good police officer. What had he ever done to deserve any of this?
Ren Yi’s hand trembled as he gently stroked Gong Yingxian’s face. The tiny bit of warmth he could feel through his fingertips was all he had to counter the pain that seemed to trample over him like thousands upon thousands of soldiers.
His eyes were so dry and sore that he could no longer cry. It was as though he were bleeding inside instead.
He slowly leaned over Gong Yingxian, careful not to put any weight on him. The person on the bed seemed as fragile as glass, as though the slightest careless movement might shatter him into dust and make him disappear forever.
“Yingxian…” Ren Yi called softly. “Please wake up.”
The world around him was silent. The only answer was the beating of Gong Yingxian’s heart.
“Please wake up. I’ve already lost my dad. I can’t lose you, too.”
Ren Yi couldn’t sleep. He didn’t feel tired or hungry. He had stopped paying attention to all the warning signals his body was sending him, and only ate a little when Qu Yangbo forced him to.
At that moment, the two of them stood outside the intensive care unit, staring at Chen Xiaofei inside. For a long time, neither said a word.
“I’ve been looking for you two,” someone said from behind them.
Qu Yangbo turned around and sighed. “You’re here.”
It was Qiu Yan. She glanced at Qu Yangbo, and for once, her usually sharp, perceptive eyes betrayed unmistakable exhaustion.
Ren Yi didn’t turn around.
“Any news?” he asked quietly.
Any news at all. About the culprit, or about Chen Xiaofei. Anything.
Three days had passed. At last, his reason was beginning to emerge from beneath the crushing grief, and now he was starting to feel hatred.
“Yes. Zhang Wen has turned himself in.”
Ren Yi turned around.
“We almost caught him that day, actually. We found the place where he’d been hiding temporarily. But after what happened with Cai Qiang, we didn’t dare rush into an arrest. In the end, he got away. Just now, however, he surrendered.”
“He surrendered?” Ren Yi clenched his fists. “What about Purple Flame? Where is he? And who caused this latest explosion?”
“Zhang Wen doesn’t know where Purple Flame is. He surrendered because he realized he couldn’t keep hiding from us. As for the bomb in the pantry, it was a timed explosive. We still can’t determine who planted it.”
Qiu Yan handed him the folder she was carrying.
“But we found this at Zhang Wen’s temporary residence.”
Ren Yi opened it. Inside was a stack of photographs taken as evidence.
The documents in the photographs were yellowed and worn. They looked familiar—they were dispatch reports from the period when his father had been an active firefighter. Some belonged to other firefighters, and some were Chen Xiaofei’s.
Qu Yangbo leaned over to look as well. But since he hadn’t been involved in the investigation, he didn’t understand what these documents meant.
He asked anxiously, “What does this mean? Is it evidence against Captain Chen?”
Qiu Yan nodded.
“This missing dispatch report proves that Chen Xiaofei was the first person to enter the underground parking garage. In his report, he stated that he had broken the lock on the door leading from the garage into the building to inspect the fire damage inside the garage, because the door had been locked from the inside.
“If our theory is correct that the arsonist entered through the underground parking garage, then Chen Xiaofei is highly suspect of having helped the culprit conceal evidence of the crime.”
Ren Yi sucked in a sharp breath. He was still struggling to breathe properly, and it took him a long time to speak.
“Is it possible the report was forged?”
“It has been examined. It’s genuine.”
Qu Yangbo frowned.
“Qiu Yan, I believe in Captain Chen’s character. This alone isn’t enough to prove anything, is it?”
“That’s why we’re still investigating his recent movements. There are many questions we’ll need him to help answer once he wakes up.”
Qiu Yan glanced at the ICU doors.
“Let’s hope he recovers soon.”
Ren Yi’s mind was in turmoil.
“Are you saying the explosion might be connected to him? That it was an attempt to silence him?”
Qiu Yan’s expression turned cold.
“And it would also allow the culprit to take revenge on you. Killing two birds with one stone. Utterly vicious.”
Ren Yi slowly shook his head. Deep down, he resisted the suspicion against Chen Xiaofei with every fiber of his being. But he no longer knew what he should believe or whom he should suspect.
“There are still two key members of the organization who haven’t been apprehended: Purple Flame and Blue Flame. One is the mastermind behind the operation, and the other is the source of its funding.”
Qiu Yan paused before adding, “Or perhaps I’ve got that backward. The one providing the money might actually be the mastermind.”
“Gong Yingxian said last time that he had a theory about this person.”
Qiu Yan’s expression became strange, and her gaze darkened.
“We can’t make any rash moves right now.”
“Why not?”
“There are circumstances we can’t avoid.”
“Wait, Feilan’s phone!” Ren Yi suddenly remembered. “What about that lead?”
“It’s lost. Around twenty people entered her apartment that day, at various times. People from the party-planning company, flower and parcel deliveries, the cake delivery, the dress delivery, makeup artists… It’s extremely difficult to investigate.”
Ren Yi turned his face away in disappointment.
Qiu Yan studied him.
“Captain Ren, I’m guessing you’re tired of hearing people try to comfort you. But perhaps this is what you need to hear right now: we will take down this entire organization. Every last member.”
Ren Yi gave a quiet “Mm.”
“I just visited Yingxian. The doctors say his condition is stable, and he may wake up soon.” Qiu Yan checked her watch. “I only managed to come here in between other things, and I have to leave again shortly. If he wakes up, please notify me immediately.”
Qu Yangbo gently squeezed her shoulder and said helplessly, “Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Qiu Yan smiled faintly.
“I’ll be going. Wait for my news.”
Ren Yi leaned against the wall, feeling as though he had no strength left in his body.
Qu Yangbo looked just as miserable.
“They’re really going to suspect Captain Chen? I don’t believe it.”
“Neither do I…” Ren Yi said. “I don’t want to believe it.”
Qu Yangbo looked at Ren Yi’s unshaven face.
“Let me take you home so you can get some sleep. Or back to the fire station. You can’t keep staying here all the time.”
Ren Yi shook his head.
“I feel a little better here.”
Only when he was this close to Gong Yingxian could he feel a glimmer of hope. And hope was like a tiny thread of warmth seeping into his frozen body.
“Then at least get some proper sleep and eat properly. The way you’re wearing yourself down like this, I…”
“Captain Ren!”
A nurse hurried toward them.
“Dr. Gong has woken up.”