“The sensational citywide school bus kidnapping case has been successfully resolved after seven grueling days. We express our deepest gratitude to the general public for the information and assistance provided during this period…”
The next morning, major news stations scrambled to broadcast the resolution of the case. While most news focused on the case itself, the trend on the internet leaned entirely in another direction.
The netizens still vividly remembered that live broadcast.
Netizen 1: So those two guys in the live broadcast were actually there to rescue the hostages?
Netizen 2: Are they police officers?
Netizen 3: Unlikely. Wasn’t one of them a ‘wanted suspect’? And people dug up the other guy’s background—he used to be an actor.
Netizen 4: The latest news just released it! Both of them are specially appointed criminal consultants. The ‘suspect’ thing was just a high-risk tactic they had to use at the time. He didn’t commit any crime.
…
The entire internet was shaken by this news.
What kind of legendary experience is this?!
Marketing accounts and various media outlets quickly jumped on the trending topic. Chi Qing and Xie Lin were written about as legendary figures. Chi Qing, in particular—a former nobody who had hovered in the entertainment industry—had plenty of old clips and works left behind, leading to a sudden flood of past media materials resurfacing online.
Having been half-dead in the industry for years, he had unexpectedly gone viral.
Chi Qing didn’t usually spend much time online. He only found out about his sudden fame from Xie Lin.
The two were getting ready for bed when Chi Qing caught a glimpse of Xie Lin’s phone screen out of the corner of his eye. The photo displayed looked somewhat familiar. He leaned over and saw his own face… or more accurately, himself from a few years ago.
When he had first debuted, his agency had high hopes for his face and would make him attend various events to ride on the coattails of his more popular seniors. Most of these were fashion galas. The image on Xie Lin’s phone was a GIF of him stepping out of a production van, taking a pair of black gloves from a staff member, and slowly, methodically putting them on.
For such events, he wore formal wear. In the GIF, Chi Qing was dressed in a black tailcoat, his dark, medium-length hair making him look cold, elegant, and aristocratic—like an enigmatic creature stepping out of an ancient castle. His fingers were long and slender, and putting on the gloves only added an indefinable layer of danger to his aura.
Chi Qing: “Where did you get that?”
“Online,” Xie Lin replied. “You’re incredibly popular right now, Mr. Chi.”
“…” Chi Qing frowned.
Xie Lin asked, “Any thoughts?”
Chi Qing: “It’s a bit annoying.”
“It really is,” Xie Lin agreed, a rare occurrence. He saved the GIF to his phone while scanning the comment section filled with netizens screaming “Wife!”
“These pictures should only be for my eyes. And as for these people—where are their manners? Who is their wife?”
Xie Lin spoke with a smile, but it wasn’t hard to detect the heavily suppressed, possessive irritation in his voice.
Chi Qing was curled up on the sofa playing an outdated mobile game, giving a half-hearted hum. As he played, he suddenly felt a wave of warmth pressing against his neck and shoulder. “…?”
Xie Lin buried his face in Chi Qing’s shoulder, insisting with rare, childish stubbornness: “You are my wife.”
“So,” Xie Lin raised his head, staring at him. “What should you call me?”
“…”
Those two words simply wouldn’t cross his lips.
“You refuse to call me ‘husband’ the moment we get out of bed. At least give me an ‘Mhm’.”
Chi Qing continued to play his game, placating him distractedly: “…Mhm.”
After reading the news, the two of them barely went out. On one hand, they wanted to lie low and avoid the limelight; on the other hand, they had been far too busy lately and simply wanted to spend quiet time together at home. Besides… there were plenty of “activities” they could do indoors.
As a result, neither Chi Qing nor Xie Lin felt much of an impact from going viral. Aside from Ji Mingrui coming over to ask for their autographs, they only occasionally received well-wishes from their neighbors in the building.
One neighbor was particularly unique.
Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang.
Ren Qin stood at the door holding Little Star. Once the door opened, she announced, “I saw the news. Well… I’m here to return the cat.”
Little Star still recognized its owner. The moment the door opened, it let out a soft, pampering “meow” toward its heartless owner—who had already taken three steps back to avoid any floating cat dander.
The heartless owner, Chi Qing, retreated further: “Thank you for looking after him during this time.”
Ren Qin offered a thoroughly awkward laugh.
Having a neighbor you thought was dead suddenly show up on the hot search list was something she still hadn’t fully processed.
She forced another awkward smile. “Mr. Chi, so you’re actually not dead.”
Just then, she saw the other neighbor walk out of Chi Qing’s bedroom.
Mr. Xie was wearing a very thin shirt, his collar loosely undone, looking decidedly disheveled. The man didn’t seem surprised to see her at all, as if he had long expected her visit. “Would you like to come in for a glass of water?”
Since she had greeted one, she couldn’t ignore the other.
So, Ren Qin turned to him and said, “Mr. Xie, so you’re actually not a murderer.”
Xie Lin: “…”
Chi Qing: “…”
Having finished her greetings, even she felt the conversation was incredibly absurd.
Another person who felt the utter absurdity of it all was Dr. Wu.
Because Xie Lin, the long-term “permanent resident,” and the new, glove-wearing Chi Qing were highly famous patients at his psychological clinic, Dr. Wu hadn’t been able to sleep a wink since the day they made the headlines.
Initially, when Xie Lin was a wanted suspect, Dr. Wu had been overcome with guilt: No wonder… no wonder I couldn’t cure Xie Lin after all these years. There really was a problem… I should have worked harder. Why didn’t I notice it sooner?
He had even sent Xie Lin a message: [I believe there is still good in your heart, otherwise you wouldn’t have persisted with therapy for so many years. Repent before it’s too late. Turn back.]
Now, having read the latest updates, Dr. Wu sat in his office completely dumbfounded.
Lying low proved highly effective. Within a week, the public fervor died down. After all, they weren’t actual public figures, and without any follow-up exposure, they quickly faded from the public eye as the case settled.
The city, which had been thrown into panic and disorder, fell quiet once more. Pedestrians walked the streets, and winter jasmine bloomed silently along the roadsides.
On the television, the weather reporter announced: “With spring just around the corner, today’s weather is expected to be cloudy turning to light rain. We will see continuous spring showers this week, so please remember to bring an umbrella when heading out…”
Since the forecast predicted rain, Chi Qing actually wanted to go out for a walk. Xie Lin, conversely, became the one reluctant to leave the house. “Is our indoor exercise not enough?”
Chi Qing picked out a high-collared shirt that could cover the bite marks on his neck, casting a flat glare at Xie Lin. “Put your clothes on, act normal, and let’s go.”
Just as the two grabbed their umbrellas and prepared to leave, the sky outside darkened, and a fine, misty spring rain began to fall. Though it was raining, the air didn’t feel cold at all.
The two didn’t have many places to go. After parking the car and walking a short distance under their umbrellas, they happened to pass a very familiar location.
The abandoned factory near their residential complex.
This was where the cat carcasses had once been piled.
It was the very place where they had first crossed paths.
Passing by again under a shared umbrella, they couldn’t help but feel a wave of nostalgia.
Even now, Xie Lin couldn’t resist bringing it up. “You really did look highly suspicious back then.”
Chi Qing held the umbrella handle, tilting his head slightly as he shot back, “And you think you looked any better?”
“…”
The barren winter lawn had sprouted patches of fresh green grass. The areas once stained with blood had long been washed clean. A few workers were milling about the small plot of land; it seemed the area had been transferred to another company to be repurposed as a storage warehouse.
These workers were carrying brand-new construction steel, preparing to expand and renovate the site.
Chi Qing stood watching for a moment. Just as Xie Lin was about to ask him where they should go next, Xie Lin’s phone rang.
It was a call from the General Bureau.
“They want me to go over and conduct a training session for the new recruits,” Xie Lin said after hanging up. “Do you want to come along and watch?”
Chi Qing remembered the voice from the call—it was the very same veteran detective he had overheard in the hallway back then, the one who had adamantly opposed restoring Xie Lin’s consultant status and disapproved of letting him join the investigation.
Inside the General Bureau.
Two veteran officers were chatting. “Xie Lin agreed to come?”
“Yes.”
“That’s rare. Weren’t you always the one casting the dissenting vote against him?”
“I was wrong,” the stubborn veteran detective admitted his mistake for the first time. “Those two are different from Z.”
Both Xie Lin and Chi Qing had witnessed the absolute extremes of malice and had walked through the abyss. Crime was highly alluring, and committing it would have been effortless for either of them. Yet, neither had ever once thought of becoming someone like Z.
On the way to the bureau, Xie Lin casually gathered some materials to use as slides.
Chi Qing watched him search, copy, and paste—the entire process taking less than two minutes. “You’re going to lecture using just this?”
Xie Lin smiled. “I’m far too familiar with criminal cases. I can pull a topic out of thin air. If I hadn’t skipped majoring in this, I’d probably be a highly renowned academic by now.”
Chi Qing actually believed him.
The bureau had allocated their largest multimedia hall for the training, capable of seating hundreds of people. When Xie Lin took the stage, a soft murmur rippled through the audience. After all, this was the man who had been hunted citywide and had ultimately located the mastermind.
“I know I’m handsome,” Xie Lin said, resting one hand on the podium and adjusting the microphone stand with the other, addressing the crowd with a playful, teasing tone. “But unfortunately, I’m already taken.”
The whispers instantly died down.
These were all green, newly recruited officers. Their eyes shone with idealistic light, still unaware of the dark crimes, difficulties, and even life-and-death separations they would soon face.
Xie Lin’s gaze swept over them, finally resting on his “partner” sitting in the very back corner.
Chi Qing had chosen a seat far away from everyone else, his closed umbrella resting beside him. He had picked the least conspicuous spot, yet his natural, striking aura made him stand out. Even with several empty seats between them, people still couldn’t help but turn their heads to steal glances at him.
That was, until the consultant surnamed Xie on stage issued a light warning: “My partner is sitting in the very last row. Those of you in the second-to-last row—one glance is enough. Stop staring at other people’s partners.”
“…”
Was this a training session or a public display of affection?
At first, the recruits expected the training to be highly formal and serious, and they had slowly begun to lose hope. However, just as their expectations hit rock bottom, the consultant opened his presentation. Several graphic, blood-soaked crime scene photos flashed on the massive screen as the lecture officially began.
“This is a relatively obscure case. Because of its obscurity, most of you have likely never seen it. Now, study these two sets of photos carefully, and tell me the relationship between the victim and the killer.”
There was no background introduction. No victim identity.
Nothing.
Only a few raw photos of the crime scene.
The question was remarkably unique.
After giving them ten minutes to think, Xie Lin called on a “student” to answer: “Let’s go with the one in the very back row. You tell us.”
Chi Qing, the auditing student in the back row, had actually been preparing to fold his arms and take a nap. Hearing his name, he lifted his eyelids and cast a distant glare at Xie Lin. Getting called on was highly disruptive to his sleep.
Chi Qing stood up and spoke calmly: “There are no signs of the body being moved, meaning this is the primary crime scene. The surrounding furniture is arranged neatly. The vase within arm’s reach of where the victim was originally standing is still in its place, indicating the victim did not struggle or fight back before her death.”
“Correct. Excellent analysis,” Xie Lin nodded. “So, why do you think the victim didn’t struggle?”
Chi Qing didn’t actually know why. Setting aside logic, he didn’t grasp emotional nuances very well.
Xie Lin revealed the answer: “The lack of a struggle is the breakthrough of this case. Under what circumstances does a person face a threat without fear? They were face-to-face, so it wasn’t a sneak attack. This leaves only one possibility: the victim held the killer in utter contempt. She simply didn’t believe the killer had the capability to murder her, and she might have even provoked him.”
“It was precisely this relationship that allowed the police to identify the perpetrator.”
“I don’t have much to teach you. This is merely a minor overseas case,” Xie Lin concluded. “But sometimes, the truth is written right on the body, hidden within the crime scene. The most important thing I want to tell you is—crime speaks. Alright, that concludes today’s session. I wish you all the best in your future careers.”
As the hall emptied out, Chi Qing realized their usual trio was also present. Ji Mingrui and his colleagues had been hiding at the far end of the back row, so far away they hadn’t been noticed earlier.
“What are you guys doing here?”
Ji Mingrui gave an embarrassed laugh, holding up his notebook. “Here to submit our case reports.”
Having participated in the case, they had to write reports and follow protocol.
“…And we also decided to drop in for the lecture,” Ji Mingrui added.
Jiang Yu chimed in, “Shall we grab dinner together in a bit?”
But as he spoke, he noticed Chi Qing’s growing irritability from being in a crowded room, and quickly amended: “Of least, we can all go back to our respective homes and have a group video call while eating. That way, we can enjoy both peace and the joy of hanging out with friends. What do you think?”
Chi Qing: “…”
He wondered if this man was entirely sane.
In the end, dinner didn’t happen. The station received an urgent task, and the trio had to grab a few quick rice balls from a nearby convenience store before rushing back.
Only Xie Lin and Chi Qing remained.
Unlike the peaceful atmosphere outside, the tone inside the Director’s office remained solemn. The Director sat behind his desk, silent for a long time, before speaking: “There is something I want to ask your opinion on.”
Xie Lin could guess. “It’s about those children, isn’t it?”
Although the case was closed, they were faced with the same dilemma as ten years ago. Not all the children had made it home safely. Some had lost their lives in that twisted game, and others had been forced to turn on their companions. How should they judge such young children? How should they handle them? Did it count as a crime? Should they carry the weight of this guilt for the rest of their lives?
It was an agonizing question.
Ten years ago, they hadn’t pushed for a thorough investigation into the only two survivors.
Ten years later, what decision would they make?
“The current decision is to provide these children with psychological counseling,” the Director said, rubbing his temples. “And long-term tracking. We’ve specially assigned a psychological team for this—all top-tier experts in the country who specialize in tracking survivors of major cases. Additionally, we have an idea to develop an authoritative, professional online psychological test so the public can evaluate their own mental states.”
Neither Xie Lin nor Chi Qing had any objections. There seemed to be no better way to handle the aftermath.
Following a continuous stretch of rainy days, spring formally arrived.
Overnight, the world seemed to wake up.
Without realizing when it started, opening the window revealed a landscape of lush green and vibrant growth.
Along the streets, a small chalkboard hung outside a dessert shop, displaying the names of their best-selling treats. Ren Qin stood by the counter, offering a warm smile to a customer pushing the door open: “Welcome.”
In the nearby wetland park, a school was organizing a spring field trip. Elementary students trotted along with their backpacks, calling out in pure, innocent wonder: “Look, a butterfly!”
“And so many flowers!”
“Teacher, teacher, can we see giraffes here? Are there any small animals?”
…
The high school campus presented a different scene. Students in uniforms walked in groups. Having just finished an exam, boys were roughhousing along the corridor with their arms around each other’s shoulders.
“I told you to let me copy your answers…”
“The teacher was standing right there! I didn’t dare!”
“What’s there to fear? Great minds aren’t afraid of a little cheating.”
As they bickered, they spotted a familiar face ahead and called out, “Hey, Yu Yang—”
The youth ahead turned around slowly. Yu Yang had cut his hair short, holding a black pen and a 2B pencil in his hand. He offered a light smile. “Don’t look at me. I don’t cheat.”
On the other side of town, Xie Lin pushed open the window and admired the spring scenery for a while. “The weather is quite nice today.”
Sensing the slight dissatisfaction from the person behind him, he practicedly added, “…Though, of course, it would be even better if it kept raining.”
Chi Qing nodded in deep agreement.
“Right, we need to head over to the General Bureau today,” Xie Lin said. “The online psychological test Director Yuan mentioned earlier has been completed by the experts. They want us to go over and take it as our lucky beta testers.”
Chi Qing saw right through it. “They probably picked us because they think we’re the most abnormal ones.”
Xie Lin: “…You could put it that way, though your phrasing lacks a bit of tact.”
Chi Qing: “And you’re exceptionally tactful.”
Before heading out, Chi Qing reached for the door, but Xie Lin stopped him. “You forgot something.”
Chi Qing hadn’t worn gloves out of the house in quite some time. Ever since the case closed, the nightmare that had hovered over them for ten years seemed to have finally dissolved. Moreover, with Xie Lin constantly by his side, he had no need for them.
So, Chi Qing asked uncertainty, “My gloves…?”
“No,” Xie Lin leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “This.”
Apart from Xie Lin and Chi Qing, a few randomly selected police officers were also participating in the beta test. They sat in a row like students taking an exam, with two empty seats separating each person.
The head of the psychological team stood at the front, explaining the test. “Our team analyzed the mental health issues prevalent in modern society and created a professional online criminal psychology test. It consists of 100 multiple-choice questions designed to evaluate the test-taker’s psychological state and level of risk.”
“Level of risk?” someone asked.
“Yes. It is divided into four categories: Safe, Low-risk, Moderate-risk, and… High-risk—which indicates a highly dangerous personality. However, the score required for the high-risk category is exceptionally high; ordinary people won’t easily reach it. Should a user trigger a high-risk diagnosis upon submission, our database will automatically flag and retrieve all associated user information.”
Each person sat in their own space, holding a smartphone.
Chi Qing used a tissue to meticulously wipe down the desk before resting his hand on it. He unlocked his screen and tapped on the link they had received.
The webpage was clean and minimalist, devoid of any unnecessary design, presenting a highly refined layout.
The bold heading at the top read: Criminal Psychology Evaluation (Version 1.0)
Question 1: Study the image provided carefully. What is the very first thing you see?
A. A wound
B. The tip of a blade
C. A smile
D. …
Chi Qing had taken similar tests at the psychological clinic before, but the focus here was entirely different. No standard clinic would evaluate a patient’s criminal “potential” right off the bat; they usually focused on emotional deficits and unfulfilled psychological needs.
Chi Qing and Xie Lin sat side-by-side. Due to the distance, neither could see the other’s screen.
Yet, before they began, they turned and shared a brief, knowing look.
“The test begins.”
Xie Lin’s finger tapped casually on the screen, his other hand lightly drumming against the desk as he read through the questions.
Chi Qing was far more direct. Keeping his hands mostly tucked inside his sleeves, he would only extend a finger to tap his choice before pulling it back.
The two completed the test almost at the exact same moment.
Their fingers pressed the “Submit” button simultaneously.
[Are you sure you want to submit?] [Submission successful. Generating results…]
User: Xie Lin User: Chi Qing
Your risk level is—
【THE END】
