Within a few seconds after Huo Ranyin truly looked up, Ji Xun saw his own reflection in the other’s pupils.
His own shadow was also dark, but not as deep and dark as Huo Ranyin’s pupils. It was like a gray feather, stirring the pupils that were like a tunnel, like a deep well, causing the pupils that were originally hidden in the darkness to flicker with a faint light, swaying with a star-like surprise and regret.
I’ve affected him.
That last sentence wasn’t meant for me. When he saw it was me standing here, he felt surprised and regretful.
It was as if a seed that had been buried in his heart, long dormant and often tempting him to give up, had begun to sprout. Ji Xun suddenly felt a sense of anticipation. He secretly thought:
Whether Huo Ranyin admits it or not, I am still different from others.
“You’re so slow,” Huo Ranyin spoke first, his tone light.
“A little slow, but I still came, didn’t I?” Ji Xun closed the last few steps between him and Huo Ranyin and replied.
He was still looking into Huo Ranyin’s eyes. He saw his own shadow becoming clearer and more vivid in the other’s pupils.
Once there was the influence of life, the aura of life also became stronger. At this moment, Huo Ranyin no longer had the lifeless appearance of just now. Unfortunately, he had returned to his usual unshakable calmness. It was too difficult to glimpse any real emotions or thoughts from such a person.
But maybe I’m just feeling good about myself.
Ji Xun thought without showing it. He always felt that Huo Ranyin’s last sentence, which sounded like a statement, “You’re so slow,” had a faint hint of flirtatiousness.
“Although there may be room for improvement in terms of speed, I think I’ve always arrived when I should have, both in the past and now,” Ji Xun said pointedly.
“So confident,” Huo Ranyin said with a sneer. He slightly raised his head, revealing a sharp and resolute jawline. Even the lines on his face seemed to mock Ji Xun for being overly sentimental. “Don’t misunderstand. I’m not complaining that you’re late—”
“I know, you’re describing an objective reality, right?” Ji Xun cut Huo Ranyin off, speaking lightly. “It’s not that you want to complain, it’s that I want to hear you complain that you need me here. Is that okay?”
Their distance was already close enough.
Huo Ranyin was still sitting on the waiting chair, while Ji Xun was standing in front of him. With a raise of his hand, he wrapped his arm around Huo Ranyin’s shoulder, and with a little more force, he had already pulled Huo Ranyin into his embrace.
He said affectionately:
“Huo Ranyin, you were waiting for me.”
In an instant, his vision was blocked. Buried in the warm embrace, Huo Ranyin heard Ji Xun’s heartbeat. The other’s heart was right next to his ear, and the steady and powerful beat penetrated their two bodies, connecting to his nerves.
His nerves were also throbbing, growing hot.
And his body and nerves reacted completely differently.
During the time when his nerves were highly active, his body, on the contrary, seemed to have been petrified. From his bones to his muscles, from the soles of his feet to his shoulders, everything became stiff, inch by inch.
After this momentary bewilderment, Huo Ranyin controlled his arms. He raised his hand to push Ji Xun.
But this time, the person holding him used extra force.
Huo Ranyin actually couldn’t push him away at once. He warned in a low voice, “Ji Xun, let go.”
Ji Xun replied with a very insincere “hmm” to humor him. Huo Ranyin felt the strength on his shoulder, not only did it not retract, but it increased by a third.
He became a little anxious, but still suppressed his voice. “We’re outside…”
“So what?” Ji Xun asked back. His voice was not loud, but the words were clear. “There’s no one watching us, right?”
“Captain, Teacher Ji…” Unfortunately, just as Ji Xun finished speaking, a voice called out to them from the front.
Ji Xun looked up and saw Wen Yangyang.
It wasn’t too surprising. He had originally come with Wen Yangyang. He had entered the hospital first, while Wen Yangyang went to park the car. Counting the time, she should have arrived by now.
Huo Ranyin, who had just regained his ability to move in his arms, stiffened again. Then, a stronger pushing force was applied to Ji Xun.
This guy really has an idol’s burden.
Ji Xun muttered to himself. Facing Wen Yangyang’s confused expression, he did not choose to let go. He still openly held Huo Ranyin and just greeted her, “Your Captain Huo needs me right now. If you have anything to report, come back and say it later.”
“Oh, oh…” So he’s comforting someone. Wen Yangyang was instantly relieved, and even felt ashamed of the yellow thoughts that had just popped into her head. She quickly clasped her hands together and bowed slightly. “I’ll leave the captain in your care, Teacher Ji. I’ll be back later!”
After the slender and agile female police officer had left, Huo Ranyin stopped struggling this time, but just snorted and asked, “You’re going to deceive a girl who trusts you like that?”
“Which word did I use to deceive her?” Ji Xun asked back. “You need a hug, and I’m giving you a hug. This is very open and aboveboard.”
“…”
In a place no one could see, Huo Ranyin’s fingers on Ji Xun’s body curled, grabbing a corner of his clothes. A few breaths later, they loosened again, as if in embarrassment.
After that, Huo Ranyin pushed Ji Xun away again.
This time, Ji Xun did not use force and obediently let go of Huo Ranyin.
He didn’t just stand there either, but quickly sat down next to Huo Ranyin.
Huo Ranyin spoke in a business-like manner, “Things are over here. I have to go back to the station to wrap things up.”
“Mmm-hmm,” Ji Xun seemed to be sighing with a meaningless sound, “the police are so busy.”
“As for you—”
“I’m going home,” Ji Xun said proactively.
“You’re going to my home,” Huo Ranyin corrected.
“You’re going home tonight?” Ji Xun was surprised. “It’s 9:30 now. I think, based on the progress, you probably won’t be able to go home at a normal time tonight. Even if you do, you’ll be too tired to do anything but go straight to sleep…”
“Ji Xun,” Huo Ranyin interrupted him. “You don’t understand. Whether I go back or not, you…”
A faint, unpredictable smile with a hint of wickedness appeared on his lips.
“You will wait for me at my home.”
“…”
After sitting together for another five minutes, the two went their separate ways.
Huo Ranyin went back to the police station, and Ji Xun went to Huo Ranyin’s home. As it happened, Ji Xun still had the key Huo Ranyin had given him last time, so Huo Ranyin didn’t need to give him the one he had on him.
Maybe next time I should have the landlord change to a fingerprint lock. It would be more convenient. Whether I have the key or not, whether I’ve lost the key or not, I can always get in and out.
But a fingerprint lock is also easy to crack… The safest lock is actually the oldest lock…
With these miscellaneous thoughts, Huo Ranyin returned to the police station with Wen Yangyang.
The poison test results were already out. There were trace amounts of cyanide residue inside the humidifier. At exactly 4:00 PM, the smart home system had closed all the windows, and the humidifier was also set to turn on at that time. At 4:30, the windows were controlled to open.
The nanny also stated that Gao Shuang would play games in the afternoon, and her sleep time was generally between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM, which was consistent with the logic that the murderer was familiar with her sleep patterns and had administered the poison accordingly.
At this point, Mo Nai’s suspicion of murder had been completely cleared. The people from Liucheng Prison were waiting at the door with a fully armed transport vehicle. After completing the case transfer, they would take him back tonight.
Huo Ranyin returned to the interrogation room with a black bag. Mo Nai’s posture was the same as when he had left, like a sculpture, motionless. It wasn’t until he came in that the statue came to life. The stiff person was released, and his eyeballs rolled to look at him.
Huo Ranyin was not in the mood to communicate with him further. He only signaled him to sign the statement and prepare to return to Liucheng Prison.
Mo Nai picked up the pen and had just signed one word when he changed his previously passive and reticent attitude and became active instead. “Do you have anything more to ask me? I’m being transferred now. Is Sister Shuang’s case solved?”
“That has nothing to do with you.”
Mo Nai’s voice became anxious. “I saw you take something. Is it the same as the clothes you brought over before, to try to touch me and pry my mouth open? What did you take?”
“Why are you asking so much? Just sign it honestly,” Huo Ranyin said as he collected the documents on the table, his attitude very impatient.
Mo Nai bit his lip. The more Huo Ranyin didn’t want to say, the more he wanted to say. Quietly, their relationship had reversed. It was no longer Huo Ranyin chasing Mo Nai to tell the truth, but Mo Nai hoping that Huo Ranyin could tell him more about Gao Shuang.
“Didn’t you want to know why I destroyed the bodies just now? You tell me, tell me how Sister Shuang died, and I—I will…” Mo Nai still refused to give up. His chest heaved violently for a while, as if he had gone through a great psychological struggle, before he finally said the last word, “Say!”
Huo Ranyin stopped his movements. The impatience on his face disappeared after prying open Mo Nai’s mouth. Two dark, heavy gazes fell on Mo Nai, pressing down on the person behind the table, making him curl up.
So cold.
Mo Nai began to regret it.
What was I thinking, making a deal with the police? The police will definitely be disdainful and mock me greatly.
But Sister Shuang—this is the last time I can get news about Sister Shuang—
He summoned his courage again. Just as he was about to express clearly how important Gao Shuang’s cause of death was to him, he first saw a very clear emotion in the police officer’s eyes.
That emotion told him—why bother.
“On the night of the 11th, you walked into Gao Shuang’s room and found that she was already dead. At first, you were just sad, feeling that it was not worth it for Gao Shuang to commit suicide after killing someone, and you didn’t think much about it. It wasn’t until you were about to leave that you saw the photo of her son on her bedside table. You thought of how much Gao Shuang cared about her child during your time together,” Huo Ranyin said, taking out the photo frame from the black bag and placing it on the table.
In the photo, Xiao Jun was smiling as brightly as the morning sun.
Mo Nai’s gaze was firmly glued to that vibrant smile. A dual duet appeared in his ears, some was Huo Ranyin’s voice, some was Gao Shuang’s slight self-mockery.
—”Because sister can’t let go of her child. When she was with them, she always talked about how the child was doing.”
—”From the moment a child is born, it is destined to be a love and a debt that a mother carries for her entire life. A mother can never abandon her child.”
“You realized that after Gao Shuang died, the news of her killing her husband would surely spread. At that time, Xiao Jun would become the child of a murderer. The child of a murderer is looked down upon, and without his mother’s protection, it would be very difficult for him to hold his head up for the rest of his life. Your own upbringing was similar to Xiao Jun’s current situation. You saw a shadow of your past self in him, so you decided to do the most earth-shattering thing you could for Gao Shuang. You would take the blame for her. As long as you were the one who killed his parents, he would just be the child of a victim. That way, for the rest of his life, people would only sympathize with him, not despise him.”
“You know everything…” Mo Nai was a little lost in thought. Gradually, his gaze refocused, focusing on the table in the interrogation room. He said in a slightly hoarse voice, “Maybe in the eyes of the police, these are all unnecessary things. It wasn’t necessary for me to do all this just because we met by chance. A child won’t be affected by rumors. The situation has come to this, all because of my self-righteousness… I, don’t know what to do. She wouldn’t listen to a stranger like me. I’ve always, from the past to the present, in these most important moments, could only be a bystander, could only watch.”
“It wasn’t a chance encounter.”
Mo Nai looked up, his face full of confusion, as if he didn’t understand what Huo Ranyin meant by that sentence.
Huo Ranyin turned the photo over.
On the back of the photo, there was a folded piece of paper. A faint gray shadow could be seen through the back of the paper.
Mo Nai stared at the paper without blinking.
Huo Ranyin took out the paper and unfolded it.
A drawing.
On a plain A4 sheet of paper, a woman was depicted with her hair blowing in the wind on a mountain peak. The burgeoning sun was rising behind her, and she was looking at the person who was drawing, her pupils as bright as if they contained flames.
“This is the drawing you gave to Gao Shuang, right?” Huo Ranyin said.
A long, long silence.
“She put your drawing behind her son’s photo. In Gao Shuang’s heart, you and she were more than just a chance encounter,” Huo Ranyin said faintly. “You could have prevented her death, given her another possibility… if only you had been willing to call the police at that time.”
