[December 21, 15:12, Nanyan Spring Mansion, Haijing City]
Yu Xue and Qi Wenyu had left early in the morning and only returned in the afternoon. As soon as they came in, Yu Xue said, “There’s nothing. Nothing under the cliff.”1“一线天” literally translates to “a strip of sky” or “a thread of sky.” It refers to a narrow gap between two cliffs or mountains, where you can only see a thin strip of the sky above. It’s often used to describe natural formations where the sky appears as a narrow line due to the close proximity of towering rock walls.
Yi Shi lowered his head in deep thought. Falling from that height, it was impossible for Lin Erde to still be alive. But since the body hadn’t been found, the only possibility was that he had returned to the other world. What Yi Shi couldn’t figure out was the timing. If it had happened yesterday, Lin Heyu’s team would have easily found the body. Instead, they didn’t find it until a dozen days later, only after revisiting the cliff.
The facts couldn’t be denied. After several experiments, Yi Shi grew more suspicious that someone had interfered—just like how his own actions, despite his struggles, somehow aligned with the final outcome.
“Have you taken your medicine? How are you feeling today?” Yu Xue poked his cheek. “Your complexion is still terrible. You used to be pale, now you’re deathly pale.”
“Much better.”
“Yeah, right.” Yu Xue withdrew his hand. “When we get back to Nanyi, we’ll make sure to nurse you back to health.”
The three of them quickly tidied up the house, restoring it to a state as if no one had been there. As the security door closed, Yu Xue handed over the key. “This is for you. His belongings are safest with you.”
“Oh.” Yi Shi calmly accepted it and put it into his pocket.
Qi Wenyu rubbed his chin. “Hey, you’re taking that quite calmly. When A-Xue said you two were a couple, I didn’t believe it.”
“…Not exactly.”
“Not exactly? Then what are you, friends or brothers?”
Yu Xue closed Qi Wenyu’s mouth with two fingers, stopping the gossip. People can’t have thin skin?
Yi Shi silently argued in his mind—it wasn’t that he didn’t want to admit it. It’s just that… given the situation between him and Lin Heyu, having a stable relationship seemed unlikely.
In the car, Yi Shi fastened his seatbelt with one hand when a long, straight black wig appeared in front of his eyes. He looked at Yu Xue, who was staring back at him, holding the wig up as if wondering why he hadn’t taken it yet.
“Is this necessary?”
“Just in case.”
Dressing as a woman happens either once or countless times, and since it was just a wig, Yi Shi felt no internal resistance. He didn’t even bother with a wig cap, simply placing the long black hair over his short hair, tidying it a little, and putting on a mask.
His features didn’t exactly suit a delicate or feminine look, but the mask reshaped his face enough that, combined with the long hair, it was easy to mistake him for a woman at a glance. Wearing Lin Heyu’s loose hoodie, which draped over his slender frame, he looked like someone who had stolen their boyfriend’s jacket.
Qi Wenyu was stunned, caught off guard by the striking transformation. He turned to Yu Xue with a mischievous look. “A-Xue, you…”
“Don’t even think about it,” Yu Xue replied, turning his face back to the road. “Drive.”
The journey from Haijing to Nanyi wasn’t very far, but it crossed two provinces and they barely got off the highway. Up ahead was a checkpoint, with only one lane open for inspection. The vehicles moved at a snail’s pace. When it was their turn, Yu Xue calmly rolled down the window and handed over his documents.
The traffic officer, recognizing it was one of their own, saluted, closed his notepad, and returned the documents. He looked into the car. “Sir, are all of these your colleagues?”
“The driver here is our city’s forensic doctor. The one in the back, she’s the daughter of a high-ranking official, hitching a ride back to Nanyi,” Yu Xue smiled. “Any leads today? Found any suspicious vehicles?”
“Just overloaded or illegally operated ones. We’ve been checking for days with no sign of anything.”
Yu Xue chuckled. “Thanks for your hard work.”
The car was cleared to pass. As they neared Nanyi, they encountered another checkpoint after getting off the highway. This time, it was a familiar face—Xiao Guo from the second team of the city bureau.
“Captain Yu! It’s really you!” Xiao Guo clung to the car door. “Are you alright? You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
“…You believe those rumors?”
Xiao Guo quickly shook his head. No, no, they all knew the situation with the first team, but it had been so long since they’d seen their captain, he couldn’t help feeling excited.
“And the others… Ding Ju and the rest, they’re still in Haijing?”
“Yeah, I’m back to take care of some business. I’ll be heading back in a couple of days for a meeting.”
“Oh…” Xiao Guo lowered his head, his tone suddenly cautious. “I know I shouldn’t ask, but… Yi Shi… has he been found?”
Yu Xue glanced at the person quietly sitting in the backseat, then said regretfully, “Not yet. Next time we have a meeting, we’ll be discussing his case.”
Hearing this, Xiao Guo was deeply disheartened, sighing heavily as he clung to the car door. Qi Wenyu, curious, asked, “Why are you so upset about him going missing? Were you two friends?”
“No, we never spoke. But he’s amazing! In terms of looks, he’s the face of Nanyi. In terms of skill, he could catch any elusive suspect and extract confessions from the toughest ones. Even Old Yan wanted him as a successor. And when it comes to popularity, there were plenty of ladies in the bureau who liked him. If someone like him dies in the line of duty, it’s like the heavens are jealous of his talent!”
Qi Wenyu was surprised. “He’s that well-regarded? I always thought he kept to himself and you all didn’t really get along with him.”
“Of course not… We just didn’t dare to approach him.” Xiao Guo sighed. “Yi Shi is like one of those otherworldly high achievers, a cold and distant beauty. We’re just ordinary people. Calling him ‘brother’ feels like we’d be bringing him down.”
Yi Shi finally lifted his head, his gaze briefly settling on them before quickly shifting to the passing scenery outside the window.
As the car resumed its journey, Yu Xue turned back, smiling. “So, surprised?”
Yi Shi truly hadn’t expected that he was much more popular than he initially thought.
“You think others see you as a thorn in their side, but that’s not the case at all. I’ve told you before, try interacting and associating with others more; you won’t be short of friends.”
Yi Shi thought for a moment but still found it troublesome. He wasn’t good at handling relationships, unlike Yu Xue, who was adept at navigating social situations. To him, spending the effort only to end up empty-handed felt like a waste. It was better to remain solitary as he had before.
However, he could at least greet people when they met in the future, if only to avoid giving off that mysterious and unfathomable impression again.
The car zigzagged through the alleys, neither heading to Yu Xue’s place nor returning to his own. From a distance, Yi Shi saw the Red Cross sign on a tall building and immediately said, “Captain Yu, I can’t go to the hospital.”
Regular Class-A hospitals kept medical records, and registering under anyone’s name could easily be traced. Yu Xue frowned, “If I were taking you to the hospital, why would I bring you all the way back to Nanyi?”
Yi Shi fell silent. He had overthought it. With Yu Xue’s sharp mind, making such a rookie mistake would be nearly impossible.
In a small alley, the Audi pulled over, and Yu Xue got out, walking into a shop that sold ** and health products. Qi Wenyu was stunned and turned back, secretly amused, “Is he trying to surprise me?”
Yi Shi: “…”
“…Or does he think I’m not good enough?”
Yi Shi: “……”
Qi Wenyu’s joy was quickly replaced by anxiety, “Could it be that Yu Xue has a secret health issue of his own?”
Unable to bear his spiraling imagination any longer, Yi Shi spoke, “The owner of this shop was once arrested. Sentenced to a year and six months.”
“For what crime?”
“Operating an illegal clinic. I was the one who arrested him.”
A while later, Yu Xue returned, opening the car door for Yi Shi to get out. Qi Wenyu, just about to lock the car and follow, was stopped by Yu Xue, “Stay in the car. Watch out for parking tickets.”
“…” Qi Wenyu wanted to complain. It was late at night; the traffic police were off-duty. Who would come to such a remote place to issue tickets? He had also wanted to check out the shop for some little toys to improve the intimacy between him and Yu Xue.
Yi Shi had already taken off his wig. The shop owner, Xie Gang, recognized him at once and hurriedly rubbed his hands together as he greeted, “Officer Yi! Long time no see, how have you been?”
Yi Shi glanced coldly at the wall lined with adult products, “Changed your business?”
“Of course! I turned over a new leaf as soon as I got out two years ago. Captain Yu insisted I go back to my old trade though…”
Yu Xue flashed his signature smile, “Xie Gang, if I catch you again, it won’t just be a year and a half. Believe me?”
Xie Gang quickly shut up and opened the door to the back of the shop, “This way, this way.”
Inside, they found that this small adult store was more than it seemed. There was a hidden door leading to a basement, which had been divided into two rooms. One room had two hospital beds, and the other contained a surgical bed and various equipment. Shelves were filled with a wide variety of drugs, resembling a mini-hospital.
Yu Xue’s smile grew colder, “You call this ‘turning over a new leaf’?”
Xie Gang repeatedly proclaimed his innocence. He had wanted to run a legitimate business, but his old clientele from his days of running a black clinic kept coming back. Once out of prison, people from the underworld with gunshot and knife wounds sought him out, forcing him to return to his old ways. He didn’t dare openly advertise his services anymore, though, only working for those he knew, hoping to avoid being caught again.
Yu Xue knew all of this, which was why he had come directly to Xie. During the nationwide crackdown on gang crime, many small-time criminals had been arrested, and it hadn’t taken much for them to reveal Xie Gang. However, a massive explosion case had come up at the time, so Yu Xue hadn’t had the time to deal with minor offenders, allowing Xie to avoid further trouble.
Yi Shi’s bandages on his right shoulder were carefully removed as Xie Gang wheeled over a portable X-ray machine and began operating it at the computer. Yu Xue crossed his arms, “You’ve got quite the setup here. Can you do any surgery?”
Xie Gang laughed nervously, claiming he only did low-level procedures like setting bones, removing bullets, and stitching wounds. He wouldn’t dare step on the hospital’s toes.
Yu Xue chuckled again. When they’d first arrested Xie Gang, they discovered that he had actually graduated from a legitimate medical school, had worked in a Class-A hospital, and held a medical license. However, being headstrong in his youth, he had clashed with hospital leadership and left to run his own private clinic.
So his skills went far beyond what he was admitting to. He was just afraid the two officers would bait him into admitting something more serious and send him back to jail.
After a few moments of contemplation, Yi Shi suddenly asked, “Have you ever helped someone get a kidney transplant?”
Xie Gang was so startled he fell off his chair and grabbed onto Yu Xue’s pant leg, “Captain Yu! I would never dare remove someone’s kidney! This little place isn’t equipped for that kind of surgery. It could kill someone. I wouldn’t dare, not in a million years!”
“I know. You wouldn’t dare. But has anyone ever asked you about it?”
Xie Gang’s eyes darted nervously, “No kidney transplants, but someone did ask if I could do tissue matching. He said his friend’s son needed a kidney, and he wanted to see if the donor would be a match. But look at this place! It’s small and under-equipped. If they came to me, I’d have to use my old connections to get it done at a hospital.”
“People from Pang Daozi’s gang?” Yi Shi asked.
Xie Gang hesitated. Pang Daozi was a wanted criminal now, and Xie Gang feared saying the wrong thing would get him in trouble too. His evasiveness was answer enough, and Yi Shi stopped pressing him, instead asking about the X-ray results.
“Humeral fracture, but not a comminuted one. You’ll need to rest for three months,” Xie Gang remarked in surprise. “It’s the first time I’ve seen a gunshot wound that didn’t shatter the bone. Officer Yi, was the shot fired from a long distance? It looks like the bullet’s energy had mostly dissipated by the time it hit you, which is why the damage wasn’t too severe.”
It was also due to the location of the wound. The bullet had struck more towards the side of the shoulder. A few centimeters to the right, and he wouldn’t have been hit at all. Yi Shi had to thank Lin Erde for pulling him just in time.
Qi Wenyu had done a thorough job of cleaning the wound yesterday, so today’s secondary surgery involved trimming damaged blood vessels, placing a venous bridge, inserting a drainage tube, and finally splinting the arm. Xie Gang worked in tense concentration, not daring to breathe too loudly. The fact that Yu Xue was helping as an assistant only made him more nervous.
Qi Wenyu waited outside until nearly midnight before seeing the two men emerge. Yi Shi’s arm was in a sling, and Yu Xue was holding a bag of medication, about to pay Xie Gang for his services.
Xie Gang didn’t dare accept the money, hastily refusing, even blurting out, “Serving the people!” in an attempt to appear honorable. Yu Xue wasn’t one to owe favors to shady characters like Xie Gang, so he shoved the money at him, telling him they’d be back regularly for dressing changes, and warned him to keep quiet. Any leaks, and there would be serious consequences.
“Well, the wound’s taken care of. Where to next?” Yu Xue asked.
Yi Shi gave the address of the apartment he rented, but Yu Xue merely responded with an “Oh” and drove him straight to his own place.
Standing at the doorway, Yi Shi hesitated to enter. Qi Wenyu, exhausted, yawned, “You planning to sleep in the entryway?”
“I said I’d go back to my own place.”
“Yes, you did. I didn’t agree.” Yu Xue hung up his coat. “Is there a problem?”
“…No.”
Yi Shi obediently walked inside.
