[12/03, 18:47, Nanyi City Detention Center]
The corridor of the Nanyi City Detention Center was eerily quiet. From afar, the sound of footsteps echoed, “clack, clack, clack,” accompanied by the crisp sound of metal clanging, gradually approaching the interrogation room.
Yi Shi’s ears were sharper than a dog’s, and he was in the monitoring room connected to the interrogation room. Even though the door was still closed, he had already stood up. “They’re here.”
Yu Xue was adjusting the cufflinks of his uniform shirt and said, “So what if they’re here? Sit down; you’re acting like we’re about to meet with a leader.”
In the entire Nanyi City Police Department, there were only a few leaders that would make Yu Xue get up to greet them.
The door to the interrogation room opened, and a police officer escorted the suspect to the interrogation chair, securing him before stepping out to report, “Captain Yu, the man is here.”
Looking through the small window, they saw a man slumped in the interrogation chair, his large frame nearly crumpled into the small seat. His back was hunched, weak and powerless. In just a short time, he had visibly lost at least ten pounds, the outlines of his shoulder blades now sharp and prominent.
It was unclear what he had been thinking during his time in detention, but he looked utterly haggard. The arrogance he had when first captured had completely dissipated. His hair and beard had been trimmed and cleaned, making his face appear much tidier, but his poor mental state left his eyes dull and lifeless, with dark circles under them, making him look even more despondent.
“What’s wrong with him?”
Hearing Yu Xue’s question, the officer replied truthfully, “Nothing out of the ordinary… Nothing has happened. He’s been eating and sleeping well, hasn’t gotten into any fights, and his days have been quite comfortable.”
“Hmm… I see.” Yu Xue stroked his chin, satisfied that the detention center staff weren’t lying, and signaled for them to go about their business, indicating they didn’t need to stay.
Today, only he and Yi Shi had come; they hadn’t even brought a preliminary examiner, clearly intending to interrogate Zhao Chenghu themselves. The officers in the detention center were old acquaintances and fully understood the implications of these two coming in person—individually, they might not be too intimidating, but together, their combined impact was formidable.
Yi Shi stared at the small monitor for a moment, a cold smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He hadn’t been wrong when he called Zhao Chenghu a “coward” the other day. After betraying Pang Daozi, Zhao Chenghu’s psychological defenses had begun to crumble. These past few days, he had probably been consumed with thoughts of Pang Daozi being captured or, worse, coming to settle scores with him.
Pang Daozi was a vengeful person. If he found out Zhao Chenghu had betrayed him, he’d probably kill Zhao Chenghu before even thinking about saving him. After all, Pang Daozi had enough explosives in his hands. Zhao Chenghu couldn’t eat or sleep well, largely because of his guilt and fear of retribution.
Just as Yi Shi was considering how direct they should be in interrogating Zhao Chenghu, a well-proportioned hand reached out, holding an old-fashioned thermos. “Pour me a cup of water.”
“Now?” Yi Shi held the thermos, glancing at the interrogation room with clear reluctance. Zhao Chenghu was right there, and he couldn’t wait to get started. If Yu Xue wanted water, he could just have a police officer fetch it.
“Yes, now,” Yu Xue said, taking off his uniform jacket and hanging it on the back of a chair. “Be a good boy.”
“…” Though Yi Shi didn’t understand what Yu Xue was up to, he was the sharpest decision-maker in the team, someone who wouldn’t waste time on pointless actions. Trusting in that, Yi Shi didn’t hesitate further and left the room with the thermos to fetch hot water.
As soon as he stepped out, Yu Xue walked into the interrogation room. Zhao Chenghu looked up sharply, meeting his gaze. Yu Xue waved cheerfully, “Zhao Chenghu, we meet again.”
Zhao Chenghu’s eyes were bloodshot as he cursed in his hometown dialect. Yu Xue casually remarked, “Looks like the food here needs improvement. How come a few days of ‘royal treatment’ have left you unable to speak properly?”
“You damn bastard! Got nothing better to do than come here and get cursed at?” Zhao Chenghu, clearly enraged, still had the energy to glare fiercely, even though he was as gaunt as a dying camel, stubbornly keeping up his tough front. His hoarse voice spat out, “Stinking cop, I’m still alive and kicking! Disappointed?”
Yu Xue smiled slightly. “Of course I’m not disappointed. I was just thinking, seeing you all depressed and lifeless, that I might let you off easy today. But now I’ve changed my mind. You seem to have plenty of spirit left, so this trip won’t be wasted.”
“Last time, you and that pretty boy screwed me over, and I haven’t even settled that score yet. Now you think you’re going to get anything out of me? Dream on!” Zhao Chenghu glanced around the interrogation room. Seeing only this refined and clean-cut man, he wondered, where was that cold, demonic guy? If he wasn’t here, what was there to fear?
Subconsciously, Zhao Chenghu had already developed a psychological shadow around Yi Shi. When he realized that only Yu Xue was there to interrogate him, a sense of ease and smugness washed over him. “So it’s just you today? Save your breath and go preach to your granny!”
“My granny has already passed away.” Yu Xue rested his chin on his hand, smiling gently, his tone calm and unhurried. “I burned some paper money for her on the Ghost Festival. Didn’t expect that you, an outsider, would care more for her than I do. Truly, you’re a filial son.”
This easily touched a nerve about the foolishness of helping Pang Daozi and getting caught, completely enraging Zhao Chenghu. He slammed the table with a loud bang, unleashing a torrent of foul language without repeating himself.
Just then, there was movement at the door of the interrogation room. Zhao Chenghu’s crude cursing came to an abrupt halt, his expression gradually twisting, a mix of rage and something inexplicably comical.
“Why aren’t you continuing?” Yu Xue turned to look and then feigned realization. “Oh… you just realized I didn’t come alone, huh?”
Zhao Chenghu’s eyes widened as the eerie man he thought wouldn’t show up walked in, holding the thermos. The lid was off, and steam was rising from the mouth.
“What did you just say?” Yi Shi stood before him, looking down at him from above.
Zhao Chenghu clenched his fists, gritting his teeth as if ready to go all out, then shouted again, “Damn it, you tricked me last time! You think I’m scared of you?! You—”
Yi Shi, expressionless, suddenly lifted the thermos and splashed it directly at Zhao Chenghu’s face.
“Ahhh!” Zhao Chenghu shut his eyes and screamed, struggling desperately to break free from the handcuffs and cover his face. He wasn’t wrong—this man was a lunatic! A madman capable of anything!
Several seconds passed, and the scalding pain didn’t come. Zhao Chenghu slowly opened a slit of his eyes, then gradually widened them.
Yi Shi was standing there, the lid now tightly screwed on the thermos, trapping the scalding water inside. Zhao Chenghu’s head buzzed. When had he screwed the lid on? Did he do it the moment he made that motion? Could someone be that quick?
Yi Shi’s slender fingers slowly tightened the lid, and he sneered coldly, “You really are a coward.”
Yu Xue, who had been sitting opposite, watching the whole show unfold, was quite pleased. He leisurely clapped his hands twice.
“Calmed down now? Can we have a proper chat?”
——
[02/24, 07:56, Turtle Back Mountain, Nanyi City]
On the national highway in front of Qiantang Town, Nanyi’s personnel were conducting inspections. Yuan Maoqiu and Lin Heyu had planned to visit the mountain across from them yesterday, but were delayed by the incident with the small stone. Today, they were taking Sheng Guoning’s car, and Lin Heyu decided to set their destination at the foot of the mountain.
“You plan to go up the mountain?” Sheng Guoning asked.
“Yeah,” Yuan Maoqiu nodded. “Please just drop us off by the roadside. We’ll go up on our own.”
Sheng Guoning immediately raised objections: “That won’t do. You’re not familiar with the area in Nanyi, and this mountain isn’t a tourist spot—there’s not even a map. If you get lost, what will you do without a local guide?”
Yuan Maoqiu recalled the small mountain he had seen yesterday, which appeared to be no more than a hundred meters high. The range was visible at a glance, and from a distance, one could clearly see the fertile farmland and the scattered houses built by villagers along the mountain’s slope. The environment was much better than the rugged, overlapping Chang’an Mountain range. Getting lost on such an open and clear path seemed less like concern and more like doubting the intelligence of two grown men.
Even if they were unlucky and accidentally lost their way, what was a GPS for? If worse came to worst, they could always ask for directions; it wasn’t that hard.
Sheng Guoning’s finger tapped the edge of the steering wheel. Just as he began to say, “I’ll go with you…”, Lin Heyu cut him off decisively, “No need.”
“?” Sheng Guoning explained, “I mean, I’ll accompany you up the mountain, help you with directions.”
“Accompanying is against the law.” Lin Heyu’s tone was indifferent but carried a hint of frustration. “As a law enforcement officer, don’t break the law.”
??? Sheng Guoning realized that his brother-in-law had quite a sense of humor. He laughed and said, “Brother-in-law, if that’s against the law, then most tour guides should be in prison.”
“Heh.”
“…” Sheng Guoning understood that Lin Heyu wouldn’t give him any opportunity if he didn’t agree to his demands, even if it meant using indirect methods.
Clearing his throat, Sheng Guoning made a resolute statement with a public-serving attitude, “Guests should be treated with respect. It’s our way of hospitality in Nanyi. Being too polite might seem insincere.”
“… I said no.” Lin Heyu’s tone was cold, with a touch of annoyance.
Sheng Guoning’s expression was serious. “Don’t say anything more. My mind is made up.”
Lin Heyu’s forehead twitched, while Yuan Maoqiu had to stifle his laughter, which almost burst out and set off all the traffic lights on the road.
Lin Heyu finally met his match. Sheng Guoning had some skills. What intrigued Yuan Maoqiu the most was how he seamlessly combined two unrelated proverbs, making it sound like a couplet.
The morning rush hour had just ended, and some roads were still unbearably congested. A journey that took half an hour yesterday took fifty minutes today, and they still hadn’t reached their destination. Lin Heyu rested his elbow on the window sill, supporting his forehead with his hand. He was not in a hurry at all. Instead, he pulled out his phone and reviewed his chat history with Yi Shi.
The chat records for this morning were in the correct order, not reversed as usual. As he scrolled through, it seemed like a normal conversation. This puzzled Lin Heyu, as previous chat records had been reversed. Why had the morning’s segment suddenly returned to normal?
His thumb slid quickly across the screen. Fortunately, he hadn’t exchanged many messages with Yi Shi, and he reached the top of the chat within a minute. Upon closer inspection, Lin Heyu realized that in previous messages, he had sent messages to Yi Shi and waited for replies; this time, Yi Shi had sent the message first, and Lin Heyu had replied.
Could it be that the difference between sending and receiving messages affected the time correction between worlds? If this were true, then Yi Shi’s chat records should also be reversed.
Lin Heyu took a screenshot of the records and considered sending it to Yi Shi, but after thinking it over, he deleted the image.
After all, they would meet in the evening, so there was no rush at this moment. Yi Shi had official business to attend to in Nanyi, and getting information from criminals was a technical job, so it was better not to disturb him.
Lin Heyu held his phone, with a message at the bottom of the WeChat interface confirming their meeting:
【Tonight at midnight, Pingju Square, don’t miss it】
The car finally reached the vicinity of the national highway. Yuan Maoqiu saw the right moment and leaned forward from the back seat, saying, “Captain Sheng, you’ve already done enough by driving us here. Let the auxiliary police handle guiding us. We’re not being polite; we don’t want to waste your valuable police resources.”
Sheng Guoning was displeased. “How can it be called a waste? This mountain is within the inspection range; we’ll have to come here sooner or later.”
“That may be true…” but didn’t you notice that Lao Lin clearly doesn’t want to team up with you!
Lin Heyu was looking out the window, clearly displeased with Sheng Guoning, barely bothering to look at him.
Yuan Maoqiu pointed to Sheng Guoning’s neat uniform. “Captain Sheng, I forgot to mention, we’re doing an undercover visit. Your uniform is too conspicuous.”
Sheng Guoning slapped his thigh and began unbuttoning his uniform. He then pulled out a black jacket from the storage box. What a coincidence; there was spare clothing in the car!
“…” Yuan Maoqiu had no choice but to sigh helplessly.
In adversity, Captain Sheng’s strong heart truly shows. Patting him on the shoulder, Yuan Maoqiu said seriously, “Brother, let me reiterate: don’t dwell on small matters. Strength lies in numbers. With the three of us, we can finish this mountain in no time.”
Yuan Maoqiu clasped his hands together, with nothing more to say. Lin Heyu remained silent; as long as Sheng Guoning didn’t call him “brother-in-law,” everything was fine.
The police car stopped at a small car wash at the foot of the mountain. Sheng Guoning got out and first handed a cigarette to the owner, asking, “Boss, where’s the entrance to the mountain?”
The owner eagerly pointed out the directions, worried that the police officers wouldn’t understand. He even went back into the house to bring out a yellowed hand-drawn map.
“This Songtan Village is the village on the mountain, right?” Sheng Guoning pointed to the marked location on the map. “And what about this place? How do we get there?”
The owner had trouble hearing, so he shouted loudly enough for the entire car wash to hear clearly. After a detailed explanation lasting about twenty minutes, Sheng Guoning returned with a big smile on his face.
Seeing all this, Yuan Maoqiu asked with a hint of amusement, “Captain Sheng, you call yourself a ‘familiar local’?”
“Ah, of course. Come on, follow me. We’ll get familiar with it after a few trips.”
