The vehicle was still rushing forward, Yan Xie only felt a heaviness in his arms, and there was no response.
Jiang Ting's eyelashes were tightly closed, and from Yan Xie's top-down perspective, he could only see the quiet and handsome side profile of his face, with his soft breathing.
"…" Yan Xie waited for a long time, his beating heart slowly fell back to his chest, and he breathed out almost silently.
"Good," he murmured.
No matter whether Jiang Ting is asleep or awake, this is the most reasonable and most suitable way of responding to his emotional intelligence — always leave a little space for everyone.
It was as if something had happened, and yet it seemed like nothing had happened.
But the moment Yan Xie leaned his head on the back seat and closed his eyes, he knew that what had happened in his heart was unavoidable. Just like a seed was thrown into the rich soil unintentionally, when it sprouts, its roots are already tightly wrapped in the bottom of his heart, which can no longer be ignored or easily removed.
Yan Xie clenched his arms around Jiang Ting's shoulders.
He knew that no matter whether the person in his arms was asleep or awake, the most appropriate action at this time should be to let go.
But he didn't do that.
...…
At nearly five o'clock in the morning, at the gate of the Jiangyang County Detention Centre, the window of the Cherokee was lowered, and Yan Xie handed over his police certificate.
When the officer on duty saw it, he was awe-inspired and waved to the people to lift the safety gate.
Whether it was Yan Xie or Jiang Ting, they were all very familiar with the detention centre. Crime suspects who are in custody awaiting sentencing and prisoners with remaining sentences of no more than six months will stay here. Only those who have more than half a year left after the sentence was issued will be transferred to prisons, commonly known as "going up the mountain".
Li Yuxin was a minor who was arrested for stealing many times, and the sentence will not exceed one year. After deducting the months spent in collecting evidence, transferring the lawsuit, and arguing back and forth, there was only half a year left when she was sentenced, therefore she will be detained here.
However, although not officially in prison, the environment "under the mountain" is much more obscure and complicated than "up the mountain". After all, prison management is now strict and formalised, and death row prisoners and felons are under separate control. But in the detention centre, serial killers, arsonists, drug traffickers, and even arms smugglers; all kinds of people can be seen. When encountering a situation, the police did not have many scruples even when using sticks.
After the group was registered, they were personally led to the interrogation room by the on-duty leader of the detention centre. At the iron fence of the doorway, Yan Xie asked Ma Xiang and Xiao Zhang to wait outside and only brought Jiang Ting into the room. After more than ten minutes, the police came with Li Yuxin who was woken up in the middle of the night.
As soon as the iron door slammed open, Yan Xie softly said, "Huh?"
The girl Li Yuxin is much prettier than the photos.
She doesn't have the thrilling beauty of Bu Wei, but her appearance is naturally delicate and beautiful. After more than half a year of prison torment and ten hours of detention every day, coupled with desperation and despair, she is wearing a rough and ugly prison uniform, but even then her beauty can't be wiped out. When she was pressed by the police officer to sit down on the interrogation chair, her thin white fingers were pressed on the armrest spasmodically, and even the knuckles were shaking, showing an ivory-like texture.
Yan Xie's eyes slid across Li Yuxin's face, who was trying her best to hide her fear, and his brows were slightly wrinkled: "She was beaten?"
Those who entered the detention centre were usually beaten, although it did not conform to the mainstream propaganda of a harmonious society, everyone understood what was going on.
Unexpectedly, the two policemen denied it at the same time: "No, she is detained every day, and goes to the library to read books when she returns."
"She is a minor, so she would not be locked up with the drug dealer and murderers. Where would she be beaten?"
Yan Xie's doubts were not resolved, so he signalled the two policemen not to handcuff Li Yuxin and leave yet. He went up and gently lifted the sleeves of the little girl's prison shirt, looked at her arms, and turned to her back, peeking in the hair and back collar.
There's no bruising and it doesn't look like she has been beaten all day.
But for some reason, Li Yuxin seemed to be even more nervous, and her whole body was shaking uncontrollably.
Yan Xie did not know why.
If it was in a remote and desolate place, maybe he would suspect that the local prison guards were unlawful and something happened to the little girl. However, Jiangyang County Detention Center is a very strict and serious place in terms of scale and management. You can think in that direction, only if you are shooting a horror movie.
Yan Xie returned to the interrogation table, stared at Li Yuxin from top to bottom, touched his chin, and asked for a while, "Are you afraid of me?"
After several seconds, Li Yuxin spits out two words: "…No…Yes…"
— That means "yes".
Yan Xie was relieved and signalled the policeman to leave. With a few clatters, the iron door was closed again, leaving only him, Jiang Ting, and Li Yuxin in the room, sitting face to face in the dark and quiet interrogation room in the early morning.
Yan Xie subconsciously glanced to the side.
Jiang Ting was leaning back on the back of the chair, with his hands in his trouser pockets. He was indifferent and alienated to his surroundings and did not even look sideways.
"Cough cough!" Yan Xie cleared his throat to force his concentration on the little girl sitting on the opposite side: "Li Yuxin?"
"….." Li Yuxin buried her head deeply.
"I'm Yan Xie, deputy head of the criminal investigation division of Jianning City Public Security Bureau. There is a case I would like to ask you to provide some clues about; He Liang, the victim of last year's 712 kidnapping case."
—— He Liang.
The moment these two words landed, Li Yuxin's panic almost reached its extreme, and even the naked eye could easily see the unstoppable shaking and trembling of her whole body as if the crumbling dam was on the verge of bursting under the impact of the flood.
But then, completely different from this panicked reaction, she responded with a clear and smooth voice:
"I don't know, I don't know anything."
"I don't know this person at all."
Yan Xie and Jiang Ting looked at each other, both of them were a little surprised.
"You don't know? Then what are you afraid of?"
"...I do not know anything."
"On July 12 last year, He Liang disappeared on the way from school. On the same day, his parents received a call from the kidnappers extorting 1 million RMB in cash. The next day your parents came to the Jiangyang County Police Station to report that you were missing. It is suspected that you ran away from home after being scolded. But connecting the time your mother last saw you, your so-called running away, and He Liang's kidnapping; all this should have happened at the same time."
"….."
"You didn't run away from home, did you?"
"….."
"You know what happened to He Liang, but you don't dare to say it." Yan Xie leaned forward, placed both his hands on the table, and stared at the dark hairs on the girl's head: "What are you afraid of, Li Yuxin?"
"I don't know! I don't know anything!!" Suddenly without warning, Li Yuxin's scream cut through the air,"—I don't know him at all! I don't know anything!! You let me go!! Let me go!!!"
Bang! Bang! Li Yuxin started hitting her head with her hands, tearing her hair with all her might, her whole face turning red and purple. The behaviour was simply like self-mutilation. The iron door was slammed open, and the two policemen on duty rushed in. At the same time, Yan Xie suddenly got up, strode forward, and restrained the little girl from behind; despite the twist, he forcibly put her hands behind her.
"Don't handcuff her!" Jiang Ting shouted to stop them: "We can handle it!"
"Two city bureau comrades, we must act according to the regulations…"
Yan Xie said sternly: "Listen to him! If you handcuffed her right now, we won't be able to convince her to say anything!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Yuxin changed her tactics and knocked her forehead against the edge of the iron table desperately.
Bang! With a muffled sound, the little girl's forehead was cushioned by Jiang Ting's hand, and his knuckles immediately hit the sharp edge of the table; he hissed in pain.
Yan Xie: "Are you alright? — It's ok, go out! We can control her! I'll call you if we need your help!"
The second half of the sentence was yelled at the policeman, and the policeman was full of doubts and had no choice but to exit the interrogation room.
"Are you OK?"
Jiang Ting covered the back of his hand and was speechless from the pain. After a while, he shook his head to signal that he should not worry about himself.
"….." Yan Xie took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the boiling rage in his heart.
Li Yuxin was still writhing and struggling, her face was blue and purple, and her eyes flashed with a beast-like desperate cold light. Her appearance was indeed a bit terrifying. Yan Xie twisted her hand and looked down at her face from the side. Gradually, his anger was overshadowed by a more sensitive intuition.
"At all?" he repeated suddenly.
Li Yuxin gritted his teeth and said nothing.
"I just said I hope you can provide some clues about He Liang's kidnapping case. You said you don't know him 'at all'. This kind of reinforcement is usually not used for the first denial. Did someone interrogate you before?"
"….."
"Or," Yan Xie said coldly, "you have rehearsed the question and answer about He Liang's case many times in your mind?"
Li Yuxin's struggle gradually weakened, and after an unknown period of time, it completely stopped. She just sat there stiffly and did not speak. Yan Xie carefully tried to let go of her, but she did not respond.
"Li Yuxin, look into my eyes."
The girl's line of sight was scattered and empty, without focus.
"We're not here to hold you accountable," Yan Xie softened his tone and said, "We came here overnight because another pair of boy and girl was kidnapped."
Whether it was because of the sincerity in the words, or because of the meaning itself, Li Yuxin's black and white eyes turned and she suddenly glanced at Yan Xie.
"Yes, the day before yesterday, a couple surnamed Shen in Jianning City received a call from the kidnappers demanding a ransom of 200 million yuan; but they couldn't even afford a tenth of it. You and He Liang were sixteen years old when you were kidnapped, right? This time the girl is not even 16 years old. Her name is Bu Wei, and her birthday is next month. The boy's name is Shen Xiaoqi, and the kidnapper informed us that there are only ten hours left before his execution time."
"Shen Xiaoqi's parents only have a son, just like He Liang's parents have only him, and your parents only have you." Yan Xie paused, then he turned his back to the early morning light outside the iron window of the interrogation room, and stared at Li Yuxin. After a while, he finally asked the sentence:
"He Liang is dead, right?"
Li Yuxin did not move.
"But you are still alive, and Shen Xiaoqi and Bu Wei should also be alive. We can't give up any hope of saving the living, don't you think?"
"…It's useless," Li Yuxin said suddenly.
She had just gone crazy, her voice was hoarse and out of tune, and it took Yan Xie two or three seconds to realise what she was talking about.
"Useless?"
"He will die." Li Yuxin said quietly, "She will become like me."
Yan Xie looked at Jiang Ting and met the latter's equally suspicious gaze. In an instant, they both realised that the other party understood the two "ta"[1] the same as theirs — Shen Xiaoqi would die, and Bu Wei would become the next Li Yuxin.
Li Yuxin was kidnapped together with He Liang, and the executioner was really copying the serial case!
"Have you seen the kidnapper?" Yan Xie blurted out: "He let you watch him execute He Liang? Isn't it?"
Li Yuxin smiled strangely at him.
"What did the kidnapper look like? Why did he do this? How did he kill He Liang?!"
The little girl's straight, smiling eyes didn't change at all.
"Li Yuxin!" Yan Xie couldn't help roaring: "There are two children as old as you who are going to die! As long as you are willing to provide clues, I guarantee that this will be counted as a major meritorious performance and you will be able to go out immediately! Li Yuxin!"
"Isn't it good to be dead?" Li Yuxin spoke softly with that weird smile, as if she was afraid of waking up from a dream: "I want to die in my dreams."
Yan Xie and Jiang Ting were stunned at the same time, and then, with lightning speed, the little girl slammed her head on the table!
Bang——
This time, Jiang Ting didn't need to make a move. Yan Xie, who was already prepared, shot up like lightning. Before Li Yuxin raised her head to knock it a second time, he grabbed her and despite her frenzied struggle, he clasped her tightly in his arms. The blood coming out from her head covered him all over.
The iron gate was smashed open for the second time, and the on-duty leader of the detention centre, the police, and others rushed in quickly. Footsteps, exclamations, roars, etc. mixed into ubiquitous noise. Someone was calling for a doctor, someone was calling on the phone, someone was trying to handcuff Li Yuxin and take her away… In the porridge-like chaotic scene, Jiang Ting stood up slowly, his eyes fixed on Li Yuxin's lips.
Her face was covered in blood, flowing down through the wing of her nose to the corners of her mouth. When the lips opened and closed, he could even see scarlet drenching between her teeth.
But that didn't prevent Jiang Ting from recognizing her delirious mouth gestures.
"Hot summer… mid…"
"July..."
——Hot summer nights, mid-July.[2]
It was as if the dense fog was torn apart by the ghost's claws. His heart contracted fatally, and the cold blood rushed to the top of his head instantly. Those characters in time actually represent kidnapping, bloody clothes, execution, 8:09… Countless familiar but obscure clues are all strung together in an instant.
Jiang loosened his hands.
He silently fell back onto the chair.
Li Yuxin was handcuffed by the police; while covering her head with her hands she was rushed to the nursing room of the detention centre. Yan Xie was negotiating something with the leader of the detention centre. His voice was fierce and the volume was quite loud. He was almost arguing. Even Ma Xiang and Xiao Zhang, who were outside the door, rushed in.
But Jiang Ting couldn't hear anything clearly.
It was as if he was sinking gradually in deep water, a little bit away from the whole world; but everyone stood on the shore arguing vaguely, and no one noticed that he was gone.
It turned out to be like this, he thought in a trance.
But why?
Starting from when the last ray of light fell on the horizon at the beginning of the twilight, this grand and bloody performance; in the end, what is it for?
"…Consultant Lu…"
"Consultant Lu?"
...…
Jiang Ting suddenly raised his head as if awakened, and only then did he notice that the crowd had already dispersed at some point, leaving only their group and the leader of the detention centre with a bad expression in the empty interrogation room.
Yan Xie knelt on one knee beside the chair, holding his fingers: "What's wrong with you? Are you okay?"
"…Ah," Jiang Ting took a breath, and when he got up, he noticed that the back of his clothes was soaked with cold sweat: "It's okay."
Yan Xie then stood up, but did not let go of his hand: "You are injured."
Jiang Ting bowed his head.
His left hand had just been knocked heavily on the edge of the sharp iron table, and the three knuckles of his fingers were ripped open and swollen. It looked quite scary — one could imagine what would have happened to Li Yuxin's forehead.
Yan Xie supported his palm with one hand so that the injured knuckles were lifted in the mid-air, and the other hand supported Jiang Ting's shoulder. This posture is very intimate, but Jiang Ting's consciousness is not as lucid as usual, and he subconsciously follows Yan Xie forward, only to hear him say solemnly: "Let's go to the medical room to deal with it."