"Slap! Slap!" Just as my mind was drifting into fantasies, I received two slaps to my face.
Fortunately, the water's resistance softened the blows, and they landed more on my head than my cheeks, so it didn't hurt too much. Once I snapped back to reality, I realized Zhang Yihan must have sensed my inappropriate thoughts, or she wouldn't have hit me out of the blue.
What followed, however, felt like a mixed blessing. The fire above was still raging, but we only had one oxygen tank, which meant we had to take turns using it.
This time, I was more cautious. When Zhang Yihan showed signs of running out of breath, I removed the respirator from my mouth, washed it thoroughly in front of her in the water, and then handed it to her.
She looked at the respirator, then at me, and eventually took it. Due to the short air tube, she had to move closer to use it.
Feigning a lack of balance, I deliberately brushed against her sensitive areas a few times. Each time, she pinched me hard, but the sensation was still worth it. For the first time, I truly noticed that Zhang Yihan was well-endowed.
To my surprise, her retribution went beyond just pinching me. She almost let me suffocate by withholding the respirator longer than necessary.
Evidently, she had noticed my oxygen gauge still showed half a tank and thought I had been deceiving her earlier. She seemed to want to test my breath-holding capacity, staring at the time and withholding the respirator until I could barely hold on. In desperation, I grabbed her and tried to take the respirator from her mouth.
Panicking, she immediately handed it over. I took a few gulps of air, only to feel a sharp pain in my lower body.
"Damn, that hurt!" I thought, realizing she had kneed me again.
In the water, fighting back wasn't an option, nor was yelling. Even taking advantage of her was risky. If I went too far, I'd surely face consequences later.
After being kneed again, I decided to stop messing with her. My initial desire for revenge had been sated, but the price I paid made me realize it wasn't worth it.
Seeing I had stopped, Zhang Yihan's attitude improved slightly, though she still meted out soft punishments.
Each time she needed the respirator, I had to comply immediately or face her wrath. But when it was my turn, she made sure I was on the brink of passing out before letting me breathe.
Luckily, after three rounds of this, the smoke above began to clear.
The diesel had finally burned out, and by the time we surfaced, it was around 6 a.m.
The arsonists had come at around 4:30 a.m., so we had used a single tank of air to last nearly an hour and a half underwater.
Those men could never have imagined we'd survive. They hadn't even bothered to replace the stone slab, leaving the well open for us to escape.
Climbing out, I looked at the sky and felt an overwhelming sense of relief.
Before I could savor the fresh air, Zhang Yihan kicked me hard: "Get up, you lazy bastard!"
I jumped up, rubbing my sore butt, and grinned sheepishly. "What's wrong, Senior Officer?"
Zhang Yihan smirked, "You dare to ask? You had the nerve to take advantage of me?"
"Senior Officer, it was a misunderstanding! I didn't mean to," I pleaded innocently.
"You little bastard!" She picked up a stick and came after me.
"Misunderstanding! Misunderstanding!" I ran, not wanting to damage the crime scene evidence. I stopped after a few steps, only to receive more beatings from her.
The lesson was clear: being lecherous has its price.
We then started collecting evidence. Anyone who dared attack law enforcement would face severe consequences.
We first checked our equipment and found everything missing, including our clothes. The yard looked as if we had never been there.
Even the large stone slab was gone. Only the scorched well and traces of gasoline and diesel reminded us of what had happened.
"Go search the area for Li and Old Ge. We'll split up," Zhang Yihan ordered, rushing out of the yard.
Soon, we found Officer Li and Old Ge unconscious in a grassy area behind the yard.
They were alive, just unconscious from head injuries.
There were no signs of a struggle, suggesting they had been knocked out elsewhere and dumped here.
Zhang Yihan was furious. She left me to guard them while she went to the village to call for help.
While she was gone, I searched the area. The soft soil showed only Li and Old Ge's footprints, as if they had walked here on their own. But given their injuries, this didn't make sense.
Why had the attackers left them alive? Could Li be an insider? No, his injuries were too severe for that.
Half an hour later, Zhang Yihan returned with backup.
The county police chief himself led the team, bringing four ambulances. Old Ge and Li were quickly taken to the hospital.
The chief apologized profusely, but Zhang Yihan seemed uninterested.
We instructed them to retrieve the two bodies from the well, especially the one I had pulled in. Identifying him could lead us to the perpetrators.
However, the retrieval took longer than expected. By noon, our investigative team arrived.
We thought they were there to help, but instead, they relayed orders from our boss, instructing us to return immediately.
Even worse, our boss scolded us over the phone, accusing us of embarrassing the team and nearly getting ourselves killed. We were ordered to report back and explain ourselves, and told to leave the case to others.