I wasn't mistaken—Zhang Yihan had indeed stopped breathing. As I cradled her lifeless body, my eyes welled up with tears. Despite her usual harshness and frequent scolding, she was my comrade. Seeing a fellow officer die in my arms was an indescribable feeling, one that only those who have experienced it can understand.
Especially considering how beautiful she was, it felt like such a waste. Was it really true that beauty was destined for a short life?
She looked so serene, so beautiful, so peaceful... At that moment, I desperately wanted her to wake up, to yell at me, to scold me. I found myself missing her previous harshness, craving for her to be alive again.
In my despair, I suddenly shouted, "Senior, you can't die! You can't die..." I frantically laid Zhang Yihan down and began performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Artificial respiration was a basic lifesaving technique that I knew well. I continued to breathe into her mouth and compress her chest repeatedly, even though I had little hope that it would work. I was on autopilot, performing these actions without thinking, while continuously calling out to her.
"Senior Zhang, you can't die! Wake up..."
Suddenly, I heard a few coughs. Ignoring it, I kept pressing on her chest, calling out, "Senior Zhang, you can't die, you can't..."
"Slap!" A sudden blow to my face made me stop in my tracks.
I looked at Zhang Yihan in bewilderment, feeling like I was dreaming. Her eyes were open, and it was clear she had slapped me.
I was so shocked that I didn't even realize my hands were still on her chest. Zhang Yihan glared at me, her teeth clenched, and hissed, "What... are... you... doing?"
I glanced at my hands on her left breast and weakly explained, "Giving you artificial respiration..." As I said it, I instinctively pressed her breast again to demonstrate. Realizing my mistake too late, I knew I was in trouble.
Zhang Yihan's face turned red with fury. "Lin Mingjun, you're dead!" she yelled, her hands flying at my head.
"Slap, slap, slap..." I was quickly dazed by her flurry of slaps. Then, as I was reeling, she delivered a hard kick to my stomach.
"Thud!" I was knocked back into the coffin I had just crawled out of. Today was clearly a day of battling coffins.
As I climbed out, I saw Zhang Yihan standing beside the coffin, holding a shovel and glaring at me. Fearing she might kill me with it, I hurriedly apologized, "Senior, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it. I was just trying to save you..."
Strangely, despite the beating, I felt no anger. Maybe it was because I was so relieved she was alive. I didn't even feel the usual resentment toward her.
"Lin Mingjun, I warn you, if you ever mention what happened today, I will castrate you," she threatened, pointing the shovel at me menacingly.
"I won't say a word, I swear!" I nodded vigorously.
"Alright, tell me what happened. Who saved us?" Zhang Yihan demanded, cutting me off.
Seeing her calmer demeanor, I quickly explained, "It was Zhao Xiaotian. He told us to contact the higher-ups and initiate a city-wide lockdown to catch Li Dapeng."
"Right, we need to catch that bastard Li Dapeng. Let's go!" Zhang Yihan said, but then wandered around aimlessly, not knowing which direction to take.
Zhao Xiaotian had left us with only a knife, no flashlight. We were stumbling around in the dark, making our mission to get help seem futile.
Fortunately, after some time, we saw a faint light in the distance. We headed straight for it, hoping to find help.
Along the way, Zhang Yihan repeatedly warned me not to mention the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. At first, I thought she was being overdramatic, but I later learned that I had inadvertently stolen her first kiss.
As the saying goes, "a watched pot never boils." By the time we found someone and borrowed a phone, it was already four in the morning. After making several calls and getting directions, we headed back to Guojia Village.
Li Xia had disappeared there last night, and we were worried about her safety. We hoped to find her at the village.
After searching the Guojia courtyard, we found no sign of Li Xia and decided to check her home.
When we arrived, the sky was just beginning to lighten. Fortunately, we found Li Xia at home.
The Taoist priests performing the rituals were asleep, leaving Li Xia alone, kneeling by Xiao Li's coffin and weeping. She was so engrossed in her grief that she didn't notice our approach.
"Li Xia," I called softly.
Li Xia turned reflexively and, upon seeing us, jumped to her feet. She took a few steps back, her face pale with fear as if she'd seen a ghost.
Seeing her reaction, Zhang Yihan and I exchanged wary glances.
"Li Xia, I didn't expect you to conspire with Li Dapeng against us," I said, testing her.
Li Xia's face turned white, and she pulled a knife from her waistband, lunging at Zhang Yihan.
With quick reflexes, Zhang Yihan caught Li Xia's wrist, stepped forward, and kneed her in the stomach.
"Ugh..." Li Xia collapsed to the ground, clutching her stomach, while Zhang Yihan twisted her arm, pinning her down. "We underestimated you!"
Li Xia remained silent, glaring at me with a malevolent smile that sent chills down my spine. It was clear she was involved in the plot against us.
We should have been more suspicious of her behavior the night before. She had feigned fear and clung to us, but her fear had seemed exaggerated. She had stayed out late with us without complaint, despite her supposed fear.
When Zhao Xiaotian accused Li Dapeng of killing her brother, she had defended him—a major red flag. And she had allowed Zhao Xiaotian to take liberties with her, all part of her act.
Realizing this, I felt foolish. Her act wasn't even that convincing; we had just been too naive to see through it.
We ignored the villagers' protests and took Li Xia to the county police station. We intended to interrogate her immediately, but upon arrival, we received news about Zhao Xiaotian.
He had been seriously injured in a fight with several criminals, and the county police's criminal investigation team was on their way to rescue him.
With Zhao Xiaotian's safety at stake, we put the interrogation on hold and rushed to his location with a borrowed car and a guide.
When we reached a small hill twenty miles southeast of Guojia Village, we found Zhao Xiaotian. He was lying next to several corpses, his face covered in blood, while paramedics treated his wounds.
Despite his condition, Zhao Xiaotian was flirting with a young nurse. "Nurse, do you think I'm brave? Look at these criminals—I took them down all by myself. Aren't I amazing?"
"Stop talking, and you shouldn't be smoking. It speeds up blood circulation," the nurse replied with a shy smile, revealing adorable dimples.
"Heh, I love your smile, especially those dimples. Do you have a boyfriend?" Zhao Xiaotian shamelessly asked, making the nurse blush.
The surrounding officers looked at Zhao Xiaotian with admiration, not disdain. He had four bodies around him, and a heavily muscled man with a long wound on his stomach was being restrained and treated nearby.
When I finally noticed him, I recognized him as Li Dapeng.
"Li Dapeng!" I yelled, rushing towards him in fury.
"Hmph, you got lucky this time. Next time, you won't be so fortunate!" Li Dapeng sneered. "What, not satisfied? Want to hit me? Go ahead, kill me if you dare..."