You Mingxu pretended not to notice and asked, "Boss, did you bring a doctor?" Ding Xiongwei glanced at the fool and decided not to bicker with them. He nodded and called out loudly, "Xu Mengshan!" Then he led his team to disperse and secure the scene.
Then You Mingxu felt the two fingers hooked around her pinky tighten slightly. The fool remained silent but stubborn. You Mingxu felt both amused and exasperated, saying, "Are you a puppy or something?" He just looked up at her, his gaze steady. You Mingxu stopped smiling and said, "Let go. I'm a police officer, and I'll protect you. But you can't cling to me like this anymore."
He lowered his head, and his fingers suddenly shifted—instead of just two fingers, his entire hand now gripped her slender pinky tightly. You Mingxu was taken aback. His hand was large and slender but icy cold. He whispered, "Mingxu, don't leave me. I don't know anyone, and I can't remember anything. I'll be good."
You Mingxu wondered when he had remembered her name. She didn't speak but didn't forcefully shake him off either. The two of them stood quietly like this for a while until someone nearby said, "I don't think he'll bleed out in the next few minutes. Call me when you're done talking."
You Mingxu's finger practically flew out of the fool's grasp. Caught off guard and distracted by the sudden interruption, he actually let her escape. The fool froze for a moment, pursed his lips, and glared at the newcomer with clear displeasure.
The newcomer was a young man in a police uniform and cap—none other than Xu Mengshan from You Mingxu's team. Behind him was a doctor in a white coat. Seeing the two separated, Xu Mengshan didn't waste words and said to the fool, "Sit down over here. The doctor will give you emergency treatment."
The fool didn't move, just stared at You Mingxu. She felt a headache coming on and vaguely guessed the reason—after being knocked silly and waking up, he had stumbled into her tent, and she was the first person he saw, right? Was this some kind of imprinting, treating her like his mother?
She said, "Be good, sit down."
Only then did the fool walk over to the doctor and sit on a broken log. The doctor immediately began examining his injuries.
You Mingxu asked, "When did you all arrive in Tibet?"
Xu Mengshan replied, "Two days ago."
"Who else from the team is here?"
"Everyone who could be mobilized. Fan Jia is here too. She's somewhere in the back—no idea where she wandered off to now." Fan Jia was another female officer in the team who got along well with both of them.
"What took you so long?" You Mingxu said with a laugh. "I almost got ambushed by the suspect."
Xu Mengshan was tall and lean, with plain features and a serious demeanor. But now he smiled and said, "Come on, you? Getting ambushed? Did you think I didn't see the state that suspect was in after you finished with him? The heavy rain caused landslides, and a lot of police resources were diverted. This road was completely blocked. We had to put in a lot of effort to get here this fast. How did you end up here?"
You Mingxu snorted lightly and said, "No wonder the suspect managed to evade capture for days on the road. He got lucky."After exchanging a few more words, the fool allowed the doctor to tend to his wounds while keeping his eyes fixed on them. Though he couldn't comprehend the relationship between this suddenly appearing man and You Mingxu, he could sense that she was different from any moment before—transformed, her tone of voice altered. She was relaxed, completely at ease. The faint, beautiful smile at her lips came from the depths of her heart.
That person was someone she trusted deeply and knew well—her companion.
Thinking this, the fool felt a twinge of sorrow.
You Mingxu noticed his gaze but had little desire to acknowledge it. While speaking with Xu Mengshan, she could feel the fool's persistent, vacant stare. Eventually, she chuckled and was about to turn and see just how stubborn he was when the doctor suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, are you all right?"
You Mingxu and Xu Mengshan spun around to see the fool had fallen straight off the broken log, collapsing rigidly to the ground, eyes shut tight and face pale. They rushed over, helping the doctor slowly lift him. The doctor checked the fool's breathing and pulse, gaining a clear understanding of his injuries, and said, "Probably extreme exhaustion and excessive blood loss caused him to faint. Stretcher! Stretcher! He's a tough one—held on for quite a while before passing out. You police folks are really resilient."
You Mingxu and Xu Mengshan exchanged a glance just as the stretcher arrived. Several people lifted the fool onto it and carried him to the ambulance. Following behind, Xu Mengshan asked, "Which side is he on? I thought he was just a victim trying to take advantage of you, but he's actually one of us?"
You Mingxu replied, "Not sure yet." She then recounted the fool's background and the general course of the case, concluding, "Either he was originally a police officer who didn't follow orders well and might have been a bit eccentric..." She smiled here, "...or he's a true crime enthusiast here to stir up trouble. Or... there's another story to him that we don't know."
Xu Mengshan said, "Interesting."
As the ambulance doors were about to close, You Mingxu took another look at the lying figure. So large, yet in his unconscious state, he finally resembled a normal young man. For some reason, she noticed his hand clenched tightly at his side, as if still trying to grasp something. Though he appeared utterly disheveled and destitute, covered in blood, You Mingxu oddly perceived a fragile, pitiable handsomeness in him. She watched for a moment before turning away.
Little did she know, someone arrived just then. It was their colleague Fan Jia, followed by two others. Spotting You Mingxu, Fan Jia showed delight, greeted them both, and said to the two behind her, "This is the last person. See if he's the one you're looking for?"
You Mingxu and Xu Mengshan were taken aback. This was still a crime scene, and the well-dressed man and woman clearly weren't police—they shouldn't be here. Fan Jia shot them a meaningful look and whispered, "The boss sent me with them. Orders from above."The three of them fell silent and stood aside. You Mingxu first looked at the woman, who appeared to be in her early thirties, with delicate and beautiful features. Dressed in a black cashmere coat, she exuded an intellectual aura. The man was younger, only around twenty-four or twenty-five, wearing glasses and an outdoor windbreaker, yet he still carried a refined demeanor. Both of them looked grave, with a faint trace of anxiety and exhaustion. Despite their distress, they politely and hurriedly greeted You Mingxu and Xu Mengshan before heading toward the ambulance.
You Mingxu suddenly had a premonition—
The fool was the person they were looking for.
Sure enough, as soon as the two caught sight of the person on the stretcher, their expressions changed dramatically. The man leaned over the stretcher and shouted, "Teacher Yin! Teacher Yin!" before urgently asking the nearby doctor, "Is he okay? What happened to him?"
The woman stared at him in a daze, tears nearly falling as she cried out, "Yin Feng! Yin Feng!"
You Mingxu and the other two remained silent. Fortunately, the man seemed rational and capable, telling the woman with mixed emotions, "Let's go to the hospital first." The woman nodded.
Just as the medical staff were about to close the ambulance door, You Mingxu suddenly said, "Mengshan, go with them." Without even asking for a reason, Xu Mengshan immediately jumped into the vehicle.
The ambulance soon drove off.
You Mingxu watched for a while before turning her gaze to the surroundings: Mingtao and the others had also boarded ambulances one after another, staying relatively far from her, with only faint silhouettes visible. Several police cars were parked nearby, and Gu Tiancheng was undoubtedly detained in one of them. Other police officers were scattered around, conducting investigations throughout the forest. The sky had already brightened, and more police cars continued to arrive from the highway.
At this moment, Fan Jia said with a smile, "My dear, you're just amazing! Even on vacation, you manage to catch a serial killer!"
You Mingxu merely smiled and replied, "He was just unlucky. That... Yin Feng, who is he?"
Fan Jia said, "Yin Feng? You haven't heard of him? He's so famous! A lot of people at our police station are his fans, you know? Even the chief is! Did you watch the crime movie 'Heart Hunter' that was released last month?"
You Mingxu glanced at her sideways. "I did."
"Was it good?"
"It was."
Fan Jia nodded. "He's the original author. A famous crime novelist, and I think he's also a university professor, a psychology researcher or something. He's really, really popular. I just don't know why he ended up here. Those two are his assistant and a family member. They say they've been searching for him in Tibet for days, pulling a lot of strings, even alerting the provincial level. Who would have thought... such a big celebrity would end up in our Sister You's hands." Fan Jia hooked her arm around You Mingxu's shoulder and asked, "What exactly happened? I saw that Writer Yin was injured. You didn't catch the suspect together, did you? Wow, that would be incredible..."
As she chattered away, You Mingxu wore a faint smile, but inwardly she thought: A writer. He's actually a writer.
And he writes about their line of work—no wonder he had some understanding of the case and the suspect. But why was he here? Could it be to gather material for his writing? And he ended up with such bad luck, getting captured by the suspect?After graduating from police academy with outstanding results, You Mingxu joined the criminal police division, working alongside her comrades for several years. The literary profession of a writer felt worlds away from her reality. That guy was actually a renowned author, a celebrity? Recalling his deer-like eyes, his perpetually clenched fists, and his clearly damaged mind, You Mingxu felt a pang of melancholy. Fate seemed to delight in such abrupt twists, catching you off guard, leaving you unaware. She thought further: His assistant and family had arrived, which might aid his mental recovery. Once he woke up, he probably wouldn’t be as terrified, aggrieved, or insecure as before.
Volume Two: The Broad Road
OpenNovel