Chapter 62

After pressing for a few minutes, the bleeding finally slowed down. Lu Siyu habitually licked his lips, leaned towards Song Wen, and didn’t say a word to defend himself.

Song Wen tried to talk to distract himself from the fear of the darkness. Watching Lu Siyu lower his head, his heart softened. “You didn’t get hurt just now, did you?”

Lu Siyu shook his head.

Suddenly, Song Wen thought of something, frowned, and asked Lu Siyu, “I have another question. Who are those people? There were many of them, all young men between twenty and thirty years old. The police haven’t reported anything, so how did they know we were investigating here?”

Currently, the only people known to be involved in this case related to the Wushan Nursing Home were Lin Xiuran, Fu Linjiang, Zhu Xiao, and Lao Jia. These individuals were trustworthy, and even if Lao Jia was somewhat unreliable, he wouldn’t disclose such information to outsiders. Others, such as Tian Ming, Cheng Mo, and Commissioner Gu, might know in their capacity as leaders in criminal investigation. Lu Siyu deduced this on his own, and Song Wen hadn’t told anyone, so it couldn’t have been leaked through him.

Lu Siyu sighed. “I’m not sure about the identities of those people. It was my oversight… After entering, I discovered that this place has been equipped with cameras, and they’re in extremely hidden locations.”

Since Song Wen hurriedly entered while focused on finding Lu Siyu’s traces, he didn’t pay attention to these details. Now, hearing about it, this place had been monitored for a long time. Song Wen turned to ask, “When did this surveillance start?”

Lu Siyu said, “Those devices are still very new, maybe Zhang Peicai’s intrusion made them increase their vigilance here. So those people might be the ones who killed Zhang Peicai? Or people related to them?”

Song Wen grunted and tried to connect these clues.

The basement was dark and slightly damp. It was a room of about twenty square meters. Lu Siyu had explored it but hadn’t found any light switches. Both of them could only sit together, illuminated by the faint light of their phones.

Fortunately, those people just confined them here and didn’t return with a group of others.

As time passed, the bleeding on Song Wen’s head finally stopped. He exclaimed, “Why do I feel like it’s a bit cold here?”

Lu Siyu said, “It’s not your imagination; this place seems to have air conditioning.” When he walked around the room earlier, he noticed cold air drifting down from the top of the room. The cold air was heavier, descending and causing the temperature in the room to drop a few degrees. Lu Siyu thought for a moment and changed his expression. He added, “I know what this room is used for…”

Song Wen reacted, “Is this building the critical care building? Are we currently in its basement?”

Lu Siyu nodded, “So this room might be a makeshift cold storage used for storing bodies…” Due to the numerous deaths at the Wushan Nursing Home, sometimes bodies couldn’t be transported in time. To prevent decomposition, they converted the basement of this building into a makeshift morgue. The iron rack that hit Song Wen just now was likely used for displaying bodies.

Song Wen cursed under his breath.

If there were ghosts in this world, this kind of place would be the most likely to harbor them. The lives that had once been placed here were now gone. Would the old people who died unjustly harbor resentment? It seemed like another train was passing by outside, and the rumbling sound echoed through the ventilation opening, shaking the ground. It felt as if all the winds were converging, like a myriad of ghosts were wailing.

Lu Siyu stood up and looked at the ventilation opening. It was too small for both him and Song Wen to crawl through.

Chilled by the air conditioning, Song Wen remembered something strange, “This building has been abandoned for a long time. Why is the air conditioning still operational?”

Lu Siyu explained, “Similar to the cameras, it probably draws electricity from the neighboring factory. The adjacent factory is not small in scale, and this amount of power usage is not enough to raise suspicions.”

Frowning, Song Wen asked, “Did those people want to freeze us to death? How low can the temperature go here?”

Lu Siyu lowered his head in thought, “In these types of civilian cold storage, the temperature won’t be too low, probably around minus ten degrees Celsius. However, over time…”

With no food or drink, low temperatures, no signal, and, most importantly, uncertainty about whether the others might come back to finish the job, the longer they stayed, the more disadvantageous it would become.

Seeing Lu Siyu at a loss, Song Wen was somewhat relieved that he had left a message for Fu Linjiang. “Don’t worry, if Fu Linjiang can’t find me by seven o’clock, he’ll come looking with people. I didn’t let him follow directly, fearing it would cause too much trouble and alert others.” Then Song Wen checked the time; it was five o’clock. They still had two hours. However, before that, they were in for some hardships. But based on his understanding of Fu Linjiang, perhaps… he would come earlier.

Song Wen suddenly remembered something and asked Lu Siyu, “Did you bring any medicine? Do you have any food?”

Lu Siyu rubbed his arm and shook his head. Song Wen pressed his lips together, his head still a bit sore, and various pieces of information kept running through his mind.

Who are those people?

What kind of relationship do they have with the Wushan Nursing Home?

Why are they monitoring this place?

There are too many strange aspects to all of this.

Lu Siyu suddenly lowered his eyelashes and said softly, “There must be some secret or something here that the other party doesn’t want us to know. Maybe right now, they are transferring those things.” As he spoke, he lowered his head, biting the thumbnail of his right thumb with his teeth.

The whole situation was like a huge puzzle, with one side being the Wushan Nursing Home eighteen years ago, and the other side being the Zhang Peicai death case eighteen years later. They were currently missing an important piece that connected these two periods of time.

Song Wen sighed, “Since the beginning of investigating this case, I felt like there were many people, many pairs of eyes, watching us. According to the shopping information from that day, we found a woman named Bai Luorui. She also owns an elderly care home. After investigating, we suspect her involvement in the murder of some elderly people. But we can’t find any evidence.” He then shared some details with Lu Siyu.

Lu Siyu nodded and listened quietly until Song Wen finished, “I feel like this care home is different from the Wushan Nursing Home. What Bai Luorui did sounds like euthanasia for those seriously ill elderly people.”

Song Wen said, “No matter what kind of killing it is, it’s not allowed by the law. So-called euthanasia is just for profiteering.” Saying this, Song Wen noticed that Lu Siyu’s face was turning bluish, and he asked, “Feeling very cold?”

Lu Siyu, who had just recovered from a serious illness and was nearing mealtime, felt a bit chilly, breaking into a cold sweat. He felt uncomfortable all over, and beside him, Song Wen, despite his injuries, seemed like a warm stove. When Song Wen asked about it, Lu Siyu’s brain didn’t turn well due to the cold. He looked at Song Wen’s face, nodded, and then shivering, he asked, “Captain Song, can I… hug you?” As soon as the words came out, he realized what he had said. His originally pale face turned red, as if he had a fever. Fortunately, it was dark enough here, and Song Wen couldn’t see clearly.

Before he could react, Song Wen’s arms wrapped around Lu Siyu’s waist, pulling him into an embrace. He whispered, “If you’re cold, just come closer. We’re both men, what are you afraid of? Afraid I’ll eat you?” Song Wen spoke openly, but Lu Siyu was completely stunned. He felt enveloped by Song Wen’s breath, a warm flow suddenly entering his body. His heart thumped incessantly in his chest. Lowering his head, he kept licking his lips but couldn’t utter a single word.

Feeling Lu Siyu’s uneasiness in his embrace, Song Wen asked, “Why are you so cold?” Lu Siyu’s body temperature was too low, especially in this cold room, even lower than that of an injured person like him.

Lu Siyu whispered, “Hungry…”

It was his mealtime now.

Song Wen said, “Well, let’s chat a bit. Distract your attention, and you won’t feel as hungry.” After a pause, he continued, “There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you. What did you want to tell me before you fainted last time?”

Lu Siyu pursed his lips and looked at Song Wen. Now, with the two of them in this room, where the biting cold penetrated to the bone, when Song Wen brought up that question, he felt like he was pressed at an acupoint. The look in Song Wen’s eyes added pressure, and Lu Siyu bit his lip, looking at Song Wen. In this freezing environment, his brain seemed to have blanked out, leaving him unsure of where to start.

Song Wen didn’t know why, but when he mentioned this question, Lu Siyu’s expression changed again. “Forget it, if you don’t want to say it, I won’t ask you…” As time passed, Lu Siyu’s face became paler.

The phone’s battery was no longer sufficient to support the flashlight’s brightness, and it switched to power-saving mode. Darkness was about to engulf everything, leaving only a faint glimmer.

As the terrifying darkness approached, Song Wen’s heart rate accelerated. However, holding Lu Siyu, he strangely felt much better. As long as there was someone with him, the darkness seemed more acceptable.

Lu Siyu, on the other hand, wasn’t doing well. Under the cold, he seemed on the verge of fainting. It was as if he were a drowning person, silently struggling, preferring to drown than cry out for help. His body seemed to be breaking apart bit by bit, and something inside seemed to have ruptured. Hot blood surged out, and the sensation was like walking backward step by step, retreating to the edge of a cliff.

Song Wen sensed Lu Siyu’s trembling body. Something seemed wrong. “What’s going on? Is it too cold or are you feeling unwell?”

“I… I…” Lu Siyu felt pain everywhere in his body. In the low temperature, his consciousness was not clear. He wanted to find some painkillers to take, but unfortunately, there was nothing here. Panic set in. In the freezing darkness, he felt like he was on the verge of death.

Song Wen felt that the person in his arms seemed to have completely softened, and he heard his heart beating unusually, with a temperature frighteningly low. He thought he would be the one most afraid of the dark, but now, it was evident that Lu Siyu couldn’t hold on.

Song Wen was startled by his condition and comforted him, saying, “Lu Siyu, I’ll stay with you. I’m here.” He held him in his arms, warming him with his body temperature, repeating this sentence in his ear over and over, waiting for him to calm down.

Lu Siyu’s mind was blank for a moment, as if minutes had passed, or maybe it was a long time. Until he heard a sound coming from outside the door, Lu Siyu suddenly woke up. He pushed away from Song Wen like a rabbit escaping from his embrace. Leaning against the wall, he hugged himself with both hands and looked at Song Wen with some wariness.

Outside the door were Fu Linjiang and the others who had arrived. Fortunately, they didn’t heed Song Wen’s advice to wait until 7 o’clock. When Fu Linjiang couldn’t reach Song Wen’s phone, they came early, following the noisy footprints all the way here. The mysterious attackers who had targeted Song Wen and Lu Siyu earlier had all withdrawn, leaving them an empty house.

Song Wen glanced at Lu Siyu but didn’t continue with what he had said earlier. He sullenly responded to Fu Linjiang from inside the door, knocking on it. The door was opened from the outside, and a blast of hot air swept in, rapidly raising the temperature inside.

Lu Siyu staggered a few steps and walked out first, or one could say, escaped. Fu Linjiang was surprised to see him. “Lu Siyu?! What are you doing here?”

Song Wen leaned against the wall, saying, “Find him a coat to put on, and get him some water and food. He got chilled just now.”

TN:
“I wonder if that’s how darkness wins, by convincing us to trap it inside ourselves, instead of emptying it out. I don’t want it to win.”