Chapter 61

On the fourth day of the incident, a little after 5 p.m. at the Wushan Nursing Home. It was the interval when the train passed by, and the air was so quiet it seemed to solidify, with the grim, dark buildings resembling a dead city under the sunset. Inside the abandoned buildings, a pale yellow hue covered everything, and faint traces of someone having lived there could still be discerned.

Song Wen stood up, feeling somewhat relieved. As long as he found the footprints, he could determine that Lu Siyu was nearby. However, he became a bit worried afterward. In addition to Lu Siyu’s footprints, there were some other scattered footprints on the ground, and these were also freshly made. He followed the direction of these footprints and arrived at a corner where the footprints led underground.

Song Wen hesitated for a moment, sweat forming on his forehead. It was the basement.

Since he was seven years old, Song Wen had disliked dark, underground spaces and confined small rooms. He probably had what’s known as claustrophobia. Every time he encountered such an environment, his body would uncontrollably accelerate its breathing and heartbeat. Blood seemed to flow backward, his body gradually chilled, and although he wasn’t afraid of these sensations, they were an instinctive fear beyond the control of his brain and thoughts.

But now… Lu Siyu might be down there.

After standing at the entrance of the basement corridor for a while, Song Wen finally settled his mind. Concern overcame fear, and he carefully descended step by step. When he reached the bottom, the light behind him gradually disappeared into darkness. Song Wen glanced at his phone; the signal, previously four bars, now reduced to one.

In the distance, it sounded like a train was passing, and the rumbling noise echoed through the underground. It was identical to what he had heard on the phone just now. Perhaps at that moment, Lu Siyu was answering a call nearby.

Song Wen adjusted his breathing, uncomfortable in the darkness. But standing here, he increasingly confirmed that he was getting closer to Lu Siyu. His heart pounded uncontrollably. Overlapping with time, he recalled the basement he encountered in his childhood. Sweat spontaneously appeared on his forehead. Song Wen pursed his lips, working hard to keep his focus.

In the darkness, there was suddenly a slight sound, like the noise of fabric rubbing against something. Song Wen couldn’t see the situation clearly and tentatively called out, “Lu Siyu?!”

He didn’t wait for Lu Siyu’s response; instead, he suddenly felt a rush of wind, and in the darkness, a dark figure flashed by, launching an attack.

There were no ghosts here, only a person!

Song Wen had just descended and was not yet accustomed to the darkness. Fearing he might harm Lu Siyu, he refrained from firing his gun. Relying solely on his body’s natural reactions, he sidestepped a punch from the assailant. In this moment of evasion, Song Wen observed that this person was about half a head shorter than him, and physical prowess was not in their favor.

In the darkness, Song Wen raised his knee, striking the person’s abdomen. Subsequently, he skillfully twisted the person’s wrist and pressed him against the adjacent wall. Reaching for his handcuffs, Song Wen interrogated, “Who are you? What’s your name? Why are you here?”

Before he could retrieve the handcuffs, a wind swept by from behind. It turned out this person had an accomplice.

Listening to the wind behind him, resembling the approach of a heavy object, Song Wen hastily used his hand to block. A wooden stick aimed at the back of his head struck his arm. The stick, about the size of a cup’s mouth, broke with a loud snap. Song Wen, enduring the pain, extended his other hand, catching the remaining half of the stick. As the person lost balance, his foot retreated half a step, and Song Wen, standing up, delivered a fierce kick.

The kick landed squarely on the person’s chest. In the darkness, the person grunted, taking advantage of the situation to retreat into an adjacent room and close the door. The person previously captured by Song Wen seemed to slip away like a fish, disappearing somewhere.

Slowly retracting his hand, Song Wen stared into the darkness. He sighed deeply. In the darkness, his combat effectiveness had been reduced by at least fifty percent. He disliked this environment, couldn’t afford to lower his guard, and couldn’t recklessly pursue the attackers. He didn’t know how many people were against him, and the complex terrain made him vulnerable. The top priority was to find Lu Siyu as soon as possible.

Everything plunged back into darkness, and Song Wen gradually adapted to the environment. He continued walking for a while when suddenly, fighting sounds emanated from a nearby room.

In a hurry, Song Wen ran to the entrance of that room, using the light from his phone, he saw Lu Siyu engaged in a struggle with a man in black. Although Lu Siyu had the upper hand, the man was evidently more familiar with the surroundings. With a push, the man caused a two-meter-tall rusty iron frame to topple over…

Be careful!

Without much time to think, Song Wen rushed forward and tackled Lu Siyu to the ground.

With a clatter, the copper-iron frame struck Song Wen’s shoulder and forehead. In that moment, Song Wen felt a sharp pain on his head, almost causing him to pass out.

Then, behind him, the door banged shut; the man in black had closed it.

Lu Siyu had heard Song Wen’s voice earlier and knew he had arrived. However, he was entangled in a struggle with the man in black and couldn’t afford to be distracted. The man in black had already been injured, and Lu Siyu intended to capture and interrogate him. Unfortunately, he failed to notice the man pushing the iron frame.

Lu Siyu didn’t expect that, at a critical moment, Song Wen would appear and stand in front of him.

The frame was not light, and both Lu Siyu and Song Wen were pressed down heavily. Lu Siyu felt the pressure on his back connecting with the ground, and all the air in his internal organs was squeezed out. Fortunately, Song Wen had shielded him, preventing any serious injuries. In the next moment, Lu Siyu suddenly smelled a wave of blood and then touched something warm in the darkness. His heart skipped a beat, and he nudged Song Wen, who remained motionless.

Lu Siyu’s eyes suddenly welled up with tears as he held Song Wen, attempting to struggle and check his injuries. He reached out to feel Song Wen’s breath, but the more flustered he became, the more he couldn’t discern it. In the darkness, an overwhelming fear suddenly enveloped him, “Captain Song, Song Wen!…”

Song Wen’s head took a direct hit from the frame. He genuinely felt what it was like to see stars, experiencing a brief moment where the world seemed to spin. Various strange sounds echoed in his ears. It felt like he lost consciousness yet remained clear-headed. After a few seconds, the ringing in his ears gradually subsided, and a rusty taste filled his mouth. Then he heard Lu Siyu beneath him calling, “Song Wen! Are you okay?”

Song Wen only then realized the situation. He grabbed Lu Siyu’s hand, “Don’t touch randomly; this is… inappropriate…”

Lu Siyu regained some composure, holding Song Wen’s hand in place. After Song Wen rested for a while, he made an effort to sit up. Together, they pushed the frame aside, and the heavy object fell to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust. Song Wen climbed off Lu Siyu, covering his forehead with one hand, and illuminated his phone, saying, “I’m fine, won’t die, at most a concussion.”

His injuries were not too severe, but the headache was intense. This dark little room was particularly unpleasant.

For a moment, Song Wen felt like he was about to faint. Then, he forced himself to look at his phone, realizing that even the last remaining signal was gone.

“Captain Song, are you really okay?” Lu Siyu asked anxiously. He extended a hand, seemingly wanting to verify that the person in front of him was alive. Accidentally, his fingers touched Song Wen’s wound, where blood was smeared. Without anticipating it, Song Wen winced as Lu Siyu pressed on the painful spot, his forehead throbbing. He crouched down, holding the wound, “Ouch, ouch, ouch, you white-eyed wolf. I got injured for you, you know!”

Lu Siyu felt Song Wen’s blood was warm and withdrew his hand. Crouching down beside him, he apologized hastily, “I’m sorry, Captain Song… I didn’t mean to.”

The pain from the wound surpassed the fear of the darkness. Song Wen, leaning against the wall, instructed, “Go check if the door can be opened.” Now that he calmed down, he noticed that it was a room of about twenty square meters, sparsely furnished with rows of iron shelves along the walls.

Lu Siyu, now more aware, went over to check. It was a very heavy iron door, and the lock was on the outside. It couldn’t be opened from the inside. He tried pushing it, but the iron door remained unmoved. Shaking his head, Lu Siyu said, “It seems impossible…”

Lu Siyu circled the room, confirming there were no other exits. He returned to Song Wen’s side, saying, “We’re trapped in here.”

Song Wen lifted his head, using the phone’s light to see Lu Siyu’s disheveled appearance, with dust and the blood droplets he had shed. He looked like a little kitten. Moreover, tears streaked his cheeks.

“Crap, you didn’t cry, did you?” Song Wen was surprised. He reached out to wipe Lu Siyu’s cheek. Previously, even when Lu Siyu was vomiting blood due to stomach pain, he hadn’t shed a tear. Why was he crying now? Song Wen couldn’t believe that the tears were related to him, but he didn’t know how to explain it.

Without giving him a chance, Lu Siyu dodged Song Wen’s hand, then wiped his face with his expensive sleeve. He had regained composure, taking out a packet of tissues from his pocket. Helping Song Wen press it against the wound, he then asked, “When the signal was lost earlier, how did you know I was here?”

Song Wen’s head still hurt from the impact. Leaning against the wall, he organized his thoughts, diverting his attention, “Since the beginning of this case, you’ve shown a keen interest in it. Just now, during the call, when a high-speed train passed by, I had just checked related videos of the Wushan Elderly Home. I heard a similar ambient sound.” He paused, summarizing, “Relying on intuition, I found my way here.”

This time, in the same case, two people investigated from different directions, and in the end, they both arrived at the same destination.

Song Wen sighed and said, “I wasn’t too sure at first, so I thought I’d come and take a look. If I couldn’t find anything, I would have given up. Unexpectedly, I did find something. What about you? Why did you come?”

Lu Siyu didn’t shy away from the fact that he was investigating this case. He explained, “I followed Zhang Peicai’s driving record to get here. When I called you, I had just arrived not long ago. I was walking alone when suddenly I was attacked. I managed to deal with one person, but later, a few more came…”

When Song Wen arrived, the last two attackers had just arrived. These people were obviously not professional killers, but they were young men in numbers, and Song Wen was sure to be at a disadvantage.

Thinking of this, Lu Siyu lowered his head, blinked, and whispered, “Captain Song, thank you.”

Song Wen looked up at him. In the light of the phone, Lu Siyu’s complexion was somewhat pale. Because he had just cried, his nose and the corners of his eyes were still red. He looked like an easy target. Song Wen pretended to be angry and said, “Do you even know how to write the word ‘danger’?!”

Lu Siyu turned his head away from Song Wen’s gaze and said softly, “Because I haven’t officially returned to duty, I was afraid you’d be angry. I just wanted to come and see for myself.”

Song Wen continued pretending to be angry, sneering, “Come and see for yourself? Going alone, risking your life? Your courage is getting bigger and bigger.”

Lu Siyu knew he had done something wrong this time. He obediently said, “At that time, I felt that something was wrong on the phone. I wanted to report to you, but then I lost the signal.”

Song Wen snorted, “I called you first! Someone as disorganized and undisciplined as you should be disciplined properly…” As he spoke, the blood from his forehead started to flow again.

Lu Siyu said, “Don’t move.” Since the bleeding wouldn’t stop, he tore a piece of his own clothes and knelt down, using one hand to support Song Wen’s neck and the other to press on the wound.

“…Educate you a bit…” Song Wen felt him getting close, and his voice suddenly lost its firmness. He lifted his eyes to look at Lu Siyu. In that faint light, Lu Siyu’s skin was as white as if it were transparent. Being held like this by a beautiful man, his heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and he forgot the words he was about to say.
TN:
“Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.”