Chapter 36

Xue Tong sat in the chair, covering her face with her hand.

The shock in her heart was still reverberating. The aftershocks hadn’t stopped for a single moment. After sending Lu Shimiao into the elevator, it was a long while before she could gather herself and return to the search scene.

A colleague from the photography unit was endlessly photographing the wall. Xue Tong stood across from it, clutching her crime scene suit. An entire wall of photographs of girls was displayed like merchandise, labeled and categorized. Naked ones. Drunk ones. Lying down ones. And ones taken from under skirts.

Who exactly was the judge here?

Xue Tong couldn’t tell for a moment, staring at the photographs.

All she knew was: whether in Hong Kong, Shanghai, or New York; whether in open spaces, on the subway, outside elevators, or simply in the gaps between jostling crowds—the ghosts concealed by clothing wouldn’t stop because of time or place. They only drew near in narrow, shadowed places, spewing the stench-laden fog from their bodies, entangling those girls.

Xue Tong just felt so powerless.

Even though she held evidence, even though she delivered courtroom arguments, even though Hong Kong had positioned itself at the forefront of Asia in combating sexual violence—it still couldn’t stop the tip of the iceberg of these evils from showing.

She watched as search personnel pulled out countless girls’ intimate garments from the room. Among them appeared the brand of sports bra that Lu Shimiao wore. This sports bra was very expensive, so she recognized it at a glance. The size also matched Lu Shimiao’s figure. Besides the bra, there were also crumpled panties.

…

Xue Tong stared, dumbfounded.

Her mind couldn’t even begin to imagine how these garments had been treated by An Cheng. She remembered that day when she had helped Lu Shimiao change clothes—the panic and bewilderment on her face, the fear in her eyes, the rejection of touch, and the joint lock she had applied after regaining her senses. She felt a dangerous notion sounding an alarm in her heart.

The entire Forensic Science Division spent several hours collecting evidence inside An Cheng’s room. They discovered that the secretly filmed videos and photos had been listed as merchandise for sale on the dark web by An Cheng. The transaction records numbered in the thousands. Search personnel even discovered he had custom client requests, specifically seeking out disabled women to target. Xue Tong immediately called in the cybercrime police, then summoned a sexual violence expert.

Xue Tong walked out of the dim rental unit and then went to the corridor to collect evidence from the bloodstains where the attack occurred. She stood there, silent, watching her colleagues photograph and sample the pool of blood. The fear of reliving a past scene gripped her throat just in time, carelessly tearing open a decade of deliberate defenses.

Back then, when Ah Zi had leaped from the high-rise and landed at her feet—that image flickered past and then vanished abruptly.

She recalled that moment this afternoon when An Cheng had thrust the knife at Lu Shimiao.

Everything before her eyes had seemed chaotic: Lu Shimiao’s fists, the baton, the tenants screaming, the sound of handcuffs. It all felt like dust settling, yet also like the final revelry of doomsday. She only felt her spirit was overdrawn.

“Don’t worry, I’m really fine.”

“It doesn’t hurt, really, it’s okay.”

“I… I’m fine, but Instructor, the way you’re holding my waist is so ticklish.”

Blood had flowed all over the floor. How could Lu Shimiao not be in pain?

It was just that the girl said nothing. She only used her shoulder to support Xue Tong’s overdrawn spirit, treating it as lightly as if nothing had happened. Such sincere and sensible words sounded so absurd, yet they soothed her fear just like that. She used her hands to cup Xue Tong’s heart as it was about to shatter, finally allowing her to wake from a desolate dream.

Xue Tong tossed down her work ID. She needed to see Lu Shimiao. Immediately. Right now.

So here, in this moment.

In the hospital corridor, Xue Tong saw Lu Shimiao, unharmed in the grand scheme of things. Her clothes had a hole cut into them by the doctor, revealing her somewhat tanned skin. White gauze covered her waist. Around her navel was a yellow ring of iodine. She smiled at Xue Tong with her shoulders relaxed; the anesthetic from the stitches hadn’t yet worn off her face.

Xue Tong smelled the antiseptic on Lu Shimiao’s body.

She saw a frozen harbor surrounded by polar night. Snow that had accumulated for a long time covered the surface of the sea. A few dead pine branches blown from the shore stood isolated, catching fire. In the faint glow, there was the crackling sound of particles burning. The snow pit was dispersed by the burning pine branches. The cold at the harbor waned. She came back to her senses and looked up. The sea waves hidden beneath the ice churned and boiled up fiercely just like that.

The reef rocks welcomed the howling of the wind, as if the frozen harbor had welcomed its polar day.

Xue Tong reached out and took off her police uniform, draping it over Lu Shimiao. She fastened two buttons, covering up all the exposed parts tightly. Squatting down in front of Lu Shimiao, she rested her forehead on Lu Shimiao’s knee. There was also blood on the side of the shorts, though it wasn’t quite so gruesome anymore.

“Let’s go back home, okay?”

Back home.

Back to the true center of the equator.

Lu Shimiao reached out and helped Xue Tong up from the floor, settling her onto the bench in the corridor beside her. She tilted her head back against the white hospital wall and pouted. “So does that mean we won’t get to eat Shanghai cuisine?”

Xue Tong’s heart had been wrenched in worry until now, yet here the girl was, only caring about food. “You’re still thinking about Shanghai cuisine at a time like this? You needed nine stitches!”

“Because I wanted to eat Shanghai cuisine with you.” Lu Shimiao’s dimples appeared. She turned her head to look at Xue Tong’s dark hair. “Even with nine stitches, I still want to eat it.”

She hadn’t tied her hair up today. It was beautifully windswept. Watching it, Lu Shimiao unconsciously reached out to brush away the stray hairs from her face. The moment she reached out, she pulled at the wound. It hurt terribly, but she pursed her lips and didn’t make a sound. Her paused hand continued to reach forward. Bashfully and nervously, she said, “Your hair is messy.”

Xue Tong watched as Lu Shimiao’s fingertips touched her hair, carefully tucking it behind her ear for her.

It wasn’t just her hair that was in disarray; her heart was too.

She said, “You haven’t answered me.”

“But I don’t know what reason I have to go back with you, Instructor.” Lu Shimiao withdrew her hand. Both hands toyed with the buttons on the police uniform. Her tone drifted, uncertain.

“I am now your Supervising Instructor for the exchange. You must come back with me.” That firm sentence was Xue Tong’s notice. She stood up angrily and walked out. “Wait here. I’ll go buy you some water.”

After Xue Tong left the hotel that day, she actually hadn’t just called Ah Tang.

The other call she made was to the Student Affairs Office at the police academy.

She firmly insisted that the exchange office teacher transfer Lu Shimiao’s supervisory responsibility to her, arguing that they were in the same specialization and lived in the same unit, making management more convenient. The exchange office teacher agreed to the transfer without a second thought. After the transfer, there was no supervising instructor left to find housing for Lu Shimiao.

So now, no matter what, this person had to go back with her.

Lu Shimiao watched the departing figure, a smug grin curling her lips. “…Hehe.”

Xue Tong returned and handed Lu Shimiao a bottle of water, the cap already twisted open for her. It was warm. “I also bought you a bed.”

Lu Shimiao, mid-sip, felt her eyes light up, then the light died.

She thought: Doesn’t this mean I can’t use the excuse of borrowing a bed anymore?

“Will you be angry with me?” Lu Shimiao bit the mouth of the bottle, her chin resting on her shoulder. She scanned Xue Tong’s expression with her peripheral vision and asked timidly, “Those things I said at your place that day…”

“Which things?” Xue Tong reached out and pulled the bottle neck away from Lu Shimiao’s mouth. Biting the bottle like that—what kind of behavior was that?

“Just… just… tsk.” Lu Shimiao’s lashes fluttered. She quickly swallowed another mouthful of water. The words seemed to get stuck in her throat, choked by the water. “Never mind.”

Xue Tong furrowed her brows deeply as she studied the girl. Only after a long moment did it click. Her tone suddenly turned icy.

“Those things about wearing a condom during sex, right?”

“—Cough, cough, cough, cough.”

Lu Shimiao’s face flushed bright red. She nearly choked to death on the water. Every cough made the wound spasm. Truly karma, karma! But how could Xue Tong say it so bluntly? She hadn’t even mentally prepared herself for it.

Lu Shimiao didn’t want to hear Xue Tong’s explanation. She turned her head away, her ears burning red. “I… I just wanted to apologize to you. I didn’t say those things on purpose.”

I didn’t mean it. I was just a little jealous.

“I’m not angry.” Xue Tong took the nearly-spilled water bottle from Lu Shimiao’s hand and forcefully twisted the cap shut. “What do I have to be angry about?”

…

Lu Shimiao whipped her head around. She looked at Xue Tong, who was bowing her head to tighten the cap. Her expression was as calm as water, as if she were completely indifferent to those words from that day. As if her anger that day wasn’t worth mentioning.

So infuriating.

How could she be like this?

Lu Shimiao turned her head back, looking down at the buttons of Xue Tong’s police uniform on her body, and yanked at them fiercely twice. How could she be so composed? So indifferent? How could she not care about her own body? How could she have a boyfriend? That man was not the least bit worthy of her. She wouldn’t allow anyone to share the Instructor’s soft body!

Xue Tong, watching Lu Shimiao’s utterly dejected expression, found it amusing in her heart. With a casual motion, she stuffed the water bottle into her uniform pants. She raised an eyebrow and said calmly, “You study criminal investigation. Have you not learned the basic principles of investigation?”

“Crime facts versus suspected crime facts. Didn’t I teach that in class?”

“You must have evidence to prove that the crime facts were committed by the suspect.” Xue Tong finished coldly, then reached out and pinched the police uniform on the kid. “This is a key exam point from the General Introduction to Investigation!”

…

Lu Shimiao reacted suddenly. She turned her head, her eyes wide. Her brows lifted and the corners of her mouth curved up. The wound on her body stopped hurting. “What do you mean? So the short-acting contraceptive pill wasn’t yours?”

“Get up. Come back with me now.” Xue Tong grabbed the girl’s clothes, instantly scowling, and gave no direct answer.

“Then… if it wasn’t yours, whose was it?” Lu Shimiao refused to let go of the question, though her body obediently followed her up.

Xue Tong turned and strode toward the emergency room exit, her mouth firmly shut on this topic.

“Then what did you buy the medicine for?” Lu Shimiao was frantic. Seeing the lack of an answer, she walked swiftly, circling around to walk backward in front of Xue Tong. Her gaze chased after the woman’s face, wanting to discern the truth of her words from Xue Tong’s expression.

The emergency room was packed with people that night. In the narrow corridor, the two of them walked in a line, one in front of the other.

A feverish patient, dizzy and disoriented, stumbled left and right, about to stumble into Lu Shimiao’s wound. Xue Tong, sharp-eyed, rushed forward and stepped in front, shielding Lu Shimiao behind her with a sideways shift. She held out her hands to create a protected space, guarding Lu Shimiao.

Only after watching the feverish patient safely pass did Xue Tong come back to herself. She turned her head and saw Lu Shimiao’s cheeky grin. Her tone instantly turned stern. “Can’t you walk properly?”

Lu Shimiao saw that Xue Tong’s every move was filled with concern for her. Even the hand she had extended just now when stepping in to block the patient. Even the helplessness mixed into her tone when she criticized her. Her heart felt as if it had been filled with a hundred pounds of honey.

So sweet! Instructor Xue is truly so sweet!!!!

“Did you hear me!” Xue Tong’s voice dropped, taking on her usual manner.

“Yes, Madam.” In her excitement, Lu Shimiao raised her arm and gave a hand salute.

“—Hiss.” Only after doing it did she realize her abdomen had just been sewn with nine stitches. The sudden movement pulled at the skin and nerve spasms, the pain so intense her calf seized up.

Xue Tong’s face turned pale as she supported the girl’s arm, making her stand still and catch her breath. Her eyes fixed on the uniform covering the abdomen. Even though she could see nothing, she still stared. Her mouth muttered words, but her tone carried the kind of affectionate reproach reserved only for someone truly close.

“I’m really going to get angry, Lu Shimiao.”