Chapter 18

Typhoon Signal No. 8 was reportedly still approaching. The Police Academy happened to be taking advantage of the typhoon weather to conduct an operational demonstration for special weather patrols.

The wind blew, swirling around. The rain poncho on Lu Shimiao may as well not have been there.

In her hand, the German Shepherd Police Dog was still conducting a designated search in a mud pit. It had been soaked alongside her all day, but looked like it hadn’t been bothered at all.

The training field around them was complete chaos: humans chasing dogs, dogs chasing humans.

The K9 Instructor stood under the rain shelter, holding his coffee and watching this batch of students, shaking his head repeatedly. “Each crop is worse than the last.”

Xue Tong came out of the lab and reached to straighten the tie that her crime scene suit had squeezed crooked. She walked over and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him. “Stay calm, money can cleanse worries. Don’t be so restless.”

“It’s not that I’m restless, I’m worried about the dogs.” The K9 Instructor turned to Xue Tong with a helpless smile.

“Aren’t you off work? A typhoon’s coming.” Xue Tong’s gaze traveled through the long corridor and landed on Lu Shimiao, who was glaring, desperately gesturing for the dog to sit, her mouth speaking incorrect Cantonese. Not only could the dog not understand her, but she herself couldn’t be understood by it.

The human and the dog looking at each other was quite adorable.

Looking at Lu Shimiao, Xue Tong couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

The K9 Instructor heard the laugh and turned his head to look. He just happened to see Xue Tong dressed in patrol rain gear, and asked curiously, “Reporting for duty back at HQ?”

“Off-campus patrol duty.” Xue Tong wiped the expression off her face.

“The police stations warned that Typhoon Signal No. 8 is making landfall early. Pretty girl, pulling a shift in a rainstorm… you’ve got it worse than my dog.”

Xue Tong used her police boot to kick the instructor’s calf, almost making him stumble. She said coldly, “Quit yapping.”

Rainy days were always irritating. Lu Shimiao’s original plan to run back was completely washed away by the downpour. On the way to the subway, the umbrella in her hand was blown nearly to pieces.

“Please do not approach the doors.”

“Please do not approach the doors.”

“Please stand back from the train doors.”

One sentence was translated three times on the MTR. She could understand the first line, which was in Cantonese.

Lu Shimiao gripped the handrail and looked up at the car window. The sweltering space didn’t change just because the typhoon was nearing. The carriage was packed, and the human smell masked the stuffiness.

Covering her mouth, she sneezed several times. Music played in her earphones, but her thoughts had flown far away.

She pulled them out and was met with a wave of noise, so she put them back in again.

Someone squeezed in next to her, and Lu Shimiao subconsciously dodged. The fear in her heart just wouldn’t subside.

Helplessness…

She looked at her own reflection in the subway window.

23 years old, decent-looking.

Calculating her age, she was still hanging on to the tail end of youth. Never had a relationship, but had seen couples in love kill each other in her coursework.

She was her university’s only publicly funded exchange student.

After coming to Hong Kong, the label of “top student” had been ripped off, and she found there wasn’t much left at her core.

No hobbies, no emotions, no expectations. Helplessness was corroding the emptiness sickness of her adolescence.

Her mood only fluctuated when she stepped onto the elevator of Unit 11, watching the number for the 36th floor light up, bringing anxiety.

Insomnia and hypersomnia existed in her at the same time, the two never meeting yet constantly fighting, constantly draining each other.

She thought about how after leaving Hong Kong, she would have to face university graduation and then, after graduation, test into the Public Security Bureau.

The road ahead, she saw it, yet it was as if she didn’t.

There was someone beside her, off work from their shift, sitting on the subway and reading a book. Lu Shimiao looked at the person’s shadow — Reading.

What was the purpose of studying? — For Qiu Wen’s satisfaction. Anyway, no matter how well she studied, there was only one path she could take.

She had run away, but it was better not to have run at all. Now she had become an unrepentant, powerless stray dog. She didn’t even know how long she could hold on.

She opened her SMS messages and looked at the text Lin Tingting had sent her that morning, saying she should go to the property management, pull out the utility breakdown, and compare it door-to-door before paying her back.

Unfortunately, when Lu Shimiao went to the property management office, she found that they had already closed early.

She doubled back to a courier station and picked up the package she had bought online on Tuesday. Hefting the parcel, Lu Shimiao returned to the rented apartment and began her routine check of the room’s condition.

It wasn’t that Lu Shimiao had never thought about just calling the police.

But what could a couple of footprints alone prove? There was no loss, no injuries. Not even enough to form a complete chain of evidence for unlawful entry. By the time she made a call to the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office and caused a huge, messy uproar that everyone would know about, Lu Yuan and Qiu Wen would come and raise hell again…

She didn’t want to let this person off too easily… but she couldn’t just minimize it to a 14-day sentence for criminal insult.

So, every day before leaving, Lu Shimiao would wipe every object completely clean, including the floor and door cracks, waiting for that person to enter a second time, so she could more quickly confirm the suspect’s physical characteristics and formulate a plan to set a trap.

But when she came in and checked her surroundings, she found nothing. She sat on her bed, opening the package while thinking.

She thought her security awareness was relatively high. When entering the code on the combination lock, she always pressed two extra digits, and before entering, she would wipe off any fingerprints from it. The chance of the other person directly stealing her code was too small.

But it wasn’t impossible. As someone studying criminal investigation, she naturally couldn’t rule out any possibility. Though compared to code theft, she leaned more towards the other party using a newer technique: a Tesla coil to wipe the lock’s circuit board.

As long as this instrument gets close to the outside of the combination lock, it can instantly disrupt the circuit, causing magnetic cancellation to force the motor into action, and the combination lock will automatically unlock.

The motor doesn’t make a sound when unlocking this way, let alone an alarm. This technique is fast, stable, and relatively difficult in terms of forensic retrieval.

A wirelessly remote-controlled mechanics device won’t leave prying marks. If the person is careful, not even the evidence-bearing surface will detect foreign material variables, and even fingerprints won’t be left.

The internal damage to the lock can’t be used as sample material for comparison, which means trace evidence can’t be formed.

Unless she finds the person, specifically finds the tool used as a sample. That would be the most effective and fastest way for forensic analysis.

However… if the other party was really using a Tesla coil.

Then it must be a repeat offender.

As she thought this, Lu Shimiao finished opening the package. Looking at the high-tech little gadget in her hand, she pulled a toolbox from a drawer and, without a word, dismantled her bedside lamp.

She sat on the floor, tinkering and repairing until evening. She pressed the switch to test the effect. Not bad. Just as she was about to sync the footage with her phone, Lin Tingting knocked on her door.

Lu Shimiao tossed her phone onto the bed and opened the door.

“I’ve come to…” Lin Tingting’s eyes glanced at the phone on the bed in the room, and her tone shifted tactfully, “…apologize.”

Lu Shimiao hid the screwdriver behind her back and looked the person in the eye, momentarily unable to distinguish whether the look in their eyes was false pretense or genuine sincerity.

“I called the property management this afternoon. They just sent a message saying they put the bill breakdown at the security booth by the gate. I’ve already showered, so why don’t you go down and get it?” Lin Tingting’s hair wasn’t dry yet; water dripped onto the floor.

As she spoke, she dried her hair a couple of times and pulled up the text message on her phone for Lu Shimiao to see.

Lu Shimiao looked at the message. Indeed, the property management had sent a notice, but when she glanced at her watch, it was already 9 PM.

“Must it be right now?”

“The typhoon is making landfall tomorrow. We’re all staying at the company and won’t be back. Aren’t you on typhoon break too?” Lin Tingting’s voice dropped low, speaking weakly:

“You’re the one who said by Friday… It’s fine, if you don’t want to go, I’ll dry my hair and go down to get it.”

Forget it, the sooner she resolved this, the better.

Lu Shimiao clutched the screwdriver in her hand. If Lin Tingting deliberately “lost” the bill on the way, there’d be more trouble later. The gate was only a few minutes from here. It wouldn’t hurt to go herself.

“I’ll go down.” Lu Shimiao placed the screwdriver on the table and pulled her room door shut.

“Don’t forget an umbrella, Police Cadet.”

One second, Lin Tingting was giving a caring reminder; the next, watching the retreating figure, she let out a cold laugh.

–

Lu Shimiao jogged downstairs. The entire Unit 11 building seemed deserted.

Even the elevators had no one.

Stepping outside, everything was empty. The ground was covered in fallen leaves swirling in the wind.

She hurried toward the security booth. Along the way, the howling wind grew heavier. On the opposite coastline, the sky was already thick with dark clouds. It felt as if reaching out a hand could easily overturn the wave-breaking rocks. The rain was falling harder.

“Anyone here?”

Lu Shimiao reached the security booth only to find it unmanned. She wanted to call Lin Tingting to ask, but realized she hadn’t brought her phone.

She quickly flipped through the envelopes placed in the mailbox outside the booth. There was none with the label for Building 11. She picked up the stack of documents and shoved them all under the door crack.

Just as she was about to leave, a dark cloud swept overhead.

The wind, which seemed to be laughing one second ago, instantly delivered a resounding slap, pushing Lu Shimiao one step forward and three steps back.

On the street outside Equator Property, electric scooters were set off by their alarms. Utility poles swung wildly like roly-poly toys. Large amounts of debris flew through the city skies. A metal sheet, who knew where it came from, directly smashed a traffic light.

Frightened by the flash of electricity, Lu Shimiao sensed something was terribly wrong. She had been busy all day, hadn’t checked her phone, and no one had notified her. Only now, standing amidst it, did she understand: the “Amazon” Typhoon Signal No. 8 was making landfall.

Dragging her unsteady body, she started running back toward Building 11. Luckily, the wind speed wasn’t so urgent that she couldn’t make it back to the building entrance. However, the umbrella was blown away halfway, and the clothes on her body didn’t escape the soaking.

Walking into the lobby, which was air-conditioned to 15 degrees Celsius, Lu Shimiao sneezed for the tenth time that day.

She took the elevator back up to the 36th floor and stood at her door, entering the passcode.

The code was correct. She pushed.

Unfortunately, the door didn’t open.

Stunned, Lu Shimiao twisted the door handle, only to find the door was locked. It was locked from the inside.

“Open the door.”

Lu Shimiao pounded heavily on the door twice. The only response from the shared apartment was loud music. The tenants who were home were all playing dead.

Damn it. Lin Tingting’s apology was deliberately meant to lure her downstairs, just to lock her out in the freezing typhoon weather.

Lu Shimiao kicked the door hard twice, but the metal door didn’t budge.

Fine. Lin Tingting deserved to die, but she herself had been asking for it too.

No one else would have chosen to go out at a time like this, and no one else would be so brainless, with such a short memory, to fall for it again and again.

She didn’t want to beg Lin Tingting.

Didn’t want the other party to hear her helplessness.

Lu Shimiao turned and ran into the elevator bay, pressed the alarm button, intending to call for help through the property management’s surveillance room. But the line rang for a long time with no answer.

Right, everyone was hiding from the typhoon, seeking shelter.

She was already soaked through, and Equator Property’s air conditioning was blasting. She had rushed out without her phone and wanted to find Xue Tong, but didn’t know her unit number.

Lu Shimiao looked out the window at the eye of the typhoon. Two large trees downstairs were instantly uprooted. Not to mention she herself was only about 45 kilograms; she’d be swept away the moment she stepped outside.

Couldn’t get into her home, couldn’t get out of the building entrance.

Swaying, Lu Shimiao wanted to go to the first floor and wait for someone coming home to help her call the police. But after sitting by the entrance and watching for a long time, the rain outside was so dense that visibility was blurred, like a curtain of water.

Lu Shimiao’s head started feeling groggy. The glass behind her felt just like her own body, as if it couldn’t hold on much longer before shattering.

She buried her head deep into her knees, trying her best to keep her body warm.

——

Xue Tong had just finished her shift and returned to the residential complex. The rain was so heavy she drove slowly. Passing by the entrance of her own building unit, in the hazy rainy light, she glimpsed a silhouette lying in the corridor…

Who wouldn’t go home in a typhoon?

Out of a police officer’s duty, Xue Tong rolled down her car window.

Though it was pouring outside, she recognized the person in a single glance.

It was Lu Shimiao.

After a moment of contemplation, Xue Tong pressed the car horn, trying to get Lu Shimiao’s attention.

The other party didn’t respond, still leaning against the wall.

So, an urgent horn blast echoed twice more within the complex, and Xue Tong even shouted, “Lu Shimiao.”

Still no response…

Xue Tong’s heart clenched. Her hand hurriedly pushed the gear into Park, and she threw the door open.

Water on the ground splashed up by her police boots. The tie tucked into her inner lining swayed urgently with her strides. She hurried into the lobby. Only when she stood in front of the kid did she realize her lips were stark white. Eyes closed, leaning against the wall, perfectly still.

…..

The hat was still on Xue Tong’s head, unfastened, and the water dripping off her pooled on the floor in a large puddle. She stood stunned for what felt like an eternity, black and white flashes flickering and reforming shadows before her eyes.

She slowly crouched down. Reaching out carefully to touch the other’s body, her expression tense, she said, “Lu Shimiao.”

Lu Shimiao’s head was splitting. With her eyes closed, all she saw was darkness. Her head was so heavy, her eyelids so heavy. She felt like someone was calling her.

Like her grandmother was calling her.

“Mm.” She managed a syllable in reply.

The fragile shoulders stirred, and the paused breath gradually started to resume. Xue Tong let out a long, deep sigh of relief. Just as her heart settled, a fire ignited within it.

“Look at yourself! What are you doing, trying to act tough? You have a strength test next week. Are you trying to kill yourself?!”