Chapter 28: 27: The Detective Shot into a Coma Part 2

Xu Jinyao replied flatly, “You should know better than I do. Xiao Xi is already dead.”

Vesper was stunned for a second, then laughed. “Right, she is dead. I almost forgot. You were the one who personally sent her on her last journey.”

Xu Jinyao’s voice remained cold. “Self-preservation, that’s all. Learned it from you.”

Vesper didn’t want to continue this topic. Once inside the room, she got straight to the point. “That’s a private investigator, you know that, right?”

Xu Jinyao remained noncommittal.

“She’s been investigating the Headquarters’ whereabouts for years, passing quite a bit of intel to the police, costing us several hideouts. Now even this casino has been exposed.”

“The Boss is very angry. So he sent me to test her abilities in person. If she can be persuaded to join us, things become much simpler. If not, then she’ll just have to disappear along with this casino.”

Xu Jinyao had guessed the Syndicate might have other plans the moment she recognized Vesper’s identity, but she never expected this.

“You want me to persuade her?” Xu Jinyao asked.

Vesper shook her head. “No, I have my own methods for that. But, well, I need you to cooperate with me a little.”

“Cooperate how?”

“Sit down first, then I’ll tell you.”

Xu Jinyao sat on the chair in the center of the room and looked up at her.

Vesper pulled out a length of rope, grabbed Xu Jinyao’s wrists, intending to tie her up, but Xu Jinyao pulled away.

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of rebelling?” Vesper grabbed her wrist again and began wrapping rope around it, coil by coil. “The Boss says a person with no attachments has no vulnerabilities. A person with no vulnerabilities is a ticking time bomb. But if she does have one, then no matter how formidable she is, she’ll ultimately fall in line. Just like you.”

Xu Jinyao realized almost instantly that Vesper intended to use her as a hostage to threaten Xia Xun. Her intuition told her that her and Xia Xun’s movements over the past few days had likely been exposed long ago, only they were completely unaware of it.

She didn’t know what this so-called Boss ultimately wanted, but she could roughly guess. It was simply to use her in turn to threaten Xia Xun into submission.

“You’ve got the wrong person.” Xu Jinyao pushed aside the half-tied rope, stood up, and said coldly, “I have nothing to do with her. If I’m not mistaken, she’s probably already escaped by now. The police will likely surround this place soon. You’re wasting your time.”

“Is that so?” Vesper pressed her back onto the chair, patiently re-tying the ropes. Once the wrists were done, she crouched down and started on the ankles. “That’s perfect, then. If she dared abandon you and run away, I’ll help you get rid of her while I’m at it.”

Xu Jinyao: “You wouldn’t dare.”

Vesper laughed. “You’re still the same as before. You just can’t hide anything.”

“There’s no need to hide anything from a dead person.” Xu Jinyao watched her reach for the tape.

Vesper nodded. “True enough. Come on now, the show’s about to begin. Watch closely. Let’s see if this vulnerability… does she have one, or not.”

–

Why?

Xu Jinyao couldn’t figure out why.

Why did Xia Xun drop all her weapons? Why did she obediently take off her jacket? Why did she just stand there and take a beating? Why… why go this far?

She had been coughing up blood just now.

But when she was being beaten, she had clearly been protecting herself well. Superficial injuries shouldn’t cause her to cough up blood.

Xu Jinyao immediately thought of what happened outside the hotel door. Could it be an after-effect from that?

No, that shouldn’t be it. She had controlled her force then. It shouldn’t have been enough to cause this.

Then it must have been something that happened after coming down here.

Although she hadn’t witnessed it firsthand, seeing those unconscious people in the room told her what a brutal fight had occurred before she arrived.

In the end, those people had injured Xia Xun. And she was one of them. The fact that Xia Xun was hurt this badly today was partly her doing.

These thoughts swirling in her head left her feeling somewhat confused.

She should have been happy that Xia Xun was injured, but right now, she wasn’t happy at all.

A flicker of surprise crossed Vesper’s eyes. She hadn’t expected Xia Xun to still be able to stand up as if nothing had happened. So she gestured, signaling the Figures in Black to continue.

Again, Xia Xun was beaten down. Again, she stood up. Each time was slower and harder than the last. The final time, the Figures in Black exchanged glances. Anyone could see that if this continued, she might die.

Everyone hesitated, but ultimately, Xia Xun still stood up.

She could no longer remember how the wound on her forehead had come to be. Her mind was muddled. Though she was standing there, she felt as if her soul had already floated up into the air.

Her gaze locked onto Xu Jinyao, blood streaming down her face. She suddenly cracked a smile, stepped forward, and collapsed heavily to the ground.

With the motion of her collapse, Xu Jinyao’s breath hitched. The air around them seemed to stop in that instant. She felt like she was living in a vacuum, without the slightest room to breathe, as if she might drop dead at any moment.

Don’t stand up again.

Xia Xun.

She hummed sounds through her nose. The broken, fragmented syllables couldn’t form a complete sentence. No one else could understand what she was calling, but Xia Xun understood.

She heard Xu Jinyao telling her to go.

Leave this place. As far away as possible. Never come back.

She wouldn’t do it.

Some words she hadn’t listened to in the past, and she wouldn’t listen to them now. So she wouldn’t leave. Even if it might kill her, she wouldn’t leave.

From a distance earlier, Xu Jinyao hadn’t been able to clearly see the scars on her arms. But now, with Xia Xun collapsed at her feet, she could see them with perfect clarity. Those were unmistakably scars left by burns.

How these scars had been left, Xu Jinyao didn’t know. But she suddenly understood why Xia Xun always wore long sleeves and long pants, even in the hottest weather. Perhaps this was the reason.

Just as she was about to step in and end this, she suddenly felt the ropes around her feet loosen. Looking down, she saw Xia Xun using her leg to pull herself up, climbing into a kneeling position that just happened to block the now-untied ropes from view.

But Xia Xun wasn’t looking at her. She was looking at the person behind her. Her voice came out hoarse. “Can… can I talk to her for a bit?”

Vesper sneered. “What do you want to say to her? Your dying words?”

Xia Xun nodded weakly.

Just as Vesper was about to refuse, she caught the look Xu Jinyao was giving her. That was no longer a simple warning.

The muzzle shifted to the back of Xu Jinyao’s head. Vesper took a step back. “One minute. Make it quick.”

Xia Xun looked up. Her normally clear black-and-white eyes were bloodshot. The beauty mark beneath her left eye was obscured by bloodstains, making her look utterly wretched and pitiful.

Xu Jinyao found it strange.

Clearly, seeing Xia Xun reduced to this state was exactly what she had wanted most back then. But now that she was seeing it, she suddenly found it unbearable. This conflicting feeling left her unable to distinguish whether it was because Xia Xun had willingly taken a beating for her, or because she had misunderstood Xia Xun all along, and now felt regret.

She couldn’t find an answer.

Her mind was too chaotic.

Right now, she just wanted to blow this place up, to bring everything to an end.

But then Xia Xun suddenly lunged forward and hugged her.

This embrace made her mental bomb target swing wildly, detonating her own brain instead.

She was stunned.

Her mind went completely blank.

Breath spread against her ear; the warm sensation burned her ears red.

Xia Xun’s voice was soft, so close she almost didn’t catch it.

“Find a chance to run later. I’ll cover the retreat. Don’t look back. No matter what you hear, don’t look back.”

As Xia Xun spoke, her usual teasing tone was gone, replaced by a serious earnestness.

Many years ago, Xu Jinyao had often heard Xia Xun speak to her in this tone.

When she’d eat ice cream inside, Xia Xun would say, “Can’t you finish that before coming in?”

When she had a cold and a stuffy nose, Xia Xun would say, “Your breathing is bothering me.”

When she rode her bike into a ditch, Xia Xun would say, “Even elementary schoolers know to find a police officer when there’s trouble. What use is finding me?”

When she was too scared to sleep alone after watching a horror movie, Xia Xun would say, “If you move one more time, go sleep on the sofa.”

Reunited after so many years, Xia Xun seemed like a completely different person—worldly, cynical, without a shred of seriousness, as if Absolutely Everything in this world was of no concern to her, and she likewise cared about nothing at all.

The Xia Xun of the past was cold on the outside, warm on the inside. The Xia Xun of now, she couldn’t figure out.

Before, she didn’t know the reason. Now, she understood.

What could be seen was all a facade. What was hidden deep inside was the real answer.

Xu Jinyao wanted to open her mouth and answer, but belatedly realized her mouth was sealed. So she frowned and shook her head, humming twice in refusal of the proposal.

But Xia Xun, during that brief moment of speaking, had already untied the ropes around Xu Jinyao’s wrists. Her gaze was fixed behind Xu Jinyao.

Sensing what Xia Xun was about to do, Xu Jinyao’s heart leaped into her throat. She abruptly reached out, wanting to hug her back, but Xia Xun moved faster. Xu Jinyao only managed to grasp at a fleeting corner of her clothes.

Bang!

The gunshot rang out almost simultaneously.

Xu Jinyao whipped her head around to see Xia Xun tackling Vesper to the ground. Clenching both fists, Xia Xun slammed them down, prying open Vesper’s fingers and wresting the handgun away.

The greatest taboo on the battlefield was underestimating the enemy. Vesper had made a grave mistake from the start, believing Xia Xun was truly on the verge of death. She hadn’t expected it was all an act.

The instant Xia Xun lunged, Vesper had shifted her aim and fired.

She was certain the bullet had hit its target.

But the person before her seemed injected with adrenaline, punch after punch smashing down and prying apart her fingers gripping the gun.

Xia Xun tossed the gun to Xu Jinyao. “Run!”

Xu Jinyao reached out, caught her own gun, quickly tore off the tape, and rushed forward to grab Xia Xun. “We run together!”

Vesper threw off the person on top of her and yelled at the Figures in Black by the wall, “What are you standing there for?! Seize them!”

The Figures in Black surged forward, blocking their path. Xia Xun shook off Xu Jinyao’s hand, swaying as she braced herself against a nearby sofa. “You go, just go…”

Blood was flowing from her body, drip, dripping onto the floor in a deepening crimson stain. Darkness was gradually invading the edges of her vision. She squeezed her eyes shut briefly, then forced them open, once again shaking off Xu Jinyao, who had rushed back to support her. “I said GO!”

After shouting this, Xia Xun’s vision went black. In the blur, she saw a dark shadow burst through the door, followed immediately by a cacophony of gunshots.

The already dried fake blood, mixed now with real blood, had formed large patches of gore. Because of this, Xu Jinyao hadn’t immediately realized Xia Xun had been shot. By the time she finally noticed, the person had already lost consciousness and collapsed into her arms.

Xia Xun’s lips were moving, repeating something over and over. Xu Jinyao quickly checked her heartbeat, then leaned in close to listen.

This time, the breath against her skin was no longer warm.

She heard Xia Xun softly murmuring a name.

“Yaoyao…”

Calling her name.