Chapter 33: My heart was already gone that day

  The police officers on patrol nearby immediately came over to maintain order and separated the crowd of onlookers.

  Yuan Yiqin turned back into the car and inadvertently raised his head, only to see that doll quietly lying in Bei Nan's arms.

  The doll had no breath on it, just as usual, as if its disappearance was just a fleeting illusion in his eyes.

  Yuan Yi Qin's eyes narrowed dangerously, he reached out and took the doll, without any unusual aura, the sole of the doll's shoes was also clean and didn't have any dust on it.

  A faint, almost imperceptible scent stimulated his sense of smell.

  Yuan Yiqin lowered his head and leaned in close to the doll, smelling the scent on its body. It was a scent that belonged to Bei Nan, but aside from that, there seemed to be another very faint and light scent mixed in, which he had never smelled on Bei Nan's body before.

  That is... the scent of flowers.

  But Yuan Yiqin couldn't think of what kind of 'flower' that smell was for a moment.

  A soft sigh, Bei Nan slowly opened her eyes and saw Yuan Yi Qin holding her doll. Her face changed color, and she quickly snatched it back, holding it tightly in her arms.

  Looking at her vigilant and angry expression, Yuan Yiqin didn't make a sound, started the car and drove forward, leaving behind the crowded and chaotic crime scene that was already packed with people.

  At this moment, he didn't have the mind to deal with the case, and the cases that occurred during the day were not under the jurisdiction of the Second Criminal Investigation Brigade.

  Benan bowed his head to check if the doll was okay, completely unaware of the situation outside the car.

  The car drove past several intersections and stopped at the side of the road.

  "There's a smell on the doll." Yuan Yiqin said coldly, her face twisted in disgust as she turned to look at Bei Nan.

  Bei Nan looked at him with a puzzled expression, picked up the doll and sniffed it, then gently lowered his eyelids.

  "After you fell asleep, I carried you to the car, but the doll was gone." Yuan Yiqin continued, Bei Nan was taken aback, and then some emotions emerged with anger: "Yuan Yiqin, what do you want to do? Don't think that by saying this, you can cover up your behavior of wanting to take advantage of my doll just now."

  "I didn't intend to do anything to it, I just smelled the scent on its body." He explained expressionlessly, and continued: "When the doll disappeared, those girls who mocked you when we entered the coffee shop earlier jumped off a building and died. Afterwards, the doll quietly returned to your side."

  "It's not Xiao Xi, Xiao Xi has always been with me." Benan said firmly, pursing his lips.

  Yuan Yiqin remained silent.

  "Don't you believe me?" Benan felt a little disappointed in her heart, she thought that with their current relationship, this period of mutual contact and understanding, he should trust her, just like her trust in him.

  "I don't disbelieve you, I just feel very puzzled, why are there always all sorts of messy things popping up around you."

  "Xiao Xi is not a 'mess'!" The fire in her heart was ignited, and Bei Nan could not tolerate others saying that her Xiao Xi was a "mess", she would never allow it.

  "I didn't mean it that way." Yuan Yiqin hastily explained, what he meant was not the literal meaning, but just a description of how neither Xiaoxi nor the other possessed doll could be caught with any hint of breath, feeling very eerie, and the real meaning was not that Xiaoxi was a "messy" thing.

  "Yuan Yiqin, that's enough! I don't want to hear your explanations anymore. You've never believed me from the start. I was wrong to think you could help me, and now I'm disappointed." Bei Nan angrily threw down his words and opened the car door to get out.

  Yuan Yiqin hastily got off his horse and ran over to grab Bei Nan: "I didn't mean it that way, I didn't mean to insult Xiao Xi, I was just worried that the thing attached to the doll might harm you?"

  "Hmph, Yuan Yiqin, are you really that stupid or just pretending to be? From Shao Yiyu to Wang Anli, and finally to Pei Yun, the police officer, don't you know why they died? Can't you guess the reason behind their deaths? I don't know what that thing is, but its methods are quite cruel. However, I do know it won't harm me because it only kills people who are unfavorable to me. You'd better not mess with me, or else the next person to die will be you." Bei Nan glared at him coldly.

  Yuan Yiqin's face was ashen, his low, husky voice laced with suppressed anger: "It seems you're very clear about it in your heart. Can you really just stand by and watch as those lives are lost for your sake? Are you truly that cold-blooded? Whether it's Shao Yiyu and the others or those girls who mocked you at the coffee shop entrance, did they really deserve to die? That thing killed them for your sake, and yet you're completely unmoved?"

  He grasped her wrist tightly, his face a picture of indignation, his tone questioning and reproachful.

  "I'm cold-blooded and ruthless, what's it to you? My heart was lost that day, how can you understand the pain in my heart?" Benan's eyes reddened, her eyes filled with deep sorrow.

  Yuan Yiqin's expression paused, and the anger on his face slightly subsided.

  "You wouldn't tell me, of course I didn't know. If you had told me, I would have helped you. I just don't want you to get involved in those things. Even if those people weren't killed by you, they died because of you. Their words and actions were excessive, but not punishable by death. I don't want your hands to be indirectly stained with blood."

  "Yuan Yi Qin, don't say anything else, let me be quiet for a moment, my mind is very 'muddled', you go back first." Bei Nan struggled free from Yuan Yi Qin's hand and walked forward weakly by himself.

  Yuan Yiqin was originally driving slowly behind her, but after receiving a call from Lu Zhuang, he hesitated and went to find Lu Zhuang, temporarily letting Bei Nan walk alone. He didn't think she would be in any danger during the daytime.

  Familiar yet strange streets, Bei Nan's eyes were dazed as he stared at the scenery in front of him, feeling as if he didn't belong to this world.

  The whole person was immersed in depression, she wandered aimlessly forward.

  Don't know where to go, just want to walk quietly alone.

  The mind keeps flashing back to the rose garden and the small wooden house where a bloody 'woman' was seen during hypnosis, and the brain is very confused.

  Before she realized it, she had already found herself on a relatively remote small street. The passersby who occasionally brushed past her were all gray-haired, and the signboards of the shops along the street had also turned yellow with age.

  Benan stopped in her tracks, looking around to see where she had walked to. The sound of a car speeding by came from behind her, and before she could react, a dark figure darted out of the alley beside her and pounced into her arms, a powerful force pushing her aside.

  The car whizzed by her side, bringing a strong gust of wind, and before Bei Nan could react, the car backed up quickly and rushed towards her again.