Chapter 9: The Former Heartache Adds Another Crown for Huo Xīxián

  When she was hugged by me around her waist, her body trembled slightly, and she leaned her head against my chest, saying softly: "18 years old."

  My chin almost dropped to my chest, it seems that doing this kind of work will indeed make women age very quickly.

  She said I was completely different from those impatient men and would actually listen to her tell her own story. These things had been weighing on my heart for a long time, and it finally felt better to say them out loud.

  I patted her back after hearing this.

  She asked me if I had something on my mind? Had a broken heart?

  One sentence, and I recalled the past heartaches on this hazy night, the white eyes thrown by a strange girl who looked at me twice, the cold ridicule gained from confessing to the object of my secret crush, my girlfriend's betrayal...

  Especially the last thing, it can be said that it changed me a lot.

  That was the rainy season when I was 17 years old in high school. A pure and lovely girl burst into my world, staying for six whole years - my high school, university, especially university. In those beautiful four years of youth, while other classmates were hugging and kissing, I had a wonderful fantasy about long-distance love and true love. Also because of this fantasy, in the six years of our relationship, we never had an intimate relationship - I always looked forward to the day when she would wear a white wedding dress. However, that girl didn't get into university, entered society early, and when I went home to find her on Labor Day at the end of my senior year, I finally couldn't hold back, passion burst out... Then, I found out that the thin layer of proof was gone.

  Maybe you'll say I have a psychological cleanliness obsession.

  Maybe you'll say I have a virgin complex.

  But when I first found out about this, she told me that in the past, she had encountered a pervert on her way home at night.

  I don't have any aversion in my heart, on the contrary, I think that she has had such an experience, and I should take good care of her.

  Of course, this night was sleepless.

  However, on the second day at noon, I saw a text message on her phone and only then did I know that she already belonged to a man of an age similar to her father's, and had been living in his home for a long time.

  The breakup lasted for a long time. She kept apologizing, swearing and vowing, and cut off her relationship with that man.

  Because I couldn't help but imagine her moaning and groaning under that man. What really pains my heart is: the one who was once so pure, so innocent and dependent on me, after entering society for 2 or 3 years, would actually become like this. Maybe at that time, I would be so infatuated, because I was too naive and inexperienced.

  That's my heartache.

  Actually, maybe many men have been so silly and naive before, but betrayal and hurt made them gradually believe in "through the flowers without leaving a trace", "being serious is losing" and other nonsense. With the provocation of youth hormones, they finally become a playboy who is keen on one-night stands. The only thing worth being proud of is that he has just crawled out of a certain woman's bed and then crawled onto another one.

  But these hateful people also have pitiful aspects.

  Everyone is afraid of betrayal. However, as long as they are thinking and desiring living beings, no matter what vows they made at the beginning, no matter how determined they were at the beginning, they will become unrecognizable under the wear and tear of time, the temptation of desire, and the helplessness of reality.

  Only dead people never change.

  Suddenly I felt a shock in my heart: could it be that this emotional wound has made me lose confidence in the opposite sex?

  I am now so infatuated with Xiaolu Qi's corpse, is it because only in this way, she belongs to me, she won't mock me, betray me, leave me?

  Is this the origin of my necrophilia?

  Ling saw me suddenly silent, asked what was wrong with me. I said nothing, just thinking of a past event. She blinked her big eyes and asked what's going on. Don't know why, but I actually told her about this dusty old story that had been sealed for over six years. Maybe to outsiders, we really looked like a couple who couldn't bear to part with each other, whispering sweet nothings. In reality, she and I were just a pair of miserable souls, complaining about our misfortunes to each other, sighing after finishing our tales.

  She said she had never spoken her mind like that before. Her life was either moaning or counting money, and then sending the earned money back home. Of course, avoiding police was also a part of her life.

  I let out a sigh in my heart.

  Time is so precious. With this time, it's better to catch more corrupt officials. Such a poor woman, why force someone to desperation?

  To think about it, isn't my current life also being spent in hardship under the shadow of being caught at any time?

  Who would have thought that on such a night, after pouring out their hearts, a 28-year-old master's degree holder in law from a top university and an 18-year-old street girl with only a junior high school education would have so much in common.

  After about twenty minutes, a figure walked into the alley. My heart skipped a beat - it was Wang Yongshun. The injuries left on his face from being beaten by Xiao Luqi yesterday were still clearly visible.

  Wang Yongshun walked past me. He just glanced at me and the street girl, then hurried upstairs. I knew his intuition would tell him: this is a loser who has got an erection in his pants but doesn't dare to go home to his girlfriend to have sex, so he can only linger here reluctantly. Probably even if he was killed, he wouldn't think that the guy who brushed past him would be Lin You, who had come all the way from the other side of Shanghai to cause trouble for him.

  The heart that had just softened with nostalgia has hardened again at this moment.

  Shunzi, you've provoked me, now you're in trouble.

  Of course, although I was furious, I didn't rush up to find him. After all, my life was still in his hands - with just one phone call, I would be arrested and drinking coffee in a police station in no time.

  I don't know how deep his heart is. I'm not even sure if the "Xiangxi Corpse House" he casually mentioned really exists.

  Maybe you'll say, since he's no special person, just go and take him down directly, and that's it!

  Indeed. But he must have some special means that I don't know about. Otherwise, Xiao Luqi wouldn't be so stubborn and hard to understand.

  In short, I couldn't just throw myself into a completely unfamiliar situation and fall into his trap. This is his home turf, and my style is not to fight unprepared battles. Just like dealing with Mao Bin, using my rhythm, I want to lure him out, make him fall into my trap, tear down all his trump cards, and then thoroughly knock him to the ground, never to get up again.

  Maybe I can give this rhythm a name, "Lin You Rhythm".

  Since his lair has been identified, he can run away from the monk but cannot escape the temple.

  Now I have something more important to attend to.

  I want to go to the mortuary of the chest hospital again.

  There are three reasons for going.

  First, was Xiao Luqi killed by Wang Yongshun after being sent to the morgue or before that? If it's the former, then maybe there are some clues left in the morgue that can help me infer what happened to Xiao Luqi. If it's the latter, I hope to find some evidence.

  Secondly, when Wang Yongshun was at my house, he once said a sentence: If it wasn't for the task he received at that time, he would have fired Xiao Luqi long ago. Task? What task? He casually mentioned this, and indeed has some credibility. It's also a suspicious point.

  Third, and most importantly, today is the third day since Xiao Luqi's death. Logically speaking, if her body hadn't been stolen, it should have already been taken to the crematorium for a farewell ceremony and then cremated. If Wang Yongshun planned to cheat me, the news of the body being stolen should have come out by now. I just want to go see what his attitude is like.

  The body's entry and exit, the mortuary must make a management log or inventory list to record. As long as you find this, it will be clear at a glance.

  "Lost in thought, I was pulled back to reality by Huo Ling's voice: 'What are you thinking about? Are you thinking about those bad things again?'"

  I forced a smile, shook my head and said: "Nothing, it's all in the past. But thank you very much today, I haven't told anyone else about these things, it feels better after saying them out loud. However, I have to go."

  She suddenly said: "It's so late. Oh, the girl who lives with me might not have left the door open for me... Can I borrow your phone to send a text message?"

  I hesitated for a moment and handed her my phone.

  She smiled and took over the phone, deliberately tilting it at an angle so I couldn't see what she was sending.