Chapter 52: Prelude to Despair (Part 1)

  Shengyuan never thought that the path he led Xiaozhu on would almost separate them forever. If he had known that everything in the future was heading in an irreparable direction, he would not have made such a choice at that time.

  "Captain." Sheng Yuan picked up the walkie-talkie in his hand and tried to connect with Zou Muyuan on the other end, but all he got was static.

  Shengyuan looked at the intercom for a while, then glanced at the shadow that had already disappeared in the distance, and finally rushed in the opposite direction of the sea of fire.

  He remembered Xia Zhu saying that this wasn't over yet. The sense of discord brought by each case, or the inexplicable connections between them, hadn't ended yet. And the gaze he had just felt was definitely not benevolent. Sheng Yuan thought to himself and quickly left a message on the intercom before hastening his pace and rushing into the high-rise building across from him.

  In fact, Xia Zhu's situation is also not optimistic. The fire was too big, and even with a water cannon, the firefighters couldn't find an entry point for a short time.

  Looking at the desperate expressions of a mother and daughter in the window, Xia Zhu closed his eyes, showed his police badge to the fire chief: "Hello, I am a member of the major crimes unit. We suspect that there is someone inside who intentionally set the fire, and most arsonists have a show-off personality type, so they may not have left this area yet. Therefore, I would like to enter with the first batch of firefighters, hoping for your cooperation, chief."

  It was clear that the fire captain did not understand what Xia Zhu said, but he understood the implication of her words: "You mean to say that this arson is man-made and there are still people in danger inside?"

  "At least according to common sense, it's indeed correct."

  Taking a glance at the name tag in front of him, Xia Zhuoyan continued with sincerity: "Captain Liao, if I were to go in, I'd have a 70% chance."

  Obviously, Captain Liao was not very willing. He looked at the thin summer bamboo for a moment before shaking his head and saying: "Wait five minutes, we'll open up an opening. It's too dangerous to go in now, even with anti-explosive suits, I don't have enough people."

  Xia Zhu naturally understood the truth of being separated like mountains and nodded her head in gratitude before going aside to wait.

  She frequently lifted her watch to look at the time. Captain Liao beside her grew increasingly solemn: "What about those who went in?"

  "The fire is too big and it's hard to put out in a short time, we're doing our best to set up life rafts to rescue people." The deputy captain reported briefly.

  "Alright," Captain Liao picked up a nearby binoculars and nodded: "You all be careful."

  "Yes, Captain."

  Xia Zhu's eyebrows furrowed tighter, this wasn't the first arson case, but the previous ones and this one felt completely different. Now there was no Lin Yuanbai by her side, nor any backup, she could only rely on herself. Sheng Yuan had said when he left that he thought something was off over there.

  A string of cases, all with their own set of doubts, none of which have been fully solved, and now she's faced with another enigma.

  "Captain!"

  Liao's walkie-talkie beeped, and Xia Zhu looked over subconsciously. The voice on the other end said, "We found a young man outside the door who is now unconscious and looks seriously injured. We hope to arrange for treatment as soon as possible."

  Liao team leader didn't have time to think much, and hastily waved his hand to let the medical team in.

  "It's not possible."

  "Why?" Captain Liao asked in puzzlement: "The inside has temporarily ruled out danger, and now the medical team is going in just in time, so as not to miss the best rescue opportunity."

  Time was pressing, so Xia Zhu had to express her meaning briefly: "We think this is a trap. Once we go in, the people inside may detonate the remaining explosives."

  Liao's expression was somewhat inexplicable, he looked at Xia Zhu for a long time, and finally shook his head with a mixture of sadness and laughter: "Sorry, we haven't watched that many horror movies, but we understand one thing, which is that we can't afford to delay now." After finishing speaking, he spoke into the intercom: "Send someone in, and check if there's any explosive danger."

  "Yes." The deputy captain felt unexpected, but still did not express dissent.

  Before long, Xia Zhu heard a loud cry from that side: "Don't let anyone in! There's a bomb!"

  "No... it's more like the entire building is a giant bomb." The deputy captain on the other side added, clearly shocked by the scene in front of him.

  "Is it timed or remote-controlled?"

  "How much longer until the SWAT team can get in?" he asked.

  "I'll go take a look."

  After what just happened, Captain Liao showed a few more points of reverence towards the person beside him: "Have you studied bomb disposal?"

  "I've learned some before," Xia Zhuo said, quickly putting on the explosion-proof suit: "Evacuate as soon as possible, if you can evacuate, please escape from the window first."

  She said as she followed the people rushing out and rushed in, facing a rolling heat wave. She raised her voice and asked, "How much longer?"

  "Twenty minutes, not enough time for evacuation." The deputy captain said.

  Xia Zhu nodded and ran towards the sea of flames.

  Contrary to Xia Zhu's expectations, the bomb's structure was not particularly sophisticated, and could even be described as ordinary: "Something doesn't feel right." She looked at the thing in her hand, puzzled.

  "What's wrong?" a male voice sounded beside him.

  Xia Zhu didn't think much and simply pointed at the bomb in front of him, saying: "The structure of this bomb is very simple. It can be said that anyone who has studied bomb disposal can disarm it."

  "So, what do you think the bomb should be like?" The male voice beside him sounded quite pleasant.

  Xia Zhu finally felt something was off, she thought of quietly changing places with the person next to her, but before she could do so, someone grabbed her arm and lifted her up: "It's an honor to meet you, Miss Xia Zhu."

  This time Xia Zhu finally saw the man in front of her, the man's face was very pale, with a faint smile at the corner of his lips: "We all miss you."

  Xia Zhu stared at the person in front of her for a long time and was very certain that she did not recognize this person.

  "We've been deceived." The deputy captain looked at the young man in front of him, who had just been on his last breath, with some gritted teeth. The only hope for defusing the bomb was Xia Zhu, but now the last hope was gone.

  "The nearest police station is only a ten-minute drive from here, and similarly, the homicide unit has just received the news. According to our usual speed of response, we can probably arrive in about fifteen minutes. No matter what your purpose is, I only know..." Xia Zhu tried to calm himself down, the person in front of him was likely the murderer he had thought of before, and now the most important thing was not to panic."

  Lin Yuanxiao was still waiting for himself, and if he just disappeared like this, Xia Zhu couldn't even imagine what would happen.

  "Don't worry." The young man's breath was right next to his ear, warm and slightly careless: "Whether the people from the homicide department can come or not is uncertain, but I know Lin Yuan will be here soon."

  Xia Zhu's heart was racing with anxiety. Originally, the relationship between Lin Yuan and herself wasn't widely known to many people, so how did it become common knowledge overnight?

  "We... are old acquaintances, aren't we?" The young man's knife pressed deeper into Xia Zhu's waist, and the smile on his face deepened: "Don't be afraid, I just want to use you to exchange for something."

  In less than five minutes, Lin Yuanxi was standing at the door of the house.

  He was like a hurried arrival, and his windbreaker had rare wrinkles that he didn't even bother to smooth out, his eyebrows were tightly furrowed.

  All along, Xia Zhu was most afraid of Lin Yuan's appearance.

  It's as if she had gotten used to his fearlessness, gotten used to the way he faced everything with a carefree attitude. Once Lin Yuanxi became serious, she would involuntarily start to feel heartache. At the same time, what she felt more was an uncontrollable sense of satisfaction. Apart from her parents, it seemed that in this lifetime, there was only this man who could accompany her all the way, caring for her without any reservations or regrets.

  "Sit down." Lin Yuan's face was extremely ugly, and he spoke word by word.

  "You're here." The young man smiled even more: "I thought it would be another two minutes."

  "You want Xi Bo." Lin Yuanqi said impatiently.

  Xie Zhuo's eyes sparkled with an added three points of warmth: "Wow, I thought you wouldn't agree so easily."

  "He's not one of us, you're thinking too much." Lin Yuan said: "As for this matter, there is no room for discussion."

  Xī Zhuó shook his head: "Since it's like this, don't blame me for not showing old affection."

  Lin Yuan's face was cold as he said: "The snipers outside have already taken position, if you make any unusual moves, the consequences will be unimaginable."

  "No..." Xi Zhuo smiled and shook his head: "You should understand, my hands are much faster than the snipers outside."

  He said, gesturing with the knife in his hand, a smile lurking at the bottom of his eyes: "Xi Bai just left your place, I just got the news and lost him, so now I can only come to you."

  "He has your handle in his hand, and now this information has flowed into the police station," Lin Yuan said with an unchanged face, word by word: "You are worried, but in fact, your threat is completely unfounded."

  "What I have in hand is already enough, let alone now, the whole building is my hostage." Xī Zhuó smiled and said: "It's simple, you let me go, I can give you three days to think about it slowly."

  His smile was warm and gentle, his tone was also slow and elegant. Lin Yuan's fingers unconsciously clenched into a fist, his eyes fell on Xia Zhu's face: "The bomb disposal team has already entered."

  The tacit understanding between them didn't need many words, Xia Zhu nodded: "Good."

  A simple exchange of glances is enough already.

  Xia Zhu aimed at the right moment, his elbow fiercely pushed back, and with a loud crash, he charged forward! At the same time, Lin Yuan flashed out a gun from his waist and fired three consecutive shots at the front!

  However, it was too late, Xia Zhu felt her body go soft and she fell forward limply.

  Before she lost consciousness, she heard Lin Yuanxi's cry for help.

  The tone was no longer the usual low and calm, but a hysterical and mournful one that made Xia Zhu feel unbearable.

  Unfortunately, it all ended, and the last thread of darkness took away all consciousness.

  Will continue updating every other day! Momo da!