Faced with life and death…

Everything else just seemed so trivial.

Xiang Wan looked around the hospital and the familiar faces in front of the ward. All that flashed through her mind were memories of Tu Liang getting along with everyone, one after another…

In the air was the smell of death.

The cold air in the surrounding somehow felt a little chilly to the bones.

Xiang Wan’s feet felt numb as she stood rooted to her spot. She didn’t know what else she could say.

Separation was the most unacceptable pain in the world.

At this point, sadness was the theme.

Xiang Wan herself already behaved like that. She dared not think of how Tu Liang’s wife and his daughter, who knew nothing about the world, would behave.

“Where is he?”

Someone asked a question while panting. That interrupted everyone’s thoughts at the same time.

Xiang Wan turned her head and looked at the woman who was standing behind her, not too far away…

She was thin and pale. She was also holding the hand of a little girl aged about six or seven years old.

Looking at the child’s facial features, she looked a little like Tu Liang.

Both of them looked tired; the detective who went to pick them up was also panting.

“They’re Tu Liang’s family!”

Actually, even if he said nothing, everyone there had already thought of it.

The woman’s sadness was embedded in her eyes.

It was genuine.

Ding Yifan pointed at the ward, unable to utter another word.

The woman seemed to have understood it, and led her child to the ward.

The door of the ward was half-open; there was no sound coming from the person lying on the hospital bed.

Bai Muchuan was standing in the middle of the ward, seemingly too distraught to say another word. He was like a walking dead.

No expression and unmoving…

The woman looked toward the direction of the hospital bed; what she saw startled her for a moment before muttering something.

“Captain Bai, may I have a few words with Old Tu alone?”

Bai Muchuan nodded slowly.

He dragged his feet out of the ward as though it weighed very heavily.

Tu Liang’s wife was really thin and tall. As she had been looking down, they couldn’t see her expression.

The surprising thing was, she didn’t kick up a fuss nor did she wail and weep.

She stood at her spot as she observed the man lying on the bed for a moment before she suddenly talked to Bai Muchuan.

“Captain Bai, please help me bring her out of the ward.”

Bai Muchuan took the hand of the little girl. “Sure!”

“Thank you!”

“…”

Bai Muchuan felt a lump in his throat and said nothing more.

The little girl looked toward the direction of the hospital bed. “Daddy? Mommy, is that daddy?”

“Yes!”

“I want to see daddy!”

The woman, who had her back facing her kid, suddenly felt her body stiffening. “Nannan ¹ , mom has something to tell your dad privately, you wait outside with uncle.”

“Orh.” The little girl seemed a little sad as she obeyed her mom and walked out of the ward.

However, after walking a few steps, she turned her head, looking at her daddy lying on the hospital bed…

…

It was a good decision made by her that she did not allow their kid to see her daddy.

He had been shot in the head, and hence, his head was wrapped up in thick gauze. There were also blood stains that had not been wiped away on his face.

His eyes were wide-opened; his eyebrows were slightly furrowed and he looked ghostly pale.

She did not want their daughter to remember him like this.

She did not want their child to develop any kind of negative thoughts…

The woman sat beside the hospital bed and took Tu Liang’s hand calmly; she held it in her palm and squeezed it.

His big hand was rough and tanned.

Her hand was fair, thin, and delicate.

Not sure what she had thought of, she suddenly smiled with tears in her eyes.

“Didn’t you say you will be coming back in two days’ time? In the end, I’m the one who comes over to look for you.

“How many times have you been lying to me this lifetime?

“Every time you promised something, you never keep your word.

“You said you’ll bring me to a honeymoon, bring me to the seaside, bring our daughter to the theme park and ride the merry-go-round… Well, none of them happened!

“We’ve been married for 10 years. While on the way here, I did some calculations. You haven’t spent as much time with me as you have with your colleagues. No, our time together was even lesser than the time you spent with criminals…

“You promised seven times that you will return for reunion dinner on the eve of Lunar New Year, but you only came back once and had stayed only for a while…

“You lied to me for 10 years. In the end, now that you’re going away, you still want to lie to me one last time…

“I was so happy when I heard you’re coming back. I cleaned up the house and even applied for leave to wait for you to come home…

“Well, it’s fine this way. I’ll bring you back home. You’ll stay by my side and you’ll never leave us again…”

Every reproving sentence she spoke chilled their bones.

Bai Muchuan walked to the entrance of the ward.

He turned for a look, and his spine stiffened.

To him, these felt too unrealistic.

Just last night, he was still joking with Tu Liang.

He was also the one who gave Tu Liang two days off to visit his family.

It was a pity.

He did not make it.

Tu Liang’s wife and his daughter did not make it in time as well.

Before she arrived, Tu Liang no longer had any signs of life.

Fate didn’t allow him to wait until they arrived and see each other for the last time.

This regretful tragedy was something irreversible…

It gnawed at people’s heart.

Bai Muchuan clenched his fist as he walked away from the ward.

…

Tu Liang was lying quietly on the bed.

The woman’s thin figure slowly leaned against his arm.

Gradually, her shoulders heaved up and down.

But they heard nothing…

She was so grieved that she could not make any sound.

It was a pain that tore her heart and made it hard for her to breathe; only she knew what she was going through.

There was only silence within the ward.

The atmosphere came to a standstill outside.

The moment one became a detective, they would have prepared for such a thing to happen more or less.

It was a high-risk profession.

Presumably, Tu Liang’s wife had already prepared her psyche for this day to come.

The most pitiful one would be his daughter…

The little child had a pair of innocent eyes. She looked timidly at the group of unfamiliar uncles and aunties. For a while, she did not dare to say a word.

Bai Muchuan did not know how to coax a child.

He did not dare to look at her pair of childlike eyes.

He saw Xiang Wan; both of them looked at each other for a moment, and he led the child to Xiang Wan.

“I’ll let this aunty accompany you, is that all right?”

The little girl did not react but did not reject, either.

She was an obedient child.

Xiang Wan looked at Bai Muchuan; they exchanged their glances quietly for a moment…

She felt as though something was blocking her throat for a second. Then she quietly took the girl’s hand and walked over to sit on the lounge chair.

“Little girl, how old are you already?”

“Seven years old!”

“Are you primary one now?”

“Nope! I’m primary two now!” the little girl said with pride.

“Wow, you can answer so well. May I know your name?”

“My name is Tu Siya!”

“Your name sounds nice!” Xiang Wan tried to coax the little girl with a smile.

“My daddy says that our surname ‘Tu’ sounds too strong and is not suitable for girls, so he gave me a very gentle name to complement it…”

The little girl could actually talk very well.

There was no sign of sadness in her face.

The sense of nervousness when she rushed over with her mom earlier slowly dissipated in Xiang Wan’s smile.

The child was too young.

There was a high chance that she did not know what was going on.

Rather, she did not know what death was…

After a few more exchanges, she grew more familiar with Xiang Wan.

“Aunty, is my daddy badly hurt?”

“Well, I…” Xiang Wan felt a little tongue-tied. “We need to check with the doctor about this.”

“Mommy says that daddy always gets hurt, but his injuries are the injuries of a hero.”

“… Yes, you’re right. He’s a hero.”

Xiang Wan’s voice sounded a bit hoarse as she said those words. The little girl’s eyebrows crumpled when she heard that.

“I saw blood on daddy’s face. There’s also blood on his neck.”

The girl was not naïve.

Just looking at it once was enough for her to make a conclusion she could understand.

“Yeah!” Xiang Wan was feeling troubled.

She seldom came into contact with children.

She did not know if she should lie and coax a seven-year-old kid regarding this matter, or if she should just tell her directly…

No, she shouldn’t make this decision on behalf of the little girl’s mother.

Hence, she could only try to divert the child’s attention.

Fortunately, Fang Yuanyuan also joined in the conversation.

A woman who could keep a pet cat healthy was obviously a better choice in handling children.

Fang Yuanyuan successfully pulled the little girl’s attention away from her dad into another topic.

…

It was still quiet inside the ward.

Everyone was waiting quietly outside…

The atmosphere was too heavy to bear.

Xiang Wan felt a little suffocated.

“Why did you suddenly come here?” Bai Muchuan walked over to her.

Xiang Wan saw that he was still wearing the set of clothes he wore yesterday, but his face looked so haggard. It was a look that she had not seen before.

As a detective, Bai Muchuan frequently had to work overtime and stay up overnight.

However, every time he appeared before them, even if work had exhausted him, he still looked spirited.

It was painful to see him looking so dejected.

“I asked Mei Xin and learned what happened to Tu Liang, so I came here…”

She glanced at Fang Yuanyuan who was talking to the little girl, and then she faced her back to their direction before whispering to Bai Muchuan.

“How did this happen?”

Bai Muchuan turned away. He placed a hand on his face while he clenched another into a fist, slamming it against the wall.

“It’s my fault!”

Xiang Wan looked at him. “I don’t understand.”

“Last night,” Bai Muchuan swallowed bitterly, “if I didn’t leave Xi City and entrusted a mission to him, this wouldn’t have happened…”

After he left last night, Xiang Wan and Bai Muchuan did not contact each other.

She had no first-hand information on the progress of the case.

She could only digest the case in her novel.

Hence, she knew nothing about why Tu Liang would suddenly get shot.

“We’ll talk about it later!” Bai Muchuan replied.

His hand slid down slowly as if he had run out of energy then he glanced at Xiang Wan.

Then added another sentence.

“But, Tu Liang’s sacrifice was not in vain.”

“Eh?” Xiang Wan thought for a moment. “Did you learn something from him?”

“Yes!” Bai Muchuan’s eyes felt sharp as he gritted his teeth. “The one who shot him was Meng Chi!”

What!?

Xiang Wan’s initial reaction was that of shock.

Meng Chi was a cunning person. Would he really shoot a detective?

“What happened exactly?”

Bai Muchuan gritted his teeth coldly. “He should be that manipulator—”

“Eh?” Xiang Wan furrowed her eyebrows.

“He didn’t choose you as the target. He chose Xie Wanwan and Ye Lun instead…”

“I still don’t get it.”

“Xie Wanwan and Ye Lun were drugged. He locked them up in a warehouse, and Tu Liang got shot while he was rescuing them…”

Well…

That didn’t make much sense.

The twist happened too drastically.

Bai Muchuan’s mood at the moment was also very unstable.

Xiang Wan could only piece together the bits and pieces of information she received and raise questions accordingly.

“Why did Meng Chi choose Xie Wanwan and Ye Lun as the target?”

“Both of them were still unconscious. Meng Chi refused to say anything during interrogation—but according to my guess, he might have wanted to do away with them.”

“But why?” This news perplexed Xiang Wan.

“Maybe Xie Wanwan and Ye Lun knew something!”

“…”

Xiang Wan mulled over for a while. “Have you ascertained that he was the one who shot Tu Liang?”

“I’m certain!” Bai Muchuan gritted his teeth. “When Tu Liang brought men with him and entered the warehouse, there was only the three of them. Xie Wanwan and Ye Lun were unconscious and Meng Chi was holding a gun…”

1. Nannan (囡囡) – One of the common nicknames given to little girls