Miss Forensics – Chapter 101

Volume Two: Second Scroll

Shattered

Lin Yan, marry me.

The familiar plant nursery outside the villa had become overgrown with weeds from neglect. Song Yuhang verified her fingerprint, and with a click, the iron gate slid open.

She steadied herself against the gate, her steps faltering as she walked inside. She had thought she would see her sitting in the courtyard the moment she entered, but it was completely empty.

Song Yuhang’s eyes reddened. She drifted through the courtyard like a lost soul, muttering to herself.

“Lin Yan, Yanyan, come out, stop hiding from me…” Her voice was hoarse as she pushed open the glass door to the main hall.

The paper-cut window decorations she had put up before leaving were still there, making the whole house look much more festive.

But the fresh flowers in the vase had already withered, drooping in decay and emitting an air of death.

A layer of dust covered all the once-gleaming furniture.

On the shoe rack by the door, two pairs of matching couple’s slippers still sat.

Song Yuhang pulled open the door to the walk-in closet and searched through the mountain of clothes. “Lin Yan, stop hiding, this game isn’t fun at all…”

The enormous closet was deathly quiet. Her clothes were all hung neatly, as if no one had visited this place at all.

Song Yuhang staggered out and ran to the kitchen, the washroom, the bathroom, the gym, and even her laboratory, searching everywhere.

Her scent still lingered in the air, but the person herself was gone.

Song Yuhang was on the verge of collapsing during this long search. She wept unconsciously as she looked, and after falling once more before the steps, she gritted her teeth and began to crawl up to the second floor, as if it were her only hope.

“You’re so useless. Last time, a man carried me upstairs and downstairs while completely naked.”

“My fault? Just you wait until I’m better.”

“There’s a bathroom upstairs.”

“I want to go to the one downstairs.”

As she crawled, it was as if she could still see the tall police officer walking past, carrying the petite woman in her arms.

The corners of Song Yuhang’s lips curved up, and she reached out to grasp it, but the image vanished.

Lin Yan’s bedroom door was just inches away.

She stopped, like a traveler whose courage fails as they near home¹, and pulled a ring box from her pants pocket, hesitating as she considered what kind of posture and expression she should have when she gave it to her.

Song Yuhang wiped her tears with her sleeve, forced a smile, and clutched the small ring box, muttering to herself.

“Lin Yan, Yanyan… marry me… no, that’s not right, should I kneel first and then speak, or speak first and then kneel…”

“Will she like it? Will she think it’s too cheap…” Song Yuhang looked down at the sleeve of her hospital gown and had a sudden realization.

“Is this too rushed?” she hesitated, smoothing her hair and tidying her messy clothes.

“How could I come here dressed like this? I should have gone back, showered, and changed…”

Song Yuhang murmured to herself.

A draft blew through the hall, and with a soft creak, the unlocked bedroom door was slowly pushed open.

Her heart leaped into her throat in an instant. Without even looking, she closed her eyes, held out the ring box with both hands, and completely forgot the script she had just prepared.

“Lin… Lin Yan… marry you… no, that’s not it, I want to marry you… that’s not right either… ma… marry me…”

Her tongue felt as if it were tied in a knot, the single sentence coming out jumbled and incoherent.

Song Yuhang kept her eyes closed, her heart pounding like a drum, as she waited for an answer.

But she waited and waited, until her legs grew numb, and there was only the “woo-woo” sound of the wind howling in the corridor.

Her tears fell before she even opened her eyes.

“I know I don’t have money, I can’t give you the best diamond ring, and I’m just a junior police officer, so I can’t give you a better material life, but I’ll work hard. I’ll work hard and give all my money to you. My savings, the deed to my house, my housing fund, my social security card… I can… I can give them all to you.”

“I can also give you lots and lots of love. Meticulous love, all-consuming love, unparalleled love.”

“And I don’t need anything in return from you, and I don’t want you to feel any pressure. I just want you to understand that I’m doing all of this completely of my own free will.”

These words should have been said to her long ago, but now they could only be poured out into the empty air.

Song Yuhang took a step forward, extending her arms. “Lin Yan, if you’re willing, could you give me a hug?”

No one answered her.

The wind rushed into her embrace, bringing a sudden chill.

Song Yuhang forced a smile. “It’s… it’s okay. You… you don’t have to stop hiding… I can come hug you.”

She took another step forward, and the tip of her foot touched something hard. Overcome with joy, Song Yuhang lunged forward, falling into a soft expanse.

She excitedly threw back the covers. “Lin Yan—”

The smile froze on her face.

As if possessed, she tore the bed apart.

The sheets, duvet cover, and pillows all fell to the floor. Still nothing.

Song Yuhang’s eyes were red as she looked under the bed. “Lin Yan, stop hiding…”

Still nothing.

Her lips trembled, utterly heartbroken. She scrambled to her feet and pulled open her wardrobe.

“Stop hiding, stop hiding, I won’t propose anymore, I won’t… Can you please just come out?”

The large room was tidied very neatly; there weren’t many places a person could hide.

Song Yuhang gave it a cursory glance. The wind made the door rattle, and she stumbled out.

“Lin Yan!”

The corridor was empty.

She ran to the study, her favorite place to be, and excitedly pushed open the door, only to find it empty again.

On the desk sat a single, unfolded paper crane² with no signature.

Song Yuhang carefully picked it up and cradled it to her chest.

“You folded this, right? You must still be here, right?” She looked at the blue paper crane, then slapped her forehead and rushed out the door.

“Right, the attic, the attic! She must be there.”

This was Lin Yan’s secret base, and it was locked year-round.

Song Yuhang didn’t have a key, so she slammed her shoulder against the wooden door with all her might. Dust fell from above, turning her black hair gray.

Her shoulder throbbed with pain, and the skin soon broke, staining the thin fabric with blood.

Her strength gave out. Song Yuhang collapsed to the floor, biting her teeth, her heart pierced with agony.

“Fine, you won’t come out, right? Then I’ll, I’ll just…” She looked around and climbed up from the floor.

“I’ll throw away all your favorite clothes, and your makeup, and pour out all the wine in your cabinet, and your paper cranes…”

“You don’t… don’t want them anymore?”

After waiting a long time for a reply, Song Yuhang began to throw a tantrum like a child who couldn’t get their favorite toy, creating havoc in the house with brutish unreasonableness.

She ransacked her room, threw the clothes from the walk-in closet onto the floor, took expensive red wine from the wine cabinet, and started drinking and pouring it out, choking and coughing repeatedly.

Tears streamed down her face as she leaned against the cabinet, looking at the mess on the floor. “You don’t… even want me anymore?”

That night, she lost count of how many times she ran up and down the stairs, how many bottles of red wine she opened, how many tears she shed.

In the end, she smashed open the attic door with a hammer, only to find it, too, was empty. Utterly exhausted, she lay down on the cold floor, clutching a wine bottle, and fell asleep.

The next morning, Song Yuhang awoke with a headache. Seeing the utter mess, she was filled with regret.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Yanyan, I have to clean this up quickly, or she’ll be unhappy when she comes back and sees it…”

She muttered to herself as she went to pick up the clothes scattered by the door, but was stopped short when a pair of leather shoes stepped on them, preventing her from lifting them.

Her gaze traveled up the straight-legged trousers, and the smile on her face froze.

The man was dressed in a neat suit and tie, his uniform immaculate, a prosecutor’s emblem³ pinned to his chest. He held out his credentials to her.

“Jiangcheng City People’s Procuratorate. We are lawfully seizing the assets under the name of the deceased Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau Technical Investigation Division forensic examiner, Lin Yan. Please do not obstruct us in the execution of our official duties.”

Song Yuhang was stunned. She watched his mouth open and close, unable to clearly hear what he was saying. She only heard the two words “the deceased.”

She shot to her feet and grabbed the man by the collar, roaring, “The deceased?! What do you mean, the deceased? You f#cking tell me clearly!”

Her hair was disheveled and she reeked of alcohol. No one recognized her as the once high-spirited Captain Song Yuhang.

Seeing her get physical, several bailiffs⁴ rushed forward to restrain her.

Song Yuhang could only watch as they inventoried Lin Yan’s belongings and began moving things out of the house.

Her designer bags, luxury clothes, expensive high heels, cellared red wine…

Even some of the smaller items.

A vase that was accidentally knocked over, the candlestick they bought together, decorative objects, a rumpled tablecloth, and the toppled shoe rack. The matching couple’s slippers had fallen on the floor, their fluffy rabbit ears being stepped on over and over, getting dirty.

Song Yuhang’s eyes looked ready to split from their sockets as she screamed hysterically, “Don’t touch it, don’t touch it! Stop, all of you, stop!”

Several bailiffs could barely hold her back. In the chaos, someone kicked her.

Song Yuhang’s knees buckled, and she fell to the ground with a thud, struggling as fists rained down on her.

Several staff members went upstairs again, carrying down furniture, Lin Yan’s exercise equipment, desks, and chairs…

Her eyes immediately fixed on the last person, who was carefully carrying several glass jars filled with her paper cranes as he cautiously descended the stairs.

Song Yuhang didn’t know where the strength came from, but she gritted her teeth, climbed to her feet, and kicked, thrashed, tore, and bit her way out of the encirclement, swinging her fist.

“I told you, don’t touch it!”

The staff member was caught off guard. Blood spurted from his nose as he shrieked, “Maniac! Maniac! What are you standing around for? Throw this crazy woman out!”

Several tall, burly bailiffs came at her again, tearing at her. Song Yuhang snatched the glass jars from his arms and held them for dear life, refusing to let go no matter how they punched and kicked her. In the end, she was thrown out the door, jars and all.

She hit the steps, her face bruised and swollen. The glass jars shattered on the road, and the colorful paper cranes scattered all over the ground.

This was Lin Yan’s dream, Lin Yan’s hope, her passion for forensic science, and her reverence for the deceased.

It was also her heart—tattered and torn, yet spotlessly pure and innocent.

Now that heart lay on the road, fallen in the mud.

Song Yuhang went mad, scrambling over to cup them with her hands, to gather them with her sleeves, picking up her dust-stained dreams one by one.

The jars were broken and could no longer hold them, so she stuffed them into her own pockets. Both pockets of her gown were soon bulging, and her pants pockets were also filled to the brim.

Song Yuhang cried as she picked them up. When there was no more room, she held them in her cupped hands. She moved on her knees, dropping them as she went.

Some fell into the nursery, covered in mud. She picked them up, blew them clean, scraped off the dirt, and carefully tucked them into her shirt.

A car passed, and the dust it kicked up blurred her vision. The paper cranes in her hands were blown away by the wind.

Song Yuhang scrambled to pick them up, but a hand had already gathered them for her.

She looked up, overjoyed. “Lin Yan, you’re back—”

The smile gradually stiffened on her face.

Jingzhe was dressed in black, a baseball cap hiding his exaggerated red hair.

He pulled a familiar object from behind his back and handed it to her.

A single sentence from him made her tears stream down.

“The young miss’s posthumous effects⁵, returned to their rightful owner.”

The repaired mechanical baton was battered beyond recognition after a bitter fight. The tip was bent, the new paint had chipped off again, and on it were dark red bloodstains.

Song Yuhang didn’t reach out to take it. She gritted her teeth, her eyes red, and said grimly, “What do you mean, posthumous effects? Explain yourself.”

Jingzhe had the face of a mixed-race person, but he didn’t smile much, nor did he like to talk. His face was habitually expressionless, but at this moment, his eyes lowered slightly, his brow furrowed.

Song Yuhang read a trace of sorrow in his expression.

“Say it! Posthumous effects… what does that mean?” She bit down hard on the words “posthumous effects,” and her heart bled as she said them.

Jingzhe pushed the baton a little further forward. “By the time I followed her instructions, delivered the person to the hospital, and doubled back, it was all over. This was all that was left on the bridge.”

“Later, when I rushed to the hospital, the emergency treatment was also over…”

Song Yuhang had survived, but Lin Yan had died from her grievous injuries after rescue efforts failed.

Jingzhe paused slightly, but Song Yuhang had already lunged forward, gripping his shoulders tightly.

Her eyes were completely bloodshot. “You’re lying! You’re talking nonsense! She promised me she would live, that she would live well!”

Jingzhe pushed her hands away and took a step back.

“I saw her. In the morgue.”

The words struck Song Yuhang like a bolt of lightning. She staggered back two steps, her vision went black, and just as she was about to say something, an urgent fire assaulted her heart⁶, and she coughed repeatedly, tears streaming down her face.

She covered her lips, and specks of blood splattered onto her hospital gown.

Jingzhe seemed unable to bear it and made a motion to steady her. “You need to go to the hospital.”

Song Yuhang waved his hand away, shaking her head in a desperate struggle.

“I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it, you’re all lying to me, lying to me…”

Jingzhe said, “The young miss saved my life. I take orders only from her. I would not lie to you.”

Song Yuhang wiped the blood from the corner of her lips and shook her head with a laugh. The laughter turned into sobs.

“Heh… hahaha… I don’t believe it… I don’t believe it… I don’t believe anyone… unless she comes and tells me herself that she doesn’t want to live anymore… she promised me she wouldn’t seek death so easily… she promised me she would marry me…”

Seeing her like this, Jingzhe knew that more words would be useless. He gently placed the mechanical baton beside her, nodded, and left.

“A long time ago, the young miss told me that she had fallen for someone, a woman named Song Yuhang.”

“She said the only reason she was alive was for revenge, and she didn’t know how much longer she had, so she didn’t dare let her heart be moved.”

“Miss Song, I think she… really liked you very much.”

“If you need anything in the future, Jingzhe will be at your beck and call.”

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After Jingzhe left, she didn’t know how long she sat there, until a kind person on the roadside handed her a tissue.

“Miss, are you alright?”

Only then did she realize she had been crying the whole time.

“I’m… I’m fine.” Song Yuhang forced a smile, but fresh tears welled up. She stumbled to her feet, lifted the corner of her gown, and wrapped up all the paper cranes that had fallen on the ground. Then, limping and lost, she started walking home.

She had no phone and no money on her, so she couldn’t get a taxi. She walked from day until night, from the suburbs to the city center, still wearing the thin hospital gown she’d left in. She shivered uncontrollably in the cold early spring weather, her face pale, her lips purple.

By the time she got home, her feet were covered in bloody blisters.

Song Yuhang’s mother tearfully welcomed her into the warm room, on the verge of crying herself. “Where did you run off to? If I couldn’t find you any longer, Mom was going to call the police.”

Song Yuhang’s tears had long since been dried by the wind. She pulled her lips into a smile. “Mom, find me a glass jar.”

Mother Song didn’t understand the meaning of the large bundle of paper cranes, but she still brought her what she asked for.

Song Yuhang placed them inside one by one. “One thousand, one thousand and one, one thousand and two…”

When every last paper crane from her clothes was in the jar, tears suddenly rolled down her cheeks.

“It’s over. There are still so many missing. When Lin Yan comes back, she’ll definitely blame me for not taking good care of her things.”

“Yuhang…” Mother Song seemed to want to comfort her.

But she stood up again as if nothing were wrong.

“Mom, I’m going to take a shower.”

With that, she walked dazedly toward the bathroom.

She turned on the shower, turned the bath heater to its maximum setting, and dirty water rolled down from her head. On the tiles at Song Yuhang’s feet, faint red stains of blood seeped out.

She trembled, hugging herself tightly. In the quiet, sealed space, she could finally let herself wail.

Outside, Mother Song’s heart felt like it was being twisted by a knife.

She stayed in the shower for a long time, until late at night, until her skin was puckered, until the raw parts of her wounds swelled up, revealing white flesh.

Only then did Song Yuhang walk out in her slippers. To her surprise, her mother and Ji Jingxing were still awake.

They were waiting for her on the living room sofa.

Song Yuhang kept her head down as she walked over. “Jie, I’ll sleep in my brother’s room.”

Mother Song patted the spot beside her. “Yuhang, come sit.”

Ji Jingxing also forced a smile. “That’s right, Xiao Wei is asleep too. Let’s talk.”

Song Yuhang didn’t move. Seeing their cautious and nervous expressions, she gave a bitter smile. “Jie, back then, with my brother… did you ever think about going with him?”

Ji Jingxing nodded, then shook her head. “I thought about it. But there was still Xiao Wei, and my parents, and Mom, and you. I couldn’t do that.”

“Then isn’t that it? It’s the same for me.” Song Yuhang’s eyes grew hot, and tears fell uncontrollably again.

On the way back today, there were countless moments when she wanted to walk into the surging traffic, but when she remembered the words she had used to persuade Lin Yan, she held back.

Her life was exchanged for with Lin Yan’s life. If she really did that, when they met in the underworld, Lin Yan would probably jump up and slap her hard, spit in her face, and curse her for being a worthless coward, and never speak to her again for the rest of her life.

Mother Song stood up shakily, took her daughter’s hand, and pressed her down to sit on the sofa, her eyes filled with tears.

“Mom knows. Yanyan was a good child… If her spirit is watching from heaven, she would definitely want you to live well, to be healthy and safe.”

Song Yuhang choked out a sob and threw herself into her mother’s arms. “Mom, I’m alive, but I’m already dead.”

“Mom knows, Mom knows. It will all be okay, ah, it will all be okay…” Mother Song’s old tears flowed freely. She also pulled the teary-eyed Ji Jingxing into her embrace, gently patting both their backs.

“Whether it’s you, Jingxing, or Xiao Wei… it will all be okay. Everything will pass…”

In her mother’s arms, she finally felt a trace of long-lost warmth.

She knew that even if it was just for these family members who loved her, and because the water had not yet receded to reveal the stones⁷ of the mastermind’s identity, she had to live on. But her heart felt as if it had a huge hole in it, with wind whistling through, making all her internal organs ache.

And this pain would accompany her for the rest of her life.

Song Yuhang knew, she would never be okay again, never again.

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After locking herself in a dark room for three days and three nights without eating or drinking, Song Yuhang used her mother’s phone to call Jingzhe.

On the other end of the line, her voice was hoarse. “If she’s alive, I want to see her; if she’s dead, I want to see her corpse. Where is she buried? I’m going to find her.”

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LP: Depression ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ – ˵ ) ✧

Re-translated on July 08, 2025

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