Volume Two: Second Scroll
Material Evidence
“Not as good-looking as my wife.”
When she said this, her voice rose slightly at the end, carrying a hint of coquettishness1. She sat there, her black hair draped over her snow-white shoulders, a distinct contrast of black and white2. The corners of her lips held a smile, and her eyes were quiet and peaceful.
Song Yuhang was stunned for a moment, feeling that she shouldn’t be a drug dealer or a broker3. Neither identity suited her. She should have been a spirit of this forest, the most beautiful thing in the world.
She subconsciously reached out, wanting to pick her up, but then felt it was inappropriate. So, she helped her pull up the clothes that had slipped to her arm. When her gaze fell upon that gorgeous Manjusaka, Song Yuhang seemed to have been scalded. She retreated a step and squatted down in front of her.
“Get on, I’ll carry you.”
The struggle that flashed through Song Yuhang’s eyes did not escape her notice. In her heart, Lin Yan also couldn’t quite describe the feeling.
In the end, they were just two strangers bound together by fate and an assassination.
As Pei Jinhong, the words she had just spoken were truly abrupt and had overstepped the line.
Lin Yan was filled with regret. “No, I’ll walk by myself.”
The moment the words left her mouth, Song Yuhang had already grabbed the back of her knees. She had no choice but to lunge forward onto her back and was then easily lifted up.
The sudden feeling of weightlessness caught her off guard, causing her to subconsciously wrap her arms around Song Yuhang’s neck.
This was a completely instinctive reaction from every time she had carried her in the past.
Lin Yan came back to her senses, her face flushing and her heart pounding. She wanted to let go but felt it would be too deliberate, and besides, it wasn’t safe.
Song Yuhang seemed to have noticed something and gave a light laugh.
“Hold on tight. The path is slippery in the rain, don’t fall.”
Before Lin Yan could react, Song Yuhang strode over a steep slope. Lin Yan was jolted, and a wave of dizziness washed over her. She had no choice but to lean back in, hugging her neck tightly and gritting her teeth by her ear.
“Song. Yu. Hang.”
For some reason, the moment she got on, Song Yuhang felt a sense of familiarity, as if this was a scene that had been rehearsed a thousand times in her dreams.
It was carved in her bones and engraved in her heart4, her soul pulled and dreams entwined5, and it brought a sense of belonging, as if the dust had finally settled.
Her everything was on her back.
As she was struggling with, enduring, and feeling overwhelmed by this thought, Lin Yan called her name by her ear. It was like a sharp sword stabbing straight into her heart, and the sudden rush of heat made her limbs go weak.
She almost stumbled and had to reach out to steady herself against a tree trunk, panting slightly.
“Behave yourself.” The words held an implicit warning and threat.
Lin Yan wasn’t scared at all. She huffed lightly, unabashedly hugged her neck, and shifted a little to get more comfortable.
“Hurry up, it’s almost dawn.”
While she was comfortable, Song Yuhang herself was unable to sit or stand in peace6.
She hadn’t been thinking in that direction just now, but Lin Yan’s light and airy words stirred the desire buried deep within her heart.
Especially with every step, her softness rubbed against her back. Their clothes, already soaked by the heavy rain, seemed even thinner, and the friction from her movements felt like she was carrying a lively, hopping little rabbit.
This rabbit wasn’t very well-behaved either. One moment, it would be speaking close to her ear; the next, it would be pinching her cheek or tugging her hair.
Song Yuhang’s mind was filled with this rabbit and that gorgeous Manjusaka, and the corners of her eyes gradually reddened. When Lin Yan nudged up against her again, she finally stopped, unable to bear it any longer. She put her down and growled.
“You fucking walk on your own!!!”
The action was somewhat rough and abrupt. Lin Yan was startled. It had been a long time since they had seen each other, and it was a rare opportunity to be alone, so she had inevitably acted with a little woman’s disposition7, but it provoked the other’s thunderous rage.
She would never have treated her like this in the past, let alone sworn at her!!!
Lin Yan felt angry, heartbroken, and wronged all at once. She pouted, plucked a handful of wild grass, and threw it at her.
“Fine, I’ll walk by myself! Get lost!”
Though she said that, her eyes were clearly shimmering with unshed tears.
Song Yuhang turned to leave but couldn’t take more than two steps before she returned as if resigned to her fate, silently squatting down in front of her.
“Get on.”
There was a hint of an order in her tone that doesn’t permit her beak in8.
Holding onto a tree, Lin Yan tried several times to get up and walk on her own but failed, gritting her teeth in frustration.
“Get lost. The cat crying for the mouse9, so hypocritical.”
Song Yuhang concocted medicine according to the recipe again10, reaching for the back of her knees. Lin Yan retreated, and the two of them struggled, neither willing to give in.
In the end, her strength was slightly inferior. She was caught at a crucial point and lifted up.
A wave of dizziness washed over Lin Yan, and she had no choice but to wrap her arms around her neck.
Without a word, Song Yuhang carried her on her back and walked forward.
On the contrary, as Lin Yan lay on her back again, a faint feeling arose in her heart—a mix of sweetness and sorrow, knowing that no matter who she was or what identity she appeared with, Song Yuhang would never ignore her.
“You’re a police officer. Our paths are different, so we cannot lay plans for one another11, so why did you have to rush out and save me?”
Talking was better than nothing; at least it could ease some of the awkwardness and serve as a distraction.
Song Yuhang thought for a moment. “Because I’m a police officer. I would save any Chinese citizen who is in danger.”
Even for a criminal suspect, only the law can decide their life or death.
Lin Yan sneered. “Then after you saved me, you could have just left me there. Why be so good to me, carrying me on your back and all?”
This question was indeed quite pointed. Logically, she should have left her there, handcuffed her, and waited for her colleagues to arrive.
But she didn’t do that. Her heart had softened, and she had even momentarily abandoned her principles as a police officer.
Song Yuhang was silent.
Lin Yan gained an inch and advanced a foot. “Go on, why aren’t you talking? Could it be that you’re being so nice to me because……”
The words “you like me” hadn’t even left her lips when Song Yuhang, as if anticipating what she was about to say, cut her off.
“I don’t know if anyone else is following us. It’s dangerous to stay here.”
“Then you can call the police and have them take me away.”
“My phone…… is dead.”
The rather weak explanation made Lin Yan giggle, her fingernail lightly scraping across Song Yuhang’s earlobe.
“Officer Song, you’re really interesting. Quite a fascinating person12.”
The person being complimented showed no sign of pleasure. Instead, her lips pressed together even more tightly, and her expression became very stiff. Even so, she couldn’t stop her ears from gradually turning red.
She said fiercely, “You shut up.”
This time, the person on her back didn’t cause any more trouble and followed good advice like a flowing stream13, falling silent.
After waiting a long time without a response, Song Yuhang’s heart softened again. Was I too harsh? she thought. Have I really become like a fierce god and evil demon as she said? They were just a few unimportant questions, after all. Why did I have to get so angry with her?
Having figured things out, Song Yuhang cleared her throat and said, “My phone really is dead. What about yours? This forest is deep, I don’t know how much longer we’ll have to walk to get back to the highway.”
She turned in a circle with her on her back, panting slightly, and looked up at the density of the forest canopy to get her bearings.
Lin Yan didn’t answer, lying obediently on her back.
The deep forest made the sky seem even darker. Another clap of thunder sounded, and dense raindrops began to fall again.
This damned typhoon weather.
Song Yuhang cursed under her breath and hoisted her higher on her back.
“Hey, I’m talking to you.”
With the movement, Lin Yan’s head tilted to one side and her arm fell limp. Her scorching breath fell on Song Yuhang’s neck, feeling unusually hot.
Song Yuhang’s heart jumped. She set Lin Yan down against a tree, reached out to touch her forehead, and immediately knew something was wrong.
She had a fever.
In the desolate suburbs and wild mountains, and it was raining.
She couldn’t stay in the rain like this any longer.
Song Yuhang looked at her pale lips and the morbid flush on her cheeks, gritted her teeth, and lifted her onto her back again.
“I’ll find a place for you to shelter from the rain first.”
“Don’t sleep. Wake up. Talk to me.”
She ran through the forest, glancing back from time to time to check on her.
Lin Yan’s head rested in the crook of her neck, burning hot.
Song Yuhang’s heart was anxious as if on fire. She ran faster, and after passing through a pine forest, the view before her was suddenly open and bright14.
There was a wooden cabin on the other side of the river.
But there was no bridge. Perhaps there was one, but it was likely far away. The rain was falling harder, and she couldn’t afford to delay.
Song Yuhang looked at the turbulent stream before her, gritted her teeth, and hoisted her higher on her back.
“Can you hear me? We’re going to cross the river. The current is strong, hold on tight.”
Lin Yan didn’t speak. Her throat felt like it was on fire, a blaze that seemed to burn all five of her viscera15, and her mind was muddled. But she vaguely heard what Song Yuhang was saying, and her arms around her tightened slightly.
Although that little bit of strength was better than nothing, Song Yuhang breathed a huge sigh of relief. Carrying her, she carefully entered the water from a shallow point and waded toward the other side, one deep step and one shallow step at a time.
The stones were wet, slippery, and covered in moss. The river had swelled from the rain, and branches and other debris occasionally floated down from upstream.
Song Yuhang found every step difficult, her attention divided as she protected the woman on her back. She choked on water several times but still managed to keep her steady.
In her daze, Lin Yan felt as if she were once again drifting in the deep sea, enveloped by that familiar silence and suffocation.
The only source of warmth came from the person in front of her. Lin Yan had no choice but to clutch her clothes tightly. Delirious with fever, she muttered something unintelligible as tears rolled from the corners of her eyes.
“Song Yuhang…… Yuhang……”
After a difficult trek, Song Yuhang finally reached the other side. She set Lin Yan down and reached for her forehead, but she heard her murmuring something. Leaning closer, she realized it was her own name. A jolt went through her, and she shook her by the shoulders.
“What did you say?! What did you call me?! Lin Yan, is that you, Lin Yan?! Say my name again, just once more!”
At her almost obsessive demand, Lin Yan slowly opened her eyes. When she saw her face clearly, her expression returned to its usual coldness and wariness, and she shrank back.
“You…… what are you trying to do?”
She was delirious with fever and her words were slurred, but she still remembered to maintain her disguise.
One more person knowing her identity meant one more person in danger.
Song Yuhang could no longer hold back; she swept her up into her arms.
Lin Yan struggled, pressing her tongue against the back of her teeth to stay conscious.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“Shut up!”
Song Yuhang angrily kicked open the cabin door, and the smell of old, rotting wood hit them.
Fortunately, it was dry inside. There was a small bed, big enough for only one person. It was probably a temporary shelter for a forest ranger.
She placed her on the bed and, taking advantage of the position from which she couldn’t escape, lifted her chin, forcing her to look at her.
Word by word, through gritted teeth.
“Who exactly are you? What did you call me just now?”
Dazed with fever, Lin Yan just shook her head.
Song Yuhang cupped her face, the rims of her eyes gradually turning red. Her finger brushed over the tear mole at the corner of her eye. It was real.
Her palm brushed against her long eyelashes. These soulful eyes were real, too.
Her lips trembled and her whole body shook, like a madwoman who had lost all reason, desperate for an answer. She clenched her jaw and tore open her clothes.
RRRIP— The sharp sound brought back what little sense Lin Yan had left. Tears suddenly streamed from her eyes as she pushed her away and hugged her own shoulders.
“No…… don’t…… I’m not…… I’m not……”
A flash of lightning outside the window illuminated her tear-streaked eyes and brows.
Looking at her like this, clothes in disarray and on the verge of tears, how was she herself not a criminal tonight?
Song Yuhang’s heart was as if twisted by a knife. Her fingers fell limply to her side as she spoke in a hoarse voice.
“I’m sorry, I was out of line.”
She looked at her soaking hair and the thin clothes clinging to her body, then averted her gaze.
“But, I think you’d better take off your wet clothes. There’s a clean quilt here. I’ll go outside and find something to start a fire. You…… take them off yourself.”
As she spoke, she fumbled on the bed for the slightly damp quilt to hand to her.
Lin Yan flinched back, and her trembling with fear expression made Song Yuhang’s heart ache again.
Song Yuhang placed the quilt beside her, then got up and went outside to look for usable firewood.
When she returned with the firewood, she waited in the rain at the door for a while. After the rustling sounds inside stopped, she knocked to give a warning before pushing the door open and entering.
Lin Yan was huddled under the quilt, hugging her knees. Her wet clothes lay beside her.
Song Yuhang went over to fiddle with the brazier. Fortunately, some of the firewood from behind the cabin was dry. She quickly got a spark by drilling wood and placed some dry grass into the kindling.
Before long, a blazing fire leaped to life.
Lin Yan watched as she took her clothes and built a wooden rack next to the brazier to dry them. Her throat moved slightly, but ultimately, she said nothing.
After doing all this, Song Yuhang poked at the embers without looking up.
“Get some sleep. You still have a fever.”
How could Lin Yan dare to sleep? She was afraid she might say something in her sleep and arouse suspicion again. This was despite being so exhausted she could barely keep her eyes open, not to mention she was running a high fever.
The cabin was like a sparrow that, though small, has all five viscera16, including an iron pot for boiling water. Lin Yan drowsily watched her go out and come back to place something over the fire. Soon, the gurgling sound of boiling water filled the room.
Pillowed by this sound of the smoke and fire of the human world17, she watched the face by the fire grow blurry until she finally fell completely asleep.
Song Yuhang got up, helped her lie down properly, and tucked in the quilt. Just then, the water boiled. She took the pot, cooled it in the stream, and after returning and blowing on the water repeatedly, she helped Lin Yan up and fed it to her in small sips.
Swallowing the warm water, Lin Yan felt it soothe her parched throat, and her whole body warmed considerably.
She drank a little too eagerly and coughed a few times. Water trickled from the corner of her lips, and Song Yuhang wiped it away with the back of her hand before putting down the pot and gently laying her back down.
“Sleep.”
She heard her whisper by her ear. Lin Yan wanted to reply but was too weak to even lift a finger.
She groggily opened her eyes to see Song Yuhang gently placing a damp cloth on her forehead.
It was cool and very comfortable.
Lin Yan could hold on no longer and was completely pulled into darkness by exhaustion.
After she fell asleep, Song Yuhang didn’t rest. The post-rain jungle was damp and cold, so she had to keep the fire going all night to maintain the room’s temperature. She also had to go out every so often to rinse the cloth and place it on Lin Yan’s forehead to bring the fever down.
In the latter half of the night, the flush on Lin Yan’s face subsided, and her temperature gradually returned to normal.
Only then did Song Yuhang relax. She sat down by the bed, rubbed her nose, and sneezed.
She saw that Lin Yan was sleeping soundly and, a little self-consciously, raised her arms, took off her outer shirt, and tossed it by the fire to dry. Wearing only a black tank top, she sat cross-legged on the floor.
In truth, Lin Yan wasn’t sleeping that deeply. For one, Song Yuhang kept going in and out. For another, the wind and rain were raging outside. And third, she had been half-awake when Song Yuhang was cleaning her wound.
She had forced herself not to speak simply because she didn’t know what to say, so she had just pretended to remain asleep.
Just now, she had been startled awake by the sneeze. She then saw her take off her shirt and sit down with her back to her, revealing long, powerful arms and the perfect lines of her shoulder and neck muscles.
Lin Yan couldn’t help but let her gaze linger for a few extra moments.
Song Yuhang, completely unaware, took a glittering ring from the pocket of her discarded shirt.
She had taken it off during the fight, afraid she would lose it.
Song Yuhang caressed the diamond ring, lost in thought. She thought of Lin Yan and Pei Jinhong. One moment, it was Lin Yan smiling at her; the next, it was Pei Jinhong’s cold and hostile expression.
Her reason and her emotions were being torn apart, leaving her heart in a tangled mess.
Lin Yan was dead. She had seen her body with her own eyes; there could be no mistake.
But then Pei Jinhong appeared, a person whose looks and temperament were strikingly similar. Except for her hair color, everything was the same—the tear mole at the corner of her eye, the scars on her body—she had everything Lin Yan had.
Could such a coincidence really exist in the world?
Song Yuhang buried her head in her arms. For the first time, she began to feel uncertain.
Lin Yan had been lying down, but from the moment Song Yuhang took out the diamond ring, she could no longer remain calm.
A rustling sound came from behind her.
She’s awake.
Song Yuhang remained still. She lifted her head from her arms, caressing the ring. Her lips were pressed together, and the rims of her eyes were slightly red.
Lin Yan tilted her head to look at her and spoke in a hoarse voice.
“You…… are married?”
Song Yuhang came back to her senses and slipped the ring onto her ring finger.
“Yes.”
Lin Yan’s heart ached. She tried her best to keep her voice from sounding choked and jealous.
“Then where is your husband?”
Song Yuhang shook her head. “I don’t have a husband.”
“Then……”
She caressed the diamond ring and smiled.
“It’s my wife.”
A wave of bitterness suddenly surged in Lin Yan’s heart, rushing to her eyes. She was grateful that Song Yuhang hadn’t turned around, allowing her this brief moment to be vulnerable.
She quickly raised a hand to wipe the corner of her eye, sniffled, and asked, feigning the tone of a stranger.
“I didn’t realize you were…… a lesbian. Then where is your wife?”
The smile on Song Yuhang’s lips turned bitter.
“She’s gone.”
Lin Yan rolled over, burying her face in the damp, musty quilt.
Song Yuhang turned her head to look at her back.
“You look a lot like her.”
Lin Yan sneered as tears fell.
She didn’t turn around either.
“Is that so? No wonder you’re being so nice to me. But, make sure you remember this: my name is Pei Jinhong. I am not a substitute for anyone.”
“Alright, I’ll remember. But can you look me in the eye and say that again?”
A sharp edge was hidden in Song Yuhang’s voice that was without stirred waves18.
She stubbornly wanted an answer and wouldn’t stop until she got one.
Lin Yan understood her personality better than anyone, especially when it came to matters concerning herself. She showed immense stubbornness, even a degree of obsession.
Both in the past when she was pursuing her, and now.
She sat up, wrapped in the quilt, her black hair falling over her shoulders. Her expression had become cold and hard again.
She looked at Song Yuhang as if she were a nemesis, an enemy, a rival—there was even a hint of the worthy cherishing the worthy19 one might find between friends. But there was absolutely no love, not even a trace.
She didn’t even frown, unlike Song Yuhang, whose eyes had already reddened before she had even spoken.
She didn’t repeat her previous words. She simply said.
“Today, you saved me, and I saved you. A life for a life, so we’re even. The next time we meet, you will have your position, and I will have my principles.”
“We……”
Lin Yan paused for a moment, then raised her gaze to look directly into her eyes.
“……are enemies.”
But that wasn’t enough. She had to be more ruthless, to destroy all of her love and faith.
“A lot of the brothers20 at the nightclub have seen you. I guess you’ve been looking for me all this time just to find out about those two brothers. That’s right, they came to me. They wanted me to help them sell the abducted children to Southeast Asia……”
“I agreed. So, in a way, your…… your wife’s death is also related to me.”
After a brief pause, Lin Yan blinked, forcing her tears back, revealing no weakness.
“Your enemy is right in front of you. Don’t you want revenge? Do you regret saving me? Don’t you want to pry more information from me?”
The barrage of questions made Song Yuhang clench her fists so tightly her eyes looked like they would split with rage. They were bloodshot as she gritted her teeth. The diamond ring dug painfully into her palm, but how could that compare to even one ten-thousandth of the pain in her heart?
For a moment, Lin Yan almost had the illusion that she would pounce and snap her neck. However, after a few breaths, she restrained herself.
Song Yuhang opened her hand. A bloody indentation was etched into her palm.
“You’re right. The only reason I’m not touching you now is because you saved me. I have always been one where gratitude and grudges are clearly distinguished. The next time we meet—”
She paused, her tone growing colder.
“I won’t show any mercy.”
As they spoke, the sky outside had already brightened. The fire had died out, and the source of warmth was gone.
Lin Yan felt as if she had been in a surreal dream. Now that the dream was over, it was time for her to return to that world where you cheat and I deceive21, like treading on thin ice.
No longer shy, she threw off the quilt, got out of bed, and picked up her clothes one by one, dressing in front of her.
Both the scar from the last gunshot wound and the marks she had carved on herself with a knife had vanished without a trace.
Lin Yan let her see everything clearly, even moving with deliberate slowness. It took her a long while to get her arm through a sleeve, her fingers fumbling with the buttons.
Barefoot on the floor, black hair tumbling over her shoulders, her expression was frank and open, yet her entire being exuded an aura of languid charm.
It was Song Yuhang, instead, who first looked away.
Lin Yan gave a light laugh. “Had your fill of looking?”
Song Yuhang stood up, put on her jacket as well, and completely extinguished the fire with sand and gravel.
“Not as good-looking as my wife.”
The atmosphere of needle point against wheat awn22 instantly dissolved.
The corner of Lin Yan’s mouth twitched, and she almost blurted out, “Fuck your mother.”
“Let’s go.”
This time, the two of them kept to their respective roles and had no further physical contact, except for the one time Song Yuhang pulled her hand when she couldn’t get over an earthen slope.
Although they had achieved the desired outcome, neither of them looked happy. They walked back in silence.
Song Yuhang walked her to the side of the highway and flagged down a passing bus.
The door opened, and Lin Yan got on. She gave a faint nod, clearly not intending to sit with her.
“Goodbye, Officer Song.”
Song Yuhang said nothing, watching with her hands in her pockets as the bus drove away until it finally disappeared.
When the bus had completely disappeared around the bend, she opened her palm, revealing a piece of fabric she had been clenching tightly.
She had carefully cut it from Lin Yan’s clothes while they were drying. It was still stained with a conspicuous patch of blood.
Lin Yan didn’t know.
Collecting material evidence is an instinct for every criminal investigator.
LP: Re-translated on August 15, 2025
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