Released from Prison
“Everyone, pair up, conduct a carpet-style search, scatter!” In the wilderness, with a command, armed police and military personnel spread out.
Police dogs lay on the ground, using their noses to sniff around. They passed through the low bushes, and then barked excitedly, wagging their tails as they retrieved a shoe.
The trainer took the sneaker from its mouth, opened a phone, and compared it to the clothing worn by the suspect during the escape. He instantly smiled with satisfaction, then placed the shoe back in front of the police dog’s nose, giving it a gentle pat.
The police dog was ready to go.
The trainer released his hand, saying, “Well done, Chase, go!”
A black silhouette shot towards the forest like an arrow released from a bowstring, with police officers armed with live ammunition following closely behind.
Before long.
The phone on Zhao Junfeng’s office desk started ringing.
He held a cup of hot tea in his hand, listening to the deputy director and the briefing from the Criminal Investigation Division on this Aurora operation.
Before the conversation on the other end could be completed, he slammed his teacup forcefully onto the table, spilling scalding water all over his hand.
“What? Have they found the person? Is he dead?!” He shot up from his seat, banging the table loudly. “Investigate! Investigate thoroughly for me!!!”
The commanding officer in charge at the scene was the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Investigation Division in the Coastal Province. At this moment, he moved his phone a bit farther away, waiting for Zhao Junfeng’s outburst to subside. He immediately saluted and said, “Yes, the forensic team has arrived at the scene and is conducting preliminary post-mortem examinations!”
After hanging up the phone, he also put on gloves and walked to the riverside.
The body had already been retrieved from the water, and several forensic experts in white protective suits were working around the corpse.
Leading the team was the Director of Forensics in the Technical Investigation Department of the Coastal Province Criminal Investigation Division. While not possessing the extraordinary talents of Lin Yan, he was, after all, a seasoned forensic expert with over thirty years of experience in the field.
“Old Qian, what’s the situation?”
The forensic expert surnamed Qian lifted the eyelids of the deceased and examined them before turning around to say, “Preliminary post-mortem examination aligns with indications of drowning before death. There are no external injuries on the body, and there’s evidence of sand and debris in the nostrils and under the fingernails, suggesting struggles in the water. There’s no doubt he drowned.”
From the forensic investigation team, another person came to report, “No second person’s footprints were found at the scene, except… except…”
They had initially thought capturing the “Vulture” would be a significant achievement, but who would have known they had caught a dead man? What the hell was the use of that?
The head of the Criminal Investigation Team was getting impatient. He said, “Spit it out! ‘Except for what?'”
The forensic examiner closed his eyes briefly and replied, “Except… except for the footprints of the team leader!”
He had hurried over without wearing shoe covers, and when the head of the Criminal Investigation Team looked behind him, he saw a series of uneven footprints on the muddy riverbank. Some were his, and some belonged to other search team members.
He slapped his forehead in frustration and said, “I…”
* * *
The 8th day of the hunger strike.
Lin Yan hadn’t expected him to come.
26 years ago, he was just a greenhorn cop, and now, he had a silver olive branch pinned to his chest, truly a remarkable rise through the ranks.
The two of them stared at each other coldly through the iron bars.
Lin Yan was young at that time, and many things had become blurred with time, but she still remembered that torrential rainy night. She and Lin Cheng were kidnapped, held in an industrial factory in the outskirts. The ransom exchange had gone awry, and then the police had stormed in.
The first thing wasn’t to save her but to press the trigger with her last ounce of strength.
That year, she was only 6 years old.
The darkness blurred everything, and she was so weak, barely having the strength to make out the stubble on his lowered brim and his trembling lips, both tinted with a shade of green.
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Rainwater trickled down his chin.
In the midst of this brief hesitation, others rushed in as well.
“They’re alive, there are survivors!”
She was lifted up in a daze by a pair of hands, and a police officer carried her out, while Lin Cheng’s lifeless body was also taken out.
The rain that night was extremely heavy.
Even now, when he looked back on it, he still felt a lingering fear.
Raindrops fell like beans inside the dilapidated factory, and the spot where the girl lay had turned into a pool of pale red blood.
When they pulled the criminal suspect off of her, the girl wasn’t wearing any clothes below her waist, and a fatal knife was lodged in the suspect’s chest.
She had saved herself, but Lin Yuanyuan, the eldest son whom Lin Cheng had been determined to rescue, had died.
Even now, he still remembered the gaze of the girl lying silently on the ground – cold, despairing, and filled with deep-seated hatred.
It was exactly the same as Lin Yan’s look today.
The police officer standing outside the iron gate shivered inexplicably. He waved his hand, signaling the prison guard to unlock her handcuffs. “Released on medical parole.”
* * *
When Lin Yan woke up again, she found herself lying in her own recuperation center, and the person attending to her was her own personal steward.
She realized she was free.
She then opened her mouth to slowly swallow the hot porridge the steward had brought to her lips. She ate hastily, choking up and shedding tears soon after.
She was so hungry, truly famished, and cold.
She thought, perhaps there was nothing left in this world that could warm her.
The only person who could have warmed her had passed away many years ago.
How she wished it had all been just a dream.
Lin Yan sighed in her heart and closed her eyes again.
Sleep, for in slumber, she could see her once more.
* * *
“Lin Yan?!” Song Yuhang sat up abruptly from her bed, panting heavily and drenched in sweat on her forehead. She reached out to wipe it away, still feeling shaken.
She had just dreamt of Lin Yan, holding a gun pointed at herself.
The scene had been overwhelmingly red.
Song Yuhang wanted to return the words she had once said to Lin Yan.
“Don’t die… don’t die.”
She closed her eyes for a moment, swallowing her saliva frantically. Taking deep breaths to calm herself down, she reached under her pillow for her phone and started dialing Lin Yan’s number. As the call went through, she immediately regretted it—Lin Yan’s phone had been smashed long ago.
Despite this, she still clung to a faint glimmer of hope as she waited for the call to connect.
Until—
“Sorry, the number you dialed is not in service.”
Song Yuhang realized that she had completely lost contact with Lin Yan.
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When Ji Jingxing entered with the purchased food, a blue and white blur rushed out.
Song Yuhang didn’t even have time to change her clothes, and Ji Jingxing followed, shouting, “Song Yuhang, what are you doing?!”
She hesitated for a moment, turned around, and looked at the medical personnel catching up behind Ji Jingxing before bolting.
After a while, Ji Jingxing’s phone lit up with a message from Song Yuhang: “Sis, I’m going to the detention center to see a friend.”
* * *
“Forensic Doctor Lin? She left early, applied for medical parole yesterday.”
It was the same young prison guard.
Song Yuhang was still wearing her patient gown, and her shoes were on the wrong feet. “Which hospital did she go to? Why did she request medical parole? What happened to her inside? How serious could it be—”
With the detention center’s fully equipped medical facilities and services, the minor injury on Lin Yan’s shoulder shouldn’t have been a problem.
Those who could apply for medical parole were usually cases of life-threatening emergencies.
In other words, only when a prisoner is on the brink of death will the authorities agree to their medical parole.
Song Yuhang’s heart sank heavily.
The prison guard opened and closed his mouth, saying, “We don’t know where she’s gone. Hey, speaking of this Forensic Doctor Lin, she’s quite a character. I’ve been here for so many years, and it’s the first time I’ve seen someone attempt suicide in prison, not once but twice… and even went on a hunger strike! It really scared our warden!”
Before he could finish his sentence, his collar was lifted, and he was forcefully slammed into the iron gate, creating a loud, resounding crash.
The alarm sounded.
Song Yuhang’s eyes were bloodshot, and she gritted her teeth, saying, “What have you done to her?! What have you done?! Why did she attempt suicide, why?!!!”
The armed police officers in the guard booth quickly gathered around, with someone raising a gun as a warning. Song Yuhang released her grip, staggering back in a daze. She was immediately pressed to the ground by the approaching armed police.
* * *
“Alright, alright, Vice Captain Song Yuhang of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau! You barged into the detention center in broad daylight and even injured a prison guard. Even the Provincial Party Secretary called me to inquire! You sure have given me face, given face to our Jiangcheng City Bureau!”
Zhao Junfeng spat angrily, banging the table loudly. “I see you’ve had enough fun. If you want to accompany Lin Yan so badly, I’ll grant your wish! Guards, put her in solitary confinement. No one is allowed to visit her except for medical staff! Until you realize your mistake!!!”
Clang! The iron door locked, and Lin Yan was taken out while Song Yuhang was put in.
When Ji Jingxing came to visit her, Song Yuhang was doing rehabilitation exercises, propping herself up with one hand on the ground. A small window on the door opened, revealing Ji Jingxing’s face.
Song Yuhang quickly got up from the ground and ran over. “Sis, why are you here?”
“I brought you some daily necessities,” Ji Jingxing said, and when she noticed the gauze faintly visible under Song Yuhang’s white short-sleeve shirt, she couldn’t help but well up with tears again.
“Why are you, why are you causing trouble again? Your injuries aren’t even healed, and you’re running around like this. What kind of person is so important that you have to…” She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.
Song Yuhang remained silent.
Seeing her quiet, Ji Jingxing added, “Yuhang, you weren’t this impulsive before. Tell me, who is this Lin Yan, really?”
Song Yuhang’s heart skipped a beat.
Indeed, she couldn’t.
It seemed that ever since she had met Lin Yan, there was an extra valve for her emotions. Whenever something related to Lin Yan came up, it was always hard to remain calm.
She initially thought it was because of Lin Yan’s unruly and disrespectful behavior, something intolerable to anyone.
But it wasn’t until later events, as she walked towards her step by step with a glass in hand.
She leaned on her shoulder weakly due to being intoxicated.
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The night of the rainy evening.
Two figures on the rooftop, sharing a cigarette.
She lay across the back seat of the car, her exposed collarbone and the nape of her neck.
Facing a one-against-four situation, she showed no fear, but the moment she appeared, a smile played on her lips.
She held her own hand and said, “Don’t die.”
The one that could never stay calm was her heart.
Song Yuhang rubbed her face vigorously. “I…”
“Don’t talk. Answer my question.”
Ji Jingxing leaned against the iron window, only able to see half of her attractive chin.
For some reason, her voice sounded somewhat hoarse. “Fang Xin told me that you got injured because you hesitated to save her, is that true?”
Her slender chin nodded once.
“You went out three or five times to look for her?”