Volume One: First Scroll
Goodbye
What’s wrong with being a newbie1? Haven’t you seen a pig run even if you haven’t eaten pork?2
“Did you bring your phone?” They were halfway down the mountain path, about to reach the agreed-upon meeting point, when Song Yuhang suddenly remembered something and brought it up casually.
Lin Yan grew wary, brushing off the hand resting on her shoulder and struggling forward on her own, limping.
“Didn’t bring it.”
Song Yuhang didn’t let her get away with it. Her arm around Lin Yan’s waist didn’t loosen; she pulled the person back, her right hand patting down from top to bottom, bypassing the waist to fish the phone out of the right pants pocket.
Lin Yan nearly ground her teeth to bits. “Song Yuhang!”
She snatched at it, but the other person retreated a step with airy lightness. “To prevent you from going off the grid again, I think it’s better if we save each other’s numbers.”
Who was it back then who said it wasn’t necessary?
Lin Yan really wanted to ask her: Doesn’t that slap sting your face?3
But Song Yuhang hadn’t thought that much about it. They hadn’t been close then; she only found Lin Yan’s personality arrogant, domineering, and extremely annoying. But as time went on, she discovered that Lin Yan could occasionally be quite cute, like right now, with that stubborn streak making her try to snatch the phone even knowing she couldn’t get it.
The two exchanged a few more moves4. Lin Yan was pinned completely, panting heavily. “Who the f%ck wants to save your number? Give it back!”
Looking at her face, so close, red-rimmed at the corners of her eyes from anger, Song Yuhang felt an impulse to tease her for some reason. She held the phone above her head, a smile playing on her lips.
“Come get it yourself. If you can grab it, it’s yours.”
“I…” Provoked, Lin Yan felt her blood rush5. Without thinking, she lunged, only to feel a sharp pain shoot through her ankle. She fell before her feet even left the ground.
Song Yuhang reacted instantly, catching her. Lin Yan tumbled into her arms, and they stumbled back several steps, bumping against a tree before stopping.
Leaves showered down. Lin Yan clung to her shoulders, this time really hurting badly, her face pale.
Song Yuhang tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Are you okay?”
Lin Yan looked up, her expression filled with resentment and a hint of grievance. Her lips turned down, showing a touch of the frustration and helplessness of a tiger stranded on flat ground being bullied by dogs6.
Song Yuhang chuckled, but before she could savor the moment too long, a palm strike cut through the air towards her. She didn’t try to dodge, instinctively closing her eyes.
Yet the slap stopped inches away. Lin Yan bit her lip, glanced at the bruised forehead and the scratches left by branches on Song Yuhang’s face, and somehow couldn’t bring herself to strike.
Her eyelashes were long, just slightly messy from lack of grooming, trembling faintly with her breath.
Each time she swallowed, she would purse her lips slightly, and the cartilage in her throat would bob up and down.
Her trapezius muscles were well-defined, making her neck look slender yet strong.
Her lip color was paler than her own, but full, looking very soft.
Lin Yan’s mind wandered for a second, her breathing slightly disordered. She quickly pulled her hand back, got off her, and walked forward without looking back. “Childish!”
Song Yuhang picked up the clothes that had fallen on the ground and followed. “Hey—wait for me, don’t you want your phone?”
Lin Yan shouted back from the woods, “Get lost! Don’t want it! This mama7 has plenty more!”
Despite saying that, when they reached the meeting point, Song Yuhang still returned the phone to her. Lin Yan’s phone was brand new, the number newly activated. The contact list only had Song Yuhang’s name in it.
For this small detail, the police officer’s lips curved up slightly. “From now on, just press the ‘#’ key to find me.”
Lin Yan rolled her eyes and snatched the phone back. “Who wants to find you? Let me tell you, don’t you look for me either. I don’t have the damn time to deal with you. I’ll delete it when I get back.”
Song Yuhang didn’t care. “It’s fine,” she said seriously. “I’ll remember it.”
The driver in the front seat quietly lowered his sunglasses, observing them through the rearview mirror out of the corner of his eye.
A vein throbbed on Lin Yan’s temple8. “Song Yuhang, can you use that cleverness of yours somewhere else?! Also, why are you getting in my car? Get the hell out!”
Song Yuhang blinked, looking somewhat innocent. “It’s 2:30 AM right now, in the middle of nowhere. I can’t get a taxi—”
Just as Lin Yan was about to blurt out, “I’ll call a taxi for you!”
She smiled faintly again, revealing canine teeth, looking harmless. “Friendly reminder, if we don’t leave now, the police from the local station are already on their way.”
The driver stepped on the gas, shifted gears, and drove off. Lin Yan struggled stubbornly. “Did I tell you to drive?! Did I?! Throw her out of the car for me!”
The moment she finished speaking, she was pushed back into the seat. With a click, the seatbelt locked, restraining her firmly9.
Song Yuhang held onto her seatbelt with one hand while smiling. “Sit tight. Don’t stand up while the car is moving.”
If the car windows hadn’t been soundproofed, Forensic Doctor Lin’s curses10 would have startled the birds resting on the branches.
The car drove all the way back to the sanatorium11, passing a whistling police car at the foot of the mountain.
Song Yuhang subtly breathed a sigh of relief and checked their belongings.
The collected samples, check.
Lin Yan’s toolbox, check.
Fruit knife, check.
Her jacket, check.
The rope…
Her heart skipped a beat. Crap, neither of them wore gloves when they came down. The friction between skin and fiber would definitely leave traces.
Lin Yan leaned lazily against the seatback, glancing at her, a mocking smile playing on her lips. “Did you think I would only arrange for one person to pick us up?”
Song Yuhang paused. Although impulsive, Lin Yan had indeed planned thoroughly. First cutting the power to paralyze the entire factory area, then using a universal electronic code breaker12 to crack the airtight door lock, and arranging two waves of pick-ups—she truly had both courage and strategy.
The only variable was herself.
As if knowing what she was thinking, Lin Yan turned her head away, looking at the white wall outside the sanatorium. “But, if it weren’t for you, I really wouldn’t have known how to get down from the third floor. Might have already…”
“Miss, we’ve arrived.” The driver hit the brakes, stopping smoothly by the roadside.
Song Yuhang hadn’t known such a place existed within the provincial capital—a sanatorium hidden deep in the mountains, nestled by mountains and water, accessible only by a single winding, narrow path13.
White walls and blue tiles, quaint eaves hidden behind lush, towering ancient trees. The iron gate actually required dual fingerprint and iris verification to open. Retro and modern blended seamlessly14 here.
Several doctors in white coats ran out, without armbands or badges. Leading them was Lin Yan’s butler, who welcomed her out of the car.
Her current condition made it unsuitable for her to walk. The butler supported her, gently seating her in a wheelchair.
Song Yuhang also got out of the car and watched her. She knew the time for parting had come. Her confinement period was over; she had to report back to Jiangcheng tomorrow. Lin Yan’s body needed proper rest, for at least two or three months.
When they were apart, she worried constantly15; now that they met, she somehow felt time passed incredibly quickly.
Her warmth still lingered in Song Yuhang’s arms, but that faint fragrance was ultimately drifting away from her.
At this moment, watching her retreating back, Song Yuhang felt a strong reluctance to part. She wished this night could last longer, just a little longer.
The usually reserved person didn’t disturb her, just quietly watched her leave, remaining steadfast16 even as tumultuous waves17 surged within her heart.
Unexpectedly, the wheelchair stopped. Amidst the verdant mountain forest, Lin Yan turned around, her eyes seeming veiled in mist.
She said, “Since you’re here, come in for a check-up.”
It was a two-story building. Small but perfectly formed18. The moment she stepped inside, she smelled disinfectant. Peeking through several open doors revealed medical facilities no less equipped than those in major city hospitals.
The corridor was quiet. Before Song Yuhang arrived, Lin Yan had been the only patient in the entire hospital.
Lin Yan got off the machine; the scans were already out. Sprained ankle, the bone nearly fractured. Another injury requiring proper bed rest.
A doctor was wrapping her ankle with an elastic bandage using a figure-eight technique19. Lin Yan braced herself on the hospital bed, her arms trembling slightly, biting her lip as fine beads of sweat broke out on her forehead, yet she didn’t make a sound.
When it was Song Yuhang’s turn, her injury was on her back; she needed a scan to check for spinal damage. The usually forthright person became somewhat hesitant.
“I… I don’t think I need one.”
Lin Yan looked up at her strangely. “Why not? Didn’t you cough up blood?”
“That was bloody sputum20… it’s fine once coughed up. I’m tough21, can take a fall.”
“What, are you avoiding treatment out of fear?22” Lin Yan put her clothes back on herself and got off the bed with the butler’s help.
Song Yuhang had intended to help her but retracted her hand when she saw someone else assisting. She rubbed her nose, reluctantly taking off her jacket under everyone’s scrutiny. As she prepared to step onto the machine, the doctor stopped her.
“Ma’am, no, the underwire23 in your underwear will affect the scan results.”
Song Yuhang’s face flushed crimson instantly. Changing clothes in front of so many people, especially with Lin Yan here, was something she really couldn’t do.
“Just now, Lin Yan didn’t…”
The bespectacled doctor adjusted his glasses emotionlessly. “Miss Lin injured her foot. You injured your back.”
Lin Yan looked at her sympathetically, spreading her hands helplessly. “Ah, people in a hospital are just meat on the chopping block24. Nothing you can do.”
She hopped over to her side on one foot, looking at her reddened face, instantly clicking her tongue in amusement and sizing her up. “Don’t tell me I hit the nail on the head? You really are a—”
Before the word “newbie” could leave her lips, Song Yuhang shot her a fierce glare. “Shut up. Get out.”
For some reason, seeing her angry made Lin Yan very happy. “Oho, getting defensive now, are we? Some people, at their age, not only have no sex life but are even shy about changing clothes for an exam in front of others.”
The moment she finished speaking, Song Yuhang hooked an arm around her neck, pulling her close, head to head, looking like two very close friends whispering secrets.
Only Lin Yan knew what her hot breath whispered beside her ear.
“What’s wrong with being a newbie? Haven’t you seen a pig run even if you haven’t eaten pork? I can still make you ecstatic25.”
After speaking, she pushed Lin Yan out the door, just as the butler caught her.
Lin Yan watched, stunned, as Song Yuhang teased her and then shut her out, exploding in fury. “F%ck your mother, Song Yuhang! This mama shouldn’t have let you in!!!”
The butler supporting her smiled faintly, which Lin Yan immediately caught. “What are you smiling at? What? What’s so funny?!”
The butler helped her towards the ward. He was over fifty and had practically watched Lin Yan grow up. Some things others couldn’t say, he could.
Lin Yan pressed him relentlessly, so he answered honestly, “Miss is much more alive when she’s with Miss Song.”
This “alive” was in every sense—not just her eyes, expressions, body language, but the anger or joy that came from the heart, he could feel it all.
As a child, Lin Yan had been cautious and meticulous, terrified of making a mistake and losing her life.
By six years old, she already knew how to protect herself.
As a teenager, Lin Yan began practicing martial arts. Relying on her skills and family background, she became arrogant and domineering. She constantly transferred schools, always getting demerits for fighting, becoming notorious in Jiangcheng’s schools as the “transfer student,” until she met Chen Chunan26.
From middle school to high school, those six years should have been her happiest days.
As an adult, Lin Yan put on a mask of hypocrisy, dissoluteness, coldness27, and harsh sarcasm28. She habitually used various fake smiles to disguise herself. Few things could genuinely anger her, and almost no one could make her truly happy from the heart.
But just now, when Officer Song agreed to come in, he clearly saw a heartfelt smile appear on Miss’s face. Even when the two were arguing and chatting, her face showed undisguised expressions of amusement, anger, and curses; her whole person became vibrant and lively.
This was very good. Seeing it made one happy inside. It had been a long time since Miss had had this much liveliness around her.
Lin Yan paused, touching her face, somewhat dejected. “Did I? I clearly didn’t—”
The butler pressed his lips into a smile but didn’t dare say more: You didn’t have to; your emotions were written all over your face.
While Song Yuhang was undergoing her physical examination, another body examination was taking place in a dimly lit small room in Jiangcheng.
A man used a knife to slice the person lying before him from head to toe, cutting them open29. Blood surged out, dripping down the mortuary table. After some murmuring sounds, he cupped a bloody organ in his hands, examining it.
He gazed obsessively at this part of the human body in his palm, his expression almost ecstatic, bordering on madness.
However, after only a moment, the blood cooled.
The man’s lips slowly slackened. He seemed still immersed in a beautiful dream, unwilling to wake. He carefully picked through the organ, holding it like a precious treasure, tucking it into his clothes, searching around for something to put it in. Carelessly, the slippery thing fell out, landing in the dust and rolling around.
“Ahhh!” the man roared. He tried to pick it up but found it was already dirty, completely cold.
His eyes turned bloodshot.
A banging sound—peng peng peng—came from the door, particularly eerie in the quiet, rainy night.
When the woman burst in, she saw him raising the knife high and hacking down onto the mortuary table, chanting, “Useless thing, die, die, die.”
The scene was one of flying flesh and blood. A sticky fragment of internal organ landed right at her feet. The woman screamed and collapsed onto the ground.
The man turned around, knife in hand, a sinister smile spreading across his lips. “You’ve come at just the right time.”
As Song Yuhang underwent the examination, she observed the room’s furnishings. Compared to a modern hospital, it felt more like a secret base’s field hospital.
The tight security at the entrance aside, even the doors and windows were bulletproof. Doubt filled her heart. “What is this place?”
Why wasn’t it marked on any map?
The stern-faced doctor turned off the machine and wrote the examination report. “Patient is healthy with no major issues. Just soft tissue contusion30 plus subcutaneous bruising31. The cut on the right hand from glass isn’t serious. Recommend debridement, suturing, and stopping the bleeding. Out the door and turn left.”
As he finished speaking, he handed her a form, also without any logo, only the doctor’s flamboyant handwriting32.
Song Yuhang knew that without Lin Yan’s approval, the people here probably wouldn’t answer any of her questions.
She put on her jacket and walked out with the form. Coincidentally, Lin Yan’s butler, having settled her back in her room, was walking over.
“Miss Song, going to the debridement room? This way, please.” The butler deliberately stopped to guide her.
Song Yuhang glanced at the old man’s silver-streaked hair. She had seen him that rainy night at the Lin family villa too.
The butler smiled faintly, as if knowing what she was thinking. “I haven’t introduced myself. My surname is Lin. I grew up alongside the Young Lady, watching her grow up. You can call me Butler Lin33.”
“This is No. 03 Secret Base, the Young Lady’s private sanatorium. We are pleased to welcome its first guest.”
Song Yuhang paused, the emphasis landing on the word “private.” The butler continued leading her forward. He couldn’t say much about the Lin family’s internal struggles, merely repeating,
“Yes, private.”
This meant it was Lin Yan’s personal property, unconnected to the Lin family, not inherited from her father.
She was guarding against Lin Youyuan, and also against others who harbored ill intentions towards her.
She was only thirty-two. This base—its security, personnel, buildings—was already established. How many years ago had she started this? And this was only No. 03. Were there No. 04, 05, 06… or even more?
What kind of lack of security could have made her become like this today?
Thinking about how every time she appeared near Lin Yan, unless approaching directly, Lin Yan’s first move was always a killing blow, Song Yuhang felt increasingly uneasy.
These thirty-two years, she must have had a very hard life.
They quickly reached the debridement room. Song Yuhang bowed slightly to the butler and walked in with the form. “Thank you.”
The night passed without further conversation. Lin Yan slept deeply. She usually suffered from insomnia, so her medication included a sleep aid. Coupled with her injuries, her body felt exceptionally tired.
When she woke up, Song Yuhang was already gone. What she didn’t know was that Song Yuhang had come to see her before leaving.
The tall, handsome police officer stood bathed in the morning sunlight, carefully34 peering through the glass pane of the door, watching her comrade and colleague sleeping peacefully on the bed. Silently, in her heart, she said: Lin Yan, goodbye. I’ll wait for you to come back.
LP: Re-translated on April 11, 2025
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