Long Xinyu closed his eyes, truly not wanting to see Rao Xian dismembered like Wu Xing—although he hadn’t known Rao Xian for long, Rao Xian was implicated because of him. Long Xinyu felt deeply sorry for the man, but he couldn’t save Rao Xian, leaving him with a profound sense of powerlessness.
However, after quite a while, the expected scream didn’t come. Long Xinyu cautiously opened his eyes and peeked at Rao Xian, only to find that there was no dismemberment or river of blood. Instead, Li Xu was using a knife to cut open the restraints on Rao Xian’s feet, and then looking at him.
Long Xinyu didn’t understand what Li Xu was doing, and Li Xu had already walked up to him, squatting down and cutting open the restraints on his feet as well.
Long Xinyu was completely dumbfounded: What was Li Xu trying to do?
“Get up!” Li Xu tugged at Long Xinyu, her voice hoarse from being choked earlier.
Long Xinyu was pulled to his feet, and Li Xu went to tug at Rao Xian. She then pushed and shoved the two of them onto the deck. Rao Xian’s leg wound had reopened from the struggle, and blood flowed down his leg, making it difficult for him to walk. A trail of blood was left from the cabin to the deck.
Once on deck, Li Xu had the two stand side-by-side. Long Xinyu finally saw that it was an antique-style yacht.
Seeing Li Xu tear off the rain tarp covering a pile of items on the deck, revealing several barrels of gasoline, Long Xinyu’s heart turned cold—this woman was going to burn them to death on the deck!
Long Xinyu glanced at the sea behind him, considering the possibility of escaping by jumping into the water. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Li Xu carrying a gasoline can, starting to splash gasoline everywhere.
Long Xinyu turned his head to look at Rao Xian beside him, tentatively asking, “Do you think she’s going to burn us alive first?”
Rao Xian’s eyes were filled with—very, possible.
Long Xinyu looked at the seawater: “How about we jump into the sea and escape?”
Rao Xian slightly strained his arms: “My hands are tied, I won’t make it to the shore.”
Long Xinyu: “That’s still better than being burned alive, right?”
Rao Xian: “One is being burned to death, the other is being drowned, which one is better?”
Just as the two were looking at each other, Li Xu poured gasoline into a line on the deck below, and even poured some on herself. Then, she threw away the plastic gasoline can, and walked over with a knife.
Long Xinyu felt a chill seeing Li Xu covered in gasoline.
Li Xu walked up to him and asked very seriously, “Do you regret saving me back then?”
Long Xinyu firmly said, “I regret it.”
Li Xu smiled, “If I could do it again, would you still save me?”
“Yes!” Long Xinyu replied resolutely.
Long Xinyu’s answer exceeded Li Xu’s expectations. She paused, puzzled, and asked, “Why?”
“You turning bad is your business, whether or not I save you is my business. Saving you, I regret it, but I’m not wrong. Saving people is never wrong!” Long Xinyu answered without hesitation.
Li Xu suddenly smiled again. Long Xinyu didn’t know what she was laughing at. He just felt that he didn’t understand this woman. When hating someone, shouldn’t you hope for the other person to live happily and peacefully? Why was her hatred like a maggot in the bone, never resting?
Long Xinyu had dated a few girlfriends, but they were all just for fun. He had never said he loved anyone, but he felt that love was definitely not like Li Xu, with death and the end of life as its goal.
At this moment, a sea breeze blew, lifting Li Xu’s hair. She reached out and smoothed her hair behind her ear. She looked at Long Xinyu for a long time, as if making a difficult decision. She said heavily to Long Xinyu, “Next time you save someone, you must save them to the end.” Saying that, she walked past Long Xinyu, went to Rao Xian, and pushed him hard. Rao Xian cried out in surprise as he was pushed off the boat and into the sea.
“What are you doing?” Long Xinyu hadn’t understood Li Xu’s words yet when he saw her push Rao Xian off the boat. He looked at Li Xu in shock, then shouted towards the water, “Rao Xian—”
As far as he could see, Rao Xian had already disappeared into the water.
Long Xinyu turned his head to glare at Li Xu, but Li Xu gave him a brilliant smile. She then pulled Long Xinyu over, cut the restraints on his hands, and before Long Xinyu could react, stabbed him in the left shoulder.
“Ugh—I—” Long Xinyu groaned. Li Xu had already pulled the knife out, and the knife brought up a string of blood.
Li Xu said, “This knife is to make you remember me forever. Now I’ll give you a chance to choose.”
“I—” Long Xinyu clutched his stabbed shoulder, looking at this crazy woman. Li Xu didn’t give him a chance to speak, and pushed him hard.
Long Xinyu didn’t even have time to scream before falling into the sea.
With a “plop,” he landed in the water, and the water quickly submerged Long Xinyu. Luckily, Long Xinyu was a good swimmer. He didn’t have time to think about Li Xu’s conflicting behavior. After entering the water, he quickly surfaced to breathe, then dived back in to search for Rao Xian. Luckily, Rao Xian wasn’t far away and was still struggling. Long Xinyu swam over and dragged Rao Xian to the surface, and Rao Xian coughed violently.
At this moment, Long Xinyu saw Li Xu standing on the bow of the boat, looking at him and Rao Xian in the water.
Long Xinyu didn’t know what Li Xu was thinking, but he could feel that Rao Xian in his hands was getting heavier and heavier. Rao Xian could also swim, but his hands were tied, and with the large amount of blood loss, he couldn’t hold on any longer. Long Xinyu’s knife wound on his shoulder stung from the seawater. Seeing that Li Xu wasn’t making any moves, he turned his head and dragged Rao Xian, trying hard to swim towards the shore.
“Long Xinyu—” Li Xu on the boat suddenly called Long Xinyu’s name loudly.
Long Xinyu heard it, but didn’t turn back. He was already injured, Rao Xian’s hands were tied, and the shore looked so far away. He didn’t know what the woman was calling him for. His only thought now was to conserve his strength and get Rao Xian out of danger.
“Live well, and don’t forget me!” Li Xu’s voice came again, but Long Xinyu, dragging Rao Xian, didn’t turn his head at all.
Li Xu watched Long Xinyu swim away, and smiled bitterly. She took out her cell phone from her pocket, turned on the player, and played a song she had been listening to recently:
*The flowers born from rubble are swallowed by fire, not even having time to wither*
*The eroded dome of the sky is mottled with rust, hiding the clues of the constellations*
*Red rain is burning*
*Nowhere to hide*
*Hoarsely crying out to the grieving void*
*Praying until the end*
*Why does God remain cruel and indifferent*
*Whether it’s a terrestrial hell or a celestial prison, I also crave to have impure eyes*
*Just let me be saved by you again…*
The song was mournful and plaintive. Li Xu took out an extremely delicate lighter. The lighter was engraved with the word “love” in cursive. Li Xu looked at the “love,” and clicked the lighter on. As the flame danced, what Li Xu thought of wasn’t the person who gave her the lighter, but what Long Xinyu had just said, “Saving you, I regret it, but I’m not wrong. Saving people is never wrong.” The adult Long Xinyu overlapped with the young man from that afternoon, the one who held her hand and said he would be her hero. If only everything could be done again!
A sigh escaped. Li Xu closed her eyes and let go of her hand. The lighter “clattered” to the ground, and then, with a “boom,” the fire started—
When Long Xinyu surfaced to breathe, he only felt a bright light behind him. He glanced back and saw that the yacht had been engulfed in flames. The crackling sound of the fire burning the hull could still be heard, and the fire illuminated the seawater.
…He couldn’t see Li Xu’s figure anymore. The flames carried the light of death, burning away how many unknown past events…
Long Xinyu wanted to say to Li Xu: This world, even if it’s not good enough, isn’t as good as you imagined. Don’t let my blood and tears become a joke in other people’s eyes, and don’t let my pain bring more pain. If you don’t have the courage to live, why don’t you have the courage to die? Even if you encounter setbacks, even if you are scarred, there is another way to die. No matter what, hate and love always have a way out!
Unfortunately, there was no chance.
The seawater and Rao Xian, who he was dragging, didn’t give him time to think and feel emotional. He could only try his best to swim towards the shore!
In a large room, two women, one standing in front of a light-emitting display screen and one sitting. Behind them were several people in black jackets, respectfully standing by.
The display screen showed various data, curves, modules, and charts. One screen showed a blaze of fire. The woman standing sighed, “Are you satisfied with this result?”
The woman sitting was silent for a moment before saying, “Human emotions are really wonderful. Having gotten to this point, she still left Long Xinyu a way out.”
The fire on the screen burned brighter and brighter, and the entire ship was quickly engulfed in flames.
The standing woman looked at the screen and sighed, “Human behavior is the most difficult to predict. Despair can make people decadent, but it can also stimulate unlimited potential and destructive power. Her behavior is very representative!”
A person in a white coat came over with a form, which contained various human data and the distribution of brain cell activity. They marked the peaks and handed it to the standing woman. The woman took it and carefully looked at the data. “The probability of two X chromosomes in females being affected by drugs and undergoing changes is higher than that of one in males.”
The sitting woman lazily said, “It’s a pity that men are also easily controlled by emotions. Besides, the person is already gone. Otherwise, who knows what kind of changes will occur in the next generation bred by this kind of drug-affected man. It’s boring to even think about it.”
The white coat chimed in, “The test subject’s low-density lipoprotein is too high, her emotions are very unstable, and she has been taking drugs for a long time, so the possibility of breeding the next generation is small. Even if the next generation is successfully synthesized, it may be even more uncontrollable. Moreover, several of the test subject’s indicators have reached critical values, and even deep brain stimulation can’t suppress this tendency to self-destruction.”
“Tsk—”
The standing woman lightly clicked her tongue. “That means it’s not a waste even if she died!”
The black jackets didn’t respond.
The woman’s eyes stared at the fire on the screen, thinking of Li Xu taking out the lighter, feeling the “love.” An emotion flashed across her face, one that was hard to discern, whether it was pain, pity, sadness, or mockery.
Five months later.
The winter wind carried an icy chill. The earth was a little dim, and it seemed like it was going to snow.
Rao Xian leaned on a cane with his left hand and carried some daily necessities with his right hand. He couldn’t pull his collar any tighter, so he could only let the cold wind blow into his neck. The sequelae of the gunshot wound on his leg was that it would be swollen and painful on such cloudy days, making him walk like a hobbling old man.
Rao Xian walked quickly. When he reached the entrance of the building, he saw Long Xinyu leaning against the car, smoking a cigarette. In such cold weather, this young master was only wearing a shirt and a thin coat, appearing elegant in the winter weather. Whether his handsomeness was real or not, he certainly looked cold. Rao Xian wanted to shiver for him.
Long Xinyu also saw Rao Xian. Thick winter clothes couldn’t hide Rao Xian’s thinness, the sickly pallor on his face, or his handsomeness.
Long Xinyu walked over with the cigarette in his mouth, took the shopping bag from Rao Xian’s hand.
Rao Xian didn’t resist.
Long Xinyu carried the bag in one hand and took the cigarette out of his mouth with the other, exhaling a smoke ring as he slowly walked into the unit with Rao Xian. He began to nag, “Why didn’t you answer when I called?”
Rao Xian said, “I was in the supermarket just now, I didn’t hear it!”
Long Xinyu didn’t believe him. After Long Xinyu’s shrewd analysis and meticulous reasoning, he came to the conclusion: knowing that he called while he was in the supermarket meant that he heard his phone, but deliberately didn’t answer. So Long Xinyu couldn’t help but ask, “Tell me, Officer Rao, are you annoyed with me or not?”
Rao Xian gave him a look, letting him figure it out himself.
Long Xinyu bristled, “So many people lined up to surround me, but I didn’t even bother to look at them. Now that I’m actively flattering you, you’re still annoyed with me?”
Rao Xian helplessly said, “Young Master Long, I’m just a small policeman, and a cripple at that. I’m truly sorry that you have to actively flatter me. Why don’t you go find those people who are surrounding you, how about that?”
At this time, the two had already entered the unit door. Rao Xian’s home was still the ordinary old building without an elevator. The stairwell was a little dark. Rao Xian’s home was on the 5th floor, and it was very difficult for him to climb the stairs now.
Long Xinyu knew that Rao Xian was joking with him, but the words “a cripple at that” made him feel uncomfortable. He took a hard drag of his cigarette, watched Rao Xian limp up the stairs, pursed his lips, exhaled the smoke, hummed a couple of times, and quickly followed.
By the time they climbed to the 5th floor, Rao Xian was a little out of breath. Being shot and then falling into the water had made Rao Xian seriously ill. Now, his body was like a machine with broken parts, weak inside and out, barely maintaining operation.
Rao Xian took out his key to open the door, changed his shoes at the entrance, and Long Xinyu followed him.
Rao Xian entered, put his cane by the door, took the shopping bag from Long Xinyu, and casually said, “No smoking in my house.”
Long Xinyu changed his shoes speechlessly, went to the bathroom, threw the cigarette into the toilet, turned around and said dissatisfiedly, “We’ve been through thick and thin together, and you won’t even give me a special privilege.”
Rao Xian ignored him, went to the kitchen to stuff the groceries he had just bought into the refrigerator. Long Xinyu watched Rao Xian finish stuffing the groceries and start boiling water, washing vegetables, and preparing to cook noodles. So the young master instructed, “Make me a serving too!”
Rao Xian turned his head to look at him, silently took out an extra portion of noodles, prepared the ingredients, and only after the water was boiling did he limp out of the kitchen and sit opposite Long Xinyu.
Rao Xian asked, “The case has been closed for so long. I’m just discharged from the hospital, what are you doing running to my house?”
Long Xinyu rubbed his nose, “I have something to ask you for.”
Rao Xian was puzzled. What could Long Xinyu possibly need to ask him for?
Before Rao Xian could ask, Long Xinyu said, “Can you take me in for a few days?”
“Huh?” Rao Xian was dumbfounded.
Long Xinyu scratched his head, “Because of Li Xu’s matter, my old man is going to grab me and lock me up.”
Rao Xian was puzzled. “Li Xu’s matter has been over for five months. Isn’t it a little too late for your dad to think about locking you up now?”
Long Xinyu sighed, “Before, didn’t Li Xu say that she killed Luo Pingping? But Li Xu is dead, and what she said can’t be confirmed at all. Xu Ming’s identity hasn’t been determined yet, and even Li Xu doesn’t exist. Your police didn’t give a specific explanation, and the public opinion started to stir a while ago, but we suppressed it. We thought it was over, but recently, I feel like someone is stalking me, and they’re sending things to the company.”
Rao Xian was surprised, “Stalking you and sending things?”
Long Xinyu said sullenly, “Yes, because of Luo Pingping’s death, some paparazzi used to follow me, but after being warned by bodyguards a few times, no paparazzi dared to follow me. Recently, someone is following me again, they’re more cunning than the paparazzi, and the bodyguards haven’t been able to catch them a few times. Then there are people sending things to my company, things like skull heads, notes with death curses, puppet dolls, bloody paintings and photos, and knives, mostly saying that I killed Luo Pingping and deserve to die!”
“Have you called the police? This already constitutes intimidation and threats.” Rao Xian felt that what Long Xinyu described already constituted a crime.
Long Xinyu shrugged, “I’m a man, I didn’t take these things to heart, I just thought it was a prank. I figured that there shouldn’t be many lunatics like Li Xu, and there was no need to be alarmed, but last night, I saw Luo Pingping, and I felt that the situation seemed a little serious.”
“You saw who?” Rao Xian doubted his ears.
Luo Pingping was already dead, was Long Xinyu seeing ghosts?
Long Xinyu stroked his eyebrows and wrinkled his nose, “Luo Pingping!”
Rao Xian glared, “Luo Pingping is already dead!”
Long Xinyu sighed, he of course knew Luo Pingping was alive, but he really saw her.
P.S.: The song played by Li Xu at the end of this chapter is “Burning” lyrics by Yin Lin and Ming Huang.