"Officer Liu, Officer Fang, I'm innocent, I really am innocent." At this point I was getting anxious too—this was a murder charge. Even though the evidence wasn't conclusive yet, I definitely wouldn't be getting out anytime soon. And if I couldn't get out, what would happen to Zhao Yixian?
Liu Guoqiang nodded and said, "I know you're innocent, because we didn't find your fingerprints at the scene, and we didn't find the gloves either. We checked your cloth bag—there were no gloves inside either. Based on that, we can hold off on transferring you to the court for now, but we can't drag this out for long."
"Officer Liu, can you let me out for now? Maybe Zhuge Wu will come looking for me on his own," I pleaded.
Liu Guoqiang shook his head and said, "We only have seven days to investigate. If we can't completely rule out your suspicion of murder, we'll have to transfer you to the court. During these seven days, you can't leave the police station even one step, because there's evidence pointing to you—that's the rule."
"If you can't clear my suspicion, what will happen to me?" I asked calmly.
"You're not yet sixteen, so you'll be sent to juvenile detention. As for how long, that depends on the court's ruling." Liu Guoqiang sighed and said, "Don't worry, we won't let the truth of this case slip away. We won't wrong an innocent person, and we won't let any criminal get away."
I nodded silently, knowing that getting out was already impossible. This was the police station, and the room was completely sealed—there wasn't even a chance to run.
After Liu Guoqiang and Fang Lin left, I took out Zhuge Wu's phone again. The phone was already powered on, but it had a password. The screensaver turned out to be a passage of text: "The Shexian has lost her essence, long dwelling in the jade ring, having resisted ghostly invasion, she has become Suihui. Hence this seal—Jiyin Zhixue can break it."
I looked at this passage and could only understand it with my level of education. As far as I could tell, it roughly meant that Zhao Yixian had suffered great damage to her vital energy, and having stayed in the jade ring for a long time, because she helped me resist the ghost's harm, she had become Suihui. That's why there was this seal, and Jiyin Zhixue could break it open.
I furrowed my brow. This was Zhuge Wu's phone—was this something he wanted to tell me? After thinking for a while, I took out the jade ring pressed against my chest. Could Zhao Yixian still be inside the jade ring? No—Zhuge Wu had tried to harm me time and again, how could I take his words at face value? If Zhao Yixian really was still in the jade ring, then who was the one chatting with Zhuge Wu on QQ?
I looked around at my surroundings, feeling even more anxious. Whether it was a scheme or not, this concerned Zhao Yixian's safety—I had to try. I put my middle finger between my teeth, mimicking the way sorcerers in TV shows bit through the pad of their middle finger, and bit down hard. It hurt so much I bared my teeth in a grimace—a piece of skin the size of a mung bean had been bitten off.
After biting it, I realized that TV shows were all lies. Only biting this way could actually break the skin open, but if you bit your finger like that all the time, your finger would be bitten clean off long ago. I endured the pain and squeezed out a dozen or so drops of blood from my middle finger onto the jade ring. Something wonderful happened—after the blood dripped onto the jade ring, it was actually absorbed by it. Moreover, after absorbing the blood, the jade ring emitted waves of familiar warmth. This warmth made me certain that Zhao Yixian was inside the jade ring.
"Zhao Yixian, you're in there, right?" I asked with a trembling voice.
The jade ring pulsed with two more waves of warmth, then returned to normal.
I was overjoyed. This was our way of communicating—this phenomenon proved that Zhao Yixian was giving me an affirmative response.
"Haha! She really is in there!" I couldn't help but laugh out loud, and my heart felt much more at ease. Zhuge Wu hadn't harmed Zhao Yixian—she was still in my jade ring right now.
The knot in my heart was completely untied. Whether I was tricked by Zhuge Wu or used by that female cop Fang Lin, I no longer cared. As long as Zhao Yixian was here, my heart felt much more at ease. But why did Zhuge Wu do all this? What did he really mean? And what was the deal with Zhao Yixian online? There must still be secrets in the phone, but I didn't know the password and couldn't unlock it. However, none of that mattered now. Knowing that Zhao Yixian was still in the jade ring was enough for me. As for why Zhuge Wu did these things, I temporarily set it aside and didn't think about it. My mind was only focused on getting out early, then searching for the Yangshidi and the Yinshazhu. I wasn't counting on Zhuge Wu anymore. That night, I slept very soundly. In my dreams, Zhao Yixian was still accompanying me. I didn't even want to wake up—just quietly watching her in my dreams was enough to satisfy me. Whether I was locked up or free, I didn't care at all. I spent three days like this at the police station. During those three days, Liu Guoqiang and Fang Lin never appeared again. Apart from eating, I tried every way to make myself fall asleep, because I could see Zhao Yixian in my dreams. I even thought that if I really couldn't find the Yinshazhu in the future, spending every day with her in my dreams would be a beautiful thing. At noon on the third day, the person delivering food was no longer the auntie who cooked at the police station, but Fang Lin. Fang Lin opened the door and handed me the meal box, looking utterly incredulous. "What's wrong, Officer Fang?" I took the meal box and asked in confusion. Fang Lin said, "Oh, nothing. After you finish this meal, sign here, and you can leave." "Huh? Did you catch Zhuge Wu?" I asked in surprise. Zhuge Wu had the address of the Yangshidi. If they found Zhuge Wu, I wouldn't need to look for the Yangshidi through other channels. Fang Lin shook her head and said, "No, we didn't catch Zhuge Wu, but you've been bailed out by Yu Zhen." "Bailed out? My suspicion has been cleared?" I asked in confusion. Why would Yu Zhen bail me out? Fang Lin said, "Yes, I don't know what's going on either. Captain Liu said your suspicion has been cleared. When I asked him what the result was, he said it was confidential and told me to just release you." I let out an "oh." Being able to leave was naturally better than staying here. After eating that meal box and signing, Fang Lin led me out of the police station. She walked me all the way to the main gate before saying, "You need to protect yourself. I think Yu Zhen might do something to you, after all, you reported his hotel for illegal activities." I cursed that fabricated report in my heart, but still smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, Officer Fang. I'm just a kid; Master Zhen wouldn't bother getting serious with me." Fang Lin smiled and turned back into the police station. I had just walked to the roadside outside the station when a small car stopped in front of me. A head poked out from the back seat: "Zhao Lianfan, get in." It was Yu Mengxuan speaking. I looked at her and asked, "Was it you who bailed me out?" Yu Mengxuan rolled her eyes at me and said, "Who else would spend hundreds of thousands to bail you out? Get in the car first, and we'll talk." I shook my head helplessly. This was a big favor I owed. I opened the door and sat inside, then asked directly, "Yu Mengxuan, do you know where Zhuge Wu is?" "I do." Yu Mengxuan looked at me with a triumphant expression.