Chapter 108: Life and Death Together
On the 7th day at the 7th hour and 7th minute.
We will come.
……
Su Mian is frozen standing below the light holding the piece of white paper.
This is what Han Chen sees as he enters the place. He walks up to her back, holds her shoulders and turns her around. His black jacket collar is standing and his body seems to carry the coolness of the night. But his eyes are darkest ever as he assesses her from head to toe. Only after confirming that she's fine that he presses her into his embrace.
"I'm fine," Su Mian says softly. She hugs him back as if it's the only way that can comfort her heart. She holds the letter in front of Han Chen. Han Chen takes a look at it and then picks up the envelope on the coffee table. His expression is indifferent.
_____
The forensic investigators from the station arrive quickly to examine the place. But just as they had expected, the young man who calls himself, A, did not leave behind any traces or fingerprint. The surveillance video in the area also did not capture him——he must have gone around most of the cameras. As for the places that he had to have passed by, the cameras have all been damaged by someone last night.
It's already 3 to 4 am by the time the forensic investigators leave.
Su Mian sits on the couch with her arms crossed and not feeling the slightest bit of tiredness. She thinks through every word that A said to her. Han Chen sees the officers out and closes the door. He looks down and sees that the wall has been punched through with the red wires that were connected to the alarm all in a mess.
He lifts his leg and gives them a kick, making the pile even messier. His actions make too much noise. Su Mian raises her head in surprise. She then sees him stuff both hands in his pockets and walks toward the study room with a cold face.
"Why are you throwing a temper at them?" Su Mian stares at his back, "They didn't want to be taken apart by someone either."
It's hard to blame him for being angry. The alarm system was set up by the forensic department. At the time, an officer he knows promised that this was the best security system in the nation and that it was top notched, unbeatable, blah, blah, blah……
After a while, she sees him come out with one hand in his pocket walking toward her and then sitting down beside her.
"Starting tomorrow, I'll stay at the dormitory with you."
"Mm," Su Mian answers softly. It's just that she's quite depressed when thinking about that squeaky single bed. How should they sleep in it? What if it collapses……
Just as she's thinking about a bunch of nonsense, Han Chen fetches something from his pants' pocket and puts it into her palm.
It's a small gold color whistle with a necklace attached to it.
Su Mian's eyes sparkle until she feels it in her hands and says with a bit of disgust, "It's so poorly made."
Han Chen glances at her and then opens the spring ring clasp, "I got it when I graduated from the police academy. There were over 2000 students that year and only one golden whistle. Bend your head."
Su Mian lets out a, "Oh," and lets him put it on her. Since it's so meaningful and cool, she wants it now.
After finishing putting it on, she pulls her long hair upwards, revealing her neck. She poses proudly at him, "Look, doesn't it look good? Even when it's such an ugly necklace, I still look good in it."
Han Chen smiles. He places one arm on the armrest while he reaches over with the other and holds the whistle in front of her mouth, "From now on, no matter what happens, I will not leave the area of the sound of this whistle until we catch the seven-member organization. If I'm not beside you and you're in danger, blow on the whistle."
Su Mian blinks.
So this is his real goal.
It's true. Within a close distance, a whistle is the best original tool for alerting others.
She holds the whistle with her lips and blows on it hard. A crisp long sound fills the room immediately. Perhaps it can also be heard far away too.
She giggles and dives into his embrace, "It's such a meaningful item, why didn't you give it to me back then?"
Han Chen doesn't remember why either. He only found out where this whistle came from after going back to visit the police academy. But he grabs her hand and answers nonchalantly, "How would I know? Most probably because you disliked it for being ugly."
This makes perfect sense, so Su Mian shuts her mouth immediately.
They hug each other quietly for a while before Su Mian asks, "What about if one day I blow on the whistle and you don't come?" This question is simply trying to find faults, and the meaning behind it is: if you break your promise, what will you do to compensate me?
But Han Chen answers without raising an eyebrow, "Wherever you go, I will go. I will jump off a cliff if I have to. I will always come to you unless I'm dead."
Su Mian is stunned. She reaches up and wraps her arms around his neck, "What nonsense are you talking about?! Touchwood!" She leans forward and kisses him.
Han Chen takes the opportunity to lift her up, walks to the bedroom and tosses her onto the bed.
……
_____
Morning of the next day.
The Black Shield Team's office.
There is nobody else from outside of the team. Xu Si Bai is considered half a member, but he is also not invited.
The door is closed shut. The five of them sit in a circle with solemn expressions on their faces. Han Chen speaks in a calm voice about everything that happened back then.
Su Mian is sitting beside him and doesn't comment. Chatterbox, Cold Face and Xiao Zhuan's gaze land on her a couple of times; surprised, sympathy, and doubtfulness.
Han Chen finishes telling them everything, but everyone is quiet. Han Chen grabs her hand and says, "I'm telling you guys all this because if you guys participate in the case, you should know everything that happened, as well as understand what kind of opponent we're up against. They are the trickiest criminals that we have ever come across. I believe that their provocation towards the Black Shield Team this time is partly due to holding a grudge against us. Therefore, you have the right to withdraw from the case. We can collaborate again in the next case."
He says these words very calmly, making others believe that these are his sincere words and that he won't mind. Su Mian nods and says, "If you guys feel bad, Cold Face, just boil more soup for us. Xiao Zhuan, massage my back. Chatterbox, stop being so talkative. This will be enough to compensate us."
One of them is indifferent, while the other is a comic relief. But they are both sincere. Chatterbox and Xiao Zhuan look at each other. Cold Face continues to be expressionless as always.
"I'm not backing out," he's the first to speak and doesn't say anything more.
Xiao Zhuan grabs onto Su Mian's arm, "Of course I'm not withdrawing! Xiao Bai, who do you think I am? Cheh! I will always advance and retreat with you!"
Su Mian grabs his hand as well, "Xiao Zhuan, I knew you would say this! I was only being polite to you! It was Han Chen who said that we must give you guys the freedom to choose."
Everybody laughs. And due to trying to come up with a long speech and not making it in time to confess, Chatterbox feels too unwise and unloyal. He quickly speaks up, "Hey, hey! There's still me! I haven't said anything yet. Your enemy is, of course, our Black Shield Team's enemy. How can we separate ourselves from it? I feel that the greatest reward I've gotten ever since I became an officer is to be with y-……"
"Let's split up the tasks," Cold Face interrupts him.
"Let's split the tasks!" Xiao Zhuan's voice is even louder.
Chatterbox speeds up his speech, "……my greatest reward is working with you guys to catch the most despicable criminals and save many others, letting justice spread its wings. Furthermore, Leader is my idol——Therefore, let's split up the tasks!"
All five of them laugh. Su Mian stares at their handsome and determined faces making her heart feel warm like a small fire pit.
Never back down; life and death together. They are like buddies, like comrades. There are some things that they don't need to say too much of.
The corners of Han Chen's mouth are also curved into a smile. He turns his head, glances at her and nods. Su Mian stands up and holds the evidence bag that is carrying the letter in front of them.
"Last night, a suspect who called himself, 'A', delivered this letter to our home," she writes a big letter "A" on the whiteboard and then looks at everyone, "A is a young man. Based on his voice from yesterday, he won't be over 30. He even called me big sister. He's very cunning and his tone of voice was sometimes childish and sometimes cold and gloomy. He's wild and loves to take risks, delivering the letter to a police officer's home himself……all of this matches with our preliminary profile on the explosives suspect."
Everybody nods.
Chatterbox speaks, "Xiao Bai, he called you big sister and you were an undercover back then, so this maniac might love and hate you at the same time. You better be careful!"
Han Chen lifts his eyes and looks at her.
Su Mian looks at everybody's concerned face and nods. But she doesn't tell them that oddly, her instincts tell her that A won't harm her. Even though they had a dangerous encounter last night and she was toyed by him, she didn't sense his enmity or threat.
"And the one who wrote this letter should be the second killer. The one who seems respectable and has self-control but is actually a crazy killer who's repressed and twisted," she continues to say.
"Why would it be him?" Xiao Zhuan asks.
"The paper was purposely selected and the writing is superbly beautiful," Su Mian explains, "And he even used 'letter paper', which is such a formal style to send us his invitation. The content of the invitation is short and simple, carrying a sense of arrogance. A wouldn't do something like this. He doesn't have this kind of patience or cultural background. The serial killer who extracts the victims' hearts wouldn't do this. When he extracted their hearts back then, he did not perform any unnecessary actions and did not leave any additional traces of evidence to the police. There's no way that after a few years, his actions would become so careful and complicated. On the other hand, this letter matches the distinct characteristics of the second killer completely."
Everybody nods. Chatterbox speaks up, "So this means that only the third killer, who likes to extract the victim's heart, has not yet appeared?"
"As well as the fourth killer," Han Chen says, "Xin Jia said that there were seven of them. We're still missing one."
Everybody falls into silence.
Whether it's the police officers from back then or them, they haven't been able to grasp a single bit of clue about this last killer.
"I'm done," Su Mian sits down, "There is still too little information right now. There is no way for us to predict what their next step will be just by looking at a letter."
Han Chen takes the letter from Xiao Zhuan, stares down at it and then says, "'We will come.' Where?"
Everybody is stunned.
It's because when they read those words, they immediately assume that it means: I will officially commit crimes now. They haven't thought carefully about what the underlying meaning is.
Han Chen continues to say, "The letter is to the Black Shield Team. The word 'come' is also directed at us. Are they coming to the provincial office? That's not possible. The office is not opened to the public and security is tight. Furthermore, on the 7th, the office will impose even tighter security. Not even a fly will be able to trespass. It doesn't suit the criterion of committing crimes. Therefore, this word, 'come', has a different meaning——"
His pitch black pupils look around, "They will come into our view, a place that we can see."
Everybody is quiet. Su Mian stares at his handsome side profile. Everybody is a bit excited after hearing his interpretation.
"On the 7th day at the 7th hour and 7th minute……" he says in a deep voice, "So precise to the minute. How are they going to guarantee that they will commit a crime at that very minute and let us be able to see it?"
"Live streaming?" Chatterbox gasps.
"That's possible," Han Chen answers, "Or a public place that will capture other's attention so that the police will take notice immediately."
_____
In the next few days, the police of the entire city are on high alert. On one end, the internet is under close surveillance; the moment that a criminal puts up a live stream, they will initiate a trace to lock down on the location to search. On the other end, additional officers are patrolling all public places that start to get busy at 7 am. It's just that there are many places that are busy and the capabilities of low-rank officers vary quite a bit. It won't easy to prevent a crime completely.
Very soon, it's the 7th day at exactly 6 am.