Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the past, whenever Zhao Yu had overexerted his brain, he would have weird nightmares. This time it was different. He had only one dream the entire night, and that dream was of him disappearing from the system. The system vanished without even bidding him goodbye…
In his dream, Zhao Yu couldn’t tell what exactly he was feeling. Was he feeling reluctance over parting, heartache, numbness, or indifference? It was only after the dream ended that he hurriedly shouted, “Would you let me crack this case first?”
“Zhao Yu, Zhao Yu… are you okay?” Zhao Yu could hear Miao Ying calling out to him and he slowly opened his eyes. The sun was already up and he was covered in sweat.
“Are you not feeling well?” Miao Ying asked, tenderly touching Zhao Yu’s forehead. “It’s my fault, I was too tired yesterday and didn’t take good care of you! But it’s so cold, why are you not under the blankets? This isn’t like you!”
“Eh?” Zhao Yu rubbed his eyes. “You were sleeping so soundly. I couldn’t bear to wake you. Besides, I’m an upstanding guy! Haha!”
“Idiot!” Miao Ying said, wiping the cold sweat off of Zhao Yu’s forehead. She saw the burns on his hands and jumped. “Why are you burnt so badly?!”
Her eyes were faster than his attempt to cover himself up.
“Aren’t you super capable? Why didn’t you tell me this happened?” Miao Ying asked, visibly worried after seeing the burns. “You have to go to the doctor and get this fixed!”
“It’s okay, it’s just a slight burn!” Zhao Yu said indifferently. “I’ve already applied some ointment to them.”
“You…” Miao Ying suddenly understood something and quickly peeled off Zhao Yu’s clothes, revealing more burns. He was in pain. “No wonder you didn’t want to go to bed!” Miao Ying said, tearing up. “How could you bear this pain? Quick, take off your clothes!”
“There’s no need, really!” Zhao Yu said, attempting to wave her off. But Ms. Miao was not willing to back down and quickly took his top off. Half an hour later, Miao Ying had carefully treated all the wounds on Zhao Yu’s body with ointment, antiseptic cream, and bandages. There were a lot of wounds but other than the one on his arms, the rest weren’t as serious, so Miao Ying didn’t insist on sending him to the hospital.
“You’re such an idiot! Why didn’t you say anything last night? Do you think you’re some hero?” Miao Ying grumbled while helping Zhao Yu put his clothes on. “What if they get infected? I beg you, next time something like this happens, please let me know…”
Although his wounds were aching, hearing Miao Ying’s concern filled Zhao Yu’s heart with happiness. He grabbed her and kissed her on the cheeks. “Miaomiao, it’s so nice to be with you! I’m so blessed!”
“Ha! I’m glad you know how lucky you are!” Miao Ying said, pouting. “Next time you want to play with your life, please think about my feelings…”
“Speaking of feelings…” Zhao Yu said shamelessly. “How about you and me go to bed and make up for the passion we missed last nigh– ouch!” Before he could finish his sentence, Miao Ying knocked Zhao Yu on his head.
“Don’t you know what time it is? I have to go to the scene of the fire. I’ll make you some soup in the afternoon, okay?” Miao Ying said, putting on her coat and pointing towards the window.
“No need,” Zhao Yu said, putting on the mask and sunglasses he had prepared in advance. He covered his head with the hood of his coat. “I have to go with you today. I was thinking about it last night, and the fire may have affected my judgment. I need to go back and find inspiration!”
“You can’t be serious!” Miao Ying put her hands on her waist and pouted. “Don’t you know your so-called inspiration might land me in jail? You’re a fugitive now, if you’re seen…”
“Stop! Let’s not waste any more time. You’ve already gone to bed with a fugitive, so whatever you say now is useless…” Zhao Yu headed for the car after packing up his things, not caring whether Miao Ying agreed. Helpless to stop him, she could only follow him and drive.
Even if Zhao Yu could not be seen in public, he was not at the point where he had to stay hidden completely. Furthermore, when he had jumped off the Hong Ming bridge, no one had known if he was alive or dead, so the criminal department hadn’t called for an investigation. As long as he was not seen by his acquaintances, he wouldn’t have to hide.
On the way to the crime scene, he was even in the mood for a bowl of mixed mutton soup. Nothing beats that soup on a cold day. After eating, Zhao Yu felt full of energy. The past few days, he had been tortured by the Kun Qian hexagram daily, making life torturous. But now, although the case was still ongoing, the pressure had been significantly lifted. Moreover, with Miao Ying beside him, he felt more confident than ever.
The barn was close to where Zhao Yu was staying and within a few minutes, they arrived on the scene. As the case had caught the attention of the police, there were a few staff on site despite the early hour. He couldn’t risk exposing himself in such a situation and exited the Jeep a bit earlier, walking to the other side of the crime scene. He blended into the crowd of bystanders and observed.
The huge fire had turned the entire barn into a flatland. The buildings had collapsed and nothing had survived the flames. At the center of the fire was where Yu Fusheng and the others had built their secret hideout. It was burnt completely to ashes. From Zhao Yu’s angle, he could only see black soot. In a situation like this, evidence would be hard to retrieve.
There was always a small chance, and the staff collecting evidence was not giving up. Dressed in white, several of them were looking for any evidence they could find. Zhao Yu saw Miao Ying walk over and speak to the local officer-in-charge as well as Gao from Forensics. She was probably asking for updates.
Zhao Yu decided to stop watching and shifted his attention to the environment instead. He had risked coming to the scene because he had an idea. While the fire was burning, the arsonist would have been in the vicinity! For such an important fire, the arsonist would definitely have wanted to ensure that there were no survivors before leaving.
With his invisible detectors, he had learned that the CCTVs in the barn were all switched off, which meant the only way for the arsonist to watch the situation was to secretly do so at the location. If that was the case, was he amongst the crowd of bystanders?
No… Thinking about it, being able to get rid of Yu Fusheng meant this was not an ordinary arsonist. He must know it would not be wise to stay at the scene of the crime. On the other hand, the arsonist wouldn’t feel satisfied without personally waiting for the fire, right? If that was the case…
Zhao Yu scanned the surrounding environment and noticed a mound in the distance. The mound stood higher than the other land and faced the barn. With a pair of binoculars, the arsonist would safely be able to observe the situation!
Zhao Yu concentrated on visualizing the scene.
When Yu Sunfeng and the mute Tu Lekai brought Zhao Yu, who was pretending to be Jiang Ke, to the barn, the arsonist was standing on the mound. He had been watching them with his binoculars as they entered the trap. When the fire started burning, a smug grin spread across his face…
