"Not long ago?"
I repeated the phrase, my heart sinking. A bad premonition washed over me. Things were not as I thought. Just as I was about to ask more,
*Bang!* The door burst open.
Shi Ying reacted swiftly, producing a knife she carried with her. Holding it, she scrambled onto the bed and grabbed the unconscious Jiang Kexin.
...
"Don't come any closer, or I'll kill her."
Several police officers, guns drawn, stormed into the room, their weapons trained on Shi Ying.
"Shi Ying, put down the knife. Let's talk calmly."
These police officers appeared well-trained, and Jiang Keyang had entered with them. They looked like the action team from the anti-drug squad. I hadn't witnessed many police callouts before, but their loaded firearms sent a chill of unease through me. I thought of Ning Caichen. That's why I urged Shi Ying to surrender.
However, Shi Ying didn't surrender. Instead, she placed the knife at Jiang Kexin's throat and applied slight pressure, drawing a thin line of blood.
"Don't force my hand. Let me go."
"Shi Ying, don't try to resist. In front of the police, you won't have a chance to harm anyone."
Jiang Keyang shouted, his gun held steady.
"Try shooting, then. If you dare, I'll slit Jiang Kexin's throat."
Jiang Keyang was about to say more when I loudly stopped him. I yelled, "Jiang Keyang, don't provoke her. She's just sick." Then, I turned to Shi Ying, "Shi Ying, let's put down the knife, okay? Jiang Kexin is your sister. She's always seen you as an older sister. She trusts you, confides in you about every pain. Someone who trusts you would be completely vulnerable in front of you. Shi Ying, I know you're dissatisfied with life, but think about it, Jiang Kexin is your friend. She's not like Hu Xiaoyu. Did she ever threaten you? No. She's always treated you like a sister."
Shi Ying's eyes, filled with melancholy, hesitated.
"Shi Ying, even if we're not satisfied with our current lives, there's no need to vent that hatred on our friends, right?"
After I said this, Shi Ying looked at me, remaining silent. Although she showed no outward reaction, I knew she was wavering.
"Shi Ying, put down the knife, put down everything. Let go of the shackles life has woven for you. Let us accompany you into a new life."
"Us?"
"Yes, Kexin and I. I believe Kexin will forgive you. We are your best friends."
"Really? You're willing to be my friend?"
"I am."
Hearing my words, Shi Ying's expression softened. The grip of the knife in her hand seemed to loosen. I knew she was about to let go. But at that moment, *bang!* A shot rang out.
Shi Ying slowly collapsed. She looked at me, her eyes filled with unwillingness. She desperately wanted to live, to have friends, a normal life. She was no longer alone.
The shot hadn't been entirely fatal. Shi Ying still had the strength to lash out at Jiang Kexin, but she let go, allowing the knife to fall onto the bed. In the end, even as she fell, her eyes remained open, a faint smile on her lips, as if she were laughing.
It was Jiang Keyang who seized the opportunity and ordered the action team to fire.
"Jiang Keyang, she was about to let go."
"We'd rather trust a heinous criminal than a mentally ill person."
"What did you say?"
"Yes, your words just now persuaded her. Her knife moved away from Jiang Kexin's throat, but can you guarantee she wouldn't suddenly strike and kill my sister?"
"I..."
"You can't guarantee it, can you? Tang Nan, you understand better than I do that a psychopathic individual capable of dismembering a person cannot be reasoned with using normal logic."
Jiang Keyang smiled slightly and whispered into my ear, audible only to me, "Tang Nan, thank you for saving my sister and giving me a reason to kill this woman."
I turned to look at him, my expression one of shock. This man had never intended for Shi Ying to live.
...
At the criminal investigation unit, I sat listlessly in the corridor. Yu Xiaoluo walked in and asked, "Were you scared?"
"Sis, under what circumstances can police shoot a suspect?"
"According to Article 6 of the Regulations on the Use of Machinery and Weapons by People's Police, for violent acts such as murder or hostage-taking that endanger citizens' lives, suspects may be shot on the spot depending on the situation."
"They didn't commit a crime."
"Correct. Today's operation followed standard procedures, and the shooting was within permissible limits."
...
I felt that Jiang Keyang had done this deliberately, but I had no proof.
"At the time, I had already persuaded Shi Ying."
"As long as the knife is within reach and can pose a lethal threat to the hostage, you haven't truly persuaded Shi Ying."
Hearing this, I couldn't help but shed tears. "That girl, she trusted me, but I harmed her."
"Don't think like that. Her death has nothing to do with you. It was the action team's judgment."
"Was that judgment correct?"
"When a hostage is threatened, we assess whether to fire only after ensuring the hostage's safety. Before that, we'll negotiate with the suspect. If the suspect shows signs of wavering, we can proceed with the shooting while guaranteeing the hostage's safety."
"Sis, don't you believe me?"
I looked up at Yu Xiaoluo. I genuinely believed Shi Ying shouldn't have died. Yes, she was a murderer, but she had been ill since childhood. Everything she did was because no one cared for her. She had no friends, living a life of loneliness and pain. Li Fang, that woman driven by greed, was the final straw that broke Shi Ying's moral compass.
Her friends could have pulled her back. But when Hu Xiaoyu learned what she had done, her reaction was also one of human selfishness. She tried to exploit Shi Ying, which ultimately worsened Shi Ying's condition, leading to her brutal murder by Shi Ying.
I wasn't sure why this unfamiliar girl, for a period, felt like Chen Ling to me.
"I'm sorry, I lied to you for the sake of the mission. Chen Ling's story was something Jiang Keyang and I concocted, inspired by Jiang Keyang's early romance."
"I understand."
"If you don't forgive me, I can treat you to a hot pot. How about a 53-degree Maotai?"
"You know a lot about wine?"
"One thing I said in that story was true: I once sold liquor at a convenience store."
...
Everyone is sunshine, upright.
Jiang Keyang is a schemer who pretends to be an anti-drug official while secretly nurturing drug trafficking for the sake of the anti-drug cause. And the fake Chen Ling is an excellent informant for the anti-drug squad. She is graceful and proud of her career.
The only flawed person in this world is Shi Ying...
...
"Miss Zhang Yi, may I ask you something?"
"Yes!"
"Sister Ling, is she really cooperating with the 'Heart Eater'?"
"Yes!"
"How long have they been cooperating?"
"A little over a year? Why?"
"Nothing, just asking. I'll treat you to a drink sometime, a real one costing over a thousand yuan. My treat."
"Thank you!"
...
As Yu Xiaoluo and I left, we got into her golf cart. Seeing my pensive expression, she asked seriously, "Why were you asking about the 'Heart Eater'? She's dead!"
"It's nothing, just asking."
"Tang Nan, are you hiding something from me?"
"Sis, do you think it's good to sometimes pretend to be ignorant?"
I didn't directly answer Yu Xiaoluo's question. Instead, my words left her speechless. She looked out for a long time, then stopped asking and directly called Luo Bo, "When are you coming back?"
"A few more days. The case here..."
"Find an excuse to come back. Something has happened here."
Yu Xiaoluo hung up and looked at me. I didn't look at her, staring blankly into the distance, as if Shi Ying were smiling at me from the distant sky.