Pristine Darkness

Chapter 20

It seems as if the case against Yao Yuange is in the bag, but new developments turn up, in typical Ding Mo fashion. Jian Yao and Bo Jinyan also have to manage the effect the case has had on them. For Jian Yao, some disturbing memories resurface . . .

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Translator: Ting, shl

Editor/ Proofreader: shl

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In the darkness, someone was laughing. The sound was light, yet sharp. Angry. Arrogant.

Jian Yao frowned and grabbed the bed sheet under her.

He moved towards her, then closer yet. He treated her like an animal, softly petting her long hair. Then, he crooned to her like a lover, "Such beautiful skin. Don't worry, although I will use a whip, I will definitely not damage the skin on your back. So beautiful!"

......

Jian Yao violently forced her eyes open and saw only the same old boring guesthouse ceiling. It was already daylight. Her entire body was covered in perspiration.

She sat on the bed for a while before getting up to wash her face and rinse her mouth. She felt completely awake, but discovered that Bo Jinyan was not in the room.

Once again, he had gone out to run around on his own.

She gave him a call. "Hey, where are you?"

"I'm with Fang Qing." Bo Jinyan's voice was calm and placid. "There were some things I had to follow up on. Did you sleep well?"

Jian Yao replied, "Very well."

"Come on over, they've bought back a sumptuous breakfast. They even specially bought me some cakes made with little prawns. It's probably out of admiration for and gratitude to me. However, they really didn't have to."

Jian Yao couldn't stop herself from laughing. She asked, "So, did you eat the prawn cake?"

". . . I finished it." Bo Jinyan said.

Jian Yao smiled faintly, but her brow was still furrowed, and she fell into a contemplative silence for a while without realising it. With his acute sense of perception, Bo Jinyan observed this unusual occurrence. His tone changed, and he asked her softly and gently, "What is it?"

Jian Yao said, "Jinyan, I would like to spend some time with you alone."

He was quiet for a moment before replying, "I'll be at your side immediately."

"En."

The morning sun was warm, and the street was clean and quiet, with hardly anyone around. Jian Yao only had to wait briefly under a tree before she saw Bo Jinyan walking towards her from the police station opposite. Today, he was wearing a rarely-seen outfit: dark blue-green T-shirt and black trousers, which emphasised his black hair, pale skin and eye-catchingly handsome appearance. Naturally, this was all the effect of Jian Yao's 'post-marriage transformation programme'.

He walked to her and faced her. Taking her hand, he said, "Let me guess, you had a dream again?"

"En." Jian Yao did not have to hide her occasional vulnerability from him.

With a swift move, he hugged her shoulders tightly. They walked along the curve of the river.

Actually, Jian Yao was already dreaming much less about the 'flower ogre'* and the time he had imprisoned her. Moreover, this demon had already become a pile of bleached bones. Bo Jinyan had also praised her for adjusting much better than most people. It was just that what she had seen the day before in Yao Yuange's eyes was so similar to what she had seen in the eyes of the 'flower ogre', as well as in the crazed eyes of many other perverted killers. She thus could not help the chill that spread through her heart.