In the dark room, the clock on the wall was ticking, and there was only a light with a yellow switch hanging down from it. Or rather, there was a wire hanging down from a 25-watt bulb. Although it was dim, it was still possible to see around the room.
Liu Fang was tied to a chair. He looked up at the man standing in front of him.
"Who are you?" Liu Fang shook his head slightly. Just now, the strange person made him inhale something. Now, he was extremely weak. Not only was he tied up, but the man was also holding a gun.
"I love you." Standing in front of Liu Fang was Qiao Weiming. He was staring at Liu Fang with a smile, while holding a small bag in his hand.
"I don't know you. Are you mistaking me for someone else?" Liu Fang said weakly. He felt that he was about to get an asthma attack, as it was a bit difficult for him to breathe. The air was terrible.
Qiao Weiming said with a smile, "I don't have much time," he said, taking out a syringe and a small bottle of medicine.
Liu Fang shook his head. "What are you doing? I don't need to be injected with anything."
"Don't worry, it's not drugs." Qiao Weiming comforted him, "this is just a communication tool."
"Communication tool?" Qiao Weiming frowned deeply in confusion.
"Let's be together first, and then I'll tell you slowly." Qiao Weiming smiled.
"Be together?" Liu Fang said feebly. "Here? What is this place? I can't breathe."
"You'll get used to it in a while." As he spoke, he inserted the needle into the medicine bottle, pulled out the medicine, then carefully flicked the syringe and smiled at Liu Fang. "We will talk later. There's something else we need to do... Let me into your head... Then we will never be separated again!"
"Psycho!" Liu Fang was a little dizzy as he yelled, "you're crazy! I don't even know you!"
"For you, I killed the people who hurt you!" Qiao Weiming smiled.
"What?" Liu Fang looked up at him in puzzlement.
"Wang Youyi, Zhang Han, Wu Qianliang, and Xu Zhong... Oh, Xu Zhong was saved, but it doesn't matter. I will go to prison and kill him. I won't spare anyone who dares to hurt you!"
"But... why? Who on earth are you?" Liu Fang was puzzled. Qiao Weiming leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. "The person who will occupy your whole world and share half of your life with you in the future... And the one who loves you the most."
"Hah..." Liu Fang laughed miserably. "The person who loves me and who I love the most died over 10 years ago."
"You will forget him!" Qiao Weiming sneered, picked up the syringe and rolled up Liu Fang's sleeve.
"No, don't. Go away!" Liu Fang struggled. "I'll never forget him even if I die!"
Qiao Weiming grabbed Liu Fang's hand to hold it in place. Just as he was about to insert the needle, he suddenly heard a crash above his head and a bright light shone in. Both Liu Fang and Qiao Weiming were dazzled by the light.
At the same time, someone jumped down and shouted, "Qiao Weiming! Put down the syringe and stand back!"
Qiao Weiming saw one of the people dressed in white. It was Bai Yutang. Qiao Weiming ignored the intruders, as he continued to lower the syringe. However, it was suddenly flung aside by the person closest to him.
That person was Luo Tian, who then pressed Qiao Weiming on the ground. Luo Tian raised his arm then punched towards Qiao Weiming. Luo Tian's strength was so terrifying that Qiao Weiming was instantly stunned. Ma Han and the others took the gun in Qiao Weiming's hand. Then, Gong Sun jumped down, picked up the syringe on the ground and put it carefully into a paper bag. "Nice one!"
"Liu Fang, are you okay?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang went over to untie Liu Fang.
Liu Fang suddenly became short of breath.
"Something's not right!" Zhan Zhao said in shock.
"It's asthma, this is underground, the air is thin and there's too much dust!" Gong Sun rushed over and said to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "does he have any medicine in his pocket?"
Bai Yutang looked around, then took a small puffer out from Liu Fang's pocket and sprayed some into his mouth.
"Ah!" Liu Fang regained consciousness, as he looked at Zhan Zhao and said, "I don't want to forget..."
Zhan Zhao patted him on the shoulder and whispered, "don't worry, you won't forget."
Then, Liu Fang was carried out and sent directly to the hospital. Qiao Weiming was taken away by Luo Tian, while Bai Yutang and the others climbed out from the underground area.
After coming out from that dark confined space, they arrived in a large dog cage next to Qiao Weiming's yard, which could be lifted.
"Xiao Bai, how did you know there is a basement under here?" Zhan Zhao asked curiously.
Bai Yutang smiled, looked at the big dogs led by Zhao Hu, and said, "do you still remember when we spied on Qiao Weiming all night?"
"Mmhmm." Zhan Zhao nodded.
"I noticed that the door of this cage was closed all the time," Bai Yutang said. "Most people who have big dogs and keep them in the cage would have the door open when there are no dogs. However, when we first came here, Qiao Weiming deliberately came out and opened the cage when he placed the dog inside. The night when we spied on him, the door of this cage was closed, while the dog was sleeping outside. Also, his dog's food is outside as well, and there is not even a blanket in the cage. However, there are a lot of footprints."
"Not bad!" Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows and patted Bai Yutang on the shoulder. "Impressive!"
Bai Yutang smiled and said, "do you know why I know?"
Zhan Zhao shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.
Bai Yutang said helplessly, "do you remember picking up puppies by the side of the road when you were at school?"
"Mmhmm." Zhan Zhao smiled and said, "we picked up eight."
Bai Yutang looked up at the sky. "Yes, it was you who found them, but you said I was the one who found them. Later, didn't my father take me to the countryside to let the dogs get raised there?" After thinking about it, he leaned over and whispered, "I'll tell you something. Don't tell anyone else!"
"Okay." Zhan Zhao nodded.
"My father and your father are both dog lovers. They have a Tibetan mastiff the size of a bear at a friend's place in the countryside."
"Really?" Zhan Zhao was surprised. "Why didn't I know?"
Bai Yutang shook his head feebly. He then reached out, patted Zhan Zhao, and said earnestly, "because you are a cat!"
Zhan Zhao lifted his arm and opened his hand like a cat trying to scratch someone.
"Ahem." Gong Sun interrupted them with a cough and asked, "can we reveal the truth now?"
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, nodded, then rushed to the hospital with everyone else.
Liu Fang's condition had stabilized. He laid on the hospital bed, looking out of the window at the trees. He seemed to be in a daze.
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang knocked on the door. Liu Fang looked away and saw Zhan Zhao walk in with a paper box.
Liu Fang put the box on Liu Fang's body. Liu Fang looked down and saw that there was a white soft blanket in the paper box. Lilia lay inside with gauze wrapped around her belly. She looked up and meowed at him affectionately.
"Lilia!" Surprised and delighted, Liu Fang lifted the cat out carefully, placed it on his chest, and gently rubbed its fur.
Lilia also missed Liu Fang very much, as it rubbed against the palm of his hand.
The other police officers from SCI stood at the door. The doctor did not allow too many people to go inside. Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao sat down on a stool and looked up at Liu Fang.
"Go ahead." Bai Yutang said.
"Where do I start?" Liu Fang asked.
"From where you think we can keep up." Zhan Zhao said as he looked at Liu Fang.
Liu Fang looked up at Zhan Zhao and then at Bai Yutang and smiled. "Are you two lovers?"
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, then nodded confidently.
"You two are a good match." Liu Fang said lightly. "Jianxian and I were together for a long time. We always thought that after we went to college and left home, we would have more time together, but this is not the case."
Bai Yutang smiled. "There were a lot of people staring at you in school. You get teased at even a little bit of what you believe to be casual behaviour. They think there's something wrong with you guys, right? Once people spread some rumours, things became even more outrageous."
Liu Fang looked up at Bai Yutang with surprise, then laughed and shook his head. "After all these years, the school is still the same."
Zhan Zhao opened his eyes wide and looked at Bai Yutang.
"Jianxian was locked up in the toilet. That's why he didn't escape during the fire. I tried my best to save him, but he was seriously injured." Liu Fang started to talk about the past. He seemed very calm, but there was a touch of sadness. Jianxian said that he wanted to get better and get revenge."
"Revenge?" Zhan Zhao asked.
Liu Fang nodded. "Jianxian had completely changed after the incident. He was no longer the kind and gentle person he used to be... You can't blame him though, can you?"
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were silent, waiting for him to continue.
"Then, one day, he could not hold on any longer. His wound was infected... and he died." Liu Fang said gently. "His parents died early. He probably lived with relatives, as his family didn't care about him anyways. I took care of his matters. At that time, I asked the people in the graveyard how to be buried together, and that one of them had not yet died. They told me that it would be fine to buy the tombstone next to it, engrave the name, and bury the urn once that person dies. So, I bought that tablet."
"Did you ever think about taking revenge?" Zhan Zhao asked.
Liu Fang thought about it and said, "I don't know, my emotions are very complicated. However, as time goes by, the yearning gets deeper and deeper, and the hatred becomes weaker and weaker. I didn't go back to school again. I just travelled around while studying photography. When I get tired, I would go sit at his grave for a while. This lasted for three years, until one day, I met someone."
"The mute uncle?" Bai Yutang asked, "Wang Yiming?"
"I was really attracted by his hoarse cry." Liu Fang said. "Later, I thought maybe it's because I had spent the last period of time with Jianxian, saw his suffering, and felt that death was the best relief for him, so I was not so sad. But for that person, it is obvious that he had lost the one he loved most suddenly, so he was very sad."
"And then what?" Zhan Zhao asked. "Did you two talk?"
"Yep." Liu Fang nodded. "When we first started talking, I was very surprised. He was a teacher at Normal University, and our experiences were very similar... He said that someone caused his voice to become like this."
"Someone did it on purpose?" Bai Yutang was surprised. "Was it He Kai?"
"He did say a name. Apparently, he had scolded that student before, and then the student held a grudge and followed him, discovering his secret. At that time, Wang Yiming was dating a boy named Li Qin, who seemed to be a student from out of town, from another school. He was a part-time delivery man." Liu Fang recalled "On the day of the incident, He Kai deliberately snuck into Wang Yiming's room and leaked the gas, so that when Li Qin came back, he would think there was a gas leak, or that Wang Yiming wanted to commit suicide or something. He Kai just wanted to have some fun... But didn't expect it to be such a tragedy."
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned. "This student is too reckless."
"I told him about my story as well." Liu Fang said. "He asked me in detail about Jianxian and asked me for Jianxian's ID."
"You gave it to him without asking him why?" Zhan Zhao asked. "Or did you think he will avenge them?"
Liu Fang shook his head and said, "I don't know. He asked me for it, and he didn't tell me what he wanted to do with it. But I knew... I gave him a lot of Jianxian's things without hesitation. Afterwards, he disappeared and never showed up again."
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other. The mute uncle had probably started his plans.
"Until you guys found me a few days ago." Liu Fang said. "I heard about the case and worked out the truth of the matter... I don't know why, but when I heard what happened to Wu Qianliang and Xu Zhong, I seem to have no feelings." Liu Fang said with a sigh. "Then the man earlier came to me. He hurt Lilia, knocked me out and took me to that place."
Seeing that Liu Fang was already a little tired, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang stood up and turned to leave. Liu Fang suddenly asked, "Officers, do you guys think I was wrong to give Jianxian's things to Wang Yiming?"
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were silent for a while. Bai Yutang shrugged and walked out. Zhan Zhao said to him, "have a good rest." Then, he waved his hand at Lilia and said, "Bye Lilia."
Lilia shook her beautiful tail and squinted at Zhan Zhao. "Meow~"
After coming out of the hospital, everyone got into the car. Bai Chi asked Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "What about the rest of the case?"
"Let's return and ask those two." Bai Yutang started the car, "Wang Yiming and Qiao Weiming."
"Yeah." Zhan Zhao nodded. "We can call them the Crazy Avenger and the Crazy Admirer."