The Final Gentleman Part 3
"I don"t know what happened then. I suddenly heard a number of loud noises. Then, something b.u.mped onto my back. The people were squeezing into each other and my body was feeling warm… I"m sorry, I don"t remember it well. There were too many people. Afterwards, a girl was pointing at me and screaming. It was only then that I realized that my entire body was b.l.o.o.d.y. Really, I don"t know anything at all. Don"t ask me anymore…"
Practically every victim who accepted the questioning only said such things back and forth—there were too many people. I don"t know. It was chaotic.
The population density in the city was really a tragedy, Shen Yexi thought. After making a round of interrogations, there wasn"t a single bit of useful information. For the two wounded children, one won"t show up as he was brought back home by his parents, while the other was in the emergency room.
The two walked out of the ward in silence. Suddenly, a woman"s sharp cries with exceedingly strong piercing power came from the end of the corridor. The two couldn"t help but halt.
A nurse happened to come from that side. After cooperating with the investigation, she also found out that they were the police. Seeing the two of them, she couldn"t help but sigh. She explained, "This is the mother of that child who was just brought here today. He was only four years old and yet his face was terribly burnt. Earlier, the doctor said that with the current technology right now, there was basically not much hope left for that child"s eyes. Pitiful… His entire life! Now, how can this person be so immoral?"
Shen Yexi noticed that she said "immoral", but not "degenerate" or "crazy" and he couldn"t help but ask, "Who"s immoral? The person who put the bomb?"
"That"s immoral? To put bombs on a bus is illegal! The public security and national security are all waiting to catch him! I"m talking about the person standing beside that child on the bus."
Jiang Hu and Shen Yexi shared a glance—there was an inside story.
Over there, the mother of the child was still crying continuously. So, here, the nurse lowered her voice, "I also heard it from that child"s mother when she was crying just now. At the time, that child sat on those types of transverse seats at the front of the bus. There was also a person standing at that empty s.p.a.ce next to them. The bomb was right at that person"s feet. Normally, when the bomb exploded, the child won"t be the first one affected. But that person desperately backed away to the side, and pushed the child down and in front of him to shield himself. Don"t you think it"s immoral?"
The nurse finished speaking and waited for the reaction. Shen Yexi didn"t react and Jiang Hu blinked his eyes. It was only after a while of cold silence that he asked slowly, "Won"t a bomb explode in an instant? How could he have the time to do so many things?"
The nurse was stuck by the question. She stilled for a moment and thought about it. Oh, that"s right, that was certainly true. So, she was also baffled. "I heard the child"s mother say this. It was so chaotic then too, so who would really know?"
Jiang Hu glanced at Shen Yexi. Shen Yexi understood. The two walked out of the hospital in brisk steps.
"What"s wrong?" Once they were outside, he immediately asked.
"Do you remember the victim said things like "a few loud noises"? Some said there were two noises and some said there were three and some said there were a number of noises and they couldn"t remember it well anymore?"
"There was only one bomb. How could there be that many noises? At the time, I thought that maybe they were sounds like things dropping or chairs breaking?"
"Could it be that the words that child"s mother said were only so that she could push away her responsibility for the child? And she formed a delusion or distorted the facts, so that she could find a scapegoat in her mind?" Colleague Jiang Hu, you sure never deviate from talking about your speciality all the time.
"Otherwise, that person who pushed the child is the suspect bomber." Shen Yexi said, "If it wasn"t because he knew that there"ll be an explosion, there was no way that a normal person would do something like this in the instant of the explosion—but if you were the one who put the bomb, would you put it by your feet?"
Jiang Hu furrowed his brows.
Shen Yexi looked at him, turning around to open the car door, while grinning. Actually, other than making everyone worried and on edge, Sheng Yao being injured actually did have a slight benefit. At least, "Dr." Jiang had a slight intention of getting into work mode now. It prevented him from not saying a thing when he wasn"t asked.
There was no more of that d.a.m.ned behaviour of staying unconcerned with things. The sharp jaw was hidden in the dark grey scarf and a slight fog on his spectacles, and added on with that little bit of deep contemplation—he really did look a lot more pleasing to the eye.
He stretched out his hand, so Jiang Hu backed away in reflex. He shrank back his neck, a hand protecting his hair as he looked at Shen Yexi on guard. Look at how damaged this child was—Shen Yexi snickered and b.u.t.toned up the single b.u.t.ton at his collar that undid itself since G.o.d knew when. "Why are you avoiding me as if I was going to do something to you? And you don"t even wear your clothes properly. Just wait for the first batch of cold virus to take care of you. Get in the car, retreat."
On this day, the people were basically as busy as beavers. But half a day"s worth of work basically gave no results.
Other than the Explosives Ordinance Disposal making a slight progress, Yang Man informed everyone in extreme puzzlement—the exploded bomb didn"t have a specific time set. The thing that triggered it was a simple short-ranged remote. Nevermind this; After all, remote-controlled settings were frequently seen too. But, the strange thing was that the two buses which exploded were both not near the bus stops but were on the way between two stops.
Yang Man said that the colleague in the Explosives Ordinance Disposal had raised his head blankly to say this at the time, "Which is to say that, when the suspect controlled the bomb to explode, they were in that unlucky bus at the time. Yang-jie, what ailments does this guy have?"
As for what ailments they have, they didn"t know. In any case, the people who came back after exhausting themselves for the entire day had the same opinion: that their team was absolutely cursed. If not, then why were the cases transferred to them all so odd? The current situation was basically as though you"ll be able to hit a mental deviant if you kick a rock on the streets.
Shen Yexi still hadn"t driven his way back to the bureau when Jiang Hu fell asleep on the front pa.s.senger seat. He had gotten up early in the morning to buy flowers and to find the way to the hospital. Then he straightened Sheng Yao out. He still hadn"t finished that before he was lifted by his neck to go back to study a b.a.s.t.a.r.d who was discharging explosives everywhere. So he was also a little tired now, especially this matter of finding his way around. It was really a draining matter for Dr. Jiang.
While the light was still red, Shen Yexi took off his jacket, putting it on Jiang Hu lightly.
How should he say this… This person came in autumn, didn"t he. As they talked, it was already the beginning of winter in the blink of an eye. A season had gone by. He was already used to having such a quiet person with a low presence sitting at the table at the corner to greet him once he opened the office door early in the morning. When there weren"t many things, he didn"t speak much. If there was another clone of him or if he wasn"t there, there wasn"t much difference. He just made a small joke occasionally to entertain everyone. But when something happened, each time you look back, you can always see the side of a calm and contemplative face.
This person didn"t carry weapons, but the refreshing, slender body and the gentle and rather low voice always had the power of making people have no choice but to believe him.
Just like the endless ocean. When you"re on the beach by the sea on bright and clear days, your eyes will see a great calmness. But no one would know how he would change when the storms and winds arrive.
Shen Yexi hesitated for a moment, adjusting the car"s direction. He sent a short message to tell the few others to be released on the spot and to let everyone go back and have a good rest. They"ll reserve their strength and to continue investigating this serial bomber tomorrow. Then, he directly drove the car to Jiang Hu"s place.
After all, there weren"t much results today at all, so why not let everyone go back earlier to rest—with Jiang Hu being such a scatterbrain, the moment the cold wind blew at him once he got off the car, he"ll definitely catch a cold. So he might as well bring him back home directly. It was on the way too.
Actually, the gentlest and most considerate part of a certain person was not knowing exactly how gentle and considerate he was.
It was a pity that Shen Yexi had trained enough to become a jinx since G.o.d knew when. Even if he did that, Jiang Hu"s entire body still felt unpleasant the moment he got up the next morning. His head was heavy and his throat was clearly swollen. When he was eating breakfast, it was with flaming pain. His nose was also a little blocked—he really did catch a cold.
He dissolved a package of isatis root[1] in water, planning on drinking it to lessen it. Then, he changed into a thicker coat and went out against the chilly winds and biting cold.
It"s clear that Scatterbrain Hu, who began to do work which was like civil service and only used his brain the moment he reached the mainland, had overestimated his body.
On this day, a little snow even drifted down in loneliness. Cold in one moment and warm in the next, the cold virus was disdainfully unrivalled this time, so it caused him to pitifully curl up in the office for the entire morning, his hands holding a cup of hot coffee. The faint discomfort in his bones turned into a genuine soreness, and his head became increasingly heavy. The slightest movement of nodding or shaking his head could allow him to feel the pain of the nerves jumping inside.
Suddenly, a slightly cold hand stretched over, feeling the temperature at his forehead. Jiang Hu raised his head in a late reaction, seeing Shen Yexi"s hands currently holding a cup of hot water and a few pieces of medicine.
Shen Yexi s.n.a.t.c.hed away the coffee in his hand, allowing for zero explanation and shoved the hot water and medicine in his hands. But his mouth was still taunting him, "Are you as feeble as a sheet of paper?"
Jiang Hu blinked his eyes a little effortfully and made an "oh" sound. He was feeling a little faint in the first place and couldn"t react to it, and he also didn"t know that the other was mocking him. It took a long while before he said a thank you with a hoa.r.s.e voice.
"You"re like this, unable to treat yourself properly when you have a slight illness, and you still dare to give medicine to others?" Shen Yexi laughed, trousing his hair. But having considered that this person wasn"t quite comfortable, his hand was much lighter subconsciously. "After eating the medicine, you better go home. I"ll bring you back. There"s too many local beetles in the bureau and it wasn"t easy for a sea turtle to come[2]. I can"t afford it if you turn stupid from the fever." He paused, squinting to look at Jiang Hu, "Although even if you"re not feverish, you"re also a muddled scatterbrain."
Jiang Hu laughed and didn"t give any objection. He didn"t feel well, so he can"t help much here either.
Eating the medicine heartily and wrapping his clothes around him tightly, he followed Shen Yexi out.
But who knew that only half of their feet had stepped out when An Yining rushed in with big steps and nearly b.u.mped into Shen Yexi. Her brows were tightly furrowed, entire body with a depressing air. Once she saw Jiang Hu"s complexion, she firstly paused in distraction. "What"s wrong, Dr. Scatterbrain Hu?"
"He got a fever. I"m bringing him back. I"m afraid that he"ll be a blurred mess and make his way around a dozen loops." Shen Yexi received a bundle that An Yining gave. "What"s wrong now?"
An Yining used her hand to wipe at her forehead and sighed. "Entire families dead. Two of them. That case with the explosions aren"t even done yet. d.a.m.n, it"s really the New Year"s soon. Did this group of brain-dead morons come out to produce their own New Year goodies?"
"Two entire families deceased?" Even Jiang Hu couldn"t help but come closer.
The photos in the file were b.l.o.o.d.y. The master"s and the mistress" bodies were lying on the bed in a row, and who knew how many times they were chopped, being so b.l.o.o.d.y and mutilated. The child was completely strangled in his little bedroom. For the other family, only the master and an adolescent girl were at home. The man was similarly chopped many times. Who knew if it was because the girl"s age wasn"t too old and she wasn"t easy to control, her heart was stabbed through once and nailed to the bed.
"The same killer?"
"Probably." An Yining said. "Because the living rooms of the two families had traces of a knife being madly used to stab the wall. And there was a word written with blood at the side."
"What word?"
"Judgement."
The author has something to say:
My responsibility to visit my relatives this year is finally completed. Please allow me to laugh three times loudly towards the heavens~~~ nyahaha~~~
Translator Note:
[1]: Also known by its pinyin, Ban Lan Gan (板蓝根), is a cooling herb often used in TCM, and is said to be useful against colds.
[2]: This is a metaphor in chinese, where beetles refer to the local talents and sea turtle refer to overseas talents.