The Man Who Was Strangled

A normal person who suddenly saw someone apparently strangled to death in their hands would have been startled into letting go. After all, no one would be on guard against a dead person who posed no threat.

But Consultant Luo was clearly no normal person.

He tightened his grip.

Luo Ningsang knew himself very well. The force he had just used was nowhere near enough to strangle someone to death, especially in only a few seconds. The man facing him had not even struggled. This was clearly a setup.

But... who would believe him?

And everyone here would be an eyewitness.

Xu Shenzheng still tried to make an excuse for his boss. "This guy tried to sneak up on you, boss, and you caught him. That makes it self-defense!"

But no one present was blind.

The man had nothing in his hands. Was he supposed to have attacked a grown man with his bare fists? He would have to be out of his mind.

That raised another question.

Why had the man gone up to Luo Ningsang?

And who was he?

Luo Ningsang was pondering that very question. He examined the man's face closely. Though it was somewhat disturbing, Luo Ningsang saw him often enough to recognize him.

Liu Wenzhang.

He did not belong to any of the factions.

He was one of Luo Ningsang's people.

A member of the agency.

Or rather, someone who had been turned. He might also have been a mole from the start.

In other words, besides the four factions currently in the laboratory—the Lin, Bai, and Lu families and the agency—there was a fifth faction of unknown affiliation.

They were after him.

Luo Ningsang's expression was foul.

He looked down for the remote control he had just thrown away and found it gone. His expression grew even fouler.

They were working as a group!?

Once Lin Qi saw that the person had been rescued, she took a photo for her young miss. She had been planning to leave, but then the lights suddenly came on, and she saw this scene.

She looked around.

Everyone wore a different expression.

Butler Lu had already retreated to the door. Seeing what had happened, he did not pause, quickly leading his people away from this troublesome place.

Butler Bai stared at the corpse in Luo Ningsang's hand and laughed. He asked the Police Bureau officers behind him, "What's this? The murderer is right in front of you, and none of you are going to arrest him? Or does Detective Luo have immunity because of his connection to your Police Bureau, so it's not a crime when he kills someone?"

Whether it was true or not, how was this any different from handing him leverage on a silver platter?

Someone in the Police Bureau who disliked Luo Ningsang chose that moment to step forward. "Consultant Luo, please cooperate with the investigation. The Police Bureau would never wrong an innocent person."

Feng Xingyi was close to Director Zhang. The two had attended the same police academy and shared a dormitory, but Zhang Pushan had connections and worked his way up to bureau chief. He had then brought his old classmate over and given him a nominal post in the bureau to build up his credentials. Normally, no one even called him out on cases, except when things were especially busy and he was roped in for some grunt work—like today, when Luo Ningsang had mobilized everyone except the logistics staff.

Feng Xingyi chuckled as he pulled a pair of handcuffs from behind his waist and moved to cuff Luo Ningsang. He had already decided how he would brag to Zhang Pushan when he got back, telling him how he had subdued Luo Ningsang and put him in cuffs.

Xu Shenzheng stepped between them. His height of nearly 1.9 meters made Feng Xingyi swallow and retreat several steps. "What are you doing? Are you going to rebel with Luo Ningsang?"

"Move."

Before Xu Shenzheng could speak, he heard the order from behind him and moved aside instinctively.

With one arm around Shen Yu, Luo Ningsang all but dragged the long-dead Liu Wenzhang over with the other and threw him down in front of Feng Xingyi.

Feng Xingyi trembled all over, his cheeks twitching with fright. "...You."

Luo Ningsang snatched the handcuffs from him and cuffed himself to the corpse.

There was definitely something wrong with this corpse.

Luo Ningsang's instincts told him so. He could not afford to lose the body, and he did not feel comfortable leaving it with Xu Shenzheng, so this was his only option.

He raised his eyes.

"I'll give you two choices."

"First, take the three of us to the hospital without any trouble. Xiao Yu gets treatment, and I go back to the Police Bureau with you for questioning."

"Second, I beat you up, and then you take the three of us to the hospital without any trouble. You and Xiao Yu get treatment, and I go back to the Police Bureau for questioning."

Luo Ningsang handed Shen Yu to Xu Shenzheng and stood up, looking down at Feng Xingyi. Even with a corpse attached to Luo Ningsang, Feng Xingyi could not be sure he could beat him. He gritted his teeth and chose the first option.

His consciousness seemed to sink into a silent black sea. He could see no light and hear no sound, as though he were the only person left in the world. Desolation, emptiness, and loneliness spread and folded around him like maggots clinging to his bones, until they swallowed him whole.

It had been a long time since he had felt this way.

Ever since he opened his eyes in this world, the memories of his previous life had been covered by a black cloth, like Pandora's box: dangerous, yet immensely alluring.

Shen Yu knew full well that those memories were nothing good.

But he also knew that he was no good himself.

After all, with things like that in his memories, how good could he be?

But the straightforward kindness, the instinctive concern, the genuine heartache, and the sincere feelings that made them rack their brains for him were too intense and too unforgettable.

Safe and cherished in their hands, with his every request granted, he had almost drowned in this gentle sea of tenderness and affection.

Shen Yu went along with what they wanted and followed their arrangements.

He knew there was definitely something wrong with him psychologically. Though he did not want them to know, he was still willing to cooperate.

He did not want anyone to shatter this scene.

But what Bai Xiaofan had done lifted a corner of the black cloth in his mind.

He wanted to hold himself back.

Then a hand still dripping with blood reached out of the darkness and spread the lifted cloth back into place. As if still not reassured, it tugged the cloth down tightly twice more.

[Host.]

[It's time to wake up.]

The boundless darkness was torn apart, and a white light filled his vision. His hearing returned first. The monitor's constantly fluctuating ECG, the running ventilator connected to Shen Yu's nose and mouth, the IV drip administering fluids—a jumble of sounds poured into his ears. But the clearest was the steady, strong breathing of the person beside him, sitting in a chair, his back slightly bent with fatigue and his head lowered, revealing only a weary, somewhat pale profile.

Shen Yu's fingers moved, waking the person from his light sleep.

The man raised his head in surprise and delight, revealing bloodstained gauze still wrapped around it. Holding Shen Yu's left hand, he met the sapphire-blue eyes that were still a little dazed after just opening.

It was Lu Yanjin.

"Xiao Yu, you're awake!" Lu Yanjin's voice was still hoarse.

He hurriedly stood up and pressed the call button.

This was the intensive care unit.

Normally, no one was allowed to stay with a patient, but Lu Yanjin had convinced Luo Ningsang with a single sentence.

He had said that when Xiao Yu woke up, he would feel lonely all by himself.

The nearly half a month they had spent together before had also revealed some of Shen Yu's little issues stemming from an extreme lack of security. He disliked silent, quiet surroundings; it could even be called aversion or fear.

Luo Ningsang was overwhelmed by the trouble surrounding Liu Wenzhang's death, Lin Xinluo had taken charge, and Xu Shenzheng was holding the fort as muscle. As for Lu Xianchang... Lu Xianchang had disappeared and could not be reached.

The task of caring for Shen Yu naturally fell to Lu Yanjin.

He had indeed done his utmost.

For the past three days, he had not left Shen Yu's side.