Attack the Heart

"Dad, what brings you here?"

Chu Sheng stood to the side. He had only visited his father that morning, yet that afternoon his father had cornered him at the entrance to the Police Bureau. With two young men following behind him, he looked very much like he had come looking for trouble.

"Hmph." Chu Jingsong glared at him, but ultimately decided to spare his son some dignity and told everyone else to leave.

Shen Yu pulled down the brim of his cap, trying to shield himself from view as much as possible. If Sister Luoluo and the others saw him, they would definitely send him back to the hospital. The white-haired young man beside him casually slung an arm around his shoulders as though they were old friends. Shen Yu didn't resist, but lowered his voice and asked, "Who are you? What did you sneak in here for?"

The white-haired young man flashed a broad smile at the camera in front of them. Shen Yu looked at him strangely.

"I'm here to save my brother. He was framed." He sounded very sincere.

"Then go save him." Shen Yu turned to leave.

But the white-haired young man grabbed him. Shen Yu used his free hand to pinch a nerve in the young man's arm, and seeing him grimace, coldly tossed out, "Don't bother me."

The white-haired young man rubbed his arm but didn't make a fuss. He simply ambled along behind Shen Yu, watching him search everywhere while also dealing with officers passing by. After Shen Yu hit yet another dead end, the white-haired young man dangled some bait.

Shen Yu stared at him expressionlessly for a moment, then took him to the Criminal Investigation Unit's office. No one was inside. Shen Yu found an unused computer and handed it to the white-haired young man.

But the white-haired young man made no move to start.

"I have a condition."

"Speak."

"We're fated to meet, so how about we get to know each other?"

Shen Yu couldn't make sense of him. He studied the young man with white hair and golden eyes. "My name is Luo Yu."

"...So dishonest. Your name is clearly Shen Yu."

The white-haired young man's eyes curved into a smile as he saw Shen Yu's face darken, just as he had hoped. "My name is Yuan Qingshan. I also have a more famous codename: Suyuan."

Shen Yu said, "Oh."

Shen Yu urged him on. "Hurry up and check."

Yuan Qingshan's expectant expression froze. "You don't know me?"

Shen Yu genuinely thought he was being baffling. He also felt he had been clutching at straws. What could such a young brat know about hacking?

Should I reveal my identity and ask? Even if they notify someone, it'll take a while, right?

This was the first time Yuan Qingshan had failed to see shock on someone's face, and he found it immensely interesting. But seeing the other man's obvious distrust also stirred his competitive spirit. He removed the stud from the cartilage of his ear and assembled it into a small metal plate, then placed it on the sensor. Dazzling blue-and-black code instantly flashed across the screen.

"He's in the Underground Morgue."

In less than half a minute, Shen Yu had his answer.

He turned and left.

He didn't hear the rest.

"...Ten minutes ago." Yuan Qingshan's mouth twitched as he watched him run off.

"Why's he in such a hurry? He's a lot like you when you were young, Brother Luo."

Yuan Qingshan pulled up the surveillance feed from the bureau chief's office and watched the disheveled Luo Ningsang barge in with Lin Xinluo. They stared at Chu Sheng, who was being lectured by Chu Jingsong, and he stared back at them.

The conversation in the office came through the headphones hanging around Yuan Qingshan's neck.

"You knew perfectly well there was something wrong with the corpse. But the moment you heard he'd run out, you abandoned your own business? Honestly... I'm so envious, Brother Luo."

Yuan Qingshan drummed his fingers anxiously on the desk.

Knock, knock, knock—

Shen Yu stood outside the morgue and knocked politely. It really had been difficult to find: it was in the innermost corner of the first basement level, and the lights in this part were broken. Only the word "morgue" glowed with a faint green light.

He had already planned how he would go in and give Luo Ningsang a scolding. He wasn't a child; of course he should take responsibility for his own affairs. Besides, he was a minor, so no matter what, it was better than having Luo Ningsang shoulder the blame.

A detective from Ancheng's top agency was a murderer?

That really sounded awful.

But after he waited a long while, the door still didn't open. Shen Yu gripped the handle, pressed it down, and pushed the door open. It was even darker inside. A single incandescent bulb hung in the center, making the room feel even more oppressive.

By its light, Shen Yu could see the entire room at a glance. There was only a cabinet for odds and ends and a trolley for corpses against the wall. A white sheet covered the corpse, trailing straight down to the floor, though one arm stuck out. A pair of handcuffs, several used heat patches, a hot-water bottle that was still warm, and a blanket lay scattered on the floor.

They showed that someone really had been here.

But where was he?

Shen Yu picked up the handcuffs.

Why would the Police Bureau lock someone up here? That's unlikely. Did my brother come here himself? But why?

He really had seen Luo Ningsang on the surveillance footage, so how could he not be here? Hmm... unless the footage was from an earlier time. Tsk, Shen Yu really hadn't paid attention to the time at the bottom. He had only wasted a little time; he could go back and look again.

"Are you sure you sent everyone away?"

"Don't you trust me to get things done?"

Two people were talking outside the door. Shen Yu had come in so quickly that he hadn't shut it; it was only ajar.

"Huh? Why is this door open?"

They were right outside. It was too late to close the door.

Shen Yu looked around, his gaze landing on the white sheet over the corpse. He crouched down, lifted the sheet, and slipped underneath.

"Maybe Luo Ningsang left in such a hurry that he didn't shut it. He heard his little brother had run out of the hospital and didn't even stay to guard the corpse. How loyal and devoted," said the person a few steps behind.

Guard the corpse? Why guard it? Is there something wrong with it? He slashed his neck and stabbed him in the heart—two fatal wounds. How could there still be something wrong with how he died?

Shen Yu sensed two figures walk up to the corpse trolley. He quieted his breathing.

"Don't say that. You should be grateful to his little brother. Otherwise, how would we have had a chance to get rid of the drug residue in the corpse?"

"If you ask me, it's pointless, and it only increases our risk of being exposed. Forget Ancheng—even if you expanded the search to the whole province, who could detect Lord Eroding Ash's drug? Big shots sure are protective of their lives, huh?"

"Once we're out that door, I'll act like you never said that to me. Think before you speak from now on, unless you want to lose your life."

A drug? Shen Yu realized something was wrong.

What happened after I passed out?

Suddenly, light filled Shen Yu's vision.

The two had lifted the white sheet. Fortunately, no one was going to crouch down and check whether someone was hiding under the trolley holding the corpse.

"Yeesh, what a terrible way to die. His eyeballs are bulging out."

"Stop dawdling. Inject the drug and let's get this over with and leave. If someone comes in a little while, we're both done for."

"Go find me a needle."

"You didn't bring one?"

"It fell out of my pocket. I must have knocked it out when I was hurrying over just now."

"What a lousy pocket."

The man left for the moment to rummage through the cabinet for a needle.

Shen Yu also realized what they were going to do: eliminate the traces of the drug from the corpse and pin the man's death entirely on Luo Ningsang.

But who was this man?

Was Bai Xiaofan not dead?

He had to stop them.

Before he had time to think it through, Shen Yu was already moving. He put the handcuffs in the pouch pocket at the front of his hoodie, then thrust out both hands and lunged forward, using his weight to force the unsuspecting man to the floor.

He clenched his right hand into a fist and slammed it into the man's temple, paying no attention to the blood seeping from his wound.

The blows made the man's vision go black, but Shen Yu was, after all, a patient who had only just left the hospital, and he failed to knock him out. The man was protecting the drug with one hand, however, leaving only the other to fend Shen Yu off, and he clamped it around one of Shen Yu's arms.

Shen Yu used the motion to grab him by the throat instead, lifting his body off the ground and pressing all his weight down on him. He watched as the man gradually lost his breath and kicked his legs wildly, unable to keep hold of the drug, which he dropped on the floor.

Only then did the person searching for a needle finally react. "Fuck, why is someone else here?!"

Shen Yu let go before he could charge over, swiftly cuffed the hands of the man collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath, then lunged to the side and picked up the vial of drug that had fallen to the floor, dodging the other man's attack.

He immediately got to his feet and lunged for the door.

"Don't let that brat get away! He dared to choke me. If I don't kill him, I'll write my name, Xiao Qi, backward!"

Shen Yu had just grabbed the door handle when the weakness brought on by the strenuous exertion made his vision go black. His limbs went limp, and he froze for an instant. In that instant, the man chasing him grabbed the hood of his sweatshirt.

He hurled Shen Yu hard onto the floor.

Blood welled up in Shen Yu's throat. He turned his head and spat out a large mouthful of blood, his vision darkening as he struggled to get up.

His cap had vanished in the chaos, and his neatly gathered hair had fallen loose. His conspicuous blue hair was exceptionally eye-catching.

"Cough, cough... Don't throw the brat so hard you kill him."

"Am I that strong? Besides, didn't you say you wanted to kill him?"

"I changed my mind. Take a good look—blue hair and blue eyes. Who is he?"

"Luo Ningsang's little brother who ran away? What's he doing here?"

"How should I know? But I just thought of something fun."

"What?"

Xiao Qi chuckled softly. "We'll have him join our organization. It's not like you haven't seen those people's brainwashing methods. Just imagining the look on Luo Ningsang's face when he finds out gets me excited."

"...You really know how to attack the heart."