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He watched Pei Qingyu's body jerk upward under the shock of the defibrillator, then fall heavily back down, limp. This repeated three or four times before the heartbeat on the cardiac monitor returned to normal.

"He's all right for now." The old doctor breathed a sigh of relief, sank back into the chair beside him, and counted Pei Qingyu's pulse.

"In his condition, he'll definitely need surgery shortly." The old doctor turned toward Xun Yin, who stood silently in the corner. "His heart stopped just now. It could have been caused by heart failure, or it could be related to cardiac tamponade caused by bleeding from his old injury. We need surgery to determine that."

"...How risky is it? Surgery for heart failure or a reopened old injury." Only after speaking did Xun Yin realize how terribly hoarse his voice had become.

The old doctor fell silent for a moment, then chose his words carefully. "All surgery carries some risk. If it's heart failure, we'll need to determine its current severity. If his old injury has reopened, we'll need to clear out the accumulated blood and suture it."

He did not go into further detail, merely patted Xun Yin's shoulder. "Don't worry. He made it through before. He'll be fine this time too."

Xun Yin silently accepted all those words of comfort and nodded again.

After Pei Qingyu was taken out of the ambulance, he was wheeled straight into the resuscitation room. Looking a mess, Xun Yin stood in the corridor for a moment, then turned and went into the restroom to splash cold water on his face. He raised his head and stared at himself in the mirror when his phone suddenly rang.

"Brother Xun, how's the captain?"

Song Ranran's anxious voice came over the phone. Xun Yin wiped his face. He opened his mouth to say, "He's fine," but in the end, he merely parted his lips and answered quietly, "I don't know."

Song Ranran seemed to understand something and did not press him. After a long silence, she changed the subject. "Brother Xun, I searched the interrogation room, the hospital, Song Sheng, and Song Xiao like you said. In the end, I found a listening device on each of the two women."

Xun Yin braced himself against the restroom sink and straightened up. Frowning, he murmured an acknowledgment, signaling for her to continue.

"I questioned Song Sheng again afterward. She said someone she didn't know slipped her the listening devices at the factory and told her to keep one and put the other with Song Xiao. They said that would save their lives." Song Ranran abruptly lowered her voice. "If that's true, judging by the search results, there's no problem within the police station."

"All right. Leave the police station aside for now."

Xun Yin looked up at the still-illuminated "Surgery in progress" sign at the end of the corridor and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could not help recalling how, that day at the hospital when Song Xiao had suffered a hemolytic reaction, Song Sheng had deliberately moved close to her and whispered something in her ear.

"That day, she said, 'Put this inside.' It looks like she was talking about the listening device." Xun Yin thought for a moment, then continued, "Print out a photo of Zhuo Wumian and show it to Song Sheng. Ask her whether he's the person who gave her the listening devices."

"Zhuo Wumian? Him again."

Song Ranran paused, then understood. She gave a bitter acknowledgment before hanging up. Xun Yin stood dazedly outside the operating room, still holding the coat Pei Qingyu had been so preoccupied with. He lowered his eyes and stared at it for a moment, then suddenly buried his face in it.

The coat seemed to retain a faint trace of Pei Qingyu's scent, making Xun Yin's taut nerves unconsciously relax a little.

-Loving someone you can't have, is that it?

"Captain..." Xun Yin murmured.

While he waited, Pei Qingyan called Xun Yin. They exchanged updates, then hung up again amid silence.

Pei Qingyu still had not been wheeled out of the operating room by the time Song Ranran called a second time.

"Song Sheng identified Zhuo Wumian as the person who gave her the listening devices," Song Ranran said. "That means we only need those two syringes to close this case."

"Mm. Wang Yu is here. I'll have him bring you those two syringes in a bit. Close the case first, then compile a separate file on the parts involving Zhuo Wumian and add it to the previous two cases."

"Yes," Song Ranran replied. Before hanging up, she could not help asking, "Brother Xun, why does Zhuo Wumian keep appearing in these cases? Has he been watching Captain Pei all along?"

"...I don't know." Xun Yin paused, then repeated, "I don't know."

It was late at night when the operating room doors opened again. Xun Yin stumbled as he straightened up, his gaze immediately going to the person on the anesthesia bed.

Pei Qingyu lay unconscious on the bed, his face pale. Xun Yin looked anxiously at the doctor, opening his mouth but not daring to ask.

"He's all right. His old injury had ruptured, and we performed surgery to suture it." The old doctor seemed to see his unease and patted his shoulder. "But cardiac arrest does have a significant impact on heart muscle cells. He'll spend tonight under observation in the ICU. If there are no problems, we'll transfer him to a regular ward tomorrow night."

"All right, I understand. Thank you." Xun Yin felt as though the air trapped in his lungs had rushed out all at once. The corners of his lips lifted unconsciously, and he followed Pei Qingyu to the ICU entrance.

Through the glass, Xun Yin could clearly see the nurses methodically connecting various devices to Pei Qingyu. He let out another long breath, only then feeling truly reassured.

Only belatedly noticing the slight pain in his stomach, Xun Yin rubbed it, took out his phone, and called Pei Qingyan.

"Brother Yan, the captain's surgery is over. He's all right for now." Even Xun Yin's normally calm voice could not conceal his smile. On the other end, Pei Qingyan seemed to slap the table, prompting a startled cry from Song Xuanmo beside him.

"What are you doing? Be careful."

"I know. Hehe, I'm just happy." Pei Qingyan chuckled twice, then added, "Oh, right, Little Xun. Those two bodies we brought out of the underground bar-we've found out his identity."

"Mm, that fast?" Xun Yin was a little surprised. "Did he have a criminal record?"

"No, hehehe. Take a guess?" Pei Qingyan really seemed to be in a good mood, chuckling foolishly without stopping.

Song Xuanmo helplessly took the phone from his hand and said to Xun Yin, "Sorry, Little Xun. Qingyan got a little too excited when he heard Xiao Yu was all right. Let me explain. I didn't perform an autopsy on that body. That isn't my specialty, after all. We know his identity because he's so famous."