Who pulled the trigger 5 Xun Yin took the water beside him and slowly...

"Yes..." Shi Qian answered instinctively, then realized something was wrong. He took two steps back and silently watched the pale-faced Pei Qingyu.

"Your jacket has been stretched out, and your clothes are clearly too big. You carry cigarettes, and there are deep nicotine stains between your fingers, which means you're a heavy smoker, probably to the point of needing one every hour. A real chef couldn't allow himself to be like that." Pei Qingyu pressed a step closer. "Are you really his neighbor?"

Shi Qian lowered his head to look at the cigarette burning between his fingers. A spark fell to the floor. He slowly backed toward the door, his voice gradually changing in tone. "I don't know what you're talking about, but running a restaurant really does keep me quite busy... I'll be going now."

He raised his head to look at Pei Qingyu, slowly forming a strange smile. "But... as you said, a chef smoking in the kitchen would definitely start a fire, wouldn't he? I wonder whether someone with heart disease could escape."

Shi Qian suddenly flicked the hand holding his cigarette. Pei Qingyu's pupils contracted sharply-the kitchen floor was covered with overturned bottles of cooking oil.

He kicked the cigarette butt away, but Shi Qian abruptly lunged forward, grabbed Pei Qingyu around the waist, and slammed him hard against the wall. Pei Qingyu gave a muffled groan. Ignoring the pain in his waist, he pressed down on Shi Qian's shoulders, twisted, and swiftly leaped back. He steadied himself and tried to close in again, but a sudden explosion of pain in his chest stopped him short, and he dropped straight to his knees.

In that brief instant, Shi Qian had already circled around to the kitchen doorway. He locked the kitchen door with a click. As the flames gradually raged, Shi Qian coldly watched Pei Qingyu kneeling in the middle of the kitchen, his face covered in cold sweat.

"Enjoy your 'treatment,' Forensic Examiner Pei."

Chapter 5: Who pulled the trigger 5 Xun Yin took the water beside him and slowly...

The thick smoke choked Pei Qingyu until he could barely breathe, and the persistent pain in his heart made him clutch the front of his shirt involuntarily. The medicine he carried had fallen somewhere during the fight. Struggling to keep breathing, Pei Qingyu searched for the lifesaving bottle through his increasingly blurred vision.

It hurts so much. I can't breathe...

His vision kept blacking out more and more severely. Finding the dropped medicine bottle was impossible now. Pei Qingyu struggled over to the nearby faucet and twisted it blindly. When he found that there was indeed no water, his body could no longer support him, and he slowly slid down against the counter into a sitting position.

The fire spread quickly. The doorway was already completely blocked by flames, so even if he had the strength to kick the door open, it would be useless. Pei Qingyu leaned against the wall, coughing uncontrollably. Xun Yin knew he was here and would definitely come back for him. The only thing he had to do now was hold on until then.

The brain would prioritize more intense pain, reducing sensitivity to pain in other parts of the body. Pei Qingyu bit down on his own arm, forcing himself to shift his attention.

Shi Qian wouldn't have come here for no reason. Most likely, Song Ranran and the others' inquiries had frightened him, so he had returned to check. That meant there was something in Lin Zhou's house that worried him, or something he wanted to hide. When he had come in just now, he had headed straight for the kitchen...

Pei Qingyu clenched his fingers until they turned pale. Trembling, he propped himself up and slowly felt his way around every corner of the kitchen.

"Cough, cough..."

His foot caught on something, and Pei Qingyu stumbled and fell straight to the floor. The bones of his hand struck the wall beside him hard. He shuddered, but the sound from beneath his palm seemed somewhat unusual.

"It's hollow."

It took a long while for Pei Qingyu's eyes to focus. His fingers spasmed involuntarily as he felt around, trying to examine the cavity in the wall, but his body had no strength left. The air around him gradually thinned. Pei Qingyu curled up uncontrollably on the floor, his consciousness slowly fading.

My fighting skills are still there. I'm still agile. I have the ability, but because of this damned heart disease...

The lifesaving medicine bottle lay quietly in a corner not far away. Pei Qingyu's fingers pressed against his chest gradually lost their strength and slowly fell to the floor.

By the time Xun Yin arrived, thick smoke had already spread to the entrance.

"Captain!"

Xun Yin's face instantly drained of color. Unable to wait for the team members behind him to put out the flames, he snatched a bottle of water, poured it over his head, and charged forward. He kicked open the kitchen door and carried Pei Qingyu out.

Pei Qingyu's lips were bluish-purple, his head resting limply in the crook of Xun Yin's arm, his breathing barely perceptible. Ever since Pei Qingyu's last attack, Xun Yin had started carrying medicine himself, but Pei Qingyu was unconscious and coughed out the pills fed into his mouth. He seemed to be suffering terribly. Even unconscious, his brows remained tightly furrowed as he coughed weakly.

This couldn't go on. Xun Yin slowly clenched his fists, then suddenly put the medicine in his own mouth, bent down, and used his lips to pry open Pei Qingyu's teeth and pass it in. Once he had done so, Xun Yin immediately raised his head and, as though trying to cover up what he had done, half lifted Pei Qingyu into a supported sitting position nearby, slowly rubbing and pressing his chest.

"Cough, cough, cough... A-Xun..." After an unknown length of time, Pei Qingyu seemed to regain a little consciousness. He murmured Xun Yin's name hazily, his lips moving weakly.

"Does it still hurt badly? The ambulance will be here soon, Captain. You'll be all right." Xun Yin's eyes were red with anxiety. Seeing that Pei Qingyu still wanted to speak despite his constant choking coughs, he hurriedly brought his ear close to his lips.

"...There's something inside the wall." Pei Qingyu's throat felt painfully sore, and something seemed to burn in his lungs, making every breath difficult. Still, he spoke one word at a time. "Stay here with Brother Lin and the others and investigate it."

"I'll let Brother Lin know. I'm going to the hospital with you." Xun Yin fell silent for a moment before answering quietly.

"You stay..."

"..."

"A-Xun, listen to me." Pei Qingyu's voice remained weak, but a hint of sternness crept into it. "When I'm not here, you're the captain. You can't always follow me, and you can't stay by my side forever."

"I won't let anything like this happen again. I can keep protecting you, Captain..." Xun Yin abruptly looked up, only to meet Pei Qingyu's weak but calm gaze. His voice gradually grew quieter as he slowly said, "...All right, I'll stay here. But..."