43. The female corpse in red

The rain started again, fine as mist, yet carrying the acidity of city exhaust fumes.

Fang Cheng pulled up the hood of his hoodie and squatted down next to the drainage hole on the overpass, his nose almost touching the damp ground.

“The menthol concentration spiked.” He raised his hand, signaling Zhou Yun to be quiet. “The suspect just passed by here less than two minutes ago.”

The two followed the trail of blood into a back alley. At the end of the alley stood an old tenement building slated for demolition. The iron gate was half-closed, and through the crack, a faint blue light from a screen flickered, like a pacemaker.

1. Iodine solution: concentration 3.7 ppm, wound is continuously bleeding;

2. Cologne: Volatility 42%, indicating less than 20 minutes after spraying;

4. The most lethal dose: ketamine, in a free state, not yet fully metabolized, meaning it occurs within one hour of injection.

“He’s inside.” Fang Cheng pressed his thumb against the sampling pump. “The smell of a living person is more honest than that of AI.”

...

The building has three floors.

The stairwell was pitch black, with only the emergency lights humming softly.

Zhou Yun slowed her steps, but her heart pounded.

At the end of the third-floor corridor, a wooden door is ajar, with a faded sign that reads: "Former Site of Clinic 302".

A strong smell of iodine and cheap disinfectant wafted from under the door.

Fang Cheng raised his hand, put three fingers together, and made a "banging on the door" gesture.

"3, 2, 1!"

Bang!

The moment the door opened, a wave of heat, mixed with a pungent smell, hit me.

The strawberry flavoring evaporates more quickly due to the air conditioning.

Inside, the old operating lights shone brightly.

But there was no one there.

The window frame swayed, and a cold wind mixed with raindrops rushed in.

"Team Leader Lin, go downstairs and intercept them!" Fang Chengjin flipped onto the windowsill, his movements as swift as a cat's.

Zhou Yun followed closely, her heart pounding in her throat.

...

The rain intensified suddenly, and the man in gray was forced into a dead end.

He turned around, his fisherman's hat pulled low, and his mask printed with a grinning Shiba Inu.

His left hand hung at his side, the bandage soaked with blood, revealing the brown color of the iodine solution.

Lin, pointing his gun, shouted: "Police! Don't move!"

The man raised his head, his gaze passing over the gun barrel and looking directly at Zhou Yun.

Sizzle!

The mask was torn off, revealing a pale face.

It was a handsome man's face with a youthful look, a red dot at the end of his eyebrow, as if his bones had been stretched and lengthened by time after being copied.

“Senior Lin…” Her throat was dry.

The man laughed, his voice hoarse, like metal scraping against glass.

"Yunyun, happy birthday."

It's an old school badge.

It is made of bronze, and its surface is shiny from being washed with blood and rain.

The back is engraved with:

Zhou Qing, Class of 2013, Hongshan Middle School

Team Leader Lin lunged forward, but the man seemed to have anticipated his movements, bracing himself against the wall with one hand and leaping over into the adjacent construction site.

In the rain and mist, only a whisper, torn apart by the wind, remains:

"Taste doesn't lie,"

But you're too slow.

...

Fang Cheng squatted down, dipped his fingertip in the bloodstain on the school badge, and brought it to his nose.

Camphor balls and an old wooden drawer, containing volatile oils from the Lauraceae family after ten years of storage.

"He hid the school badge for ten years."

Fang Cheng raised his eyes, raindrops rolling down his eyelashes. "Taking it out now means it's on a countdown."

Zhou Yun gripped the school badge tightly, her knuckles turning white.

"Let's blow out the candles together after school."

She looked up, her gaze like a scorched blade:

This time,

I'll light the candles.

"It's his turn to blow the whistle."

**

West Kowloon Regional Crime Unit Meeting Room.

The air conditioning was on full blast, and the incandescent light made the tabletop look like an operating table.

The camphor ball and school badge were placed on the evidence tray, lined up next to them:

1. Old school badge (bloodstains on the back)

2. The steel wire, syringe, and strawberry candy wrapper funnel found in room 302 of the tenement building.

3. Fisherman's hat (smells of camphor inside the brim)

On the projection screen, the forensic lab provided the latest comparison:

The DNA from the bloodstain matched 99.8% with unidentified bloodstains found at the scene of Zhou Qing's case ten years ago.

Trace amounts of dandruff were extracted from the fibers of the fisherman's hat, indicating a 30-year-old male.

Zhou Yun stared at the words, her voice hoarse: "Lin Ji...it really is you."

Ten years ago, Zhou Qing mentioned to her younger sister: "I have a senior I've known for two years. He's two years older than me, his family isn't very well-connected, and he's been fostered at the school. His name also has a homonym for 'Qing' in it. I really enjoy being with him."

"Lin Ji disappeared on June 14, 2013, the same day Zhou Qing was murdered. Since his parents divorced, he was fostered by relatives in the countryside, where he was subjected to domestic violence and suffered from mental illness."

Fang Cheng carefully placed the school badge into the vacuum heating analysis chamber, where it was kept at a constant temperature of 40°C, allowing the camphor and blood molecules that had been sealed for ten years to evaporate again.

"He used to hide among a large number of old books." Fang Cheng typed carefully, "Only two places on Hong Kong Island still use this kind of insect repellent:

Zhou Yun's fingertips trembled: "My sister said that Senior Lin loves to read books in the library."

Countdown begins.

**

The night rain came again, and the old building's exterior walls were covered with vines, like a moldy spider web.

The cordon was set up, and the assault team advanced silently.

Fang Cheng carefully put on the portable odor mask and set the collection pump to the most sensitive setting.

Fresh gasoline.

"He's burning something!" Team Leader Lin growled.

The firelight was already flickering at the end of the corridor.

Inside the reading room, rows of old wooden bookshelves had been pushed over to form a maze, and the smell of gasoline was so strong it was pungent.

The flames licked the yellowed pages, making a crackling sound, like the echo of steel wire cutting into bones on a rainy night ten years ago.

Fang Cheng closed his eyes and locked onto the direction in a second: "Southwest corner, behind the innermost bookshelf!"

**

Hearing footsteps, the man didn't turn around, but simply pressed a button on the remote control in his hand. The static on the screen stopped abruptly, and a blood-red countdown appeared:

【00:09:47】

【00:09:46】

"You've finally arrived."

Lin Ji's voice was hoarse, yet strangely lighthearted, "Yunyun, I'll make up for your birthday."

The equation detected the most dangerous odor: volatile gasoline + ketamine atomization = detonation mixture.

"Everyone, get outside!" Team Leader Lin roared.

Zhou Yun stepped forward, raised the blood-stained school badge, her voice trembling but clear:

"Lin Ji, my sister didn't commit suicide ten years ago, right?"

The man's back trembled, and the firelight made his eyes appear crimson.

The countdown has reached [00:05:00].

He spoke softly, as if revealing a secret that was ten years overdue:

"She did it to save me."

The next second, flames engulfed the power lines, crackling as the entire floor was plunged into darkness.

In the darkness, only the man's low laughter could be heard.

"Countdown, 5 minutes."

You can choose for yourselves.

**

"No one fire! Static sparks could ignite it!" Team Leader Lin shouted in a low voice, raising his hand to signal the bomb disposal team to retreat.

Zhou Yun didn't back down an inch. She gripped the blood-stained school badge even tighter, her voice barely audible as she suppressed the flames:

What exactly happened ten years ago?

**

Lin Ji's Adam's apple bobbed, and the firelight illuminated his chapped lips.

"That day... Qingqing came to the library early to bring me a cake."

A man was following her.

She shoved me into the bottom shelf of the bookshelf and told me to be quiet.

There, a thin steel wire suspended half of a strawberry cake box, like a noose.

"The man strangled her with a wire, demanding to know 'Where is the thing?' She wouldn't say. Finally... blood splattered on my face. I was terrified and didn't dare move. After the man left, I wiped away all my fingerprints and arranged her as if she had committed suicide... I thought that way the police wouldn't find out about me."

As gasoline vapors continue to rise, ketamine molecules begin to decompose at high temperatures, producing more dangerous nitrogen oxides.

The equation, calculated with caution, states that at a temperature of 42°C and humidity of 90%, the detonation limit will be reached after 3 minutes and 30 seconds. The gasoline supply and the atomizer power must be simultaneously disconnected.

"Lin Ji, give me the remote control!" Team Leader Lin barked.

The man shook his head, his tears evaporating in the firelight: "I've already started my countdown. Either we die together, or you let me go."

**

"The sweat hasn't dried; he's been sweating constantly," Fang Chengjin whispered to Zhou Yun. "It means he's afraid of dying."

Zhou Yun understood instantly. She crouched down, looked the man in the eye, and handed him the blood-stained school badge: "Lin Ji, I don't want you to die with me."

Give me the remote, let's survive together, okay?

**

Lin Ji's hands began to tremble, and the remote control slipped from his hand.

With a "smack," he pried the remote control's battery compartment off with his fingernail, and the countdown screen went out instantly.

Team leader Lin led his men forward, cutting off the power to the atomizer, while the bomb disposal team covered the oil drum with an explosion-proof blanket. The gasoline dripping stopped, and the ketamine mist was quickly drawn away by the powerful exhaust fan.

Lin Ji knelt on the ground, burying her face in her hands, her cries drowned out by the crackling flames.

Fire hoses pierced the window, instantly engulfing the flames.

When the thick smoke cleared, the old library was charred black, but no one was injured or killed.

Only Zhou Yun heard it:

The real 'Night Shadow' is still outside.

I am merely...his shadow.

Fang Cheng stood quietly beside the charred bookshelf, his fingertips twirling the last remaining page.

On the tattered page, a line of small writing was penned in pencil:

【Chapter 50 The Real Gray】

The fragrance of photinia ten years ago.

“The game,” Fang Cheng said in a low voice, “is only halfway through.”