(I) The Signals of Tearing Apart and the Bloodstained Decision

As the phone screen vibrated in her palm with a buzzing sound, Ah Yu was wiping an unhealed old wound on her arm with an alcohol swab. It was a scratch left from her confrontation with the private investigator sent by Gu Yanting last week, but now it stung like a burning pain from some premonition. The message that popped up on the screen wasn't Zhong Hua's WeChat, but a multimedia message from an unknown number—a blurry photo of Zhong Hua bound to a rusty iron chair, a gag stuffed in his mouth, his eyes filled with terror that pierced Ah Yu's pupils like shards of ice. The background was a peeling lime wall, with a half-person-high blue plastic bucket piled in the corner, the words "Chemical Raw Materials" faintly imprinted on it.

"He wanted to save someone. It was 3 a.m. at an abandoned chemical plant on the outskirts of the city. He came alone. He brought 'that thing'."

The text message ended with a location coordinate, like a venomous snake's tongue licking the screen. Ah Yu's breath caught in his throat, his knuckles squeezing the phone so tightly it groaned under the strain. He knew what "that thing" referred to—the encrypted documents he had risked everything to secretly photograph from the safe in Gu Yanting's old office last week. They were fragments of crucial evidence proving Gu Yanting's orchestration of the fire and embezzlement of assets. Gu Yanting had indeed predicted he would disregard everything for Zhong Hua.

"No! This is clearly a trap!" Lin Wanqing's voice came from the doorway. She was wearing a coat and had a pale face as she gripped Ah Yu's wrist. "Gu Yanting is trying to lure you into a trap. He might have a gun, or even more kidnappers—"

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Ah Yu's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping. He shook off Lin Wanqing's hand, his eyes filled with a madness that burned everything. "Watch Zhong Hua die there?" He remembered how Zhong Hua forced a smile when she was being cyberbullied, how she said with certainty, "Let's wait for the truth together," as she handed him a warm coffee outside the courtroom, and how she told him on the phone last night, "Don't push yourself too hard, I'll wait for you"... Every image was like a red-hot iron, burning the blood in his chest so that it felt like it was about to explode.

Lin Wanqing looked at the bloodshot welling up in his eyes, her words of advice choked into a trembling, breathy whisper. She knew Ah Yu's temperament; once he made up his mind, nothing could change it. Especially for Zhong Hua, the woman who still chose to believe in him even in his most vulnerable moment. "At least... at least let me call the police, let them get involved—"

“It’s too late!” Ah Yu interrupted her, grabbing a tactical flashlight and a Swiss Army knife from the table and stuffing them into his jacket pocket. “Gu Yanting dared to choose 3 a.m. because he calculated that the police deployment would take time. And what he wants is ‘that thing.’ I can’t gamble Zhong Hua’s life on whether the police can arrive on time.” He paused, then pulled a miniature voice recorder from deep within the drawer and handed it to Lin Wanqing. “If I don’t contact you by 4 a.m., give this to Officer Zhang. It contains the evidence chain of Gu Yanting’s money laundering that I compiled before. Although it’s not complete, it’s enough to make him suffer.”

Lin Wanqing's fingers touched the cold metal, and tears welled up instantly: "Brother... promise me, you must come back alive."

Ah Yu didn't turn around, leaving her only with a resolute back view. The light in the entryway cast a long shadow of him, like a broken blade about to be drawn. Outside, it was a deep, rainy night; large raindrops pounded against the car window, blurring the outline of the entire city. As he started the car, he saw Lin Wanqing's figure chasing after him in the rearview mirror, holding an umbrella, but almost losing her balance in the strong wind. He slammed on the gas, leaving that slender figure behind in the depths of the rain.

(II) The Rusty Labyrinth and the Bloodstained Track

The ruins of the suburban chemical plant resembled a lurking beast in the torrential rain. The rusty iron gate, ajar, creaked in the wind, like an ominous premonition. Ah Yu parked her car a kilometer away beside a cornfield, turned off all the lights, and used the flashes of lightning to examine the buildings before her. The main plant was a three-story red brick building, most of its windows shattered, the dark, gaping windows like skull eye sockets. A huge cylindrical storage tank extended from the right, its surface covered in dark green vines, appearing particularly eerie in the rainy night.

He took a deep breath and gripped the military knife in his pocket. Rain dripped from his hair, the cold touch instantly sobering him up. Instead of entering through the main gate, he went around to the back of the factory and found a gap in the collapsed wall. As he crawled through the hole with exposed steel bars, his trouser leg was snagged by a rusty wire, leaving a long, thin gash, but he didn't notice.

The factory was filled with the pungent smell of chemicals and the dampness of mold. Broken glass and discarded rubber gloves were scattered on the floor, crunching underfoot. Ah Yu tiptoed, switched on her tactical flashlight, the beam tracing a trembling arc in the darkness. The beam swept across the dilapidated production line; cobwebs hung from the rusted pipes, and piles of plastic buckets in the corner were exactly the kind from the photograph.

"Zhong Hua?" he called tentatively in a low voice, but only his own echo and the dripping sound of rainwater from the leaky roof answered him.

He climbed the stairs, stepping carefully on the edge to avoid making a sound. The second floor was a spacious operating platform; beyond the rusty railing lay a bottomless darkness. Suddenly, he kicked something soft and yielding. His flashlight shone down—it was a woman's leather shoe, fresh mud stains on the heel—the very pair Zhong Hua had worn that day!

His heart clenched. He picked up the leather shoes, his fingertips touching the cold rainwater on the surface, as if he could still feel the warmth left by their owner. Just then, he heard a metallic clanging sound above him, accompanied by a rough, hoarse male voice: "Damn, this place is fucking cold. When are you coming to inspect the goods, brother?"

"What's the rush? Boss Gu said that once that guy surnamed Lin arrives, we'll exchange the goods for the person." Another voice sneered. "But that woman is really good-looking. If Boss Gu hadn't specifically told us not to touch her..."

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