Chapter 18
Lu Chengtian's office was in full view. There was a computer on the desk, a black swivel chair in front of the desk, a pot of lush green plants next to the dark blue curtains, neatly arranged file boxes in the cabinet against the wall, and two sets of clothes hanging in the attached wardrobe.
He leaned tall and slender on the desk, and Lin Xian sat on the black leather sofa opposite without any hesitation.
He was wearing a soft-looking off-white sweater. He lowered his head and flipped through Liu Yaoyao's white-covered weekly diary. Suddenly, he began to read in a low and serious voice:
"I don't know when it started, but the sky turned gray, and my world became like a black quagmire, trapped and unable to escape. In this vast universe, there are perhaps many humble and miserable beings like me. Should I call this luck or misfortune? As long as I light a blue incense stick, I can see the long-lost blue sky again. Everyone seems to have turned into docile and lovely sheep, and the steel and concrete city has crumbled and turned into colorful grasslands. All evil began here, but it can also end here..."
Lin Xian's fair and slender fingers flipped through a few pages, scanning the high school girl's immature words at a glance. The dust in the air swirled quietly in the beam of light. Lu Chengtian could only hear the crisp sound of turning pages and Lin Xian's low and gorgeous voice.
"When I handed the blue incense to them, I didn't feel like I was spreading the gospel. Instead, I felt the pain of being trapped in sin. I knew its benefits, but I also knew how losing it would be a torment worse than death. To eliminate that pain, I was willing to sell everything. Isn't that terrifying in itself?"
"Whenever it's late at night and everyone is asleep, the brand on the back of my neck feels like it's burning, reminding me of the pain of that day. But they say it's redemption. If I could, I really want to kill the god on the altar. But can a human really kill a god?"
"A normal teacher's first reaction when seeing a student write something like this in their weekly diary should be to contact the parents, rather than giving the student a full score."
Lin Xian took out a cigarette and asked Lu Chengtian for a lighter: "She mentioned the branding on the back of her neck. Did you find anything during the autopsy?"
Detachment Lu condescended and stepped forward to light the incense for Editor-in-Chief Lin. "I also found that mark on the back of Luo Hua's neck. Judging from the description in her weekly journal, it looks like a cult symbol. 'Deliver the blue incense to them,' does this imply that she's involved in the distribution of Galan Incense?"
Lu Chengtian still put the silver lighter back into his pocket. "I'll confiscate the lighter. I'll return it to you when you've completely quit smoking."
"Smoking is like taking drugs, the hardest part to quit is the mental addiction. Most drug addicts, even if they go to a compulsory rehabilitation center and successfully quit, have an alarmingly high relapse rate. Unless there is something that can fill the emptiness in people's hearts, the market for drugs will disappear quickly." Lin Xian took a few puffs of the cigarette and put it out in the ashtray before it was completely burned.
Lu Chengtian supported his hands on the coffee table and leaned over to look at Lin Xian: "You have been undercover in the Golden Triangle for more than three years. Have you ever been exposed to drugs?" He was not wearing a tie, and the collar of his shirt was slightly open. The ebony pendant fell into Lin Xian's sight again as he leaned over.
Lin Xian reached out and stroked the pendant, which still had the warmth of the young man's skin.
At that moment, he thought of the horrific appearance of Lu Chengtian's mother who died of an overdose in the closet, and also of the endless sea of poppies in the Golden Triangle.
In the drug factory after the explosion, the young and handsome drug maker died in the polluted air with his body festering, his eyes wide open.
He did not answer Lu Chengtian's question, but put the pendant back into his collar. His slightly cold fingertips brushed across the young man's slender collarbone and caressed the warm skin on his chest.
Lu Chengtian's breathing gradually stagnated, and his dark and deep pupils stared at Lin Xian's unfathomable amber eyes behind the lenses, as if time had stopped at this moment.
Lin Xian's fingertips traced his prominent Adam's apple, tracing his sharp facial features. He pinched his chin slightly and said, "Your fledgling complex is too serious. It's also a kind of addiction. I'm giving you a piece of advice. Find a reliable lover and have a normal relationship, Captain Lu."
Perhaps it was the recent endless investigation and interrogation that made people tired, or perhaps it was the current atmosphere that made people impulsive. Lu Chengtian grabbed Lin Xian's wrist and looked at him without dodging, with almost a hint of oppression.
There was a hint of hoarseness in his voice: "Don't say such things and do things that could be misunderstood, Lin Xian."
After saying this, his heart rate, which had been stable to a terrifying degree due to long-term running, suddenly soared. But he looked at Lin Xian steadily, as if looking at a judge who was about to sentence him to death.
Lin Xian sighed: "Think about what Tunqin said before he died. Do you think I am still the same person I was nine years ago?" He gently pried open Lu Chengtian's hand that was holding his, and looked at him helplessly.
An eerie silence hung between the two of them. After a moment, Lu Chengtian lowered his eyes and said, "I've said before, you're my only relative in this world. I'll treat you like my own brother, without any extraneous thoughts."
Lin Xian stared at the ashtray for a while, as if there was a portrait of a stunning beauty hidden in it, then smiled softly: "You don't look like you don't have any extra thoughts."
"Knock knock knock—" someone knocked on the door.
Lu Chengtian calmed his breath and said, "Come in."
Ma Qiang came in with a laptop in his hand, followed by Zhao Yiqing with his hands in his pockets.
"Oh, Editor-in-Chief Lin is here too." Zhao Yiqing came in and sat next to Lin Xian, crossing his legs. Ma Qiang also greeted Lin Xian and said with a smile, "Editor-in-Chief Lin has become the exclusive consultant of our detachment."
Lin Xian stood up and smiled politely, "The officers are discussing the case. I, an outsider, won't bother you any more. I have some work to do and need to go back to the agency first."
As soon as he stood up, he was stopped by Lu Chengtian: "Director Lu and Director Liang said that you will assist in the investigation."
Lu Chengtian gestured to Ma Qiang: "Speak, there are no outsiders here."
"Okay." Ma Qiang quickly retrieved the transcript from the computer and briefly described the interrogation of several students.
"That girl named Du Han kept crying, saying we were wronging her. The other students all confessed, and their statements were consistent. Guess what? It was Du Han who instigated them to bully Liu Yaoyao. The reason was that the school hunk had a crush on Liu Yaoyao, and Du Han liked the hunk, so she wanted to vent her anger. Later, that punk named Qi Huan started walking Liu Yaoyao home from school every day, so they no longer had the opportunity to bully her. They could only continue to bully her by posting rumors online."
"What about Yulong KTV? Do they know that place? Is Galanxiang related to them?" Lu Chengtian asked.
"They really don't seem to know about this."
Zhao Yiqing stood up. "Through the surveillance footage across from the Yulong KTV, our people discovered that Liu Yaoyao has been going there three times a week for the past month. Sometimes she's alone, sometimes with strange men. She seems to be a bit conscious each time, walking unsteadily and sometimes laughing."
"What about earlier surveillance?" Lu Chengtian asked.
Zhao Yiqing sighed. "High-end KTVs like these are all about protecting their guests' privacy. It's impossible for them to install surveillance cameras. It just so happens that the owner of the tobacco shop across the street installed a surveillance camera at the door, but it only records the footage for a month."
He changed the subject, "We found a man who came out with Liu Yaoyao. He's a lawyer, but unfortunately he's a coward. When he heard that the video of him and the underage girl would be sent to his wife and colleagues, he immediately confessed everything. He went to Liu Yaoyao not only for men's affairs, but also to buy galan incense from her. The first time they did it, Liu Yaoyao lit the galan incense, and then the man became addicted and went to her every few days."
"It seems that Liu Yaoyao was indeed involved in the distribution of Galanxiang. Everything written in the weekly diary is true." Lin Xian seemed to be thinking about something.
"According to Qi Huan, her source of goods is likely from Luo Hua." Lu Chengtian looked at Ma Qiang: "Did Luo Hua explain anything?"
Ma Qiang's small eyes widened behind his black-framed glasses. "That Chinese teacher? He looks so honest, but he doesn't know anything. He keeps sighing about his favorite student who committed suicide by jumping off a building. If he's a drug dealer, then he's too secretive, a hidden boss."
If Luo Xiaohei were here, he would definitely roll his eyes at him.
"No matter how secretive a big boss is, he will eventually reveal his true colors." Lu Chengtian's eyes turned cold.
·
Luo Hua sat behind the interrogation table, sipping the hot coffee handed to him by the officer on duty with great composure, occasionally glancing at his watch. The police hadn't gotten anything out of him, so they could only detain him for three days at most, and then release him.
He thought he could walk out of the city bureau quickly. But when he saw Lu Chengtian and Lin Xian coming in, he felt a little nervous.
Lu Chengtian sat down behind the interrogation table and stared at Luo Hua motionlessly.
Lin Xian walked behind Luo Hua and took a look at the mark. It was a fairly neatly shaped scar, an isosceles triangle with a flame mark inside, only slightly larger than a one-yuan coin. If you weren't paying attention, you might miss it.
I always feel like I've seen this mark somewhere.
Lin Xian searched in his mind and suddenly remembered that the young drug maker who died in the Golden Triangle factory explosion had such a mark on the back of his neck.
It was a drunken night. The Golden Triangle was sweltering and humid on a summer night, and they were drinking in a small tavern to cool off. Lin Xian, obsessed with obtaining the Blue Flame formula, chatted casually with a drug maker his own age over a drink.
Unexpectedly, the drug maker named Bai Ling suddenly hugged him and burst into tears, saying "Lin Xian, I like you, I don't want to do this job anymore, let's leave here."
He stroked the back of the other's neck to comfort him, but felt a scar of a peculiar shape, a flame mark in an isosceles triangle.
He asked what it was, and Bai Ling told him it was a mark left behind from a certain religious initiation ceremony. However, because he was drunk, he couldn't remember the name of the religion, and Lin Xian didn't feel comfortable asking again afterwards.
Unexpectedly, I saw this mark again in Shenzhen and Hong Kong several years later.
He returned to the jury seat and looked down at the blank lines on the notebook. Half of his face was buried in the shadows, and his expression could not be seen.
"Luo Hua, male, 38 years old, Chinese teacher at Shenzhen-Hong Kong No. 15 Middle School, head teacher of Class 28, Grade 21, a nationally recognized top-grade teacher." Lu Chengtian took the information in his hand and deliberately read it to Luo Hua, even giving him an admiring look. "Teacher Luo is truly a young and promising man."
"Thank you for the compliment, Captain Lu." Luo Hua gave a perfectly polite smile.
Luo Hua was only a few years older than Lin Xian, but the age difference between them was so great that some people would believe they were twenty years older. When Lin Xian smiled, there wasn't even a wrinkle at the corner of his eye, but Luo Hua had a deep forehead wrinkle between his brows. His skin was dull and lifeless, and he even had a hint of weight gain. Behind his glasses, his eyes looked cloudy and tired.
"It must be tiring to manage so many students, especially the girls who can't be hit or scolded, right?" Lu Chengtian looked at him.
Luo Hua sighed and said, "You really understand the hardships we face as teachers. Treating every student like your own child is truly exhausting. I never imagined that Yaoyao, such an excellent student, would jump off a building out of despair. Because of this, I haven't been able to sleep well lately. I feel so guilty. I wish I had noticed something was wrong with her earlier."
After saying that, Luo Hua's eyes turned red.
"The score you gave Liu Yaoyao's weekly diary was never lower than 95. Didn't you notice anything unusual about her when you read her diary?"
Lu Chengtian picked up his weekly journal and read, "In this vast universe, there may be many humble and miserable beings like me. Should I say it's lucky or unfortunate? As long as I light a blue incense stick, I can see the long-lost blue sky again. Everyone seems to have turned into docile and lovely sheep, and the steel and concrete city has collapsed and turned into colorful grass. All the sins began here, but it can also end here..."
Luo Hua smiled bitterly and said, "Kids these days read too much online youth literature, and it's common to find a bit of sentimentality between the lines, and there's always some element of fantasy. I can't call everyone into my office and ask them if what they've written is true."
Lu Chengtian placed another photo in front of Luo Hua, which was a close-up of the scar on the back of Liu Yaoyao's neck.
He reached out and brushed the same scar on the back of Luo Hua's neck, only to feel a hand full of cold sweat: "Liu Yaoyao has a scar on the back of her neck that's exactly the same as the one on your neck - Teacher Luo, it's so cold, why are you sweating?"
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