Chapter 130: If He Were To Die Part 1
The North side is mostly made up of industrial areas. Offices, warehouses, factories surround sparse areas of woods. It’s just past 7 am. The area is brightly lit and it’s filled with people. Seeing police cars and officers by the entrance, the workers are shocked and stand far away while looking at them.
Han Chen’s car drives through the entrance gate and is met by other criminal investigators from the local station, “We’ve found him. He’s just inside the storage room in the back and is fine right now. We have dispersed the people in the area and sealed it off with police tape.”
Han Chen nods. He turns around and sees Su Mian getting out of the car. Her eyes are still a bit red, but she has stopped crying. Her face is expressionless and her eyes are still like a puppet. She’s not looking at anyone. She runs toward the direction of where Zhou Xiao Zhuan is.
Han Chen chases after her. He makes it to her side quickly and runs with her without a word.
They make it past the yellow tape and see the door to the small storage open from far away. Two officers are standing on each side of the door. The moment they see them, they show relief, “You’re here, you’re here!”
Su Mian pants slightly as she rushes to the door. She spots Zhou Xiao Zhuan sitting inside right away; just like how he was in the video. His eyes open wide as he sees them, “Xiao Bai, Leader, why are you……”
Zhou Xiao Zhuan looks as if he’s about to cry; it’s hard to tell whether it’s because he’s happy or sad. Xu Mian stares at him. She finally feels a bit of warmth and comfort after going through the feeling of torture during the whole ride. But a bigger feeling of pain and sadness drowns her heart quietly.
Han Chen watches their expressions and can only feel pain rushing inside his chest; it’s hard to suppress. But his voice is cold and calm, “Disable the bomb immediately.”
“Mm,” Su Mian squats in front of Zhou Xiao Zhuan immediately and looks down at the bomb tied to the front of his chest.
The central display shows: 04:49.
They were rushing against time in the car just now, so Su Mian didn’t take a thorough look at the scanner. She can examine it closely now: below the digital timer, there’s a fingerprint scanner much like the ones used at workplaces to log time, but it’s a lot smaller and more intricate. On the left is a very small transparent scanner with a subtle blue light underneath it. On the right is a numeric keypad with 0 to 9 keys.
Su Mian is stunned. She has no time to think, so she reaches out her fourth finger and looks up at Zhou Xiao Zhuan. Xiao Zhuan nods toward her. Han Chen is also squatting beside the two of them. He reaches out his hand to hold her shoulder as they stare at the scanner.
Su Mian places her finger on it.
The blue light flashes.
04:42.
The counter stops.
They even hear a few “snaps”; the explosives that are tied to Xiao Zhuan’s body release themselves, unbuckling their restraints from him.
Zhou Xiao Zhuan’s face is drawing a blank. It’s as if he hasn’t fully understood what has been going on and he has already been pulled back from hell’s gate. Han Chen helps him untie the explosives and ropes right away. He signals the criminal investigators who have been on standby outside to carry the stretcher over.
Su Mian is showing a smile on her face, but she falls on her bum as she loses all of her energy and is unable to move.
In the next second, somebody pulls her up again.
Han Chen grabs her arm and his pitch black eyes are firm and dark like a bottomless ocean, “Let’s go!”
They exchange glances and Su Mian scrambles to get up.
Zhou Xiao Zhuan is already lying on the stretcher. He watches the two of them run outside, hop into a car and speeds off. He actually feels depressed. He grips onto the side of the stretcher and struggles to get up, “I want to go too! Bring me to them! We need to save Forensic Investigator Xu!”
_____
Will they make it in time?
Is there still a tiny bit of hope?
No, there’s no way that they can make it in time.
Su Mian’s back is leaning hard against the seat as Han Chen drives the car at full speed. Traffic controls are in place so the road ahead is clear. Han Chen’s car speed has gone from 140 km/h to 180, 200 km/h……it’s insanely fast. Even so, they only have a mere 4 minutes.
But they just don’t want to give up like this.
They don’t want to give up saving Xu Si Bai’s life.
Han Chen is already behaving like this; his whole body is giving off the sense of viciousness. His long and slender fingers are holding the steering wheel tightly. He hasn’t said a word to her and is fully concentrated on the road. Su Mian keeps quiet for a moment before picking up the phone.
“Hello, Chatterbox, have you found Xu Si Bai?”
Chatterbox seems to be running as she can hear him breathing quickly and there are other people talking in the background, “No! F–k! The bomb disposal expert has already arrived, but Forensic Investigator Xu turned off his communication device, so we have no way of pinpointing his exact location. We just know that he’s in this building——Jianfeng Building. We’re searching each floor one at a time!”
Su Mian holds onto her phone and doesn’t say a word.
She never thought that Xu Si Bai would be this stubborn.
He thought that she would choose him, didn’t he?
Her eyes sting, but she suppresses the feeling with all her might.
Doesn’t he know that if it was between him and her, she would definitely choose him?
Noticing her silence, Chatterbox clears his throat and says, “Xiao Bai, you have to be prepared.”
Su Mian tosses the phone away and leans her head back against the seat as she closes her eyes.
“Han Chen, will we make it in time to save him?” she asks softly.
After a few seconds, Han Chen’s voice says, “We won’t. But I won’t give up until the very last second.”
Two minutes pass. As if she realizes something, Su Mian opens her eyes. They’ve actually driven over ten kilometers in just 4 minutes. And the exit ramp is just in front of them. Many tall buildings are standing and on top of one of them, are the words, “Jianfeng Building” shining in the sun.
Everything happens too calmly and without preparation.
“Boom!” a loud sound is heard and in a certain room of the building, a large fireball explodes in front of their eyes. The smoke and fire swallow everything within. At this very instant, all the pedestrians and cars on the highway around it seem to have been shaken by it; no one is screaming for help; it’s silence everywhere.
Han Chen brakes the car hard.
Su Mian watches the scene quietly and doesn’t move. Han Chen lifts his dark brown eyes and watches the fire engulfing the building and remains quiet.
_____
Scorched floor, smoke, and debris.
Su Mian watches her footsteps as she walks across it. Han Chen follows her closely. His face is cold as he remains quiet. A criminal investigator comes over and is about to speak, but Han Chen waves him off without even lifting an eyebrow.
Su Mian stares at everything that’s in front of her——
The whole room has been exploded into pieces. The windows are gone and only a few strips of its latices still remain. The empty sky can be seen right through it. The floor in the middle of the room has a big hole in it. This should be where Xu Si Bai was trapped, which is also the point of the explosion. A is highly skilled in explosives, so not even a piece of the chair’s leg is left behind, let alone the body parts or clothes from Xu Si Bai. There are only piles of debris and ashes.
And Su Mian’s heart is just like the hole in the room. It’s as if there are big and strong winds blowing inside constantly. She doesn’t say anything and also doesn’t touch anything. She turns around and walks outside, but Han Chen pulls her into his embrace.
Cold Face and Chatterbox are standing at a distance and remain quiet.
“Does it hurt?” Han Chen asks in a low voice. His voice actually makes her feel empty yet gentle.
Her body loses its energy and she feels extremely exhausted. His embrace is incredibly warm, carrying the smell of his sweat and a scent that makes one feels safe. Su Mian hugs him back and buries her head into his chest. Han Chen doesn’t speak anymore. He hugs her tightly as he leans on the broken wall with not much remaining from the explosion. He caresses her long hair and cheeks.
_____
Han Chen is examining the scene. Su Mian is standing beside the window with a big hole in it by herself. After she stares out for a while, she turns her head and says to Chatterbox, “I want to wait in the car.”
“Okay, okay,” Chatterbox nods quickly.
Han Chen needs to be in charge of the scene, so he has given Chatterbox the responsibility of protecting Su Mian. Chatterbox also feels awful due to what has happened to Xu Si Bai. But seeing Su Mian being all quiet like this makes him feel even worse.
Who doesn’t know her relationship with Xu Si Bai? Who can’t tell Xu Si Bai’s deep affection for her? If not, why would Leader Han see Xu Si Bai as an eyesore? It’s because no matter where Xu Si Bai goes and who he has beside him, his eyes seem to always only have Su Mian.
But today, she has been forced to make a decision.
Chatterbox walks to the front and leads her down the stairs. The building has been sealed off after the explosion and the elevators have been shut off. The staircase is dark and there are officers and firemen running up and down non-stop. The two of them walk quietly before Chatterbox can’t stand it anymore and speaks, “Oh Xiao Bai, you shouldn’t……be too upset, okay? Nobody wanted this to happen. I know that Forensic Investigator Xu would wish for you to be happy up in the heavens. He must understand the decision you had to make today.”
Su Mian pauses her footsteps with her head down and her hand on the rail. She pulls a smile with the corners of her mouth, “You’re wrong. He doesn’t understand. He was angry even until the moment he died.”
Her voice is faint. Chatterbox is confused and feels his heart ache from hearing her answer. There’s only a window high up in the stairwell that is letting the sunlight penetrate through where dust is floating everywhere. Su Mian stares at these floating dust and falls into a daze. The officers who walk past them turn to look at these two rather quiet individuals standing in the way.
Chatterbox’s nose feels sour as he tries to comfort again, “Xiao Bai, don’t think about it. Hurry down the stairs, go home, take a shower and sleep, okay? Leader will be upset seeing you like this. Everybody’s heart will ache too. Furthermore……”
He loses his ability to speak suddenly.
Su Mian was listening absentmindedly when she hears him stop abruptly and his breathing quickening, so she raises her head.
And she sees Chatterbox’s face turn pale as if he has just seen a ghost with his eyes looking downstairs.
Su Mian follows his gaze and turns to look.
“Jin Xi.”