The vehicle roared forward, and Yan Yan only felt that his arms were heavy, and there was no response.
Jiang Ting's eyelashes were tightly covered, and from Yan Xun's top-down perspective, he could only see the quiet and handsome profile of the younger half of his face, with a light, steady and long breath.
"..." Yan Yan waited for a long time, his beating heart slowly fell back to his chest, and he breathed out almost silently.
"Okay," he murmured.
No matter whether Jiang Ting is asleep or awake, this is the most reasonable and most suitable way of responding to his emotional intelligence - always leaving a little wiggle room and space for everyone.
As if nothing had happened, and as if nothing could have happened.
But the moment Yan Yan leaned his head on the back seat and closed his eyes, he knew that what had happened in his heart was unavoidable. Just like a seed was thrown into the rich soil unintentionally, when it sprouts, its roots have been tightly wrapped in the bottom of my heart, which can no longer be ignored or removed easily.
Yan Yan clenched his arms around Jiang Ting's shoulders.
He knew that no matter whether the person in his arms was asleep or awake, the most appropriate action at this time should be to let go.
But he didn't do that.
·
At nearly five in the morning, at the gate of Jiangyang County Detention Center, the window of the Cherokee car was lowered, and Yan Yan handed over his police card.
When the officer on duty saw it, he was in awe, and waved to let the safety gate be lifted.
Whether it is Yan Yun or Jiang Ting, they are all very familiar with the detention center. Criminal suspects who are in custody awaiting sentencing and prisoners with a remaining sentence of less than six months will stay here. Only those with more than six months of their sentence left after the verdict is issued will be transferred to the prison, commonly known as "going up the mountain".
Li Yuxin was a minor who was arrested for stealing many times, and the sentence will not exceed one year. After deducting the months spent in collecting evidence, transferring the lawsuit and arguing back and forth, there is only half a year left in the sentence when he is sentenced, so he will be detained here.
However, although not officially in prison, the environment "under the mountain" is much more obscure and complicated than "up the mountain". After all, prison management is now strict and regularized, and death row prisoners and felons are under separate control; but in the detention center, serial killings, arson, drug trafficking, and even arms smuggling can be seen by all kinds of people. There is not much scruples even on the stick.
After the group was registered, they were personally led to the interrogation room by the on-duty leader of the detention center. At the gate of the iron fence, Yan Yan asked Ma Xiang and Xiao Zhang to wait outside, and only brought Jiang Ting into the house. After waiting for more than ten minutes, the police came with Li Yuxin, who was woken up in the middle of the night.
As soon as the iron door slammed open, Yan Yan softly said, "Huh?"
The girl Li Yuxin is actually much prettier than the photos.
She doesn't have the thrilling beauty of Bu Wei, but her appearance is naturally delicate and beautiful. After more than half a year of prison torture and ten hours of detention every day, plus despair and despair, she wears rough and ugly prison uniforms. Couldn't be wiped out. When she was pressed by the police and sat on the interrogation chair, her thin white fingers were pressed on the armrest spasmodically, and even the joints were trembling, showing an ivory-like texture.
Yan Yan's eyes slid across Li Yuxin's face that was obviously trying to hide his fear, and his brows were slightly wrinkled: "She was beaten?"
Those who entered the detention center were beaten twice, although it did not conform to the mainstream propaganda of a harmonious society, but in fact everyone understood what was going on.
Unexpectedly, the two policemen denied it at the same time: "No, she is detained every day, and she goes to the library to read books when she returns."
"It's very honest, a minor, the leader explained that he would not be locked up with the drug dealer and murderer, where would he be beaten?"
Yan Yan's doubts were not resolved, so he signaled the two policemen not to handcuff Li Yuxin, and not to leave first. He glanced in the back collar.
There's really no bruising or bruising, and it doesn't look like you've been beaten all day.
But for some unknown reason, Li Yuxin seemed to be even more nervous, and even her whole body was trembling uncontrollably.
Yan Yan did not know why.
If this is in some remote rural area, maybe he will suspect that it is illegal to be a hell policeman, and what happened to the little girl. However, Jiangyang County Detention Center is a very strict and serious place in terms of scale and management. If you want to think about it in that way, unless you are shooting a novel.
Yan Yan turned back to the interrogation table, stared at Li Yuxin from top to bottom, touched his chin, and asked for a while, "Are you afraid of me?"
After several seconds, Li Yuxin spit out two words like a gossamer: "...No...Yes..."
- That's what "yes" means.
Yan Yan was relieved and signaled that the police could leave. With a few clatters, the iron door closed again, leaving only him, Jiang Ting and Li Yuxin in the room, sitting face to face in the dark and quiet interrogation room in the early morning.
Yan Yan subconsciously glanced to the side.
Jiang Ting leaned back on the back of the chair, with his hands in his trouser pockets, indifferent and alienated from the side, and did not look back.
"Cough cough!" Yan Yan cleared his throat to force his concentration and turned to the little girl opposite: "Li Yuxin?"
"..." Li Yuxin buried her head tightly.
"I'm Yan Yan, deputy head of the criminal investigation detachment of Jianning City Public Security Bureau. There is a case I would like to ask you to provide some clues about He Liang, the victim of last year's 712 kidnapping case."
- He Liang.
The moment these two words landed, Li Yuxin's panic almost reached its extreme, and even the naked eye could easily see the unstoppable shaking and trembling of her whole body, as if the crumbling dam was on the verge of bursting under the impact of the flood.
But then, completely different from this panic reaction, she responded with a clear and smooth word:
"I don't know, I don't know anything."
"I don't know this guy at all."
Yan Yan and Jiang Ting looked at each other, both of them were a little surprised.
"You don't know? Then what are you afraid of?"
"… I do not know anything."
"On July 12 last year, He Liang disappeared on the way from school. On the same day, his parents received a call from the kidnappers to extort 1 million RMB in cash. The next day, your parents came to the Jiangyang County Police Station to report that you were missing, and they were suspected of being arrested. After being scolded, he ran away from home in anger; but when you contacted your mother the last time he saw you, your so-called runaway and He Liang's kidnapping should have happened at the same time."
"… "
"You didn't run away from home, did you?"
"… "
"You know what happened to He Liang, but you don't dare to say it." Yan Yan leaned forward, resting her hands on the table, staring at the little girl's dark hair: "What are you afraid of, Li Yuxin?"
"I don't know! I don't know what I said!!" Suddenly without warning, Li Yuxin's scream cut through the air, and immediately turned Yan Zhenzhen back, "—I don't know him at all! I I don't know anything!! You let me go!! Let me go!!!"
Snapped! Snapped! Li Yuxin started hitting her head with her hands, tearing her hair with all her might, her face turning red and purple. The posture was like self-mutilation. The iron door was slammed open, and the two policemen on duty rushed in. At the same time, Yan Yan suddenly got up, strode forward, and restrained the little girl from behind, ignoring the twist. Forcibly put her hands behind her.
"Don't be handcuffed!" Jiang stopped drinking: "You can control it!"
"Two city bureau comrades, we must act according to the regulations..."
Yan Yan said sternly: "Listen to him! If you are handcuffed, you won't say anything!"
As soon as the words fell, Li Yuxin changed his tactics and knocked his forehead against the edge of the iron table desperately. Boom! With a muffled sound, the little girl's forehead was first put on by Jiang Ting's hand, and his knuckles immediately hit the sharp edge of the table, hissing in pain.
Yan Yan: "Are you alright? - It's alright, go out! You can control it! Let me tell you if you lead!"
The second half of the sentence was yelled at the policeman, and the policeman was full of doubts and had no choice but to exit the interrogation room.
"Are you OK?"
Jiang Ting covered the back of his hand and was speechless from the pain. After a while, he shook his head to signal that he should not worry about himself.
"..." Yan Yan took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the boiling rage in his heart.
Li Yuxin was still writhing and struggling, her face was blue and purple, and her eyes flashed with a beast-like desperate cold light. Her appearance was indeed a bit terrifying. Yan Yan twisted her hand and looked down at her face from the side. Gradually, her anger was gradually overshadowed by a more sensitive intuition.
"At all?" he repeated suddenly.
Li Yuxin gritted his teeth and said nothing.
"I just said that I hope you can provide some clues about He Liang's kidnapping case. You said that you don't know him at all. This kind of reinforcement is usually not used for the first denial. Did someone interrogate you before?"
"… "
"Or," Yan Yan said coldly, "you have rehearsed many times in your mind about the question and answer about He Liang's case?"
Li Yuxin's struggle gradually weakened, and it stopped completely after an unknown period of time. She sat there stiffly and did not speak. Yan Yan carefully tried to let go of her, but she did not respond.
"Li Yuxin, look into my eyes."
The girl's vision was scattered and empty, without focus.
"We're not here to hold you accountable," Yan Yan softened his tone and said, "We came overnight because another pair of boys and girls was kidnapped."
I don't know if it was because of the sincerity in the words, but because of the meaning itself, Li Yuxin's black and white eyes turned and suddenly glanced at Yan Yan.
"Yes, the day before yesterday afternoon, a couple surnamed Shen in Jianning City received a call from the kidnappers demanding a ransom of 200 million yuan, but they couldn't even afford a tenth of it. You and He Liang were sixteen years old when they were kidnapped, right? This time the girl is not even 16 years old. Her name is Bu Wei, and her birthday is next month. The boy’s name is Shen Xiaoqi, and the kidnapper informed us that there are only ten hours left before his execution time.”
"Shen Xiaoqi's parents only have his son, just like He Liang's parents have only him, and yours is yours." Yan Yan paused, facing the early morning light outside the iron window of the interrogation room, staring at Li Yuxin. After a while, he finally asked the sentence:
"He Liang is dead, right?"
Li Yuxin did not move.
"But you are still alive, and Shen Xiaoqi and Bu Wei should also be alive. We can't give up any hope of saving the living, don't you think?"
"...It's useless," Li Yuxin said suddenly.
She had just gone crazy, her voice was hoarse, and it took two or three seconds for Yan Yan to realize what she was talking about.
"useless?"
"He will die." Li Yuxin said quietly, "She will become like me."
Yan Yan looked at Jiang Ting and met the latter's equally suspicious eyes. In an instant, they both realized that the other party understood the two "ta"s the same as theirs - Shen Xiaoqi would die, and Bu Wei would become the next Li Yuxin.
Li Yuxin was kidnapped together with He Liang, and the executioner was really copying the serial case!
"Have you seen the kidnapper?" Yan Yan blurted out: "He let you watch him execute He Liang? Isn't that right?"
Li Yuxin smiled strangely at him.
"What did the kidnapper look like? Why did he do this? How did he kill He Liang?!"
The little girl's straight, smiling eyes didn't change at all.
"Li Yuxin!" Yan Yan couldn't help roaring: "There are two children as old as you who are going to die! As long as you are willing to provide clues, I guarantee that you will be counted as a major meritorious performance! I guarantee that you will be able to go out immediately! Li Yuxin !"
"Isn't it bad to die?" Li Yuxin spoke softly with that weird smile, as if she was afraid of waking up from a dream: "I want to die in my dreams."
Yan Xun and Jiang Ting were stunned at the same time, and then, with lightning speed, the little girl slammed her head on the table!
bang—
This time, Jiang Ting didn't need to make a move. Yan Yan, who was already prepared, bounced like lightning. Before Li Yuxin raised her head to hit her a second time, she grabbed her tightly and clasped her tightly in his arms, ignoring her at all. The frantic struggle of dying, the blood gurgling from the head covered himself all over.
The iron gate was smashed open for the second time, and the leader of the detention center on duty, the police and others rushed in quickly. Footsteps, exclamations, roars, etc. mixed into ubiquitous noise. Someone was calling for a doctor, someone was calling, someone was trying to handcuff Li Yuxin and take him away... In the porridge-like chaos, Jiang Ting stood up slowly, his eyes fixed on Li Yuxin's lips.
Her face was covered in blood, running down her nose to the corners of her mouth. When her lips opened and closed, she could even see scarlet drenching between her teeth.
But that didn't prevent Jiang Ting from recognizing her dreamy mouth shape.
"Midsummer... Weiyang..."
"July… "
- Midsummer night is vast, July is not yet young.
It was as if the mist was torn apart by the ghost's claws, the heart contracted fatally, and the cold blood rushed to the top of the head instantly. The time points represented by those eight characters are kidnapping, blood-clothing, execution, 8:09... Countless familiar but obscure clues are all strung together in an instant.
Jiang stopped and let go.
He fell silently back into the armchair.
Li Yuxin was handcuffed and handcuffed by the police, covering her head with all her hands and feet, and rushed to the nursing room of the detention center. Yan Yan was negotiating with the leader of the detention center. His voice was fierce and the volume was quite loud. He was almost arguing. Even Ma Xiang and Xiao Zhang, who was outside the door, broke in.
But Jiang Ting couldn't hear anything clearly.
He seemed to be sinking gradually in deep water, a little bit away from the whole world, but everyone stood on the shore arguing vaguely, and no one noticed that he was gone.
It was so, he thought in a trance.
- But why
Starting from the last ray of afterglow on the horizon, what was the purpose of this grand and bloody performance
"...Consultant Lu..."
"Consultant Lu?"
…
Jiang Ting suddenly raised his head as if he was awakened, and then noticed that the crowd had dispersed at some point, and only their group and the leader of the detention center were left in the empty interrogation room.
Yan Yan actually knelt on one knee and half beside the chair, holding his fingers: "What's wrong with you? Are you okay?"
"...Ah," Jiang Ting took a breath, and when he got up, he noticed that his cold sweat had soaked into the back of his clothes: "It's okay."
Yan Yan then stood up, but did not let go of his hand: "You are injured."
Jiang Ting lowered his head.
His left hand had just been knocked heavily on the edge of the sharp iron table, and the three knuckles of his fingers were ripped open and swollen, looking quite scary—one can imagine what would happen to Li Yuxin's forehead.
Yan Yan supported his palm with one hand, so that the injured knuckles were lifted in the air, and the other hand supported Jiang Ting's shoulder. This posture is very intimate, but Jiang Ting's sanity is not as lucid as usual, and he subconsciously followed Yan Yan forward, only to hear him say solemnly: "Go to the medical room to deal with it."