Chapter 707: Brave to the Bone

Seeing Chen Shi suddenly stop in his tracks, Lin Dongxue asked, “What’s wrong?” He said, “Just now, a delivery guy seemed suspicious to me, although I don’t have any evidence.”

“Which delivery service? Let’s call their company and ask!”

“XX Delivery. I hope I’m just overthinking it.”

Chen Shi felt there was something he couldn’t easily ignore. During Xin Bai’s detention, what actions would that maniac take? He had a fanatical desire to dominate Xin Bai emotionally, and under that emotional grip, he wouldn’t just sit idly.

Lin Dongxue suggested, “Speaking of delivery, it seems we haven’t had dinner. Should we order something?”

Chen Shi thought about needing to spend time with Miss Gu, so he said, “Let’s eat out. Yueyue, will you come with us or stay with Miss Gu?”

“I want to see that neurotic writer,” Tao Yueyue said.

“Then we’ll be back later.”

“You can come back later,” Tao Yueyue winked mischievously.

An hour later, the two finished their meal and returned. They heard sobbing coming from a meeting room. It turned out Gu You was here counseling Xin Bai psychologically. Perhaps something she said had touched him, causing him to cry.

“Teacher Bai, today’s session ends here. It will take some time to liberate you from this mental prison. I won’t give up, so please don’t give up either,” Gu You said gently.

“No one has said such things to me in a long time. Thank you!” Xin Bai said tearfully.

Later, Xin Bai was taken back to the detention room. Before leaving, Chen Shi said to him, “Teacher Bai, we all want to help you. But most importantly, you need to find the courage yourself.”

Xin Bai nodded silently.

After he was taken away, Lin Qiupu came to hear the results. Gu You said, “His psychological issues are severe, but his cognition is still intact. I tried to indirectly gather information about that person, but he always evades. Perhaps he’s under some kind of suggestion that disclosing any clues about that person will lead to dire consequences for him. It’s a matter of self-preservation.”

“I don’t understand. It’s safe here. What does he have to fear?” Lin Qiupu asked.

“You really don’t understand. Please don’t oversimplify psychological issues. It’s an illness, a disease! It’s not something you can just overcome with a few steps,” Chen Shi said.

“Do you need to teach me?” Lin Qiupu frowned. “Miss Gu, about the consultation fee…”

“No need. We’re friends. Just helping out,” Gu You smiled.

As it was getting late, the four bid farewell. Gu You mentioned she had something to take care of alone, and Chen Shi understood. He had seen Peng Yue getting off work and lingering as if waiting for someone, so he didn’t say anything.

Tao Yueyue and Lin Dongxue got into Chen Shi’s car. On the way back, the atmosphere was relaxed. Chen Shi and Tao Yueyue chatted about movies and novels. At that moment, Lin Dongxue received a phone call.

After hanging up, her expression changed slightly. “The delivery company called. They said a customer complained and they found a deliveryman outside a trash can in a residential area. His clothes were stripped off, his motorcycle was stolen, and… he’s dead!”

“This doesn’t sound right. We need to hurry back!” Chen Shi sharply turned the steering wheel.

“Could that maniac be coming to kidnap the neurotic writer?” Tao Yueyue asked.

“There’s a possibility…” Chen Shi hoped it wouldn’t come to that. At night, there were only a few people on duty at the bureau. Moreover, no one had ever dared to break into a police station. The police might be too complacent.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the police station. Chen Shi parked the car at the entrance and instructed Tao Yueyue not to leave the car. He and Lin Dongxue rushed into the station.

Surprisingly, there was no one on duty in the lobby. Lin Dongxue entered an office and found several policemen fast asleep on their desks, unfinished instant noodles and mineral water in front of them. She tried pushing them with no response. She even smelled the noodles, but there was no odd odor.

She noticed everyone had the same brand of milk tea on their desks, half-drunk. “They were drugged?” she guessed.

“Bang! Bang!”

They heard two gunshots outside. Startled, they hurried out and saw a figure swiftly running down the corridor. Lin Dongxue shouted, instinctively reaching for her gun, only to remember she had already turned it in when leaving work.

The person ran incredibly fast, wearing the red vest of XX Delivery. He was clearly the suspicious individual from before. Chen Shi said, “I’ll chase him! You watch over Xin Bai.”

He chased the person outside, seeing him push out a motorcycle from behind a tree. He hopped on and sped onto the road. Tao Yueyue pushed open the car door and yelled, “Uncle Chen, hurry!”

Chen Shi got into the car, stepped on the gas, and followed. The motorcycle went so fast that it even went onto the sidewalk, causing pedestrians to scream and dodge. Then it turned into an alley and disappeared.

With a car, there was no way to enter the narrow alley. Chen Shi had no choice but to give up, pounding the steering wheel in frustration. Tao Yueyue reminded him, “You just ran a red light.”

“There was no choice. I’ll pay the fine myself another day.”

“Was that guy a bad guy?”

“Most likely.”

Tao Yueyue lifted her phone. “I recorded a video of the gunshots just now.”

Seeing the person’s face clearly in the video, Chen Shi was delighted. He ruffled Tao Yueyue’s head. “You’ve made a contribution!”

Back at the station, they learned the gunshots had been fired by Old Zhang. Someone had unexpectedly delivered milk tea to the night shift, with a note saying ‘Hard work, please enjoy’. Everyone assumed Lin had bought it and drank it without suspicion.

The perpetrator was cunning. The milk tea was of various flavors, all without sugar. Even Old Zhang had a sip. He suddenly felt dizzy and realized something was wrong. He staggered out and saw someone trying to steal the keys from a unconscious policeman. He fired shots at the ceiling, and the person ran off.

With the crisis over, several policemen remained unconscious. Old Zhang splashed cold water on his face to stay awake and told Lin Dongxue, “This guy has some nerve, daring to come into the police station to kidnap someone. Since the station was established, this has never happened… I’m too dizzy…”

“Lie down on the sofa for a while. Team Lin will be here soon. We’ll take care of things here,” Lin Dongxue said.

“Thanks to all of you,” Old Zhang said, crawling onto the sofa and falling asleep within seconds.

“How’s Xin Bai?” Chen Shi asked.

“Terrified. He curled up and trembled, saying something about his master not hitting him… I don’t think they’ve met. What is this guy thinking? Xin Bai is well-known, and there are surveillance cameras all over the station. Even if he managed to kidnap him successfully, he’d be found immediately. And yet… is he here to kidnap or to silence him?”

“Silencing him is impossible. Xin Bai is like his private property. If he didn’t miss him so much, he wouldn’t have taken such a risk. I think there’s more to come…”