Good and Evil Chapter 29: The First Suspect Emerges

When a case reaches a deadlock, it is the darkness before dawn—persevere through that period, and the truth will soon come into view.

By the time the ambulance and Li Lei’s team arrived, twenty minutes had passed. After investigating the stolen property from the robbery, Li Lei and his team, having reached the end of their shift, each went home to rest. Upon receiving a call from Lü Xing, they all hurried to the Second Criminal Investigation Unit and then quickly made their way to the crime scene.

When the ambulance arrived, the medical staff carried the still-unconscious girl onto the vehicle. Zhang Lei accompanied the ambulance to the hospital, while Li Lei and Zhao Hua remained at the scene.

Li Lei retrieved his toolkit and flashlight from the car, then entered the thicket where the crime had occurred. After a careful search, aside from the half-opened condom and the trampled footprint previously discovered by Xu Lang, he found several strands of male body hair.

Lü Xing held the lighting equipment while Li Lei, using tweezers, gingerly placed the curly hairs into an evidence bag. He then squatted beside the trampled footprint.

Seeing the crushed footprint, Li Lei’s face immediately darkened with anger. He cursed, “Who the hell did this? Are they blind?”

He turned to Lü Xing, who was holding the flashlight, and asked, “Hey, Four Eyes, was it you?”

Lü Xing hurriedly shook his head, sneaking a glance at Ning Yanran, who was covered in mud, and dared not say more.

Following Lü Xing’s gaze, Li Lei looked at Ning Yanran. The sight startled him—her hair, face, and clothes were smeared with mud and grass, a far cry from her usual imposing presence. She looked like a country woman straight from the fields.

But what unnerved Li Lei most was the blazing fury in Ning Yanran’s eyes as she stared at him. Confused, he asked, “Captain, what’s wrong?”

“Hmph.” Ning Yanran snorted coldly, turned on her heel, and left the scene, leaving Li Lei even more puzzled.

After she left, Li Lei turned to the grim-faced Lü Xing and asked, “What’s with the captain? How did she end up like that?”

Lü Xing glanced in the direction Ning Yanran had gone, shook his head, and replied, “You’d better wait for Brother Lang to come back and ask him yourself.”

“Oh.” Seeing Lü Xing’s reluctance to elaborate, Li Lei didn’t press further. Unlike Zhang Lei, who questioned everything, Li Lei rarely gossiped about matters unrelated to cases.

Squatting down, Li Lei examined the damaged footprint and asked, “So who stepped on this?”

Lü Xing pursed his lips and said, “It wasn’t me, that’s for sure.”

With that, Li Lei understood. If it wasn’t Lü Xing, and if Xu Lang, a seasoned investigator, wouldn’t make such a rookie mistake, then among the four people present—the victim, Lü Xing, Xu Lang, and Ning Yanran—it could only have been Captain Ning Yanran. No wonder he’d sensed that chill from her earlier; now, at last, it made sense.

“What a pity,” Li Lei sighed, rising to his feet. He asked Lü Xing, “Did you take photos of the scene?”

Lü Xing nodded. “Before you arrived, the captain had already taken photos with her phone.”

Satisfied, Li Lei picked up the toolkit and walked toward the road. “Where’s Brother Lang?”

“He went after the suspect.”

“He found the suspect?” Li Lei stopped in his tracks, excitement lighting up his face as he looked at Lü Xing.

Lü Xing nodded, then shook his head, leaving Li Lei bewildered.

“What do you mean, nodding and shaking your head?”

“I don’t know if Brother Lang was chasing the suspect or not. I didn’t see clearly; he just dashed out,” Lü Xing replied with a pained expression.

Realizing he’d get no more out of Lü Xing, who was a technical staffer rather than a field investigator, Li Lei let it go. Lü Xing had already gone above and beyond, even disguising himself as a woman for the operation.

When they reached the road, they found only Ning Yanran and the other officers; Zhao Hua was nowhere to be seen. Li Lei asked, “Where’s Zhao Hua?”

Ning Yanran glanced at Li Lei and said coolly, “He went to pick up that lecher Xu Lang.”

“Oh—huh? Lecher?”

Li Lei and Lü Xing exchanged a glance, baffled by her words, and looked at Ning Yanran in unison.

Realizing her slip, Ning Yanran quickly turned away, tidying the mud on her clothes to cover her embarrassment. Seeing this, Li Lei and Lü Xing wisely chose not to pursue the matter.

Let us leave them for now and turn to Xu Lang.

While pursuing the dark figure by car, Xu Lang floored the accelerator, quickly closing the distance. A two-wheeled bicycle was no match for a car. Just as he was about to catch up, the figure suddenly braked, executed a deft drift, and turned into a narrow path accessible only to motorcycles, electric bikes, and bicycles.

Xu Lang, unable to drive further, leapt out and gave chase on foot. After a kilometer, the figure had vanished into the darkness. Along the escape route, Xu Lang found a discarded bag and phone, items stolen during the robbery.

Since the suspect had escaped and Xu Lang was alone, unfamiliar with the area and wary of an ambush, he wisely halted his pursuit. He called Zhao Hua to bring reinforcements.

Soon, Zhao Hua arrived with officers. Spotting Xu Lang’s car by the roadside, they followed the path and found Xu Lang shirtless, squatting and smoking, with the stolen items scattered nearby. Zhao Hua donned gloves, bagged the evidence, and asked, “Did you catch him?”

Xu Lang shook his head, spat on the ground, and said, “Send people along this path; search every inch. I refuse to believe this guy can fly.”

Zhao Hua relayed the orders, and soon a large contingent of police began combing the area.

Xu Lang dusted himself off and started walking back. “How’s the girl?” he asked.

“She’s been taken to the hospital for emergency treatment.”

Xu Lang nodded without another word.

When he next saw Ning Yanran, she looked particularly bedraggled, with leaves in her hair and mud on her face. He asked mockingly, “What, did you go plant rice in the fields?”

Ning Yanran glared at him, about to retort, but caught sight of Xu Lang’s bare torso, crisscrossed with long scars—two on his chest, one on his abdomen, and a bullet wound on his shoulder. Fresh scratches from his pursuit bled profusely, and though the wounds had begun to scab, they looked alarming.

Seeing this, Ning Yanran swallowed her words and turned away. “You’re hurt. Go get those bandaged at the hospital.”

If not for her mention, Xu Lang wouldn’t have noticed his injuries. Now, as the cold wind stung his fresh cuts, the pain flared. It was already past 4 a.m., the air heavy with dew. Xu Lang, suddenly chilled after his exertion, sneezed violently.

Just as Ning Yanran was about to speak, Xu Lang sneezed directly in her face. Everyone around froze, then quickly turned away, pretending to be busy.

Feeling better after the sneeze, Xu Lang called to Lü Xing, “Go get me a shirt, or are you trying to freeze me to death?”

Lü Xing hastily went to the car.

Xu Lang, noticing the anger in Ning Yanran’s eyes, asked, “What did you want to say?”

She shot him a fierce glare, bumped his shoulder, stomped hard on his foot, and strode away.

“Ow! Are you crazy?” Xu Lang’s face twisted in pain.

“Brother Lang, here’s a shirt,” Lü Xing said, handing him a jacket, which Xu Lang threw on without looking. “Let’s go to the hospital and check on the girl.”

Lü Xing nodded, and they drove off.

By the time they reached the hospital, dawn was breaking. The nurses and doctors on duty paused when they saw them, especially at the sight of Lü Xing, whose gender was ambiguous. Their looks toward Xu Lang were odd, and as Xu Lang followed their gazes to his own clothing, his face turned black.

He was wearing a pink SpongeBob SquarePants pajama top—evidently left in the car by some officer. Mortified, Xu Lang would have stripped it off right there if not for the risk of being half-naked in public.

He shot Lü Xing a glare. Lü Xing shrank back and whispered, “It’s not my fault, Brother Lang. I just grabbed the first shirt I saw.”

Xu Lang gritted his teeth. “Go find out which ward the girl is in.”

Lü Xing went to ask a nurse, and the two took the elevator to the ward.

On the third floor, they found Zhang Lei outside the room, yawning but keeping a close watch on the door. At first, seeing Xu Lang, Zhang Lei nearly laughed at his girlish attire, but a stern look from Xu Lang sobered him.

“Brother Lang,” Zhang Lei greeted.

Xu Lang ignored the embarrassment, glanced at the ward, and asked, “How’s the victim?”

Zhang Lei shook his head. “Still unconscious. The attacker was vicious—almost killed her. Good thing you arrived in time.”

Xu Lang frowned, silent for a moment, then asked, “Was she assaulted?”

Zhang Lei shook his head. “Other than blunt force trauma to the head and some drag marks, there’s no sign of sexual assault.”

Xu Lang breathed a long sigh of relief. “Have her family been notified?”

“We’re working on it. The suspect took all her belongings, so we don’t yet know her identity.”

“Call Zhao Hua; her stolen items have been recovered. Use them to contact her family,” Xu Lang instructed.

“Understood.”

As Zhang Lei finished, he caught the scent of blood and asked, “Brother Lang, are you injured?”

Xu Lang shook his head. “I’m fine.”

“Nurse! Nurse!” Zhang Lei called out. A female nurse approached, scolding, “You should know there’s no shouting in a hospital.”

Ignoring her, Zhang Lei said, “Please check his injuries.”

The nurse looked up and nearly laughed at Xu Lang’s pajamas but restrained herself. “Take off your shirt. Let me have a look.”

Xu Lang was reluctant, but Zhang Lei and Lü Xing persuaded him to comply. When the nurse saw his scars and wounds, her amusement vanished. She led him to the medical room, had a doctor clean and disinfect his injuries, and removed bits of grass from the wounds with tweezers.

Throughout, Xu Lang’s expression didn’t change, as if he felt nothing.

After over twenty minutes, the wounds were bandaged. The doctor advised, “Try to keep the wounds dry, especially when bathing, to avoid infection.”

Xu Lang nodded, thanked the doctor, and left.

Afterward, the doctor and nurse looked at the blood-stained grass in the tray and shook their heads in silence.

Returning to the ward, Xu Lang saw Lü Xing still dressed as a woman and told him, “Go home and change, then report back to the unit.”

Lü Xing agreed and left, feeling it was inappropriate to remain in such attire.

Zhang Lei eyed Xu Lang’s bandages with concern. “Brother Lang, why not go home and rest?”

Xu Lang looked down at his bare chest and nodded. “I’ll go home and change. Call my cell if anything comes up.”

Zhang Lei nodded, and Xu Lang left the hospital to hail a cab.

But standing at the hospital entrance, Xu Lang found that no taxi would stop for him in his current state. Finally, one did, and he got a ride home.

Once home, Xu Lang carefully washed, avoiding his wounds, which sent fresh pain through him. After half an hour, he finished, tidied up, and collapsed into bed.

While Xu Lang slept, the Second Criminal Investigation Unit was busy. Zhao Hua, using documents found at the scene, contacted the girl’s company, which led to her parents. They were informed she’d been attacked and was in the hospital.

The girl worked for a lingerie company. When she didn’t show up for work, her boss tried to call her; finding her phone off, they marked her absent. Only when Zhao Hua called did they learn what had happened.

According to colleagues, the girl’s name was Yu Han, twenty-four years old, involved in developing a new line of lingerie. She had worked late the night before and was attacked on her way home. If not for Xu Lang, who had heard her faint cries, she might have suffered even greater harm.

The assailant fled hastily, leaving behind much evidence: a half-opened condom, several hairs, and fingerprints on her bag and phone. After dawn, Li Lei found a bloodstained stone by the roadside, likely the weapon used. Fingerprints on the stone matched those on the other items.

Li Lei compared the prints to the database, but found no match. This puzzled him—everyone who’s ever obtained an ID card has their fingerprints on file, unless they’ve never applied or have no ID at all.

While Li Lei analyzed the evidence, Zhao Hua’s team searched the area the suspect had fled, inch by inch as Xu Lang had directed. Eventually, they found a discarded bicycle hidden in the grass—old and well-used. It was brought to the unit, and Li Lei found, among the leaves in the chain, traces of white plaster, commonly used on construction sites. This major clue suggested the suspect worked at or frequented a construction site.

Despite a thorough search of the area, only the bike was found. Most households nearby were rural, inhabited mainly by the elderly, women, and children. There were no young men, and the investigation stalled again.

Returning to the police station, Ning Yanran sent Ye Xuefei to the hospital. With the parents’ consent, they performed a forensic assessment and collected Yu Han’s clothing for Li Lei to examine. He found skin tissue and several fingerprints, which matched those on the stone and stolen items—belonging to the same individual. No further clues emerged.

Based on the plaster found on the bike, Ning Yanran sent Zhao Hua, Li Lei, and Zhang Lei to construction sites near Changxi Road. They found several sites with nearly a thousand workers—identifying the suspect among them would be an enormous task.

After reporting to Lu Ye, the chief dispatched reinforcements from the S City sub-bureau to help. While others worked, the mud-covered, anxious Ning Yanran remained at the unit, awaiting results. Eventually, Lu Ye insisted she go home to rest.

Lü Xing, having injured his foot during the operation, was given half a day off before returning to review surveillance footage from the night of the crime. Unfortunately, nothing new was discovered.

Ye Xuefei, hearing from Zhang Lei about Xu Lang’s injuries, called him several times, but he, exhausted, slept through them. She considered visiting but was needed at the morgue to perform autopsies for several cases, so she stayed at work.

While Xu Lang slept, Shu Yue somehow learned of his injuries, canceled her appointments, and came to his home. Since their reconciliation, Xu Lang had given Shu Yue a key.

Arriving, she found him asleep, wrapped in bandages, his rest uneasy from the pain. She gently hypnotized him for a more peaceful sleep. Then she began tidying—laundering his clothes, buying groceries (mostly quick-cook items), and preparing a hearty dinner. When he didn’t wake, she watched television, waiting.

Xu Lang’s apartment had three bedrooms, two living rooms, a kitchen, and two baths. One bedroom was his study, always locked. Even Shu Yue was not allowed inside. Another was his late parents’ room, maintained as it was after their deaths. Xu Lang, with his sister, had moved to their grandmother’s in the countryside, and after his sister’s death, he rarely entered except to clean and air it out.

The study was converted six months after his sister’s death. No one but Xu Lang knew what was kept inside. Shu Yue once tried to open it, but failed; on her second attempt, Xu Lang caught her, leading to their first serious argument—one that ended with Shu Yue’s compromise.

People saw Xu Lang in many different lights.

Before age five, he was a frequent visitor at First People’s Hospital, doted on by nurses and doctors, the little darling of the S City Public Security Bureau. He was an adorable child, always the object of affection.

After five, he lost that warmth; never again did he visit the bureau or hospital. At school, he was bullied—other children saw him as the son of a murderer. Teachers treated him more strictly than others. During this time, his only family was his sister, his grandmother, and a girl his own age.

Teachers saw him as a quiet, withdrawn but highly intelligent and motivated student. At the police academy, instructors viewed him as a natural-born officer—and a potentially dangerous one. If not properly guided, his intellect and capability could be as destructive as any criminal’s. Xu Lang excelled in both investigation and action, his mind sharp and clear.

To his colleagues in the Second Unit, Xu Lang was a legend. With him, no case was unsolvable. Even when leads ran cold, he would piece together clues and find the perpetrator. His peers admired him, as did officers in other departments.

To Chief Lu Ye, Xu Lang was a child marked by hardship—a source of both heartache and guilt. Had Lu Ye had children, he might have become Xu Lang’s father-in-law.

To Shu Yue, Xu Lang was a wounded child who, after being hurt, retreated to heal in silence. He was the man she was willing to give up everything for, and she had always stayed by his side.

Xu Lang’s obsession was to catch the murderer of his mother and sister and prove his father Xu Yuan’s innocence. Shu Yue knew this. Xu Lang’s choice to join the police, rather than accept a direct admission to a prestigious university, his relentless pursuit of truth in case after case, his many honors—all of it was for them. The scars on his body bore witness to the price he paid.

In just three years, he earned two collective first-class merits, four collective third-class merits, one individual first-class, three second-class, and four third-class merits. Yet he never displayed his medals or certificates. Even after leaving the force to open a detective agency, he kept them hidden. Only Shu Yue and Du Ziqiao understood—until the case of his mother and sister was solved, and his father’s name cleared, Xu Lang felt unworthy of those honors.

Around nine in the evening, Shu Yue checked on Xu Lang and found him awake, sitting up in bed, smoking; the ashtray overflowed with cigarette butts.

She sat beside him, took the cigarette from his lips, finished it herself, stubbed it out, and kissed him.

After a while, she gently smoothed his furrowed brow. “What are you thinking about, so lost in thought?”

Xu Lang looked at her, smiled radiantly, and replied, “Nothing much—just thinking of you.”

Though his answer was perfunctory, it warmed her heart. She poked his forehead and teased, “Lazybones, get up and eat.”

Xu Lang suddenly hugged her, grinning mischievously. “How about I eat you instead?”

She lightly smacked his shoulder, then relented. “You’re injured; you need food to recover.”

“But I don’t want to eat. I just want you,” he murmured, nestling his head on her shoulder.

“Come on, be good. Get up and eat,” she coaxed.

After some affectionate teasing, Shu Yue managed to get Xu Lang out of bed. She reheated dinner while he washed up, and they ate together, laughing and chatting.

After dinner, Xu Lang went to help with the dishes but was stopped by Shu Yue, who worried about his wounds. She sent him to the sofa to rest while she cleaned up.

Xu Lang prepared himself a cup of tea and poured plain water for Shu Yue, who disliked both tea and coffee.

When she finished in the kitchen, Shu Yue took a shower and joined Xu Lang to watch some television before they retired to the bedroom.