Love Me if You Dare: Pristine Darkness

Two big reveals in this chapter. One regarding Ke Qian and the anime murder case, and the other, about Han Yumeng. I’m not sure what direction Ding Mo is going to take with this, but, oh, Fu Ziyu, my heart is aching for you . . .

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The colour of Xu Sheng’s face changed abruptly. It was indescribably ghastly, like the face of someone who had suddenly died.

“Why….” Fang Qing slowly asked, “don’t you guys all suspect Ke Qian?”

This name was like a bullet that exploded in Xu Sheng’s ears. She didn’t say anything, but looked as if she wanted to use her hands to grab onto those pictures yet didn’t dare to. Fang Qing saw that her fingers were shaking, her entire body looked as if it would keel over from the chair.

“You’re that scared of him?” Fang Qing asked, “There were witnesses that saw him two nights ago entering your studio to administer the poison. He is one of the founders of the organisation, so he must have keys, right? Why did you guys not say anything? Last night, he killed Jiang Xueran, we could have almost caught him.”

Xu Sheng suddenly reached out her hand, swiping those pictures to the ground. Then her shoulders began to shake violently and she cried out “No! That can’t be possible! How could it be possible… how could this be possible….”

Her state of mind had completely collapsed.

Fang Qing was silent and said nothing.

In the other interrogation room, the cross-examination continued in the same way.

Jian Yao pushed the pictures of Jiang Xueran’s corpse in front of Wen Xiaohua.

Wen Xiaohua’s reaction was worse than Xu Sheng’s, he froze entirely, and then immediately fell from his chair to the ground.

“How could this be… how could this be….” His face was ghastly pale, his entire person was trembling. Bo Jinyan picked him up from the ground.

“This is the appearance that Ke Qian often cosplays in, right?” Bo Jinyan slowly asked. “Before he killed Jiang Xueran, Ke Qian put the costume on him.”

Wen Xiaohua widened his eyes, “You…. You… You mean that the person who killed Jiang Xueran was… was Ke, Ke Qian?”

“There are witnesses.” Jian Yao said. “The one who did the poisoning was also him.”

Wen Xiaohua’s entire face lost its colour, “That… that’s not possible… you guys must be mistaken! It’s someone else! It was someone else!”

Bo Jinyan’s body leaned forward slightly. He looked at Wen Xiaohua intently, and the corners of his lips were twisted in a disdainful smile, “Wen Xiaohua, Ke Qian has only been missing for half a year, how come your entire group is hiding the fact that he was once a member of the group? Why are you more sure than the police that he is not the criminal?”

Wen Xiaohua had no answer. He suddenly lowered his head, avoiding Bo Jinyan’s line of sight.

“What did you guys do to him?” Bo Jinyan asked him slowly and clearly.

Wen Xiaohua’s tears fell in large drops, “I don’t know, I don’t know anything! It wasn’t me! I was only… I want to go home! I want to go back!” He began to weep bitterly.

Seeing that his state of mind was about to collapse, Bo Jinyan glanced at Jian Yao. Jian Yao walked forward, softly patted Wen Xiaohua’s shoulder, and said to him, “Xiaohua, just tell us. Three people have already died, maybe Ke Qian’s next victim will be you. If you don’t tell us, we don’t have any way of helping you. Is living more important, or is hiding the truth more important? Even if there is an issue that is too painful to discuss or to face, it is better than dying, right?”

Wen Xiaohua’s hid his face in his hands while crying his heart out. “But…. But it can’t possibly be him! I know, I know…” he lifted his head in horror. “He must have resurrected! A ghost, he’s a ghost! He became a ghost to come and kill us! Half a year ago, we personally buried him….”

In unison, Bo Jinyan and Jian Yao’s expressions turned to shock.

——

Through the efforts of Bo Jinyan and the rest of the team, they were getting closer and closer to the truth about the serial murders that happened at the anime park. However, at the same time that this was all happening, in another corner of the city, there was also a person who was planning, a person who was spying.

Han Yumeng was sitting in front of the window, gazing out at the unfamiliar city. She was wearing the long water-blue dress that she had bought that day, her long hair coiled up, her appearance dignified. Her eyes were so peaceful, like no matter how great the waves were, they would not cause her heart to ripple in any way.

“Have you seen him?” a voice asked from not so far away.

“I saw him,” she answered.

“Do you want to see him in person?”

She laughed a bit. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Can you kill him?”

“Yes”

“You won’t be unable to bear it?”

“Of course not.”

The person laughed faintly, then asked again, “What is your wish?”

Han Yumeng looked out the window, was briefly silent, then responded, “My greatest wish is of course to forever stay together with the man I love, my hero.”

The man laughed again. “Alright, they are currently being played around by someone with an insignificant role. We don’t need to be in a hurry to show ourselves. However, we’ve played around with them enough. It is time that you and Fu Ziyu have some contact. You should go.”

Han Yumeng stood up, picked up her bag, and walked out of the room.

As she passed the man, he grabbed onto her elbow. “He’s definitely going to touch you, right? You know that will cause me to be very unhappy.”

Han Yumeng chuckled, and pulled her arm out of his grasp. “Isn’t this the feeling that you love?”

“Hahaha…” He began to laugh loudly.

——

Fu Ziyu didn’t listen to Bo Jinyan’s words. These past two days, he was constantly walking everywhere, searching everywhere. He went to the place where Han Yumeng appeared, looked in every corner, hoping to see traces of her again.

But he got nothing for his efforts.

He was in a constant state of frustration and helplessness. Thinking about the sweetness of the faraway once-upon-a-time, he felt  frustrated and helpless. Actually, there were many details that he already could not clearly remember. Thinking about these recent years, he also felt frustrated and helpless. He experienced so many things, but it was as if it all passed in the blink of an eye.

As to her appearance this time, he felt even more frustrated and helpless. The person he faced was like an unfamiliar woman. But whenever he thought of her, his heart would still hurt slightly.

Did he still love her?

He was not sure, as missing her had already become a habit.

Did he not love her?

But he still remembered clearly every sentence that described her disappearance in the news back then. More than once, in the night, he had imagined the torture she suffered, the scene of her death. He would never forget her in this life.

Her kindness, her enthusiasm, her sexiness.

Her greatness.

Yes. If, in Fu Ziyu’s life, there was any woman who could be described using the word ‘greatness’, it would be her. The her that volunteered to help in Africa at such a young age; the her that hated that she wasn’t able to give everything she had to each and every refugee she met; the her that decided to sacrifice herself to save the other few lucky survivors.

……

Fu Ziyu had no doubt that the person he saw was Han Yumeng.

But eight years had already gone by, why did she leave? And why did she return?

Was she still… of the same appearance that bloomed in the deepest parts of his heart?

At midnight, the city’s magnificent buildings were still clear, cold, and lonely. When he was by himself, Fu Ziyu’s facial expression was always lonely, without the beaming and radiant expression he had when he was interacting with friends.

He entered the password for his door, opening it.

The lights were on, and a person was sitting in front of the window.

She turned her head and stood up.

The expression in her eyes was one which Fu Ziyu could never forget in this lifetime.

But her voice was calm and warm like the first time he had met her. “Ziyu, I’ve returned. I didn’t think that the password to the door is still my birthday. I immediately got in.”

Whatever was in Fu Ziyu’s hands fell onto the ground.

The ground beneath his feet was evidently flat, but he stumbled forward. It was as if he had been walking through life for such a long time before he could walk up to her.