Love Me if You Dare: Pristine Darkness

There was finally silence in the room.

The sound of someone’s footsteps faded away into the distance.

Fu Ziyu crawled forward slowly, desperately striving to reach her hand.

She lay still, completely motionless.

In a split second, a huge wave of grief had engulfed his heart.

He was wrong, they were wrong. They thought they could beat someone at their own game, that they could escape to a faraway place, that they could avoid causing trouble for the people around them.

Instead, two corpses lay in separate places, yin and yang would forever be asunder.

Finally, he touched her finger and grasped it tightly.

Nothing can ever separate us again, little girl.

He lay on his back, gasping faintly, and shut his eyes.

Jinyan, the old enemy is here.

Please take care of yourself.

   ——

Bo Jinyan walked into the warehouse. The vast space was conspicuously, completely empty.

It should be an abandoned warehouse; several strong lights were strung here and there from the bare ceiling. There were also several huge machine parts hanging in the air. From a distance, they looked like bloated steel giants, silent spies.

Bo Jinyan gripped his gun tightly using both hands, bent low, and slowly made his approach. The lights shone brightly from all directions, bathing the entire space in uniformly tranquil, white light. His coat buttons were undone, revealing the white shirt underneath. His eyes were clear and sharp as he raised them to look around while keeping his head low, remaining still and soundless.

He noticed the corridor on the second floor. There were quite a few pillars, but no one in sight. Moreover, next to him, on the first floor, was a jumble of both high and low shelves. If someone were to attempt to make his or her way through the shelves, the shelves would provide some cover, and that person would only be intermittently visible.

In his mind, he calculated the angles and positions of the corridor, the hanging machine parts, the pillars and the shelves.

He raised his head and looked at the rooms beyond the corridor which were lit up.

He gripped his gun more firmly.

——

That man took a sip of alcohol and felt his entire body heat up.

He put down that wonderful, burning vodka and grinned like an imbecile.

Because he heard the sound of the warehouse door opening.

Oh, their prey . . . was coming.

Right into their bowl.

That man counted down in his heart: 60, 59, 58, 57 . . .

Give Bo Jinyan enough time to enter the sniper maze.

Then, that man picked up his sniper rifle and the telescopic sight and looked through the chink in the window. As expected, he caught a glimpse of a black suit flickering through the maze.

He smiled with satisfaction.

That man remembered the bet he and his companions had made previously.

“I will allow Simon King* to walk out of the maze, his body riddled with bullet holes, wounded but not dead. Then I will hand him over to you all.”

His companions laughed insanely.

Simon King*. This is the name they used to address Bo Jinyan. Perhaps all who were fugitive criminals and desperadoes, like them, addressed him this way. Because he had caught the flower cannibal. He had caught Xie Han*, and disposed of him.

*T/N Simon King – the name Bo Jinyan was known by (to non-Chinese) in ‘He is Coming, Close Your Eyes’ (televised as ‘Love Me if You Dare’). Xie Han is the main villain.

However . . . they were not afraid of him.

Even though Simon King had amazing abilities, he was still only a professor of criminal psychology. They had come secretly, travelling over land and sea to arrive here.

They had not committed any crimes, so he would have no evidence of prior behaviours or actions to analyse.

Their sole intention was to kill him.

They had captured his beloved, and his friend.

They wanted to torture him to death.

Thinking of this, that man was once again enraptured by a wave of delicious excitement. Although he had consumed alcohol, his skills and reflexes were still lightning fast. Like a special forces soldier, he held his rifle, ducked low, made a sharp turn and reached the first sniper hole along the second floor corridor as quickly as a striking snake. Another pillar along, head lowered, eyes cold, he took aim at the corner of the black coat in the sniper maze.

What was the best spot for the first shot?

Hitting him in the lower back would be good enough.

Ahhh . . .

“Czzzz —” The silenced bullet hissed out, penetrated the coat squarely and struck the ground.

That man was stunned.

Something’s not right.

He grabbed the gun and turned around, but it was already too late.

An ice-cold handgun was already pressed against the back of his head.

That man cursed softly, “S**t!”

Wearing only a shirt, Bo Jinyan stood behind him, his face cold as ice.

“Throw the gun away!” Bo Jinyan commanded.

That man eyed him and tossed the gun away. Very slowly, he started to turn around, and smiled humourlessly as he asked, “Simon King, how did you find me?”

“Calculation.”

That man looked blank. “What calculation?”

“The best sniper angle.”

“. . . . S**t!”

Even as he uttered this single syllable, that man’s hand was already moving as he reached to seize the gun.

How would it be possible to defeat a master at handling guns without seizing the gun? Such people were usually firmly resolute and both adept and devious in terms of skill. Moreover, they were not afraid of death.

However, Bo Jinyan was an exception.

He was no gun master. But, in the split second that man made a slight movement, he seemed to understand with perfect clarity his opponent’s intention and opened fire first. “Bang!”

That man opened his eyes wide and uttered “S**t” for the third time that day. He had not imagined, could never have imagined, that an academic, someone who could only conduct theoretical analysis, would actually be able to display such ruthlessness.

That man was in pain, such tremendous pain! Bo Jinyan’s shot had struck his right chest, completely robbing him of any resistance he could muster. He smiled, slowly and brightly, as his body gradually slipped down against the railing.

A crisp ‘click’ sounded, and one of his hands was handcuffed to the railing. That man looked up to see Bo Jinyan smiling contemptuously at him. “I hit your lung. If you can get help quickly, you might still be able to live. Goodbye.” Having said this, Bo Jinyan kicked the sniper rifle away. He turned and walked towards the stairs at the end, made a turn, and disappeared.

That man lay where he had fallen, gasping heavily.

The smile gradually disappeared from his face.

He thought, perhaps Simon King’s way of thinking was completely at odds with theirs.

He never even asked where Fu Ziyu was. Because, once he asked, they would have the upper hand.

He did not kill that man, but also did not let him live, and even let him linger on the threshold of life and death. Leaving him firmly suspended here.

The tables had been turned. The hunter was now being toyed with, hunted to death, by the prey.

A frightful thought suddenly entered that man’s head.

Perhaps, they had been wrong.

Perhaps they would really be unable to kill Simon King.

   ——

Passing through the warehouse, a door appeared before him.

Bo Jinyan hefted the gun in his hands, and gently pushed the door open.

He already knew that this journey would be difficult and treacherous.

However, in a showdown with those who are evil personified, isn’t it always akin to dancing together on the edge of a knife?

An empty room was before him.

No door, and no windows.

There was only a screen, across which light and shadows played. Someone had rigged a projection to fall on the screen in front of him.

A block of words written in English, in cursive.

There was a wall behind the screen. On the wall was a digital lock. Only with the correct password would he be able to unlock the door and pass through.

The password had only one digit, from 0 to 9.

Bo Jinyan stood there and felt as if he were standing in a strange dreamscape. However, He felt more keenly than he had ever done before, because he knew with absolute clarity who his opponent was, and what he wanted.

However, those people who wanted to plunder all he had, had yet to succeed. People like Tommy and Xie Han.

He raised his head and concentrated on the screen.