The aftermath was reduced to mere lines in the news: “Female student from City Finance College trapped in campus loans commits suicide by jumping.” Teachers and classmates gave interviews one after another, speaking of how bright and cheerful the deceased had once been, how she had used her classmates’ IDs to take out loans, gradually becoming alienated from everyone; and how she had once had an exemplary boyfriend who also left her. No one could find her boyfriend for an interview. The city quickly took notice, cracking down severely on loan companies near universities…
Yet three years passed, and the incident became just another rumor, with no one remembering Zhu Xinya anymore. Campus loan companies reopened one by one, quietly conducting their business in the shadows. Among them, Fenjin Bao Company was the largest. Fenjin Bao had gained an extremely capable operations manager: Chen Zhaoci. As a graduate of Huaicheng University, he was easily trusted by students as their fellow townsman and senior alumnus.
…
Do you know? When I was young with unfledged wings, before I could fully see and enter this society, I couldn’t protect myself. If I received kindness, that kindness would help me grow against the wind. If I encountered darkness, that darkness was far crueler than what adults face, drawing me in, and leaving me powerless to escape.
But my world was also far more fragile than an adult’s. While none of you took it seriously, it was already crumbling. At barely twenty, life had reached a dead end. How could I handle all the adult schemes?
Only in death would I no longer be responsible to anyone.
No longer responsible for my life.
—
Several police cars wailed through Huaicheng’s urban district.
Xu Mengshan drove one of them, stepping on the gas whenever possible. His face was as dark as a pot bottom as he muttered to himself: “Still three air raid shelters left to search… Damn it, Fan Jia, you better hang on… Wait for me!”
You Mingxu wore a jacket and track pants, her long hair tied in a high ponytail, her expression equally cold. She checked her holstered gun again while Yin Feng, tall and broad-shouldered, sat beside her, watching her every move.
The city center was crowded with traffic and buildings. If Xu Mengshan hadn’t obtained records from the Municipal Construction Bureau, who would have thought that beneath those unremarkable single-story buildings lay air raid shelters from seventy or eighty years ago? No wonder the police had searched everywhere but couldn’t find any trace of Fan Jia.
You Mingxu looked up and asked Yin Feng: “Are you sure he’s keeping her in one of these shelters? Every minute we waste costs Fan Jia her life.”
Yin Feng answered: “I’m sure. It’s his sanctuary, all that’s left after the little house he built for Zhu Xinya collapsed.”
You Mingxu stared into his eyes: “I trust you.”
Yin Feng remained silent, just holding one of her hands. You Mingxu didn’t want to resist. After a while, he quickly lifted her hand and kissed it, saying: “If I’m wrong, you can beat me, scold me, punish me however you want.”
You Mingxu smiled and ruffled his hair.
She then asked: “Chen Zhaoci’s girlfriend was destroyed by campus loans, so how did he end up becoming an accomplice to campus loans, going on to harm one girl after another just like Zhu Xinya?”
Yin Feng replied: “The choice between resistance and submission has always been a classic question. For many victims, the incurable result is turning around to become new perpetrators.”
You Mingxu heard the coolness and insight in his words. Although his personality had become childish, when it came to psychological analysis, he seemed no different from the older man he once was.
You Mingxu turned to look out the window, no longer watching him. Yin Feng, for some reason, suddenly felt infected by the loneliness emanating from her, and fell silent too, gazing at the vast distance ahead.
At this point, Xu Mengshan said: “There’s nothing to understand about Chen Zhaoci, he’s just inhuman!”
You Mingxu spoke up: “Mengshan, stay calm!”
Xu Mengshan fell silent.
Yin Feng spoke: “Xu Mengshan, you needn’t panic. If Fan Jia had fallen into the hands of Zhao Feier’s killer, there would be no hope. But Chen Zhaoci doesn’t fit my criminal psychological profile, and the fingerprints and alibi prove it wasn’t him. That killer is still at large; we haven’t caught his trail yet.
In Chen Zhaoci’s hands, I believe Fan Jia’s chances of survival are fifty-fifty. There’s no evidence that Chen Zhaoci has killed before, but he is indeed another psychopath lurking among those girls. His childhood environment fostered his negative, reclusive worldview. What he can’t bear is betrayal and abandonment again. His choice was to hide in the shadows from then on, manipulating, seducing, and voyeuristically watching these girls’ downfall. He hates women yet loves them, and desires them. That’s why he chose Zhu Xinya, who was similar to his stepmother.
Even though he hasn’t killed before, he has handled Liu Yisha’s body. In a sense, he’s already rehearsed murder. Right now, his feelings toward Fan Jia—a victim similar to his girlfriend who bravely resists—must be a mixture of love and hate. He both yearns for her to save him and transfers his hatred of women onto her. Chen Zhaoci is now like someone standing on a tightrope—will he step off into the abyss, killing for the first time and finally releasing his long-term twisted emotions; or will he slowly walk back to safety, preserving that bit of humanity and hope for life… It completely depends on the person he’s with now. It depends on whether Fan Jia can see clearly that the steel wire determining both their fates lies beneath their feet. Moreover, she must be able to carefully and appropriately pull back Chen Zhaoci, this would-be psychopathic killer who’s teetering on the edge.”
After he finished speaking, the car fell silent except for the traffic and noise outside.
After a while, Xu Mengshan asked: “Teacher Yin, then do you think… with Fan Jia’s personality, can she do it?”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
Two voices rang out simultaneously, and Yin Feng and You Mingxu looked at each other. Her eyes showed an unyielding stubbornness, and Yin Feng blinked, smiling tenderly as he said: “Because Fan Jia was trained by Xu. Those around Xu are all warriors. When brave warriors meet on a narrow path… the braver one prevails!”