by Lei Mi
Looking up at the vague figure in the broadcast booth, Deng Linyue felt as if her whole body was filling with happiness.
Love. This was love.
What girl wasn't a little vain? It nearly made her blush. What girl wouldn't want her boyfriend to be tall and handsome? What girl could resist a romantic offensive like this?
"Linyue, I –"
A sudden, sharp bang split the air.
Suddenly all the lights in the arena went out and Liu Jianjun's heartfelt words abruptly stopped.
Plunged at once into darkness, Deng Linyue was momentarily stunned. At a loss, she waited for several seconds and then shakily called out, "Liu Jianjun...?"
The broadcast booth was pitch black as well. There was no response.
She cried out several times. In the vast, open gymnasium, her voice echoed back and forth, the sound frighteningly clear.
"Don't scare me!" she yelled, on the verge of tears. "I don't like it!"
Suddenly a spotlight switched on. The pale beam shined all the way from the top of the stands to the court, enveloping Deng Linyue.
Blinded by the light, she cupped a hand over her eyes and looked to where it was coming from.
Uncertain, she thought she saw someone walking down the stands.
Then the sound of steady footsteps reached her ears and she knew she hadn't been wrong.
"Liu Jianjun, is that you?"
The figure didn't respond, just kept walking towards her, neither fast nor slow. With the spotlight beam shining behind him, Deng Linyue couldn't make out his face, but she could tell it was a man.
As he drew closer, Deng Linyue was finally able to determine that it wasn't Liu Jianjun; this man was nearly half a head shorter than him.
"Who...who are you?" she wanted to run, but her legs felt too weak to move.
When at last the man stepped onto the basketball court, she could now see that he was wearing a black windbreaker and was carrying something in one hand.
Twenty feet, fifteen feet, ten feet...
As the man drew closer and closer, Deng Linyue's whole body began to shake. At last she saw his face.
The black hood of the windbreaker covered the upper half of his face, while his nose and mouth were tightly hidden behind a surgical mask.
She saw his mouth move behind the mask, but he wasn't speaking – it looked like he was smiling.
At last Deng Linyue reacted. With a cry of alarm, she threw the basketball at the man, and then turned and ran.
But the man was too fast. He leaped forward and grabbed hold of her hair. He raised his other hand and savagely brought it down to strike her.
But Deng Linyue's hair was still damp from her shower and it slipped out of his hand. The hammer that was supposed to come crashing down on her head instead smashed into her shoulder.
She gasped in pain. Her legs went limp and she collapsed to the floor.
Laughing darkly, as if amused, the man slowly stepped to her.
She tried to scramble away in terror, her arms and legs flailing protectively. "I'm begging you, don't..."
The man was completely unmoved. He stepped to her and put one foot on her leg and raised the hammer again.
"Stop!"
Like a thunderclap, a voice roared from the arena entrance, followed by a bang. A bullet shot through the air, nearly hitting the man.
The surprised man's attention went to the entrance.
Two figures there sprinted towards him. With no left time to think, he turned and fled.
When the two figures reached the terrified and cowering Deng Linyue, one of them yelled, "You wait here!" Then pistol in hand, he took off after the man.
Shaking, Deng Linyue felt someone help her up into a sitting position. Her whole body was in pain. Lacking even an ounce of strength, she could do nothing but lean softly against the person behind her. Struggling to look back, she saw it was Fang Mu, his face filled with worry.
"It's you?" His voice was surprised. "Are you okay?"
She feebly shook her head.
"Where are you hurt?"
"My...my shoulder…"
He sighed with relief. With some effort he knelt down and helped her to lean against his chest. He grabbed his dagger and dragged the sheath off the blade with his teeth.
Deng Linyue closed her eyes halfway, content with her rescuer. Her body suddenly drained of energy, she lay limply against his chest.
But Fang Mu hadn't relaxed in the least. Gripping the dagger handle tightly, he felt his palm fill with sweat. Before long it seemed like the thing would slip out of his hand.
Another gunshot ripped through the gymnasium. Fang Mu and Deng Linyue both jumped in surprise, but then silence followed.
Neither was sure what it meant. A lone gunshot?
Had the killer been hit?
Fang Mu looked around nervously. Besides the nearby spotlight beam, everything else was obscured. On the dark bleachers, it seemed as if a million hidden creatures were leaping and dancing. He did his utmost to pick up any suspicious sounds from his surroundings, but besides his and Deng Linyue's breathing, the gymnasium was silent.
When his eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, he saw that a basketball was sitting in front of him.
"It was just you in here?" asked Fang Mu, lightly shaking Deng Linyue.
She weakly opened her eyes. "No. Liu Jianjun is here, too."
"Where is he?" he asked quickly.
She feebly waved a hand toward the top of the stands. "In the broadcast booth."
He had to go check it out. He tried to gently but hastily place Deng Linyue back the floor.
With newfound strength, she grabbed tightly onto his shirt. "Don't go, don't go. Don't leave me here, I'm begging you!"
He struggled for a moment, but was unable to free himself. He was about to get angry when someone's urgent footsteps sounded behind him. Gripping the knife, he quickly spun around. Several flashlights shined in his eyes.
"Whoever's there, drop it!" someone called.
Fang Mu heard the sound of guns being cocked. He quickly put his hands up. "It's me, Fang Mu."
Several people ran forward. Fang Mu saw that the man in the lead was the plainclothes cop who had argued with the student on the ladder the day before.
He shined his flashlight at Fang Mu and Deng Linyue. "It's you? What's going on? Where's Tai Wei?"
Fang Mu didn't have time to answer him. Pointing up at the broadcast booth, he said, "Quick, someone's still up there."
The plainclothes cop signaled to the officer beside him. "You, follow me!"
Then the two of them sprinted up the bleachers, guns in hand.
Watching them duck inside the broadcast booth, Fang Mu silently prayed: Don't let him be dead. Please don't let him be dead.
Their flashlight beams swayed inside the booth.
When everything was silent for a while, Fang Mu could wait no longer.
He yelled up to the booth. "How is he?"
The plainclothes cop stuck his head out of the booth. "He's fine. Still alive."
Fang Mu sighed with relief, and then turned to the two cops beside him. "Tai Wei ran that way after the killer. You guys need to go help him!"
"No need."
One hand over his face, Tai Wei emerged from the darkness. He was holding something in his other hand. He looked up to the officers in the booth. "Turn on the lights!"
A few seconds later there was a rumble and the arena was suddenly bright as day.
For the first time Fang Mu got a clear look at Tai Wei. His face was bleeding and in his hand he held something long and slender wrapped in tissue.
Did he get him? Fang Mu wondered. What happened to his face? What's he holding?
With so many questions flooding his mind, he found himself momentarily unable to say anything.
Tai Wei also didn't look like was in the mood to immediately explain anything. Frowning, he watched his two fellow officers struggle to carry Liu Jianjun down to the court.
"How is he?"
"He's fine; just out cold."
Tai Wei looked over the half-comatose Deng Linyue. The worry in his expression eased when he saw her.
He told the four policemen to get the two injured students to the hospital as fast as possible, and then turned and showed Fang Mu what was in his hand.
It was a screwdriver.
They looked at one another in silence.
It was the Yorkshire Ripper, just as they had expected.
"Shit, that guy ran fast as hell and he definitely knew his way around the gymnasium," Tai Wei said. "I was chasing him toward an intersection when I saw him turn and hurl something at me. I ducked my head but still didn't dodge it." He pointed at his gashed face. The wound had opened across his cheekbone and was still oozing blood. "I fired at him in surprise, but I think I missed. Anyway, slowing down those few steps was all it took. In a second he had rounded the corner and was gone." He shook his head, clearly annoyed.
He nodded to the screwdriver. "Afterward, I turned around and picked this thing up."
Fang Mu looked at the tool, seemingly deep in thought. Suddenly he pointed at something next to Tai Wei's feet. "What's that?"
Tai Wei bent over and picked the object up. It was a key fastened to a small iron fob by a rubber band. The word Women was written on the fob. Tai Wei turned the key over.
"Six?" said Tai Wei.
"Nine?" said Fang Mu, standing beside him.
They looked at one another. Was it 6 or was it 9?
"This thing…" Fang Mu looked again at the key. "It seems to be a key for the women's locker room."
"The women's locker room?" said Tai Wei at once. "Then it must be nine, because the number six changing room is definitely locked."
Fang Mu thought for a moment, and then took the key and walked off.
Tai Wei followed Fang Mu into the women's locker room. After looking high and low, Fang Mu found locker six. He tried the key in it, but it didn't open.
"Hey, over here there's another number six," said Tai Wei with surprise. He pointed at one of the lockers.
Fang Mu walked over. Nailed to the outside of the metal locker was the number six. He slipped his key inside, and it opened with only the slightest bit of effort.
He pushed lightly on the number. It absurdly spun round and round: 6, 9, 6, 9…
Tai Wei walked over and took a closer look. He discovered that the top of the two rivets holding the number in place had been unscrewed.
"This locker was originally number nine," he said, looking at Fang Mu. "Then someone got tricky and switched it to six."
Six...6.
The corners of Fang Mu's mouth curled into a faint smile.
That someone didn't get his way this time.
CHAPTER
19
The Meaning of Love
"Uh-huh… Okay, I understand. Then keep it that way for now. Bye." Fang Mu hung up the phone and pointed at the tangerines on the fruit stand. "How much per pound?"
Tai Wei's tone had been gloomy when he had spoken with Fang Mu just then over the phone. As he'd told Fang Mu on the night of the attempted murder, the police had made a huge effort and spent vast manpower combing the campus in search of the killer. However, they hadn't found a single clue. Because of this they still needed to be stationed on campus for the time being.
Fang Mu understood exactly how Tai Wei was feeling. He had finally been within striking distance of the killer, only to watch him escape from out of the palm of his hand. This was something that no cop could endure. He was probably going over and over every aspect of the event in his head: If only he had been a little faster... If only he had pulled out his gun more decisively… If only he had fired more accurately…
For his part, Fang Mu was much more at ease. Perhaps it was because they were approaching the problem from different perspectives. Tai Wei, for his part, was comparatively concerned with how soon he cracked the case. While Fang Mu also wanted to catch the killer as soon as possible, having stopped the man from committing another murder was even more important to him. After being questioned by the police on the night, Fang Mu had returned to his dorm and had a long and restful sleep. The next morning, when his fellow students heard the news, they started coming in droves to ask him what had happened, Fang Mu was still asleep.
After sending the last of them away, he and several of his friends decided to go visit Liu Jianjun in the hospital.
Carrying the fruit that they had bought at exorbitant prices from the stand near the provincial hospital entrance, Fang Mu and the others signed in inside and then headed to the third floor inpatient department. While Du Yu scowled as he searched for Ward 312, Fang Mu proceeded straight to the end of the hall where two police officers were standing guard outside one of the doors. Since one of them recognized him, no further questions were asked and they were allowed inside.
The bed beside the window was already surrounded by people, all of whom looked back at them as they entered. Fang Mu recognized two of them as the cops who had rushed to the gymnasium the night before.
They nodded at Fang Mu in greeting and then one turned back to the doctor and said: "So what you're saying is he's not fit to answer questions in his current condition?"
"Isn't that obvious?" said the doctor gruffly. "He's still half-comatose. How are you going to ask him anything?"
The two cops looked at one another helplessly and then silently left the room.
After placing the fruit on the windowsill, Fang Mu gave Liu Jianjun a long look.
Liu Jianjun's head was wrapped in bandages and his skin was deathly pale. His eyes were half-closed and an oxygen mask covered his mouth. He looked terribly weak.
Fang Mu's heart fell. Liu Jianjun's injuries were far worse than he had imagined. When the two policemen had carried him down to the court the night before, they had said he was "fine". Now it looked as if the word only meant was that he was still alive.
Fang Mu looked down at the health record hanging beside his bed. At the top of it was written simply: "Depressed skull fracture."
"Depressed?" he said quietly. The killer had probably hit him with a blunt object – a hammer, he guessed.
Liu Jianjun's roommate, Zou Tuanjie, was sleeping beside the bed.
Du Yu nudged him. "How is he?"
Zou Tuanjie yawned and said, "He finished surgery last night. The doctors said there's no threat to his life, but he's going to have to stay here for a little while so they can monitor him."
A sudden burst of noise sounded from the hallway. A man was heard arguing with the policemen on the other side of the door while a woman cried. "I'm his mother," she said through her sobs. "How can I not be allowed see him?"
The door opened and a travel-worn, middle-aged couple walked quickly inside. After anxiously scanning the crowded ward, they hurried over to Liu Jianjun's bed.
Before she had even reached his bedside, the woman began to wail.
Zou Tuanjie jumped to his feet and hurried to support her. "Come on, Auntie," he said consolingly. "Please sit down. Jianjun is going to be fine."
Liu Jianjun's mother sat down beside him. As big tears rolled down her face, she held one hand over her mouth, seemingly worried she would wake up her still-comatose son. She leaned over and lightly stroked his face with her hand.
Liu Jianjun's father softly read the words on his son's health record. "Depressed skull fracture?" Fear and sadness were written across his face.
"Don't worry, Uncle," said Du Yu quickly. "The doctors have already finished his surgery. They said he's not in any danger."
The father nodded, his expression relaxing slightly. He looked at all the young men. "You guys are Jianjun's classmates? What exactly happened?"
Du Yu looked at Fang Mu. "I don't know the specifics. However," he said, nudging Fang Mu, "this guy saved Liu Jianjun’s life."
Liu Jianjun's father turned to look at Fang Mu as his mother grabbed Fang Mu's hand.
"Child, please tell Auntie,
what on earth happened?" she implored. "Who did this?"
"Auntie, I also don't know what exactly happened," Fang Mu told them. "I was just lucky enough to be there in time."
She suddenly got down on both knees and, choking with sobs, said: "You wonderful child. Auntie is so grateful. I only have this one son...thank you, thank you."
Fang Mu quickly helped her up, his face red from embarrassment.
"Auntie…Auntie, don't do that… It was nothing…"
After he finally convinced Liu Jianjun's mother to return to her seat, Fang Mu knew he couldn't stay there any longer. More than anything else, the mother's endlessly grateful eyes were too much to bear.
After all, Liu Jianjun's attack had been because of him.
Looking once more at his comatose friend, Fang Mu's heart grew heavy. He balled his hands into fists.
Son of a bitch! I swear I'll catch you.
Not wanting to let Du Yu and the others see the change in him, he quietly left the room.
Back in the hallway, Fang Mu felt much better. Suddenly he really wanted a cigarette. After looking at all the doctors and nurses passing back and forth, he decided to find a bathroom and covertly smoke there.
He was strolling down the hallway toward the bathroom when he unexpectedly saw Tai Wei sprinting up the stairs.
"Hey, you're here, too?" Tai Wei asked upon seeing Fang Mu.
"Yeah, I came to see my friend."
"The boy? How is he?"
"His life's not at risk, but he's still in a coma. What are you doing here?"
"I'm going to go ask the girl what happened. She's here, too, on the fifth floor. Want to come?"
After thinking about it, Fang Mu nodded and followed him up.
Deng Linyue's police protection was much tighter than Liu Jianjun's. Four cops in SWAT gear were standing guard outside her door. The room itself was very spacious and outfitted with every amenity, and she was the only occupant. It looked like an upscale two-bedroom apartment.