Chapter 168: The Meaning of Sacrifice

Although Officer Xu would have liked to support Lin Moli’s business, based on the foot traffic her shop had seen last time, she probably didn't need his patronage.

Besides, keeping a low profile was likely better for her anyway.

Regardless, knowing that his senior was living a busy life was good enough.

Having finished his day's work, he was just preparing to leave when Old Tang patted him on the shoulder with a grave expression. "Grab your gear and come with me. Homicide."

Officer Xu's expression turned serious as well.

A dispute was just an argument, but a homicide meant someone had lost their life.

He put on his jacket and got into the police car.

As he watched the direction the car was heading, a sense of unease crept into his heart.

That unease was confirmed when the vehicle finally stopped in front of the familiar barbecue stall.

The entrance to the stall was already stained with blood. A crowd of people kept their distance, peering toward the scene while holding up their phones to record.

A blood-soaked figure was kneeling at the entrance with hands raised overhead, appearing to have already surrendered.

Officer Tang let out a heavy sigh. "Cuff him and take him in."

"Tiansheng, go take the statements. Old Zhang, do the autopsy."

Officer Xu’s mind went entirely blank the moment he caught sight of the familiar figure lying on the ground.

"Tiansheng?" Officer Tang noticed his strange behavior and asked, "Do you know them?"

"No," Officer Xu instinctively denied. "I don't know them."

Officer Tang didn't believe him, but he didn't press the matter either. "Ask the people around."

As for whether someone in such a dazed state could properly conduct an interrogation, he still trusted his apprentice's professional competence.

Forcing himself to stay calm, Officer Xu began gathering information.

According to the surrounding customers and local vendors, just as Lin Moli was preparing to open for business at this usual hour, a madman suddenly appeared out of nowhere and began hacking at her with a knife.

Not only did he strike her multiple times, but once he was finished, he simply knelt right there without doing anything else.

If that wasn't a sign of mental instability, what was it?

The target had been clear, and the suspect had offered no resistance.

Officer Xu gripped his pen so hard it nearly punctured the paper.

"Such a young woman, what a tragedy," Officer Tang muttered after taking a few looks. "What are the findings?"

"The very first blow was meant to be fatal," Old Zhang said, gesturing toward the wounds. "Both her trachea and carotid artery were severed. She would have lost consciousness within thirty seconds at most."

The assailant's objective had been precise, completely ignoring the screaming customers nearby and keeping his eyes fixed solely on Lin Moli.

"A vendetta," Officer Tang observed, watching as the handcuffed suspect was forced into the vehicle. "A premeditated vendetta, at that."

"First, notify the young woman's family."

With numerous eyewitnesses, ample physical evidence, and the perpetrator caught red-handed, this homicide case was entirely indisputable.

The only thing left to investigate was the motive.

To the bewilderment of everyone at the police station, no matter how deeply they dug, the victim appeared to be entirely alone in the world, with neither relatives nor friends.

Even the contacts stored in her phone consisted only of regular customers and wholesale suppliers from her business dealings.

Could a normal, living human being truly have zero interpersonal connections?

Running her ID number through the household registration system, they discovered she had been the head of her household for eight years.

This meant either that her family had already passed away or that she had severed ties and removed her household registry from her family home eight years ago.

Either possibility drastically increased the difficulty of tracking down her relatives.

Moreover, household registration systems in smaller towns still had loopholes eight years prior, making the investigation rather challenging.

"I know who she is," Officer Xu spoke up at that moment.

Officer Tang was entirely unsurprised and simply waved a hand. "Then I'll leave this to you."

While tracing Lin Moli's family was difficult, contacting her superiors was much easier.

The veteran police chief in Yuncheng received the news promptly and rushed over that very day.

The moment Officer Tang laid eyes on him, he understood the whole situation and couldn't help cursing, "Damn it."

"Old Tang, we're at work. Swearing will get you reported," reminded an officer working by the window.

"Not only do I want to swear, but I also want to punch someone," Officer Tang said irritably, pulling a cigarette from his pack and holding it between his lips.

"Old Tang—"

"I haven't lit it, I'm just holding it," Officer Tang retorted. "Where are they holding the guy we brought in?"

"I think you'd better calm down. Assaulting a prisoner will also get you reported," the officer warned.

In truth, if someone filmed him holding an unlit cigarette and reported him, he'd still catch flak, but seeing the pure agitation on the man's face, the officer swallowed the rest of his advice.

Hold a cigarette and he'd just get chewed out, but assaulting a prisoner would result in disciplinary action.

The more Officer Tang thought about it, the angrier he grew, slamming a fist onto the desk. "Damn it!"

The loud crash startled everyone into silence.

"You all handle your business; I'm going out for some air."

Officer Tang strode out the door, leaving behind a group of bewildered officers staring at one another in confusion.

"What's got into him? Who poked a tiger's tail?"

"No idea. He's been like this ever since we responded to that call yesterday."

"What kind of call was it?"

"Sounds like a revenge killing. The suspect was caught on the spot, and the body is still in the morgue. Could it be someone he knew?"

The officer who spoke lowered his voice.

The others agreed with the assessment. "I think so. Officer Xu has been taking it hard too; he's been standing watch in the back all night."

Hearing this, the rest dropped the topic and silently returned to their duties.

It was a tragedy, and for the time being, it was best not to prod at the wounds of this master-apprentice pair.

Officer Xu had remained stationed outside the morgue the entire time.

He didn't know what Lin Moli's past had been like, but he refused to let his senior lie here all alone.

The veteran police chief burst into tears the moment he laid eyes on Lin Moli.

The wounds on her body had already been stitched up by the coroner. Her eyes, which had always possessed such a stubborn spark, would never open again as she lay there lifeless and cold.

The chief covered his face and wept softly.

He had thought that once she returned, everything would be fine; he had thought she could always find a way to hide.

Bai Yingxiong was a man devoid of any human decency. Even though he had already been captured, his younger brothers, underlings, family members, and former business associates—anyone tied to him in any way—would never want an undercover agent who had spent so long lurking by his side to survive.

Who knew how many more secrets she might still expose?

Or perhaps they simply had to kill until no one ever dared go undercover again.

Any undercover agent who walked away from their world unscathed was seen as an intolerable provocation.

In this world, alongside the light, there was also darkness, and that darkness—just like the light—pervaded every corner.

Once he managed to compose himself, the veteran police chief finally noticed Officer Xu standing nearby.

"You are..." the chief asked in a daze, "Old Tang's apprentice?"

Officer Xu acknowledged it with a slight nod and a bow. "Senior, my name is Xu, Xu Tiansheng."

"I know you," the chief wiped away his tears. "Moli mentioned you. She said she met a wonderful junior, and it made her very happy."