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The police officer who came was a young man in his early twenties, surnamed Zhao. He had brought over Xia Rong’s mobile phone, clothes, and also luggage, asking Xia Rong to check whether there was anything missing.
Because the entire period from being kidnapped to escaping was very short, everything was almost completely untouched. Except for the clothes, which it was unknown whether the kidnappers had used them to vent, and so had been messed around and was now covered by various traces of dirt and dust, among which were several large footprints, the other things were fully intact. Xia Rong turned on his cell phone and skimmed through the dozens of missed calls, then said to the young Officer Zhao, “I must sincerely thank you and everyone else. There’s no problem. It must have been hard on everyone, even troubling you to make this trip.”
“It’s what we should do.” The young Officer Zhao waved his hand to dismiss the concern. He then took a glance at Su Chi who was on the bed, and said, “We hope that you two can come to the station to record a statement as soon as it’s convenient, so as to help us with the case.”
Xia Rong easily promised, “No problem, I will definitely go!”
In fact, if there were special circumstances, they could record statements at the ward, however, Xia Rong and Su Chi weren’t suspects but victims. Moreover, the details of the case were clear and the suspects had confessed without hiding anything, so there wasn’t a need for them to be in such a rush. At present, they just needed to ask a few questions and that would be all.
The questions were about nothing else but the “nonsense” the kidnappers had been spouting, such as the “crazy cat that had chased the car” or how “Xia Rong disappeared from where he was in just a flash, leaving only a pile of clothes on the ground.” Upon thinking of the fact that he had already appeared in front of the camera several times with ‘PoPo’, Xia Rong found that there was no need to hide this matter in this case, so he honestly admitted the cat that had chased the car was his own, explaining that it was just trying to protect its owner and wasn’t as exaggerated or horrifying as the kidnappers had claimed.
As for “disappearing into thin air,” Xia Rong implied that a kidnapper had “come to harbor evil intentions upon seeing him” and so in a momentary lapse, allowed him to run away, and so in order to prevent his companions from investigating and pursuing the matter, made up this kind of lie.
Forgive him, being surrounded by four or five big men in the middle of the wilderness, only to leave just a pile of clothes… He could only think of such a reason!
However, Officer Zhao, who has worked at the grassroots level for so long, has seen and heard about all kinds of things, and so has actually come across this kind of thing many times already. Although Xia Rong’s explanation also wasn’t very clear and didn’t sound completely reasonable, it was already much more reliable than what those kidnappers had said, which one could tell was “nonsense” from just one listen. He took Xia Rong’s hesitation as embarrassment and difficulty having to speak about such a thing, so he was very understanding and did not continue to ask but instead said, “Your cat is very spiritual, what about it?”
“I had someone send it to the pet hospital to be taken care of.” Xia Rong blinked and said, “Officer Zhao, if you guys need to see it, I’ll bring it along next time when I go in to give my statement.”
Su Chi, who felt an inexplicable chill in his heart: …
“No need, no need.” The young Officer Zhao then asked, “Then how did your friend get hurt?” He was referring to Su Chi who was on the hospital bed.
“… I used a kidnapper’s cell phone to send him a distress signal and location, then deleted the traces afterward.” At this time, Xia Rong really was starting to make things up. “It was only due to him coming to my rescue that I didn’t get caught again. We rolled down the slope, but he had me in his arms, so I was fine. However, for him, his foot got fractured.”
“A good pet and a good friend, your fate’s really good,” The young Officer Zhao said with a smile, “If I weren’t a police officer, I would also believe the suspect’s statement.”
Finally getting to the main point, Xia Rong quickly asked in succession, “Who’s the suspect? What did he say? Why did he want to kidnap me?”
“His surname is ‘Huang’, he’s a wealthy businessman of C City. He learned half a year ago that he had cancer and has been trying all sorts of ways to survive it.” Officer Zhao tutted and continued, “Half a month ago, he met a certain Mx. Wang, who claimed to be a master of feng shui and metaphysics1. Mx. Wang claimed that if the suspect could find someone with pure Yin fate, he could help Mx. Huang extend his life through his mystical arts. This could well be considered Mx. Huang’s last straw. He immediately hired a large number of outlaws, then upon finding you who had a pure Yin fate, they began their days-and-nights of lookout.”
“In fact, it was also quite coincidental yesterday. Mx. Huang’s channel for information was limited, so the kidnappers he hired could only guard in front of your fixed real estate and the hotel where you were assigned to stay at, but it just happened that you changed your itinerary at the last minute and also didn’t bring any bodyguards yesterday, giving them a chance to take advantage of it.”
“I’ll definitely bring along bodyguards with me at all times from now on.” Xia Rong nodded obediently.
“Mx. Huang had used, more or less, all the money he saved over the years to cure his illness, then later, in order to kidnap you, he also exhausted the last of his fortune. So as soon as he was arrested, he felt that he didn’t have too many days left to live and even lost his last trace of hope, so he explained everything very thoroughly, without hiding anything.” The young Officer Zhao seemed to have faintly sighed as he remarked, “Feudal superstition really shouldn’t be kept.”
“Officer, just now, you said,” Su Chi suddenly started to ask, “How long ago was it that Mx. Huang first met Mx. Wang?”
“Half a month ago.”
Half a month ago?
Su Chi and Xia Rong quickly exchanged a look, and both of them understood the meaning of each other’s eyes even from just that simple moment.
The situation of them turning into cats had started an entire month ago. At that time, Mx. Huang hadn’t even yet met Master Wang who would guide him to find someone with pure Yin fate, so it would have been even more impossible for the other to exert any influence over them, forcing them to turn into cats time after time.
That said, then this kidnapping was completely an accident, and they are actually going in the wrong direction?
=====
After seeing the young Officer Zhao off, the ambiance of a conspiracy was again cast over them, causing both their hearts to feel a bit heavy.
The first thing that Xia Rong did was to contact the director of the hospital to change Su Chi to a more luxurious ward, one which would make it more difficult for outsiders to disturb him. The accompanying small bed has also been upgraded along with the change, from a narrow, narrow army cot to an equally soft, large white bed2.
Xia Rong sat cross-legged on the bed, sending WeChat messages to his mother. As he was sending them, one after another, suddenly he looked up, then asked Su Chi, “Do you know your eight characters? If you don’t, do you have your exact date and time of birth?”
“I know the date,” Su Chi said, “As for the time… I had asked my parents before, they said they couldn’t remember and have already forgotten.”
These days, parents who can’t even remember their child’s time of birth are already quite rare… Xia Rong felt unjust for the other and remarked, “How could they be like this?”
“It’s okay. Both of them have their own new families now. I’m perfectly happy at ease with no one looking over me.” Su Chi curved his eyes at him. “—Even if it was coming out, I wouldn’t be afraid.”
“…What foolishness are you going on about.” Xia Rong coughed, then turned his gaze away. “Guess we’ll make do with only the date for now, tell me it to me first.”
Xia Rong typed as Su Chi told him, then after it was all done, he said, “I’ve sent it over一 Ah, you’re a Leo.”
Su Chi replied, “I didn’t expect you had an interest in western astrology.”
“No, no. Of the 12 constellations, I only remember mine and Leo, and only because of that song.” Xia Rong raised his head, his peach blossom eyes curved into a beautiful arc as he softly hummed, “The tail of July, you’re a Leo~“
He started laughing after just singing one line. Outside the window was the crisp and dry breeze of June and with the bright and clear sun shining down on him, it made his gleaming smile seem particularly moving.
…
“Duk-duk-duk.”
“Hm?” Xia Rong heard knocking from the door and drew back his smile, turning his head over. “We had just changed to a new room, how can there be someone here so soon?”