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Chapter 123: The Escalation

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Xiang Wan heard their conversation clearly as she was standing beside them.

Nonetheless, as long as it was something that concerned Xie Wanwan, she would warn herself not to poke her nose into their affairs.

Hence, she never asked anything. From leaving the hotel and back to office, she was calm and collected.

Bai Muchuan was busy the whole morning.

The police’s investigative work was so detailed and complicated that those who had not gone through it would never be able to imagine their workload.

It was a major case and a lot of people were involved. The Criminal Investigation Unit did not have that much manpower to handle them, so the Municipal Bureau had to deploy manpower to help them out. Due to that, Bai Muchuan could forcefully send those detectives who had worked through several nights to go home and get some rest.

But, he did not do the same.

At work, he was like a man made of steel, standing at the frontlines. He was the central core of the team.

All these, Xiang Wan saw it in her eyes.

Men who are serious in their work are the most attractive.

A man who has good looks and treats his work seriously is like a walking glowing ball of hormone.

Although Bai Muchuan’s eyes were bloodshot and might have looked quite haggard due to exhaustion, in Xiang Wan’s eyes, however, Bai Muchuan was somehow different. Relationship between people as well as impressions change from time to time. No matter how he handled his relationships, Xiang Wan had to admit that he was a good detective.

And because of this, his act by finding time to go home, wash up, and change into his uniform so as to express his love to her, Xiang Wan appreciated it even more...

Xiang Wan was not a detective. Therefore, she could not help out in a lot of work. What she could do was basically to run errands or handle some administrative tasks that she was able to perform.

Although that was the case, she was still so swarmed with tasks that her legs felt sore by the time it was lunch time.

She met Mei Xin at the canteen.

The two of them were as per usual. They sat together in a table but hardly communicated with each other. Mei Xin ate her meal quietly, but Xiang Wan did not have such a good habit. She was using her phone to read the novel, “The Grey List”, while eating. Specifically, she was reading the case that the university student, Cao Mengjia, was supposedly to be reading prior to her disappearance.

After her lunch, she started to write her update—

She took in Bai Muchuan’s suggestion to link up the two cases which involved Xie Wanwan. In her novel, the missing girl was a big fan of “The Grey List”. However, her favorite character was not the first female lead but the third male lead instead, which was actually the antagonist. Because of that, she also liked the male celebrity that took up the role of the antagonist in the drama.

When the fans of both celebrities were arguing and quarreling with each other, she got instigated and flew from the Capital to Jin City. She successfully infiltrated into the fan club of the female celebrity, so as to spy and attack her at the nightclub. Subsequently, she disappeared mysteriously in the nightclub that very night...

With the real story as basis, after touching up with some of her own plot, the case became even more complicated.

Even though the names of the characters and locations were different, the readers had no problem relating that to the case at Grand Orchid Pavilion.

Hence, when the update was published, it attracted some readers who had read about the case in real life. However, they held different views from Xiang Wan. Some felt that the story was more interesting after the author changed the plot, while some readers accused the author of trying to gain more attention by anyhow changing the content to make a simple case look mysterious...

Xiang Wan looked through the reviews and comments.

Subconsciously, she wanted to see that mysterious ID again.

But she was disappointed as that ID did not make any comment.

After the publishing of her latest chapter, the case took the top spots of trending news once again with new updates.

“The most mysterious disappearances of the year!”

A female university student, Cao Mengjia, went missing. There were surveillance footages proving that she had left her hotel as well as footage of the part where she had entered Grand Orchid Pavilion.

However, the surveillance cameras at both front and back entrance of Grand Orchid Pavilion did not capture her leaving the place.

That meant she had disappeared into thin air in Grand Orchid Pavilion.

“Sis, is this true?” Fang Yuanyuan was filled with curiosity and could not resist the urge to send messages to ask Xiang Wan about it.

“What are you talking about?” Xiang Wan replied her lazily.

“I’m talking about Cao Mengjia’s mysterious disappearance at Grand Orchid Pavilion. The entire editorial department’s talking about it! Is it true?”

It was true.

In the morning, the team had repeatedly studied and verified the footages.

Cao Mengjia had entered the club, but there was no footage of her leaving the place.

The investigations had affirmed that the one who wanted to stab Xie Wanwan but stabbed her assistant instead was this Cao Mengjia. Huang He was the one who witnessed the incident. When he dashed over to stop her, he was being blocked by a couple of drunk fellows who were brawling as well. He could only helplessly watch her mixing into the chaotic crowd and disappeared thereafter.

In the surveillance footage, they could not find any trace of her leaving the place.

By disappearing just like that, how could it not be mysterious?

However, Xiang Wan could not tell Fang Yuanyuan about these matters.

She gave it a thought and said, “I’m not too clear about it, either. Can’t you just take it as reading some gossip news?”

Fang Yuanyuan: “I just wanted to know the truth.”

Xiang Wan: “Oh yeah? Go find your Huanghuang to understand about the truth then.”

“You’re so bad now!” Fang Yuanyuan retorted, and her message suddenly seemed a little crestfallen. “Sigh, I really don’t want my Huanghuang to be a security officer, especially in nightspots. These people just use violence when they could not agree. He was not happy working there as well... Sis, can you help me ask Detective Bai if Huanghuang can go back to being a detective again?”

“Okay, I’ll ask him when I get a chance. But maybe not these two days, he’s really swamped with work...”

“Okay, okay, you’re all busy. Sis, I feel that after you’ve went to work with the police, you’ve become a changed person. I feel that you’ve been behaving secretively and always claimed to be ignorant whenever I asked you something. Don’t you feel smothered when you’re holding secrets?”

Secret... What secret is she hiding?

Xiang Wan laughed and a sentence suddenly popped out in her head.

“All of them have secrets and died because of secrets.”

This was what Bai Muchuan had said before.

In the case of Zhao Jiahang and Tian Xiaoya, they were keeping secrets...

The current Xie Wanwan, even Bai Muchuan himself, seemed to have secrets as well...

As for the one that was seemingly hiding behind all these cases, he had never tainted his hands every time he mastermind a case. He was always making use of other people to kill another. What was he using in order to manipulate other people to do that?

... Secrets.

The more Xiang Wan thought about it, her nerves seemed to quiver. An ominous feeling washed over her that she got up and ran over to Bai Muchuan’s office.

“Captain Bai...”

At the entrance of the office, the two of them bumped into each other.

Bai Muchuan was about to leave the office with Tang Yuanchu following behind him.

He looked more tired than when he was in the morning, but his eyes were still as sharp as ever.

“What’s up? Why do you look so startled?”

Xiang Wan looked at him. “Where are you going now?”

Bai Muchuan furrowed his brows. “Hospital. You want to go?”

Xiang Wan recalled that he did mention he would be making a trip to the hospital to understand the situation from Xie Wanwan.

“Is it convenient?” Xiang Wan wanted to go, but was worried Bai Muchuan might mistook her intention.

After a short pause, she said, “Well... just now, I suddenly thought of something. From the theft of Xie Wanwan’s doll to the group brawl and death of her assistant at Grand Orchid Pavilion, as well as the disappearance of the female student, could all these be a conspiracy? That someone simply wanted to take out Xie Wanwan or... to deal with you who is behind her?”

“Hm?” Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow. “Why do you suddenly have such a thought?”

Xiang Wan looked into his eyes and said each word slowly: “All of them have secrets and died because of secrets.”

Bai Muchuan suddenly turned grim. “Follow me!”

The trio left the office and rushed to the hospital.

But before they arrived at the hospital, Bai Muchuan received a call from Xie Wanwan’s assistant.

“Captain Bai, Wanwan has disappeared.”

Disappeared? Bai Muchuan met Xiang Wan’s gaze and instructed Tang Yuanchu.

“Drive faster!”

The police car sped through the downtown area to the hospital.

The female assistant waited at the entrance of the hospital for them. When she saw Bai Muchuan, she was obviously relieved.

“Captain Bai, you’re here. What should we do? We couldn’t find Wanwan anywhere...”

Bai Muchuan said as he walked, “Tell me the details.”

“This morning, I went back to the hotel to get some clothing for her. When I came back, I told her that you’re coming over in the afternoon. Then she insisted to get out of bed to take a bath...”

Xiang Wan took a glance at Bai Muchuan.

He looked expressionless. “And?”

“She has wounds in her body. I would never agree to it... But you know her temper, when she throws a tantrum, no one could handle her. So I decided to give in a little by going to get water for her to wipe herself instead, and she agreed. However, when I brought the water back, she was not on her bed anymore...”

Whatever happened had frightened the female assistant.

She, together with two other crew members from the filming set, as well as Xie Wanwan’s manager, searched the entire hospital but couldn’t find her.

The hospital refused to let them see the surveillance footage; they would only release upon the sight of the warrant.

Bai Muchuan nodded his head.

When the group was about to go to get the footage from the hospital, Bai Muchuan’s cell phone rang.

The caller was the missing Xie Wanwan.

Bai Muchuan took the call and asked seriously, “Where are you now?”

“I’m alright. I’m calling to tell you that I’m okay... Little Bai, don’t look for me.” Xie Wanwan’s tone was restless as well as anxious. “You must not come to look for me. You must not make a scene about this, alright?”

Bai Muchuan thought for a while.

He glanced at Xiang Wan, then exchanged glances with Tang Yuanchu.

Tang Yuanchu nodded his head and walked aside to make a phone call.

Bai Muchuan continued, “This matter has blown out of proportion. I have no choice!”

“Please, Little Bai, I beg of you... At least for now... I don’t want anyone to know about it...”

“I’m asking where are you?” Bai Muchuan’s tone got aggravated.

“I’m going to get my doll back... I don’t need your help... Please, don’t help me anymore and don’t look for me... If I have to make a choice, I rather choose to die, I rather die instead...”

Her words sounded rather incoherent.

She was agitated, nervous, desperate, and in despair.

Bai Muchuan said calmly, “Tell, me, your, location.”

“Don’t. Little Bai, don’t look for me. Please, please, don’t ever come looking for me... I’d rather choose to die. I’m not lying, I’d rather die...”

Dduu, dduu, dduu...

With that, the phone call disconnected.

Bai Muchuan quickly turned to Tang Yuanchu. “Did you get her GPS location?

After Tang Yuanchu verified with their intelligence unit colleagues, he had a bitter expression and shook his head. “The time is too short, they have not yet gotten the location... and the call got disconnected.”

“D*mn!” Bai Muchuan clenched his fists tightly and walked really fast.

Xiang Wan was shocked and immediately followed behind. “What happened?”

Bai Muchuan did not reply but directly went to the Hospital Director’s office and talked to him about the incident. Consequently, the Hospital Director brought them to the security room.

Xiang Wan followed him throughout and saw that he did not look too good. “Bai Muchuan,” she said softly, “I’m the Advisor the police has recruited. You can tell me what happened, I can help to think of solutions...”

Bai Muchuan shook his head after looking at her.

“...”

Is he unwilling or not convenient to talk?

Actually, Xiang Wan was standing very close to Bai Muchuan earlier on. She could hear Xie Wanwan’s heartrending words, especially the words “rather choose to die”.

As though affected by Xie Wanwan’s feelings of despair, somehow, this feeling made her thought of Sun Shangli, the woman who jumped to her death at “The Palace”...

Nobody knew why Sun Shangli committed suicide. And Xie Wanwan’s “rather choose to die” attitude shook her up.

If someone was forcing her to die and if that person was the mysterious “manipulator” behind all of these, then Xie Wanwan would really be in danger.

What was especially scary was that if Xie Wanwan were to die now, would she become the next Sun Shangli? Even if the police had doubts, it was difficult to find the real murderer from a near perfect crime.

“Before you went to get water, is there anything strange about her?”

Bai Muchuan asked the female assistant who was terribly worried.

“No.” The female assistant shook her head. “Her mood was very calm. She only insisted to take a bath. She also seemed to be irritated at herself for failing to bath last night and was persistent in wanting to do so...”

For someone who cared about their appearance, she would never seek death.

Xiang Wan was mulling over it, and her nerves were getting tense as time went by...

From the surveillance footage, they found Xie Wanwan in no time.

She was standing at the main entrance of the hospital where people come and go. She was wearing a mask, and her long hair was hanging loose which covered most of her face. She looked around carefully while holding her waist. Next, she walked out of the hospital and left the boundary of the surveillance camera...

“Captain Bai, look! She left the hospital and did not come back...”

The seemingly relieved voice of the Hospital Director was heard.

No one wanted to have anything to do with this, especially such matters.

As long as Xie Wanwan left the hospital of her own accord, it would have nothing to do with them...

Bai Muchuan took a look at him and nodded his head as thanks. He asked Tang Yuanchu to copy the surveillance footage and returned to the office.

Next, he began to cast a net-like search.

They investigated the surveillance cameras of Skynet and as well as the shops around the hospital, but did not manage to find Xie Wanwan’s whereabouts.

This city was too huge.

Everyday people come and go.

To find someone who wanted to stay hidden in the city was equivalent to looking for a needle in a haystack.

...

The sun would soon set in the west.

The day was about to end.

In the office, Bai Muchuan sat down wearily, his expression gloomy and grim.

“Bai Muchuan, she will be alright.”

Looking at him, she seemed to fill with a kind of sadness.

She said, “We still have time.

“You should talk to me about this matter,” she continued, “in this way, I might be able to be of help.”

Bai Muchuan shook his head, lit a cigarette and took a deep puff.

Xiang Wan took a glance at the flickering tiny red spark of the cigarette. “You’ve not rested for a day and a night. You need to take a break. Only then would you be able to maintain a sane mind...”

Bai Muchuan took another puff deeply. “I should have thought of it earlier. It’s all my fault.”

“Don’t blame yourself!” Xiang Wan felt a little heartache seeing him like that. “You’re only a detective, not a deity. How would you know what others will do?”

“Xiang Wan, am I useless?” Bai Muchuan suddenly lifted his head and asked her the question.

Xiang Wan was stunned for a moment.

He looked at her with his bloodshot eyes, his heavy breathing seemed to be suppressing a certain emotion. The cigarette smoke circulated in his lungs, but it did not alleviate his depressed state. Instead, it made his deep eyes seem to be filled with endless pain. He seemed to be looking at her, but it also seemed like he was looking at another person through her.

“I’m sitting here, at a loss of what to do... What kind of detective am I?”

Xiang Wan felt her heart being squeezed.

Somehow, she felt a little compassionate towards him.

“You can’t say that,” she looked at him, “crime can never be stopped. The presence of the police is not to stop any crime from happening. What you need to do, is to have a rest...”

“I’m unable to sleep.” Bai Muchuan ruffled his hair. “I’m worried that I would hear bad news when I wake up.”

“I understand.” Xiang Wan sighed with emotion, “You’ve done your best. She is the one who rejected your help. She has given up on herself... So, the problem actually lies with, why did she choose to give up on herself? Is there something that is more important than her life?”

“There is.”

Bai Muchuan looked at her, as if tears were about to swell up in him.

“Pride, humiliation.”

Pride and humiliation could be more important than life?

She had never seen Bai Muchuan behaving like this all this while.

He was always bright, tough and manly. He was like a sunflower that grew in the wild and was full of vitality.

At that moment, he was filled with melancholy and deep sorrow. His eyes were as if soaked in deep sadness, unable to tell anyone his grief. He was so handsome but lost his spirit; he was similar to an exquisite sculpture that sat on the sofa in a slumped manner...

“Actually, I didn’t expect this.” She moistened her lips with difficulty. “I didn’t expect that Xie Wanwan’s disappearance will be such a great blow to you...”

Bai Muchuan was taken aback for a moment.

The next moment, he shook his head, closed his eyes, and smoked deeply on the sofa.

“It’s not the same thing.”

After he finished saying that, he remained silent for a long time and suddenly laughed bitterly.

“Maybe I’m tired and needed a hug.”

Xiang Wan did not know how she walked over to him.

She was standing in front of him and hugged his head and let him lean on her.

“It’ll be alright. She’ll be fine... You’ll be fine too.”

Bai Muchuan seemed to have not expected she would hug him voluntarily. He twitched and looked at her for a while. The next moment, he snuffed his cigarette and hugged her back tightly.

This was the closest contact they had. His head leaned on her chest, hearing her strong heartbeat without saying anything. There was no romantic ambiguity or romantic feelings. The two of them were as if family that was encouraging each other or an irreplaceable other half. Because they understood each other, there was compassion. And because there was compassion, there was understanding.

For a long time, Xiang Wan did not move. Bai Muchuan did not move either.

In the silence, he seemed to be asleep as he was breathing steadily...

Xiang Wan lowered her head to look at him and was thinking to let him lie on the sofa when he suddenly looked up.

“Thank you, Xiang Wan.”

He looked up at her from her chest. Like a child, his eyes were filled with sunshine, as if the earlier haze had disappeared and his anxious demeanor gradually calmed down.

“I’m right about you!” he said.

“Eh?” Xiang Wan could not understand. “What?”

He did not answer but revealed an enchanting smile. He suddenly got up from the sofa and carried her at the same time.

“What are you doing?” Xiang Wan was so nervous that her heart was pounding like nobody’s business.

“I’m not doing anything to you now.” Bai Muchuan glanced at her, saw that her face had gone red, and put her down on the sofa. “You take a rest, I’ll go make a phone call.”

Uh? Why did he have to make the phone call behind her back?

Xiang Wan looked at him in doubt when he suddenly lowered his head and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“I like you, it’s true.”

“...”

This fellow!

Xiang Wan watched him leaving the office in a daze.

When he reached the door, he suddenly turned to her and looked at her seriously.

“Stay here and wait for me. Don’t go anywhere...”

Oh heavens! This is the Criminal Investigation Unit!

How could it be possible that she would go missing in the Criminal Investigation Unit?

Xiang Wan felt that his remark was too funny.

However, after being bathed in his burning gaze, her heart was unable to calm down for a long time.

It was really weird that she did not feel distressed or jealous just because Bai Muchuan was really anxious about Xie Wanwan’s disappearance.

On the contrary, through this matter, she understood him on a deeper level that he was a man who valued loyalty and feelings...

Time past by slowly.

Xiang Wan almost fell asleep when Bai Muchuan entered his office.

“We found her.”

“She’s found?” Xiang Wan saw that he had a rigid expression and was somewhat puzzled. “Where?”

Bai Muchuan pressed his lips together tightly and took her wrist. “We need to hurry over right now. We’ll talk on the way.”

...

Outside the building of the Criminal Investigation Unit, several police cars sound the siren and sped off in the distance.

Tang Yuanchu was waiting for Bai Muchuan. When he saw them, he quickly opened the door for them.

The police cars sped through the city.

Bai Muchuan sat beside Xiang Wan and opened a live-stream.

“Look at this.”

“Hm?” Xiang Wan peered to look curiously.

Just a look and she was stunned.

In the live-stream, it was actually the missing Xie Wanwan.

She seemed to be sitting on the roof of a very tall building. As she was facing the strong winds, her beautiful face could be seen clearly under the rays of the sunset that she looked so pallid as if there was not a trace of blood.

For a long time, she did not say anything. But the messages kept pouring in relentlessly.

Her fans, as well as the public who watched the live-stream seemed very excited about it.

“My beautiful goddess, what are you doing?”

“What a cool livestream! Is Wanwan on the roof?”

“Please keep safe! This is too dangerous!”

“The level of hyping up news by celebrities upgraded again? Hurhurhur, if you don’t play so much tricks, you won’t die. Hurry up and just jump, everything will be good if you’re dead. Don’t be such a b*tch!”

“Wanwan, Wanwan, I love you, all of us love you...”

Xie Wanwan looked at the screen and let the wind tousle around her hair and after a long time, she heaved a sad sigh.

“Hi everyone, I’m Xie Wanwan. Today, I want to say goodbye to everyone...”

...