“?”
Yu Jin stared blankly at the message for quite some time. He wasn't entirely sure whether this “head table” meant the head table of a wedding banquet or a funeral service.
To be fair, if the janitor who had just passed by the corridor had actually been Xia Jie, Yu Jin would already be drinking at Tang Yaoting's funeral feast.
He could only console himself with the fact that his buddy wasn't a front-line agent; otherwise, someone so utterly careless wouldn't have survived this long.
Currently, Yu Jin was resting in the ward. Only he and the writer from the neighboring bed, Chi Yu, remained in the room.
To outsiders, he appeared to be waiting for Tang Yaoting, but in reality, he was waiting for himself.
Moreover, the red-haired Yu Jin had already arrived and had been pacing outside the door for a long time.
He swept the corridor in front of the ward repeatedly. Passing back and forth, he would peer inside intentionally or otherwise, deliberately behaving in a bizarre manner to make passersby notice something off about him.
The essence of this performance lay in a sudden, abrupt halt, rather than an actual physical clash.
Given the current roles assigned to Yu Jin and Tang Yaoting, neither of them had any means to stop Xia Jie from assassinating them.
Therefore, the disguised Xia Jie had to be exposed prematurely and flee immediately to avoid being tracked. Otherwise, the show would not be able to go on.
Yu Jin had been pinning his hopes on the stream of people passing by the ward. He hoped at least one of them would notice the abnormalities of the “Xia Jie” outside the door.
However, most people simply hurried past, completely unconcerned with why this janitor kept sweeping the exact same spot over and over.
This perfectly illustrated the saying:
“If it doesn't concern you, don't worry your head about it.”
Yu Jin was starting to get a little anxious. If his split personality wasn't noticed soon, Tang Yaoting would return. At that point, “Xia Jie” would have no reason to hold back, and there would be no logical explanation for why he failed to kill the both of them.
Of course, this script of not being noticed could be aborted at any time, but the problem was that running the same script next time would leave behind flaws.
Until Yu Jin could come up with a second, completely traceless way to alert the Bureau to the hospital's abnormalities, he still held onto hope for this current script.
He was waiting to see who would be the one to bring him that hope.
Numerous familiar faces he had encountered on the same floor flashed through his mind, but he never expected that the person who would keep the plan moving forward was not any of them, but rather Chi Yu, the writer he had just met in his ward.
Chi Yu was writing something with his head bowed, seemingly in the middle of a creative flow, when he suddenly asked:
“Do you have any relatives working as janitors in the hospital?”
Yu Jin was startled and looked at him.
Without lifting his head, Chi Yu continued:
“Don't look at me. If you don't, call the police immediately. There's a janitor who has been loitering outside the door for a while. He keeps peeking inside. I'm not sure who he's watching, but I'm guessing his target isn't me.”
“!!!”
Finally!
When he heard Chi Yu's words, Yu Jin nearly stood up to give him a standing ovation.
This was exactly the effect he wanted—to establish his own passive status as an oblivious bystander.
This way, no matter how the Bureau investigated afterward, he would be the party who passively noticed the clues, completely clearing him of any suspicion!
The plan was successfully underway!
Yu Jin immediately displayed the sharpness and composure of a Bureau agent. On the surface, he acted as if nothing was wrong, but his hand hidden behind his back instantly dialed the Bureau.
He had to tell the Bureau that something was wrong here. As for what that abnormality was...
Once the call connected, Yu Jin glanced at the ward window, apparently casually, and spoke in a low voice that only he and Chi Yu could hear:
“Hello, special emergency hotline. This is Yu Jin, an agent of Post-Disaster Investigation Group 4. I am currently in Room 807 of the inpatient ward at Shuguang Hospital. A hospital janitor has been lurking suspiciously outside my ward for a long time. His behavior is highly dubious. I suspect he may have other motives. Since there is only myself and another citizen in the room, and I belong to a non-combat department, I am requesting security support to protect this citizen.”
Yu Jin's phrasing caught Chi Yu slightly off guard.
He blinked and looked at Yu Jin as if he had just heard something novel.
Protecting me?
How interesting.
He smiled slightly, utterly convinced that the person outside was not there for him.
Still, it wasn't hard to understand. After all, protecting citizens was of paramount importance, and using such an excuse would make it easier to mobilize the Bureau's resources.
The voice of the special emergency operator came from the other end of the line, but because Yu Jin had deliberately kept his volume incredibly low, Chi Yu could not hear what they were saying.
In fact, neither did Yu Jin.
He was faking it.
But to make the act convincing, he still frowned, leaned forward slightly as if listening intently, and peered toward the ward's doorway to stay alert against the “suspicious individual.”
Right at that moment, “just by chance,” the janitor outside walked past the door and peeked inside once more.
Their eyes locked instantly, and both laughed inwardly.
But to an outsider, it looked entirely different.
Chi Yu was the only outsider present. Since he was the one who had first discovered “Xia Jie,” he naturally became the sole audience member and an “unwilling extra” in this performance.
The moment Yu Jin caught that gaze from outside, his body shuddered violently—a slightly exaggerated reaction. Chi Yu, who was closely observing Yu Jin's reactions, was also startled. He instinctively followed Yu Jin's gaze toward the door, only to see a pair of muddy eyes instantly turn sinister and malicious the moment they locked eyes.
It was difficult to describe that kind of gaze. It was packed with brutality, fierceness, cunning, and mockery.
Those bloodshot eyes seemed to be sizing up a dying prey, and the hint of shock rising within them seemed to express bewilderment over how a historically sluggish prey had suddenly spotted the hunter.
The sudden shift in that gaze felt like the signal to launch a hunt, making Chi Yu's heart sink.
“Oh no!”
He blurted out a warning, but it was already too late.
For the moment the gazes of the three crossed, “Xia Jie” realized he had been exposed. His face fell, madness flashed through his eyes, and he decisively struck. Rather than waiting for an opportunity to catch both escapees in one fell swoop, he threw out a bone blade directly from his wrist, sending it shooting toward Yu Jin.
Sensing the danger, both men paled.
Yu Jin, passing from shock to rage, dove sideways to dodge. In the very instant he threw himself aside, he drew his gun and fired furiously at the doorway.
He put on an excellent performance, recognizing the other party.
“It's you! Xia Jie! How dare you show your face here again?!”
Beside him, Chi Yu was utterly dumbfounded.
He had heard of the tragedy on Qingniao Street and recognized that bone blade, but he had never personally laid eyes on the culprit who had orchestrated that carnage.
Now, watching the bone blade whistle past right in front of him, he froze in terror for a brief moment. But a split second later, a subtle, inexplicable emotion appeared in the gaze he directed toward the man outside.
Fearing that this assassination attempt would spill over onto him, he scrambled off his bed and crawled underneath it.
However, the hunt ended as quickly as it had begun. Whether it was because Yu Jin's gunshots had hit the mark, or because the attacker dared not linger after missing his initial strike, amid a flurry of metallic clangs, Yu Jin was sent flying by the bone blade and crashed to the floor. Outside, “Xia Jie” vanished without a trace.
Leaving behind only a parting threat:
“Feel the fear, you ants! We will meet again.”
The gunshots instantly caught the attention of floor security. The hospital's alarm blared, and numerous figures rushed directly into Room 807.
Shuguang Hospital housed many injured patients, quite a few of whom were awakened Bureau agents.
Hearing the commotion, they rushed over immediately. Once they confirmed the area was safe, they helped up the fallen Yu Jin and Chi Yu from under the bed.
Chi Yu was uninjured. Emerging from under the bed, he did not look at Yu Jin right away. Instead, he gathered his manuscripts one by one, put them away safely, and stared out the door for a brief moment. Only then did he turn back with a thoughtful expression and voice his concern for Yu Jin.
Yu Jin was indeed injured. His right shoulder had a gash so deep the bone was visible, and blood was gushing out unstoppably.
The head nurse, who had rushed in upon hearing the noise, immediately worked to stop his bleeding and examine him. She said with lingering dread:
“You are incredibly lucky. A little deeper and your arm would've been ruined. How could someone commit such violence inside a hospital? Did they catch the culprit? Who was it?”
She glared angrily at the hospital security, who looked completely bewildered themselves.
They had rushed over the moment they heard the gunshots, only to find the entire room surrounded by Bureau agents, most of whom were Dreamwalkers.
If even the Dreamwalkers couldn't catch the culprit, how could anyone expect hospital security to be of any help?
The floor's security captain wiped the sweat from his face and apologized profusely. But aside from apologizing, there was nothing he could do. He could only notify his superiors in accordance with emergency protocols, trigger the hospital-wide alarm, lock down all exits and entries, and wait for the Bureau to take over.
A few individuals who clearly looked like Special Response Squad members stepped forward to ask about the situation once Yu Jin was bandaged up. They had sensed early on that something was off with Yu Jin's condition.
Yu Jin's eyes were still filled with resentment. He gripped his pistol tightly, refusing to let go even for a second, veins bulging on the back of his hand.
It wasn't that he didn't want to let go, but rather that he couldn't.
Because right now, the red-haired Yu Jin was still inside the gun.
...
Rate on N.U.
