Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)-Chapter 529: Lost Pearl
He Juan was prepared to welcome death with open arms. Alas, it seemed like God was not even willing to grant him the mercy of death, because in that split second before the bullet could tear through his throat, a powerful force knocked him aside.
"Watch out!"
"Old Chen!"
He Juan turned, his pupils trembling, as he witnessed Chen Youzhi clutching his left eye, blood oozing between his fingers. He staggered, only to be supported by... Mo Feng? He Juan stared at the two of them blankly, his sluggish mind struggling to process the situation. What was Mo Feng doing here?
However, before he could respond, Chen Youzhi barked at him, "Leave, Boss! We will handle this!"
Mo Feng swiftly bit off the safety pin from a smoke bomb and hurled it toward the officers, adding on to the pandemonium. "Leave!" He shouted at He Juan, tears streaming down his youthful face. Even then, his eyes were blazing with fiery determination. "I know I can’t beg for your forgiveness, but please... let me redeem myself this one time. Go now!"
"Damn it, XIU has backups!"
"How many people?!"
"I didn’t see clearly!"
The Director issued a furious order, "Do not let XIU escape, no matter what!!"
Stray bullets flew in the air as Mo Feng reloaded his rifle. With a loud and mad guffaw, he lunged into the midst of the armed officers, "I can finally face Ma Ping and Old Liu after this!"
"C–Chen..." He Juan’s trembling lips parted.
But Chen Youzhi gave him no time to react. Firing several gunshots, he forcibly opened up a path for He Juan and shoved him forward, "Go!!!"
He Juan stumbled with his first step, his knees threatening to give way beneath him. However, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to take the second step, then the third, and soon he was running across the smoky battleground, saturated with the acrid scent of gunpowder.
He burst through the warehouse’s back door, shivering when the cold air enveloped his body. The sounds of gunfire and desperate cries grew fainter and fainter as his feet carried him across a snowy path, which was leading straight to the sea.
When another chilling gust of wind blew, He Juan held He Xie closer to him, shielding his little brother from the cold with his own body. He murmured under his breath, "It’s okay, A–Xie. You are safe now. Gege will bring you away from this place. We... we will live together after this, okay? A–Xie, are you cold? Are you hurting anywhere? Can you... can you please... just give me a response? En?"
He Juan’s vision blurred, his lungs aching, as he pressed his cheek on top of He Xie’s head, nuzzling gently. Behind him, a crimson trail left its mark on the pure white snow from both of their blood as if a field of spider lily was blossoming with each step he took.
"A–Xie, A-Xie..." He Juan’s quiet voice called out again and again.
Alas, only his voice echoed around the spacious clearing, like a lonely whale calling out toward the boundless sea.
He Juan accidentally stumbled over a rock, and his legs abruptly buckled beneath him. He fell on his knees with a thud, the snow swirling around him. Even then, He Juan’s first instinct was to protect the person in his arms, careful not to let him get hurt. He drew in an anxious gasp, "I–I’m sorry, A–Xie. Ge wasn’t careful. Are you hurt...?"
He lowered his head to check on the person, but all he could see was a pair of lifeless eyes and bloodstained skin.
He Juan faltered, but he still reached out a trembling hand to wipe the blood off He Xie’s cheeks oh so gently, though it only served to smear the crimson liquid further. "A–Xie, you’re so cold... then again, your skin has always been cold, hasn’t it?"
Snowstorm raged upon the world as he keeled over He Xie’s lifeless body in his arms and slowly, ever so slowly buried his head into the crook of He Xie’s neck, breathing in the metallic tang of blood and death that lingered on the tip of his nose. He did not even care as the position tore open his wounds, as he brought He Xie closer and closer to himself as though trying to shield him from the evil of the world.
"Ha... ah..." He Juan gasped for breath as tears slipped out of his eyes. He clawed at his chest desperately, trying to ease the searing agony to no avail.
The dense snowflakes melted upon touching his body, turning into frigid water that drenched his hair, cascaded down his face, and mingled with his tears. It was cold enough to freeze someone’s blood, yet He Juan felt like nothing could be colder than his heart right now.
Why?
Why was it He Xie, but not him?
Like a rubber band stretched to its limit, a guttural sound finally escaped from He Juan’s lips. It was faint at first, almost like a whimper of a dying beast. Until the end, he threw his head back and began to howl out loud with such deep-seated pain. "AHHHHH—!!" Pain bled from his eyes, his very skin, and the tip of his fingers, pouring out of him like a relentless tidal wave.
For the dragon had finally lost the pearl he had always cherished all his life.
He howled. He howled for everything he had lost. He wept for the could-have-beens. He sobbed for all the broken promises he almost fulfilled. He mourned for the regrets, for the lost time that could never return. He screamed, screamed, and screamed until his throat protested, until his voice cracked and he could hear it no more as it was drowned by the crushing waves of the sea.
Why? He asked himself. Why did everything turn out like this? 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
"Please..." he pleaded to no one in particular as he cradled his brother’s lifeless body in his arms, his voice lost like a child. "Don’t... don’t take him away... please..."
How was he supposed to live from now on? How could he continue to live in this wretched world that had robbed his precious little brother, his one and only family, from him?
He Juan couldn’t breathe, as he felt like every breath he took was a knife plunging into his lungs, twisting and sawing away the bruised and tender flesh within. At that moment, his world was an impenetrable abyss, a darkness so profound that no light could hope to pierce its depth.
Help...
Someone, please... help me... help us...
Tell me, Marius. Please tell me. Where did things start to go wrong?
Just where have we gone wrong?
When Chen Youzhi managed to crawl out of that warehouse of corpses, he found He Juan still maintaining the same kneeling position on the ground with frostbite all over his exposed skin, his lips almost blue in color.
"Boss!" He rushed forward and grabbed He Juan’s shoulder, faltering when he discovered that even in this delirious state, He Juan was still clinging onto the lifeless young man in a tight grip.
He Juan’s eyelashes were matted with snowflakes and dried tears. He struggled to raise his eyelids to see Chen Youzhi, or to be exact, the long garrish wound that marred Chen Youzhi’s left eye and ran down his cheek. He parted his lips, yet no words came out of his throat. Somehow, Chen Youzhi needed no response from him either.
He spoke in haste, "Everything has been taken care of, Boss. Please be rest assured."
After that, he struggled to bring both He Juan and He Xie away. Halfway to the car, Chen Youzhi suddenly snapped his head to the side.
Through the thick curtain of snowflakes, he seemed to be able to catch a glimpse of another person in the far distance. Although he couldn’t see their features, somehow he could tell that that person was smiling right now, as though deriving great pleasure from witnessing the grim spectacle. Chen Youzhi gritted his teeth, quelled down the burning rage in his heart and continued to drag the two people with him.
Everything else could wait; right now, he had to bring He Juan somewhere warm!
Shortly after their departure, the deathly silence in the vicinity was shattered by the wailing sirens of police cars. Reinforcements had finally arrived, but tragically, they were too late. When they barged into the building, everywhere they saw were the dead bodies of their comrades strewn all over the ground, victims of a terrible fate.
"Captain Yi—!"
"Oh no, Director!"
"Why... why is everyone dead?!"
"What the hell has happened here?!"
Some officers collapsed and bawled on the spot, while others, overwhelmed by the grisly sight, rushed outside to empty the contents of their stomachs. Desperate and sorrowful cries reverberated through the air as the officers mourned for their fallen comrades.
Amidst the turmoil, a tall man in his late twenties stared at the scene of the purgatory with a blank expression, his eyes full of despair. He was none other than Li Zhi, who would assume the position of the Captain of the Violent Crime Unit in the near future.
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A/N: there are four main tragedies in cbcd and congratulations we have survived the first half QAQ as for the other two, you know who they are :") spoiler: it gets worse
