Volume One, Chapter 12: Admitting Fault

Su Yike argued, "Why not give it a try? What if it's really possible? We don't have any other options right now anyway, so we might as well take a risk."

Wu Wei shook his head. "You're still young. Some things can't just be done because you want them to. We're short on police officers at the moment, so we can't follow your idea. We have to take things one step at a time."

Having served as the head of the Criminal Investigation Unit for so long and now appointed as leader of the special task force, Wu Wei would not allow any mishaps in this case.

"But—"

"Enough. Just follow orders, that's all you need to do. The rest isn't your concern," Wu Wei interrupted her. Liu Chongming, standing beside them, tried to pull Su Yike back into her seat. Su Yike shook off his hand angrily, pounded the table, and stormed out of the office.

The office fell silent. In the eyes of the others, this was pure nonsense; no one would trust a Daoist who knew nothing about such matters.

Let the professionals handle professional affairs—no questions about it.

Su Yike changed into plain clothes and left the police station, heading northwest.

She chose to believe the young Daoist's words, because it could save a life. Even if it failed, there would be no loss, so she was willing to try.

Time passed swiftly. By five in the morning the next day, Su Yike had found the ideal observation spot.

On the rooftop, Jiang Chen's eyes sparkled as he saw Su Yike in plain clothes. Su Yike hadn’t expected to run into him here.

"It seems you’re not like the other officers—at least you’re willing to trust me," Jiang Chen said, lighting a cigarette and gently blowing a smoke ring.

Su Yike drew her service pistol from her jacket and leveled it at Jiang Chen. "I'm sorry, but please tell me how you know where the next victim will be. Do you know the murderer?"

"You're really something. I give you a clue, and this is how you treat your benefactor?" Jiang Chen replied.

Su Yike answered, "Procedure."

Jiang Chen stared at the dark muzzle. "I don’t like people pointing guns at me."

He tossed aside his cigarette and slowly walked toward her.

Su Yike felt a powerful pressure around her, so intense that her hand holding the gun began to tremble.

"Don’t—don’t come any closer, I... I'll shoot!"

Jiang Chen's figure flickered and disappeared. Su Yike pressed the trigger, but strangely, the gun did not fire. Instead, she heard a cascade of parts falling to the ground.

On the rooftop, the spring from her magazine had dropped out, leaving only the frame of the gun in her hand.

Jiang Chen was already standing before her. "If I wanted to kill, I’d do it directly—no need for these petty tricks like pushing someone off a roof."

Su Yike’s body trembled uncontrollably until Jiang Chen placed a steadying hand on her shoulder.

"Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. You’re here because you want to save someone, right?" Jiang Chen said, and Su Yike swallowed nervously.

"I... I want to save lives. I don’t want another murder to happen." Su Yike lowered her head. She knew that if this man had wanted to kill her, she would already be dead.

She’d only ever seen that kind of gun-disassembly skill from a veteran detective, but even he wasn’t as fast as Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen nodded. "I didn't want to get involved, but when a life is lost right before my eyes, it's a provocation."

Su Yike said excitedly, "What do we do now?"

As she spoke, she had already reassembled the gun.

Jiang Chen was surprised that this young policewoman could trust him so easily, not fearing being used as a pawn.

"Wait. With so many buildings and so few police willing to spare more manpower, all we can do is wait. But I believe it won't take long." Jiang Chen found a spot to sit, his gaze fixed on the towering buildings to the northwest.

Su Yike watched the buildings as he did, but she could only make out the details of the nearest one; the others farther away were merely silhouettes.

Originally, Jiang Chen had cast a divination, and the hexagram had shown auspicious signs, indicating no danger. Yet when he tried to divine the location of the next victim, the omen became chaotic, giving only a vague direction.

At six o’clock, as the sun rose, Jiang Chen noticed the crowd on the street converging toward one direction and immediately sensed something was wrong.

"Let's go—the next victim has appeared." Jiang Chen pulled the sleepy, squinting Su Yike to her feet.

Still groggy, Su Yike yelped, "What are you doing? I don't want to die! Even if I have to, I won’t jump off a building!"

The building beneath them was a hundred meters tall—certain death if they jumped. But Jiang Chen had no intention of jumping to his death; this was simply the fastest way.

"Hold onto me, and close your eyes," Jiang Chen instructed.

Su Yike clung to him, crying out loudly, "Can’t we just take the stairs? I haven’t lived enough yet, never dated, never had a boyfriend... oh!"

Jiang Chen rolled his eyes. "You don’t have a boyfriend, and I don’t have a girlfriend. Enough talk—if you keep it up, you’ll swallow a bellyful of wind when we jump."

"What? Are you serious?"

"What else?"

Jiang Chen grabbed Su Yike and leapt.

She felt the wind roaring past her ears, unable to open her eyes, a sensation of weightlessness flooding her senses. It was strange and wondrous. Despite her fear, she felt no panic; somehow, this man imparted an indescribable courage.

As the weightlessness faded, Su Yike whispered, "Are we... dead?"

Jiang Chen smirked. "Dead? With me, as long as I don't want you to die, you won't die."

Su Yike slowly opened her eyes. The scene before her astounded her—the surroundings had changed from towering buildings to solid ground, and the two of them had landed smoothly without a scratch.

"Are you even human?" Su Yike stared at Jiang Chen, forgetting she was still in his arms.

Jiang Chen coughed twice, prompting her to realize and extricate herself from his embrace.

"I'm human—at least for now. Hurry, time waits for no one," Jiang Chen said, pulling Su Yike along. Seeing her slow pace, he simply carried her on his back.

Already overwhelmed by shock, Su Yike watched as the scenery behind them rushed past, her mouth agape.

The world whirled by. To avoid disturbing the crowd, Jiang Chen slowed down as they entered the throng, though their arrival still attracted attention—few would carry their girlfriend through a crowd just to watch the excitement.

Su Yike tapped Jiang Chen's shoulder, and he let her down. Atop the building, a girl stood teetering on the edge, her body leaning forward.

Jiang Chen quickly said, "I'll go up first to save her. You call your teammates."

"Be careful!" Su Yike barely finished speaking before Jiang Chen had vanished.