Special Forces Medic

Xiao Lin was smoking a cigarette, his car parked beneath the distant mall. He had walked here. From his current vantage point, the alley seemed completely buried in the depths of the towering buildings. Only by walking in would one know such an alley existed. He cast a meaningful glance in the direction he came from and continued towards the underground parking lot.

The cigarette burned between his fingers as he walked slowly. Several elderly ladies passed him one after another, yet he maintained his pace. After impatiently taking a drag, he stopped in his tracks.

"Come out!" His voice wasn't loud, just enough for someone else to hear.

Worrying eyes fell upon the bottom of Xiao Lin's eyes, but what shone there wasn't gratitude, rather anger.

"I was afraid something would happen to you, so..."

"Is this what you came to tell me?" The anger directly vented onto Shou. This was the second time in two days he had lashed out at someone—first it was Yi, now it was Shou.

Shou didn't fight back. He could have easily dodged Xiao Lin's fist, but he just took it head-on. "I don't know how to say it."

"You should have told me earlier about your relationship with the Dark Shadows, so I wouldn't be in such a mess today."

"I never thought she would admit my existence." Shou lowered his head sadly, his mouth still aching. He wanted to smile but couldn't.

"If I used you as a bargaining chip, what would you do?" Xiao Lin asked a question he found utterly pointless, not his usual way of doing things.

"You wouldn't." Without considering it, Shou had never entertained such a possibility. He stared firmly at Xiao Lin's face. "You wouldn't do that." He repeated every word of his conviction.

"I wish I could." Xiao Lin's bitter smile looked sadder than crying in Shou's eyes; he knew Shou was grieving for him. "If I had that recording, I could completely wipe out the Wang Family."

"If you really want it that bad, I can walk back myself now." He knew his way back like the back of his hand, even with his eyes closed.

"Do you want a beating?" Xiao Lin hooked an arm around Shou's neck, pulling him into his embrace. "Yi is gone, and I don't want to lose anyone among you, understand?"

"Yi didn't leave." Shou struggled out of Xiao Lin's arms; he wasn't used to hugging men—women's bodies were much softer. "You know he's the least likely to leave you."

"But he chose the dumbest way." Consort Ling not showing up indicated Yi was now safe.

"Hong has already restored the images." Shou got into the QQ car beside Xiao Lin.

"Is it Third Brother?" Sitting in the car, Xiao Lin felt a bit drained. The conflict he least wanted to see had come in such a direct and intense way.

"Yeah!" Shou nodded. When Hong handed it to him, he was briefly shocked, but then quickly understood what was going on. "I was surprised, but it all makes sense."

"I didn't expect the last person Zhang Teng met to be Third Brother." Xiao Lin chuckled self-deprecatingly. Yi's words from that night echoed in his chest. Even if I return to the United States, will it be safe? It would just be stepping into a bigger whirlpool.

"If the Wang Family aligns with Third Young Master, this situation becomes complex. The assassins sent before must have been at Third Young Master's behest."

"Are you still calling him Third Young Master? You need to break that habit." Xiao Lin was annoyed whenever he heard Shou habitual overtakes. He still remembered losing a bet to Third Brother, costing Shou a month—one of the great mistakes of his life.

"A lot can happen in a month's time, it's hard to break." Shou gazed out the window, "Where are we heading?"

"City Police Department."

A message from Wu Shuang popped up on the phone. When he entered the dark world earlier, he turned off his phone. Now, upon turning it on, a threatening CALL appeared.

"I've heard of this fiery woman, meeting her today will indeed be a rare opportunity."

"You'll get your fill of her in a moment."

The car stopped at the entrance of the City Police Department. After receiving the call, Wu Shuang rushed out. "Why is it so hard to reach you by phone? Do you use it just for decoration?"

Before the person even arrived, the imposing aura of the open pace left Shou stunned. Previously, hearing Yi's description, he didn't believe a woman could be so formidable. Today, he was convinced.

"Chief Wu, I did rush over right after receiving your message; there's no need for such a grand entrance every time!" Xiao Lin said helplessly as he got out of the car.

"Who are you? The police station isn't a place where just anyone can come and go." Wu Shuang only noticed there was someone in the passenger seat after Xiao Lin got out of the car.

"Don't you want to know how Zhang Teng's wound was caused? This person is an expert." Xiao Lin pointed at Shou, and after a less-than-adequate introduction, pulled Shou along into the station.

"What the heck, do you really think the police station is your home?" Wu Shuang muttered a couple of complaints under her breath, then ran into the station after greeting the guard.

"I haven't touched the body, just took a few samples." The forensic expert, as usual, sat in front of their microscope, studying the samples and examining the fusion of bacteria and subcutaneous tissue. It's a bizarre research field that Xiao Lin couldn't endure. "Third row, second one."

The body's surface already had large areas of postmortem lividity. In theory, bodies shouldn't be left at the police station for extended periods. Xiao Lin felt a bit guilty towards Wu Shuang; though she was a bit tough, she was certainly considerate of him.

"Can you tell what kind of sharp object caused the wound?" Xiao Lin asked Shou, who was the best person for this task.

"Can we place him on the table?"

"Go ahead." The forensic expert waved dismissively, engrossed in a crucial moment under the microscope, and didn't want to be distracted by such trivial matters.

The two lifted the body, encased in a special bag, onto a nearby operating table. "The body has been stored too long; cutting it in low-temperature freezing can cause brittleness. Don't dirty my table."

"Got it." It was already frozen, so no blood would flow out, not to mention it was close to becoming mummified. Shou made a funny face at Xiao Lin before carefully looking for the cause of Zhang Teng's fatal injury.

"On the surface, Zhang Teng's lethal wound is on the front, below the chest." Shou put on professional medical gloves and tossed a pair to Xiao Lin. "Look, there's a hole about the size of a dime here." Shou turned Zhang Teng's body onto its side, pointing to a hole under the left shoulder blade on the back. "This is the true source of the fatal wound."

Indeed, there was a hole about the diameter of a dime under Zhang Teng's shoulder blade. He pressed the area around the hole with his finger; it was stiff, unlike the hardness of frozen meat, but rather like the heaviness of an iron block.

"A sharp object entered from his back, pierced through, and dealt a fatal blow to the front of his chest." Shou laid the body flat and pressed the wound on the front of the chest. "The cross-section of this wound resembles a lotus flower. If I'm not mistaken, the weapon the assailant used should be a two-segmented cold weapon."

"Didn't you see the suspect at the scene?"

"Are you referring to the woman in red clothes? Although the weapon in her hand looks similar to this wound, her hooked weapon is a single-piece design and couldn't create this wound. If it entered from the back, the weapon wouldn't make the wound so small."

Xiao Lin nodded, "Then what's with the reverse blood flow?"

"It's related to the weapon itself. When the speed exceeds the pressure, blood can't spray out from the wound, so it can only flow back down, like when a water pipe bursts and you immediately seal the crack with glue. The water flows back to the original place, at least it won't spurt out right away."

"What does this person do?" The forensic expert walked over to Xiao Lin from his microscope, reaching out to shake hands with Shou but was unexpectedly slapped away, making him retreat awkwardly. "So why, after inflicting a fatal wound, make such a large cut in the abdomen?"

"Simple, the larger the wound, the more it distracts from the details." Xiao Lin gestured for Shou to help put Zhang Teng back in the cold storage. "Thank you, I have no more questions. You can handle the body however you need."

Wu Shuang was wandering alone in the hall. Several offices still had lights on; she didn't want to disturb anyone, so she wandered around aimlessly. Seeing Xiao Lin and the others come up, she stopped. "How did it go? Any new findings?"

"There are findings, but nothing useful for you." Shou stood aside with a smile, not speaking. It's not that this officer was particularly fiery, just that she happened to encounter an unromantic man.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Wu Shuang felt wronged. With all her busy work every day, how could it be useless according to this man? "Xiao, are you messing with me?"

"Why would I mess with you? Am I overeating?" Xiao Lin retorted, annoyed. Wu Shuang stood frozen, as it was the first time someone spoke to her like that, so she looked at Shou. "What's wrong with him today?"

"He's in a bad mood!" Shou explained kindly. "I'll take him back first. Officer, you should head home early too."

"Oh, okay!" Shou's gentle manner made Wu Shuang instinctively reply, thinking what a gentle person to be around such a man.

"Have they left?" The forensic expert suddenly appeared behind Wu Shuang, his cold voice making her scream. People from the lit offices came out asking what happened.

"Forensic expert, don't you make any noise when you walk?" Wu Shuang complained to the forensic expert while catching her breath. "Why do you always speak behind people? Don't you know people can be scared to death?"

"Haha, since when did Officer Wu become so timid?" The forensic expert pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose, chuckling as he returned to the basement.

"Truly a baffling person." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for it with recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)