Blazing Armor

This roar of anger did not relieve the oppression in Ren Yi’s heart; instead, it stirred up both his new and old wounds, causing his face to turn pale with pain.FWoLDhhRlXIpTMWknUmxXVNBNRZtTs

Zheng Pei looked coldly at Ren Yi, who was hunched over and gasping for breath. Once he had calmed down, Zheng Pei continued to launch soft verbal daggers: “Captain Ren, you are a good person; everyone says so. You might even be considered smart, but compared to Gong Yingxian, you are just too foolish. I don’t know if you are deceived by his profession, his background, or his appearance, but you believe everything he says and do whatever he asks. Is that the behavior of a normal adult?”FnrowIhyrdAXFXdayhqSBIehqNopGh

Ren Yi opened his mouth to catch his breath, wanting to defend himself, but Zheng Pei cut him off: “I’ve heard some rumors about your relationship. I have no opinion on sexual orientation, but if it’s true, it would help me better understand your actions when facing him, even risking harboring, shielding, and assisting a wanted criminal.”MEDNOAtYqBNYlEGhvHjCehlljmWLvj

Zheng Pei’s gaze, tone, and words made Ren Yi’s entire face burn. Even if he were forced to come out in public, it would not be more embarrassing than this moment.kOhQzfvncIhHvbuBgBPjpGEXTxWgaO

Yet Zheng Pei continued mercilessly: “Regarding the case from nineteen years ago and the current cases, eighty percent of the information you have comes from him, right? Have you never thought that he might be deceiving you?”kSjSaPVgPtGZgjQgthWtmpuaeAJHgq

Ren Yi’s lips trembled as he said with difficulty, “I did my own investigation…”BfWXyOuTxZfqDIBbVKfJIsUhHgfCQk

“But how much of your investigation was based on the information he provided, leading you to preconceived judgments?” Zheng Pei said sharply. “Even now, subconsciously, you are still protecting him. In fact, you are protecting yourself because during the time you trusted him and invested in him, you have incurred too many sunk costs. You fear more than anyone that he is deceiving you, using you, making everything you’ve done turn out wrong.”fKZtENmgMrIYooeoUiZgNXkxoZxnMb

Ren Yi glared at Zheng Pei with red eyes: “This isn’t the first time I’ve doubted him. I have my own judgments about many things. How long have you been involved in this case? How much do you really know?”gEYHLmVvqtOoLeLiRaqlGZdcqBTLsD

Zheng Pei’s aggressive stance made Ren Yi feel deeply humiliated. In Zheng Pei’s words, he seemed to have become a brainless, bottomless fool, willing to break the law to help his lover commit crimes. He had previously had significant arguments with Gong Yingxian due to trust issues, but they ultimately reconciled because their trust had been built through life-and-death experiences, solid and profound. The tangled feelings of love, admiration, trust, and sympathy were so complex that even he found it hard to distinguish, let alone Zheng Pei, an outsider!YjzoZjLsSQYInMOcSqwBKxwIiJKHwM

But while he was angry, he had to face the reality that Zheng Pei’s doubts were not without reason.YgjPksgeRWDilPXypjpBBGCwfGrAjd

Gong Yingxian had done things that left him at a loss for words, causing the death of Qiu Yan and ruining him. He knew that what awaited him was not just dismissal from the fire department but possibly criminal liability.eSUOQWlGRsyjSPqUqUHIdWzvcUdADC

However, another voice in his heart was desperately arguing. That was the fact that Gong Yingxian had risked his life to save him multiple times. Those choices in moments of life and death were instinctual and could not possibly be fake.GlBUtCATnbEIGJMAWgiDeRmeVWxNur

He did not believe that Gong Yingxian completely did not care about him. Perhaps, Gong Yingxian’s concern for him was far less than the obsession that had entangled him for nineteen years.NMgTJGJEDJFWDOCFViLgmHUJobxDDA

Zheng Pei saw the conflicting struggle on Ren Yi’s face: “Let me ask you a simple question. I told you over the phone that Gong Yingxian had known Zhang Wen’s identity for a long time, but he chose to hide it from everyone. Have you asked him about this?”yyMCmhKmYzAcjQLZpHmDnFdCdjszWH

Ren Yi fell silent.HFirDUYBYsAbBiRoYqsIbmjqLoOOZO

Zheng Pei revealed an expression of “as expected.” He shook his head: “You have regressed from being deceived by him to deceiving yourself. Why? Don’t tell me it’s because of some great love. If that bullet from Huang Yan hadn’t hit the bulletproof vest but your head, you wouldn’t even know how you died. Are you avoiding him, or are you avoiding the doubts in your own heart?”kYiAALTrfoBtNPBlOxDnDwJUxVaRfh

“What exactly do you want to prove?” Ren Yi glared at Zheng Pei, baring his teeth. “Prove that I was deceived by him? Yes, I admit it. So what? What do you want? Do you want me to go to court and sue him for deceiving me? Is this how you investigate cases?”KNZyHLEzzSHiwGspSonDaiHAywuAuM

“I want to prove that all your protection of him is not worth it. You should wake up and cooperate with me unreservedly; that’s the only way to leave yourself a way out and give Captain Qiu some justice.”HQfHiXXLBhBxHkTXrhQrlzsedAmNpT

Ren Yi pressed his lips into a line.gpPsfuhEUMYxEiAxvzYmWnPaSTvfNK

Zheng Pei leaned down, resting his arms on the edge of the bed, looking Ren Yi in the eye: “Do you know what you are facing? Once the case is filed, not only will you be dismissed from public office, but you will also be taken to a detention center. Can you bear that? From a respected, promising special operations fire captain to living in a concrete can with murderers, rapists, fraudsters, drug addicts, thieves, and other scum, living a dark and hopeless life.”oHsJSvnXCOjdosJxAMlbhwzFZpSNBq

Ren Yi’s eyes blazed with fire, his fists clenched tightly.aidVHUXstRpcfjGsZSlRMFAWwWcgRH

“Don’t think your team can protect you for long. This is a society governed by law, and I can apply to arrest you at any time.”fOnczrCLpReuBljABRWdkmsXxqiNmj

Ren Yi leaned slightly closer to Zheng Pei, fearlessly staring into his eyes: “How much evidence do you have?”HZbZWavaZrZvZtgGuppQYzoMYJAZHN

“Enough,” Zheng Pei replied. “It all depends on your level of cooperation.”CVMjdpMjNNmHuXKRXpBwsQMElNLWRr

“You say you are here to supervise the case of their dereliction of duty. Clearly, I could handle it without you, but you are so eager to dig something out of me, trying to sow discord and intimidate me.” Ren Yi said coldly, “The more you do this, the less I trust you.”quNJpkMIwqxnyLXQsvvxTdRtTmnBCh

Zheng Pei’s expression darkened: “You are being stubborn.”vXIcWYrdxshXcCftHLPZEWmufSqiuZ

“I have already done my best to cooperate with what you want to know. I don’t know what else you want. Why don’t you just say it directly? What do you want me to cooperate with?”EiGSOtOpNTvocrcxIqiombRcInEWmD

“It’s not about what I want you to do, but what you should do. Do you really want to go to prison? Whether you are being coerced or actively cooperating will directly determine where and how you will live your next life.”PvCVmcVsLBuPjEjGQumyVGbyHCipZG

Ren Yi had already guessed that Zheng Pei wanted him to identify Gong Yingxian. Zheng Pei’s position made this approach understandable, but he could not cooperate—especially when the truth was still murky. He said, “There are still so many doubts that haven’t been clarified, Purple Flame and his cult members haven’t been caught, and Gong Yingxian hasn’t been caught either. Shouldn’t you be more concerned about the more important case?”nBzejDUeujquwVPGLOpnNwFeycjCdu

“I haven’t delayed anything.” Zheng Pei stood up, pointing a finger at Ren Yi from a distance. “But you are delaying yourself.”gSqmACwcVDVUwKQmxyccVKteIwbRXJ

Ren Yi lowered his head, silent for a moment, then asked, “Is there any arrangement for Captain Qiu’s funeral?”zqOgdWkxGedtpvyPJSAJkXvpjsAgno

“Not yet.” Zheng Pei put away his notebook. “Captain Ren, I’ll give you some time to think it over. Anyway, you can’t leave the hospital yet. I hope that when we meet next time, it won’t be in a detention center.”ZAhHjnJuNJSnFVDxAPUrTViWtBYDUR

After Zheng Pei left, Ren Yi lay back on the bed, his heart feeling as if it had been thrown into boiling oil, anxious, panicked, and tormented every second.HHgxSCTwAFIRtlvInvqvQzqriefjkM

Gong Yingxian, where are you? What have you done? For revenge, can you really extinguish your conscience and resort to any means?ECevKCTHTOtPhrOgUDRVDKsfLxFUTS

You disregarded Qiu Yan’s life and death, you put me in an irretrievable situation. Are you still you?hAhIbEiREHouxvQPzOHQQeFgLAwCxo

—-OiPWqkcJHizHDMhxlXstaTSgJwfoAX

This incident was too serious; Ren Yi was completely under control. There were police guards outside his hospital room, and once the doctor approved his discharge, he would be taken back to the Hongwu Branch for formal detention.mWtMQUQhdPSFAEvQGhpgUFPohjxFFq

However, he had a long-standing friendship with the doctors here, so he should not be discharged in the short term.MgddpSDwPBYrZBuqypgpOYnqiBlSNF

This time, Chen Xiaofei did not come to see him, perhaps completely disappointed in him, and he felt a lump of suspicion towards Chen Xiaofei, so it was better not to see him.XSvuQGlOgofCfijQDNKNFgnVOxFuXH

Since Zheng Pei left that day, others also needed to apply to the police to visit him, and the result was naturally denied. He listened to Qu Yangbo angrily curse a few times, and after being forced to leave, he felt so uncomfortable that he couldn’t sleep well all night.ZuauJoeIgCLVZDCYYoLMWdjAVjgUqA

To help Gong Yingxian, he had implicated the entire team. He could no longer remember the last time he had led a normal emergency response as a fire captain. He missed his team, missed his brothers, but what face did he have to see them?VDSYkAZIfvnjkNEiRbvTfIyHZeOEsU

He felt guilty towards his brothers, guilty towards his father, and even more guilty towards Qiu Yan. If it weren’t for him, Qiu Yan wouldn’t have taken risks and wouldn’t have died.WodWRPkBMoDQaAnPEABBQstDuqeaeg

All this pain, guilt, regret, and fear were inflicted upon him by the person he loved deeply.GGqHDEAiwzJaQChUKvgxAbztluvEFS

Long before Gong Yingxian took advantage of his father, he should have been alert, should have re-evaluated this person, but he softened under the weight of guilt and could not resist that fatal attraction. He attributed it to Gong Yingxian making a mistake; who hasn’t made mistakes? Thus, he overlooked Gong Yingxian’s lack of empathy and his almost cold rationality in maximizing benefits.smtsIRstwSBXmTopVxLOKCXvEsJZYT

However, even at his angriest, if someone had told him what happened today, he would have never believed it. He would never believe that Gong Yingxian would allow them to feed bullets to the criminals.lpvJnGWdIFVLvqmvHVWYzNhZVOstUP

He thought Gong Yingxian’s childhood trauma had caused irreparable personality defects, but there would always be justice and kindness to support him.xWIlThZjzejobNLQgtwjGqXHxtwIXg

Was he wrong?DIqPVbLRriMwZmEILZfHPALFeBZKer

The cost of this mistake was too great, too great. He would never be able to unload such guilt and regret in his lifetime.tilRtywRvYtyEXXttsdFsEEnFrSaTo

——rwhgIuFkFnucbdFNPZtawWQEQyOhoR

In the past two days, Ren Yi had dozed off and woken up several times, feeling as if he had become useless. Even when no one was watching outside, he had hardly left the hospital bed.xIFQPSzZpgbqZElsuXWztlvcFTvlZk

In the evening, the nurse came in as usual to give him an IV.IYaMzHmEmiOlpSPhztZPbtswEcghtc

He could feel the commotion outside but did not want to react at all—until the nurse suddenly covered his mouth.JXBDXitEsPzXtjLTJNARezIcxOwQYM

Ren Yi was startled and immediately struggled, but the nurse held a phone in front of his eyes. He looked at the screen, his body going rigid.lteadXERvPmZYBkumbFrfZfQKGIWJE