Blazing Armor

Ren Yi and Qi Xiao first went to grab something to eat and watch a movie. It was already late at night when they finally called a few friends and headed to their usual bar for a gathering.FTwJWFXTtWRnocNEUqXFLLIyrLWmHP

xhGXSzisxZivQsw

Actually, Ren Yi quite enjoyed drinking. Although he didn’t indulge in it, while on duty, they were strictly prohibited from drinking. So on rare days off, naturally, he wanted to relax and unwind.DwrSzoeaYNrkajfJROQrxlfrZGepKv

qobTnAZBQIAyJid

It wasn’t until the middle of the night that the group began to gradually disperse. Ren Yi had drunk quite a bit, but he could still walk steadily. Qi Xiao, on the other hand, was swaying and hanging off him.UokBGGqtgeitWXOPHJgmTOCAbaDIdx

HBDfrdBSVvFDqeM

When they reached the car, Ren Yi freed one hand to take out his phone. “Hold on, let me call for a designated driver.”ZloAJYHhCeFIVhmWiUWsQDRPOBQTVU

NQFNDxnDQNVCrtI

Qi Xiao hugged Ren Yi’s neck, lifting his head and pressing his warm lips against Ren Yi’s, giving him a soft kiss.juQUorpDqBeTpafWQLUnVauUAbgBCW

fBqykyWrYJswEyZ

Ren Yi wrapped his arm around Qi Xiao’s waist, muttering, “Alright, alright, let’s get home first.”mFUZnPQiyzuhjeCubilTZcXzJLLcJK

CJcwizymSugHdno

Qi Xiao stared at Ren Yi with hazy eyes, whispering, “Bro, you’re so good, really so good.”JamIPmmvhSQXbHPbBuEVgpdEqUApaf

spHEoRnWYTWbXBd

“Yeah, I know,” Ren Yi chuckled. “What’s up with you?”gITzLyDVqWALTguJZtAaMjJJtopYDi

sRAiTTkDOycjcOM

“Honestly… I really want to be serious with you,” Qi Xiao slurred drunkenly. “But I feel like, right now… I’m nothing. Not popular, no money, I don’t even have the right to date.”lxbBalOwhFQNhZsvcQbGcQjIBGIbQT

qicESGlxCChdJii

Ren Yi comforted him, “You’re only 23, what’s the rush? You’ll definitely make it big.” He placed the order for a designated driver and waited for them to arrive.oLVVIzvUXuwHXjcQhlhKDweknKLZDE

kIAMZflSgBgMpsH

“Those kids nowadays, they get into the entertainment industry when they’re barely teens,” Qi Xiao rubbed his cheek against Ren Yi’s face. “Like that one who just flirted with you, he must have been 18 or 19. Are you… are you going to be stolen by someone younger?”HUglIHDPPMXlWSAntNYFarGsvLNMCQ

qTUCplarDDErPrF

“Stop talking nonsense,” Ren Yi laughed helplessly. “I’ll take you home for a good night’s sleep.”gyVrqZaBWcUGplPMaxuKhzgrzdwSEo

ncJnThamgVkhDCs

“Why… why don’t you date anyone?”HcelevuDFdMOKMySypybUBlyWXmyun

pdfApSiZCIameXL

“I don’t have time.”zekWooRttvlECdEDfxbLtrWGxQfQsT

JaLWtzXcYNDbbZO

Qi Xiao giggled foolishly, looking at Ren Yi. “How about… we give it a shot?”QHEDhZjuAdTAnQDtqCgiwOsvONLCLV

PTtroxXqxmJotjL

Ren Yi ruffled Qi Xiao’s hair gently and said, “Let’s talk when you’re sober.” It’s not that Ren Yi didn’t want to be in a relationship, but he knew their differences in background, aspirations, and values were too great, and a relationship between them would probably be doomed.RkOoRXbxpiFOTHEQppOrZbGGaxBFBx

sageRceZFLSqHda

Qi Xiao clung to Ren Yi’s waist, his whole body draped over him, burying his face in Ren Yi’s chest, nuzzling like a well-behaved cat.XkewhphGcuASfOfitzrpYnUAKDZrZD

QYmTYpeljZuCctg

After a while, the designated driver arrived. Ren Yi got Qi Xiao into the car and found that he had already fallen asleep.RnIcimzqfqyrfTzmKpAjHJFPkREHIu

ZFYyMQFvJKWhlnJ

He instructed the driver to head to Qi Xiao’s place.UaFzjLDTpQRgEJprQAIhpmWLvgBSHJ

tZXphKulkJlmEaK

—-KfTcnmsYaJMfDOEjvLStFDiGGLseZw

aPWEYHoKVcwIbiL

At dawn, Ren Yi was woken by the sound of his phone ringing. Half-awake, he fumbled for the phone on the bedside table, pressed it to his ear, and groggily said, “Hello?”SwIyEUdXMCZIPeqYmVKEkiAcLqXrIL

VGiljCFIkpoHiEK

The other side paused for a moment. “Why are you still sleeping at this hour?”pVqYYBvFACmFlKgkocxKPzEeCdGJmb

EbdIvpfxtBzuizF

Gong Yingxian’s cold voice hit Ren Yi like a bucket of cold water, jolting him awake. He struggled to open his eyes. “W-what time is it?” he asked, then glanced at his phone screen. It was almost nine.HMAmMEUBVNlOtLgGbrZzmgTtQLkeFc

tzYGcRPkxwtaQtY

“You’ve been drinking,” Gong Yingxian’s voice clearly showed some displeasure.jKHwGnbShBRfszhftYcECHFPtwrehX

RdKXNbsgOnszDky

“Yeah, I drank with some friends pretty late last night.” Ren Yi sat up. “I haven’t slept in this late for a long time… What’s up?”uTBrraLISdzBfhtJaLvCgPmeHmlHyR

taFlNOXUipLsaRK

“Forget it.” Gong Yingxian abruptly hung up.JXzUFYduAKFvTUMQVLIWGWWvqMoRiE

YPHziSnpEUQVmWt

Ren Yi listened to the busy signal on the other end, stunned for a while. When he finally came to, he remembered that they had agreed yesterday to visit Wanyuan District again. The fire scene couldn’t stay sealed off for too long as it would disrupt the residents’ normal lives—this wasn’t like a bar. Their time was limited.tDnKdqAURRfoMOYqOaIMutRoIXDccr

AgBqdoiKfBWKdCg

He really drank too much last night and completely forgot about it.GSWOXeYjZJfuWusMnEarkXpZfZQQOk

oNKIEgZGnFXljVD

Ren Yi knocked on his own head a few times as he climbed off the sofa and headed to the bathroom to freshen up.pOCBXSHwFxxAzwuHgrXwEoVhXcZTAQ

yzSCuCTmxqYyIPH

He had spent the night at Qi Xiao’s place. After getting Qi Xiao into bed, Ren Yi had been so exhausted that he didn’t even bother moving. He just collapsed onto the bed and passed out. Now that he had woken up, his body ached, his head was spinning, and he felt nauseous—a classic hangover.fYfubCKBoJngSCJJRsjVNdfVwRillU

WEDeIuwaOpJWCcQ

After taking a shower, Ren Yi found that Qi Xiao was still fast asleep. He rummaged through the wardrobe and picked out a relatively plain T-shirt and jeans from the pile of trendy clothes. He wasn’t much shorter than Qi Xiao, so the size would do.kYfwXSDWOfgpUZjCEgpgkGFibivOdm

zAopLuvYBRttgni

After changing, Ren Yi left a note for Qi Xiao saying he had something to take care of and headed out, grabbing his keys as he left.SStSSyrBAxfzyWaNEllbwUCZXHNPsx

rAzPcpzygwzRxLF

It was rush hour, and Ren Yi found himself stuck in traffic on the Third Ring Road. Annoyed, he stared at the endless line of cars in front of him. He grabbed his phone and sent a message to Gong Yingxian: “A bit stuck in traffic. I’ll be there soon.”qkNQbtEXCBiRnsxZlkOMYosVGBpcGW

ArKHFlAEjJCcVoz

While on the road, Ren Yi received a call from Zhang Wen. The lab results were in—the sample they had sent in for testing was indeed gasoline. Ren Yi told Zhang Wen to come back to the site; they needed to search for more clues that could lead them to the arsonist.cELaOOdDVTkHPOyzULYOTOBkaIsINB

CtQtkNwwFoGhRKC

What should have been a quick 10-kilometer drive ended up taking over 40 minutes. When Ren Yi arrived at the entrance of the Wanyuan neighborhood, he spotted Gong Yingxian’s car and sighed in relief—thankfully, he was still there.ZwIpnZNDgvBOSDClwUaghRuVZzkMLa

KmogeGfwngMXogp

Ren Yi made his way upstairs and found Gong Yingxian and several police officers at the scene.ZGVbjkBcMlVCwufsaMygrSKFwgdIpZ

XrYyLNAipKxcUWJ

When Gong Yingxian saw him, he merely gave a quick glance before turning away. His masked face revealed only a pair of beautiful eyes, concealing a multitude of emotions.TNsOiXYKuHVFKZotLesHQJhHJwXbmD

TTKHzxRCIgDulQW

Ren Yi walked over. “The fire investigation lab confirmed that gasoline was used as an accelerant outside apartment 2209. It was arson.”ZWuXHirJNCoJAtbEGrqNtzfSXaDobY

senBKtjhKlWpBeB

“Yeah, I already know,” Gong Yingxian replied.bRbYEqgMhsjFfUcpwjUTCSuJYmmfqh

KLqjjIYyMmJyTfQ

“I reckon the arsonist was one of the neighbors on this floor.” Ren Yi glanced around. “There are twelve households in total. Someone died in 2211, and a few others were injured, some lightly, some severely. Maybe the arsonist ended up getting caught in their own fire.”hLYuMpnhkcqAGvBKzHhWwiZSxUMCvE

jbhRmUQxoIWpMoT

Gong Yingxian didn’t respond, continuing to investigate inside 2209.CXNsnOoebTibImUYYzkeoiXPIFpxAG

NlXLgQxfeXIDYHp

Ren Yi followed behind him and kept talking. “The arsonist probably just wanted to get back at 2209, but they didn’t expect such a huge fire.”zgYDrOrDvgksPorFroHAHPquForRgj

CDOsbaJgIeuNDAg

Still, Gong Yingxian said nothing.anDCvbPAzcSzPSMOoBzAIICZxTUuuP

jDmvKJPifMvKlko

Ren Yi, frustrated, stepped in front of him, forcing Gong Yingxian to look at him.GfreETMjOGgFtGsGEoFoDLNqgNCnUO

HXLbfEItRqOJIsZ

“What’s with you, Dr. Gong? Are you mad at me or something?” Ren Yi asked, puzzled.DSDzOjVTwMDDdzbxoIYIRhVuVQzCPl

sPSEohYgaKpPjGP

Gong Yingxian coldly replied, “I don’t have time for that.”jskLJcGiRZdPXCEHjRdunkhJqpMuQD

WkcQqaTQfTReBrI

“I was just a bit late. I barely get a day off, and having a few drinks to unwind is pretty normal,” Ren Yi teased. “You don’t have to be so uptight.”CQcxJSOAqcSPwVjIokXuXKWNlXNqNR

PAWhKTUsqhLuQoO

Gong Yingxian sidestepped him and headed toward the kitchen of 2209, rummaging around for something.bXWdhkHToOSgzlfVYufqkQbvYissBI

uNLCipktAZBkQwM

“Man, seriously… What are you looking for?”vIqzmTthnDIxpBDAUgGxywJxtrfKxw

egWtVexFbscSwrB

“The coffee machine.”LIXcxKwJTWCCUYzVuOgmHKHbxrEbwQ

qANcuWBCuXWiZIx

“What?”NvqZgBYSAbXKTBaJaeVVPYlZKouVMb

eRvokuHZJicUTlI

Gong Yingxian meticulously sifted through the burnt remains of the kitchen, frowning in thought for a moment before heading to the bathroom, continuing his search.kgdMDbnqaiGxsaoUWufFDjsEIzdMZU

MIevjkuiOsUcmJK

“What are you looking for now?”LydKAlJWUAsQFPRuGBqUWrjfndaGwF

TLsQtpwXarOjsBC

“An electric toothbrush.”oZyxUwvsvnrDdyIOuSVclhxbVeBbEb

GfXWIjfWZROCzzE

Ren Yi was even more confused. “What exactly are you up to?”KmURSpjkPAAQTvIwYDwmOqpLwyrcdi

HKkuhcAaJGUUhmP

“Instead of wasting time, help me look.”ggebGOKvCCKwDcbqucWPpIxQEnMbjp

duVikKupqXEQhpq

Ren Yi had no choice but to join Gong Yingxian in searching. But all they found under the collapsed bathroom cabinet was half a plastic toothbrush handle.NJYkAgKfHImlmHaWwJhpUaAdiuLTxc

GnRskLZqWgOYSdy

Gong Yingxian bagged the toothbrush handle as evidence.dgeCYmCeoAuwUpfitoOdiAfQrBJeMP

wlnhmonMrKeSZYx

Ren Yi was getting annoyed. “What are you doing? At least tell me. When I assist you, I’m an open book.”IQgrswktAPFozDrQALkFtkqSvDFvTw

xgHQKojqnxySHCD

Finally, Gong Yingxian looked at Ren Yi with a blank expression and said, “In the pile of burning trash near the door, I found items that might not belong to this household.”DfiToMNIjczjuMjrMcZKhreWCZdSII

yYXnFbmPNpIovKd

“Like what?”TkQqydtcMNHLHlxZidbqJBIbvPgpWa

wMcwnqGaSKOSCPI

“I observed that this family’s living standard isn’t high. They don’t have any notable modern appliances—hell, even their washing machine is an old model.” He raised the bag in his hand. “But in that trash pile, there were coffee grounds, electric toothbrush replacement heads, things like that.”HCGfoLLSXQspVvuBRoZWRzIzbaUEUF

JICLqOpPSbIrCAx

Ren Yi’s eyes lit up. “Wow, you’re that observant? So, the trash at the door doesn’t belong to them?”ousjnCwRyZNDnEIDYbQwBnpHirRYib

bEtIQEIcZulCeHo

“Part of it, yes. My colleagues have already spoken to a few neighbors, confirming what Xue Fei said. This family often piles up trash by the door, and later, maybe out of spite against their neighbors, they would let it build up for days, sometimes even one or two weeks before throwing it out.”dlVTFdIXesyogLvATwfHrtVKrpGQIZ

qTVciwuKuFGjnJn

“Then why is there trash at the door that doesn’t belong to them?”cBUQqTrzCllVtOMFrNfNSAgdpvXkjk

aKrdMFSWPPsbMrb

“You’ll have to ask the killer that.”KsFAHacRbPUTfqZLUpnLoHNvwpxmQW

FSHUvXUmqUNaKXT

Ren Yi thought for a moment. “There’s surveillance downstairs, right? Any leads?”XYJUxokJpKJiqTWeRRuIDQhgiVNGEK

HwakWphZBLEbPTN

“They just retrieved it at the precinct. My colleagues are reviewing it now,” Gong Yingxian replied. “Can you make a diagram for me of the fire’s spread? Not inside the apartment, but for the entire floor. The direction of the fire’s spread might tell us something.”FrmjyDmbYtaBTsgGlHOfGFCRHAjIQg

osiNtavRluroRJf

“Sure.”sHXWBOVrWVcFDmwVjIhCQeVCApDcCY

KYHDlxaYQGtofoX

Gong Yingxian pulled out his iPad, brought up the building’s floor plan, and handed it to Ren Yi.RxbqwpIyXIFHVskBpxYgCNIIDffamZ

SgDxwCGOPXrxLqW

Ren Yi took it, returned to the hallway, and based on the evidence left by the fire—burn marks on the ground, soot patterns and locations on the walls, fallen ceiling tiles—he mapped out the fire’s spread and sequence.MnEhbZEsnOzlRKpLKlwuFhKVZIsfTh

yrtwinHWQkCKGBA

At that moment, Zhang Wen arrived and joined them in the inspection.HLwwrdADRkqmBmecSUUQYESXBvEKoW

JqDngbublWNxViU

When the drawing was finished, the three of them stared at the diagram in silence.wKunEekElqYfBKhLEooWTCBvNwISNu

fgBNrxYKazzFzyz

“Weird…” Ren Yi looked toward the window at the end of the hallway. “2209 is on the west side. If the fire started, it should’ve spread first toward the west side’s ventilation window. How did it end up spreading east instead? The fire on the west side spread through the ceiling.”aPVxPetssUordYSOPZMMADEEssNISS

nqvYzPAAvygzieA

“How can you be sure the fire on the west spread through the ceiling?”pufcrjLDBJvqhDtXMscTPXtQGBhtsH

ycAfRVxJpCKvrfc

Ren Yi picked up a piece of drywall. “It’s simple. If the west side fire had started on the floor, after moving up the walls, the ceiling would’ve been scorched first. When the ceiling fell, the side that hit the ground would be blackened, and it would fall onto other burning materials. But this piece of drywall…” He flipped the charred drywall over, revealing a pristine white underside. “Not only is the side that touched the ground free of soot marks, but there’s also no burned material underneath it. This proves the fire started inside the ceiling, and only after the ceiling collapsed did it set the ground on fire.”anGvLTjWXVaBBJbxsREoVsYLEVkiRr

piCtNcsCJHHEwgT

“How could that be?”QGeBdHdiBWqzKugthlIsWyHFYKNHFS

pOYomOzzbulMBiV

Ren Yi shook his head. “Both sides were severely burned. When I came up to help, I only acted on the east side. The west side, being the origin point, had flames too strong for me to approach. I mistakenly assumed the west side started burning first, and the open window seemed to support that. But after examining all the evidence, it turns out the opposite is true.”aKpbIxZElNaDXWdALWADfnrGOgcGCB

VdBEblnhmaHMIFx

“Why did it happen this way?”zCaaDDZzlnPYpShmOAAKwBBfGcKovb

LosMUnHrSGogSXr

“Yesterday, I focused only on 2209 and didn’t examine the hallway closely,” Ren Yi said, frustrated. “I missed something. One possible explanation is that the west side window was closed at the time, which caused the fire to spread toward the east side hallway’s window.”hJxMbJSZFNoIKEhMsvRyJyTVizdlKB

hgCYoZNgWzaNaat

“Let’s go take another look.”NJKJUobuIAciFhmKkEKLmHwWVoaoln

JrGhNvKsRQrzQml

The three of them walked to the western window, which had long been burned down to just its frame, with shattered glass scattered all over the floor. Judging by the current state of the frame, the window appeared to be closed, but it couldn’t be ruled out that the heat pressure might have pushed it shut.yFSZfJhHvxQXfDUKlEZNBRmzqhGLvB

JoQuWsBlCOTiGkR

“This window is usually used for ventilation. Unless it’s winter, it’s rarely closed in the hallway,” Gong Yingxian pondered. “If the hallway reeked of trash for a long time, there’s even less chance someone would close it.”TKvdhcgrNEInrJIFElmvikNlNsQnpi

KJXmbmyoJgxlepN

Ren Yi took a deep breath, “Someone shut it, trying to stop the fire from spreading west?”vdXXOgYElPHYElpxjsxJUqJSbPWmyS

XxBuyeKpsUVifqh

Both of them simultaneously turned to look down the long corridor. Among the six households on the west side, who could be the arsonist?ioqwAvQocJxFrTiPwKdVeQjEFqzIFO

caAsZxmRkSiYZRO