Blazing Armor

To avoid making Gong Feilan sad, they followed through and ate everything clean. Ren Yi even took a few pictures of the smashed-up pastries and sent them to Gong Yingxian, along with the caption: “Thanks for the treats, Dr. Gong.”

The next day, despite feeling a bit embarrassed, Ren Yi still thickened his skin and went to the Hongwu Sub-bureau. However, he couldn’t think of anything to give Gong Yingxian, so he showed up empty-handed.

Before going, Ren Yi specifically asked Tan Haochun to confirm Gong Yingxian would be at the sub-bureau, but when he got there, Gong wasn’t at his desk.

Just then, Tan Haochun happened to pass by and, spotting Ren Yi, eagerly ran over. “Captain Ren, Dr. Gong isn’t here? Strange, he was just here a moment ago.”

Ren Yi wondered if Gong Yingxian might be avoiding him on purpose, but how could he have known Ren Yi would come?

“I’ll ask around for you,” Tan Haochun said, then went to chat with a colleague.

Before long, he returned. “Dr. Gong just went to the shooting range to practice. Want me to take you there? You haven’t seen our shooting range, have you?”

“Let’s go. I haven’t.”

As they walked, Tan Haochun, still concerned about the bounty on them from the dark web, asked if Ren Yi had been safe recently.

“Don’t worry, nothing’s happened.”

“That’s good. Seems like there’s been some progress on the Wanyuan Community case.”

“Really? I’ll ask him about it later.”

Tan Haochun lowered his voice unconsciously, “Dr. Gong’s been in a pretty bad mood lately, Captain Ren. You might want to be careful.”

Ren Yi chuckled, “Careful of what? He doesn’t bite.”

“But when he’s really serious, he can be kind of scary.” Tan Haochun rubbed his nose. “He doesn’t feel like a real person sometimes—more like a character from an anime. So good-looking and skilled, with that aura… Honestly, I’m kind of afraid of him.”

Ren Yi thought to himself, sure, Gong Yingxian looks intimidating on the outside, but inside, he’s childish and headstrong. Thinking of those poor, innocent pastries made him laugh helplessly. “You’re a cop. What are you scared of?” He felt a bit guilty after saying that—he himself tended to follow Gong Yingxian’s lead without even realizing it.

“I’m a cop, sure, but I’m a desk jockey. Do I look like I go out catching criminals? I hate exercising.” At this point, Tan Haochun sighed and worried aloud, “What am I going to do about this year’s firearms and fitness assessments?”

“You guys have assessments?”

“Of course. Even though I don’t go out on the field, I still have to pass the evaluations.” Tan Haochun said enviously, “I wish I were as good as Dr. Gong. He’s always first in everything, from academics to physical assessments.”

“…That impressive?”

“Yeah! He was top of his class when he got into the police academy and also graduated at the top. Then he got his PhD from MIT at 22. A bona fide genius. Even though Dr. Gong is a bit of a loner, everyone cuts him some slack. There’s gotta be a reason for that, right?”

Ren Yi couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. Gong Yingxian was, without a doubt, the most outstanding person he knew. On top of that, he was just and responsible, making him someone you couldn’t help but admire.

Although… his temper was really something…

As they talked, Tan Haochun led Ren Yi into a gym. There were only two or three people jogging on treadmills at this hour. They continued inside, and Tan Haochun warned, “It might get loud in a second. Don’t be scared by the gunshots.”

Ren Yi laughed, “I used to be in the armed police.”

Tan Haochun slapped his forehead. “I forgot.” He pushed open a thick soundproof door and led them into the shooting range.

They saw Gong Yingxian standing with his back to them in a booth, shooting at targets. He hadn’t noticed their arrival, probably because he was wearing earmuffs.

After the weather turned cold, Gong Yingxian started wearing a suit jacket, and his holster shifted from his ankle to his body. At this moment, he was wearing a pure black shoulder holster over his snow-white shirt, with the straps crossing at the center of his back. As he raised his arms, his movements clearly outlined the powerful lines of his shoulder blades. His broad back and narrow waist were on full display, and the leg he used to stabilize himself further emphasized his taut rear and impossibly long legs. He looked just like a movie agent—both dangerous and sexy.

Ren Yi’s face flushed instantly.

“Captain Ren, what’s wrong?” Tan Haochun asked curiously, “Your face is so red. Is it too stuffy in here?”

Ren Yi felt guilty, like a thief caught in the act. He glanced around, desperately trying to find a place to hide. “Uh… yeah, a little. Is the air conditioner off?” He pretended to wipe sweat from his face, but his eyes couldn’t stop sneaking glances at Gong Yingxian’s back.

“It’s not hot at all. I’ll just turn on the ventilation.” Tan Haochun walked to the door to find the control panel for the central air.

Ren Yi took a few deep breaths to calm himself down while silently cursing himself.

After adjusting the air conditioning, Tan Haochun returned. Taking advantage of the pause while Gong Yingxian was reloading, he called out, “Gong…”

But Gong Yingxian’s speed was terrifyingly fast. Before Tan Haochun could finish his sentence, he had already swapped the magazine and resumed shooting at the target.

With 5.2 vision, Ren Yi could see from a distance that every bullet hit dead center. He was quite good at shooting back in the day, but to reach this level, very few people in the entire school could match it.

Finally, after Gong Yingxian finished his magazine, Tan Haochun seized the moment and called out, “Dr. Gong!”

Gong Yingxian finally heard them. He turned around and, upon seeing the two, paused for a moment. He frowned slightly, set down his gun, and took off his goggles and earmuffs—placing all three items neatly on a white cloth.

“Dr. Gong, Captain Ren has something to discuss with you,” Tan Haochun said with a smile. “Why are you suddenly practicing shooting?”

“The assessment is coming up, so I’m just getting familiar with it.” Gong Yingxian glanced at Ren Yi, his face expressionless.

Ren Yi awkwardly greeted him, “Hey.”

Gong Yingxian stared coldly at Ren Yi without saying a word.

Sensing the awkward atmosphere between them, Tan Haochun tactfully said, “I’ll leave you guys to it. I’ll get back to work.”

After Tan Haochun left, Ren Yi smiled helplessly, “I came today to apologize. I’m sorry. I was impulsive last time.”

Gong Yingxian crossed his arms over his chest, raised his chin slightly, and said nothing.

“At that time… I never thought you were a coward for being afraid of fire. I’ve said before, everyone has something they’re afraid of. You’re not afraid of anything except fire, and that already shows incredible courage. I was just worried about you.”

Gong Yingxian’s expression softened slightly. “Do you really know you were wrong?”

“Yeah, please don’t be mad anymore.” Ren Yi unconsciously softened his tone to coax him.

“Took you five days to figure it out?”

Ren Yi chuckled awkwardly, feeling a small spark of anger flare up inside him, but he gritted his teeth and suppressed it.

Gong Yingxian let out a cold hum and glared at him. “I went out of my way to help you, and you still dared to insult me. Ungrateful.”

“Yes, I was wrong.” Ren Yi could only smile apologetically.

Gong Yingxian rolled his eyes at him and said coldly, “What are you afraid of?”

“Huh?” Ren Yi didn’t immediately catch on.

“You said everyone has something they’re afraid of. What are you afraid of?”

“Uh… that’s kind of personal.”

Gong Yingxian commanded, “Tell me, and I’ll consider forgiving you.”

Ren Yi scratched his head, a bit embarrassed, and mumbled, “I’m afraid of ghosts.”

“What?” Gong Yingxian didn’t catch it.

“I’m afraid of ghosts,” Ren Yi said loudly, giving up on saving face.

Gong Yingxian snickered, though he quickly tried to cover it up, but Ren Yi noticed anyway.

Gong Yingxian snorted through his nose, “Fine, I won’t bother holding this against you.”

Ren Yi sighed in relief. “So, are you still coming to my place on Saturday?”

“If I don’t, Uncle Sheng will nag me for ages.” Gong Yingxian replied, sounding like it was a burden.

Ren Yi’s gloom from the past few days instantly vanished. He smiled happily, “Then we’ll stick to the original plan.”

“Yeah. By the way, the address you sent me, why isn’t it your place?”

“Oh, that’s my family’s old house. My dad’s sick, so it’s more convenient.”

Gong Yingxian frowned, “What illness?”

“Alzheimer’s,” Ren Yi said casually. He had hesitated about bringing up the connection between Gong Yingxian and his family, but since Gong Yingxian had been so young back then, he probably didn’t remember. Mentioning it now felt like showing off, which didn’t sit right with him, and he didn’t want to force Gong Yingxian to recall such painful memories. So, he chose not to say anything.

Gong Yingxian said, “My family owns a private hospital. I can add your father to our charitable program so he can receive free medical care.”

Ren Yi smiled, “Thanks, but it’s alright. My dad has insurance and subsidies, so the expenses aren’t an issue.”

Gong Yingxian nodded, “If you ever need anything in the future, just ask.”

Ren Yi felt warmth in his heart. He never liked to trouble others, much less accept such a large offer, but he was still touched. He smiled and flashed an OK sign at Gong Yingxian. “Oh, right, I also wanted to ask about the progress of the case.”

“Let’s talk outside,” Gong Yingxian said as he packed away his goggles and earmuffs, holstered his gun, and led Ren Yi out of the training room.

As they walked, Ren Yi couldn’t stop sneaking glances at Gong Yingxian’s upper body, restrained by the gun holster. It made him feel like there was a little claw scratching at his heart, tickling him.

“You want to play with guns?” Gong Yingxian asked.

Ren Yi was startled. “Huh?”

“You’ve been staring at my gun the whole time.”

Ren Yi stammered, “Uh, yeah, I haven’t touched a gun since I graduated college.”

“My family has paintball guns that feel like real firearms. You can come over next time to play with those,” Gong Yingxian offered. “This one’s off-limits, though.”

Ren Yi laughed, “I know.”

Gong Yingxian led Ren Yi back to his desk and handed him a stack of documents. “We’ve found several leads, including surveillance footage and eyewitnesses. We can now confirm that the hooded person is the arsonist.”

Ren Yi opened the documents, which contained numerous surveillance camera images, some capturing the suspect outside the residential area.

“We pulled footage from all the cameras along the surrounding streets. Based on his route, walking speed, and timing, we’ve deduced that he got off a bus at the Shuangyang Road stop. We then retrieved footage from all buses that stopped there at that time and found him on Route 15. He boarded at Xianfu Road.”

“Xianfu Road? That’s not far from where Zhou Chuan’s car was burned.”

“Yes, but when we tried to track him from Xianfu Road’s surveillance footage, we only managed to follow him for half a block. There aren’t many cameras in that area, so we could only estimate a general range. The auxiliary police are still looking for clues around there.”

Ren Yi nodded, “Finding someone based on just this is really difficult. Have we confirmed his connection to the car fire case?”

“In my mind, it’s certain, but we don’t have enough solid evidence yet.” Gong Yingxian frowned. “However, we’ve already identified a suspect for the car fire.”

“Who?”

Gong Yingxian turned to the next page in the file.

The person in the photo was someone Ren Yi had seen before. It was Peng Fei, the man who lived in 2212, the one who had been dragged to the precinct by the wife of the 2209 victim. “Hmm, his build matches the black-clothed figure we saw, and he has a motive.”

“He also doesn’t have an alibi for the night of the car fire. He lives alone, and he claims he was home sleeping, but there’s no one to corroborate that.”

“Where is he living now?”

“His apartment is being renovated, so he’s staying at a friend’s place. He’s very clever, though. All of his answers have been airtight. Xiao Tan has already hacked into his computer and phone, but we didn’t find anything useful.”

“If he’s using the dark web, he definitely wouldn’t use his personal computer or phone.” Ren Yi flipped through the documents. “If we can catch one person, we’ll be able to pull in the other.”

“Exactly. Peng Fei is calm because during my interrogation, I didn’t mention the car fire case. He thinks I’m only questioning him about the 2209 arson.”

Ren Yi was puzzled. “Why didn’t you bring up the car fire?”

“I’m waiting.” Gong Yingxian smirked coldly. “Waiting for Zhou Chuan to be discharged from the hospital. I’m going to arrange for them to meet. No matter how well Peng Fei can fake it, he won’t be able to hide that moment of shock and fear.”