Half a month later, Bai Cheng’s leg had completely healed. She had been thinking about the missed shooting lessons, so as soon as her leg got better, she hurried off to the shooting range for class.
“Your leg just healed, and you’re already this eager to train?” Luo Tian asked, arms crossed, leaning against the training room wall.
“I haven’t touched a gun in half a month. If I don’t practice, I’ll lose the feel for it. Come on, coach, let’s continue the lesson.”
Luo Tian gave Bai Cheng a thumbs-up and resumed teaching her.
After the lesson, Bai Cheng sat on a soft bench in the training room, stretching and massaging her sore shoulders.
Seeing her pushing herself so hard, Luo Tian said, “You don’t have to work this hard, you know. With me, the top all-around ace of the police force, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know you’re the ace of the police force, the backbone and reassurance for everyone. But I don’t want to just be protected and drag everyone down. I want to protect myself and, maybe someday, help others.”
“I get how you feel, but we’re police officers. You’re not. You don’t need to put yourself in danger.”
“But Luo Tian, Ling Xiang isn’t a cop, and neither is Kang He. Yet, for you, they willingly risked themselves to act out that scene. Luo Tian, I don’t want to sit around waiting to be rescued, and I don’t want to be a bird in a cage. Luo Tian, teach me how to shoot. Let me be your trump card.”
Luo Tian looked at Bai Cheng and, after a moment of silence, finally said, “Same time the day after tomorrow, come back for class.”
As more and more bullets were fired from Bai Cheng’s gun, time passed day by day. Two months later, Bai Cheng aimed at the distant human-shaped target and pulled the trigger. This time, all seven bullets hit the target’s heart.
Bai Cheng put down the gun. Seven consecutive shots, yet the heart area of the target far away only had one hole. In other words, each subsequent shot followed the exact trajectory of the first, hitting the target precisely.
“Congratulations, you’ve graduated,” Luo Tian said, standing behind Bai Cheng.
“Yeah, it’s because I had an ace coach.”
Suddenly, Luo Tian’s phone rang. It was a call from Fang Chong. As soon as he answered, Fang Chong said, “Luo Tian, we got a report from a civilian about a floating corpse found on the south bank of Hujiangli.”
“Send me the exact location. I’ll head over now, and we’ll meet there.”
“Got it.”
“What happened? Is there trouble?” Bai Cheng asked.
“A corpse was found on the south bank of Hujiangli. I’ll take you home first.”
“You don’t need to take me home. You should head to the scene right away.”
Luo Tian didn’t respond. He just raised an eyebrow slightly and gave Bai Cheng his usual stern look. She stopped resisting, and under Luo Tian’s escort, she returned home. She watched him turn the car around and drive towards Hujiangli before closing the door and habitually locking it.
For the next few days, Bai Cheng didn’t hear anything from Luo Tian. He was always like this—once he got busy with a case, nothing else seemed to matter, which could be infuriating at times. But Bai Cheng knew him well by now and didn’t bother him. Instead, she went to the church as usual on Sunday.
As she expected, Luo Tian was already there, cleaning the platform. Bai Cheng walked over to help set up.
“That case from a few days ago, still no leads? Lin Fei mentioned something when we were chatting,” Bai Cheng asked while organizing the lecture materials.
“I knew that big mouth had already told you. The male corpse was Sun Yuliang, a local carpenter who lived on the north bank of Hujiangli. The time of death was two days ago, but the location wasn’t the south bank where he was found—it was the north bank. When he died, his feet were likely tied to a bag of stones or some other heavy object. After he sank into the water, something must have chewed through the rope. Then, with the heavy rains from a few days ago, the corpse drifted with the rising tide all the way to the south bank. We visited his village, Yunxi, and found out that he lived a simple life, mostly doing carpentry for a living and fishing on the north bank in his spare time. We even found some leftover fish bait along the Yunxi Bridge. He had no known enemies or grudges with anyone. Plus, since Yunxi Village is so remote, there aren’t many surveillance cameras, and the few that are there were broken. We still don’t know why he was killed. Maybe he witnessed something and was silenced for it.”
Bai Cheng was silent for a moment before asking, “Haven’t the Crocodile and Eel been caught yet?”
“No, but we’ve issued a city-wide wanted notice for them, and we’ve tightened security at all transportation hubs. All surveillance cameras in the city are linked. As soon as they make a move and get caught on camera, the system will alert us, and we’ll grab them immediately.”
“Luo Tian, I have a feeling this murder case is connected to the Crocodile and Eel. They’re hiding in the shadows while you’re out in the open. You have to be careful.”
“Don’t worry. Evil can never win over good. We’ll definitely catch them this time.”
After the priest began his sermon, Bai Cheng and Luo Tian rested in the room at the back. Luo Tian sat on the bed, playing with Pharaoh while sitting with one leg bent. A Bible lay open on the bed.
Bai Cheng sat on the carpet, covered with a blanket, leaning her head against the bed’s edge, listening to the priest’s sermon through the wall.
Today, the priest was telling the story of Judas’ death. It’s said that Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. When he led the Jewish chief priests and scribes to arrest Jesus, the prearranged signal was a kiss. Judas ran up to Jesus, said, “Greetings, Rabbi,” and kissed him. That’s how they captured Jesus and eventually nailed him to the cross.
Bai Cheng turned to ask Luo Tian, “What was Judas’ fate in the end?”
Luo Tian replied, “After seeing Jesus suffer because of his jealousy, Judas realized his mistake and, in regret, found a tree and hanged himself.”
“If only all sinners could recognize their sins and atone for them.”
“That would be an ideal world. Otherwise, what would the police even be needed for?”
“Luo Tian, do you believe in God?”
“No, otherwise, what would the courts be for?”
“As long as my wish comes true, whether it’s a god or a ghost, that’s my god,” Bai Cheng said. “If you think about it, though, you and I—a doctor and a cop—we’ve saved so many lives. In a way, we’re more like gods than the deities who view all living beings as insignificant. At least we’ve saved more people.”
“I’m no god. I can feel pain, I can die, and so can my comrades. It’s just that I chose this path, so I have to bear the responsibility that comes with it. Besides, not all doctors and cops have morals. After working as a cop for so long and seeing so much evil, I can only say that good and evil depend on probability, and human nature is a matter of luck.”
“So, belief is a philosophical question that’s really just a math problem?”
“No, the end of the world is science. So, believe in science and stop overthinking.” Luo Tian picked up the Bible on the bed and lightly smacked Bai Cheng on the head with it.
“You tell me to stop overthinking, yet you come here every Sunday?”
“Because, at the end of the day, I’m not a god, just a fragile human being. Plus, the atmosphere here makes for good naps.”
“Pfft.” Bai Cheng rolled her eyes at him.
