On the day Bai Cheng and Lin Fei had planned to go shopping, they strolled arm in arm through the streets. Although they had only known each other for a month, Lin Fei’s outgoing and friendly personality made it feel as if they had been friends for years. Lin Fei was a shopaholic and soon had her hands full with bags of clothes, perfume, and accessories, while Bai Cheng only bought two coats, a scarf, and two pairs of shoes.
After shopping, the two sat down in a restaurant, their hands full of shopping bags.
“After we finish eating, let’s buy some stuff for the dogs,” Bai Cheng said. “Pharaoh’s ear drops and dental chews are all used up.”
“Sounds good. My dog needs some new toys anyway,” Lin Fei responded.
“You have a dog too?” Bai Cheng asked.
“Yeah, I have a Samoyed.”
“Do you have a drug-sniffing dog as well?”
“Of course! My drug-sniffing dog is a Rottweiler, but it stays at the unit most of the time. I prefer my Samoyed at home. Normally, drug-sniffing dogs are kept at the station for management and protection. There have been cases where officers took their drug-sniffing dogs home, only to find them harmed by criminals the next day. So unless the dogs are retired, we usually don’t take them home.”
“I heard from Luo Tian that Pharaoh developed pneumonia as a result of inhaling drugs?”
“Yep. During one mission, Pharaoh inhaled a high concentration of drug powder and nearly died, but thankfully, he was saved. However, the incident left him with permanent lung damage, so he couldn’t serve as a drug-sniffing dog anymore. Later, they discovered that the damaged package of drugs was left by the traffickers on purpose, specifically to harm the police dogs. After that, Captain Luo adopted Pharaoh.”
“Just like every narcotics officer and their drug-sniffing dog, Captain Luo and Pharaoh have a deep bond and trust in each other. Pharaoh used to be afraid of fire and could never overcome it, no matter how much he was trained. But Captain Luo never gave up on him, constantly encouraging and training him. One day, during a mission at a dock, there were a lot of ships, and both sides started shooting. Captain Luo chased a criminal into a ship’s cabin, and both of them were shot and collapsed. The criminal, with his last bit of strength, knocked over an oil barrel and set the ship on fire with a lighter. Captain Luo was too weak to crawl out of the cabin, but Pharaoh dragged him out of the burning ship by his clothes. Since then, Pharaoh has never been afraid of fire. That’s why Captain Luo treats Pharaoh like his own son. When Pharaoh retired, he couldn’t bear to let the unit take care of him, so he adopted him himself.”
“Pharaoh means a lot to Captain Luo. If my drug-sniffing dog ever retires, I’ll definitely adopt it too. After going through so much together, it’s only right. Besides, it can keep my Samoyed company. When work gets busy, it’s easy for a single dog to get lonely.”
“True,” Bai Cheng said. “We used to have two dogs at home—two Border Collies, a male named Jade Emperor and a female named Queen Mother. They had a really close bond. Both of them were scared of heights. Once, my fiancé, oh, Lu Heng—he’s my late fiancé—he wanted to help Queen Mother overcome her fear of heights, so he put her up in a tree near our house and sneakily watched from inside. Queen Mother was timid and didn’t dare make a loud noise, so she just whimpered quietly. When Jade Emperor noticed, he ran over to Lu Heng, tugging at his clothes and barking loudly, trying to get him to help. But Lu Heng pretended not to see. Jade Emperor was also afraid of heights, but he circled the tree several times, then jumped from the second-floor balcony onto the tree. He comforted Queen Mother for a bit, then jumped back down to show her how to do it. But Queen Mother was still too scared to jump. Jade Emperor climbed up again, jumping from the tree to the balcony and back several times, until Queen Mother finally gathered the courage to jump down…”
As Bai Cheng finished the story, she suddenly froze, as if something had clicked in her mind. Her eyes lit up, and she stood up quickly, turning to Lin Fei. “I think I know how to cure Luo Tian. Lin Fei, I have to go home now, let’s hang out next time!”
“Wait, Bai Cheng, what are you—”
On her way home, the story of Pharaoh and Jade Emperor gave Bai Cheng an idea for helping Luo Tian overcome his fear. Even before reaching home, a plan was already forming in her mind.
Once she got home, she immediately called Lin Fei: “Fei Fei, do you know when Luo Tian isn’t at the station?”
“Captain Luo is usually there unless he’s out on a mission.”
“When’s his next mission?”
“That’s hard to say. But tomorrow, he’s leading a team to do a surprise inspection of the city’s entertainment venues.”
“Is Fang Chong going?”
“No, Vice Captain Fang isn’t going. Captain Luo will take a small team by himself.”
“Okay, I’ll go to the station tomorrow. I need to talk to Fang Chong.”
The next day, Bai Cheng arrived at the station after Luo Tian had already left. She went to Fang Chong’s office and sat down.
“Vice Captain Fang, I’ve come up with a possible way to help Luo Tian with his PTSD.”
“Just call me Fang Chong. What’s your plan?”
“Yesterday, Lin Fei and I were talking about Pharaoh and my family’s dogs. Pharaoh used to be afraid of fire, but he overcame that fear when he saved Luo Tian. My dog was afraid of heights, but it overcame that fear to save its mate. I also remembered a case where a mother, who had been in a car accident and developed a fear of cars, had her child accidentally locked in a car in the garage. The nanny wasn’t around, so the mother rushed into the garage full of cars, smashed the window with a golf club, and saved her child. In each of these cases, the person overcame their fear in an emergency, driven by the need to protect someone they cared about.”
“So you’re saying…?”
“We need to put Luo Tian in a life-or-death situation where he has to face his fear. If he’s driven by the need to protect someone important to him, he’ll find the strength to overcome his fear and beat it.”
“The problem is that Crocodile, the criminal, is still on the run. We haven’t had any leads on him. Even if he reappears, the station might not let Luo Tian participate in the operation.”
“That can’t happen. If Luo Tian doesn’t personally catch Crocodile, the unresolved guilt will stay with him forever. He’ll never be free from it.”
“I’ll try to push for it when the time comes, but I can’t guarantee the station will agree. They won’t want to risk the lives of other officers for this.”
“Then let’s cure him before that. We could stage a scenario where someone similar in size to Crocodile kidnaps you or another officer. To save you, Luo Tian would have to face his fear and pull the trigger.”
Fang Chong thought for a moment before replying, “Miss Bai, although I think your idea could work, I’ll need to discuss it with the team. I’ll speak to them after today’s mission and avoid bringing it up in front of Captain Luo.”
“Alright. If you need help explaining the psychological reasoning behind it, let me know. I really believe this will work.”
“Thank you, Miss Bai. I’ll let you know the results as soon as I can,” Fang Chong said.
