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墨書 Inktalez
That night, Jiang He listened to Old Shao recount his story, a tale that spanned many years. Old Shao began at the age of thirty and continued until he reached sixty. For Old Shao, these sixty years were destined to be extraordinary; he had devoted his entire life to work.
These were words Old Shao had never shared with anyone before, and Jiang He wondered why he chose to confide in him. Although Jiang He knew that Old Shao had remained unmarried throughout his life and had no girlfriend, it was the first time he learned that Old Shao had once been engaged.
Old Shao's fiancée, Yang Xiaojuan, had taken a bullet for him and became a vegetable. She could not speak or even make a sound; she was unable to move, not even a finger. During the eight years that Yang Xiaojuan remained in this state, Old Shao cared for her meticulously, and there was a time when he even contemplated suicide.
"What happened next?" Jiang He asked, looking at the aged man before him. If it had been the old Jiang He, he probably would not have been interested in such matters.
"Later, I personally removed the tubes," Old Shao replied without looking at Jiang He, his gaze fixed on the dim sky with its few stars. "The doctor said she could live for a long time; for someone in a vegetative state, eight years is not much. But tell me, can you call someone alive who exists only through tubes, without thoughts or feelings—just a body barely clinging to life?"
This was a philosophical question, and Jiang He despised such inquiries.
"I don't know," Jiang He admitted honestly. "But technology is always advancing; perhaps one day vegetative patients can awaken."
Old Shao shook his head. "After eight years of lying there, she developed bedsores in many places; she looked like a decaying corpse. When I met her, she was someone who loved beauty. If she knew she would end up like this, she would never have accepted it."
"People grow over time. When I was your age, I was quite indecisive," Old Shao finally turned to look at Jiang He. "She brought up marriage many times, but I always feared I couldn't provide her with an answer. I felt unprepared. Yet many things don't require preparation; people often say opportunities are for those who are ready, but that's not true. Everything happens suddenly; you don't need to be prepared—you just need to seize it."
"The night I took her for cremation, I went to see Shih Huacheng." Old Shao pulled an old pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "Shih Huacheng, the captain of the criminal police team and my former mentor; he is also the founder of the Sky Domain Organization. It was his bullet that turned Juan Juan into a vegetable."
Old Shao stared at the cigarette in his hand. "When I watched my beloved turn to ash, in that moment I wanted to kill Shih Huacheng. All the way there, I said nothing; my mind was consumed by that single thought. But when I finally saw him, all my anger vanished."
"Why?" Jiang He asked.
Old Shao took out a lighter and gently lit his cigarette. "Shih Huacheng's daughter, Little Stone, has leukemia. Even the most advanced treatment can only extend her life by a few years. In order to find a cure for his daughter, he established the Sky Domain Organization and used living people for experiments."
"Wei Demian is one of them," Jiang He said.
Old Shao took a puff of his cigarette and began to cough incessantly. "Yes, Wei Demian is one of them. Shih Huacheng has been a frontline detective for over ten years, familiar with various criminal organizations. He faked his own death to deceive us all and then devoted himself to illegal experiments."
"What about his daughter?" Jiang He asked while patting Old Shao on the back.
Old Shao finally stopped coughing. "After Shih Huacheng was captured, his daughter was entrusted to my care. Unfortunately, five years later, she passed away due to the spread of cancer cells. I think from that moment on, his heart died. Since some members of the Sky Domain Organization managed to escape, the police spared his life in order to catch everyone involved. But after that day, he hasn’t said a word."
"That day I was on this side of the iron bars, and he was on the other." Old Shao put the cigarette back in his mouth. "We looked at each other without speaking. He had aged significantly; he was no longer the person I once knew. I could have killed him that day."
Old Shao looked at his hands. "But I didn't do it because if I had, I would be no different from him. I knew he had suffered; his only daughter, the one he cherished, had only a few years left to live and could die at any moment—any father would find that unbearable. But one's own suffering is not a reason to make others suffer. Those who were captured for experiments, those who were killed, could very well be someone else's daughters, someone else's beloved."
"At that time, I understood that death isn't something to be feared; what’s terrifying is not knowing why you are alive," Old Shao shook his head. "Shih Huacheng is still alive, but he is already dead because he doesn't know why he lives anymore. I know why I live."
Old Shao took another drag from his cigarette. "At that time, I learned that Shih Huacheng had an adopted daughter who escaped; her name is Zhao Mingkun, and she is an assassin. I know she doesn’t want to kill anyone, but Shih Huacheng raised her, and she would do anything for him. I have to capture her; that became my sole purpose."
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