Chapter 42:
Tell Me, What Is the Truth?
WHAT WAS this video?
It seemed to have something to do with Xie Qingcheng.
He Yu glanced impassively at the code rapidly scrolling past his phone screen. His opponent would need some time to catch up to him, but it wouldn’t take long. It was very possible this video had been sent to him to disrupt his concentration.
Closing the chat window, he set the matter aside. He didn’t want to get distracted.
However, a moment later, a second message jumped out like a lingering spirit that refused to move on.
Edward, I know that you suffer from a rare psychological disorder. While you were attacking our firewall, we also looked into your files.
He Yu’s fingers stilled.
Though his condition was a secret, his personal hospital and physician had copies of his medical records. The organization’s hacking skills were advanced enough that, with certain clues, it wouldn’t be impossible for them to determine his true identity and obtain important records within a short amount of time.
Immediately thereafter, his opponent sent a third message.
That Xie Qingcheng is lying to you and using you—aren’t you curious about why he suddenly stopped being a doctor?
A fourth message.
Stop throwing your life away for him. Why don’t you take a look at this video?
The video pop-up appeared again, chasing him relentlessly like a venomous serpent.
He Yu’s willpower wasn’t that weak, so he still didn’t click on it. But the fangs of that venomous serpent had indeed sunken into his flesh, causing him to hesitate for a split second.
If his opponent wanted to quickly tear through his mental barriers, they needed to be very cunning with the entry point of their attack. And the information that the other hacker was sending him had indeed been a thorn in his side for a very long time.
Why did Xie Qingcheng have to go?
He had insisted so stubbornly on leaving. Even after He Yu had set aside his pride and asked him pathetically to stay, all Xie Qingcheng would say was Your father is the one paying me. You can’t afford to employ me.
He Yu would never forget the way he felt back then.
In all his life, he had only ever been close to two people. One was Xie Qingcheng, and the other was Xie Xue. But that day, that evening, they both became illusions that may as well have never existed at all.
He Yu had tried so hard to live—to live like a normal person, constantly refusing to submit to his inner demons. He had tried for a whole seven years.
At that moment, he had genuinely been crumbling apart inside.
But when all was said and done, he had never truly resented Xie Qingcheng. He Yu was used to loneliness, and also to understanding all sorts of people. Some time later, he did come to understand Xie Qingcheng’s choice.
After all, what they had was nothing more than a simple doctor-patient relationship, a job that paid for Xie Qingcheng. Since they were neither family nor friends, it was completely within Xie Qingcheng’s rights to leave at any time. And before he left, Xie Qingcheng had neither tricked him nor lied to him; he had explained his reasons very clearly.
There was no reason for He Yu to resent him.
It was true that He Yu couldn’t get over Xie Qingcheng’s sudden departure. But later on, He Yu had thought to himself that at least this person had come to him and given him clear-cut articles of faith so that he had the courage to properly live on. At least this person had once told him that patients with mental illnesses needed to rebuild their bridges to society and shouldn’t be isolated, that he wasn’t an abnormality within society.
He Yu thought he ought to understand and forgive Xie Qingcheng for that alone.
Xie Qingcheng always had a way of winning people over and gaining their understanding.
Just like his conversation with Lu Yuzhu just now—He Yu had caught a few snatches of it. Xie Qingcheng had always been a good speaker, and after so many years, he could still convince people with logic and appeal to their hearts.
When the thought crossed his mind, He Yu glanced at Lu Yuzhu’s expression. He could clearly see that she had been affected. Even if she had sunken too deep into the muck, even if this brief conversation ultimately couldn’t hold up against more than a decade of suffering, she was still truly moved.
Xie Qingcheng was trying to convince Lu Yuzhu to learn the truth behind his parents’ deaths. So then how had Xie Qingcheng acted toward He Yu?
Had he really been entirely honest, without hiding anything?
He Yu didn’t click on the video. But his gaze did wander somewhat. He looked at Xie Qingcheng facing off against Lu Yuzhu.
It was precisely during this moment of inattention that his opponent’s commands unexpectedly caught up. By the time He Yu realized what had happened, they had already broken through his defensive firewall!
Beep—beep—beep—
The countdown to detonation resumed, ticking away even faster than before. The enemy technician had sped up the five-minute timer—there was now only one minute and a dozen or so seconds before the bomb would go off!
He Yu snapped abruptly back to attention and cursed under his breath. This really wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things.
He immediately refocused his attention and typed a command to forcibly shut out the distraction of the video. Sweat beaded on his smooth forehead as his almond eyes stared fixedly at the screen. His fingers moved fast enough to leave afterimages, their movements blurring together.
Meanwhile, as Lu Yuzhu watched He Yu, she grew certain that it had to be him.
This young man had to be the one using his cell phone to interfere with the organization’s signal. In that case, the most important person here wasn’t Xie Qingcheng but rather this young man.
She walked toward him, calm and collected. Though her eyes were locked on Xie Qingcheng, as though she were still confronting him, she was really following He Yu in her peripheral vision.
As she slowly moved closer and closer, she unlocked the safety on the handgun. There were eleven bullets inside.
He Yu rapidly typed out a string of commands and hit confirm.
There was a flash of red light.
Intercepted!
The frantic countdown was halted once again.
He Yu let out a sigh of relief and looked up. Just as he was about to give Xie Qingcheng an “okay” sign, his eyelids suddenly twitched. A sixth sense made him feel a prickling sensation at the back of his neck, and he whipped his head around—
At that very same moment, Lu Yuzhu pulled the pistol out from behind her back, pointed it at He Yu, and pulled the trigger!
A bullet burst out of the barrel with an earsplitting bang. The recoil from the gun made Lu Yuzhu’s arm go numb, and she staggered back several steps. Her shot had gone wide and hit a cabinet full of archival materials. The entire front of the cabinet caved in from the impact, a spiderweb of cracks lacing through the glass display window before it shattered violently.
“He Yu!”
Xie Qingcheng paled and immediately rushed toward Lu Yuzhu, tackling her and pinning her to the floor. Even so, Lu Yuzhu didn’t let go of the gun. She struggled and screamed at Xie Qingcheng as they tussled. And although Xie Qingcheng was in danger of being shot at any moment, since his chest was so close to the gun’s muzzle, he didn’t let go either.
“Move aside!” Lu Yuzhu yelled, her hair disheveled, eyes bulging from anger. She pointed the black muzzle straight at Xie Qingcheng’s chest, but for some reason, she didn’t shoot. “Or else I’ll kill you too!”
“You can take my life, Lu Yuzhu, but you can’t attack him. You can’t attack a child.” Xie Qingcheng spoke softly to Lu Yuzhu amid the chaos, his teeth gritted.
Unfortunately, He Yu couldn’t hear his words over the sounds of Lu Yuzhu’s shouts. She let out an inhuman howl of fury.