I looked at her ice-cold face, as if she were a different person, and said resolutely, "I never imagined that someone like you would harbor envy. Are honor and glory the most important things in your heart?"
"No, those things originally belonged to me, but ever since you arrived, everything has changed. If it weren't for you, I would definitely be… I don't want to talk about it anymore. It can't be changed now anyway. All I can do is seek revenge!"
"Revenge? I don't believe it! How could you want revenge for such vanity? I am your husband!"
"Husband? I've always been one of the Guizhongzhe's people… All of this was for today. To think I gave myself to you, to someone I don't even like!"
"You…"
I suddenly noticed something different about Yu Ning's demeanor. She wouldn't normally be holding her left wrist like that. It reminded me of Ling Xiaotao's gesture of deliberately raising her left hand after injuring it. How could this be?
Could it be…
I immediately understood: "No matter what, since you've betrayed the police force, I will still arrest you!"
I raised my wristband. "Give up. This place will be surrounded by police any moment now!"
"What? You can still send a signal to the outside? Didn't I already jam that wristband?"
"Your methods are impressive, Yuan Xiuxian, but you forgot one thing: the wristband isn't my only way to contact the outside!" I activated the 360-degree surveillance bug He Xin had given me. I had secretly arranged with Dao Zhi Yong that the moment I turned it on, it would signify I had infiltrated the Guizhongzhe's stronghold. They would surely locate me immediately, knowing the time was ripe to reel them in!
Just as the piercing wail of police sirens drew near, Yuan Xiuxian realized he had fallen into a trap. He immediately tried to escape with his men, but Liu Yu Ning quickly shielded him. I rushed forward and engaged Liu Yu Ning directly in a fight!
During the chaos, Yuan Xiuxian was held up by several students. He kept shouting, "Kill him! Yu Ning! Kill him!"
Liu Yu Ning nodded and sent a palm strike towards my face. With lightning speed, I seized her slender arm. "Liu Yu Ning wouldn't hold her left wrist like this, she doesn't like Chanel perfume, she doesn't grind her teeth when she speaks, and one last thing: she wouldn't be this cold to me, even when she's angry. So you're not her at all. If I'm not mistaken, the clue Ling Xiaotao gave me wasn't about Yuan Xiuxian! It was about you. You're Liu Yu Ning's twin sister!"
"You!!!" The "Liu Yu Ning" before me, having had her secret exposed, became enraged and exerted more force. I knew that her only option now was to kill me and escape with Yuan Xiuxian to avoid her identity being revealed. But I wouldn't let her succeed!
Our fists flew, colliding with each other's faces…
It was then I realized why Liu Yu Ning had seemed like a completely new person, her combat prowess and intellect significantly improved. But strangely, she seemed to do less profiling, as if she were only following my instructions in solving cases?
Now I finally understood. She wasn't Liu Yu Ning at all!
"Tell me, what's your name!"
"Heh, why should I?"
"Dare to do it but not admit it? Do you still have the right to be Liu Yu Ning's sister?"
"…"
"Speak!"
"Liu Yuchen!"
"Heh, well said, Yuchen. 'Yu' means sun on top, signifying hope. 'Chen', a primary Chinese character, first appearing in oracle bone script, originally depicted hibernating insects stirring in the spring awakening. Combined with the sun above, it implies you've been lurking, preparing, until today, when you finally found an opportunity to deal with me. However, if you weren't Liu Yu Ning, then the notion of envy wouldn't hold. Tell me, why are you helping the Guizhongzhe?"
"Because… In the past, my sister and I both got into the police academy. But I was assigned to a police station. A mere police station, while she could get into the Municipal Bureau, even in Fuming City… Why? We were born of the same mother, yet the treatment was so different! Was it because of a mere two points difference?"
"You… Do you know what you're doing? What's wrong with a police station? A police officer is still a police officer. How can you… Where is Liu Yu Ning right now?"
"She…"
I slapped Liu Yuchen across the face and kneed her into a rock by the lake. But she was tough, her skin thick, completely unlike Liu Yu Ning. It seemed the training she underwent with the Guizhongzhe over the years had completely transformed her.
I held her captive. The Guizhongzhe's people were still watching. Yuan Xiuxian cursed, "Useless! How can you not even defeat He Sheng!"
She wasn't defeated by me; it was my words that were starting to shake her resolve. "Liu Yuchen, don't make any more mistakes. Envy will only make you lose yourself. I don't know how you've lived all these years, but you've even framed your own sister. Wake up! The Guizhongzhe are just using you, only using you! They want to deal with me through your hands! If you're with them, you've fallen for their trap! You've fallen for it!!"
"I…" I didn't give Liu Yuchen a chance to breathe and slapped her again. I wanted to jolt this ignorant woman awake!
Confused from my blows, Liu Yuchen seemed to shed tears. I was straddling her, a rather awkward position. When the police arrived, they were utterly surprised by the scene. Dao Zhi Yong, however, sneered, "As expected, it is as I suspected…"
Yuan Xiuxian pushed aside the people around him, using his own men as human shields at the critical moment. Countless armed police and SWAT officers had already sealed off all escape routes, surrounding them. I pulled Liu Yuchen up. Just then, from a dark corner, Yuan Xiuxian let out a wild laugh. "It seems there's no retreat today. But I've prepared a great gift for you police officers!"
With a heavy snap of his fingers, Yuan Xiuxian caused the entire forest to erupt in crackling sounds, followed by a spreading blaze. At some unknown point, the forest had caught fire.
"Oh no! The forest is on fire!" several officers exclaimed. By then, Dao Zhi Yong, Su Yaxin, He Xin, and I had reunited. That scoundrel Yuan Xiuxian, seeing us all gathered here, had deliberately set the forest ablaze through some unknown means.