SDT 59

Chapter 59: The Interrogation Room

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“So eager to die?” Lu Kongyun said.

 Yu Xiaowen’s fingertips made another awkward scratching sound. He immediately covered it with a voice tinged with laughter: “Sir… are you going to do it yourself? Does that mean I’ll get to see you one more time?”

 There was no reply.

 Just a moment ago, Yu Xiaowen was still calling him “commander.” After all, the only time the traitorous cop Yu Xiaowen and the Institute of Life Sciences officer Lu Kongyun had ever crossed paths was back when Yu Xiaowen went there to investigate a case. That was what Yu Xiaowen had promised him, to disappear as if he had never shown up at all.

But Lu Kongyun didn’t seem to appreciate the gesture. His gaze was direct and unguarded.

 “Heh.” Lu Qifeng settled into another chair, propping his feet up as if watching a show, studying Lu Kongyun’s reaction to the suggestion. “I think his proposal is rather good. Why don’t you take care of it yourself? Once you’ve done what you ought to do, his death will be well deserved.”

 “Stop spouting that meaningless bullshit,” Lu Kongyun snapped. “I’m not a court of law, nor am I an executioner.”

 “Then send him to the executioner,” Lu Qifeng said casually, spreading his hands. “Whether we find Ye Yisan or not, his treason is already proven. The military headquarters has been taking the fall for two years. Even if he’s just an ant, we won’t let him off.”

 He spoke slowly, his gaze fixed on Lu Kongyun’s face. “You must be looking forward to it. Hmm?”

 …Looking forward to it?

  

 Yu Xiaowen looked at the person sitting across from him.

  

 Lu Kongyun stood up, the cold, hard sound of his military boots echoing as he approached.

 He stood directly before him. Yu Xiaowen forced himself to focus and meet his gaze.

 He lowered his eyelids to look at Yu Xiaowen. The light cast a defined shadow along his high, straight nose.

 “You want an inhibitor?” he asked.

 Yu Xiaowen: “I already told you, sir.”

 “Say it again.”

 “…I want to.”

 “Do you want me, or do you want the inhibitor?”

 Silence.

 Yu Xiaowen: “What did you say…”

 “Say you want me. Or the inhibitor.” The other person leaned in slightly closer and asked again.

 “I… want…” His aroused body, like a starving wolf, seized upon the familiar yet unfamiliar scent. Just getting a little closer made him feel full and happy.

 …Lu Kongyun did this on purpose! That despicable Alpha!

 This is it. He was truly going to heaven. He gasped, trembling with laughter, his fingers clenching tightly. His voice was hoarse and unbearably harsh: “…Give me the inhibitor! Order… No, I…”

 He knew when to back down, softening again: “Just give it to me. Hmm, you really want me to beg, don’t you?”

 “So you want the inhibitor more than you want me?”

 The other party seemed utterly indifferent to how completely Yu Xiaowen had lost control, crumbled, and humiliated himself before him. He remained as calm as an observer, waiting for him to give his answer.

 “…Or what else… what answer do you want? ‘I want you’? ‘I want to make out with you’?” Yu Xiaowen heard his own laughter, strained and suppressed, sounding ghostly. The entire interrogation room should have been exorcised for that.

 Lu Kongyun’s eyes remained fixed on him with the same cold detachment.

 “…What the hell kind of question is that? How can an inhibitor compare to a human… So can you fuck me now?” Yu Xiaowen rattled the shackles violently, laughing in a twisted, maniacal tone. “Are you gonna drop your pants now, young master? I’m fucking about to piss myself dry! Fucking Lu Kongyun… your vengeance is too deep. You’re becoming just as evil as your brother. You want to kill me… but I already have. I’ve already died! Just let your brother interrogate me and then shoot me already, okay?”

 His emotional outburst seemed to move not a single fiber of this perpetually detached, grim reaper-like villain.

 Lu Kongyun: “So you’d rather I fuck you. Because going down on a top-tier Alpha like me is actually better than taking inhibitors?”

 Yu Xiaowen: “.”

 Lu Qifeng: “.”

 Both were somewhat shocked that Lu Kongyun could say such words.

 Outside the interrogation room, the staff in the monitoring room suddenly sat up straight instinctively. All idle chatter and distractions ceased as they collectively looked up at the monitors in astonishment.

 “Holy shit. Why does the Lu family all like to…” someone began, then clamped their mouth shut.

 Lu Kongyun: “Other Alphas aren’t bad either.”

 The clanking of shackles echoed once more. Confronted by this Alpha’s overbearing interrogation, the prisoner bound by chains experienced increasingly intense emotional and physical turmoil. He gasped for breath, his vision darkening.

 Yu Xiaowen thought: The relationship between Yu Xiaowen and Hao Dalí remains a secret only because he refuses to speak of it. If he were to reveal it, the whole world would say, “Ah, so that’s how it is.” Such matters really aren’t secrets at all.

 But this feeling of his, always laid bare for all to see, was the true secret. Because no matter how fiercely he expressed it, it remained a secret nonetheless.

 Yu Xiaowen wanted it to be a secret, yet he also wanted to speak it aloud.

 Completely unhidden, yet known to no one. It achieved both at once.

 Therefore, it is a perfect secret.

 He didn’t know what point it served to bring this up now, but his voice still trembled as he insisted on fulfilling his perfect secret: “Heh… others… ever since the day I met you, I’ve only ever loved you, sweetheart. I fell head over heels the moment I saw you, so I couldn’t be with anyone else… Commander Lu, forget about that other thing. Just look at me a little longer before I go… Ha ha ha! Now give me the inhibitor, damn it! Or I’ll come back as a ghost and fuck your mother!!”

 A few seconds passed.

 Lu Kongyun raised his hand and wiped the tears from his face with his thumb.

 The stinging tears that had lingered on his face suddenly felt much more comfortable. Yu Xiaowen, his consciousness hazy, chased the warm fingers with his cheek, but the fingers unintentionally brushed his lips before moving away.

  

 Yu Xiaowen’s vision darkened further. The strength he’d sustained purely through sheer willpower finally gave way, carrying his consciousness away with it.

  

 Secured by the seatbelt, Yu Xiaowen lay unconscious under the headlights like a wheat stalk at noon, his back still straight as an arrow, only his heavy head drooping. Purple handprints from his own tight grip marred the glands at the base of his neck, while the protruding bones of his slender neck cast shadows beneath the damp sweat.

  

 Lu Kongyun’s gaze lingered there for a moment before turning to Lu Qifeng.

  

 “The suspect’s mental and physical condition renders him unfit for further interrogation. I intend to have him removed for medical treatment until his physical state returns to normal levels.”

  

 “…Cut the crap.” Having watched the absurd spectacle in silence, Lu Qifeng propped his chin on his hand, forming a triangle with his fingers. His expression dark and menacing, he stared down Lu Kongyun.

  

 “To me, ‘fit to continue interrogation’ is bullshit. Because even if someone’s fit now, they’ll soon become ‘unfit.’ Don’t you know what kind of department the Intelligence Bureau is?”

  

 “Refuse the inspector’s review, and you’ll be suspended,” Lu Kongyun said. “When that happens, hand over your cases. Forget about Yu Xiaowen, even that spy you’re most eager to catch won’t be your concern anymore.”

  

 Silence.

  

 Lu Qifeng abruptly stood up, walked before him, and growled through clenched teeth, “Lu Kongyun, you haven’t outgrown your stubborn pigheadedness yet? You dare defy me over a traitor? Have I indulged you too long since your illness? Have you forgotten what kind of man Lu Qifeng is?”

  

 He walked over, flipped back his hair to expose his forehead, and forced him to look up. “I could kill him right here in front of you. You believe me?”

  

 Lu Kongyun frowned as he stared at him: “Then I’ll kill you.”

  

 Lu Qifeng: “…”

  

 Lu Qifeng’s tone rose and fell with disbelief: “Second Young Master Lu, are you actually talking to your brother?”

  

 Ice crystals formed in Lu Qifeng’s eyes as he took another step closer, his voice growing icy cold with a hint of sinister oppression. “Say that again? Hmm?”

  

 Lu Kongyun: “If you dare touch Yu Xiaowen, I’ll make you pay dearly. Need to hear it a third time?”

  

 Lu Qifeng clenched his fingers before him: “Heh, oh? He’s dead. He’ll die by my hand. Got that? I’m waiting for you to finish me off.”

  

 Lu Kongyun thought for a moment and said, “Shut down the surveillance.”

  

 A moment later, Lu Qifeng ordered, “Shut down the surveillance.”

  

 This was standard procedure for Chief Lu. The staff outside immediately complied, and the red dot on the monitor vanished.

  

 But Lu Kongyun didn’t do what everyone expected. Instead, he pulled out his phone, fiddled with it for a moment, and then held the screen up for Lu Qifeng to see.

  

 The familiar figure of his father was sweating profusely as he rode a crude, bearded man.

  

 “Damn it!” Lu Qifeng was caught off guard by the sneak attack, blurting out the curse before he could stop himself. He immediately stepped back, turned his head, and blinked hard, staring at the distant wall to clear the lingering afterimage from his visual cells and protect his eyes from near-blindness.

  

 “Turn it off! What kind of sick fetish makes you keep this filth on your phone?”

  

 Lu Kongyun turned off the screen.

  

 Lu Qifeng reacted quickly, sensing something was off: “How did you get this… What are you trying to do?”

  

 Lu Kongyun: “I’m going to pass it on to Lu Junwei. He’ll probably decide you’re not cut out for this line of work.”

  

 “What the hell does that have to do with me…” Lu Qifeng froze for a moment, then said slowly and deliberately, “You’re trying to frame me?”

  

 Lu Kongyun: “What do you mean? I’m just a doctor, I don’t have the connections to get this. Didn’t you send it to me, brother?”

  

 ……

  

 In his dazed state, Yu Xiaowen vaguely sensed his hands gaining freedom. After a clattering sound, his heavy legs grew light. Next, he drifted upward as if riding clouds, enveloped by an aura that both stirred and soothed him. Instinctively drawing closer to breathe, his cheek brushed against a cold, hard, angular metal object, then found a secure, long-missed support.

  

 He strained to open his eyes just a crack.

  

 The object before him was extremely close, nearly filling all of Yu Xiaowen’s limited and blurred field of vision. The main body of the insignia featured a simple silver design of a red berry flower, with obsidian petals inlaid in the openwork sections. Behind the blossom lay two golden swords crossed in a cruciform pattern. Where the insignia met the sash above, a tiny diamond-encrusted conch shell gleamed. Positioned directly above the slightly raised collar, the diamond conch flashed with its wearer’s movements. It reminded Yu Xiaowen of a bronze medal he once possessed, engraved with a conch shell, making him yearn for peaceful sleep.

  

 So he closed his eyes once more. Raising his temporarily freed hand, he groped upward. After a moment of feeling, a grip emerged on the smooth, flat fabric. Three cool stars lay atop the grip.

  

 As he began plucking the stars, a familiar voice finally stopped him: “Don’t pick them.”

  

 Lu Kongyun held the person securely and said, “I’ll head back to report first. I’ll get the paperwork for the transfer later.”

  

 Lu Qifeng said nothing more, only watching Lu Kongyun turn toward the door with a dark, bitter expression.

  

 Lu Kongyun, holding the person in his arms, bent down awkwardly to open the door. Lu Qifeng, of course, showed no intention of helping.

  

 “He didn’t call me a boring wooden person,” Lu Kongyun said before stepping out. “You guessed wrong.”

  

 “…What?”

  

 Lu Qifeng paused for a moment before realizing the other was rebutting words he himself had once spoken.

  

 He watched the other man’s retreating figure, his peripheral vision catching sight of the empty medicine bottle on the table. Suddenly, it dawned on him. It seemed as though all the baffling questions from earlier had finally found their answers.

  

 “Lu Kongyun. Your pointless competitiveness does remind me of a top-tier Alpha. But then again…”

  

 He called out to Lu Kongyun, snorted coldly, and raised a syringe filled with liquid.

  

 Lu Kongyun turned his head. Seeing the syringe, his footsteps halted abruptly.

  

 Lu Qifeng watched his face, which seemed to have paled slightly, and suddenly felt a tinge of vengeful satisfaction. He curved his lips. “Xiao Yun, congratulations. You’ve achieved the feat of being deceived to death. Don’t regret it, okay?”