CH 244

The black high heels stepped out of the elevator into the brightly lit corridor.

Bright floor tiles, bright sunset, bright floor-to-ceiling skylight.

The waltz on the square had reached such a height that it was difficult to discern the complete melody. However, the saccharine tune became even sweeter due to the playful wind, evoking memories of things like syrup on a child’s lips, cherry blossoms falling from branches in spring, and the graceful curves of a woman’s legs.

Their meeting seemed ordinary, without any tension in the air.

Lin Chen stood with his hands in his pockets, stopping at the corner. Someone happened to walk past the corner and stopped in their tracks.

“Miss Shen Lian, hello,” Lin Chen said calmly.

There were more than twenty tiles between them. The woman standing opposite him had a serene expression. When she saw him, there was neither a smile nor anger on her face; she appeared like a ghost.

However, in that moment, Lin Chen was keenly aware that she didn’t belong to this civilized society. She was a hybrid created by evil and abhorrence, with no regard for human life.

But Lin Chen also understood that Shen Lian’s current attitude was just her own, and it didn’t affect the stability of the sniper rifle aimed at her. This gave him time to carefully assess his opponent.

Shen Lian had fair skin, slightly wide-set eyes, and delicately arched eyebrows that exuded a gentle and faint sense. She wore a black dress, and her jet-black hair cascaded lightly over her shoulders. Her hand, adorned with black leather gloves, lightly held a black bag, and the pointed tips of her black high heels firmly pressed against the line dividing the floor tiles. Despite being on the run, she appeared unruffled, as if she was attending a banquet rather than about to kill. Of course, for someone like Shen Lian, killing was more exhilarating than attending a banquet.

Shen Lian remained silent. Her gaze was gentle, her feathery lashes flickering, as if piercing through him and aiming at the void behind him. Of course, what was behind him wasn’t emptiness but a door.

In the next moment, Shen Lian continued to move forward. The tips of her high heels lightly tapped the ground, followed by her heels landing elegantly, as graceful as a swan. Only death could make her stop.

At that moment, a red light broke through the air and pierced Shen Lian’s chest.

Shen Lian lowered her head slowly, and her footsteps momentarily paused.

Lin Chen realized that there were still 12 tiles between him and Shen Lian.

The communication channel was filled with intense inquiries, and the footsteps approaching from a distance grew more frequent. It would take less than 10 seconds for the elite team that had emerged from the corner to successfully capture or kill Shen Lian. Everything would go smoothly and simply, and they would soon be able to go home.

Shen Lian lifted her bag, lightly resting her hand on the clasp. It was a subtle movement that typically indicated she was about to draw a weapon.

Even though victory was within sight, Lin Chen suddenly reevaluated Shen Lian’s attire and felt a chilling sensation.

He seemed to see a chess game at its most exquisite moment, with the crucial black piece about to reach her position.

He raised his hand abruptly.

Time stood still in that instant.

……

Over 400 meters above, the wind was unpredictable.

Xing Conglian was crouched on a makeshift desk, and due to Lin Chen’s simple gesture, his earpiece was filled with a flurry of tense inquiries.

“What is Lin Chen doing? Why did he suddenly abandon the operation?” Huang Ze exclaimed.

The deputy team leader said, “Xing Conglian, do you have confidence in this?”

The strong wind cut across his face like a knife, and Xing Conglian’s fingers remained on the trigger. Through his scope, he only saw Shen Lian’s figure, but he was well aware that, a kilometer away, the person standing in front of Shen Lian was someone else.

Xing Conglian slightly tilted his head and uttered four words to everyone on the communication channel:

“Stay calm. Don’t panic.”

……

Time lasted only for a few brief seconds.

Shen Lian’s action of placing her hand on the clasp was incredibly delicate, but it flooded Lin Chen’s mind with countless thoughts.

Shen Lian looked beautiful today. A psychologically disturbed person who wanted to die in a beautiful way in her final moments—no problem with that.

But the dress she wore was too conspicuous.

Being overly conspicuous indicated that Shen Lian wasn’t afraid of being discovered. Of course, she held the medicine with confidence and without fear, and that was also not a problem.

However, the problem was that just a moment ago, in the instant when she knew the sniper rifle was aimed at her, Shen Lian acted without hesitation.

She even wanted to open the bag, making a dangerous move that anyone would have shot her without hesitation upon seeing it.

This indicated that Shen Lian was seeking death.

Shen Lian wanted to die at the hands of the police. Why?

Lin Chen realized that he didn’t know the answer. An uncontrollable chill ran down his spine.

……

Shen Lian’s footsteps came to a halt.

She lowered her head slightly, but there was no blood splatter, as she had expected. She could still see everything with her eyes, indicating that she hadn’t been shot in the head and was still alive.

Her hand rested on the clasp of her bag, and with her peripheral vision, she saw the reflection of the gun barrel behind her. She lifted her head again, finally focusing her gaze on the person in front of her.

It must be said that the sunlight was just right today, casting a calm and natural glow on the young face bathed in the evening sun, radiating with the vitality of life.

That was Lin Chen, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to describe him as someone whose name was well-known and heard everywhere.

This made Shen Lian squint her eyes slightly, and she couldn’t help but take a deep breath of the surrounding air.

In fact, after Lin Chen had pondered so much, it was now her turn to think about many things. In the end, all she did was nod in acknowledgment to him.

“How does it feel to be alive?”

Suddenly, she heard him ask such a question.

Shen Lian recalled someone once saying that Lin Chen always asked questions that made you really want to answer them. Even if you sewed your mouth shut with a needle and avoided any eye contact with him, he could still guess this or that, making him incredibly difficult to guard against. He was truly annoying.

So it was practically a golden rule not to say anything to Lin Chen.

Shen Lian continued forward, taking two steps, and the number of tiles between her and Lin Chen was reduced to 10.

……

Xing Conglian remained motionless, as if he had returned to a moment in the Dana Rainforest.

In his mind, he could vividly recall the scene when his heart pounded explosively upon seeing Lin Chen through the scope. But now, his heartbeat was no longer racing, but rather calm.

“Wang Chao,” Xing Conglian whispered.

The communication channels, intricately connected like a spiderweb, instantly filled with the anxious and helpless voices of the young teenager. “Boss, there’s a riot at Yongchuan University in the third cafeteria. It’s said that students got into a fight over queuing issues, and the situation on-site is quite severe. Mr. Su was dining in the cafeteria at the time!”

Xing Conglian’s breath hitched, but he didn’t say anything. The communication channels erupted in an instant.

Those who could speak now were the ones who had the authority to act.

“Shen Lian is here. Why is there a riot at Yongchuan?” someone asked in the channel.

“Could Zhourui’s drugs not only target the middle-aged and elderly? What’s going on? Shen Lian has an accomplice, and there are others poisoned at Yongchuan University?”

“Wait, let’s clarify first. Is the riot at Yongchuan University really related to Shen Lian?”

The questions kept coming, creating a noisy and chaotic atmosphere. Xing Conglian knew very well that these voices would reach Lin Chen’s ears as they were, and all the pressure would fall directly on his shoulders.

The distance between Shen Lian and Lin Chen was getting shorter.

Someone else spoke up, saying, “Captain, the distance between Shen Lian and Consultant Lin is too close. Consultant Lin might be in danger.”

Huang Ze shouted, “Xing Conglian!”

……

Of course, Lin Chen could hear those voices in the channel.

He heard many people’s subconscious questions, the warnings about his safety, and even the nervousness in Huang Ze’s voice when he called out Xing Conglian’s name.

But in the end, those voices became completely unimportant because Xing Conglian said two words: Trust me.

Although the tension was overwhelming now, and the woman in front of him was like a puzzle, and the time he had to solve it was incredibly short, Lin Chen suddenly felt relaxed and serene because of those two words from Xing Conglian.

With one hand in his pocket, his other hand remained suspended in the air, not coming down. He didn’t speak; he was waiting for Shen Lian to speak.

Finally, Shen Lian stood still in a position five tiles away from him and spoke up.

“Consultant Lin, what are you doing here?” Her tone was different from what Lin Chen had imagined. It was surprisingly… very straightforward.

“I’m waiting for you,” Lin Chen replied.

“Why are you waiting for me?” Shen Lian asked in return.

“I have a question I want to ask you.”

“Have you watched too many movies?” Shen Lian asked curiously. “Do all the villains have to candidly express their thoughts and feelings before they die? Why should I answer your question?”

However, Lin Chen wasn’t angered by Shen Lian’s frank words. He shook his head slightly and told her, “Actually, this is a normal psychological phenomenon. People always like to show off, especially the side that has the advantage. In the end, they can’t help but boast in front of their opponents. After all, time is running out.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Lian looked down at the red dot on her chest, then turned to look at the guns pointed at her. She said, “So, Consultant Lin, what do you want to boast about?”

Lin Chen shook his head again. “The one who has the advantage right now is clearly you. I’m standing here just to listen to you speak.”

Lin Chen’s voice was calm and gentle, and Shen Lian suddenly smiled. In that moment, she looked like the dealer who had finally revealed her winning hand in a gamble, overwhelmingly dazzling.

Tilting her head slightly, Shen Lian looked around as if by chance she spotted a bench by the floor-to-ceiling window.

She said, “I think you have bad manners. Why don’t you invite me over to sit?”

Lin Chen nodded. “I apologize for my rudeness.”

He finished speaking and made a gesture of invitation, slightly bowing and pointing to the wooden bench Shen Lian had looked at earlier.

The evening sunlight bathed the wooden chair in a brilliant glow, with a potted flower nearby, reminding people of many words associated with flames.

Shen Lian walked over slowly, sat down at one end of the bench, and elegantly placed her handbag by her side. Then she patted the empty space next to her.

It meant: Come and sit with me.

In Lin Chen’s earpiece channel, there were, as expected, voices of dissuasion, and some suggested restraining Shen Lian. The following team members could clear Shen Lian’s handbag in a matter of seconds, rendering it harmless. These were all things they had prepared in advance.

Lin Chen glanced at the woman’s back on the bench, sighed almost imperceptibly, and then walked over and sat down obediently.

“Aren’t they annoying?” Shen Lian pointed to the device in his ear and asked bluntly.

“They can be,” Lin Chen replied.

“Then take it off.”

Looking at Shen Lian’s lustrous black hair, Lin Chen earnestly said, “Even if I take it off, they can still hear it. There are also bugs under the chair you’re sitting on, so if we want to keep our conversation private, we need to do a lot of work.”

“Why are you so troublesome?” Shen Lian said. “If they hear it, they hear it. It’s not a big deal.”

Lin Chen didn’t say anything more. Like an officer surrendering his weapon to a criminal, he took out the transparent and tiny earpiece and placed it on the wooden board between them.

Shen Lian didn’t spare another glance at the item. In the next moment, she opened her handbag with swift and forceful movements, sounding like a warrior drawing her sword. The sound reverberated through the quiet corridor.

Shen Lian unexpectedly glanced at the heavily armed SWAT team at the far end of the corridor, then looked at her own chest. She was still alive.

All these actions were captured by Lin Chen’s eyes. The opening of the bag revealed a gap, and he peered inside, seeing vials emitting a cold gleam. Even though he couldn’t hear any sound from the channel now, he was certain that Xing Conglian must be ordering all departments to remain calm.

“What’s the matter, Miss Shen?” Lin Chen asked with concern.

Shen Lian brushed away the nonexistent dust from her chest and said, “Consultant Lin, you’re putting yourself in a passive position. Now that I know you won’t kill me, I can rush through that door and kill everyone in this building!” Shen Lian raised her voice, her eyebrows furrowing in anger, and she appeared extremely fierce.

Lin Chen remained unresponsive, breathing steadily and maintaining a calm gaze as he looked into Shen Lian’s eyes.

In the next moment, Shen Lian burst into laughter, a wildly crazy laughter that shook the heavens, exuding a sense of unrestrained freedom, like a true madwoman.

Shen Lian laughed for a long time, during which she patted Lin Chen’s back twice heavily. While laughing, she shouted, “Hahaha, you’re great! I really like you!” When someone like Shen Lian said she liked someone, it definitely wasn’t a good thing. In the meantime, the woman pulled out a dozen vials from the opened bag and placed them on the bench with a resounding thud. She cheerfully said, “Let me treat you to a drink!”

…..

Those things were tiny needles encapsulated in transparent vials, each containing about 10 ml.

In the hospital, when getting an injection, the nurse would take out one vial, break the slender glass bottle neck by hand, draw the liquid with a disposable syringe, mix it with powdered medication, and then inject it into the patient. It was roughly something like that.

Under the evening sun, the liquid inside the small vials shimmered with a touch of golden hue. Looking through Xing Conglian’s scope, the liquid in those twelve vials emitted a deadly gleam.

Shen Lian picked up one vial, pressed her thumb against the narrow neck of the vial, and with a crisp sound, skillfully broke it open.

Xing Conglian’s heart rate finally uncontrollably sped up, as he saw Shen Lian handing the vial to Lin Chen.

Although Lin Chen had removed his earpiece, he could still clearly hear his calm and distinct voice.

Lin Chen asked, “Is this for me? What is it?”

“Glucose,” Shen Lian’s tone carried a hint of sweetness.

Everyone knew that what a killer carried with them couldn’t possibly be glucose. Urgent voices resounded in Xing Conglian’s earpiece channel once again.

In his current position, he could choose to pull the trigger directly, but at that moment, he saw Lin Chen look up and deliberately cast a deep glance in his direction.

Lin Chen’s gentle yet affectionate gaze made Xing Conglian’s finger stiffen like never before.

He watched as Lin Chen unhesitatingly took the vial and was about to drink from it. However, Shen Lian interrupted him and asked, “Have you ever played Russian roulette?”

Lin Chen paused for a moment and answered, “No.”

“It’s a life-or-death game. Each person points a gun at their own head, and there’s only one bullet inside. Whoever gets shot dies.” Shen Lian pointed at the twelve vials between her and Lin Chen and said, “Here, there are twelve vials, but only one of them contains a potion that can turn a person into a beast.”

Shen Lian’s voice caused all the listeners on the channel to involuntarily gasp for breath.

Then came Lin Chen’s voice.

He said, “Okay.”

“Lin Chen, have you gone crazy? Don’t you care about your life anymore!”

Huang Ze stepped out of the office door and blurted out.

However, once the words were spoken, the communication channel fell silent, and regret followed in the next second.

At this moment, Wang Chao spoke up. “Lao Huang, we all care about A’Chen Gege’s safety. Now is not the time for you to be stubborn.” The young man’s voice sounded very nervous, and there weren’t many things that could make Wang Chao nervous. “There has been an attack in Meichuan City, which is very close to Yongchuan… The scene is… extremely horrifying…”

The entire communication channel fell into a complete vacuum, as if it were a void universe devoid of sound.

Huang Ze clenched his fist, allowing himself to slowly recover from the moment when he was soaked with cold water. He finally realized why Lin Chen had to agree to Shen Lian. This woman seemed unarmed and posed no threat at all, but she held the most crucial and deadly thing—the lives of many ordinary people.

Among these people, Lin Chen’s teacher happened to be included.

Upon hearing Lin Chen’s prompt acceptance, Shen Lian nodded. She casually took out a vial, broke the bottle neck, pressed her thumb and index finger together, lightly holding the vial, and said, “Cheers?”

“Cheers.”

Under the evening sun, the two slender vials touched each other, emitting a soft sound of “ding”.

……

“Why are you so compliant?”

Even though he knew it might be a dangerous substance, Lin Chen swallowed the potion without hesitation, which Shen Lian couldn’t understand.

“Because I have a teacher.” Lin Chen tilted his head slightly and looked at Shen Lian.

Speaking of which, Lin Chen’s eyes weren’t particularly attractive, but his pupils were very dark. In that instant, Shen Lian inexplicably felt a chilling sensation, as if her entire thoughts were being read.

However, Lin Chen quickly averted his gaze, looking towards the distant sky, and said, “My parents passed away, and I don’t have any older relatives. But there isn’t any overly tragic story behind it; it’s just a normal case of death from illness. My teacher, who was also my mentor during university, is someone who can be described as having excessive sympathy. Perhaps because he himself hasn’t enjoyed the joys of having children and family, he treats every student as his own child.”

“Why should I listen to you talk about this?” Shen Lian asked.

“Because my time may be running out,” Lin Chen replied. In the midst of speaking, he casually took out another vial from the remaining ten, lightly tapped it against the empty vial in Shen Lian’s hand, and quickly consumed the liquid inside with one gulp. This caused Shen Lian’s fingers to twitch involuntarily, but she quickly suppressed it.

Lin Chen seemed oblivious to this and continued, “That’s how my teacher is, and his wife is even more terrifying. She is the gentlest woman I have ever seen in my life, still very youthful at sixty-something, and she loves everything pink. She enjoys cooking, gardening, taking care of the weak, and watching us read and hold meetings in her study, where she prepares tea and is pleased when we praise her for her ingenuity.”

“That sounds scary,” Shen Lian said as she finally took out a vial, broke the bottle neck, and drank the liquid in one go.

Then, Lin Chen calmly picked up a small vial but didn’t immediately break the bottle neck.

“What’s wrong?”

“Now, my teacher lies on a hospital bed with an uncertain fate because of your medication. Before I met you, his wife cried and asked me what was going on,” Lin Chen lowered his head and chuckled self-mockingly. “I thought I knew what was going on, but now… ‘I don’t know’.”

“What do you want?” Shen Lian asked.

“Answer me one question, and then I’ll continue playing your game.” Lin Chen didn’t wait for her consent but immediately followed up. “Is there a corresponding antidote for the drug you developed?”

Shen Lian didn’t expect Lin Chen to be so direct. “You went on and on with all the preamble, but in the end, you ask this?” Shen Lian laughed. “You know I won’t give you the answer.”

Lin Chen smiled and revealed a meaningful smile. He broke the glass neck and raised his cup to her. “Thank you, I already know the answer.”

Lin Chen’s confident smile left Shen Lian speechless. She suddenly felt that sitting down and talking with Lin Chen was a mistake.

The next moment, Lin Chen unexpectedly took out two new vials at once, broke the bottle necks recklessly, and was about to drink them in one gulp.

Shen Lian glared at him and also took out two vials. “Why are you so greedy?”

In an instant, there were only three vials left in the box.

……

In front of the surveillance screen, Wang Chao’s heart was pounding. There were originally twelve vials, but by the time he realized it, only three were left.

It seemed that A’Chen Gege and Shen Lian hadn’t gone mad, indicating that the poisonous vial mentioned by Shen Lian should be among the last three ampoules.

He was panting heavily and couldn’t even utter words like “What should we do?” or “Boss, save A’Chen Gege.”

He turned around and saw the chemist in the laboratory glancing at the screen and then engrossed in some calculations.

“Why aren’t you nervous at all?” Wang Chao asked.

“Do you have Shen Lian’s medical records?” At that moment, Mr. Xiao Zhan suddenly looked up and asked him.

……

By the floor-to-ceiling window, Lin Chen opened two vials at once, like a generous drinker, and decisively finished both vials in one go.

The two glass vials fell to the marble floor with a loud crash, shattering into fragments.

In the midst of speaking, he was about to reach for another vial on the chair, but Shen Lian couldn’t hold back anymore and slapped his hand away.

Lin Chen looked at Shen Lian and asked, “What? Is there something wrong?”

“Don’t you understand ‘ladies first’? Are you trying to die first?” Shen Lian blurted out.

Lin Chen lowered his brows and looked at the vial of liquid by his side as if he was looking at his lover. He asked, “Didn’t you say that one of them will cause madness?”

“You’re courting death,” Shen Lian said.

Lin Chen didn’t delve further into it but instead made a polite gesture.

Shen Lian took out two vials, but she said to Lin Chen, “You took one less just now. This is for fairness. The last vial is yours.”

……

Shen Lian’s actions were blatantly obvious. It was equivalent to saying that the last vial was the poison, and all her talk about it being a similar neurotoxic drug was a complete lie. This was a deadly poison, and he should drink it.

In the high altitude, the voice urging him to shoot once again filled Xing Conglian’s ears. The voice came from Huang Ze.

“Why aren’t you taking action, Xing Conglian?”

“Just wait a little longer.” After saying that, he extended his hand, lowered the volume of his earpiece, and continued to calmly observe what was happening in the distance.

……

Shen Lian opened the third-to-last vial and drank it all in one breath.

“You asked me a question earlier, and I have a question as well. I’ve been curious, and if you answer truthfully, you can use one of the vials in your hand and exchange it for another one,” Shen Lian said.

“That’s too cheap for me,” Lin Chen said.

Shen Lian seemed reluctant to argue with him and asked directly, “The police officers outside my house that night—were they really there to arrest me?”

“Yes,” Lin Chen added slowly, “Your company probably found out that we had located you, and that’s why they connected the dots and found you. Before that, you had been hiding perfectly.”

Shen Lian quickly finished the vial in her hand and sneered, “Where exactly are my flaws?”

The setting sun in the distance resembled blood as Lin Chen uttered words, “Duan Wanshan.”

Shen Lian suddenly raised her voice. “He’s back?”

Lin Chen abruptly stopped speaking, picked up the last vial from the bench, and didn’t answer.

Shen Lian bit her lip suddenly. Just hearing that name made her engage in intense contemplation. “No, it’s impossible. He can’t be back. It’s been too short a time, and you couldn’t have contacted him so quickly in such a short time. So why were you able to quickly eliminate Duan Wanshan as a murder suspect?!”

Among the entire communication channel and the entire territory of China, there were only three people who knew the answer.

Lin Chen was contemplating.

Xing Conglian remained silent.

Even Wang Chao seemed to have a premonition, and his nerves were so tense that he couldn’t even breathe.

At this moment, everyone finally heard Lin Chen’s answer. He said, “Because he’s my friend.”

Shen Lian forcefully broke the vial, seemingly taken aback by this answer. She angrily retorted, “So what?”

“I have good judgment of character, and I’ve always believed in my friends. Therefore, he wouldn’t kill Tan Kang over an academic dispute.”

There was a brief moment of silence, lasting about two or three seconds.

Suddenly, Shen Lian burst into mad laughter, her laughter resounding through the air, to the point where she couldn’t even stand up straight. “Hahaha, what did you just say?”

Shen Lian found Lin Chen’s words extremely amusing. She couldn’t believe the current situation she found herself in. It was all because someone was Duan Wanshan’s friend and had great faith in him?

……

Shen Lian’s laughter didn’t bring any relief to the police officers inside and outside the building. Her piercing and resolute voice was filled with a murderous intent.

At that moment, a voice suddenly came through the channel, overpowering Shen Lian’s laughter.

Xiao Zhan had taken Wang Chao’s earpiece at some point and shouted into the microphone, “Shen Lian is attempting suicide! We can’t let her drink the last vial!”

However, communication channels naturally had a propagation delay, not to mention the interval between human thought and giving orders.

In the footage, Shen Lian had already lifted the tiny vial to her lips, her fair and slender wrist shining like jade. There was a hint of anger and relief in her eyes.

But all the police officers who heard those words fell into a momentary daze. Even if Xing Conglian gave the order now, he couldn’t stop her in time.

Lin Chen didn’t have an earpiece, so they couldn’t transmit the message to him in such a short amount of time. Everything seemed to be too late.

Suddenly, a hand appeared from below and swiftly grasped Shen Lian’s wrist.

Shen Lian was startled, and after two seconds, she realized that her wrist was tightly held. The hand was fair and symmetrical, with calluses between the knuckles that indicated long hours of writing, making it look robust and powerful.

The last vial in Lin Chen’s hand had fallen to the ground at some point, and the liquid mixed with broken glass flowed on the marble floor.

“A’Chen Gege!” Wang Chao couldn’t help but shout at the sight of the hand that suddenly prevented Shen Lian.

The young man’s voice filled the channel and brought everyone back to their senses.

It was only then that they realized that even in a critical moment, Xing Conglian didn’t pull the trigger.

……

Shen Lian’s gaze shifted slightly downward and fell upon the person’s face, finally recognizing who had stopped her at the last moment.

Who else could it be? At this critical juncture, only Lin Chen could react in time.

Lin Chen’s eyelashes were long and trembled slightly in the sunset. Then his eyebrows lifted slightly as he gazed at her.

In that instant, Lin Chen resembled the kind of white-shirted senior in university who attracted female students the most—clean and neat, but with certain moments that could make one’s heart skip a beat.

Shen Lian stared at Lin Chen for a long time. It was also the first time she had carefully observed him.

“Why?” Shen Lian asked.

“Because I don’t believe that you would allow yourself to become a crazed lunatic. So unless you were certain which vial among those twelve contains the poison, I wouldn’t risk playing this game with you,” Lin Chen said with a resolute tone, just like when he said, “I believe my friend wouldn’t kill.”

This made Shen Lian laugh coldly. “But how does that relate to you sabotaging my game now?”

“Because you’ve been deceiving me from the beginning,” Lin Chen said. “Since you’ve been deceiving me, I can only rely on hypothesis testing to deduce the true intention behind you coming all this way to play this game with me. Speaking of which, the intentions hidden behind complex actions are often very simple.” Lin Chen paused and continued, “We studied the formation of concepts and reasoning in psychology class during college. It happened to be a very cold day, so we were all studying at my teacher’s house, and we learned it very well.”

Lin Chen stared deeply at Shen Lian, who felt her hidden thoughts being exposed once again, causing an indescribable discomfort in her heart.

But Lin Chen didn’t give her a chance to speak. He slowly began, “When we drank the first two vials, I took the initiative to randomly select the third one. You had the impulse to stop me in that instant, but you held back. You see, instinctive reactions are always faster than thoughts.” Lin Chen continued, “If one of the twelve vials is poisonous, you must ensure that I drink the poison. But I didn’t follow the rules of the game, where you choose one and I choose one to drink. My assumption broke the pattern of your game. Therefore, based on this analysis, ‘Hypothesis One: Why did you want to stop me in that instant?’ You couldn’t possibly be genuinely worried that I would drink the poison, right?”

Shen Lian pursed her lips and refused to answer.

“In fact, in the process of reasoning, it always requires two factors: ‘because’ and ‘therefore.’ Because of Hypothesis One, I need to reanalyze the true purpose of this game, which leads to the derived Hypothesis Two. This is actually a very simple question, like two three-year-old children eating candy. There are a total of twelve candies, with one of them being milk-flavored, while the rest are tasteless. The more candies I eat, the higher the chance of getting the milk-flavored one, and you would stop me because the more I eat, the fewer chances you have to get the milk-flavored one. The same logic applies to the vials. So, the answer to Hypothesis Two is ‘quantity,'” Lin Chen said to Shen Lian. “By the way, I didn’t have this medical knowledge originally, but I almost died from penicillin desensitization, which made me realize the importance of dosage.”

……

Lin Chen’s voice transmitted through the earpiece lying on the bench, slowly reaching Xing Conglian’s ears. Through the scope, Lin Chen’s face was vividly clear. When he angered someone, Lin Chen always had an air of calm confidence, as if he held all the winning cards.

Mr. Xiao Zhan’s tone became weak again, “I… I didn’t realize that Consultant Lin had already guessed… I… I meddled too much.”

“What the fuck is going on with Shen Lian?” Wang Chao seemed to be shaking the chemist’s body with force.

“Shen Lian… Shen Lian has severe hyperkalemia* in her medical records, but she might also be allergic to some potassium medication. In any case, I suspect that those syringes are high-concentration potassium supplements. When Shen Lian reaches a certain concentration by taking this medication, she might have an instant cardiac arrest,” Xiao Zhan explained.

*A medical problem in which you have too much potassium in your blood. Too much of it can be dangerous and can cause serious heart problems.

But Xing Conglian could barely hear these voices. When he heard Lin Chen talk about death, his memories didn’t go back to the scene of Lin Chen lying in a hospital bed. In that moment, he found it extremely funny, realizing what Lin Chen was about to do, and it filled him with uncontrollable anger.

……

As if her thoughts had been suddenly pierced, Shen Lian suddenly wanted to withdraw her wrist, but Lin Chen firmly stopped her movement.

“Starting from the third round, I drank the fifth vial first, then took the sixth and seventh vials. In comparison, the number of vials you could drink decreased. And indeed, you were quite nervous, but you didn’t even notice it. You were only focused on getting more vials than me, or at least an equal amount, so you took the eighth and ninth vials at once. What interested me was that you cared that I drank one more than you did. So, in the end, I drank five vials and you drank six, clearly confirming my Hypothesis Two. You care about the dosage,” Lin Chen explained.

Finally, Shen Lian’s gaze was filled with murderous intent, and she looked at Lin Chen with intense hatred. “Consultant Lin, you’re truly clever. So is it fun for you to play me?”

“Sorry, but I’m really not playing you. It’s mainly because you have your guard up against me and refuse to be open with me, so I can only use hypothesis testing to infer your thoughts,” Lin Chen said sincerely.

“What thoughts?”

“I’ve said it before. I want to know why you proposed playing this game with me and how I can make you give up the idea of suicide through this game,” Lin Chen said. “You’re determined to die, and today you must die. But why did you choose such a complicated method to seek death? I thought about it, and it’s probably because you still have unresolved issues before your death. However, you use too many appearances to conceal your inner turmoil. That’s why I accelerated the pace of taking the medication, wanting to hear your lingering thoughts before you die.”

……

Huang Ze stood at a corner close to Lin Chen and suddenly felt very uncomfortable. “Lin Chen… This is very dangerous. Xing Conglian, if necessary, be prepared to shoot Shen Lian. We can find another way.”

“Sorry, Lin Chen won’t let me do that.” Xing Conglian spoke up. “This is a chess game. The on-site investigation report from the nursing home just came back. The victims had different injuries on their necks, indicating that Shen Lian had at least two or three accomplices. Moreover, all the key caregivers at the nursing home are missing. The evidence shows that Shen Lian, with her personal power alone, couldn’t have simultaneously poisoned multiple locations. She is merely a pawn placed before us to lure us into making mistakes.”

“Mistakes? Are you suggesting that the police should kill Shen Lian?” Huang Ze questioned.

“Otherwise, why would Lin Chen ask Shen Lian about the antidote at such a crucial moment? If such antidotes exist, what if Shen Lian is the only person in the world who knows the formula for the antidote?”

Huang Ze shuddered all over. “Can’t we capture Shen Lian alive, restrain her limbs, and isolate her from any dangerous items? In short, keep her alive?”

“First of all, Inspector Huang, your suggestion is illegal. Secondly, someone like Shen Lian, if they only want to die, will certainly be willing and able to die.”

“So how the hell is Lin Chen planning to keep this key person alive?” Huang Ze asked loudly. “Is it Duan Wanshan? Can Lin Chen make Duan Wanshan return to the country and make Shen Lian wait for a while?”

Huang Ze’s words made Xing Conglian feel sad, his fingers tightly gripping the trigger.

Just like Lin Chen, once they understood Shen Lian’s obsession, there was only profound despair.

Fate was indeed cruel.

……

However, in reality, Lin Chen wasn’t in despair. He said to Shen Lian, “I was thinking about whether Lao Duan could delay you for a while, but since you’re already prepared to die, then you don’t really care about him.”

“So, Consultant Lin, I truly have no attachment to this rotten world. Please stop blocking me, okay?” Shen Lian drawled, sounding bored. “Don’t you think that I will bite my tongue and end my life right in front of you?”

“I have a proposal,” Lin Chen suddenly interrupted her.

“Any proposal is meaningless to me…”

“You still have that medicine that can drive people crazy and turn them into lunatics. Use it on me and see how I can live with that. How about it?” Lin Chen asked.