Yong held her stare with an unwavering intensity. She then smiled calmly. "This is even more confusing to . You first saw my band-aid, then you didn’t and then you did again. My band-aid has been on my cheek the entire ti. Why will I remove it?"
Bojing jolted and quickly looked down in embarrassnt. "I k-know it doesn’t make sense...But I was sure I d-didn’t see the band-aid in the second tunnel..."
"You are relying on your vision and understanding from the horror house? Does that even count, Mr. Lu? Everything looks confusing there."
"T-That’s true..."
"You were terrified of the sounds and voices too. It was all dark and haunting there. Are you sure you even got to look at properly?" She arched her brow questioningly.
Bojing wasn’t so sure anymore. He admitted he was way too frightened to think anything straight. "Perhaps, I didn’t."
His mind spun with dizziness.
Was I overthinking about it the whole ti?
Bojing pursed his lips and apologized from the bottom of his heart, sniffling. "I am re-really s-sorry...I didn’t an to t-trouble you! Please forgive !"
Yong shrugged. "I know so we are cool. You are different from Anhe in not mindlessly accusing of shit," she then comnted, "You indeed cry a lot."
"I am sorry..."
"You don’t have to apologize. In fact, I am quite happy. It was fun seeing her distorted face upon seeing you. You made that happen."
Bojing didn’t know if his words would irk her, so he took a safe distance. "S-She has gone through sothing v-very terrible like s-sexual assault. So-so..."
"I shouldn’t seek happiness in her misery?" She questioned.
He nodded.
Instead of being offended, Yong simply offered a ek smile. "Happiness and pity are way too complicated emotions to be felt or not felt at certain tis. You are a good person, Mr. Lu. I hope you never face this predicant."
She walked away towards the restroom, leaving Bojing alone and thoughtful.
What did she an by that?
—
"I am telling you it’s Jinping and Yong!"
Inside the ward, Anhe continued to point fingers at them. "They must be in this together. Doesn’t it make sense? They definitely colluded together to kill ! Jinping a-assaulted only because...!"
"No! I-I didn’t do anything to you!" Jinping continued to defend himself.
"You have so nerve to lie on my face! We t in the maze, we were talking to each other as we walked and then you just pushed my head against the wall! It was only you by my side and you say I am lying about this!? Are you saying that I am faking my injuries? The doctor is right here!"
Mingshen simply yawned and didn’t bother to reiterate his diagnosis.
Mr. and Mrs. Geng, though, fully supported their daughter. "Of course you aren’t lying dear. If you say it’s Jinping and Yong who did this to you, then they won’t be spared!"
"Dad..."
"Hold on to that thought, Mr. Geng," Jia interrupted. "Jinping, Aang and Yibo are primary suspects. There is evidence that Aang kicked her on her waist and Ange is giving her statent against Jinping but-"
"W-what? Aang kicked on my stomach?" Anhe asked, aghast.
"I didn’t," Aang threw a cold glare at Jia. "It’s just this Inspector’s stupid theory!"
"Finding traces of candy cotton on your shoe which is also found on Anhe’s dress is also stupid?" She sharply retorted.
"And like I said before, it could be Jinping or Yibo doing it to fra ."
"Hey you-" Yibo almost caused a ruckus but Aang continued. "But if Anhe is so sure that Jinping is the culprit, then he must have very well planted that evidence against too. He did everything and then wanted to pin the bla on ."
Jinping trembled hard. "This is ridiculous! Everybody is just accusing left and right. Inspector Song believe . I never t Anhe! I simply exited the maze following the signs!"
Jia took another step and asked Anhe, "You say Jinping did everything which is very plausible. You wanted to kick him out of your gang which could be his motive for hurting you."
"T-That’s ridiculous! I wasn’t thinking anything like that!" She breathlessly countered.
"Jinping says so and the rest have admitted that as well."
Anhe glared at Daxia and the guys, her balled fist trembling. Daxia imdiately took a step back and a little closer to Shilin, frightened, which irked her further.
"But what I don’t get is your insistence on Yong’s presence and that she colluded with Jinping. First of all, Yong had never left the second tunnel as Shilin, Bojing and Daxia say. Secondly, what motive does she have to join hands with Jinping if she did so?"
"She has...!"
Anhe blurted out passionately. Jia felt as if she would have said more but she caught her sharing a glance with her father after which she had imdiately stopped talking.
"Hiding things is not going to help anybody, Mr. Geng," Jia pointedly said.
"We are not hiding anything," Mr. Geng seed a little shaken. So did Mrs. Geng, who was throwing furtive gazes at the side.
"So is it not the truth that you had suspended Yong six months ago after so heated argunt between you two?"
The family visibly froze. Anhe’s eyes widened and her face was quickly losing its color.
"So I would like to know what happened. Anhe is very sure about Yong’s involvent. Also before when she said that Jinping assaulted her..." she looked between the father-daughter pair, "it felt like she knew of the reason why this happened to her."
Jia sensed the unsettling atmosphere as even Daxia, Aang and Yibo’s expressions took a turn for the worse.
Mr. Geng quickly smiled. "Rest assured, Inspector. It’s unrelated to this."
She squinted her eyes. "Is that so? Then why is Anhe insisting that Yong wants to hurt her?"
From the back, Yong returned from her washroom trip and smiled as she leaned on the door. "Yes, Anhe. Please tell her. I am also curious as to how you saw in the first tunnel and why you think that I want to hurt you too? What reason might I have?"
The provoking and condescending tone almost made Anhe jump at her only if Jia hadn’t been here.
Yong smilingly looked at the group and asked, "How about you all help her out in decoding my motives?"
"Shut up Yong!" Yibo hollered impatiently. "You just went ahead and made a big deal out of it when all we wanted was to have just so fun around. It’s not our fault if you didn’t take it easy!"
Mr. Geng pitched in swiftly. "Enough, Yibo! There would be no discussion about sothing which doesn’t matter."
Jia, who was now losing her calm, bellowed. "I will be the judge of that, Mr. Geng so please be quiet, that is, if you want justice for your daughter. I hope you cooperate too, Anhe. This is all for your sake."
She pressed her lips, unable to disagree.
"So who will tell what is this dispute with Yong about?"
Yibo ca forward while Aang and Daxia were urgently trying to pull him back. Jinping stood nervous at the side too.
"Oh co on. You are such scaredy cats! It was this Yong making a big scene out of nothing. And I am tired of all this shush shush," he smirked at Jia and said,
"Six months ago, we all were in a club partying. We had booked a private room. Anhe stepped out for a washroom break and when she ca back, she said that she saw Yong dancing on the stage outside in the club’s main arena. We were like, totally shocked. We didn’t believe her. I an why would Yong be dancing?
The guests in the club can book dancers if they want for private entertainnt. So to prove her point, Anhe asked an attendant to book Yong as a dancer for our room. Five minutes later, there she was. Yong, in her weird Arabic kind of a dress, standing before us."
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