The cemented wall in the pitch-black room had a stale putridity in addition to its icy cold humidity. Water droplets leaked from the corner of the ceiling, forming a dirty mud pool as they dribbled onto the floor, creating gentle plops that sounded especially creepy and eerie.

An elderly man and a young lady were sitting at both ends of the room respectively. The elderly man appeared dazed and drained of all energy, meanwhile, the young lady ignored the filth and leaned against the wall weakly. 

Both of their mouths were taped shut. The elderly man's eyes reflected the charcoal clouds, muddy and dispirited; whereas the young lady's gaze was drifting in an uncontrolled fear, her breathing labored and heavy. 

A countdown seemed to be running in the young lady's mind. 

Three… Two… One…

"Live or die, make your choice," a harsh and horrible voice pierced through the eerie silence. They were unsure where the voice came from but it was obvious that there was a loudspeaker with a sound modulator attached to it hidden in the room. In the young lady's opinion, the voice was basically the final nail in the coffin. 

"Two in the room but only one will survive after tonight," the voice, which sounded delighted and joyful, paused briefly before continuing, "The dagger before you is your only path for survival, but only one of you may live. The rules are simple, the first who uses the dagger to take your opponent's life will survive. The choice of whom falls upon you."

"On the count of ten, you can start fighting for the dagger and your life." The voice stopped momentarily before initiating the countdown. "Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven… Six… Five…"

The young lady, whose hands were tied with rope and was mentally overwhelmed by anxiety and terror, rushed toward the dagger and picked it up quickly by the fifth count.

The elderly man remained on the floor without moving a muscle. His gaze on the young lady was full of despair. 

The young lady darted toward the elderly man with the dagger in her hands. Her body trembled at the sight of the elderly man's familiar face, and tears started to stream down her cheeks uncontrollably. 

The elderly man seemed to have recalled something. His expression softened and his gaze was full of encouragement and forgiveness.

'Sorry… Truly sorry…'

The young lady held the dagger high and stabbed down with all her might.

…

…

The alarm clock woke Wei Muran up. Her eyes snapped open and she felt something underneath her cheek instantly. She reached out to the unknown object with a cloudy mind only to realize that it was a book.

After rubbing the remainders of sleep from her eyes, Wei Muran recalled her eagerness in reading a newly purchased detective fiction novel before accidentally falling asleep at night. She had not even finished reading the first case yet.

However, the first case was already bloody and gory, involving the internecine fight between an elderly man and a young lady, and caused her to have the same dream as well.

Wei Muran sat up and rubbed the palms on her cheeks before tidying herself up in the washroom. She graduated from the police academy that year and worked as a cadet in the criminal investigation division. She was unsure if she would be permanently employed.

Wei Muran and another female forensic pathologist were the only females in the department; since any young lady with a sound mind would never consider working in such a dangerous place. Plus, some cases were actually very gruesome, hence there were more men than women working in the profession.

Wei Muran was told by her mother that she caught a handgun during her one-year-old catch[1]. She giggled at the thought of it before heading downstairs after she was done tidying herself up.

In the meantime, Wei Ziqi and Wei Ran were having their breakfast. Wei Muche, who was still studying in university, was up early too. Since his class started in the afternoon, he had to follow Wei Ziqi for practice in Wu Feng in the morning.

Wei Ziqi glanced at Wei Muran, who gulped down the porridge in a flash after sitting down.

Wei Ziqi peeked at the time and raised his eyebrows curiously. "There's more than enough time, so no need to eat in such a hurry."

"Hey, I'm used to it." Wei Muran slowed down after realizing that there was ample time. "Cases can come to us during our mealtime and sometimes we'll receive cases right in the middle of our lunch. We'll have to get to the scene with an empty stomach if we eat slowly."

"Bring food along with you next time," Wei Ziqi advised grudgingly.

The daughter whom Wei Ziqi pampered since birth went to further her study in a police academy without any prior notice after she grew up. His feelings were indescribable when he stared at his little princess who was able to endure every hardship at present.

However, Wei Ziqi loved his daughter very dearly. His daughter was wildly enthusiastic about this profession, so he did not oppose her decision despite the reluctance. Instead, he requested the chief of the department to take care of Wei Muran as much as possible.

"Don't worry, I brought food with me," Wei Muran finished her breakfast hastily and took her bag before leaving the house. "Dad, Mom, I'm going to work now!"

…

…

Wei Muran was acting low profile in the department with the chief being the only one who knew about her true identity, but Wei Muran threatened him to keep this a secret even though Wei Ziqi had asked a favor from him.

Wei Muran graduated from the police academy all by herself, but others would assume that she merely pulled strings for her graduation if her true identity was disclosed.

Wei Muran merely wanted a Volkswagen Golf when Wei Ziqi suggested purchasing a vehicle for his daughter. It cost around two hundred thousand Yuan, which was considered low profile and to Wei Muran's preference.

Wei Ziqi was reluctant to comply since he figured that his precious daughter must drive an extremely cool and expensive vehicle but gave up on that thought after receiving Wei Muran's persistent rejection. 

However, Wei Ziqi delivered the car to T City after payment was done and let the Wen family modify it to the extent that it was almost beyond recognition with its original bodyshell replaced with Volkswagen Golf's bodyshell. According to Wen Ren, this modified vehicle could steamroll a humvee with ease.

This was Wen Ren's exact words at that time. "Why don't you just modify it to look like my Suzuki Alto if you want to stay low profile?"

The corner of Wei Ziqi's eye twitched uncontrollably after hearing the question. It was very embarrassing for his beloved daughter to drive a fake Suzuki Alto no matter how low profile or godlike the car was.

The Volkswagen Gold's limited interior space was fully utilized for a luxurious and yet low profiled design so that Wei Muran could drive happily and comfortably. 

The vehicle's interior was deliberately designed like a small bedroom in consideration of Wei Muran's profession which required her to work overtime constantly which often resulted in a lack of sleep. A mechanism was installed in the vehicle's seat which, with a press of a power switch, an extension would be drawn out of a hidden compartment and would widen the seat. Additionally, the head restraint could be withdrawn into the seat and aligned perfectly with the back car seat once the seat was folded down, forming a super single bed.

Below the seat was a drawer with Wei Muran's daily necessities and a few sets of clothes in it.

Moreover, Wei Ziqi was worried about Wei Muran's safety when she was on duty, so the vehicle was heavily armored with the same superb bulletproof effect as Wen Ren's fake Suzuki Alto.

At least no one in the police department realized that Wei Muran's inconspicuous vehicle was very powerful at present.

Coincidentally, Wei Muran met with Bai Mo—a twenty-seven years old female forensic pathologist who joined the forces four years earlier than her—upon exiting the car.

Wei Muran wore a normal T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and New Balance sport shoes to work for convenience's sake. On the other hand, Bai Mo was dressed up in a printed shirt made of silk in addition to a skirt, which revealed her long and slender legs, with a pair of high heels on her feet. She would look professional and feminine after wearing a white coat in the department.

Those who worked as police officers would put their busy work as their top priority, so it would be extremely difficult for them to get into a relationship. Despite multiple matchmakings, many bachelors in the department failed in their relationships due to their girlfriends' constant complaints regarding their busy schedules and the lack of time for companionship. Thus, many started to shift their attention to the females within the department and naturally, a few had a crush on Bai Mo.

However, Bai Mo remained single after all these years and treated everyone with the same kindness. Occasionally there were rumors about her going for a meal with a random personnel, but that was all, the story ended straight away afterward.

Wei Muran disliked Bai Mo for some inexplicable reason. She detested the way Bai Mo remained ambiguous in a relationship despite the lack of affection, but the male colleagues in the department fell for that nonetheless.

Bai Mo's usual temperament and attitude felt insincere.

Bai Mo greeted Wei Muran with a nod and a smile, so she addressed Bai Mo politely. "Doctor Bai."

After that, Bai Mo walked alongside Wei Muran. Since Bai Mo wore high heels, Wei Muran felt uncomfortable instantly after noticing the height difference between the two of them.

"By the way, I heard that Mr. Qi came to file a police report again yesterday?" asked Bai Mo with a faint smile on her face.

"..." Wei Muran was so embarrassed that she had no idea how to respond at that instant.

"Rumors were spreading in the department recently, stating that you brought your personal relationship into your work which would bring a negative effect on your work efficiency," Bai Mo continued with a smile. Her long, black hair became slightly tangled as the wind blew softly on it, so she ran her slender and fair fingers through her hair to tidy it up, which appeared especially charming and attractive.

On the other hand, Wei Muran merely tied her hair into a ponytail for the sake of convenience. She appeared immature since she was a fresh graduate after all, and the way she dressed up made her look much younger than her actual age; as if she was going to further her study in a university after graduating from high school.

Moreover, Wei Muran seldom applied makeup since she preferred to use the time for more sleep. She would only utilize the time during traffic congestion on her way to work to put on a layer of CC cream and lipstick to appear more energetic, and that was all. Thus, she looked plain and immature when she stood beside Bai Mo who wore delicate and attractive makeup.

____________________________________________________________________________

Notes:

[1] One-Year-Old Catch (zhuā zhōu 抓周) is a tradition with a long history in China. It was recorded even when it was in the Song Dynasty (sòng cháo 宋朝). One-Year-Old Catch is usually held before eating the long-life noodles when it is on the day when a baby is one year old. The family will lay out sutras, brush pens, ink sticks, paper, ink slabs, abacus, copper coins, account books, pieces of jewelry, flowers, rouge, foods, toys, etc. For girls, scoops, scissors, rulers, thread, scissor-cut will be added. Then the parents put the baby in front of these articles and make it sit up. Nobody will give any instruction or cue to the baby so that it is left free to choose. Watching the baby catch the articles he likes, the family can then make predictions about his potential interests, future career and development.