Chapter 52
Chapter 52 4. The Game-07
With the clothing lifted, the female victim’s chest and abdomen revealed several knife marks of varying depths and lengths, crisscrossing her skin.
Among them were two stab wounds: one beside the right navel, and the other the fatal wound on the left chest. The flesh was flayed outward, pale skin smeared with semi-dried blood. The horrific contrast, combined with the lingering metallic scent of blood, would make an average person with weak nerves vomit on the spot.
However, Liu Yi’s concern was not with the various knife wounds on her body.
When he saw a scar on her lower abdomen, he reacted as if shocked by electricity, shivering all over. He suddenly turned, pushed aside his student blocking the vehicle, jumped down, and shouted, “Attention everyone!”
Liu Yi rarely spoke loudly.
He usually gave off a refined, poised aura. His tone was calm, logically structured, and consistently gentle.
Jiang Xiaoyuan, who had followed him for nearly a year, remembered that the only time Liu Yi raised his voice noticeably was during a departmental meeting, slamming the table over an eight-figure budget dispute with the neighboring evidence division.
Yet now, Liu Yi’s voice was loud enough to capture everyone’s attention, and his speaking speed was much faster than usual.
“Attention everyone!”
He said: “There should be an infant near the homicide scene! All units, search immediately!”
His words sent everyone present into a panic.
A few experienced policemen immediately jogged over, asking the unusually loud forensic doctor what was going on.
“An infant, about two to three months old!”
Liu Yi answered: “Originally held by the female victim, now unknown where she hid him. I suspect somewhere near the greenbelt toward the station!”
He hurriedly explained to the policemen and urged: “We must find him immediately! Go!”
Upon hearing this, the policemen quickly deployed and began searching.
“Let’s go! We’re going too!”
Liu Yi patted Qi Shanyu and Jiang Xiaoyuan on the back, speaking while dashing ahead toward the greenbelt under the neon sign of the 24-hour convenience store.
“Boss, how do you know the female victim was holding a baby?”
Jiang Xiaoyuan asked curiously while running.
“Ordinary people instinctively use both hands to brace themselves when they fall,” Liu Yi replied. “But the female victim only used her left hand to brace herself during both falls, indicating she was likely holding something with her right hand—something she could not drop.”
He demonstrated a holding motion with his right hand. “For a young woman facing life-threatening danger, fleeing for her life, she would still clutch something she absolutely couldn’t let go of. Thinking it through, the most likely thing is her child.”
“Oh, I see!”
Jiang Xiaoyuan’s expression brightened. “Also, when her body was found, both her hands were intact, with no serious injuries, meaning she could have braced herself. Boss, am I right?”
“Mm.”
Liu Yi nodded. “Exactly. At the scene where the body was found, we didn’t find her carrying anything. This likely means that during her escape, she gradually became too exhausted to hold the baby and had to set him down midway…”
“So, you think she hid the baby somewhere in the greenbelt near the station?”
Qi Shanyu asked.
By now, the three had jogged to the point where the footprints disappeared. Without hesitation, Liu Yi led Qi Shanyu and Jiang Xiaoyuan over a low hedge into the lawn on the left, scanning for any potential hiding spot.
“Exactly!”
Liu Yi said while searching. “I was wondering, if she was fleeing, why would the female victim abandon the station—where she could get help—and run into the empty greenbelt?”
He caught his breath and continued: “But if she hid the baby nearby, her unusual behavior makes perfect sense!”
“Indeed.”
Qi Shanyu understood Liu Yi’s reasoning.
“She wanted to distract the attacker herself, which is why she ran in the opposite direction!”
“Exactly!”
Liu Yi nodded. “I saw the cesarean scar on her lower abdomen—it was only recently stitched, with scabs still present. The baby must be about two to three months old!”
He looked at the dimly brightening sky, his breath forming a white mist, a rare anxious expression on his face.
“In this cold weather, such a tiny child…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but his worry was obvious.
“Found it! Here! Here!!”
At that moment, about twenty meters away, two policemen shouted in excitement:
“The baby’s here!!”
Liu Yi, Qi Shanyu, and Jiang Xiaoyuan sprinted toward the policemen.
A policeman lifted a swaddled infant from the corner between a stone bench and a flowerbed, pulling back the cloth to reveal a small, sleeping face.
Liu Yi immediately took the baby from the policeman and checked its vital signs.
“Still breathing, but very cold and slightly dehydrated! Notify the nearest hospital pediatric unit to bring an incubator immediately!”
His voice trembled slightly, unnoticed even by himself.
Liu Yi carefully unbuttoned his outer layers, leaving only a thin undershirt, and pressed the tiny infant close to his chest, wrapping him protectively. He shouted to Jiang Xiaoyuan: “Get a glucose solution, dilute with equal water, and bring a sterile dropper immediately!”
The glucose referred to was a 50% solution in an ampoule, usable for injection or oral feeding, and the dropper was standard issue for sampling, all present in Jiang Xiaoyuan’s case.
Jiang Xiaoyuan, clever as he was, immediately understood and scrambled to prepare the supplies, handing them to Liu Yi.
Liu Yi pried open the baby’s tightly closed lips with the dropper tip and fed the glucose solution.
“Drink a little… come on…”
His voice trembled noticeably, almost pleading.
The sleepy infant instinctively sucked on the dropper, tasting the sweet liquid, slowly swallowing in small sips.
Liu Yi fed about ten milliliters this way, and when he withdrew the dropper, he finally saw the tiny child open a toothless mouth, still closing its eyes, weakly mewing like a kitten.
At that moment, the pediatric emergency team from the nearby hospital arrived: two doctors and two nurses pushing an incubator cart, racing alongside the policemen. One took the crying infant from Liu Yi, placed him in the incubator, and quickly ran toward the hospital.
Watching the ambulance speed down the morning-lit street and disappear from sight, Liu Yi finally felt his heart settle back into his chest.
He exhaled deeply, swaying slightly, then steadied himself without a trace.
By now, the heat from his tense adrenaline had cooled, and the winter cold began to bite. A gust of north wind made him shiver violently.
“Put your coat back on.”
Qi Shanyu noticed Liu Yi shivering, his front open after unbuttoning all layers, and urged him.
“Mm…”
Liu Yi nodded softly, beginning to button his shirt one by one.
Perhaps still under tension, his fingers trembled slightly, fumbling with the tiny buttons.
“…Let me do it.”
Qi Shanyu couldn’t watch any longer and bent down to help Liu Yi straighten his clothing.
Jiang Xiaoyuan, seeing their intimate movements in the cold wind, gritted his teeth, thinking, Could this young Officer Qi really become his teacher’s wife? He moved his case aside.
Liu Yi let Qi Shanyu button his coat. With his jaw slightly lifted, their eyes met perfectly.
Qi Shanyu, sensing something unusual about Liu Yi, felt as if the man were a wary cat finally lying down, exposing his soft white belly to a trusted owner, evoking a strange softness and vulnerability, making him want to…
…hold him tightly in his arms.
Unfortunately, many people were around; helping button a coat could be seen as brotherly affection, but hugging him suddenly would be indecipherable.
“All done.”
Qi Shanyu finished buttoning Liu Yi’s police coat, straightened the hem, and stepped back.
Liu Yi didn’t respond, still looking at the young officer, his gaze soft with a hint of lingering affection.
“What’s wrong?”
Qi Shanyu asked quietly, his voice slightly hoarse.
“Nothing…”
Liu Yi shook his head slowly. “I’m just very glad.”
A faint smile appeared on his lips as he whispered:
“Fortunately, this time, we made it in time…”