When He Comes, Close Your Eyes [Ding Mo]

54

The long street is noisy with a never ending flow of cars, and the hustle and bustle of city walkers.  The sun shines brightly in the lane that Bo Jinyan disappeared through just a few minutes ago.

Jian Yao decides to follow.  She gets out of the car. 

It’s dangerous.  But she will be careful.  Bo Jinyan is an academic. Now he is chasing after a mentally unstable killer.  She can’t let him go alone.

A thought comes to her mind as she passes through the crowd -

Even though he keeps saying the physical work should be left to the police, every time when he is face to face with the suspects, or sees someone in danger, he would rush to help.  He knocked Sun Yong unconscious with a stick, ran over to rescue the boy held captive by Huo Xiao Lu. And this. 

Arrogant, but firm in his beliefs.

Jinyan, please stay safe.

She is about go into the lane, when a few officers appear.  Jian Yao is relieved.  One of the taller officers blocks Jian Yao: “Stay here.” Then he and three other officers hurried into the narrow lane.

Jian Yao anxiously looks in.  Behind her, a lot of pedestrians are gathering.  It’s too far away for Jian Yao to see exactly what is happening.  The police officers are blocking her view.  She can vaguely work out there’s lot of movements, and then she hears a ‘dong’ sound, like something has fallen on to the ground. 

“Don’t move.  Don’t move.  Put down your knife.” She hears the police shout out.  

Jian Yao’s heart tightens.  She sees Bo Jinyan’s face for a split second. Then more police officers rush past her.  Her views are completely blocked.  

“We got him.  We got him.” Someone yelled out.  

“Stay down!”

“Someone is injured.  Please send an ambulance.” Someone else says.

Jian Yao runs towards the officers and tries to squeeze past them to get to Bo Jinyan: “Excuse me.  Excuse me…  I am Professor Bo’s assistant.”

“The Professor is hurt too.” Someone said.  

This is not good news.  She pushes through even harder.  People start to make way.  She sees four or five officers holding on a man with blood shot eyes.  He is still struggling to break free as the officers walk him towards the street to the police car.  Jian Yao quickly stands to the side to let them pass.  She recognises him from the photos emailed to them by the police.  That’s Zheng Chang.  

She hurries forward to find an officer lying on the ground.  He has been stabbed in the stomach.  There is a pool of blood beside him.  He looks very pale.  He is still conscious, breathing heavily and obviously in pain.  Bo Jinyan stands next to him.  There’s blood smeared on his face and suit.  A few officers are standing around him.

Jian Yao’s heart aches as she sees blood dripping down to the ground from Bo Jinyan’s sleeves. 

“What happened to you?  Are you ok?” She asks anxiously.  She wants to hold his hand, but she is afraid she might accidentally touch the wound.  She looks closer. There is a knife wound from his left shoulder that extends to his chest. 

She looks at the officer lying on the floor.  His wounds are much more serious.

“I am ok.  It’s just a flesh wound.” Bo Jinyan says to her.  

When Bo Jinyan entered the lane, there was another policeman who was going towards Zheng Chang from the opposite direction.  The police officer thought he looked suspicious too.  The two of them tried to stop Zheng Chang.  The policeman was stabbed in the stomach, and Bo Jinyan has a deep cut on his arm.  Fortunately, more officers appeared at the right moment.