Hualian AU ~ 4. At the Green Ghost Lair

Part 6

They arrived in a police car; Feng Xin, Mu Qing and Shi Qingxuan were right at the entrance, and were shocked. And they were even more shocked when Hua Cheng dropped off the car, walked around it and gave the policeman a fist bump. He turned to Xie Lian,

"Alright. Text me if you need anything? See you later", and walked off.

Xie Lian was still a bit confused with everything, and took a moment to snap out of it; then he run after Hua Cheng, asking, "San Lang, you're going home?"

"Yeah. You wanna crash at my place?", he asked, smiling.

Xie Lian said, "I can't. I don't know in how much trouble I am for leaving the dorm". Then he quickly added, "But that's fine, I'll deal with it. Anyway", he hesitated, "I'm sorry for my meltdown back there, thank you for staying with me. And thank you for everything. I'm not sure how I feel yet, and I don't know how things will go with Lang Qianqiu. But if the police have that confession and can arrest Qi Rong then that's a good thing I suppose".

"That's a good thing. It was his fault after all".

Xie Lian just nodded, with a strained smile. Hua Cheng smiled, put a hand on Xie Lian's shoulder, and said, "Anyway Gege, you can count on me. Just keep doing what you want to do".

He winked, and left. Xie Lian was startled, and kept looking at him for a while, walking away, the red jacket he had changed back to in the police car disappearing in the distance.

Feng Xin and Shi Qingxuan came around, "Just got a text from The Principal. Apparently all is sorted and you're free to go?", Shi Qingxuan said.

"Wait. Sorted, how?", asked Feng Xin, but Xie Lian didn't say anything, just went back home.

The day after, Xie Lian got a text to go and see The Principal in the afternoon; it looked almost like a déjà vu of that last meeting, with Ling Wen, Feng Xin, Mu Qing and Shi Qingxuan being also present.

"Xie Lian, thanks for coming", Jun Wu said. He looked relaxed, that was a good sign. He went on, "A PC XiaXian Yue called me last night, and I've been all morning in communication with The Metropolitan Police. I was aware you had left the dorms of course, but didn't know the reason!"

Xie Lian replied with a serious face, "Then thank you sir, for your trust".

"But of course. We all know you from way back", he said, smiling. "It seems you had quite an exciting night. PC Xiaxian Yue guaranteed the operation you helped with had everything under control. And you helped to get a confession from who I understand is a dangerous individual".

The other attendees seemed to be aware of everything that had happened the night before. Xie Lian remembered he was seen leaving the dorms with Hua Cheng, and wondered what PC Xiaxian Yue actually said to Jun Wu. Thankfully no one mentioned Hua Cheng's fist bump with the policeman.

Ling Wen said, "Lang Qianqiu got in touch with us. He is seeing to his brother's death case reopening straight with the police, so you don't need to concern yourself with his accusation, it's been dropped".

Jun Wu concluded, smiling, "So. You're in the clear".

Xie Lian however didn't smile, just nodded politely, and said, "Thank you sir".

The meeting was over and everyone left, but as in another déjà vu, Xie Lian was asked to stay.

"Xie Lian, why did you let Lang Qianqiu think you were responsible for his brother's death? That's a little too extreme to be something you just shrug it off", Jun Wu said.

"I know. It's just... I do feel responsible, in a way. That's something I still need to work on".

"Please do", Jun Wu said, "You know The Heavens have an in-house counselling service if you need".

"Thank you sir", Xie Lian replied.

He left The Principal's office, still feeling uneasy. His "detention", Lang Qianqiu, seeing Qi Rong again, all those memories, the police operation, his meltdown last night. Hua Cheng staying with him. Hua Cheng's words, "If someone is as perfect as I think them to be"...

He wanted to go home and stay three days under the duvet, but he felt he needed to go somewhere else first. Memories were coming back to him, not in a good way, and he felt he needed some confrontation with the past, some reflection time, time off to face his fears.

It was late afternoon, not rush hour yet; he sent a text, waited, and smiled when he got the reply. He then got a bus to a main train station. Looking at the display panels, he bought a ticket on a machine, a take-away coffee and a croissant, and jumped on the next train back to XianLe.

Thanks for reading, I hope you liked undercover Hualian! 😍😍😍

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