CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY

Arc 2: Two-way Trip 1, Chapter 18

Fate was a two-way journey.

***

The early spring in Honjing was still very cold.

At least after the sting, the rain was also abundant. The clouds outlined a vivid scene between heaven and earth, full of lush foliage that was about to bloom.

The sound of bicycle bells jingled from everywhere, as if it was a small bell to wake up insects, as they passed by countless flower stands lined up on the side of the road displaying creamy yellow carnations or lavender orchids that pedestrians could buy for a fraction of the cost.

Xing Conglian parked his car on the side of the road, got out, and stopped under a sycamore tree.

There was a flower stand there. The young flower girl, wearing a fleece hat, blushed when she saw him. She smiled sweetly at him when he gave her ten yuan and handed him a bouquet of lilies like usual.

The lilies carried the fragrance of dew. He ruffled the girl's shaggy hair, then turned around and walked deep into the street full of flower stands.

At the end of the street was a hidden cemetery. As he got closer, the fragrance of flowers gradually faded, replaced by the smell of incense.

The cemetery wasn't on the outskirts of a beautiful mountain but close to a large river with a bridge named Taiqian.

More than half a year had passed since Lin Chen fell from that bridge.

The lake gurgled as the water covered the pebbles on shore as Xing Conglian walked through the scattered tombstones. He stopped and put down the bouquet of lilies in front of the tombstone closest to the lake shore.

There wasn't a picture on the tombstone. The name was painted in red ink. Perhaps because there was too much oil in the paint when the words were painted, there were small ink stains leaking from the edges of the characters that looked like tentacles belonging to some kind of insect.

He casually sat down cross-legged in front of the tombstone, then lit a cigarette and let the fire burn out the smoke, little by little.

That day, after Lin Chen and Feng Peilin fell off the bridge, they searched high and low but could only find Feng Peilin's body.

For three days and nights, without sleep, he experienced for the first time going from full hope to crashing into despair.

Until now, he sometimes remembered Lin Chen's face when he fell into the river.

He had seen the faces of many people before they died, but he had never seen anyone as calm and collected as Lin Chen. It was as if he was going out for breakfast, or as calm as the autumn leaves that were about to fall from the branches.

He often wondered if Lin Chen was dead. After all, they didn't find any corpses. Perhaps one day, Lin Chen would appear in front of this makeshift tomb, pick up the lilies in front of his tombstone, and lightly smell them.

Therefore, Xing Conglian liked to come here often, especially when he had nothing to do. He would sit here in a daze.

This gave him some comfort.

He sat in front of Lin Chen's grave and looked around aimlessly.

At that moment, his cellphone began to vibrate.

"Captain, he's appeared again," the caller said.

"In the Shifang section of the Hongjing Highway..."

"There were no casualties."

Xing Conglian hung up the phone and stared at the tombstone. He took a deep puff from his cigarette, then threw it on the ground and stomped out the spark with his heel.