Chapter Sixteen: Police Interrogation

Within the bar, an Oscar-worthy performance unfolded, rendering Xiao Su’s persona as an entertainment journalist all the more enigmatic and unpredictable. From a street cosplay enthusiast to a solitary photographer, from a fleeting encounter atop Jade Dragon Snow Mountain to their first meeting in the bar, the instigator of a fabricated news story, and finally, a man feigning drunkenness and flirting publicly with a woman—such a repertoire of roles made him appear both righteous and wicked, elusive and thoroughly confounding.

Other than knowing Xiao Su claimed to be an entertainment reporter, Chen Tianyu and Liu Zichen knew almost nothing about him. In truth, had it not been for Liu Zichen’s composure and quick thinking just now, Xiao Su’s act of playing the fool might well have backfired in front of everyone. One could say Xiao Su had made a risky move, his sole aim being to entrust an MSD card for a mobile phone to Liu Zichen. He was gambling: on his luck, and on Liu Zichen’s integrity.

Back at the inn, Liu Zichen handed the tiny black memory card—no larger than a fingernail—to Chen Tianyu, as her own high-end phone did not even have a slot for it. By chance, Chen Tianyu’s phone did.

What happened next, however, was entirely unexpected. At first, the two focused intently on browsing the files on the card, but the longer they looked, the more uncomfortable and embarrassed they became, the atmosphere growing painfully awkward—

The card was filled to the brim with explicit videos and images from Japan, utterly indecent and offensive to the eye!

Liu Zichen quickly found an excuse to retreat, while Chen Tianyu, refusing to give up, painstakingly opened every file, even system files, but to no avail—there was nothing useful. Frustrated, he could only turn off the phone, scowling.

Trying to cover his discomfort, Chen Tianyu coughed and muttered, “Perhaps there are hidden files that require technical means to access.” He knew well it was unlikely; a phone memory card was not as versatile as a hard drive.

“Don’t bother,” Liu Zichen said angrily. “Xiao Su is clearly messing with us. It’s really malicious!” Rarely did she feel so vexed.

Chen Tianyu tried to console her. “Don’t think too highly of bad people, but don’t assume the worst of everyone, either.” As if seeing through her thoughts, he pocketed the phone. “I’ll keep it for now. If necessary, we can hand it over to the police.”

“Might as well just throw it in the bin,” Liu Zichen replied, half-joking, half-serious.

Chen Tianyu shook his head. “You never know—it might be useful. It doesn’t take up any space…”

He changed the subject. “By the way, what’s our plan for tomorrow?”

Liu Zichen pondered for a moment. “I don’t think there’s any point wasting more time here. Let’s stick to the original plan and head to Lugu Lake. I’d regret it if we missed it.”

Chen Tianyu nodded. “Looks like Xiaoxue really exaggerated things. Rather than overthinking, we might as well go with the flow.”

“Then let’s set off early tomorrow. I won’t worry about it anymore…” Liu Zichen finally decided.

“Alright—let’s rest early and gather our strength!”

---

The next morning, instead of heading straight to Lugu Lake, the two made their way to the police station.

Complaining was one thing, but they were professionals. Xiao Su had gone to such lengths to pass Liu Zichen the memory card, surely with more than mischief in mind. Since they couldn’t decipher any secrets within, it was safest to leave it to the authorities.

Most importantly, Liu Zichen didn’t want to carry this “burden” along on their journey; it would only dampen her mood.

What she didn’t know was that Chen Tianyu had secretly backed up the card’s contents onto his phone. First, his device had plenty of spare storage and hardly any extraneous software; second, he felt uneasy not keeping a copy—what if the card was lost?

It was still early; the officer on duty was a bleary-eyed young policeman. After some thought, Chen Tianyu decided that since the incident involving the “Ugly Prince” falling from a building was not particularly serious, it would be best handled as a public security matter, so they simply went to a nearby station.

The duty officer, having participated in the incident’s investigation, saw no major cause for alarm. The victim had only suffered a fright and minor injuries and hadn’t even reported the case himself. Still, since these two enthusiastic tourists were direct witnesses and “the only” ones to report the matter, he patiently took down their statements, asking in detail.

Unfortunately, Chen Tianyu and Liu Zichen could only recount what they had seen, which matched the current findings. Even when Chen Tianyu tactfully shared his own suspicions, the officer wasn’t interested; he’d met plenty of passersby who liked to play detective, most of whom turned out to be overimaginative and unreliable.

The officer did, however, take the phone card seriously. After sealing it in an evidence bag and passing it to the technical team, he returned to the duty room to question Chen Tianyu further.

“Where did you get this?” asked the officer.

Chen Tianyu understood his meaning and replied frankly, “From someone in the know, but he wishes to remain anonymous.”

The officer paused, then nodded. “You understood what I was getting at… That’s fine. Unless there are special circumstances, we do our best to protect informants’ identities. If he doesn’t want to come forward, that’s his right.”

Chen Tianyu casually asked, “Did you find anything on the card?”

The officer shook his head. “I can’t disclose details. But since you provided it, I can tell you this much: the footage is poorly angled and very dim—our preliminary guess is the camera was out of place. If you have clearer material, we’d welcome it.” In other words, it wasn’t of much use.

Seeing no reaction from them, he added, “Our techs will keep working on it; you needn’t worry. I’ve taken note of everything you reported. Anything else to add?” He was simply following procedure.

Chen Tianyu thought for a moment. “I just wanted to ask—how is the public security situation in this district?”

The officer smiled. “Who says it’s bad? Didn’t you see our techs working overtime? My colleagues just got off shift, and they patrolled all last night.”

Chen Tianyu pressed on. “Lijiang is famous as a city that never sleeps, with lots of visitors and high mobility. The pressure of managing it must be immense, and I imagine there’s no shortage of cases.”

“It’s good you appreciate our hard work,” the officer laughed. “If you obey the law, you’re good citizens. Don’t worry, most tourists here are well-behaved, and while there have been some incidents in recent years, serious crimes are rare. In fact, our division was commended this year. Anyway, your statements are recorded, so I won’t hold you up. If we need anything, we’ll contact you, and I hope you’ll cooperate.”

“Of course, of course,” Chen Tianyu replied, seeing the polite signal to leave.

The officer shook hands with them and thanked them again before escorting them out. After all, they had been dutiful—most wouldn’t have bothered to report at all.

Back at the inn, the two retrieved their luggage. Before checking out, Liu Zichen called Meng Ge, who was caring for Xiaoxue at the hospital, to ask after her.

Unexpectedly, Meng Ge told her that Xiaoxue had long since left the hospital, and she herself was back at work. She didn’t know where Xiaoxue had gone. After all, they were little more than passing acquaintances; some questions were best left unasked. Meng Ge did say that Xiaoxue had seemed much brighter when she left and likely would not entertain such dark thoughts again.

Relieved, Liu Zichen told Meng Ge that she was leaving the city to continue her travels. After a few polite words, they ended the call. She considered phoning Qimei to say goodbye but thought better of it; Qimei was always cheerful and carefree, well accustomed to friends coming and going.

With only their simple luggage, the two checked out and set off for Lugu Lake.

It was the destination they had most longed to see on this journey—a legendary land of purity and peace.