Suo ran felt the driver's hand on his wrist again, firm but controlled, stopping his movement without hurting him. "Stay still!" the driver said softly. "It'll be easier if you stop fighting." "Easier for who?!" Suo ran demanded, trying to yank his hands back. "Let me go!" Instead of responding, the driver moved closer behind him. Suo ran could feel it through the air, the shift in distance, and instinctively he tried to step back but his arm was already being guided behind him. "Hey.. what are you.." he started, voice rising.
That was when he felt rope.The driver was tying his wrists together carefully, securing them in a way that was firm but strangely controlled, almost practiced. Suo ran froze for half a second in disbelief before struggling again. "What are you doing?! Why are you tying me?!" he asked, voice louder now, panic breaking through fully. The driver didn't stop.
"Just so you don't hurt yourself!" he replied calmly. "Hurt myself?!"
Suo Ran snapped, turning his head slightly as if he could see him through the blindfold. "You're the one kidnapping me!" The rope tightened slightly.Suo ran tugged again frustration rising. "Untie me right now!" he demanded, breathing uneven. "Do you even hear what you're doing?!" The driver stepped in front of him again, close enough that Suo Ran could feel his presence without seeing him. "I hear everything." he said softly."That's why I said you're safe."Suo ran's jaw clenched hard. "Nothing about this is safe!" he said, voice shaking slightly now. There was a brief silence then the driver's tone lowered just a little,"You'll understand soon." "I don't want to understand!" Suo Ran shot back immediately, struggling against the restraints again. "I just want to go home!"
The driver didn't respond to that. Instead, Suo ran felt him gently adjust the knot once more, making sure it wouldn't loosen. "You already are!" he said softly. And those words made Suo ran stop for a fraction of a second, confusion cutting through the fear again." "What does that mean?" he asked, "What home?" The driver offered no answer."Who are you?" he demanded again. "Do you know my father?" For a moment, all he could hear was the distant sound of wind moving across the empty road. Then the driver's voice came quietly. "Yes." Suo Ran froze.
His heartbeat quickened. "You knew my father?" "Yes." "How?" No answer. "Answer me!" The frustration in Suo Ran's voice was impossible to hide now. The driver let out a quiet sigh. "You always become impatient when you're scared." Suo Ran's entire body stiffened. His breathing stopped for a second.Slowly, he turned his blindfolded face toward the voice. "How do you know that?Again, there was no answer. Instead, he heard the sound of a car door opening. A hand settled lightly against his shoulder. Not rough."Careful!" the driver said. "I said don't touch me." Suo ran shrugged off the hand and took a step away, only for his exhausted legs to wobble slightly beneath him.
The driver caught his elbow before he could lose his balance completely. "You'll fall." "I don't care." Suo ran pulled his arm back.The driver looked down at the unsteady way he was standing before meeting his eyes again. "You will in about three seconds." "You're very confident." "I'm observant." "You're annoying." The corner of the driver's mouth twitched faintly. "That too."
Suo Ran stared at direction of driver for a moment, clearly unimpressed, then attempted to walk forward on his own. Two steps later, he stumbled when his foot caught on the uneven curb. A hand closed around his wrist instantly, steadying him before he could fall.The driver didn't say a word.Suo Ran clenched his jaw and tried pulling his arm away. "I told you not to touch me." he snapped, glaring blindly in the direction of the man's voice. The driver didn't release him. Instead, his grip tightened slightly around Suo Ran's arm"And I told you that you were about to fall." he replied calmly."Let go." Suo Ran twisted his wrist again, trying to free himself.
"You're welcome."He tugged at his captured arm again and shot an annoyed look toward the sound of the man's voice. "I didn't thank you."The driver tilted his head slightly. "I noticed."For a moment neither spoke. He swallowed his unease and asked again, "Where are we?"The driver didn't answer.
Instead, Suo Ran suddenly felt fingers reach behind his head.His entire body stiffened.
"What are you doing now?" he demanded, instinctively trying to pull away.The driver's other hand settled lightly against his shoulder, stopping the movement before it could go very far. "Fixing a problem."Suo Ran frowned. "What problem?"The answer came immediately."You."For a second Suo Ran was too stunned to respond."What?"A quiet chuckle escaped the driver.Before Suo Ran could argue further, he felt the knot at the back of his head loosen. The blindfold shifted.Slowly, the black ribbon slid away from his eyes and light flooded his vision.Suo Ran blinked repeatedly.Everything appeared blurry at first.
"Where are we?" he asked. "Close." "Close to what?" No answer came from him. "Do you enjoy being mysterious?" A faint chuckle came from somewhere beside him. "Not particularly." "You could have fooled me." Another brief silence followed before the driver said quietly, "You're handling this better than I expected." Suo Ran stared him.The driver seemed to consider that seriously. "Fair point." Suo Ran laughed from disbelief. "That's your response?" "Would you prefer an apology?" "Yes." "No." For the first time since being abducted, Suo Ran was genuinely speechless. The man sounded completely serious. A few moments later he let out a frustrated breath. "You're insane." "Possibly." "Possibly?" "I'm keeping an open mind." Despite everything, Suo Ran nearly choked. Who talked like this? The man had kidnapped me, blindfolded me, tied my hands, and yet somehow carried on a conversation as though we are having coffee together.
Suo Ran looked down at the hand holding him, then up at the driver's face. "Don't." "Don't what?" "Look at me like that." "Like what?" "Like you were right." The driver's expression remained perfectly calm. "I was right." "I hate people like you." "That's unfortunate." "Why?" "Because you're still standing because of one." For a second, neither spokeThen the driver slowly released his wrist. "Can you walk now?" he asked. Suo Ran straightened. "Of course I can." "Interesting answer." "What does that mean?" "It means your body disagrees with you." Suo Ran opened his mouth to argue, only to realize he had no response. The driver's eyes softened slightly behind his glasses. "Just this once." he said quietly, "you don't have to prove you're fine."He looked away first.
Suo Ran kept his gaze fixed on the street ahead while the driver stood beside him, seemingly in no hurry to leave. Then suddenly, a phone vibrated inside the driver's coat pocket.The driver glanced at the screen.he answered the call. "Yes." His voice was calm and low. The person on the other end spoke rapidly. Suo Ran couldn't hear the words, only the faint murmur of another voice. The driver's eyes flicked briefly toward him before returning to the distance. "I know." A pause. "No." Another pause. "That's not necessary." Suo Ran frowned slightly. Something about the conversation felt strange. "I said no."
The driver sighed softly. "He's exhausted." Suo Ran blinked. His attention sharpened. The person on the phone said something else.The driver's gaze shifted toward him again. "No, he's still standing." Another pause then unexpectedly, the driver's mouth curved very slightly. "Barely." Suo Ran's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?" The driver ignored him completely. "I'll handle it." A longer silence followed before he finally added, "Stop worrying." Then the call ended. The driver lowered the phone and slipped it back into his pocket. For a moment, neither spoke. Then Suo Ran folded his arms. "Was that your mother?" The driver looked at him. "What?" "The way you said 'stop worrying' sounded practiced." "Disappointed?" "A little." "Why?" "I was hoping you had a secret criminal organization reporting to you."
After heard suo ran talking driver laughed. Suo Ran stared."You laugh?" "Occasionally." "That seems unlikely." "Yet here we are." Suo Ran studied him suspiciously. Then his expression changed. "Wait." The driver's eyebrows rose slightly. "What?" "Who exactly were you talking about?" The driver remained silent. "You said 'he's exhausted.'" Suo Ran pointed at himself. "That's me." "Very observant." "And then you said I'm barely standing." "Also true." "You were discussing me with someone." "Briefly." Suo Ran stared at him in disbelief. "You don't even know me." The driver's gaze rested on him for a second longer than necessary. "I've spent the entire day driving you around a cemetery in the rain." "That's not the same thing." "No?" "No." The driver's eyes softened slightly. "Then why are you still talking to me?"
He opened his mouth then closed it. He opened it again but no answer came out. The driver watched the rare speechlessness with obvious amusement. Suo Ran looked away. "You're even more annoying than I thought." "That's the second time you've said that." "Because it's becoming more true." The driver's faint smile remainedThe feeling irritated him immediately. "And tell your mysterious caller something for me." "What's that?" Suo Ran shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking toward the building entrance. "I am perfectly capable of standing on my own." Behind him, the driver laughed again.
They continued walking through the quiet morning streets, the city only beginning to wake around them. The damp pavement reflected the pale light of dawn, and for a while neither spoke. Then the driver casually stepped closer and rested a hand on Suo Ran's shoulder. "You look excited to go there," he said. Suo Ran immediately stopped walking. Without hesitation, he grabbed the driver's wrist and pushed the hand away. "Don't come close." His expression darkened. "Stay away from me." The driver looked down at his rejected hand before lifting his eyes back to Suo Ran. "That's a little harsh." "Good." "I wasn't doing anything." "You were touching me." "Your definition of touching is very strict." "My definition is normal." "Most people don't react like they're being attacked."
Suo Ran scoffed and resumed walking. "Most people aren't my concern." The driver easily matched his pace. "You know, every time I get within two meters of you, you look ready to start a fight." "Because you keep appearing next to me." "We're walking in the same direction." "Then walk somewhere else." The driver's mouth twitched. "Unfortunately, I was instructed to make sure you arrived safely." "By the mysterious caller?" "Perhaps." "Tell them they wasted their effort." "I don't think they would agree." Suo Ran rolled his eyes. "You people are all equally annoying." "You keep saying that, yet you haven't left." "I don't know where I am." "A fair point."
He glanced around at the unfamiliar buildings surrounding them.The further they walked, the more obvious it became that he had no idea where the driver was taking him.
Elsewhere Lian Ziho was still searching for suo ran when he was still in pain,every step sending a dull ache through his chest. His calls had gone unanswered for what felt like hours now.As he walked back toward his car, one hand pressing lightly against his side, his phone suddenly vibrated with a new
notification. He frowned immediately. It was not a call or message. It was an email with no sender, nsubject only a single audio file attached.His steps slowed. At first, he almost dismissed it as spam, but then his eyes caught the file's metadata. He noticed creation date and that made him stop completely it was three days before suo ran's father died.His expression changed. Slowly, he opened the file.
At first there was only static. Then heavy breathing, uneven and panicked, followed by the sound of someone running. A male voice broke through, weak and trembling, clearly injured and terrified. "If anyone finds this..." the voice rasped before dissolving into static again. Then it returned, more strained. "Don't trust the records." Lian Ziho froze mid-step. His grip on the phone tightened.
The recording continued, the same voice growing more desperate. "They changed everything... names... dates... families... even the dead..." Lian Ziho's expression darkened as he listened, the implication settling heavily in his chest then, suddenly, another voice cut in. A second man.The first voice broke into panic. "No... no, stay back...don't..." The recording shattered into chaos, a loud crash echoing through the audio, something falling, followed by a struggle. Then silence for a fraction of a second. And in that silence, the second man spoke only one sentence,"You should have left the children alone."
The first man screamed, raw and terrified, before the recording abruptly ended. Lian Ziho stood completely still, the phone still pressed to his ear, his mind refusing to process what he had just heard.Because now he knew why that voice had felt familiar. The terrified man in the recording… sounded exactly like Suo Ran's father. His breath slowed. His eyes widened slightly as realization settled in. Before he could even fully form the thought, another notification appeared on the screen. Same unknown sender. One line only. "You are listening to the wrong murder." Lian Ziho's expression went still.
Meanwhile Cai Lang still at alone in his office, the dim light of the desk lamp casting sharp shadows over scattered vehicle records and half-destroyed reports. His eyes moved back and forth across the files in front of him, trying once again to connect the fragments that refused to form a complete picture. Fake registrations, burned chassis numbers, repair logs tied to dead mechanics, and identity records that shouldn't even exist anymore. Every path he followed ended the same way either someone was already dead, or the evidence had been erased too cleanly, too deliberately. He exhaled slowly, rubbing his temple. "This doesn't make sense…" he muttered.
He noticed around him was unusually silent. At first, he didn't notice it. He was too focused on the screen, too trapped in his own thoughts but then something shifted in his awareness. No typing from neighboring desks no distant voices in the hallway no phone notifications, no movement, no footsteps. The entire floor had gone quiet in a way that felt unnatural. Cai Lang slowly lifted his head, the pen in his hand stopping mid-air. His eyes narrowed slightly as he listened more carefully but there was no sound.
Cai Lang pushed his chair back and stood up, his instincts shifting from analysis to caution. He stepped into the hallway, scanning left and right. It was empty completely empty. Even the reception desk was unmanned, the chair slightly tilted as if someone had just stood up in a hurry and never returned.A strange detail made his brows furrow. He noticed every monitor on the entire floor was turned off. Not one by one, not gradually all at once. Like someone had cut power selectively or forced a shutdown remotely. Cai Lang's hand slowly curled into a fist. "This is wrong." he murmured.
He turned back toward his office, his footsteps slower now, more careful.The moment he stepped inside again, he stopped completely because someone was sitting in his chair. That person was well- dressed his one leg crossed over the other, a file from Cai Lang's desk open in his hands. He was reading it slowly, casually, as though it were nothing more than light entertainment. Cai Lang's expression shifted instantly, every trace of confusion replaced with cold alertness. "Who are you?" he asked, voice low and sharp. The man didn't respond instead, he turned a page in the file, as if finishing a thought before acknowledging him at all then he smiled."I asked you something. cai lang repeated, stepping one pace closer.
"You always start there," That person said calmly. Cai Lang's expression hardened. "Start where?" The stranger closed the file slowly and leaned back, fingers resting lightly on the edge of the desk. "With identity." he replied. "Names,roles and positions as if labeling me will make you safer." Cai Lang's jaw tightened slightly. "It will make you understandable." he corrected. The man gave a faint, almost approving nod. "Understandable!" he echoed. "That's interesting. Most people prefer 'useful' or 'dangerous.' You prefer control."
Cai Lang stepped forward again, stopping just in front of the desk. "You're in my office. You've accessed my work. The least you can do is answer a basic question." The stranger tilted his head slightly. "Basic?!" he repeated, as if testing the word. Then he smiled faintly. "Nothing about this situation is basic." Cai Lang's eyes narrowed. "Try me." The man exhaled softly, like he was considering how honest he was willing to be. "If I give you a name," he said slowly, "you'll start building a story around it. You'll assume intention. History. Emotion." His gaze sharpened slightly. "And you'll be wrong."
Cai Lang didn't move, but his voice lowered further. "So you're refusing." The stranger stood now, pushing the chair back with a soft sound. "No!" he said. "I'm correcting your expectation." He walked a step closer to the desk, stopping just outside Cai Lang's reach. "Names are for people who belong somewhere!" he added. "I don't." Cai Lang studied him carefully now, eyes scanning every detail, trying to anchor him to something some case, some memory, some file but nothing fit."You didn't come here by accident." Cai Lang said. The man's expression didn't change. "Ofcourse not!""Then why?" Cai Lang asked. The stranger's gaze flicked briefly toward the scattered documents on the desk fake vehicle records, destroyed identities, missing files. "Because you're looking at fractures." he said quietly. "And you still think they belong to separate cases." Cai Lang's fingers curled slightly. "They do." The man's smile returned, faint but certain. "No!" he corrected again. "They don't."
Cai Lang's voice lowered. "Explain." The stranger's eyes met his again, steady and unreadable. "Not yet!" he said. Cai Lang's expression darkened instantly. "Then what was the point of breaking in here?" The man stepped back slightly."To see how close you were!" he replied. Then, after a beat, softly he said, "And you're closer than I expected." He turned toward the door, pausing just before exiting. "That's why I had to meet you in person." And with that, he left Cai Lang standing in silence.