Why Shoot to Kill?

Lying on his dorm bed, Li Banfeng silently stared at the ceiling. The loft bed was high, placing him very close to the ceiling, where patches of mildew looked like so many eyes watching him. Indeed, eyes were watching him, watching his every move. *Click-clack!* Another message arrived on his phone. *Just who is texting me?* *This person found He Jiaqing's phone.* *He knows I met Third Uncle.* *He knows I met the police.* *He even knows He Jiaqing is lying in a hospital bed.* *Who on earth is this person?* *A teacher at the university?* *A doctor from the hospital?* *Old Chen, who claimed to be a cop?* *The old watchman downstairs?* ... The phone clattered incessantly. Li Banfeng picked it up and glanced at the screen; over a dozen messages had flooded in from He Jiaqing's number. "Banfeng, four years of college, and you're the only brother I've got!" "When there's only one cup of liquor left, you take a sip, I take a sip." "When there's only one cigarette left, you smoke half, I smoke half!" "The first time I took my girl out to dinner, you were right there with me. The first time I got a room with my girl, halfway through the night you called, and I went and spent the whole night at an internet café with you." "When you developed a mental illness, I went with you to get treatment. When you ran out of money, I paid for you. When I ran out of money too, I carried stones on construction sites, toughing it out until you were discharged." "During last year's exam, I failed just to pass you the answers, and I nearly got put on academic probation. In four years of college, you're the only brother I ever recognized! Just you!" ... Those dozen-odd messages proved one thing. The person on the other end really was He Jiaqing. Because there were things only the two of them knew. The final message read: "Brother, save me. You're the only one who can save me." Li Banfeng took a deep breath and dialed the number back. He wanted to verify He Jiaqing's voice. The call failed to connect. Li Banfeng sent a text: "How did you get back from the train station, and why did you end up on my bed?" "That wasn't me." "If it wasn't you, then who was it? And where are you? Why can you see me?" Li Banfeng had countless questions for He Jiaqing, but those were all he could think of in the moment. *Click-clack!* He Jiaqing replied: "I really want to answer you, but there's no time. The train is about to leave. If you don't come save me today, who knows how long I'll have to wait for the next train? You might never see me again." *The train is about to leave.* *Go save you today...* Li Banfeng rolled out of bed and quietly looked out the window. *In college, you only had this one friend?* *From the day you were born until now, how many friends have you had?* *It seemed there really was only this one.* Below Building Six, the ground was deserted; even the clotheslines hung empty. Yet under the large willow tree downstairs, a person was standing motionless. It was a slightly built young man, around the same age as Li Banfeng. His eyes were unusually large, shining like a light bulb, clearly visible even from Li Banfeng's vantage point on the third floor. He seemed to be waiting for someone. In this dormitory building, aside from Li Banfeng, only the old watchman remained. Ruling out the watchman for now, this man was undoubtedly here for Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng sent He Jiaqing a text: "Someone is watching me." He Jiaqing replied, "It must be someone from the Dark Star Bureau." "What's the Dark Star Bureau?" "I really can't explain it right now. You can't just mention the Dark Star Bureau casually—they can sense it. Brother, you have to save me. If you don't save me now, it'll be too late." Li Banfeng sat down in a chair, lost in thought. He sat motionless for over ten minutes. During that time, the watchman came upstairs once, looked at Li Banfeng, and asked, "How come you haven't left yet?" Li Banfeng paid him no mind. He didn't even see him. His mind rapidly sifted through everything that had passed between him and He Jiaqing over the last four years. *Yes, I'm the only brother he has.* After a long silence, Li Banfeng typed a line into his phone: "Brother, in four years of college, you're the only brother I ever recognized too. If there's one cup of liquor left, we each take a sip; if there's one cigarette left, we each take half. If you run out of money for medical bills, I'll go carry stones on a construction site right this second, without the slightest hesitation. But this business... I don't want to get involved." Li Banfeng set down his phone, deeply conflicted. The reason he didn't want to get involved anymore was that it lay completely beyond his comprehension. According to Li Banfeng's understanding, the time and place of He Jiaqing's appearances were all wrong, whether it was the He Jiaqing in the hospital bed or the He Jiaqing in the phone. According to Li Banfeng's understanding, He Jiaqing had never displayed any superpowers in the past four years; otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten caught cheating on an exam. Li Banfeng felt his capacity for acceptance was fairly strong, but things like this could drive a normal person crazy. *Not to mention, I was already crazy to begin with.* *Click-clack!* After a long silence, his phone received a message from He Jiaqing. "Okay." The message contained only a single word. Li Banfeng lay back down on his dorm bed, staring at the ceiling, spacing out once more. *I haven't had a good sleep in three days. Once I sleep, it'll all blow over.* *Jiaqing, everything I could do for you, I've done.* *Click-clack!* Another message arrived from Jiaqing. "Stay well." *Stay well.* The words sounded so familiar. Those were the last words Li Banfeng had spoken to He Jiaqing. The last words spoken face-to-face. *Stay well...* He had told him to stay well, but he wasn't well now. Not well was not well. It was that simple. Li Banfeng sat up and texted: "How can I save you?" "Banfeng, my good brother, I'm begging you. Help me grab something and bring it to my home." Though he couldn't see He Jiaqing's face, the tone of the message showed how agitated he was. "What thing?" Li Banfeng looked toward He Jiaqing's storage locker. In his memory, the locker had long been cleared out. He Jiaqing replied, "It's not in the dorm. It's at the campus supermarket." Li Banfeng walked to the window and looked downstairs. He first glanced at the man still crouching beneath the tree, then at the campus supermarket not far away. Li Banfeng: "When you said bring it to your home, you don't mean your hometown, do you?" He Jiaqing: "It is my hometown. It's not far. I'll buy your ticket—the train leaves this afternoon! Hurry to the East Station! I'm begging you!" Li Banfeng took a deep breath and jumped down from the loft bed. He washed his face thoroughly, letting the cold water temporarily suppress the fatigue of the past few days. He threw on a short-sleeved T-shirt, a pair of loose sweatpants, and sneakers. Since he was traveling far, he still needed to pack. He grabbed his wallet, packed his IDs, and took the two thousand in cash from "Third Uncle." Then he retrieved a backpack from the wardrobe. It was bought by He Jiaqing from a street stall—thirty for one, fifty for two. Jiaqing had bought two and given one to him. He packed a change of clothes and set off at once. Before leaving, Li Banfeng glanced out the window once more. The big-eyed man tailing him was still there. Li Banfeng sent a text: "Since the guy watching me isn't a cop, he should be fine with a little physical contact, right?" *Click-clack!* "Don't do anything rash." "Don't worry, I know my limits. It'll strictly fall within the bounds of self-defense." "It's not about limits. He's a dark energy user. You can't beat him. You have to find a way to shake him off." "What's a dark energy user?" "I can't explain it to you right now." "Once I reach your home, you'd better explain everything from start to finish." Li Banfeng stepped outside. When he first came out of the dorm, the big-eyed man didn't move. After he had walked several dozen meters, the man quietly followed. Li Banfeng strolled casually into the campus supermarket, just as nonchalantly as if he were dropping in to buy a pack of spicy strips. The slightly built, big-eyed young man was named Dong Xiaoning, codename Lightbulb. He had only joined the Dark Star Bureau last month, and was still far from professional at many things. Tailing people, for instance—he was completely unprofessional at it, and he knew it. At that moment, he was hesitating at the supermarket entrance, debating whether to go inside. The campus supermarket was small. If he went inside, Li Banfeng would easily spot him. If he stayed outside, he worried he might lose him. *Click-clack!* A text came from He Jiaqing. "The thing is in the supermarket lockers." Li Banfeng walked up to the lockers. The campus supermarket only had facial-recognition lockers; facial scanning was the only way to deposit or retrieve items. "How do I open the locker? With your photo?" Li Banfeng texted back. "No need. Just take it." *Just take it?* Li Banfeng pressed the retrieve button, and the screen began recording his face. *What good will that do? I wasn't the one who stored it...* *Click-pop!* Locker Number Six popped open. *What's going on?* *Recording my face actually retrieved He Jiaqing's things?* *How does that even work?* Li Banfeng stood in stunned silence for a long time, unable to make sense of it. Inside the locker was a package, wrapped tightly in layers of packing tape. The package wasn't large, but it was remarkably heavy. Li Banfeng quickly shoved it into his backpack. Just as he was about to exit the supermarket, he noticed Lightbulb lingering near the entrance, seemingly on the phone. "The guy tailing me is on the phone. Can you hear what he's saying?" If the other party was calling for backup, Li Banfeng needed to figure out a countermeasure. He Jiaqing replied: "I can hear a bit, but it's faint. I can't do it alone—we have to work together. Can you get a little closer to him?" Li Banfeng pushed a shopping cart and wandered casually near the entrance. Lightbulb's voice grew louder, and Li Banfeng could hear him with increasing clarity. It seemed He Jiaqing had temporarily lent him part of his superpower. Li Banfeng could not only hear the big-eyed man clearly, but even the voice on the other end of the line came through crystal clear. "Captain Xiao, Li Banfeng just took something out of a supermarket locker. I'm not sure of its origin yet." On the other end, Xiao Zhenggong asked, "Have you reported this to Captain Chen?" "I called Captain Chen, but I couldn't get through." Silence lingered on the other end of the line for a long time before Xiao Zhenggong's order came through: "Shoot him dead, and bring whatever he retrieved back to the bureau." Hearing this, the big-eyed man began to tremble all over. Trembling alongside him was Li Banfeng, standing beside the shelves. More accurately, Li Banfeng was trembling even harder. *Shoot to kill?* *Are you kidding me?* *What did I even do that warrants shooting me dead?*