Chapter 416: Why Is It Always Painful Memories

What met his eyes were snow-white walls and snow-white bedding, and by his ear came the faint sound of gentle breathing.

"Mm?"

Yu Dazhang turned his head and saw Seeing Qu Tuotuo's quiet, lovely sleeping face.

Back in Songhai?

Or…

Had he been reborn again?

If heaven had given him one more chance to live, he absolutely could not be a cop again in this life.

His lifespan was getting shorter and shorter—barely a year into the job and he'd already been killed off. That was genuinely a bit tragic.

He didn't ask for anything earth-shattering, only something steady and safe.

He couldn't keep dying young every time, as if heaven itself envied the talented.

As he was thinking, a sudden sharp pain struck the top of his head.

"Hiss—"

He sucked in a cold breath and forced himself not to cry out.

Immediately after, a great many scenes—some familiar, some strange—appeared before his eyes.

"I think I had a very, very long dream," he murmured to himself.

At the same time he tried hard to recall the scenes from the dream, attempting to link them with the images now appearing before him.

The scene that appeared most often was himself being strapped to the bed with restraints.

Then came that violent headache, like wave after wave crashing against his brain, almost more than he could bear.

The headache in his memory was not merely a physical agony—it was a torment of the mind as well.

It made Yu Dazhang feel as if his very thoughts were being devoured bit by bit.

The discomfort all over his body made him utterly miserable.

That burning, searing heat, as if set on fire, seeped from his skin straight into his marrow.

It made him feel as though he were standing in hell, unable to escape.

Compared with the electric shock from last time, the memories this time were far clearer.

He even recalled a person wearing a white mask, standing outside the door and watching him through the glass window as he struggled in agony on the bed.

That person's gaze was both cold and fervent, as if admiring a work of art.

After barely piecing a few scenes together, he truly couldn't hold on any longer and had to stop.

Between ragged gulps of air, Yu Dazhang felt the pain on his head gradually ease, then go numb, and finally settle into stillness.

Why was it always painful memories?

That was the part he understood least.

This stretch of missing memory was clearly what had happened during the nine and a half months he had been missing.

Could it be that he had fallen into the hands of some pervert?

He knew there were people in this world who got pleasure from torturing others and never tired of it.

He had personally caught one such pervert in his previous life.

But Yu Dazhang's situation seemed to be a little different.

In those scattered memories, no one had beaten him or used any torture on him.

His condition at the time was more like having come down with some illness, lying on a hospital bed, mercilessly tormented by the disease.

Then the question arose.

What illness was so painful that he had to be strapped to the bed with restraints?

Another strange thing—in his memory, his build at that time wasn't fat.

That meant the weight gain had happened later.

To sum it up…

Imprisonment, illness, being watched.

The timeframe should be the first half of those nine and a half months.

Could it be that some kind of human experiment had been performed on him? Yu Dazhang felt that possibility existed.

Somewhere in the world, there were pharmaceutical-company labs that secretly used living people for all sorts of experiments.

But thinking it over more carefully, it didn't quite fit either.

What had happened to him didn't look like an experiment at all—it looked more like enduring a tribulation.

Besides, what experiment could take a person of normal build and catalyze him into a big fatty?

Just as he was thinking, he suddenly felt his throat terribly parched, his mouth dry as well, dying of thirst.

He turned to look for water, but the moment he shifted his shoulder a tearing pain shot through him, and he couldn't help letting out a muffled groan.

"You're awake!"

He turned his head and saw Seeing Qu Tuotuo looking at him, her eyes full of joy and concern, which warmed his heart.

"Mm, just woke up," Yu Dazhang answered in a hoarse, dry voice.

Seeing Qu Tuotuo hurriedly got up from the bed and went to the bedside to pour water:

"Drink a little first, just to moisten your throat."

Taking the cup she handed him, Yu Dazhang drank two sips and then asked:

"Am I back in Songhai?"

"No," Seeing Qu Tuotuo shook her head:

"You're still in Balin City."

Her voice was a little choked, and as she spoke, her eyes gradually reddened.

Yu Dazhang froze.

Was he missing some parts?

If it were just an ordinary gunshot wound, given Seeing Qu Tuotuo's personality, she wouldn't be this fragile.

What kind of missing part could make a woman this sad?

Thinking this, he suddenly felt his entire lower half go numb.

If Seeing Qu Tuotuo now said to him: "The surgery was very successful, from now on we'll be sisters."

Then he would absolutely go fight the doctor right away.

My place didn't even get shot, what gives you the right to operate on it!

"What's wrong with you?"

Seeing Qu Tuotuo saw him holding a cup of water in a daze and asked with concern:

"Is the wound hurting?"

Yu Dazhang mechanically shook his head once, then handed the cup back to her.

"Turn around first." His tone was very firm.

A moment later.

Everything's still there…

He let out a long breath, took Seeing Qu Tuotuo's hand, and pulled her to sit on the bed.

"Sorry for making you worry."

He could already roughly guess what had happened. Since they were still in Balin City, it meant Seeing Qu Tuotuo had come here from Songhai.

The fact that his dad and mom hadn't come meant that the news of his injury wasn't yet known back in Songhai.

She had taken the initiative to find out about his situation and rushed over.

"You…" Seeing Qu Tuotuo started to speak, then stopped, her eyes fixed intently on the floor.

She had wanted to advise Yu Dazhang not to continue this job any longer, but the words reached her lips and she just couldn't say them.

"I'm fine, aren't I?"

Yu Dazhang could of course guess what she was thinking. Smiling, he put his arm around her waist and comforted her:

"I'm not that easy to kill."

Normally, Seeing Qu Tuotuo would definitely resist the waist-holding gesture, but today she didn't dodge, letting Yu Dazhang hold her as he pleased—though her body was a little stiff.

"Your job is too dangerous." Seeing Qu Tuotuo said softly:

"And you can't stand to see injustice, if this keeps up…"

She stopped, the rest of the words forcibly swallowed back.

You think I want to take risks… Yu Dazhang sighed helplessly.

At the time, there were only two choices:

1. Intercept.

2. Let them go.

If the case had followed normal procedure, he definitely wouldn't have been this conflicted—he could have just stayed put and waited for backup.

If they arrived, arrest them; if they didn't, it was fate.

The suspect getting away would be normal, and no one would blame him.

But Zhang Chao's mother had been overlooked by their task force.

This was the biggest oversight in the entire case!

To put it bluntly, they had fallen into a trap the suspect had set in advance, which led to the main culprit's escape. If they just let the other party get away, the entire task force would have to bear responsibility.

If the main culprit isn't caught, how can you call it a solved case?

So at the time, Yu Dazhang simply had no other choice.

He had to do everything possible to make up for this mistake and absolutely could not let the main culprit get away with it.

"I promise you, I won't do anything dangerous again."

Yu Dazhang smelled the faint fragrance on Seeing Qu Tuotuo, his heart itching, and unconsciously tightened his grip around her waist.

(End of chapter)