On the day of the funeral, the sun broke out in Beijing, which had been gloomy for most of the winter.

Sun Den's father hugged his photo, and his mother hugged his uniform and top hat and walked out of the dormitory together.

Two rows of firefighters in uniform stood straight on both sides of the squadron's playground.

Ren Yi endured the soreness of his nose and shouted loudly: "Salute--"

The soldiers saluted in unison. Their eyes were red and their lips were pursed. They watched their comrades walk through the playground where he trained countless times, boarded his favorite fire truck, and drove to the funeral home.

Except for the officers and soldiers who stayed on duty, everyone went to the funeral home together.

Many people who came to see him off spontaneously gathered in front of the funeral home, as well as leaders and soldiers from the corps, detachments and other squadrons.

Ren Yi saw a familiar person at a glance, a slender figure wearing a navy blue police uniform, which was Gong Yingxian. The police uniform seemed to be tailored for him, and it looked even more handsome and dazzling than the usual expensive suit.

Gong Yingxian walked to Ren Yi and whispered: "On behalf of the branch, I will come to see him off."

Ren Yi nodded: "The first time I saw you wearing a uniform." "The first time I saw you wearing a uniform."

"We wear uniforms, and there are important things, either good or bad things." Ren Yi whispered, "I'll go in first."

"Go."

The mourning hall was full of people who were close or familiar to Sun Ding, and Yan Jue also came from the western suburbs.

The entire funeral, Ren Yi was in a trance state. He was like being wrapped in an invisible film. The mourning, the crying, the tears were isolated. Everything that happened in front of him was full of unreality. He still couldn't fully accept this reality, and still suspected that everything was a dream.

After the funeral, Ren Yi did not return to the squadron with the car, but found a bench in the corner of the park of the cemetery and sat down, looking quietly at the barren tree branches and barren grass.

His injuries have not healed yet, and he is always surrounded by pain, and his lungs are not breathing smoothly. After only a busy all morning, he is so tired that he is almost unable to stand. At this time, the warm sunshine is pouring on his back, making him feel a little more comfortable.

The sound of footsteps came from behind him. Without turning back, he felt that it was Gong Yingxian.

Gong Yingxian sat next to Ren Yi and handed him a can of hot tea.

Ren Yi took it over, covered his hands, and said lightly: "It's not very cold today, it's rare to see the sun."

"But you wear too little." Gong Yingxian touched Ren Yi's hand, "It's so cold."

Ren Yi held Gong Yingxian's hand and recalled the trance during this period, he suddenly felt guilty, "I haven't talked to you these days, don't take it to your heart."

"How could that happen?" Gong Yingxian paused, "I know how that felt."

Ren Yi felt sad and said softly: "It makes you worry."

"Well, you really worried me." Gong Yingxian took a deep breath, "Do you know what it feels like to watch your life hanging in the corridor?" He still feels scared when he recalls the fear and despair at that time.

"……sorry."

"If I..." Gong Yingxian bit his lower lip gently, "If I say, I hope you don't become a firefighter anymore. In exchange, I can promise you any conditions..."

Ren Yi stared at Gong Yingxian in a daze.

The two of them met with each other, but they couldn't make any sound.

After a long time, Ren Yi forced a smile: "You are... joking."

They both knew that Gong Yingxian was not joking, but Gong Yingxian knew even more that Ren Yi avoided this question because he could not agree.

This profession was regarded as a mission by Ren Yi, and I am afraid that only death can make him give up.

Gong Yingxian lowered his head in frustration. Why did he like this person? He has been desperately trying to stay away from Fire all his life, but now he is desperately trying to get close to this person who deals with Fire. It is really a great irony. Ren Yi felt a little guilty. He gently hit Gong Yingxian's shoulder and changed the topic: "You look so good in uniform."

"Is that so? It's inconvenient to handle cases, I rarely wear them." Gong Yingxian looked at his uniform, then looked at Ren Yi's, "You look good in uniform."

"I haven't worn it for a long time, so I still wear training clothes comfortably. We have many sets of clothes, and the most uncomfortable thing to wear with biochemical clothes, followed by fireproof clothes." When it comes to fireproof clothes, he stopped.

Gong Yingxian felt the fluctuations of Ren Yi's emotions, and he held Ren Yi's hand tightly, trying to convey strength.

Ren Yi closed his eyes, feeling sadness came from it, and his circles were wet again: "I will...I will recover, don't worry."

"I need you, Ren Yi, I need you to assist the police and find the murderer who killed Platoon Commander Sun."

"I know." Ren Yi wiped his eyes, "You just say whatever you need me to do."

Gong Yingxian said softly: "Now, I need you to cry as much as you want, and then accept reality."

Ren Yi froze, then slowly tilted his head on Gong Yingxian's shoulder, allowing tears to flow down indulgently.

Gong Yingxian and Ren Yi were linked with each other. Listening to his silent crying, he wished he could give all his strength as long as he could protect this person from any harm.

Ren Yi took a day off and did not return to the squadron. He went to the hospital to change the medicine and had an infusion, and then went back to his home with Gong Yingxian.

They bought ingredients, cooked their own meals, looked at the balls after the meal, chatted, and it was late at night, and they hugged each other in a bed. Just such daily interactions are enough to warm people's hearts and heal the cracks in their souls.

----

The next morning, the two went to Hongwu Branch together. The Huotuo Department had a preliminary report on the investigation of the fire in Wenhui Shopping Mall, and he needed to provide on-site testimony.

When his ex-Man Yi came to Hongwu Branch, he was always warmly welcomed, especially from the female policeman. But this time everyone was very reserved and said hello to Ren Yi carefully, caring about his physical recovery.

Ren Yi thanked them and went to the conference room with Gong Yingxian.

Gong Yingxian gave the report on the Huotuo Department to Ren Yi. In fact, he could find this report on the internal system at any time, but he had not read it. He even dragged and didn't write his own police report, and no one urged him.

Now he has to face it.

He took a deep breath, turned on the report, and looked at it page by page.

The fire point was a clothing wholesale store located near the corridor of Building A, with obvious signs of combustion aids. When the fire broke out, the entire Building A had already gotten off work, and only the security guards were still patrolling and preparing to close the store.

After the fire broke out, the reason why the fire spread rapidly to the corridor was because the mall illegally rented the corridor as a stall, which caused the already-wide corridor to be filled with combustible materials. The security guard initially planned to use fire hydrants to put out the fire, but the mall was densely packed with stalls, and the fire spread rapidly. The security guard failed to put out the fire and fled the scene and then called the police. When the firefighters arrived, Building A burned violently. Chen Xiaofei sent two squadrons first, and it exploded as soon as he entered, so he had to withdraw. The fire in Building A was out of control.

After reading the report, Ren Yi said, "The report can only show that it was arson, but there is no evidence to prove who did it?"

Gong Yingxian shook his head: "The surveillance has been burned out, and the combustion aid is the most common gasoline. We are now looking for witnesses from the surviving people in Building B next door. The time period is certain. At that time, there were still many people entering and leaving Building B. Maybe someone could see suspicious people near Building A."

"I want to go to the scene." Ren Yi said, "I'll go in the afternoon."

"Yes, it's still intact."

"Apart from this, is there any progress in the case recently?"

Gong Yingxian nodded and his face turned gloomy: "How many. Do you remember a few months ago, we found out that a case of a homeless man's murder a few years ago might be related to Hong Yan? The place of death and crime of that person are in line with Hong Yan's crime characteristics."

"I remember, I didn't hear you mention it later."

"Because there were no clues at that time. But I have always had doubts about the identity of the homeless man. According to the autopsy, he was a young man in his early twenties, without physical disability, and perhaps mental illness, which is unknown. Since he had never reported the missing persons that matched him, and he had the clothes of the homeless man, he thought he was a homeless man. However, the old couple who found the body had to walk near the riverside every morning and evening. They had never seen a homeless man in that place. Generally speaking, the homeless man had a fixed range of movement. If he was a young homeless man with no physical disabilities, it would be even more eye-catching."

"So you think he's not a homeless man?"

"I don't know, but there has been a progress in this case recently, although it is not sure if there is any connection."

“What progress?”

"A financial company reported the case to the police, saying that a lender was missing and they had a loan of 200,000 yuan that could not be recovered. This person is the only person among the reporters in the past two years who may be the homeless. He is from a rural area, with nine siblings in the family, and his parents are gone. He doesn't contact relatives for a long time and doesn't care. We are investigating it."

Ren Yi nodded: "I hope there will be a result."

"There is one more thing, it has to do with the clue you gave me last time."

"Mask matter?"

Gong Yingxian took a deep breath: "Your guess may be correct."

"You remembered it?"

"No, my memory keeps telling me that it is a bird's mask, and my memory may have deceived me."

Ren Yi said inexplicably: "What does it mean?"

"Someone has tampered with my memory."

Ren Yi widened his eyes, so shocked that he couldn't speak. Could it be...

"I know you suspect Dr. Pompeii, not him, but earlier, because the bird mask was the first to propose it."

"But, who else can tamper with a person's memory?"

"A professional psychologist can do it for a child who has suffered severe trauma and is only six years old." Gong Yingxian said coldly, "After an accident in my family, my grandfather once asked me for psychological intervention. I don't remember this very much, because I met many doctors, all kinds of doctors, mine, my sister's, and I took a lot of effort to find the medical files of that year."

"Which doctor is it?"

"A psychologist named Wang Minde."

"Then, then you go..."

Gong Yingxian's eyes were cold: "Just a week ago, this man named Wang Minde was drinking alone at home, choked on his throat by his vomit, and suffocated to death."
Chapter completed!