Starting with dissecting ghost stories

11:50.

It was already late at night, and only a few streetlights were on, with only two dim lampposts at the entrance of the criminal investigation compound remaining lit.

Forensic pathologist Lao Wang leaned against the wall outside the compound, in a place where the light didn't reach, puffing away at his cigarette. The flickering cigarette butt looked like a firefly.

The compound was still brightly lit, and many police officers would be working through the night as usual.

Lu Wenying walked out of the compound. The night wind was a bit chilly. She put on a coat to cover her police uniform, turned left, and seemed to be preparing to walk back.

Old Wang watched Lu Wenyin walk past him quietly, and he could also feel the oppressive atmosphere emanating from her.

Grandma Wang's death was a huge blow to many people, including Lu Wenying.

She was a promising rising star in the police force. If she couldn't overcome this setback and lose her fighting spirit, she would probably just fade into obscurity.

"Xiao Lu." Old Wang coughed, threw away his cigarette butt, and called out to Lu Wenying.

Lu Wenying stopped, turned around, and shook her head before realizing that it was forensic doctor Lao Wang who had called her.

"Brother Wang." Lu Wenying nodded to him and called out in a low voice. Everyone else called him that too, and Lu Wenying followed suit.

"I'm old enough to be your uncle, you're making me sound too young," Wang Liyong chuckled. "Just call me Uncle Yong."

"Uncle Yong," Lu Wenying changed her address, her expression still blank.

After a moment of silence, Wang Liyong said, "Old Zhang didn't blame you; he just can't accept it."

"He couldn't accept that he hadn't noticed Li Ya's drug use. He thought that if he had taken Li Ya to a drug rehabilitation center earlier, none of this would have happened."

"If only I had known... If only I had..." Old Zhang has been muttering these words hundreds of times tonight while squatting outside the interrogation room. His ears are practically calloused from hearing them.

Wang Liyong chuckled self-deprecatingly, his voice hoarse, as if he had a mouthful of grit he couldn't swallow.

"But there aren't that many 'what ifs' in this world. Police officers aren't fortune tellers; they can't predict the future. We're not gods either; we can't save those who deserve to die."

Lu Wenying kept her head down, lightly kicking a pebble on the roadside with her toes, and did not reply.

She knew Wang Liyong was trying to comfort her, but those words were too weak to weigh down the heavy weight in her heart.

That was a living, breathing human life, lost in such a horrific way right before their eyes.

"I'm planning to resign."

Wang Liyong suddenly spoke, his tone as calm as if he were asking what to eat for dinner.

Lu Wenying suddenly looked up, even forgetting to control her expression, and stared in astonishment at the slightly hunched middle-aged man in front of her: "Uncle Yong, you..."

"Don't look at me like that. It's not because of the pressure of this case, it's because I feel unworthy."

Wang Liyong waved his hand; those were the same hands that had just been holding a scalpel at the dissection table, but now, under the dim streetlights, they were trembling slightly.

He took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, wanted to smoke it, but after looking at Lu Wenying, he put it back.

"What we fear most in our line of work isn't a rotting corpse, nor is it a difficult case. What we fear most is losing our composure and becoming soft-hearted."

"Old Zhang regrets not arresting Li Ya sooner. He thought that as long as he worked harder, he could stop the crime. But what I regret is..." Wang Liyong paused, looking into the unfathomable night, "I regret that I learned when to stop. I've learned enough, so be it."

"Xiao Lu, you are different from us."

Wang Liyong looked at Lu Wenyin in front of him and then said:

"Back in the meeting room, you were the only one asking where the three torsos went, and you were the only one who thought the case was closed too hastily."

"Captain Chen wants to close the case, I want to close the case, and the higher-ups want to close the case because closing the case will make everyone feel relaxed and safe."

"We old guys have been in this melting pot for too long. We've long since learned how to call black gray and how to smooth out the unreasonable. We call this putting the big picture first, but it's really just cowardice, just wanting to coast along."

"Uncle Yong, Captain Chen was also doing this for..." Lu Wenying subconsciously tried to explain.

"Don't make excuses for us," Wang Liyong interrupted her, his voice becoming sterner. "Wrong is wrong, and cowardice is cowardice."

He took a step forward, getting closer to Lu Wenying, to the point that Lu Wenying could smell the indelible formaldehyde odor on him.

Do you know what's most precious to you right now?

"It's not your degree from a prestigious university, nor your uncle who's a high-ranking official."

Wang Liyong pointed to Lu Wenying's chest.

"It's your stubbornness, it's that you haven't learned to compromise, that you haven't learned to close your eyes when you see something dirty."

"Old Zhang regrets the past, I'm running away from the present, but you're different, you still have a future."

"This time, it was us old bones who let down this police uniform and went astray. But I hope you don't follow our example, and don't think that the world is hopeless or that you are useless just because of this setback."

Wang Liyong shook his head and chuckled.

"Then who will speak up for those who died unjustly? Who will uncover the truths hidden in the gutter?"

"That Shen Xing... he's very capable and smart, but I think he's too easily swayed by personal relationships. If you ask him for help, he'll agree; if Captain Chen asks him for help, he'll agree too. Sometimes being too soft-hearted makes it hard to see the truth."

"Xiao Lu, keep your anger, keep your skepticism."

"Don't let our failures become your reason to give up. If you really think there's something wrong with this case, then keep it in mind. Even if you can't find out now, ten or twenty years from now, as long as you're still wearing this skin, as long as you haven't become like us, you still have a chance to turn things around."

After finishing his long speech, Wang Liyong seemed to have unloaded a heavy burden, and his whole body relaxed.

Without waiting for Lu Wenying's reply, he waved his hand, turned around, and walked into the darkness.

"Criminals won't stop committing crimes just because you're depressed. It's in the darkest times that rats in the sewers become more active."

"That's your battlefield now, don't lose to them."

"Alright, go back to sleep early."

After saying that, Wang Liyong turned and left, waving his hand behind Lu Wenying's back.

Lu Wenying stood there, watching Wang Liyong's somewhat hunched back gradually disappear into the darkness.

On the ground, the cigarette butt Wang Liyong had thrown away had gone out, but she felt something in her heart reignite.

"Thank you..." Lu Wenying silently thanked Old Wang.

Then he turned around, with his back to the darkness, and quickly walked back into the brightly lit courtyard.

There, the majority of people still hold on, and as long as one light is still on, it cannot be said that it is already dark.