Memory Lost

He wakes up and finds himself in a completely dark place.

He can’t see his fingers even when he holds them up. It’s cold and there’s an awful smell.

Where is this place?

He reaches his hand to the back of his head and stands up. His head hurts. The blurry memory of what happened before he became unconscious is slowly becoming clear. But it makes his body cover in cold sweat.

He clearly remembers that he was on his way home.

And then, under a streetlamp, a shadow came near. He didn’t pay too much attention to it.

“Bang!” it was a loud strike on his neck echoing in his ears. And then he was half unconscious. He could feel blood dripping down from the top of his head and drowning his eyes. He only remembers the person being very violent and impatient as he dragged him on the ground. His head bumped into many different rocks and other things on the road……

And then, he woke up at this place.

Why?

“Wh-Who are you?” he hears himself ask in a trembling voice.

“Pzzzzzt——” the sound of the weak electricity circuit comes on and the room lights up.

It’s bright like a white painting.

His hand reaches up to block his eyes as they’re not used to the brightness.

And then, his heart almost stops from fright when he sees what’s in front of him.

It’s because there’s a man in front of him. 𝘧𝗿ee𝚠𝙚𝙗𝑛o𝚟𝐞l.𝐜૦𝗺

A man in a clown costume. His colorful wardrobe, laughable hat that’s slanted, and his face in heavy makeup like he’s a ghost.

He stares at the clown and the clown stares back at him.

He suddenly remembers the news about a clown who exploded several days ago. He examines the clown and as expected, he sees that the clown’s upper body is bulged up. There’s clearly something stuffed inside.

Therefore, his whole body starts shaking.

As if to imitate him, the clown seems to be shaking as well.

He raises his hand, “Wh-Who are you?”

The clown raises his hand at the same time. His lips move but no sound comes out.

A certain unstoppable feeling of fright rams into his heart at an instant.

He lowers his arm and the clown lowers his arm as well. The clown’s eyes are full

of fright.

With his body shaking vigorously, he lowers his head with much difficulty. Across from him, the clown in the mirror lowers his head as well.

He sees the clown costume on his own body. And through the slit of his clothes, he sees the explosives wrapped around his whole body.

Tears flow from his eyes immediately. At the same time, he notices that he’s standing in front of a mirror of a public washroom. It’s very dark outside and not a sound can be heard.

“Ha……” a man chuckles.

He turns around from fright. He looks around but can’t make out where the sound is coming from or where the man is.

“Wh-Who are you? I beg you to let me go! You and I don’t have any grudges against each other, right? Why don’t you kidnap somebody else! I’m willing to give you all of my assets!” he says almost crying. His legs lose their ability to stand as he kneels on the floor.

But the man lets out a, “Hmph!” and says, “I’m not doing this for money. You know all the bad things that you’ve done. There’s definitely nothing injustice about tying a bomb to your body, alright?”

Although the voice is deep and pleasant, it carries a hint of the capriciousness of a child. It makes him——the clown, even more scared.

The clown screams, “AHH!” and runs toward the washroom exit. The man seems to have known that his emotions would collapse, so he says unhurriedly, “Don’t run. If you run out of this door, I will explode you into pieces. If you don’t listen to me, I will set off the bomb immediately. Follow my instructions, and you might have a chance to live.”

…… 𝒇𝒓eewe𝒃𝑛𝒐𝘃𝒆𝚕.co𝘮

“You must get to the designated area before 7 am. I will be watching you from not far away;

You must dance and sing. Don’t worry, I will take photos for you as a souvenir;

Don’t try to take the bomb apart. It will explode immediately. If you do something dumb like this, it’s okay that you die, but you would be ruining my plan;

Remember, ask the police for help. Only they can save you.

Finally, you must sing the song that I’ve taught you. If you can’t remember it or learn it, I will kill you right now.”

The clown leans against the dirty wall of the washroom like a wrecked doll. He

He has submitted to abiding by that person’s orders as he says chokingly in an attempt to please, “Okay……Okay! I’ll learn it, I’ll sing it.”

The man clears his throat and says a phrase that the clown cannot understand, “It’s a poem that L wrote for me. I like it a lot. Too bad no one would listen.”

After a brief moment, his soft gentle and pleasant vocal fills the air:

“When the sky changes colors,

The clouds are above the boy’s head.

The little bird’s wings have been clipped,

It uses its legs to fly.

He was only seven that day,

No one loves him,

He also doesn’t love himself.

He crawls among the crowd,

Until one day,

The wings are returned to him.

He stops wandering.

A, e, i, m, q, z, x, v, t……”

_____

In the bright sunlight, people are rushing toward them like water breaking through an embankment.

Han Chen and Su Mian are stuck in between; they can’t move forward or backward.

The People’s Square is just a couple of hundred meters away. Commercial buildings surround the area. There must have been some kind of event involving retirees dancing at the square, so it’s filled with people so early in the morning. And Han Chen and Su Mian have to take the pedestrian bridge in order to get to the square. The cars move too quick underneath, so they can’t jump off of the bridge; their lives would be in danger.

Everybody is fleeing but they’re heading in the opposite direction, making it very hard for them. Even when they shout, “Police! Move aside!” no one listens.

Han Chen pulls Su Mian into his embrace and leans toward the railing. They finally have some room to catch their breaths. Su Mian’s heart is still in her throat as she stares at the dancing clown in the middle of the square. Han Chen hugs her with one arm and fetches the phone with the other, “Xiao Bai and I are near the square and are trying to go over. Find out the lyrics that the clown is singing immediately. That is the code to unlock the bomb!”

He shields Su Mian by pulling her behind him after finishing his phone call. They continue to make their way ahead among the chaotic crowd. Su Mian grabs onto his hand tightly and also helps him block a few people who almost bump into him with her arm.

The Black Shield Team’s

Shield Team’s office.

The Black Shield Team received the news immediately the moment the clown appeared and caused panic in the area. Right now, Chatterbox, Xiao Zhuan, and Cold Face are staring attentively at the image transmitted from the surveillance camera at the square.

Since there was a gathering today, there were police patrolling the square. The few officers are anxiously dispersing the people to move away from the area right now. Two other officers are following Black Shield Team’s order and are risking their lives to get closer to the clown. In the big square with many people surrounding the area, this scene makes everyone nervous with their hearts pounding.

“Don’t be afraid! Don’t cry!” the civil officer’s voice can be heard through the audio transmitter as he attempts to comfort the clown. He holds a cell phone in front of the clown, “We will definitely find a way to save you. You must stay calm, cooperate with us, and sing toward here!”

Chatterbox turns the volume to its loudest. Xiao Zhuan picks up his pen and paper. Cold Face lowers his head with his eyes closed to listen carefully. The three of them hold their breaths.

The clown’s sobbing and singing come through the phone’s speaker, “When the sky changes colors……”

Xiao Zhuan writes like a speeding bullet; he records the lyrics quickly and hands it over to Cold Face.

“Send it to Leader’s phone!” Cold Face takes the lyrics and starts reading them with his full concentration. Chatterbox is also looking at the lyrics he jot down and frowns as he thinks.

This unexpected event has clearly startled the whole criminal investigation department as well as the provincial office. All the criminal investigators are standing in a large room watching the surveillance video on the screen. A team of officers has been sent out by Qin Wen Long to rush over and provide support at the scene.

And the moment Xu Si Bai steps into Black Shield Team’s office, he hears Xiao Zhuan say to Han Chen on the phone, “Leader! Leader! Can you hear me? I’ve sent the lyrics to your phone! You and Xiao Bai must stay safe! Don’t get too close to the clown!”

The expression on Xu Si Bai’s refined and handsome face changes suddenly. He turns around and runs down the stairs and gets into his Chevrolet. He follows the other police vehicles and speeds toward the scene like a flash of lightning.

……

“The forensic team examined the password lock from before and the results show that the password was likely a was likely a string of numbers,” Chatterbox says, “Leader and Xiao Bai are stuck in the crowd. It’s all on us now.”

Cold Face and Xiao Zhuan nod as their facial expressions become more serious.

“I know what it is!” Xiao Zhuan shouts suddenly.

Chatterbox and Cold Face lift their heads at the same time and look at him in surprise. Xiao Zhuan’s face turns red from nervousness. He points to a few words that he has circled on the paper, “Could the password be……21719! Come look, several numbers appear in the poem: ‘It uses its legs to fly,’ a pair of legs is 2; ‘He was only seven that day,’ is 1 and 7……”

Chatterbox and Cold Face remains quiet.

Cold Face then says, “Continue thinking!”

It’s already 7:00 right now; 7 minutes before the bomb detonates.

“The sky changes colors……” Chatterbox pulls his ears and rubs his cheeks as he thinks, “A gloomy day? Clouds above the boy’s head……is that sitting in a plane? Or climbing a mountain? The person A killed previously was someone who had bad morals and character, could the password be related to some kind of case in the past?”

This reasoning seems to make sense. Cold Face raises his head, “Have we found out what the clown’s identity is?”

“Yes!” an investigator from the room outside comes in, “He told the civil officer at the scene just now that his name is Cao Yang, 38 years-old. Here is his info.”

Chatterbox snatches it and is delighted, “He has a store that sells outdoor equipment. Due to selling bad quality pirated items, customers filed complaints to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. He’s a local ruffian and has had contacts with gang members where they even beat up a customer causing serious wounds!”

_____

“20140721?” Su Mian repeats the numbers that they have sent, “The date of the incident of that injuring others case?”

She lifts her head and looks at Han Chen.

They’ve already squeezed their way down the bridge and are entering the even more crowded area of the underground walkway. Han Chen is leaning against the wall while embracing her. They look at each other. In these brief few minutes, they remain quiet as they continue to make their way through to their destination with difficulty and thinking at the same time.

“No, that’s not the password.”

“That’s not it.”

They both say together.

“Thinking about a date should be the right direction! But it’s another date!” Su Mian’s eyes glisten as she shouts.