A Bad-Hearted Doctor is Unbearably Beautiful - Chapter 40

As Lu Xiao clicked the link in the email, Shen Zhao held his breath. Both men stared at the screen, their eyes locked on the glowing display.

While his eyes were on the monitor, Shen Zhao’s heart was in a state of constant, gnawing unease. Recent events felt far too calculated, as if they were specifically targeted at him. The sudden influx of cases and clues felt like a series of snares, tightening around him one by one.

The information was pointed and unmistakable: Dongxi Town, the USB password, and now… Thirteen.

The old memories and scars he had buried deep in his personal “basement” were being ruthlessly peeled back, layer by layer, exposing the unhealed flesh beneath.

The moment the link opened, a prompt popped up in the center of the webpage: “Enter the name of the Captain of the Shanghai Criminal Investigation Bureau to unlock the livestream.”

Lu Xiao froze. This is insane, he thought. This criminal was openly and brazenly taunting him.

He typed his name into the password field and clicked “Confirm.”

When the video feed finally loaded, both men widened their eyes—but the kidnapper was nowhere to be seen.

The scene was quiet and suffocating, completely unlike the typical, bone-chilling chaos of a kidnapping. There was no villain on camera, only a room bathed in blindingly bright white light. The walls visible in the frame had no windows; they were merely featureless, sterile white surfaces.

The cold lighting and the heavy silence made the overall image feel incredibly oppressive and eerie.

In the center of the room sat a single white bed. A child, roughly ten years old and dressed in grey-blue striped hospital pajamas, lay upon it. His hands, feet, and torso were pinned down by several metal restraints attached to the bed frame.

Multiple wires of varying thickness and color trailed from beneath his sleeves and pant legs. One end of these wires was presumably attached to the boy’s skin; the other end disappeared off-camera to an unknown source.

The camera angle was a semi-aerial view, showing half the room and the specialized bed holding the boy. To anyone else, it was a bed, but because of its height and build, it looked more like an operating table.

CRASH.

The glass water cup in Shen Zhao’s hand hit the floor, shattering into a spray of jagged shards.

This scene was a near-perfect recreation of his life before the age of thirteen. The nightmare days at the welfare home, the endless cycle of test subjects, the laboratories, and those cold, metallic operating tables… these images had formed the backbone of his memory for as long as he could remember.

Those nightmarish days had ended in a dramatic, theatrical fire. Shen Zhao had believed that everyone involved had perished in the flames—or at the very least, that the mastermind had vanished into obscurity.

But it seemed these people had no intention of letting him go. The highly specific numbering, the unique setting—it was a microcosm of his own childhood.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Xiao asked, noticing Shen Zhao’s hollow, vacant expression.

“Nothing… it’s just that this setup looks a bit like an operating table,” Shen Zhao exhaled softly.

“What is this? There’s just a kid—where’s the kidnapper?” Lu Xiao stared at the screen, his mind flooded with questions.

The link appeared to support real-time audio. Lu Xiao tried shouting into the microphone several times, but there was no response. When he turned around, he saw Shen Zhao bowing his head, attempting to pick up the broken glass with his bare hands.

“If it’s broken, it’s broken! We can sweep it up later. Don’t use your hands!” Lu Xiao rushed over to stop him.

But Shen Zhao’s index finger was already bleeding.

In that moment, Shen Zhao’s emotional walls finally crumbled. For the first time, he took the initiative to grab Lu Xiao’s hand. His fingers were ice-cold.

“What is this… an anonymous kidnapping?” When Shen Zhao looked up, his eyes were bloodshot, and his eyelids had turned a raw, bruised red.

Lu Xiao felt Shen Zhao’s condition worsening by the second. He squeezed the doctor’s hand firmly. “It looks like one, but we don’t know the motive yet. I’m heading back to the station to open an investigation immediately. You stay here and recover. Call me if anything happens!”

Lu Xiao pulled Shen Zhao’s hand toward him. Mimicking the way he had seen the doctor bandage others, he gently treated the cut and applied a Band-Aid.

Even after finished, he was still worried. Looking at Shen Zhao’s dazed state, he added, “Remember to take your medicine. I’ll come check on you later.”

Shen Zhao barely registered Lu Xiao’s words. His mind was entirely consumed by the video; the imagery was too uncanny. The boy in the video and his own younger self from years ago were beginning to blur together.

His mind went blank; the room seemed to tilt and spin. The email appeared to be a direct provocation to Lu Xiao, but both the subject line and the visuals were a calculated strike intended to force Shen Zhao to face his past.

After a long moment of mental stasis, Shen Zhao realized Lu Xiao had already left. He looked down at the Band-Aid on his finger and let out a faint, weary smile.

He was truly exhausted. How much longer would he have to be suffocated by the weight of the past? The things he couldn’t face, the people he couldn’t look in the eye, the uncontrollable pain… it all needed a resolution.

Shen Zhao took out his phone and dialed Lu Xiao’s number.

“Lu Xiao… can you take me with you?”

Lu Xiao hadn’t driven very far. The moment he heard Shen Zhao’s voice on the phone, he slammed on his left turn signal and performed a U-turn at the nearest intersection.

“Bundle up, you still have a fever. Are you sure you’re okay?” Lu Xiao looked at Shen Zhao’s flushed cheeks and couldn’t help but worry. He draped his own jacket over Shen Zhao’s shoulders.

Shen Zhao shook his head. “Just go.”

“Alright. Then you’re coming with me to the station. I’ll go pull the car around—stay inside the main gate where it’s warm, and don’t come out until I get there!”

“Is your car fixed?”

“Yeah! I had the shop replace the entire interior. It’s spotless!” Lu Xiao grinned as he ran toward his refurbished black Raptor.

The Maybach was nice, but it wasn’t built for a scrap.