A Bad-Hearted Doctor is Unbearably Beautiful - Chapter 42

Lin Xue covered her eyes, unable to look at the screen. She slumped onto the desk, her voice cracking as she cried out, “Stop it! Make it stop!”

Zhang Zhen let out a heavy breath, his eyes fixed on the monitor. He looked as though he wanted to reach through the screen and tear the sadistic man behind it limb from limb.

“Has it stopped?” Lin Xue asked, her voice raspy.

“No…”

The veins in Lu Xiao’s forehead and arms bulged. The sheer discomfort made his pulse throb violently in his temples, but he forced himself to watch, refusing to let his eyes turn away.

Beside him, Shen Zhao gripped his left arm with his right hand, his body wracked by intense phantom pains. His fingertips trembled, and his entire frame felt numb with shock.

The third needle…

The room’s collective emotion shifted from initial fury and shock to a deathly, suffocating silence. Every needle that pierced the boy’s skin was a physical assault on the child and a psychological execution for the “audience.”

“Captain Lu, are you watching?” the phantom voice murmured.

“We can talk about whatever you want,” Lu Xiao said, his voice trembling with a hint of desperation. “Just stop hurting the child, alright?”

The kidnapper let out a soft, playful chuckle. “Relax, he won’t die. I’ve been thoughtful enough to set up life-monitoring equipment. This is merely the appetizer. There are plenty of programs to follow—I hope you all enjoy the show.”

“Who are you!” Shen Zhao spat, staring at the screen with eyes that looked ready to bleed.

The man replied in a doting, cooing tone, “No need to be in such a hurry. My play has only just begun.”

Lu Xiao felt like he was being driven to the brink of insanity. With no outlet for his rage, he paced circles in the conference room, scratching at his head in frustration. “What is it you want? State your objective!”

The man’s voice turned lazy and dismissive. He let out a sigh of contempt. “Lu Xiao, you really are… quite unrefined. An eyesore, really. Forget it, I won’t keep you company for now. Enjoy the view. Oh, a small tip: the next little program starts in two hours.”

A burst of manic laughter followed, leaving the air in the conference room at a standstill.

“F*ck!!”

Zhang Zhen rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Captain Lu, he’s cut the audio feed.”

“Who the hell is he? He sounds like he knows you and Dr. Shen—well enough to be personal,” Old Zhou muttered, looking at Lu Xiao.

Both Lu Xiao and Shen Zhao looked deathly ill.

“That voice… it was so yandere. It gave me goosebumps,” Lin Xue whispered, clutching her cup of hot water.

Lu Xiao glanced at Shen Zhao. The kidnapper’s attitude toward the doctor was disturbingly intimate. Shen Zhao’s current state only confirmed that he was harboring a deep well of secrets. Whatever history Shen Zhao was hiding, Lu Xiao couldn’t let him be manipulated by these people any longer.

“Shen Zhao.”

Lu Xiao called his name solemnly. Shen Zhao was bundled up, his face pale and flushed from the fever. He looked devastatingly fragile.

The entire room sensed the shift in atmosphere between them.

Shen Zhao finally tore his eyes away from the screen. “Yes.”

Lu Xiao looked at him, then immediately turned to the rest of the team. “Effective immediately, Shen Zhao is joining our Special Investigation Task Force. He will assist Old Zhou in analyzing the case details.”

A moment of silence followed, followed by a wave of hushed murmurs.

Shen Zhao froze. He saw Lu Xiao’s “trust me” expression and gave a slow nod. “Understood.”

“What? A doctor joining a criminal investigation? Is that legal? Do we need to file a report?” Old Zhou asked.

“Report my ass! If I wait to file every damn report, the perpetrator will be long gone! By the time it’s approved, that kid will have been tortured to death!” Lu Xiao snapped. “Besides, Shen Zhao is personally linked to this case. That kidnapper is clearly coming for the both of us. I’ll take responsibility for the protocol. The task force for this live-streamed kidnapping is now officially formed. Code name: Ward No. 13.”

Lu Xiao scanned the room, his gaze heavy enough to suppress any further doubt. “You have your orders! Get to work! Everyone back in this room in two hours!”

As the team dispersed, the wall clock ticked away. On screen, the mechanical arm had ceased its torture for the moment. The boy on the bed had fainted from the pain, tears still staining his cheeks.

Shen Zhao remained fixed in front of the screen, his eyes red and his hand clutching his chest as if in physical agony.

Lu Xiao grabbed his wrist, his voice low and firm. “I need you focused for this case. Calm down, Shen Zhao.”

Shen Zhao’s fingers dug into the fabric of his shirt over his heart—a gesture so forceful it looked like he was trying to claw his own heart out.

Lu Xiao reached out and gently but firmly pried Shen Zhao’s hand away. “He’s using that child to break us. You cannot lose your cool. I need you to help me parse through this.”

“I know,” Shen Zhao whispered.

“Then stop looking at the screen. If you can’t handle it, close your eyes!”

“I can’t…”

Suddenly, his vision was obscured. Lu Xiao had placed his palm over Shen Zhao’s eyes, his arm hovering in the air.

“Follow my lead. Adjust your breathing. Come on.”

Shen Zhao took several slow, ragged breaths. Once he seemed somewhat stable, Lu Xiao turned him around to face him. He looked into Shen Zhao’s eyes and gave a gentle, encouraging smile.

“Good. Now, I’m going to ask you a few questions. Answer me calmly, and don’t hide anything. Do it for that child, okay?”

Shen Zhao nodded.

“First question: What does ‘No. 13’ mean?”

Shen Zhao’s body gave a slight shudder; his breathing quickened instantly.

Lu Xiao rested a hand gently on Shen Zhao’s shoulder. “Take your time. It’s okay. Trust me.”

“It was… my name. My name at the welfare home.”

A flash of shock crossed Lu Xiao’s eyes, but he masked it quickly. “Good. Can we move to the second question?”

Shen Zhao inclined his head.

“The setting in the video—it looks familiar to you, doesn’t it? What does it remind you of?”

Shen Zhao instinctively ran his fingers through his hair, pulling it back. “The children at the welfare home… every few weeks, each of us would lie on a bed like that… to undergo different ‘experiments’ and ‘treatments.'”

“What? What kind of experiments?”

Shen Zhao’s fists clenched until his nails bit into his palms. His body began to sway, and suddenly, he lost his footing, collapsing forward into Lu Xiao.

His voice broke into a sob. “I… I don’t know what their goal was. I took so many different medications… they injected so many things into me. I had so many strange surgeries. I… I don’t remember…”

Lu Xiao couldn’t bear to hear any more. He wrapped his arms tightly around Shen Zhao, pulling him into his embrace, and began to rhythmically stroke his back.

“It’s okay… it’s over now…”

He finally understood the depth of the trauma Shen Zhao was carrying. He finally understood what the restraint, the conflict, and the coldness on that beautiful face truly represented.