please don't believe me

The theater, the performance, the dimly lit seats, and all the surroundings when the shooting occurred reminded Shen Xiuyuan of another place.

When he was "Chris", he sat in the Serrawi theater.

Then the lights dimmed suddenly, the magnificent pipe organ sounded, the huge iron cage clanged to the ground, and "Girl Drinking Afternoon Tea" disappeared.The moment it really disappeared was of course earlier than this, but the appearance of this "emergency program" preceded the system and made Shen Xiuyuan realize that something beyond his expectations had happened.

But this time, the assassin, like a thief, came without warning.

Shen Yuyao's role as an "assassin" is almost uncontroversial, but this is contrary to Shen Xiuyuan's previous observations—unless she was "pierced" after entering the Arc de Triomphe.If this is the case, there is no way to solve the task of "Rapid Wind and Crane", so Shen Xiuyuan feels that the possibility is unlikely.

Shen Xiuyuan was assuming that if Shen Yuyao was indeed not the mastermind, then who might it be?

Comparing the experience of the last failure, it is not difficult for Shen Xiu to come up with the following equation: Shen Ximing is the same target as "The Girl Drinking Afternoon Tea"; The manipulator is someone else.

Sitting behind the boss Chris, the young David watched all this secretly, dissociated from it, and manipulated it at the same time.

Shen Xiuyuan thought, if referring to David's performance, there should be two clues to the mastermind this time: one is that Shen Yuyao can be contacted in daily life, and the other is that he or she was at the scene when the incident happened.

The time difference, the seemingly unrelated people, the secret stubble lurking around, all the actions of the opponent were beyond Shen Xiuyuan's expectation, but he himself was under the "surveillance" of the opponent from the beginning to the end.

Shen Yuyao hadn't woken up yet, so Shen Xiuyuan could only sound out the news first.Du Bai, Zhang Long, and another orderly were the last to contact her. Shen Xiuyuan talked to them separately, and the topics were divided into three parts—Shen Yuyao's performance, their interaction with Shen Yuyao, and whether they might form a group to perjure each other. .

At two o'clock in the morning, Zhang Long and the orderly had finished talking.It cannot be said that there are no flaws, but basically there is no breakthrough.Shen Xiuyuan could only write down the general thoughts and questions first, and wait for Shen Yuyao to wake up before making sure.

After all, two people are more difficult to keep a secret than one.

Under Shen Xiuyuan's signal, the adjutant opened the door and went out, ready to call Du Bai up.Shen Xiuyuan looked at his back, and suddenly flashed in his mind the night "The Girl Drinking Afternoon Tea" was stolen, and he "interrogated" the four observers in the same way.At that time, they were considered to be the closest to the painting and the last to encounter it, so they were the most suspicious.However, who is the real mastermind?

Shen Xiuyuan put his gaze on the door, lost in thought.

Mr. Chris was once so close to the mastermind.When he was interrogating other people, the real murderer was only separated from him.

Under the leadership of the adjutant, Du Bai entered Shen Ximing's bedroom.

The lights in the room illuminated the interior, and the young Colonel Shen was sitting in a chair.He was wearing a loose top with a fleece blanket over his back and over his knees.His face was a little pale, and he didn't seem to be in a good mood, but as soon as Du Bai came in, his eyes were firmly locked on this young man.

He looked at Du Bai a little at a loss, after all, he is just a "young man who has just entered society", but overall he looks relatively calm.

"Sit down." Shen Xiuyuan pointed to the opposite chair.Du Bai sat down according to his words, and Shen Xiuyuan said again: "I really don't look good, I'm not well received, I'm sorry."

Du Bai quickly stood up: "Where is it? It's Colonel...are you injured?"

"Small matter. Don't stand up, sit down." Shen Xiuyuan told him to sit down again, "Your name is Du Bai?"

"Yes."

"Is your father here tonight?"

"No."

"I think you're already prepared for what I'm going to ask you." Shen Xiuyuan cut to the point abruptly, "I heard that you were the first one to go in after the gunshot?"

Du Bai nodded: "Yes."

"Tell me what you saw."

"After the gunshot?" Du Bai's gaze shifted, "Let's think about it... When I rushed in, I saw Miss Shen holding a gun, and then from behind... er, it should be from the side and rear, and knocked her down. Yes. I also snatched her gun and threw it away subconsciously."

Shen Xiuyuan looked at him: "Shen Yuyao is holding a gun?"

Du Bai replied: "Yes."

"How did she hold it?" Shen Xiuyuan pointed beside his index finger: "Let's demonstrate."

Colonel Shen's tone was strong, with an obvious sense of command.Du Bai obviously resisted this, he stared at the other party with a little emotion, and stood up in an angry state.

Because there was suspicion in Colonel Shen's words, no one would be indifferent to unwarranted doubts—unless he really had a problem himself.

Facing Shen Xiuyuan's direction, Du Bai lowered his head halfway, and clasped his hands in a gesture of holding a gun.But he didn't raise his arms all the way, they were at an angle greater than 45 degrees from the horizontal.If Shen Yuyao was standing up and shooting from the second floor, it would not be surprising to aim at such an angle.

Maybe there was a deviation from the actual aiming direction, but Du Bai only glanced at it. This kind of mistake is normal and reasonable.

Shen Xiuyuan's eyes moved from his hands to his face: "Is this aiming?"

Du Bai lowered his hands, but didn't sit down either.He looked at Shen Xiuyuan a little condescendingly—this was an expression of unwillingness to be suppressed—and quickly replied: "I don't know. I just remember that it was probably like this."

"Sit down and relax, young man." Shen Xiuyuan comforted, but he didn't seem to really care about the other party's emotions.He waited for Du Bai to sit down again before he said, "Now let's talk about Shen Yuyao's fainting."

Du Bai looked at him, but said nothing.

Shen Xiuyuan said: "When did you find out that she passed out?"

"She didn't resist me." Du Bai replied, "I mean, when I stopped her, she didn't move. After falling to the ground, I found that she didn't respond. I tried to move her, but she didn't respond I."

"Since when did her eyes close?"

"I didn't see her eyes until I carried her to the door of the box." Du Bai narrowed his eyes, "What do you want to say? Was it possible for her to maintain a clear mind before?"

Shen Xiuyuan asked back: "You think so?"

"No, I don't know." Du Bai leaned forward slightly, "But Colonel Shen, your tone made me think that you were suspicious of me. I must say that this offense made me unable to calm down."

Shen Xiuyuan looked at him, and the other party didn't flinch, which made Shen Xiuyuan feel that he was indeed angry.

"Don't get excited, young man, this is just to confirm the scene, not to doubt what you mean." Shen Xiuyuan said, "I also asked the two people who smoked with you the same question."

lie.Du Bai thought to himself.

Shen Xiuyuan said again: "Let's change the subject now. You were the only one who sat in the box with her last night. Did you notice anything unusual about her?"

At 03:30 in the morning, Du Bai finished his conversation with Colonel Shen and returned to the arranged room.

Shen Xiuyuan leaned back on the chair with his eyes closed, exhaustion and too many thoughts made him unable to figure out what to think.The adjutant approached him and said in a low voice, "Colonel, please rest first."

Shen Xiuyuan opened his eyes: "Is there any sign of Shen Yuyao waking up?"

The adjutant said: "The doctor is on vigil, and there is no news at present."

Shen Xiuyuan stood up slowly—his injury prevented him from moving too fast—and he walked to his bed and ordered: "Wake me up immediately when she wakes up."

At 07:30 in the morning, Du Bai walked out of the guest room and asked to go home.

The alarmed adjutant went downstairs to deal with it: "You can't leave here until the colonel gives the order."

Du Bai frowned and said, "Why?"

The adjutant replied: "No reason."

"Private captivity?" Du Bai stood up from the sofa and looked directly at the adjutant, "Colonel Shen said he didn't doubt me, it seems he lied."

"I don't know what the Colonel is thinking, but I'm sure you can't leave." The adjutant looked at the young man standing opposite him, "Miss Shen hasn't woken up yet, maybe she won't have anything to do with you soon after she wakes up. Now, You gotta stay here, like those two guys smoking with you—they're here too."

"They are soldiers under the colonel, but I am not. I have no need to obey orders." Du Bai looked at him, "but it seems that the colonel intends to enforce it."

The adjutant replied: "Thank you for your understanding."

"Understood?" Du Bai sat back, but still looked up at the adjutant, "I asked you to take my lighter home to report safety, I wonder if this has been done?"

"You asked the right person about this." The adjutant replied, "I can tell you very clearly that it has been given to your mother. She knows very well where you have gone and understands that you are safe now."

"Really?" Du Bai smiled, "The lighter is indeed a sign of safety, but any 'safety' has a relative time limit, doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you don't go home when it's time to go home, report the safety of the first item." Du Bai replied, "If you don't come home at the second time, you should have the second item, right?"

The adjutant looked at his watch subconsciously.

"You are looking at your watch, you guessed the 'second time point' I set, right?" Du Bai put his hands on his lap, "Then you guess again, what should the second item be?"

At [-]:[-], Du Bai walked out from the gate of Shen residence.

The Shen family's car was waiting outside the door, it was going to take Du Bai home.There was also a trustworthy non-commissioned officer following him, who was personally appointed by Colonel Shen after listening to the adjutant's brief report.Du Bai could go home, but nowhere else, and this sergeant was being used to ensure that.If necessary, Du Bai must leave immediately; if not necessary, this noncommissioned officer will leave on time according to the order.

Du Bai walked through the vestibule, through the small door for people to walk through, stood still in front of the car door, and looked back at Shen's house.

Then he got in the car, and the black car drove out of the courtyard of Shen's house, into the early morning mist.