Qi Xia immediately took out a lighter from his pocket, which was borrowed from "Xiao Xiao."

He lit the lighter and reached out his hand.

Officer Li was stunned, then covered the flame with his blood-stained left hand and leaned forward to light his cigarette.

After a moment, he patted Qi Xia's hand.

"Phew—"

A thick smoke was exhaled, and Officer Li seemed to relax a bit.

"It feels good." Officer Li smiled. "Now I'm not afraid of dying."

"What do you want to tell me?" Qi Xia sat across from Officer Li, looking at him with a serious expression.

Officer Li didn't answer, but instead asked, "Qi Xia, how did Tian Tian and Qiao Jiajin die?"

"They were killed." Qi Xia answered without hesitation. "Yesterday afternoon, the owner of this lighter killed them."

After saying that, he handed the lighter to Officer Li.

Officer Li looked down at the green plastic lighter, his eyes filled with disappointment.

"Is that so..." He looked up and said to Qi Xia, "When that person killed Qiao Jiajin and Tian Tian... was there anything strange?"

"Something strange?"

Qi Xia rubbed his chin and organized his thoughts. There were too many "strange things" to mention. He briefly summarized what happened yesterday afternoon and told Officer Li everything.

Including the strange figure of the woman and the puzzling poisoning.

Finally, Qi Xia added, "By the way, before and after she killed someone, I heard two "bell sounds"."

After hearing this, Officer Li raised his cigarette, trembling, and took another deep breath. After exhaling a cloud of smoke, he said, "When the bell sound rang, I happened to be in front of that huge screen."

"What?"

"That huge bell sound rang in my ears, making me think the whole world was exploding." Officer Li joked, "Do you know what was written on the screen?"

Only then did Qi Xia realize that there were inexplicable words displayed on the screen, so he asked, "What was written?"

"I heard the echo of "shifting blame"." Officer Li said word by word.

"Shifting blame?" Qi Xia muttered to himself, thinking, "It was "inviting disaster" before, and now it's "shifting blame"..."

Officer Li handed the last cigarette in the pack to Qi Xia. "Want one?"

Qi Xia nodded and took the cigarette from his hand.

Officer Li lit it for him with his left hand.

"I knew you smoked." Officer Li held the cigarette and threw the lighter to Qi Xia. "Smoking is most suitable when you're thinking, right?"

Qi Xia didn't answer. After receiving the lighter, he took a puff of the slightly moldy cigarette.

After being left for a long time, the taste of the cigarette became spicy, and this one was no exception.

"I haven't smoked for many years." Qi Xia said.

"Yeah, quitting smoking is good." Officer Li nodded, "Quitting smoking is good for your health..."

After he finished speaking, he paused, and the two fell into silence.

The two of them slowly exhaled smoke, like classmates who used to hide in the restroom to smoke.

"What about the second bell sound?" Qi Xia asked, "Did any new words appear on the screen?"

"No." Officer Li shook his head while holding the cigarette, "When the second bell sound rang, those words disappeared."

Qi Xia stared at the cigarette in his hand, feeling that things were still somewhat strange.

"What does this mean?" Qi Xia asked, "That bell is not a "funeral bell" at all, but some other kind of warning."

"I leave this question for you to ponder." Officer Li leaned against the wall helplessly, smoking the last cigarette in his hand, "I just told you what I saw. You have a better chance of surviving here than I do."

"Why?" Qi Xia asked unwillingly, "Why can't you survive here?"

"Because I'm a police officer." Officer Li smiled and raised his broken right arm, "I lost this hand while trying to save Lawyer Zhang. I could have completely ignored her, but I couldn't stand by and watch someone die. But you're different... Qi Xia, you have no burden."

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Qi Xia seemed to understand what Officer Li meant.

This man wanted to save everyone from the beginning.

His principles remained unchanged.

These principles would be the cause of his death here.

Qi Xia nodded heavily and asked again, "You didn't leave me alone just to tell me these things, right?"

"Yes..." Officer Li's face became even paler. "Qi Xia, I have a secret in my heart that I haven't told anyone until now. I don't want to take this secret to my grave, so I have to say it before I die."

"Then why me?" Qi Xia asked in confusion, "You could have told Lawyer Zhang."

"Because you and "him" are the same, both liars..." Officer Li smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Although you don't look alike at all, if you think about it carefully, it seems to be a predestined arrangement."Upon hearing this, Qi Xia took a deep puff of his cigarette and said, "Go ahead, I'm listening."

Officer Li stared blankly ahead, slowly revealing his 'real' story.

For a full ten minutes, Qi Xia quietly listened to him recount everything.

Qi Xia's eyes flickered incessantly, as if he had heard something utterly unbelievable.

"Officer Li... So you told such a big lie in the first game?" He asked, his lips trembling slightly.

Qi Xia had found Officer Li's account somewhat strange at the time, but he hadn't expected it to be a colossal lie from start to finish.

"Yes." Officer Li's eyes turned red instantly, "It's the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life..."

"Just a 'mistake'?" Qi Xia stood up, frowning, his previous admiration for Officer Li gone, "You were in cahoots with that liar, always trying to help him escape, but you lied to us saying you were on stakeout...? Although I'm not exactly a model citizen, the thing I despise most in my life is corrupt cops."

Officer Li tilted his head back, and hot tears slid down his face.

"Yes, a corrupt cop..." Officer Li gave a bitter smile, "When I came here, I wasn't surprised, because I thought this was my 'judgment'..."

"What..."

Qi Xia's brows furrowed, he looked coldly at Officer Li.

"Maybe if I die here, it will be my atonement..."

Just as Officer Li's words fell, a loud bell rang in the distance.

"Dong!!"

Qi Xia turned his head to look outside the room, his face full of shock.

Why did the bell ring again?

What was written on the screen this time?

Officer Li, as if he hadn't heard anything, reached out with trembling hands to pick up the empty cigarette pack from the ground, then took out a cigarette from it.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a metal lighter.

Under Qi Xia's incredulous gaze, Officer Li relit the cigarette, a relieved smile on his face.

Then he slowly lowered his head, seemingly murmuring to himself, "Qi Xia, my death will be my atonement..."

Qi Xia was taken aback, looking at the impeccably clean cigarette in his mouth, he felt the situation was very strange.

"Hey... Li Shangwu, don't die yet..." Qi Xia rushed to Officer Li's side and knelt down, only to find that he had stopped breathing.

The cigarette was still in his mouth, and in his hand, he held a somewhat old ZIPPO lighter.