Ding Wei, who must have been handling things in the kitchen area until just now, approached Luo Jian. "What would be this low probability that Mr. Xu survived?"

The topic seemed to be on Wenjie's mind, and not just his. Luo looked back at the door the student was closing. "Sit down for now. You guys just had breakfast?"

Xiao Dao nodded. "Oh, would you like something to drink?" He went to get the water jug, but Wenjie was faster. 

Finally, they all sat at the table in the living room. 

"The probability is 1 percent." Captain Luo remained silent for a moment. "And that number is partly based on my gut feeling. I understand it's stuck with you guys. It was too easy."

Wenjie leaned forward slightly. His posture looked much more tense to Luo Jian. Apart from that, the young man was very pale. "Then you think it's conceivable that he's alive?"

"At the office, I'm just pretty much alone on this. The case is closed and I have no evidence, with which to convince Chief Zhao to investigate. And you two are not going to take this into your hands right now. Understood?"

Ding Wei lowered his head in shame, while Wenjie pressed his lips together. Luo Jian put a hand on his shoulder. "Your recovery should  be your priority. I've also talked to your father about the matter. He will keep his eyes open and inform me immediately if he notices anything."

"But Captain Luo. I," Wenjie put in.

"He has seen several people who might have been Mr. Xu," Xiao Dao blurted out. 

Startled, Luo Jian withdrew his hand. "When, in which context?"

The beginnings of a smile showed on Wenjie's features. "You're not even asking if I could have imagined it."

"Should I?" Concerned, he eyed the young man. Of course, it was conceivable that it was an aftereffect. But as for Xu Zhengqing, Luo Jian preferred to be sure. It seemed wiser to him, to be overcautious in this regard and follow up on every clue, however unlikely it was. 

"We went to the hospital yesterday. The doctor said the poison was definitely out of his blood. He suspected a post-traumatic thing there."

"Post-traumatic stress syndrome," Wenjie corrected with a wry grin that faded as quickly as it had come. "For the most part, I've seen him around the university, or from the window of a lecture hall. When I followed up and asked the technical service, to let me look at the video surveillance recording, it turned out that some of the people were not Xu Zhengqing and I really just imagined, it was him because of similar hairstyle and clothing from behind. But there was also a case where the person must have been in the blind spot of the cameras."

Luo Jian reached for the water glass and took a deep sip. Then he turned to Ding Wei. "You're driving him to university and work, I hear."

"Yes." Worry lines formed between his eyebrows. "But I didn't see anything because I always park at the front entrance."

"And I saw the person on the other side of the university campus," Wenjie added. 

"Mr. Xu knows my license plate number. After I didn't change it, I guess if he's really still alive, he won't approach my range," Xiao Dao said. 

Luo Jian thought hard. "Assuming he was, what does he expect to gain from this? Shouldn't it be convenient for him if we think he's dead? And what about the cases where you didn't see him near the university?" 

Wenjie chirped restlessly with his fingers at the zipper of his jacket. "He wasn't here," he muttered. "There were' no signs of forced entry on the door. And when Ding Wei came up last night, he didn't find anything either. It's just." He swallowed before meeting Captain Luo's gaze. "I thought he was here, in the apartment." 

"Have you guys been up all night?" 

The student shook his head. "Captain Luo, there's something I haven't told you. I'm afraid it's related to the nightmares and flashbacks, so I guess it's the trigger."

Luo Jian gently squeezed his shoulder again, intending to encourage him to keep talking. He suspected that Wenjie wanted to tell him what Ding Wei had only rudimentarily talked about in the hospital. Xu Zhengqing had done something to the student that was so bad, that it was hard for him to tell him about it. 

"I don't know, how long I had been locked in the basement room, when Xu Zhengqing brought me a wonton soup, the one from Jinbao Street. I didn't want to upset him, so I ate it even though I had a bad feeling about it. Also, why would he just bring me my favorite soup like that? I was even more worried about how he knew that I liked the soup best at the restaurant on Jinbao Street."

"He put something in your soup," Captain Luo concluded. 

Wenjie nodded. He clenched his hands into fists.

Luo Jian didn't miss the fact, that he was growing increasingly pale. "You don't have to force yourself to talk about it if you can't," he complied. 

"No. I have to tell you. If Xu Zhengqing is still alive, he will carry out his threat. And what he hopes to achieve is simple. He wants to drive me mad, make sure no one believes me, and keep me isolated."

"Wenjie," Luo Jian gently patted him on the shoulder. "Even if it's symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome, I wouldn't leave you alone with it. Neither would your father and friends. There is support you can get in this case."

"I know, but, I want to do this on my own. I don't want the label mentally ill."

"He's so incorrigible," Xiao Dao grumbled to himself. "Captain Luo, I want to help him. But I don't know how. Do you know anyone I could go to who can give me professional advice on what to consider when dealing with traumatized people?"

"That's completely over the top Dao Dao." Wenjie kicked Xiao Dao in the shin under the table, causing him to contort his face. 

Luo Jian watched the spectacle between the two partly skeptical, partly amused. Ding Wei seemed serious about wanting to redeem himself. Thus Luo Jian took out his wallet from his coat pocket and pulled out a business card. "On duty, police officers are also regularly exposed to stressful events. We have a therapist on staff who is specially trained to deal with this. You can both talk to her." His gaze slid to Wenjie. "You got involved in this because we didn't arrest Ding Shenghuo immediately during the Water Lily case. If you decide to talk to Doctor Wen, you won't incur any costs, nor will you get an entry in your medical record." 

Ding Wei immediately reached for the card, while Wenjie just stared holes into the table with an expressionless expression. "Xu Zhengqing gave me knockout drops," he said out of the blue. "I don't know what happened next. I totally blacked out. Xu Zhengqing threatened to repeat what he did if I didn't obey. Without the use of knockout drops."

to be continued...