My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

Jia Ming'en had no idea how he landed himself in such a situation, he pondered with a bowl of ramen in front of him plus a scowling Xu Binchen.

Was it out of guilt? Or was he seeking some kind of console? 

In one way or another, Si Zhening was kinda related to him. He's the one who found out first about the man's custom order of the human skin mask yet he deliberately hid it from the police, even when he knew that it could be crucial information for them. Not only that, he almost begged Jia Renyu—that bastard of a father—to protect Si Zhening. 

Almost. 

Yet in the end, his effort was deemed futile because soon after, Si Zhening's wanted poster was spread all over the country. Everyone knew him as a kidnapper, criminal and fugitive. Yet Jia Ming'en was the only one who stupidly thought that there must be some kind of misunderstanding here.

Deep inside his heart, he resisted the knowledge of Si Zhening being the serial killer. 

But when Jiang Jinyan went missing, he started to waver.

Was he…right? Could he confidently say that he knew what kind of person Si Zhening was? What if everyone was right but he's the one who was blinded by the perception he had of him? 

He pondered for days and nights as he waited in front of Si Zhening's apartment, hoping for some ludicrous miracle to happen where he could catch him and demanded answers for the questions that had almost driven him insane.

He didn't want to admit that what he wanted to hear the most was Si Zhening's denial. 

Denial that…he was involved in everything.

Taking Xu Binchen and his colleagues to places where Si Zhening might be was the last form of conscience he could muster. In the end, whether Si Zhening was caught or not, he would hand everything over to fate.

Jia Ming'en didn't know why either, although he had done his best, there was still a sliver of guilt deep inside his heart. All of a sudden, he recalled Jiang Jinyan's girlfriend and became curious how the girl was faring during her man's disappearance.

Thus without him realizing, he had made a circle around the city and found his way to their apartment building.

Laughing at himself, he shook his head out of exasperation. What result did he hope will come out of meeting Shi Nian? That she wouldn't blame Si Zhening for what had happened to Jiang Jinyan? That she, too, would believe that Si Zhening wouldn't do such an atrocious act just like he did?

Jia Ming'en had imagined countless possibilities yet never in his wildest dream had he expected that he would witness a kidnapping act with his own eyes!

Wait…wait a moment. He took off his glasses and narrowed his eyes. The scene in front of him remained the same. Wasn't that Jiang Jinyan's girlfriend—Shi Nian?!

And who was that dude who carried the unconscious Shi Nian?!

Jia Ming'en hid behind the tree trunk and pretended to merge into the background as his eyes followed as a strange man carried Shi Nian to the car and drove away. 

Stunned, he let out a blank laugh. What kind of shitty coincidence was this?!

He wasn't given any time to react when all of a sudden, a piercing scream broke through the roof and chaos ensued in the apartment building. "Help! Someone has been attacked!"

Jia Ming'en pulled out his phone in reflex and called 120 for the ambulance. Of course, he didn't have any intention to involve himself in case he was suspected to be the perpetrator. After he finished the call, he stared toward the direction where the car disappeared to and after pondering briefly, decided to trail after them.

As he raced along the road, he fumbled through his phone for Xu Binchen's number. Drrr…Drrr… no one answered. He called again for the second time and the man finally answered. "What do you want?!" From the background, he could hear the ruckus of people discussing Shi Nian's disappearance case.

With his voice muffled, Jia Ming'en stated his location. "I think you might want to come here if you want to know where Jiang Jinyan's girlfriend is, Detective Xu."

Jia Ming'en drove for almost an hour until the car he was trailing left the bustling Capital City behind and entered the expressway where both sides of the road were covered by an expanse of wild vegetation and a few farmhouses. Occasionally, horses and cattles were seen gnawing on grass in leisure. 

The car proceeded to make a turn to the rest area. He knew better than to reveal himself just like that. Thus he opted to stay in the roadside ramen stall a few hundreds meters away as he kept an eye on the situation.

Not surprisingly, Xu Binchen soon arrived driving his sports car.

Jia Ming'en had only finished half of his spicy hot ramen. Noticing Xu Binchen's car, he frowned, annoyed. "Do you think we're not eye-catching enough? Don't you have a humbler car than a fucking Lamborghini?!" However, after taking a proper look on Xu Binchen's face, he was taken aback. "Are you sick?"

Xu Binchen coughed. His face was terrifyingly pale and cold sweat dampened his hair. "No."

"But you don't look—"

"Shut it." The man grunted and sat opposite him, his eyes razor sharp as if itching to slice Jia Ming'en to pieces. "How do you know about Shi Nian? What are you doing around the apartment building?"

Jia Ming'en didn't feel obliged to explain himself. "Just a series of coincidences." He answered vaguely and instead, mentioned the car's plate number. "You may want to check it yourself."

"Who?" Xu Binchen tightened his jaw, almost enraged to the boiling point. "Who took her?"

"How should I know?" Jia Ming'en scoffed. "Isn't that the police's job to find out about it? Anyway, I must say that your apartment building's security is truly shitty. No one guarded the back door and a shady person could even go in and out freely! Have you checked the CCTV around the area?"

"All of them are down right at that precise moment and there's no eye witness either." Xu Binchen closed his eyes and breathed deeply, apparently having difficulties controlling his own emotions. Jia Ming'en had felt it back when he gathered with them for the first time. This man…wasn't he overly concerned about Shi Nian and Jiang Jinyan's matter?

Well, he lowered his sight, regardless of what had happened between the three of them, it didn't have anything to do with him.

Jia Ming'en felt like he had become such a Samaritan lately. Sighing, he stood up. "I have told you everything I know. Now that you're already here, I will take my leave."

Xu Binchen nodded in agreement and they exited the ramen stall together. Jia Ming'en wasn't worried that the kidnapper would escape because the rest area only had one way in and out. As long Xu Binchen kept an eye, he would be able to react swiftly as soon as they moved.

"Bye, then." Jia Ming'en put on his glove and waved. "You—" He turned sideways and intended to bid farewell when Xu Binchen suddenly staggered, bent over and coughed out a mouthful of dark, brownish blood.

Shocked, Jia Ming'en went to grab his arm. 

Xu Binchen panted heavily, a frown on his face as he endured the pain on his stomach. "I…I am fine—"

"That's it." Jia Ming'en cut him off. "You're going to the hospital."

"There's no need." Xu Binchen yanked his arm away. However, he was currently weakened and Jia Ming'en's strength couldn't be underestimated either. In the end, the act failed and Xu Binchen found himself stumbled on his steps, his phone slipping out of his coat pocket, crashed to the rocky ground and stepped by his own foot, its screen cracking to pieces.

...It was dead for sure, alright.

Jia Ming'en sighed deeply and snatched the car key from Xu Binchen's palm.

The man reacted in shock. "Hey!"

Unlocking the car, Jia Ming'en didn't give Xu Binchen any time to struggle as he proceeded to push him to the passenger seat and sat on the driver seat himself. 

"What are you doing?" Xu Binchen scowled. He gritted his teeth when the pain attacked again, this time it was more severe than ever before. The torment was so intense that he couldn't resist a groan. Fortunately, his high resistance to pain refrained him from losing consciousness. However, it was only a matter of time until he wouldn't be able to endure any longer. "Get away…"

Jia Ming'en ignored him and started the car. 

When he glanced at Xu Binchen, the man had entered a delirious state. He looked like a miserable Labrador who persisted in chasing after the person who had taken his owner away. Even until his last breath, he wouldn't back down without a fight.

Jia Ming'en clicked his tongue and patted Xu Binchen's cheek twice, hard. "Hey, give me your colleague's number. Anyone. Hurry!"

He practically squeezed the answer out of a barely conscious man. What mattered the most was that he was able to obtain it in the end. Coincidentally, the kidnapper's car drove out of the rest area. Jia Ming'en shifted the gear stick, his eyes narrowed sharply.

Sighing, he told himself, consider this his last act of generosity. After this, he wouldn't get himself involved again no matter what happened.

.

.

.

A/N: Are you sure you won't get involved anymore, Ming'en? Hehehe...

It's Christmas Eve tomorrow and I will give a mass release on 10 pm GMT+8 as always~ MDG's main story will end in less than ten chapters, are you ready?