Hualian AU ~ 12. May All Taboos Be Shattered

Part 5

Another long part! Have some more popcorn...

The lights went off, but the cheering kept ringing on his ears; Xie Lian could hardly breathe, but he felt good. He wasn't just feeling excited, or happy; that was pure transcendence. Somebody walked across him to the front of the stage, and he heard, 

"That was one rap battle on the main stage of Mount Tong'Lu Festival ladies and gentleman!" 

More cheering. The presenter then tapped Xie Lian on the shoulder, "Hey, go inside, have a beer". 

Xie Lian turned around; WhiteNoFace was surrounded by several policemen, and The Guoshi. He hadn't thought what'd happen to WhiteNoFace after the battle, and it startled him seeing him there. And why was he being detained anyway?  

He run to The Guoshi's side, and heard, "... you later rely on in court. Anything you say may be given in evidence". He widened his eyes; The Guoshi looked at him and smiled, showing his badge: NCA Inspector Mei Nianqing. 

"NCA as in cybercrime? What...?", Xie Lian blurted out. 

"Correct. He's the head of Wu'Yong, a hacking group responsible for cyber attacks on big companies. data theft, ramsonware, you name it. Cyberbullying was just a hobby really". The Guoshi seemed to remember something, then said, "Oh yes, you don't know his identity do you, Xie Lian?" 

"What? Is he someone I actually know?" 

The Guoshi yanked WhiteNoFace's white mask. Xie Lian's breath hitched. It was Jun Wu. 

"FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!", Feng Xin blurted out; Mu Qing and Xie Lian were just speechless. Jun Wu just chuckled. 

"Guoshi, can't you do better than this Scooby-Doo act of taking my mask off? So dated!" 

The Guoshi turned to Xie Lian, "You're shocked, I know. Listen to this: he licensed some cyberforensics tool to the police, which didn't expose him –" 

"You stole Jian Lan's project, you fucker, I'm gonna fucking kill you!", Feng Xin shouted, lunging at Jun Wu; Mu Qin held him firmly by both arms while he tried to break loose. 

"... due to a glitch", The Guoshi went on, "Now, we've used another one, Hong Jing. It showed your two faces crystal clear", he concluded. It seemed he was on this case for a long, long time. 

Jun Wu just remained silent, his expression smiling defiantly; he looked like he couldn't be bothered to reply, but of course he was using his right to remain silent. 

"Ling Wen knew some of it, I guess", Xie Lian said, "and kept quiet in exchange for his silence. And I would say", he paused, "Qi Rong is his man for dirty jobs". 

"We got them", The Guoshi smiled, "Xie Lian, you sure you don't want to join NCA?" He paused, and said, "Now, for what I gather, he did online bullying and harassing to you, right? Why didn't you go to the police at the time, too bad we don't have proof now –" 

"Actually Guoshi, we do have proof", Mu Qing stepped in, "Xie Lian's social media accounts were recovered", he said, with a smug smile.  

Jun Wu's face dropped; he obviously didn't expect this cherry on top of the cake! 

Feng Xin pffted a laugh, and said, "That's fucking amazing, and all this because of Hua Cheng –" 

Then Xie Lian snapped out of it. "SAN LANG!"

He turned around, looking for Hua Cheng; the festival's closing act had started, the main stage filled with blinding lights, but he glimpsed a red t-shirt on the other side. His heart started beating faster,