Chapter 146 - 144: He Doesn’t Have You in His Heart, Either
Jiang Li gazed at the person in the cage. From the sound of her voice, it had to be Kong Zhen.
A hoarse laugh rang out as he spun the knife in his hand. "He Ming... he’ll be with me forever."
After speaking, his expression turned vicious. He grabbed a nearby hammer and slammed it against the cage. The deafening CLANG made the person inside recoil, their pupils contracting in sheer terror as they stared speechlessly at their tormentor.
Jiang Li watched Kong Zhen, who had been tortured so badly she barely looked human, and her heart ached. But in this state, she was completely powerless to break through the dream’s constraints.
As the dagger in the torturer’s hand neared Kong Zhen, Jiang Li’s own heart was in her throat. ’A coagulation disorder... That could actually kill her, and in such a painful way.’
Jiang Li watched as the tip of the blade pierced Kong Zhen’s skin. DRIP. A bead of blood fell, followed by another, and another.
The man picked up something and placed it directly under the dripping blood.
The moment Kong Zhen saw the object, she froze. "What is this?"
A laugh rumbled in the man’s throat. "Heh heh heh... you don’t recognize it?
This is... his heart!"
His gaze was one of crazed obsession as he stared at the object within the container, reaching out to caress it.
"Even as he was dying, he was still being stubborn, saying he had you in his heart. HAHAHAHA! So I wanted to see if he was telling the truth."
He reached in, took the object out, and examined it closely. "See? You’re not in his heart either. That He Ming... he really just loved to lie to me."
"You bastard... COUGH, COUGH, COUGH... bastard!"
Kong Zhen thrashed about in a fit of emotion, but she was too weak to even properly curse at her captor.
The object was suddenly in Jiang Li’s hands, and the shock of it jolted her awake.
"Ah!"
She shot up in bed, drenched in sweat and trembling uncontrollably. That thing... it had been so close, so vivid, right in front of her.
"Blech!" A chill ran through Jiang Li, and she couldn’t stop herself from dry heaving. She collapsed back onto the bed, the pounding of her own heart filling her head.
"Sister, are you okay, Sister?!" Yu Huannian knocked on the door, followed by Wu Ming’s voice. "Oh, get out of the way, I’m going in."
Yu Huannian moved aside, and Wu Ming opened the door and came in. "Jiang Li, what’s wrong?"
Wu Ming saw her pale, sweaty face, grabbed a tissue from the nightstand, and helped wipe her forehead.
"I’m fine. Just a nightmare."
Hearing Jiang Li speak, Yu Huannian finally relaxed. ’Why would she have such a horrible nightmare all of a sudden?’ he wondered.
Yu Huannian turned, fetched half a bowl of water and three chopsticks, then squatted in the corner. Mimicking the way Yu Shuzhen used to do it, he began to chant under his breath.
He tried several times to get the chopsticks to stand, but failed each time. Yu Huannian’s brow furrowed in frustration.
’I remember Mom used to be able to make them stand up right away, and then I’d feel better. When it was really bad, she’d even perform the water and rice offering.’
"Alright, stop trying to balance those things," Wu Ming said. "It was just a nightmare, it’s not like she saw a ghost. You could poke a hole through the bowl and it still wouldn’t do any good."
Wu Ming helped Jiang Li out of the room, glanced at Yu Huannian squatting in the corner, and gave a speechless twitch of her lips.
’Old folk remedies have their uses, but you have to match the cure to the ailment.’
"Xiao Nian, I’m really fine. I need to go to the police station."
"Then I’ll go with you." Yu Huannian went to the kitchen to pack up some soup and looked at her.
Jiang Li glanced at Miao Anji’s room, left him a message, and then headed to the police station with the other two.
When they arrived at the police station, Jiang Li saw Lu Xingye yawning and stretching.
The moment Lu Xingye saw Jiang Li, he immediately snapped his mouth shut. "Jiang Li, do you have new information?"
Lu Xingye looked Jiang Li up and down, noticing she didn’t look well. He figured she’d had another scare.
Jiang Li nodded. As soon as she sat down, Yu Huannian quickly opened a thermos, poured the soup inside into a bowl, and pushed it in front of her.
The soup was rich and fragrant, its aroma instantly filling the air. Lu Xingye couldn’t help but swallow hard.
Jiang Li took the bowl and had a sip. "Kong Zhen is in danger. She has a coagulation disorder. The killer is torturing her. He’s deliberately inflicting wounds with the goal of making her suffer and die a slow, painful death.
Also, he dug out He Ming’s heart and is making Kong Zhen’s blood drip onto it."
Lu Xingye tightened his grip on his pen. ’No wonder she looks so awful,’ he thought.
"We’ve already contacted the D City police department. With their help, we’ve confirmed that He Ming and Kong Zhen did go there.
A figure suspected to be Qin Hao was also spotted at the hotel where they stayed. These are the photos they sent over.
So we can preliminarily determine that the killer is Qin Hao. Brother Zhao has already taken a team to investigate his whereabouts.
The police there are also narrowing the search area to find Kong Zhen and the others as quickly as possible."
However, the public surveillance network can’t cover the deep mountains and dense forests, areas with no cell signal. All they can do is try their best to narrow the search radius.
Jiang Li looked at the photos in front of her. "How long will that take, roughly?"
’If this drags on for too long, I’m afraid Kong Zhen really won’t make it.’
"A week at most," Lu Xingye said, looking up at Jiang Li. "The D City police have already mobilized local villagers to help with the search, and relevant experts have been dispatched. Kong Zhen... she’ll be okay."
Hearing Lu Xingye’s assurance, Jiang Li calmed down. "When the time comes, can I go with you?"
Without a second thought, Yu Huannian said, "I’m going too."
Wu Ming looked at Jiang Li. "Me too, I’m going too."
"You can. Brother Zhou and I are heading over this afternoon. We can all go together," Lu Xingye said, looking at Jiang Li.
"Okay, I’ll let Xiao Ji know." Jiang Li took out her phone and sent a message to Miao Anji.
At the Jiang residence, Miao Anji stared at Miao Jiangling. "Get out. If you ever show your face in front of Sister again, I’ll send you to your grave."
Miao Anji’s phone vibrated. He glanced at it, and a bright smile instantly appeared on his face. He pressed the microphone icon. "Okay, Sister, I’m on my way."
After sending the message, Miao Anji kicked Miao Jiangling out of the villa and headed for the police station himself.
"Damn that Miao Anji." Severely weakened, Miao Jiangling leaned against a nearby tree, watching his retreating back.
’Miao Anji was chosen as the Miaojiang Saint Master during the sacred rite. He was only seven months old at the time. To be chosen as the Holy Master, he naturally had to be extraordinary.’
’From a young age, they had placed him in a cave to live among poisonous insects. When he was hungry, all he had to eat were those same creatures.’
’Then one day, Miao Anji disappeared, abducted. I went to great lengths to find him. After he returned, his innate talents had grown immensely, and he was no longer so resistant to living with the venomous insects.’
’All this time, I had thought he had finally settled down and become obedient.’
’But in the end, he ran away from the village, personally burning down the insect nest that had been his companion for so many years. He even silently stole my Life Gu.’
Watching Miao Anji’s back, Miao Jiangling’s resolve hardened.
’Miao Anji cannot be allowed to live. He hates us. Now he’s spending all his time with the police. Sooner or later, he’ll become a threat to the village’s safety.’
Miao Jiangling got up and followed him. Even if it meant mutual destruction, she would make sure Miao Anji died!
At two in the afternoon, Jiang Li and her group successfully arrived in D City. The local police detail assigned to meet them had been waiting for some time.
"CAW, CAW—"
Jiang Li looked up. Crows again.