Seeing Crime Scenes in My Sleep

Lu Xingye jumped down and immediately ran toward Jiang Li’s last known location, gathering some dry grass and firewood along the way.

When he reached the place with the cocoons, everything he was carrying fell from his arms to the ground.

CLATTER!

Lu Xingye looked around, then rubbed his eyes. ’Did I come to the wrong place?’

There wasn’t a single insect here...

Lu Xingye searched the entire area but still couldn’t find any sign of Jiang Li. ’Could Captain Zhou have been right? Did she already leave?’

Just as Lu Xingye was about to leave, he suddenly noticed something move by the wall.

RUSTLE! The long vines on the stone wall were unexpectedly pushed aside, and a sudden, jarring sound echoed in the silent space.

"Pfft! Ptooey!"

A shiver of fear ran through Lu Xingye. His whole body went weak, and he slumped against the wall. When he turned and saw who had emerged, he was too terrified to snap out of it for a long moment.

Jiang Li brushed the debris from her face and looked at Lu Xingye. "Lu Xingye?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Lu Xingye pushed himself up and strode over to Jiang Li.

"Jiang Li, are you okay?" Lu Xingye anxiously looked her up and down.

Jiang Li shook her head. "I’m fine." ’Just some minor injuries.’

"Then let’s get back up."

Lu Xingye glanced back. He didn’t know why the insects were gone, but all that mattered was that Jiang Li was safe.

The two of them made it up safely.

Zhou Tiancheng breathed a sigh of relief seeing the two of them return safely. As long as they were okay, that was all that mattered.

"Qin Hao has been taken to the police station. Other colleagues are with He Ming’s body, so let’s head down the mountain for now."

Lu Xingye turned back to look at Jiang Li, his eyes flickering. "You have a lot of wounds... H-how about I... I carry you on my back?"

The tips of Lu Xingye’s ears couldn’t help but turn red.

Jiang Li glanced at the mountain path. The sky was already dark, and the burst of adrenaline she’d been running on was finally fading.

"Forge—hey!"

Lu Xingye, a flashlight on his head, crouched in front of Jiang Li, grabbed her hand, and pulled her straight onto his back.

"Captain Zhou, let’s get going. It’s not safe now that it’s dark," Lu Xingye said, already starting down the path.

Zhou Tiancheng raised an eyebrow, then followed them down the mountain with his colleagues.

Jiang Li watched the shadows of the trees, her mind growing fuzzy. She wrapped her arms around Lu Xingye’s neck, her head tilted to the side, and she fell asleep.

Feeling her breath on his neck, Lu Xingye focused intently on the mountain path before him, terrified that one misstep would cause him to fall and take Jiang Li down with him.

Zhou Tiancheng looked at Yu Huannian, who was limping beside him. "You want me to carry you?"

Yu Huannian: "..." He shot a disdainful glance at Zhou Tiancheng’s small frame.

"Uncle Zhou, you should probably just watch your own step." Even if he had a broken leg, a mountain path like this was nothing to him.

Zhou Tiancheng rolled his eyes, speechless. ’This brat,’ he thought, ’what’s with the "Uncle"? Am I that old?’

Upon arriving at the hospital, Lu Xingye immediately found a doctor to take a look at Jiang Li.

Jiang Li and Miao Anji were placed in the same hospital room.

"The patient has some residual toxins in her system. She’ll be fine once they’re flushed out. Judging from the wounds, they appear to be insect bites."

"Thank you, Doctor."

The next afternoon, Miao Anji’s eyes fluttered open. He winced in pain as he stared at the ceiling above, unable to stop a soft hiss from escaping his lips.

’That old witch, Miao Jiangling,’ he thought. ’Just wait until I’ve recovered. I’ll make her pay.’

’But wait, wasn’t I in the cave? Where am I?’

"You’re awake? Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?" Lu Xingye heard the movement behind him and turned to look at the now-open eyes of Miao Anji.

Miao Anji tilted his head to look at him. "You saved me?"

Lu Xingye’s gaze shifted to Jiang Li’s bed. "It was Jiang Li. She ran back, saw you being swarmed by insects, and charged in to save you."

Hearing this, Miao Anji’s face went deathly pale. He tried to push himself up in agitation, only to fall back hard onto the bed a second later.

"What happened to Sister?" Miao Anji clenched his fists so tightly that blood instantly flowed back into the IV tube at the injection site. He glanced at it, then reached over and pulled the needle right out.

Lu Xingye’s eyelid twitched as he watched the blood spurt out. ’Do any of these people have any regard for their own lives?’

Miao Anji walked over to Jiang Li’s bed. Seeing her bandaged hand and the familiar wounds on her arm, his vision went red with fury. He wished he could kill Miao Jiangling on the spot.

"She’s fine. The doctor said she just needs to flush out the toxins," Lu Xingye said, looking at Miao Anji. He had also read a few things about the Gu Raising People online.

’I never thought his constitution would be so... miraculous.’

He had been bitten so badly by the insects, yet the doctor had said he was fine. In fact, the bite marks on his body were already healed.

Miao Anji looked at Jiang Li, sat down beside her, and took her hand. "Sister, I’m so sorry."

’I was just thinking that, if worse came to worst, I would just feed all those insects myself, just like when I was a kid.’

’I never expected Sister would suddenly come back for me.’

Jiang Li opened her eyes. She squinted at the sobbing Miao Anji and, with what little strength she had, raised a hand and slapped him.

"You’re pressing on my wound!"

"Oh, oh! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Sister!"

Yu Huannian returned with soup just in time to see the blundering Miao Anji, and he promptly shoved him aside.

"Get out of the way, you good-for-nothing."

Miao Anji instantly lowered his head and stood to the side, looking on pitifully.

"How is Kong Zhen?" Jiang Li asked, looking at Lu Xingye.

"The doctor said they got to her in time to save her life, but she hasn’t woken up yet. Qin Hao is still being interrogated," Lu Xingye told Jiang Li.

At the police station, Zhou Tiancheng and officers from the local department were interrogating Qin Hao together.

"Qin Hao, you were in love with He Ming. Why would you do this to him?"

Zhou Tiancheng asked bluntly.

A flash of shock flickered in Qin Hao’s eyes. ’How could they possibly know?’

"I was just on the mountain picking mushrooms. I don’t know anything about any murder."

Zhou Tiancheng gave him an indifferent look. "You and He Ming knew each other since you were children. You were extremely close.

"When people confessed their feelings to He Ming in middle and high school, you secretly threatened them all into breaking up with him and leaving.

"Then, after graduating from college, you went abroad. Why did you go abroad?

"Was it because you realized He Ming could never be the same kind of person as you? Or was it because his parents and your parents found out and forced you to leave the country?

"When you learned He Ming was getting married, you rushed back in a panic and orchestrated this whole imprisonment."

After hearing Zhou Tiancheng’s analysis, Qin Hao’s breathing became ragged. "Officer, that’s all just your speculation."

Zhou Tiancheng looked at the officer beside him.

"Qin Hao, these are the cages and tools you bought locally. The shop owner has already sent us the video of you making the purchase.

"What else is there to argue? Tell us! Why did you murder He Ming!

"As for the location of the crime, according to information from the villagers at the foot of the mountain, you asked the locals to guide you into the mountains.

"You also asked them about conditions in the mountains. An old man told you about this cave, didn’t he?"

The officer played the video of Qin Hao buying supplies at the hardware store, as well as several audio recordings.

Qin Hao lowered his head, looking as though he had nothing to say.

Zhou Tiancheng was looking at the files in front of him when another officer came in and whispered something in his ear.

Zhou Tiancheng folded his hands and looked up at Qin Hao.