Chapter 171 - 169: False Witness
"Sir." A man pushed open the main door and walked in. The first thing he saw was the money on the table—a case filled to the brim.
The man sitting in the chair lifted his chin, gesturing for him to take it himself.
The man stared greedily at the money before him and swallowed hard. Then, under the other man’s gaze, he stepped forward and reached out to take it.
The next second, a sharp pain shot through his hand.
"AH! AHHHHH!"
The man watched in horror as his own hand was brutally severed by a cutting blade that shot out from the side of the table.
He clutched his arm and fell to the ground in agony. The man who had been sitting stood up, casually twirling a knife in his hand as he walked toward him.
"Sir, sir, what—what are you doing? Mmph, mmph!"
His jaw was seized. The next moment, his teeth were shattered, his tongue was pulled out, and it was sliced off at the root.
The man’s eyes widened abruptly before he kicked out his legs and fainted.
The other man grabbed him by the leg, tossed him into a nearby storage room, and returned to his seat to continue his business.
...
In the hotel room, Jiang Li watched as Yu Changle stared at the boxed meal in front of her, looking troubled.
"Why aren’t you eating?"
Jiang Li watched Yu Changle with her arms crossed. Based on their conversation that night, she guessed the girl wasn’t the picky type.
’When you’re at the end of your rope, who has time to care about things like this?’
Yu Changle gave her a smile. "Thank you, Sister. I... I’m suddenly not hungry. I think I’ll go to sleep."
With that, Yu Changle walked to the bed and lay down.
Jiang Li sat on the stool. ’My opponent works so fast,’ she thought. ’I just got here, and they’ve already found a double for Yu Changle.’
’It seems the real Yu Changle is already in their hands. Does that mean Lu Xingye is too...?’
Jiang Li opened her phone and took a look. The messages she’d sent still hadn’t been answered. They’d been intercepted.
Jiang Li tightened her grip on her phone, her gaze fixed on the back of the "Yu Changle" on the bed.
’The opponent... is a hacker?’
Jiang Li’s eyelid twitched. ’Then why haven’t I replicated their ability?’
She lowered her gaze, pondering for a moment before she suddenly remembered. She could only replicate an opponent’s skill if they’d used it during the commission of their crime.
But this time, the killer had done nothing but murder, revealing no other skills.
Jiang Li stared at her phone, finally tossing it aside and closing her eyes in frustration.
The next day, Yu Changle woke up and looked at Jiang Li. "Sister, thank you. I need to go to the hospital now."
Yu Changle bowed to her and prepared to leave. Jiang Li smiled and nodded. "Alright. Here’s my phone number. Call me anytime if you need anything."
Jiang Li handed her number to Yu Changle.
After Yu Changle left, Jiang Li turned to Miao Anji. "Xiao Ji, how did it go?"
Miao Anji nodded. "Don’t worry, Sister. The Gu Worm has been planted inside her. I’ll let you know the second anything happens."
Jiang Li nodded. "Good. Now, let’s go to the Huang Family’s residence."
On the way, Jiang Li observed the people around her. ’They already know my location. Are they going to come for me?’
While Jiang Li was still looking around, a man in black blocked her path.
"Hello, Jiang Li. My name is Zheng Qichuan. I’m a classmate of Zhou Tiancheng."
Jiang Li looked at the tall man before her. "Hello, Captain Zheng."
"This way, please." Zheng Qichuan led Jiang Li to his car, a Maybach G650.
After getting in, Jiang Li realized there were two other people in the car.
"This is my friend, Pei Yu. He’s the one who helped locate you. And this is my teammate, Chi Ting."
Zheng Qichuan gave a brief introduction.
"Hello, everyone. I’m Jiang Li." Jiang Li greeted them and sat down, glancing at Pei Yu.
He was staring straight ahead, not giving her so much as a glance.
"Miss Jiang, Zhou Tiancheng has already told me about your situation. If it’s as serious as you say, we will do everything in our power to help."
Zheng Qichuan glanced back at this remarkable woman.
Jiang Li smiled politely. "Captain Zheng, I’ll have to trouble you to take me to the Huang Family’s residence."
After speaking, Jiang Li turned to look out the window. ’Zheng Qichuan was introduced by Zhou Tiancheng, so I trust him. But I don’t trust the other two.’
’In my current situation, the more I say, the more I risk messing up.’
Seeing that Jiang Li wasn’t talking, Zheng Qichuan didn’t press her and had the driver take them to the Huang Family’s territory.
"Miss Jiang, contact me anytime if something comes up. Here are my phone number and address." Zheng Qichuan handed her a written note.
"Thank you, Captain Zheng." Jiang Li saw Huang Zhongyu already coming out in front. She waited for him and Zheng Qichuan to say their goodbyes before going to meet him.
"Miss Huang, could I trouble you to help me with something?" Jiang Li brought up Ji Qinghe’s phone number.
"Miss Huang, please, could you make a call to Officer Ji for me? Hmm, can you prevent it from being traced?"
Jiang Li looked at Huang Nianci with a hopeful, if far-fetched, expression. ’She’s Huang Daxian. This shouldn’t be too hard for her, right?’
"Alright." After Huang Nianci spoke, Huang Zhongyu took out a phone and called the police station.
"Hello?"
Ji Qinghe hadn’t heard from Jiang Li all day and was worried sick. Seeing a call coming from a City A number, she answered it immediately.
"Officer Ji, it’s me."
"Jiang Li! Thank goodness, you’re okay!"
"Officer Ji, let’s skip the pleasantries. The girl who ran away that day is named Yu Changle, and she may have already been captured by the killer.
Also, the killer is likely a hacker. The fact that you didn’t receive the text messages I sent last night probably means they were intercepted.
We’re being watched now. To be safe, you and Officer Zhou should stay out of this."
"How can we do that!" Ji Qinghe stood up, agitated, but then remembered there wasn’t much she could do right now.
"Jiang Li, you can’t handle this alone."
"I’m not alone, Officer Ji. Don’t you worry."
Jiang Li gave a slight smile. ’If the other side could find me, they can definitely find Officer Ji and the others.’
Lu Xingye’s whereabouts were still unknown, and they were all so far away. She didn’t want to drag any more innocent people into this because of her.
"Officer Ji, just take care of yourselves."
Jiang Li hung up and handed the phone to Huang Zhongyu. "Thank you, Housekeeper Huang."
Seeing Jiang Li’s troubled expression, Huang Nianci asked, "Miss Jiang, have you run into some difficulty?"
Jiang Li was just about to speak when the phone in her pocket rang.
She hesitated for two seconds before answering. "Hello?"
"Sister Jiang, it’s me, Yu Changle! Sister Jiang, save me!"
Before Jiang Li could even react, the call was disconnected. She looked at the number—it was from Yu Changle.
’Looks like they’ve met. They’re trying to lure me into a trap.’
Jiang Li looked up at Huang Nianci. "Miss Huang, here’s what’s happening..."
Jiang Li briefly explained the whole situation.
Huang Nianci nodded in understanding. "I see. In that case, I’ll have Uncle Huang find you a few experienced bodyguards.
As for that friend you mentioned, I’ll have my people help look for him."
"Thank you, Miss Huang."
Just as Jiang Li finished speaking, her phone rang again.
’My opponent really is impatient. They can’t even wait this long.’
"Yu Changle, I have no sense of direction. You’ll have to stall them a bit longer."
Jiang Li hung up and looked at Miao Anji. "Xiao Ji, do you know Yu Changle’s location?"
Miao Anji nodded at her. "Sister, are we heading over now?"