Chapter 108: Generating an Idea...
Jiang Li’s hand trembled so much she nearly dropped her phone. "Officer Ji, I’m coming over right now."
’Things were so close to being wrapped up, how did something suddenly go wrong? Lin Ye said he didn’t know anything at first, so why is he taking all the blame now?’
Miao Anji noticed something was off with Jiang Li’s mood and got up to follow her.
Jiang Li led Miao Anji toward the police station. On the way, she received a message from Ning Sinian. He had already taken Ning Rou to see a psychologist and was apologizing to Jiang Li for the recent trouble.
Jiang Li put her phone away. Ning Rou had been abducted and taken to Zhaozi Village. Although she hadn’t suffered much physical torment, she had seen and heard a great deal. ’It’s understandable,’ Jiang Li thought. ’She was a doted-on little sister, pampered by Ning Sinian, and then she spent two years in a place like that.’
Two years. Not long, but not short either. Enough time for a lot to change. It was normal for her to feel lost and scared after coming back.
’But she’s also an educated person. Hopefully, she can tell right from wrong.’
Jiang Li pursed her lips. ’If she can’t figure it out on her own, then she’ll have no one to blame but herself.’
Jiang Li and Miao Anji arrived at the police station. Ji Qinghe and Qin Shu were already waiting for her at the entrance.
"Officer Ji, Forensic Doctor Qin, what exactly is going on?"
Qin Shu handed her a forensic report. "Although this matter is inextricably linked to Wu Jianzhang, Lin Ye was the one managing most of it. The evidence we identified points mostly to Lin Ye."
"If he confesses to everything, then Wu Jianzhang will only get a lighter sentence. Jiang Li..."
Qin Shu looked at Jiang Li with sympathy. They all knew in their hearts that Lin Ye was just a scapegoat, but some things couldn’t be decided by words alone.
Jiang Li took the report. The DNA evidence from the scene was basically all from Lin Ye.
’Wu Jianzhang is the man behind the scenes. Of course he wouldn’t get his own hands dirty.’
Jiang Li looked at the two of them. "Do you know who’s behind Wu Jianzhang?"
Ji Qinghe looked at her and shook her head. The organization was so powerful that even if they wanted to investigate, they couldn’t get a foot in the door.
They had called Jiang Li over to see if she had any special methods.
Qin Shu glanced at the young man beside her and said with a smile, "Jiang Li, Xingye will talk to you in a bit. Qinghe and I still have things to take care of."
’This is a job for the younger generation.’
"Okay." Jiang Li led Miao Anji inside.
"Sister, do you have so many rules in the big city?" Miao Anji asked, sitting on the sofa and propping his head in his hands. "Back where I’m from, if someone doesn’t listen, we just throw them in a cave to feed the snakes."
Now that he was in the big city, it was "you can’t do this" and "you can’t do that." He was bored to death.
"Xiao Ji." Jiang Li cut him off. ’There aren’t so many ’whys’ in this world. Without laws, there would be even more criminals and even more innocent victims.’
These people were just exploiting loopholes for a moment of gratification.
Miao Anji shrugged and changed the subject. "Sister, the New Year is coming. Why don’t you, Yu Huannian, and Wu Ming come celebrate with me in my village?"
"Okay," Jiang Li said, smiling at Miao Anji.
"It’s a deal, then! I’ll go tell Grandma to get everything ready," Miao Anji said, pulling out his phone to contact his grandmother.
A few minutes later, Lu Xingye finished his work and came out, walking over to Jiang Li. "Let’s talk outside."
Jiang Li stood up and followed Lu Xingye outside. After they got in the car, Lu Xingye looked at her and Miao Anji.
"The people behind Wu Jianzhang are getting anxious. This means Wu Jianzhang was involved in far more than what we see on the surface."
"The patients at the hospital get agitated as soon as you question them, so we can’t be too hasty. Wu Jianzhang still hasn’t woken up, but the doctor says his mental state is deteriorating by the day."
"As for Lin Ye, after he learned the cat was out of the bag, he initially claimed he didn’t know anything. Then his family came to visit him once."
"After that visit, he changed his story. He said he locked them up just to satisfy his own twisted psyche."
"He claimed he wanted to see what the limits of a mental patient were, so he tricked them, imprisoned them, and abused them. They first gave the patients hallucinogens to worsen their conditions."
"Then they used large doses of medication to suppress the symptoms, gain trust, and told the families they couldn’t visit so as not to interfere with the treatment."
"What’s more, I found that for the patients who died at the sanatorium previously, their families almost never got to see them one last time. All they saw was a handful of ashes."
Lu Xingye handed her the organized files. "Sound familiar?"
Jiang Li nodded. The victims from that last major car crash would have been sent somewhere else if they hadn’t been discovered in time.
"So, Wu Jianzhang’s sanatorium is also a supply point?"
Lu Xingye nodded with a grave expression. He thought so too. Wu Jianzhang was very useful to those people, which was why Lin Ye had been pushed out to be the scapegoat.
"So, should we go find Lin Ye’s family now?" Jiang Li asked, handing the files back to him.
"I’ll go to his family’s place. You and Xiao Ji go to the hospital and wake Wu Jianzhang up. If you really have a way, you can do this with Wu Ming..."
Lu Xingye began to conspire with the two in a low voice. Setting aside his identity as a police officer, there were many other methods. Things didn’t have to be done by the book.
Jiang Li looked at Lu Xingye in surprise after listening, then gave him a thumbs-up. "You’re truly something, Officer Lu."
Lu Xingye smiled. "Yeah. Well, you two be careful."
’With Yu Huannian and the others by her side, she seems quite safe now.’
"Okay. You be careful too. Xiao Ji and I will go meet up with Wu Ming and Xiao Nian first."
Lu Xingye got out of the car and rode his own bike toward Lin Ye’s home.
Jiang Li and Wu Ming arranged to meet at the hospital.
Wu Ming and Yu Huannian rushed over, and the group sat in the car.
"Xiao Ji, in a bit, you’ll lure out that Gu Worm and replace it with one that makes people tell the truth."
"Wu Ming and Xiao Nian—Wu Ming, you’ll act on behalf of the wronged souls to find their killer."
Jiang Li carefully relayed Lu Xingye’s plan. ’As long as it’s not for money and no one gets hurt, the police can’t do anything about it.’
"This’ll be fun!" Miao Anji cheered up instantly and started rummaging through his collection of insects. ’Finally, a chance to feed my little ones.’
"Brilliant, Jiang Li! This will not only blow the case wide open but also get me more followers," Wu Ming said, looking at Jiang Li excitedly.
She hadn’t been streaming much lately. Hunting fugitives wasn’t exactly something you could publicize. Now, she finally had another chance.
Jiang Li glanced at Yu Huannian, whose expression was unreadable. "Xiao Ji and I will go up first. Wait for my signal."
Wu Ming made an "OK" gesture.
Jiang Li led Miao Anji upstairs. Zhao Shuo was guarding the hospital room with his men to prevent a repeat of the Qiao Siyuan incident.
Seeing Jiang Li approach, Zhao Shuo gave a subtle look to the officers at the door.
"HSS... I suddenly need to pee."
"Me too, me too! Let’s go, let’s go."
Jiang Li slipped inside with Miao Anji.
Miao Anji walked to the bedside, and in the next second, the Gu Worm inside Wu Jianzhang emerged.
Jiang Li’s eyes widened in shock as she stared at the worm, which was so fat it seemed to glow. ’What on earth has this thing been eating? How did it get so fat?’
The corner of Miao Anji’s mouth twitched. He silently retrieved the Gu Worm and implanted another one.
"Sister, don’t worry. He’ll wake up very soon."
"Then let’s get out of here and wait for the show to start," Jiang Li said, pulling Miao Anji toward the exit.
Downstairs, Wu Ming put on her Daoist robes and started her live stream.
"Hey everyone, my dear fans, did you miss me? I have some major news today."
"For the past few nights, I, Master Wu, have been haunted by vengeful spirits in my dreams. Today, I’ll take you all with me to see what’s really going on!"
[Master Wu! You’re finally streaming! I’ve been waiting so long my boss fired me.]
[Quick, quick, my takeout just arrived! Perfect timing for some dinner entertainment.]
Wu Ming glanced at the bullet comments, handed her phone to Yu Huannian to hold, then grabbed her Peach Wood Sword and marched toward the hospital. "Let’s go, let’s go."
Yu Huannian took one look and strode after her.