Kiyomi Tsuki und sein Fuchs

Kapitel 10

Mu Jianyun immediately picked up where he left off: "He will be sad and disappointed, but at the same time he will continue to pursue the details of his father's death because he will be eager to find out the role Yuan Zhibang played in the process. Of course, and more importantly, he will seek revenge."

A chill ran through everyone present. They all understood the meaning of "revenge": from a son's perspective, Wen Hongbing's death was undoubtedly extremely unjust; Chen Tianqiao, who maliciously owed the money, was the true culprit. And this son, Eumenides, was a ruthless killer whose duty was to punish evil; he had absolutely no reason to let Chen Tianqiao go.

Those who participated in the operation were also in danger. All of these participants clearly signed their names on the last page of their files, with the on-site commander and the SWAT sniper who ultimately carried out the killing undoubtedly bearing the brunt of the danger.

"Find them, everyone on the list." Luo Fei's order brought the meeting to a close. His tone was resolute, demonstrating an unwavering determination. "—Especially this Chen Tianqiao, we'll dig him out even if we have to search three feet into the ground!"

The Fate of the Death Sentence (06)

9:40 a.m.

Provincial Capital People's Hospital.

Behind the inpatient building is a green belt, and because the hospital's morgue is located opposite the green belt, it is usually a secluded place, arguably the quietest spot in the entire hospital. However, the atmosphere today is somewhat different.

A crowd had gathered in the greenbelt, forming a semi-circle around the inpatient building, intently watching what was happening within. Small groups of onlookers continued to arrive from various parts of the hospital, joining the spectators.

Accompanied by the piercing siren, a police car pulled up beside the building. Several officers filed out and hurried towards the crowd. The onlookers parted to make way with a sense of awe, while their eyes gleamed with anticipation, as if a "good show was about to begin."

A police cordon had been set up within the crowd. In the center of the cordon, about three or four meters away from the building, lay a man on the ground. He was wearing a hospital gown, his left hand was wrapped in a thick bandage, and his face was pressed against the soft soil, obscuring his features. Two police officers were standing guard beside him.

Upon seeing their colleagues enter the circle, the two patrol officers proactively went to greet them. A slender young officer from the group then stepped forward to hand over the duties.

“We are the Municipal Criminal Investigation Team. This is our Captain Luo Fei,” he said, pointing to the middle-aged man with a crew cut beside him.

The two patrol officers saluted, and Luo Fei returned the salute while asking, "How is the situation?" Everyone looked at the patient lying on the ground. The latter was in an awkward position, completely motionless.

"This is a hospital." A patrolman shrugged helplessly. "If there was any hope of saving him, he would have been taken away long ago."

Another patrol officer looked up and added, "He fell from the seventh floor. It was too high. The deceased was old and physically weak. So even though the ground was relatively soft, he still died on the spot."

Luo Fei fell silent. He stepped forward and knelt down beside the corpse, examining it closely with his eyes. After a moment, he put on gloves, gently lifted the deceased's head, revealing a face hidden by mud.

It was the face of a frail old man, wrinkles clinging around his tightly closed eyes, revealing an expression of pain. Due to severe organ damage, a considerable amount of blood seeped from his mouth and nose, turning purplish-black when it stained the soil, making the deceased's face appear somewhat grotesque.

Luo Fei sighed deeply. He really hadn't expected that his first meeting with Wu Yinwu would be in this way.

About twenty minutes earlier, the task force received a message from the 110 command center: Wu Yinwu, one of the perpetrators of the Wanfeng Hotel massacre, had fallen to his death from the provincial capital's People's Hospital. Luo Fei and others, who had just finished a meeting, immediately drove to the scene. Having witnessed Eumenides' crime firsthand, Wu Yinwu's testimony would be extremely important to the 418 task force; however, he was now clearly unable to provide any further information.

Luo Fei got up and returned to the two patrol officers. "Have you looked into the case?" he asked.

A patrol officer nodded and replied, "It was suicide."

Luo Fei frowned slightly: "Suicide? Are you sure?"

"Confirmed. According to the family, when they came to stay with the deceased this morning, they noticed that he was acting strangely. He wasn't speaking, refused to eat breakfast, and just stared blankly, appearing very depressed. Around 8:50 a.m., the deceased asked to be alone, so the family left the ward and closed the door behind them. The family then waited in the corridor, but unexpectedly, the fall occurred 20 minutes later. Someone downstairs witnessed the incident. The deceased did indeed climb onto the window and jump from the seventh floor."

Luo Fei and Yin Jian, who was standing next to him, exchanged a glance: Judging from the situation, it was indeed undoubtedly suicide.

"Why did he commit suicide?" Luo Fei murmured, as if asking a question, or as if talking to himself.

"This..." The patrolman who had spoken earlier seemed to want to continue, but after hesitating for a moment, he stammered and stopped.

Luo Fei noticed the other man's expression and immediately asked, "What's wrong?" His serious tone carried an unavoidable pressure, so the patrolman could only rub his hands awkwardly and answer truthfully, "According to his family, he committed suicide because... because of the police."

Luo Fei was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

"The family said that the deceased started acting strangely after the police questioned him last night. So they are very resistant. When we went to find out what was going on, it was a very unpleasant experience for them." The patrol officer said, shaking his head repeatedly with a grin, clearly having suffered some injustice.

"Police interrogation?" Luo Fei turned his gaze to Yin Jian.

Yin Jian immediately shook his head: "It's definitely not one of ours. I just contacted the hospital, but with so many things happening yesterday, we didn't have time to deal with Wu Yinwu at all."

Luo Fei's heart sank. The Wanfeng Hotel massacre was being investigated by the 418 Special Task Force, and there was no reason for other police departments to get involved. But if it wasn't one of his men, then who could it be?

"Contact all the branch offices and police stations immediately to see if they have sent anyone over," Luo Fei instructed Yin Jian. Then he looked at the two patrol officers and said, "One of you go and take me to see my family."

Due to the seriousness of the incident, Wu Yinwu's son, Wu Jiaming, as a family representative, had been invited to the hospital's reception room. When he saw Luo Fei and the others enter, his eyes immediately revealed strong dissatisfaction.

"Hello, I'm Luo Fei, the captain of the criminal investigation team at the Municipal Public Security Bureau." Luo Fei's tone was full of apology. The reason for his apology was that he felt that if he had arrived sooner, the tragedy might not have happened.

However, Wu Jiaming clearly misunderstood Luo Fei's apology. He snorted, and the dissatisfaction in his eyes even turned into hostility.

Luo Fei didn't have time to dwell on it; he went straight to the point: "I have some questions I need to ask you—did any police officers see your father last night?"

"Whether or not you don't know it yourself?" Wu Jiaming retorted bluntly.

Luo Fei touched his nose, feeling somewhat embarrassed. Just as he was thinking about how to rephrase his words, a woman dressed as a nurse stepped forward and spoke up: "Indeed, a policeman came by, and I let him into the ward."

Luo Fei turned to look at the woman, who then introduced herself: "I am the head nurse here."

Luo Fei hummed in agreement, then asked, "What did he say to the patient?"

The head nurse shook her head: "I don't know about that."

Luo Fei looked at Wu Jiaming, but before he could ask any more questions, the latter shouted, "You police officers chased everyone else away as soon as you entered the house. How are we supposed to know what you're talking about?!"

Luo Fei frowned suddenly. Police usually don't avoid questioning family members during interrogations; in fact, they often hope family members will accompany the person to calm them down. It was very strange that this "police officer" wanted to send the family away.

"Have you seen that policeman's badge?" Luo Fei asked the head nurse.

"I saw it; he took it out voluntarily."

"I mean, did you open it and examine it carefully?"

"This..." the woman stammered, "I don't think so."

Just then, Luo Fei's phone rang. He answered the call, and the person on the other end was Yin Jian, who reported the situation he had just investigated.

Luo Fei's expression grew increasingly serious. After hanging up the phone, he looked Wu Jiaming and the head nurse up and down, and solemnly announced, "That policeman was an imposter!"

10:02 AM.

The conference room of Longyu Building.

Ling Henggan and Meng Fangliang, two powerful figures in the group, both looked rather grim. The portly Ling Henggan, with a somber expression, handed a stack of photos he had just finished looking at to Meng Fangliang, then took out a very clean handkerchief and wiped his hands, as if something from the photos might have stuck to them.

Meng Fangliang frowned deeply as his gaze swept over the first photo. The photo showed a wrecked Jetta, its front end completely crushed, the driver's seat gone, making it hard to imagine that there had ever been a place where someone could sit.

The subsequent photos became increasingly gruesome, forcing Meng Fangliang to light a cigarette to calm himself. Just as he finished his first puff, the next photo he flipped to revealed a mutilated corpse. The victim's body was contorted at an unbelievable angle, the head crushed beyond recognition, making the face almost unrecognizable.

Meng Fangliang gasped, choked by the smoke, and coughed violently. Ling Henggan, sitting to his right, immediately wiped his left cheek with a handkerchief, his expression showing disdain and displeasure.

Meng Fangliang first rewound the photo of the corpse, then placed the entire stack of photos on the table. He shook his right hand, which was holding a cigarette: "I...cough cough...I think I'd better not look at it. What...what exactly happened?"

Meng Fangliang was asking the oblong-faced young man sitting opposite him a question. That man was Deng Hua's former bodyguard and could also be considered the Deng family's chief steward—Ahua.

“I received the news around 3 a.m. that Ah Sheng had been in a car accident. I rushed to the scene immediately and learned some details through acquaintances in the traffic police. I also got these photos through connections.” Ah Hua spoke with his head slightly lowered, avoiding direct eye contact with the two people opposite him. This was a habit he had developed over the years following Deng Hua—maintaining a respectful and humble attitude towards those in power.

"What did the traffic police say?" Ling Heng asked, his tone much calmer than Meng Fangliang's.

"The accident was caused by drunk driving. The traffic police conducted a blood test on the body, and the blood alcohol concentration exceeded 200 milligrams per 100 milliliters, which is a level of severe intoxication. Ah Sheng drove his car directly off an unfinished overpass, which was 20 meters high, equivalent to the roof of a six-story building. There were several witnesses on the road below the bridge. Ah Sheng's car was completely smashed to pieces, and he was not visible from outside the car. Later, the car was cut open with a cutting machine before the body was removed."

Upon hearing about the horrific scene of the car accident, Meng Fangliang couldn't help but shake his head repeatedly and sigh, "Sheng has always had a habit of driving under the influence, hasn't he? I think President Deng scolded him before... Sigh, now he's finally lost his life."

Ling Henggan, however, continued to press for details about the accident: "The unfinished overpass? Where is it?"

"The overpass at the Douzizhuang exit of the South Ring Road will connect directly to the expressway outside the city once it is completed."

"Doesn't Ah Sheng live in Laifu Community? What is he doing in that place on the South Ring Road?"

Ling Heng's question struck Meng Fangliang as odd. Laifu Residential Area was in the city center, while the South Ring Road extended to the outskirts of the city. How could Asheng have driven there?

“It is indeed strange…” Ahua nodded and said, “And the strange things are not only this.”

Ling Henggan and Meng Fangliang's expressions simultaneously tightened, and they stared intently at Ahua, waiting for him to continue.

“Even if Ah Sheng wanted to go to the South Ring Road, there was no reason for him to drive onto that overpass. It was a completely unfamiliar side road that he had never driven on before, and there were barriers at the intersection. The police described it as Ah Sheng crashing through the barriers and stopping briefly after getting onto the overpass. Then he drove towards the end of the broken road and plunged off the broken bridge after driving 1.3 kilometers. Everyone has experience with being drunk; when you're drunk, your reactions are slowed, and it's easy to have an accident. But to say that he was completely disoriented and didn't even know to turn around after hitting the barriers is a bit unbelievable.”

Ling Heng nodded and hummed in agreement.

Ahua continued, "Furthermore, based on the evidence at the scene, Asheng didn't brake before falling off the bridge, but he did make an emergency swerve to avoid danger. As an experienced driver, braking in an emergency should be an instinctive reaction. If he was drunk and couldn't react in time, that would be one thing, but Asheng clearly foresaw the danger yet made no attempt to brake, which is puzzling..."

"Could it be... brake failure?" Meng Fangliang guessed.

"That's possible, but it's impossible to verify now. The vehicle was completely destroyed, so it's impossible to know its condition before the accident. However, if it was brake failure, it's almost impossible for Ah Sheng to have driven the car from the city center to the South Ring Road, especially since he stopped after getting onto the overpass—"

“There are indeed many things that are difficult to explain. Although they are all minor questions, but—” Ling Heng narrowed his small eyes and pondered, “these minor questions add up to a big question.”

For a moment, all three fell silent, seemingly lost in thought. Ah Hua, clearly prepared, spoke first: "There is one possibility that can answer these questions. If someone took advantage of Ah Sheng's drunkenness and deliberately drove the car onto the overpass, damaging the braking system while the car was stopped... then when Ah Sheng woke up, he wouldn't know where he was. His normal reaction would be to drive forward to explore, because at that time, his mind was still unclear, and he could easily fall off the bridge and die."

Meng Fangliang coughed again from the smoke, his eyes wide with surprise: "You mean... Asheng didn't die in an accident, but was murdered?"

Ahua responded with silence. After a moment, Meng Fangliang pressed on, "Then who would want to kill Asheng?"

Ahua threw something on the table: "This was found in Asheng's pocket."

It was a lighter. Meng Fangliang held it in his hand and examined it. The confusion on his face suddenly turned into embarrassment.

The lighter was brand new and full of alcohol, clearly having just been used. What annoyed Meng Fangliang was that the words "Luyangchun Restaurant" were prominently printed on it.

“Ah Sheng has a habit of taking the free lighters that restaurants give out when he goes to eat. I really wanted to know who Ah Sheng was drinking with before the incident, so I went to the Green Sun Spring Restaurant and checked the surveillance footage from last night.” After Ah Hua finished speaking, he raised his head and glanced indifferently at the two people opposite him.

Meng Fangliang stopped talking, twirled the lighter in his hand twice, then lit it with a "snap" and lit another cigarette.

In the silence, Ling Henggan suddenly chuckled. He looked Ahua up and down and said jokingly, "Ahua, I didn't expect you to have such skills. It's really a waste of your talent to have you as a bodyguard. You should be a policeman."

"Ah Sheng is my subordinate. His life or death is related to the safety of the Deng family. I'm just doing my duty." Ah Hua's tone remained calm, and his face showed no emotion. This was perhaps related to his work habits over the years. He was a bodyguard, only needing to act according to his master's orders; his work was never mixed with any unnecessary emotions.

“Alright. Ah Sheng did have dinner with us last night, and he was disrespectful to us yesterday morning. But it couldn’t have been us who did it—” Meng Fangliang took a deep drag, and a large part of the cigarette in his hand burned down instantly. He then threw the remaining cigarette on the ground and stomped it out, sneering, “He’s not worthy.”

“I also believe you didn’t touch him.” Ahua sighed softly. “The video shows the atmosphere during your meal. The fact that he got drunk in front of you means he has abandoned his stance from yesterday morning. With someone like that planted in the Deng family, how could you bear to touch him?”

Ling Henggan and Meng Fangliang exchanged a glance, their expressions a mixture of joy and worry. It seemed that Ahua believed that Asheng's death had nothing to do with their side, but his last words were laced with hidden sharpness; though the needle hadn't pierced through, it had already precisely targeted the vital point.

Ling Heng chuckled twice, a憨憨 smile spreading across his chubby face. He subtly deflected the other man's sharp words: "We're all family, after all. Even if we have some disagreements, we wouldn't resort to underhanded tactics. Ah Hua, you've been with President Deng for so long, you should be able to see things clearly when it comes to important matters. Ah Sheng has been highly valued by President Deng in recent years and has accomplished a lot, which has naturally offended many people. Now that President Deng is gone, there are bound to be many who want to take revenge. But then again, maybe we're overthinking it. Ah Sheng might have just gotten drunk and accidentally fell to his death?"

“None of that matters. Anyone who dares to step forward now, I’ll wipe them out.” Ahua said calmly for a moment, but his expression suddenly turned serious. “My only worry is that person…”

Meng Fangliang's brow twitched: "Who?"

“Eumenides. The assassin who gave President Deng the death sentence.” Ahua’s tone was icy, filled with seven parts hatred and three parts fear.

"He killed Asheng?" Ling Heng asked with a forced smile. "Why?"

"Why did he kill General Deng?" Ahua stared intently at Ling Meng and the other man. "Which of us hasn't been involved in the crimes listed on that death sentence notice?"

Ling and Meng felt a chill run down their spines; Ahua's meaning was crystal clear. Eumenides killed Deng Hua because the latter had committed the crimes of "intentional homicide and involvement in organized crime," and those present had all fought alongside Deng Hua all the way, so they were naturally also implicated in these crimes.

Was it not enough that Eumenides killed Deng Hua? Did he have to exterminate them all?

Thinking of the terrifying power that person had displayed, fine beads of sweat appeared on Meng Fangliang's forehead.

Fortunately, Ahua's next words seemed to reassure him: "Perhaps from today onwards, I need to pay special attention to the safety of the two bosses. With a formidable enemy at hand, it's best to put family matters aside for now. I think if President Deng were here, he would definitely make the same arrangement."

Meng Fangliang glanced at Ahua gratefully, and Ling Henggan nodded in thanks as well: "Then we'll have to trouble you a lot. The security work at Longyu Building really can't do without you, Ahua."

"I'm just doing my job." After a moment of silence, Ahua emphasized this sentence again.