Myriad Calamities - Chapter 34
Xu Haicheng thought for a moment and said, "Lu Mingjie's weakness is his family, especially his sister. You should start with his family, particularly his sister's sudden recovery."
Pan Xiaolu said with doubt, "But this matter doesn't seem to have a direct connection to the ghost face murder case."
"Both are extreme measures; understanding one might help us understand the other," Xu Haicheng said. "We should send officers to Lu Mingjie's house to question him again. By the way, can you still contact Xiao Wu?"
Section 64: Chapter Eleven, Part One of the Void Tribulation (2)
"I can't get in touch with him. He went to Songlang Village last night, and his phone has no signal."
Xu Haicheng said with regret, "It's a pity, otherwise I would have had him go to Tongtian Village on his way to check if Lu Mingjie had stayed there for half a year."
"Yes, I'll try to think of a way to see if I can find someone to pass the message to Songlang Village and then pass it on to him."
"By the way, Xiaolu, you guys must have someone following Lu Mingjie, right? Tell me the address, I want to go talk to him."
"A colleague is secretly monitoring him, but..." Pan Xiaolu said hesitantly, "Captain Xu, you'd better be careful not to let others find out. You were at Huang Yisen's crime scene last night, and somehow Deputy Director Yan found out. Deputy Captain Feng got a scolding at the morning meeting this morning..."
Xu Haicheng's heart sank, and an indescribable bitterness filled his mouth. Deputy Director Yan had always disliked his close relationship with Chen Chen and had been very critical of him. Naturally, he wouldn't let this opportunity slip by.
Pan Xiaolu felt saddened by his silence and said, "Captain Xu, don't worry. Even if the plainclothes officers who were tailing him discover something, they'll most likely just tell Deputy Captain Feng, and he'll keep it a secret. Lu Mingjie is staying in room 304 of a small hotel called Student Home near Nanpu University."
Xu Haicheng was deeply moved, but also conflicted. If he couldn't avoid the plainclothes officers' eyes and Deputy Director Yan found out, he would surely be scolded by Deputy Captain Feng, and it might even implicate Pan Xiaolu. After all, the Criminal Investigation Brigade was a disciplined organization, and such violations were prohibited.
Seeing that he remained silent for a long time, Pan Xiaolu grew anxious: "Captain Xu, what are you thinking about?"
"Xiaolu, you can't do that again."
Pan Xiaolu said somewhat aggrievedly, "Captain Xu, I simply don't believe you killed those four people. It's not just me; everyone thinks so."
Xu Haicheng felt a warmth in his heart, but still said seriously, "That's a different matter, after all, I'm currently suspended from my duties."
"Captain Xu, Director Chen also said that he would discuss everything with you."
Xu Haicheng gave a soft "oh." There's a saying that wherever there are people, there is politics and power struggles, and this is especially true in a powerful center like the Public Security Bureau. Over the years, he had focused on solving cases and never participated in the power struggles between his superiors, but he was well aware that Deputy Director Yan had been suppressed by Chen Chen for years and harbored many resentments. Even though Xu Haicheng had no conflict with him, he disliked him because Chen Chen had promoted him. If Deputy Director Yan found out about his secret involvement in the case, he would most likely challenge Chen Chen again. His immediate priority was to find out whether he had committed murder. Having made up his mind, he said to Pan Xiaolu, "Xiaolu, could you accompany me to the Nanpu City Mental Rehabilitation Center first?"
Pan Xiaolu was taken aback at first, then delighted. She wasn't so arrogant as to think Xu Haicheng wanted to see her. Although she didn't know what he was up to, she was happy and agreed without much thought. Although there was a major case at the bureau, everyone was busy with little information, so Pan Xiaolu found an excuse to slip away.
I rushed to Hawke's office and found the two of them sitting on the sofa talking.
Xu Haicheng nodded to her as a greeting, then said to Hawke, "Let's begin."
Pan Xiaolu asked, puzzled, "Start what?"
"He won't start helping him regain his memories unless you come," Hawke said, looking at Pan Xiaolu with a meaningful smile.
Pan Xiaolu frowned slightly. When she first met Hawke, she found him extremely gentle and refined, but that smile just now clearly concealed a coldness that contradicted his demeanor. She turned to look at Xu Haicheng and asked softly, "Captain Xu…"
"Ma Junnan said I went crazy after being shot in the head. If I go crazy in a bit, you can stop me." Xu Haicheng said, lying down on the sofa. Pan Xiaolu roughly understood what he meant and nodded.
Hawke had turned off the main lights and turned on the rotary light, its warm orange glow falling on Xu Haicheng's face. "Relax your whole body, breathe slowly..."
Xu Haicheng tried his best to do as he was told, but he couldn't relax at first. Hawke wasn't in a hurry and spoke patiently, his voice soft and gentle, like a feather fan caressing one's skin. Gradually, the trail of light and shadow from the rotating lamp in front of him grew longer and longer, finally turning into a circle of dim yellow light. Xu Haicheng felt his eyelids getting particularly heavy and slowly drooped down.
"You stood before the abyss, clutching Fang Li's notebook, when suddenly a scream rang out..." Hawke's voice pierced through his hazy consciousness, seeping into his mind and becoming a real scene. In a daze, Xu Zhangcheng stood before the bottomless abyss once more, the water rippling gently. He held Fang Li's notebook in his hand, his eyes welling up with tears. Suddenly, he heard a scream, and he turned and ran into the cave...
Section 65: Chapter Eleven, Part One of the Void Tribulation (3)
In Hawke's office, he had long since stopped speaking, sitting quietly on the sofa watching Xu Haicheng with an inscrutable expression. Pan Xiaolu stood beside him, barely daring to breathe, her eyes fixed on Xu Haicheng.
Xu Haicheng's breathing was rapid, like the panting of someone running at high speed. After a moment, his breathing slowed down slightly, like the panting of someone who had suddenly stopped running. Then, the expression on his face suddenly became very serious, and the seriousness turned into extreme fear...
Hawke and Pan Xiaolu were unaware that Xu Haicheng was experiencing his most unforgettable moment: he returned to the cave where Liang Ping's body was located, heard the squad leader say there was a ghost Gu, and then ordered everyone to lower their heads. At that moment, a dark gun barrel emerged from among the lowered heads...
Xu Haicheng, who was lying on the sofa, suddenly jolted violently, arching his body like a fish whose head was being held down on a chopping board.
Pan Xiaolu asked anxiously, "What's wrong with him?"
Hawke put his finger to his lips to signal her to be quiet.
Pan Xiaolu suppressed her unease and turned to look at Xu Haicheng. His hunched posture abruptly returned to the sofa, and then his limbs began to twitch uncontrollably. His face turned pale, and the veins on his forehead bulged and throbbed beneath his skin, as if all the blood in his body was rushing to his head…
At this moment, Pan Xiaolu vaguely guessed that Xu Haicheng, under hypnosis, was reliving the scene of being shot in the head. A strange pang of sadness welled up inside her, and she desperately wanted to rush forward and wake him. Hawke, standing nearby, seemed to know her thoughts, turning to look at her with a subtle warning.
However, Pan Xiaolu didn't see this; at that moment, her eyes were only on Xu Haicheng. His body was convulsing more and more violently, his chest heaving rapidly, his breathing becoming faster and shorter, gradually evolving into long gasps and short breaths…
This is clearly the breath of someone on the verge of death!
Pan Xiaolu's face changed drastically, and she anxiously said to Hawke, "You must wake him up! He'll faint and die!"
Hawke's expression was somewhat cold as he said, "If he wants to regain his memories, he must endure this step."
On the sofa, Xu Haicheng's exhalations grew longer and his inhalations shorter, his face turning purple from lack of oxygen. Pan Xiaolu, frantic with worry, gritted her teeth, pulled out a gun, pointed it at Hawke's head, and said, "I order you to dispel his hypnotic state."
Hawke gave a cold laugh and ignored her.
She remembered how gentle and approachable he had been when they first met, but now he was a completely different person. A terrible suspicion flashed through Pan Xiaolu's mind: "You...you want to kill him, don't you?"
Hawke didn't deny it, and gave a complicated, faint smile.
Pan Xiaolu noticed his cold and unpredictable expression. Then she looked at Xu Haicheng lying on the sofa, who let out a long breath and suddenly stopped breathing. Terrified, she rushed forward, grabbed his hand, and shook it desperately, "Captain Xu, Captain Xu, wake up, wake up..." Fear and heartache intertwined, and tears streamed down her face.
A sharp pain pierced my heart, and through my tear-blurred vision, I felt Xu Haicheng's hand twitch, followed by a sudden tightening of his grip. Looking down in surprise, I saw Xu Haicheng's hand tightly clenching mine. Looking at his face, I saw his nose flaring; though his breathing was weak, he was still alive. Overwhelmed with joy, I held his hand tightly, as if holding his life itself.
After a moment, Xu Haicheng parted his lips slightly and uttered two words: "Fang Li..."
Pan Xiaolu's eyes darkened, her earlier joy largely extinguished. Thinking he would wake up soon, she quickly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. After a while, his eyes remained tightly closed, and his breathing was very weak, like that of a seriously injured person. Even his brows were shrouded in a sickly look.
Pan Xiaolu nudged him a few times, but when he didn't respond, she started to panic again. Turning to look at Hawke, she saw his calm and collected expression and felt a strange hatred welling up inside her. "Why isn't he awake yet?"