Chapter 115

Chapter 115

Nan Mu frowned and thought it over for a while, but no answer came to him.

How the other party had determined that Wen Miao was their target still needed to be investigated. But his theory was not impossible. Starting from that line of reasoning, it could explain almost all of the questions they still had.

“Why did Nurse Xiao Ai want to kill me, the person who knew too much, but save you? Maybe it was because she needed what was in your head.”

Goose bumps rose all over Wen Miao’s body. “Nurse Xiao Ai was working for the transplant recipient, so that’s why she desperately wanted me to live. And Nurse Lin was Jia Lingyuan’s person, another transplant recipient. To them, whether the other people could be saved didn’t matter. What mattered was that important information couldn’t be leaked… So that’s why they argued on the rooftop over what to do with me?”

After listening, Nan Mu added, “It probably isn’t that simple. Ordinary transplant recipients only pay the money. They usually don’t handle the cleanup afterward. They also couldn’t possibly keep that many helpers on standby at all times just in case. I think it’s very likely that they are people from the Organization. Jia Lingyuan might be both a member of the Organization and a transplant recipient.”

People in the Organization could get sick too, so Wen Miao found the theory reasonable.

“Think about it. If Gu Zhishu’s transplant process was the Organization’s normal procedure, then that means the procedure has at least three stages: first, confirm a matching target through a physical exam; then mislead the target into believing they have a serious illness that requires surgery; and finally, arrange for the target and the transplant recipient to undergo surgery on the same day.”

As Nan Mu spoke, his gaze shifted to Wen Miao. “But your case was completely different. Leaving aside how Xu Lei determined that you were the target who met his requirements, the route he took was not the normal procedure at all. You have to remember, aside from Gu Zhishu, where we only managed to stumble upon the killer because we already knew the location of his death, the others-whether Su Yu or Zhaodi-are all in a state where no one has been found, dead or alive! That shows the Organization is wary of police involvement in this matter.”

Wen Miao’s heart suddenly began to pound. “Then what kind of status do you think Xu Lei has in the Organization?”

Nan Mu sneered. “At the very least, he’s definitely not a decision-maker. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have needed to do this himself. But his position within the Organization must not be low. Xu Lei is only a biological scientist. He’s not a doctor. Even if he could remove the organ he wanted on his own, he would still need to rely on doctors for the entire transplant process-especially when it involves the brain, a surgery that precise and complex.”

That was true. Even Jia Lingyuan had to hire a specialist surgeon from overseas for his transplant surgery. In the end, Xu Lei was only a biological scientist. Even if he was skilled enough to remove the organ he wanted by himself, there was no way he could personally transplant it into the recipient and guarantee they survived. With an organ of unknown origin, he couldn’t go through formal hospital channels for the transplant. That meant it could only have been the people in the Organization who had always helped them perform transplants.

Wen Miao sighed. “Then it looks like Xu Lei is the only key figure in solving this case.”

Nan Mu chuckled. “Not necessarily. There’s one other person who’s also very important.”

Curious, Wen Miao asked, “Who?”

“Zhaodi.”

Wen Miao’s eyes lit up. “You got in touch with her?”

Nan Mu first nodded, then shook his head. “I did get in touch with someone, but the person I contacted was her younger sister.”

With that, he told her the story of Zhaodi and Wang Pandi from beginning to end.

Wen Miao was filled with emotion after hearing it. “So Zhaodi might still be alive? Since she and her sister Wang Pandi only contact each other directly, one-on-one, should we go find Wang Pandi first?”

Nan Mu nodded. “We can try our luck with her first. But according to Wang Pandi herself, her sister hasn’t contacted her since July. So even if we find her, we may not necessarily be able to learn Zhaodi’s whereabouts… Still, let’s find the person first. We can talk about the rest when the time comes.”
Wen Miao had another concern. “But Zhaodi is this cautious even with her own sister. I’m afraid Wang Pandi may not be safe either. For all we know, people from the Organization are watching Wang Pandi right now, lying in wait for Zhaodi to show up. We’d better not approach Wang Pandi rashly.”

“You have a point.”

“You’re on the Organization’s list now. It’s best if you don’t go see her… Why don’t you leave this to me?”

Nan Mu gave a cold laugh. “I’d be more than happy to. I’m just afraid they won’t come looking for me.”

Wen Miao’s heart tightened with unease. “Don’t do anything impulsive.”

She didn’t want to see him covered in blood and lying on the ground again, and she didn’t want to experience that tormenting fear and panic all over again.

Nan Mu turned his head and caught the trace of fear in Wen Miao’s eyes. It was obvious that his previous injury had scared her badly. His heart suddenly softened. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”

Wen Miao didn’t believe him so easily. Her cool, clear eyes remained fixed on him, stubbornness filling their depths.

Nan Mu admitted defeat and took a step back. “Fine, I won’t go. But you’re not allowed to go either. Otherwise they might scoop both of you up in one net… Either find someone trustworthy and suitable to go in your place.”

Since Nan Mu had already relented, Wen Miao had no reason to object and agreed readily. Then she asked, “Write down Wang Pandi’s home address and school for me. I can give it to someone when the time comes… Oh, right. Do you have a photo of her?”

Wen Miao felt that asking around about someone would draw too much attention. But with a photo, if they arranged a chance encounter themselves, at least it would reduce the number of outsiders who noticed.

As for a photo, Nan Mu had prepared that long ago. But he was also a little worried, because the photo and the real person might look very different…

Wen Miao found that strange. “Why would they look very different? Aren’t they from the same time period?”

Nan Mu nodded as he pulled a stack of photos from inside his notebook. He had prepared every photo that might possibly be useful.

He flipped through them and drew one out. “This is Wang Pandi, but it’s from her work ID when she was a nurse at the hospital. I tore it off from there.”

Wang Pandi’s family hadn’t been well-off, so there wasn’t a single childhood photo of her at home. After Wang Pandi disappeared, her phone had probably been disposed of as well. With no other choice, Nan Mu could only tear the photo from her hospital work ID. The person in the photo looked to be in her twenties, but right now, Wang Pandi was still only in her teens.

In contrast, the photo of Zhaodi he had brought was from when she had been in her teens.

Qiu Ziyu and the others had searched through every photo in their father’s country house, but they hadn’t found a single one related to Wang Pandi or her sister. Instead, in Wang Pandi’s rented apartment, they had found a junior high graduation photo of Wang Zhaodi that she had kept. Presumably because the family had been too poor to afford photos, the younger sister could only hide away this one graduation photo that had her older sister in it.

The problem was that it was a group photo of more than fifty people, so Wang Zhaodi appeared especially small in it. If enlarged, the image would become blurry. And the current Wang Zhaodi should already be in her early twenties…

Even after seeing the photo, Nan Mu himself wasn’t confident he would recognize her at a glance if he saw her in person.

Nan Mu talked for quite a while before realizing that Wen Miao wasn’t looking at Wang Pandi’s photo. Instead, she had been holding Wang Zhaodi’s photo the entire time, her expression strange.

Nan Mu asked, “What’s wrong?”

Wen Miao looked up at him, then lowered her head to look at the person in the photo again. After a long moment, she said in an odd tone, “I… think I know her!”