Chapter 170
Chapter 170
After daybreak, Seventh Master decided to call Xiao Qing’s husband and ask him to come to the hospital.
However, out of respect for Xiao Qing’s wishes, we didn’t tell him that she only had a month left to live.
It wasn’t long before her husband arrived. He was a simple, honest-looking man with dark skin and a sturdy build, appearing somewhat bashful. His name was Zhang Bin. He wasn’t much of a talker and mostly just smiled at us, but he seemed like a very kind person.
To be honest, Xiao Qing was quite beautiful. In a village setting, she would likely be considered the village belle, and she was only a year older than me. Zhang Bin, on the other hand, looked to be in his thirties.
Despite the disparity between them, love was clearly visible in both of their eyes. This was likely what real love looked like.
Once Zhang Bin arrived at the hospital, he was clearly lost regarding the procedures for payments and picking up medication. Fortunately, we had already settled the bills before he arrived. After Song Xiaotian learned about Xiao Qing’s family situation, he had even paid an extra five thousand yuan. If there was anything left upon her discharge, the hospital would refund it to them.
Given Xiao Qing’s condition, though, I suspected the treatment would be costly, and there likely wouldn’t be much of a refund.
While Song Xiaotian took Zhang Bin to collect the medicine, Seventh Master and I stayed in the ward to talk to Xiao Qing.
“With your body in this state, don’t take any more commissions,” Seventh Master said. “I know a Daoist Healer. I’ll go pick up some medicine this afternoon. Your Fate Pattern is what it is; a full recovery is impossible, but we can try to buy you as much time as possible. Spend it with your family. Be sensible, alright?”
I added my own persuasion. “Master Xiao Qing, there’s always more money to be made, but once you’re gone, you’re gone forever as far as your family is concerned. Stop taking jobs. Leave the time you have left for your family. Give them some memories to hold onto.”
Xiao Qing’s eyes reddened as she nodded. “Okay, I understand. Thank you…”
We didn’t stay at the hospital much longer. Once Zhang Bin returned, we took our leave.
Walking out of the ward, I couldn’t help but sigh. “Some people are so kind, while others are just rotten to the core. Human nature… it’s just so illogical.”
Seventh Master smiled. “If you truly understood the meaning of Yin and Yang, you would know that where there is good, there must be evil. Evil is not only inevitable, it is logical. It would be illogical if it didn’t exist.”
Leaving the hospital, we suddenly felt a sense of aimlessness. Where should we go next? What should we do?
We knew now that the killer was Du Yunting and that Meng Yifan had been framed. But even so, we had no way to break this deadlock.
If we did nothing, we would just have to watch as Meng Yifan was sentenced and executed. As the saying goes, ‘Man proposes, God disposes.’ Regardless of the outcome, we had to do our part first. Even if we knew we were heading into a dead end, we had to see it through to the wall. And even if we couldn’t walk through that wall, who’s to say we couldn’t climb over it?
“I think something doesn’t add up,” I said.
“Before Tao Xiaoyu died, she was hiding in a room eavesdropping on the conversation between Xiang Kai and Du Yunting. I remember very clearly that the lights in that room were off.”
Song Xiaotian and Seventh Master looked at each other, confused about where I was going with this. “And?”
I continued, “If Du Yunting knew there was a third person in that villa-Tao Xiaoyu-why wouldn’t she have the lights on? It only makes sense if Du Yunting didn’t know anyone else was there. Xiang Kai probably didn’t want Du Yunting to know he was using that villa to keep a mistress, so he told Tao Xiaoyu to hide in the room and keep the lights off.”
“But if that’s the case, since Du Yunting didn’t know there was anyone else in the villa, and Tao Xiaoyu was hiding well at the time, how did she end up getting killed too…”
Song Xiaotian let out a chuckle after hearing this. “The point you’re raising is meaningless. Why did Du Yunting put on gloves before killing Xiang Kai? Because he didn’t want to leave fingerprints.”
“That shows how cautious he is. Therefore, it’s perfectly reasonable to assume that after killing Xiang Kai, he searched every room. Tao Xiaoyu was just unlucky; she was found and silenced. It makes sense.”
“I was a cop for several years and handled quite a few cases. Often, people with high levels of education and high IQs are extremely meticulous when they commit crimes.”
I nodded, acknowledging Song Xiaotian’s explanation. “But if it was just to silence her, why was she hacked over twenty times? Brother Liu told us that both Xiang Kai and Tao Xiaoyu were hacked more than twenty times each. The police believe the killer was venting their rage, which is why Meng Yifan was identified as the prime suspect.”
“If Tao Xiaoyu was just being silenced, and Du Yunting didn’t even know her, why the twenty-plus wounds?”
Song Xiaotian froze, rubbing his chin. “This… well, if you say Du Yunting is actually Du Ruhai, then Du Ruhai was already a pervert and a bloodthirsty person. Hacking someone twenty times isn’t exactly out of character for him…”
Seventh Master chimed in to counter my point as well. “Du Ruhai isn’t a normal person to begin with. You can’t measure him by the logic of a sane mind.”
I said, “Fine, let’s go with what you’re saying. After Du Yunting killed Xiang Kai, he searched the entire villa, found Tao Xiaoyu, and silenced her.”
“Then exactly how long did he stay in that villa? How much time did he spend searching it?”
“He entered through the front door, and he definitely left through the front door. The surveillance cameras would have a complete record of when he entered. Since he stayed inside for such a long time, his level of suspicion shouldn’t be any lower than Meng Yifan’s. Furthermore, following the police’s logic that Meng Yifan is the killer, it would have been impossible for Meng Yifan not to run into Du Yunting when he went in to commit the crime.”
“If Meng Yifan had already killed two people, why wouldn’t he have killed Du Yunting as well?”
That was the part that didn’t add up.
After I finished speaking, Song Xiaotian and Seventh Master both perked up.
“Moreover, it’s not just the surveillance outside that specific villa. There are cameras all along the roads of the villa complex and at the main gates. Even the streets outside the complex have cameras. All of these could capture when Meng Yifan left and when Du Yunting left.”
“Now that we know who the real killer is, we can find a way to get that footage. We can use the time difference to prove Meng Yifan’s innocence!”
Surveillance footage can be tampered with, and we might not necessarily be able to get our hands on it.
However, in court, Meng Yifan’s defense attorney would certainly raise this point of doubt. As long as the prosecution cannot produce the footage, or if the footage ‘coincidentally’ happened to be damaged, that in itself constitutes a massive shadow of a doubt. If the defense lawyer is strong enough, they might be able to prevent Meng Yifan from being sentenced due to insufficient evidence.
“Oh, for crying out loud, why didn’t I think of that!”
Song Xiaotian looked a bit embarrassed, his face flushing slightly. “It must be the lack of sleep lately; it’s damaging my brilliant brain. Surveillance – we have to find a way to get those recordings. Even if we only get one piece of footage, we can prove Meng Yifan’s innocence.”