Chapter 171

Chapter 171

When Heaven leaves a door open, there’s always a way out. Now, we finally had a direction again.

Seventh Master was going to visit a friend later to get medicine for Xiao Qing.

Song Xiaotian and I split up to figure out how to get our hands on that surveillance footage.

Song Xiaotian would naturally use his own methods, while I planned to go find Brother Liu.

At three o’clock that afternoon, Meng Yifan would have been detained for a full forty-eight hours and would have to be temporarily released. We still had to go pick him up.

So we didn’t even have time for lunch. We had to race against the clock and get that footage.

Getting the footage was the same as getting Meng Yifan a get-out-of-death-free card.

But if the footage had been destroyed, then although that would also work in Meng Yifan’s favor, the final verdict might not necessarily be favorable to him.

I called Brother Liu directly and arranged to meet him near his workplace.

It was that same little alley again. Brother Liu and I met there.

The moment he saw me, his expression turned a little ugly. If I’d come looking for him, it definitely meant I needed him to help me with something again.

“Little brother, it’s not that I don’t want to help you,” Brother Liu said. “I’ll be straight with you. Your buddy is definitely done for this time.”

Brother Liu was blunt. “Two lives. That’s a major case. And that’s not even mentioning that one of the victims was the boss of Jiangling Group. They’re going to find a way to close this case no matter what. Your buddy is the prime suspect. Whether he’s the real killer or not, in the end, he’s going to be the killer.”

I was just as blunt. “We saw the dead last night. The killer isn’t Meng Yifan. It’s Du Yunting.”

Brother Liu’s hand, which was holding a cigarette, gave a sudden tremble. His eyes widened as he stared at me, but very quickly, he understood what I meant.

He believed in ghosts and gods. He had seen them before too.

“Then you really don’t need to waste your effort,” Brother Liu said, shaking his head. “Do you think any of us on the front lines would dare arrest Du Yunting? Besides, you don’t have any evidence.”

I drew in a breath and forced down my anger. “You can’t do this. Ordinary people like us follow the law. We don’t steal, we don’t rob, and life is already hard enough. Do you think this is fair?”

Brother Liu’s face turned cold. “This is how society is. This is the way things are. What’s the point of saying that to me? I worked my ass off for years and never got promoted, while the ones who kissed up to the leaders did. When a leader made a mistake, I got dragged into it too, and then I was demoted again. Tell me, where’s the fairness in that?”

“You’re an adult now. Stop talking about fairness like a child.”

I had no way to refute him. I also knew what he said was true.

Sometimes, people simply didn’t want to admit how cruel reality was.

I grabbed at my hair, hesitated again and again, then dropped to my knees in front of him.

Brother Liu was startled and quickly reached out to pull me up. “What the hell are you doing? Get up, now!”

He failed to pull me up. My eyes were red as I pleaded, “Brother Liu, help me get that surveillance footage. If you do, I can save Meng Yifan. I know deep down, you’re still different from those people. I know you can’t bear to see this happen either. Meng Yifan didn’t do anything. He got cheated on, and now, out of nowhere, he’s going to take a bullet for someone else’s crime. Please help him.”

Brother Liu immediately let go of me and frowned. “Have you lost your mind? I’m definitely not helping you. There’s absolutely no way I’m helping you. Are you trying to get me killed?”

I said, “Two hundred thousand! All I want is to buy the life of someone who was innocent to begin with!”

Brother Liu froze where he stood and didn’t speak for a long while.

“Three hundred thousand!” I went all in. “Three hundred thousand. All I want is that surveillance footage. You just need to make a copy and give it to me.”

He still didn’t speak.

“I’ll withdraw cash and leave it right at your door. There won’t be any evidence.”

To put him at ease, I added, “I won’t let Song Xiaotian know about this. You can rest assured.”
Brother Liu scratched his scalp, looking torn.

Three hundred thousand was no small sum to him.

After a long while, he fixed his eyes on me and threatened, “If you people ever pull that same stunt again, I swear I’ll ruin you. I don’t care what it costs me-I will ruin you.”

I nodded. “Don’t worry. What happened last time will never happen again.”

“Fine. Wait for my news.”

With that, he turned and left.

I didn’t go anywhere. I stayed nearby and kept watch outside his workplace.

I waited until almost three o’clock, when Song Xiaotian arrived.

He looked utterly worn down, and he hadn’t brought any good news.

“I can’t get those surveillance recordings.”

He lit a cigarette and shook his head at me. “I even asked my dad for help, but we still couldn’t get them. They said the footage involves a major case and won’t allow anyone to access it.”

I hurriedly asked, “What about the cameras in the residential complex?”

Song Xiaotian shook his head again. “Those are in their hands too. Now it all depends on what Officer Liu can do. If he can copy the villa’s surveillance footage for us, that will help Meng Yifan too.”

Three o’clock soon arrived.

Meng Yifan was released from the station right on time.

But the moment he came out, two traffic cops stopped him at the gate.

Song Xiaotian and I immediately realized something was wrong and rushed over.

“What are you doing?”

“He’s already been detained for forty-eight hours! What else do you want?”

I was getting emotional.

After being locked up for two days, Meng Yifan looked listless, with red, swollen eyes. Just looking at him made my heart ache.

One of the traffic cops explained, “Around eleven o’clock on the night of the eighteenth, he was suspected of driving under the influence. We’re taking him back with us to assist in the investigation. This is all in accordance with the law and regulations. Please don’t obstruct us in carrying out our duties.”

The eighteenth was the day Tao Xiaoyu and Xiang Kai were murdered.

Forcing down my anger, I demanded, “Did you give him an alcohol test that day? If you didn’t, then after all these days, what gives you the right to say he was driving drunk?”

The traffic cop explained, “We reviewed the surveillance footage along his route that night, checked the footage at the restaurant where he drank, and questioned the people who drank with him that day. It has been confirmed that he did drink, and that he did drive. Based on our investigation, he was most likely already intoxicated at the time. So this isn’t just driving under the influence-it may be drunk driving.”

I was about to keep arguing with them when Song Xiaotian grabbed me. “They’re acting in accordance with the law and regulations. There’s nothing wrong with the procedure. Don’t get into a conflict with them.”

Seeing that he was about to be taken away again, Meng Yifan completely broke down. His eyes bloodshot, he shouted at us, “Chen Mo! Brother Tian! I didn’t kill anyone! I really didn’t kill anyone! You have to save me! You have to find a way to save me!”

The traffic cops pushed him into the police car. Song Xiaotian and I hurried after him.

“Meng Yifan! Don’t be scared!”

“We know you didn’t kill anyone! We’ll find a way to save you!”

“Wait for us to get you out!”

The car quickly drove away.

My eyes were red, and a useless, suffocating rage churned in my chest with nowhere to go.

“To investigate him for drunk driving, they checked all the surveillance along the way, checked the restaurant’s footage, and questioned everyone who drank with him.”

“So why, when there is clearly surveillance footage that can prove his innocence, is that footage being hidden?”

“Why the hell is this happening?!”