Chapter 32

Perhaps frightened, the man ran very fast.

“Stop!”

Chu Liyang and Ying Shi chased relentlessly. Just as they were about to catch him, a loud engine roar came from behind, growing closer.

Sensing something was wrong, Chu Liyang immediately turned his head.

At that instant, he saw a man in a black tactical jacket riding a heavy motorcycle charging straight toward them.

The man’s eyes were full of venomous hatred, as if he wanted to kill them on the spot.

“Get out of the way!” Chu Liyang shouted.

Before the words had even finished, the motorcycle was already upon them.

Even though they dodged as fast as they could, both were clipped and knocked to the ground.

Ying Shi fell hard, pain exploding across his back.

Chu Liyang’s arm scraped against the ground, luckily his clothes were thick, or the skin would have been torn off.

The motorcycle’s sudden appearance gave the fleeing man his chance.

Seeing Chu Liyang and Ying Shi blocked, he turned and ran without hesitation.

At that moment, colleagues from the bureau, hearing the commotion, rushed out to join the chase.

“That guy ran off—go after him!”

Before they could react, the motorcyclist suddenly swung the bike around and charged again, this time straight at Chu Liyang.

“Captain Chu, run!”

Realizing the attacker’s intent, Ying Shi’s eyes widened, his voice breaking into a hoarse scream.

“Captain Chu!”

One cry after another rang out in alarm.

Chu Liyang’s reflexes were faster than his thoughts. He turned and sprinted, buying himself time to dodge.

“Damn it, Ruan Mingxi, you owe me big today.”

The roar of the engine grew louder. Colleagues who had rushed to help tried to block the motorcycle, but the force of a heavy bike was far greater than that of a normal one—their attempts were useless.

Bang—

“Captain Chu!”

The deafening crash rang out, mingling with the shouts of alarm.

At the doorway, supported by Jiang Xuzhou, Ruan Mingxi, worried about what was happening outside, saw Chu Liyang fall from a height, tumbling across the ground.

“Chu Liyang!”

Ruan Mingxi’s eyes widened instantly. He instinctively tried to rush forward, but the stabbing pain in his leg made his face go pale.

—

“Ah—ah, it hurts… take it easy.”

Chu Liyang grimaced in agony, baring his teeth. His face was swollen in one spot, as if he had been punched.

Lin Peixin was startled when Chu Liyang suddenly jerked his hand away, “Don’t move, or the tweezers will stab in.”

“Two people, hold him down.”

Immediately, two young officers pressed Chu Liyang from either side to stop him from struggling.

Chu Liyang was highly sensitive to pain, and the cleaning of his wound was almost unbearable.

“Not to complain, but with one person on each side, it feels like I’ve been arrested. Isn’t this a bit much?” Chu Liyang grimaced in pain, baring his teeth, yet still managed to joke.

Lin Peixin carefully treated the wound. “Then stop moving. Learn from Captain Ruan—he doesn’t make a sound when his wounds are treated.”

“He’s thick-skinned. I’m not like him.” Chu Liyang sucked in a sharp breath, then forced a smile as he replied.

When it came to teasing friends, he was second to none.

“Ah damn—it hurts, hurts, hurts…”

Finally, the wound was cleaned. Lin Peixin let out a sigh of relief, “Alright, it’s done.”

“I’m a forensic doctor, yet every day I end up doing emergency wound care for you lot. Can’t you be more careful and protect yourselves?”

Chu Liyang grinned cheekily, “Next time, for sure.”

“The external wounds are handled, but you’d better go to the hospital. That bump on your head is big—I’m worried about a concussion.” Lin Peixin said, still uneasy.

Fortunately, Chu Liyang had been quick-witted enough to run back and jump off the post near the duty room entrance. Otherwise, he might have ended up in surgery.

Though he hadn’t been hit head-on by the motorcycle, he was still thrown into the air, crashing hard against the automatic door. His back was badly bruised, and his head had a large swelling.

“You rest here. I’ll go check.” Lin Peixin packed up his things and headed toward the interrogation room.

“Hey, I want to go too. Wait for me.” Chu Liyang, restless as ever, insisted on following.

By now, he was eager to know what the kidnapper’s true motive was.

When they arrived, Jiang Xuzhou was standing by the window, listening to the interrogation, his brow furrowed.

“Has that guy confessed?” Chu Liyang leaned against the wall, trying to find a more comfortable position.

Jiang Xuzhou took a deep breath. “No. He refuses to say anything.”

“So tight-lipped? What’s his background?” Chu Liyang raised his eyebrows, curious.

Jiang Xuzhou replied, “Yu Wei, 23 years old, a fitness coach. Back in school, he was repeatedly disciplined for conflicts with classmates. The worst incident reached the police station, but since both sides were students, their parents intervened, they were lectured, reconciled, and released. Other than that, his record is clean. No grudges against the police, no sign of deliberate revenge.”

Hearing this, Chu Liyang fell silent. Through the glass, his gaze at the man in the interrogation room grew more probing.

Chu Liyang could not believe that those venomous eyes carried no hatred.

Inside the conference room, Ruan Mingxi sat with a dark expression. Beside him, Lin Cheng also looked grim, staring intently at the man before them.

“Speak. Cat got your tongue?”

“You’ve seen it all. What’s left to ask?” Yu Wei lifted his head and glanced at Ruan Mingxi. “Besides, I’ve said it so many times. If you don’t believe me, what else can I do?”

Ruan Mingxi held back his anger, “I’ll ask you again. What is your relationship with the man who delivered the package?”

“No relationship. None. None. How many times do you want me to say it? Ask me a hundred times, it’s still no relationship. Nagging back and forth with the same words—aren’t you annoyed yet?”

“No relationship, yet you assaulted police?” Ruan Mingxi’s voice rose sharply. “Using violence to obstruct officials from carrying out their duties is punishable by law. You expect anyone to believe you attacked officers just to save someone you ‘don’t know’?”

Yu Wei wore an expression of defiance, as if daring them, “He wasn’t in uniform. How was I supposed to know he was police?”

“You two looked vicious, chasing a student. I couldn’t stand by, so I stepped in to help. Isn’t that allowed?” Yu Wei stared provocatively at Ruan Mingxi.

“If I did anything wrong, it was just good intentions gone bad. Nowadays, even acts of righteousness get criticized, and now you want to call it a crime? How unfair is that?”

Yu Wei was determined not to reveal anything, deliberately shifting the topic.

“Hey, you look like a big shot here. But with your leg crippled and still working, you’re really pitiful.”

As he spoke, Yu Wei even laughed aloud.

“Your salaries can’t be that high, right? Working this hard—worth it?”

Ruan Mingxi narrowed his eyes slightly, “Whether my salary is high or whether it’s worth it is none of your concern. Look at you, still laughing. Seems you’re in a good mood. Perfect—we’ve got plenty of rooms here. I’ll open one up for you to calm down.”

Continuing the questioning was a waste of time. Ruan Mingxi directly switched interrogators; he didn’t have the patience to keep sparring with Yu Wei.

As the door opened, Jiang Xuzhou immediately stepped forward to support him.

Ruan Mingxi asked, “Any news on the one who ran?”

Jiang Xuzhou shook his head. “No. We checked nearby surveillance. He was picked up by a black car. Judging by the model, it looks like the same car from Liang Sheng’s kidnapping scene, but we can’t confirm if it’s the exact same vehicle.”

“Have the video team keep watch.”

After saying this, Ruan Mingxi turned to Chu Liyang, “How are you? Holding up?”

“I’m fine, buddy. Not like you—fragile as a crispy shark.”

Chu Liyang grinned mischievously, the movement tugging at his facial wound. He forced himself to act casual, not wanting to give Ruan Mingxi the chance to mock him.

Lin Peixin was speechless at the pair. One had just jumped from a height and was still swaggering; the other had been hit by a motorcycle and was still smirking. No wonder they were friends—birds of a feather flock together.

Ruan Mingxi asked, “Can you walk? If so, come with me to the conference room.”

Chu Liyang dropped the joking tone. “Alright.”

Ruan Mingxi handed him the file envelope, signaling for him to go first.

Ruan Mingxi turned to Jiang Xuzhou, “Chu Liyang and I need to use the photos to locate where the victims’ heads are hidden. That guy’s mouth is too hard to pry open. If possible, help me break his silence.”

Of course Jiang Xuzhou understood—once they identified where the heads were hidden, many questions would be resolved.

Ruan Mingxi didn’t let him come along, simply because the photos were too gruesome. He didn’t want Jiang to have to look at them.

“Alright. If you need me, call me.” Jiang Xuzhou hesitated for a moment, then answered in a low voice.

Ruan Mingxi’s lips curved into a confident smile, “You’re good at analyzing criminal psychology. Catching criminals is my specialty. Just wait—I’ll show you what I can do.”

Jiang Xuzhou met his gaze. “Fine. I’ll wait for your good news.”

But the moment Ruan Mingxi turned away, his smile vanished.

To deduce the hiding place of the corpses and Liang Sheng’s location from just a few photos was nowhere near as simple as he had made it sound.

Lin Cheng, who had been replaced in the interrogation room by Ying Shi, carried his laptop into the conference room to find Ruan Mingxi. The sight inside stunned him.

The printed photos were arranged one by one, magnetically pinned to a small blackboard. Ruan Mingxi and Chu Liyang each stood before a blank section of the board, sketching something.

“Don’t just stand there. Get to work.” Ruan Mingxi didn’t even lift his head.

“We’ve got data from the video team and the investigation unit. From the hospital to Liang Sheng’s home, the normal drive takes about forty minutes. But according to his attendance records, Liang Sheng spent an hour from leaving the hospital to arriving home. The extra twenty minutes were used to collect blood from his ‘blood bank.’ We’ve narrowed down a target area. Use the information to check suspicious locations.”

“Huh?” Lin Cheng froze for a moment, then quickly reacted, “Oh—yes!”

He was a technical specialist, and area analysis was his strength. No wonder Ying Shi had swapped him in.

Lin Cheng found an empty spot to sit. Ruan Mingxi, stealing a moment amid his busyness, pointed to some papers on the desk.

“That’s the information Chu Liyang and I calculated. Look it over, it’ll make your positioning more precise.”

After speaking, Ruan Mingxi turned his head back and continued calculating something on the small blackboard.

On the other side, Chu Liyang was doing the same. Several backup copies of the printed color photos had been provided, and the sheets in their hands were marked with numerous data points.

Lin Cheng quickly adjusted his focus and began working on location analysis.

Two sets of notes, pieced together, made Lin Cheng’s heart race.

Ruan Mingxi and Chu Liyang had actually used the timestamps on the photos, along with the shadows cast by sunlight through the windows onto the floor, to calculate the sun’s position at the time. Once the angle of the sunlight was determined, the suspicious area could be drastically narrowed down.

Lin Cheng’s eyes widened instantly. Weren’t they supposed to have studied the same major?

“Look at this—could it be a serial number?” Chu Liyang noticed something unusual and immediately called out to Ruan Mingxi.