"Your name is He Yushui. How do you know this wasn't done by that fellow Chen Feng?"
While Hao Pingchuan and Yan Bugui were still bickering, Bai Ling had already pulled He Yushui aside to question her.
"I just know! Chen Feng went down to the countryside yesterday to purchase supplies. How could he possibly do something like this?"
He Yushui spoke her mind without reservation. Brother Chen Feng had already suffered enough heartbreak in the past; now people were trying to frame him as a murderer.
The people in the Quadrangle Courtyard were simply going too far.
According to the information they had just gathered, the fellow named Chen Feng indeed looked suspicious, though not as exaggerated as Yan Bugui made it sound.
After all, Chen Feng and Liu Haizhong had indeed clashed yesterday morning.
Since there was suspicion, it naturally had to be investigated thoroughly.
This was not only a matter of responsibility toward their duties, but also a matter of fairness to the fellow named Chen Feng.
After bustling about for quite a while, Bai Ling finally closed her notebook.
"Comrade He Yushui, thank you for your cooperation. If we need anything further, we will be in touch."
"Yes! If you have any questions, feel free to ask me anytime."
He Yushui nodded, secretly wishing they would question her more so she would have more opportunities to help Brother Chen Feng.
***
Police Station, Conference Room.
Following a morning of visits and investigations, Bai Ling and her team were called back by Bureau Chief Luo Yong.
This case was utterly heinous. Although Liu Haizhong's life had been saved thanks to prompt medical attention, his legs suffered comminuted fractures and had to be amputated.
Coupled with his other injuries, it would take him months just to recover somewhat.
All the evidence indicated that the perpetrator acted purely out of revenge.
Just imagining that such a ruthless, lawless individual was hiding among the ordinary masses made it impossible for Luo Yong to look anything less than grim!
"Let's hear it. What are your thoughts on this case?"
"Bureau Chief, the injured Liu Haizhong is a grade-six bench worker at the Rolling Mill. He has a violent temper, a nasty disposition, and holds grudges with quite a few workers at the plant."
"At home, he frequently resorted to physical violence against his sons under the so-called motto: spare the rod and spoil the child."
"Through our various investigations, we've learned that Liu Haizhong has made quite a few enemies."
Bai Ling gave her report first, detailing everything about Liu Haizhong, including his family members and interpersonal relationships.
Bureau Chief Luo Yong listened very intently.
This information was crucial; if they wanted to find the culprit, they would have to peel back the layers until they pinned down the suspect.
"Bureau Chief!"
As soon as Bai Ling finished her report, Hao Pingchuan stepped forward.
"The victim was likely injured around midnight last night, and the last person to see him was his own wife."
"According to her, the victim went to bed at nine o'clock and quickly fell fast asleep, no different from any other night—until the next morning when Liu Haizhong's wife got up and didn't see him, assuming he had just gone out."
"It wasn't until the victim's eldest son went out, tripped over something, and discovered that the victim had been beaten and dumped right outside the doorway."
"At first, the victim's family didn't realize anything was amiss, assuming the victim had simply passed out on the ground. It wasn't until they noticed the injuries on the victim's face that they realized he had been beaten."
"So the victim was sent to the hospital, and after the family learned from the doctors just how severe his injuries were, they finally called the police."
Hao Pingchuan reported on the direction of his own investigation.
"Zheng Zhaoyang, what about you?"
Bureau Chief Luo Yong looked over at Zheng Zhaoyang.
"Bureau Chief."
Hearing this, Zheng Zhaoyang immediately stood up and shared Duomen's previous speculation.
What?
Bureau Chief Luo Yong was somewhat dumbfounded.
Retaliation by an enemy!
On this point, he agreed.
He had already received Liu Haizhong's injury report.
Comminuted fractures in both legs, alongside multiple whip and club marks across his body—it was clear the perpetrator loathed the victim to the extreme, which was why he subjected him to such torture.
The cruelty of the methods made even him knit his brows.
Yet now, he was actually hearing from Zheng Zhaoyang that the culprit was a martial artist.
"Zheng Zhaoyang, are you certain?"
If what Zheng Zhaoyang said was true, then this case had become genuinely troublesome.
An ordinary criminal would be one thing.
After so many interviews and investigations, tracking them down would be relatively easy, especially since this case clearly screamed revenge.
As long as they found someone with a grudge against the victim, they could basically crack the case.
If the culprit was a trained martial artist, however, it wouldn't be easy to investigate.
People of that sort acted cautiously; unlike ordinary people, finding clues and evidence for them was difficult indeed!
"Bureau Chief, Master Duo—no, Duomen and I can confirm that the perpetrator is indeed a martial artist. Look at this here..."
Zheng Zhaoyang pulled out the evidence regarding the courtyard wall and continued.
"Bureau Chief, this courtyard wall is a full two meters high, yet aside from a few drops of blood, there isn't the slightest sign of sliding, scraping, or climbing friction. However, the footprints beneath the wall clearly show that the culprit entered the Quadrangle Courtyard from here, returned along the same path to take the victim away to inflict the harm, and then brought the victim back to the Quadrangle Courtyard through this exact spot."
"With such repeated movements, yet only a few drops of blood on the wall, it simply doesn't make sense."
"The victim weighed well over two hundred catties. For an ordinary person to take the victim out from here without leaving a trace is impossible; even with the help of tools, they would leave marks."
"Yet at the scene, there were only a few unclear sets of footprints and absolutely no other traces."
"It is precisely because of these details that Duomen and I can confirm the opponent is a martial artist, and an exceptionally skilled one at that."
Zheng Zhaoyang's analysis forced Luo Yong to admit that their conjecture was very likely correct.
Just as Zheng Zhaoyang said, for an ordinary person to silently spirit away a living man weighing over two hundred catties should have been an extremely difficult task.
But for a trained martial artist, it would be much simpler.
A capable martial artist with hundreds of catties of strength in a single arm would naturally find it a breeze. With such prowess, whisking away a two-hundred-catty living man in dead silence would naturally be effortless.
Yet the more he thought about it, the uglier Luo Yong's expression became.
With greater power came greater responsibility, and greater danger as well.
The threat posed by a martial artist was obviously incomparable to that of an ordinary person.
If this case truly involved a martial artist, things were going to get genuinely troublesome!
"Do you have any targets or suspects in mind?"
"Also, according to your reports, the victim was taken from his home and subjected to revenge outside. Have you managed to locate the crime scene?"
"Given that the victim suffered such severe torture, it's impossible he didn't make a sound. The injury report also states that the victim's mouth was savagely beaten with a weapon like a wooden club or an iron rod."
"Clearly, the victim was conscious while being tortured, and he must have let out miserable screams."
"When you were canvassing the surrounding streets, did anyone hear anything?"
Luo Yong's heart was filled with a sense of crisis.
If the perpetrator was merely settling a score with Liu Haizhong out of revenge, that would still be manageable.
After all, having exacted their revenge, the culprit shouldn't commit another crime anytime soon.
Even if they couldn't catch the culprit immediately, the burden on their shoulders wouldn't be quite so crushing.
But if the perpetrator were to strike again, then they would truly be in for some real misfortune!