False evidence

Chapter 58 Destined
Gao He and the others found the entrance to a cellar behind the stove, where Fu Bo had stood.

While the police went down to investigate, Bai Jing asked me, "When did you call the police?"

"Second floor, when you said we'd split up, I went to the left, otherwise how would I know there was a signal on the left?"

Bai Jing smiled slightly: "You called the police immediately upon discovering the body; you've thought of everything. When I'm with you, I always think of someone. Especially just now, when you were talking to Fu Ansheng... you really remind me of that person."

"Ex-boyfriend? The one who's a doctor?"

"Don't talk nonsense, I have nothing to do with him."

Bai Jing rolled her eyes at me, and her gaze suddenly became somewhat puzzled:
"We were deliberately trapped here, and based on the appearance of the corpse, we knew it was hidden under the stove—these are all deductions. But how do you know that Fu Ansheng killed someone before? And you described it in such detail, as if you witnessed it yourself?"

"Would you believe me if I told you I actually saw some things with my own eyes?"

Seeing that Bai Jing still looked puzzled, I smiled wryly: "Just pretend it was a dream, but I really hope I won't have dreams like that again."

I lowered my voice and said, "I'm squeamish about blood!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the corridor lights suddenly turned on.

As the main power switch closed and the kitchen lights turned on, Gao He's voice came from behind the stove:

"Call an ambulance quickly! There are two survivors!"

Gu Haitao remained huddled to the side the whole time. When Fan Xiaoyu, who was barely recognizable as a human, was carried out, he only glanced at her from afar.

The second person carried up was a young man with dyed yellow hair. He looked at least five years older than Fan Xiaoyu and had also been tortured beyond recognition.

Meng Chao and I are, after all, 'doctors,' so following common sense, we first performed some emergency measures on the two of them...

"Heh, it seems Fu Ansheng didn't intend for them to die so quickly, otherwise they would have starved or died of thirst in seven days," Meng Chao said.

Gao He grinned and twisted his neck: "That's about right. You didn't see it, there's just a stone trough for feeding pigs down there, and it's already empty. Judging from the smell, it was probably filled with kitchen swill before. They're raising people like pigs."

I looked at the dying Fan Xiaoyu and was about to call for Gu Haitao when the blond-haired man on the stretcher suddenly grabbed my wrist:

“That was you… I recognize your voice…”

I looked down at him and said coldly:
"Did you know Fan Xiaoyu has a boyfriend? Isn't that funny?"

The blond-haired man pursed his chapped lips, his dim yellow eyes slowly moving as if searching for something.

"Who are you looking for? Fan Xiaoyu?" Meng Chao glanced at Gu Haitao sideways. "If that's the case, then you're more sentimental than someone else."

"no……"

The blond-haired man shook his head with difficulty, as if he hadn't found what he was looking for. His gaze returned to me, and he said in a hoarse voice:

“I remember now… I came here when I was a child… Back then, most of the houses were made of wood…”

I understood what he meant and my eyes widened in surprise: "You're the kid who stayed here back then?"

The blond-haired man weakly hummed in agreement. "Fourteen years... and only now do I realize that my father wasn't burned to death, he was murdered... I killed him..."

After Huang Mao was carried away, Meng Chao, Bai Jing, and I looked at each other, not knowing what to say for a moment.

A murder case that had lasted for more than a decade was actually caused by a misunderstanding.

Fu Ansheng never expected that I would come directly to the kitchen. His hasty appearance left the cellar entrance unsealed. So, the blond-haired boy inside overheard our conversation. Fu Ansheng also never imagined that the source of that incident years ago would be a mere child.

Even more unexpectedly, the 'instigator' of the whole affair would, years later, almost die by his own hand due to a series of unforeseen events…

Two other bodies were carried out of the cellar, including the female corpse, which was the one we had seen earlier.

"Another couple," Meng Chao said irritably.

Remembering something, I asked Gao He, "The female victim had an injury on her calf. How did it happen?"

Gao He said with a gloomy face, "Bite, bitten by people. These two people starved to death."

A chill ran through me: "Thank goodness I was just too hungry."

Meng Chao asked, "What do you mean?"

I said, "When a person is so thirsty or hungry that they will vomit whatever they eat. Who else but a man would bite a woman's calf? If he weren't so hungry that he couldn't eat anything at all, he probably would have gnawed that woman down to her bones just to survive."

Stepping out the gate, the fog had dissipated, and the sky was beginning to brighten.

Meng Chao turned around and looked at me, then whispered:
"Old Fu is the murderer, that's a done deal. But what we saw in the building before... could a human have done that?"

I asked Gao He for a cigarette, gave one to Meng Chao, and lit one for myself, taking a deep drag:
"What's the point of investigating whether someone is a human or a ghost? If you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear. If you have done something wrong, you might escape for a while, but you won't escape forever."

"So what?" Gao He glanced at me sideways and said, "My cigarettes have become yours? Doesn't that seem like a guilty conscience?"

"What's half a pack of cigarettes? You haven't even told me I might not be able to go to school."

Gao looked around, then suddenly pulled something out of his bag and shoved it into my hand, saying somewhat furtively:
"Keep this safe. I went through a lot of trouble to get it through connections. There's never been a precedent for this before. Tsk, don't look at it yet, look at it later."

He straightened up, coughed, and his tone returned to normal: "Oh, by the way. You're also involved in this matter. I won't trouble you today, but you might need to cooperate again later if necessary."

He patted my shoulder. "You, if you can't go to school, you can't go. Well, I asked a friend to find you a job. Don't worry, it's not in our system, but it's a perfect match for your major. Go back and rest for a couple of days to calm your nerves. Once you've recovered, call me and I'll arrange for you to start work!"

After a terrifying night, none of us wanted to stay any longer.

After Gao and the others left, we also drove away from Zhulin Villa.

When they arrived at the school, Gu Haitao got out of the car and turned around, as if to say something.

Before he could speak, I said calmly, "I'll take the three thousand. We don't need to contact each other again."

Meng Chao pushed open the door to get out of the car, but I grabbed him and said, "Let's go have breakfast together."

"Cut the person down first, then eat them; that way you can eat more!"

"Alright, stop making trouble. Do you want to drop out of school like me?"

They held onto Meng Chao and took him and Bai Jing to a noodle shop.

Meng Chao angrily ordered a bowl of braised pork noodles and asked the owner to add a braised pork chop to the order.

After we ordered the food, I gave him a few more words of advice, telling him to go back and stop arguing with Gu Haitao.

Remembering what Gao had given me before, I took it out and opened the brown paper bag. My heart skipped a beat as soon as I glanced inside.

(End of this chapter)