Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 439 Swearing an Oath to the Police Badge (10,000 words per day, 18 days)
The emergency and outpatient departments of the Third Municipal Hospital are located in the same building.

However, the operating room is not in the outpatient building, but in the adjacent inpatient building.

They just came through the connecting corridor between the two buildings.

The operating room is on the sixth floor, while the psychiatric ward is on the twelfth floor. This building has a total of eighteen floors, making it the tallest building in the entire hospital and also the tallest building in the vicinity.

Zhou Yi waited for two elevators before finally squeezing onto the elevator.

As the largest hospital in the city, it has no shortage of people.

After going up to the twelfth floor, Zhou Yi found Qiao Jiali, who had just come out of Director Sun's office.

It is said that Dong Lu's condition is relatively stable at present. However, Xiao Shuang's personality is currently in control of her body. Although her emotions are stable, she is afraid to see people, so it may be difficult to get any information out of her.

Zhou Yi decided to go and take a look.

Dong Lu stayed in a private ward at the end of the corridor, and all the expenses were covered by Director Sun.

Along the way, Zhou Yi saw many mental patients. Most of them had blank expressions and empty eyes. Of course, none of them were aggressive, since the dangerous ones were all kept in mental hospitals.

Due to insufficient police force, the bureau could only send two people to take turns guarding the ward door 24 hours a day, both to protect Dong Lu and to prevent her from escaping again.

Apart from Director Sun and the designated nurses, no one else was allowed to approach Dong Lu's ward.

However, since it is a regular ward, there is no way to add any mandatory measures.

Moreover, at first, people were supposed to stay inside the ward, but Qiao Jiali said that both of Dong Lu's personalities were very resistant, so she could only stay at the door.

Zhou Yi saw a chair placed by the door, and a colleague was sitting on it, yawning listlessly.

Upon seeing the two approaching, he quickly stood up to greet them.

Qiao Jiali asked, "How is the situation?"

"It's all normal, nothing's wrong. I check on it every half hour. Director Sun comes twice a day, and the nurses check on me every two hours."

Zhou Yi nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

He peered through the window at the door of the ward. It was dark inside, and the curtains were drawn, but some light still seeped in through the gaps.

Qiao Jiali explained, "The hospital ward originally didn't have curtains. Director Sun had them installed overnight, saying it would increase Xiaoshuang's sense of security."

In other words, the curtains are drawn right now, and the person inside is Xiaoshuang's personality.

Zhou Yi gently pushed the door open and went inside, followed by Qiao Jiali.

The ward wasn't large. As soon as you walked in, you saw a bed in the center, and someone was hiding under the blanket on the bed.

"Xiao Shuang?" Zhou Yi called out.

There was a slight movement under the blanket, but no response.

“We met the day before yesterday, do you remember my voice?” Zhou Yi walked over and asked.

Qiao Jiali smiled and said, "Xiao Shuang, I came to see you yesterday. Do you remember me?"

A pair of eyes peeked out from under the blanket. Although the surroundings were dim, it wasn't Xiao Bing's basement after all, and Zhou Yi could see clearly after his eyes adjusted to the environment.

Zhou Yi was certain that these eyes belonged to Xiao Shuang's personality, because they looked at them with unusual fear, like a small animal.

Zhou Yi didn't know what Dong Lu's dual personality was all about. When he left the hospital last time, he asked Qiao Jiali what Director Sun thought about this personality switch.

Qiao Jiali said that Director Sun had not yet found a pattern because he had not been continuously observing Dong Lu before.

However, judging from the situation in the interrogation room that day, it can be basically confirmed that the two personalities were not completely isolated from each other and unaware of each other's existence.

Furthermore, Zhou Yi even called out Dong Lu's personality through Xiao Shuang's personality, which greatly surprised Director Sun afterward, who felt it had significant research value.

He later tried communicating with Xiaoshuang's personality and calling out Donglu's personality during therapy, but he was unsuccessful.

The underlying patterns require long-term clinical observation.

This matter is actually quite mysterious. Zhou Yi had seen several cases of schizophrenia and the like in his previous life, some of which were true and some were false.

Although I've heard of multiple personality disorder, I've never actually seen a case of it.

However, given Dong Lu's unbearable pain and decade-long suffering, it might actually be a good thing for her to split into a completely ignorant personality, possibly a result of her self-protection mechanism.

However, because Xiaoshuang's personality was split off later, she knows nothing. To have an effective conversation, she still needs to find Dong Lu's original personality.

“I remember you,” Xiaoshuang’s personality suddenly said timidly.

These words were spoken to Zhou Yi.

"Your sister bit you, but you didn't hit her, so you're a good person."

Zhou Yi was surprised that the other party would take the initiative to talk to her, and that she even knew about Dong Lu biting her.

Could it be that these two personalities can communicate?

“That’s right, I’m a good person because I’m a police officer, so you don’t need to be afraid. I will protect you,” Zhou Yi said gently as he slowly approached the other person.

"Xiaoshuang, can you call your sister out? I want to ask her a few questions."

Xiao Shuang, completely wrapped in the blanket, blinked and gave Zhou Yi a bewildering answer.

"My sister said she doesn't want to come out if she can't see her brother."

Zhou Yi was momentarily speechless, because he couldn't do it; he couldn't bring Xiao Bing with him.

He knew it was pointless to reason with a mentally ill person, so he could only sigh.

Suddenly, he felt Lu Xiaoshuang's photo in his pocket and, with a desperate idea in mind, he took out the photo and asked, "Can you take a look at this photo? Have you seen anything similar?"

Seeing this, Qiao Jiali slightly opened the curtains to let in the light.

Although it was only slightly open, the sunlight pierced in like a sharp sword.

Xiao Shuang quickly covered her eyes with the blanket and shouted, "Pull it up quickly!"

Zhou Yi said softly, "Xiao Shuang, didn't you say I'm a good person? Can you do me this favor? Take a look at this photo, or let your sister come out and take a look?"

The blanket was slowly pulled back, revealing only one eye, which looked at the photo illuminated by the sunlight.

Zhou Yi stared at that eye.

A very strange scene unfolded: Zhou Yi stared intently at that eye, never looking away.

That eye hadn't changed much, but Zhou Yi could sense that Dong Lu's personality had changed.

Dong Lu's true personality emerged. She looked at Lu Xiaoshuang's photo and asked tremblingly, "Where did you get this photo? Did Xiao Bing give it to you?"

Wearing a hospital gown, she excitedly jumped out from under the covers, revealing her shockingly burned body.

She snatched the evidence bag containing the photos, turned it over, and excitedly grabbed Zhou Yi, asking, "Where did these come from? Are these Xiao Bing's? Are they?"

Seeing Dong Lu so agitated, Qiao Jiali was about to rush out to call for a doctor, but Zhou Yi made a gesture to stop her.

Zhou Yi looked directly at her and replied, "This photo isn't Xiao Bing's; it was given to me by someone named Fan Tianyou."

A strange thing happened: Dong Lu didn't react to the name Fan Tianyou at all.

As if he had only heard the first sentence, he kept repeating five words while clutching the photo: "It's not Xiao Bing's, it's not Xiao Bing's."

Zhou Yi tentatively asked, "Don't you think the name Fan Tianyou sounds familiar?"

But she still didn't react, as if she was already immersed in her own thoughts, constantly muttering to herself, and then suddenly started to sob softly.

Her muttering to herself essentially confirmed Zhou Yi's earlier guess.

“It wasn’t Xiao Bing’s. He really found it. I misunderstood him. I misunderstood him.”

"I didn't mean to kill her. I was just afraid you wouldn't want me anymore. I was just saying that out of anger."

"She's so beautiful, but I feel like a monster."

"Teacher Xiao, please don't abandon me. I have nothing left, you're all I have."

Zhou Yi turned to look at Qiao Jiali, his expression filled with helplessness; it seemed that normal communication was no longer possible.

Dong Lu's ramblings basically confirmed Zhou Yi's speculation.

Xiao Bing found the photo and took it back, where it was unexpectedly discovered by Dong Lu.

Looking at the photo of Lu Xiaoshuang, who was young and beautiful and looked just like herself before her disfigurement, Dong Lu concluded that Xiao Bing had fallen in love with someone else.

The shock triggered Dong Lu's schizophrenia. She angrily tore up the photos and said some things that threatened to harm Lu Xiaoshuang.

However, Lu Xiaoshuang's experiences in this life are different from those in her previous life.

In her previous life, Lu Xiaoshuang was dismembered. When this news reached Xiao Bing's ears, he might have a moment of doubt about Dong Lu, but he was unlikely to really believe that Dong Lu was the one who killed and dismembered her.

Because dismemberment is a complex crime and requires a suitable location.

He knew that Dong Lu could not possibly have the means or ability to commit the crime, so even when faced with the police expanding their investigation, he did not think of running away.

But in this life, apart from the police, no one knows about Lu Xiaoshuang's situation.

To the faculty and students of Hongda, this person simply asked for leave, and of course, some people would suspect that Lu Xiaoshuang might also be dead.

However, Lu Xiaoshuang's information was completely sealed off from Xu Liu's; it was as if she was neither alive nor dead.

Therefore, Xiao Bing, who has become withdrawn, believes that Dong Lu hurt or even killed Lu Xiaoshuang.

People with withdrawn personalities are prone to extreme ways of thinking.

And no one can be sure whether what a mentally ill person says is true or false.

In the end, Xiao Bing did something foolish.

For Zhou Yi and the task force, it was clearly a problem that could be effectively solved by simply giving a truthful account.

But for Xiao Bing, this is his way of thinking.

Zhou Yi knew that this was Xiao Bing's withdrawn self, after being tormented and scarred by the cruelty of life.

If it were the cheerful Xiao Bing who loved and was loved before Dong Lu's accident, things wouldn't have come to this.

What pained Zhou Yi even more was that Teacher Xiao, despite being covered in wounds, still bravely stepped forward in the food street.

This is kindness that runs deep in the bones, the noble souls of three generations of the Xiao family, from Xiao Fugui to Xiao Youfu to Xiao Bing!
God, you're so unfair!

Why do good people not live long and have to suffer so much in this world?

Dong Lu's mutterings resolved some of the questions.

But this also raises new questions.

She didn't react to the name Fan Tianyou.

If this was the person who burned her, then even if she were mentally unstable, it would be impossible for her to remain unresponsive upon hearing the name of her enemy.

Zhou Yi had witnessed his episodes before; if Fan Tianyou was the culprit, she should have become hysterical by now.

Could it be that Fan Tianyou really has no relationship with Dong Lu at all?

Suddenly, Zhou Yi's phone rang.

When I picked it up, I was surprised to find that it was a call from Wu Yongcheng.

He was immediately startled, because he had only been gone for ten minutes, and Captain Wu had called so quickly; something must have happened.

"Hey, Captain Wu, what's up?"

As soon as Zhou Yi answered the phone, before Wu Yongcheng could even speak, he heard chaotic sounds in the background, accompanied by a woman's sobbing.

"Zhou Yi, Fan Tianyou has taken a female nurse hostage with a scalpel, come quick!" Wu Yong shouted over the phone.

"What?" Zhou Yi exclaimed in surprise, "Where is he now?"

"I've blocked the operating room!"

"I'm coming right away." Zhou Yi rushed out immediately and said to Qiao Jiali, "Sister Qiao, Fan Tianyou has taken a nurse hostage. Come with me to help."

Qiao Jiali immediately rushed out after her.

Both of them forgot that Lu Xiaoshuang's photo was still in Dong Lu's hands.

As if she had just heard Zhou Yi's words, Dong Lu, lying on the hospital bed, muttered to herself in a daze, "Did Teacher Xiao really pick up this photo? Or did Fan Tianyou give it to him? No, I have to find this person and ask him clearly."

Zhou Yi and Qiao Jiali rushed to the elevator and pressed the down button.

However, the elevators at the Third Municipal Hospital are very old and do not display floor information. The two elevators on the left and right have no idea which floor they are on.

Zhou Yi turned his head and said, "Let's take the stairs!"

He turned around and was stunned, because the policeman guarding Dong Lu was also standing there.

Qiao Jiali noticed too, and turned around to ask, "What are you doing here?"

The younger colleague replied awkwardly, "Aren't we going to provide support?"

Qiao Jiali realized he had misunderstood and urged him to return to his post immediately.

Just then, the elevator that was going down arrived, and Zhou Yi and Qiao Jiali immediately got on it.

The colleague scratched his head awkwardly, feeling somewhat disappointed.

Then I walked back to the ward at the end of the corridor.

Just as I was about to sit down, I noticed the door was ajar.

He assumed it wasn't turned off properly and just casually turned it off.

But the next second he suddenly pushed the door open and rushed in.

The ward was empty. The blankets on the bed were open, and the slippers on the floor were still there, but Dong Lu was nowhere to be found.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, I'm going to get punished this time."

On the other side, Zhou Yi and Qiao Jiali rushed out of the elevator as soon as the elevator doors opened. The operating room waiting area was just around the corner from the elevator exit.

The two did not see Wu Yongcheng, but they did see the wide-open operating room door, and there were many panicked medical staff at the door.

Zhou Yi reached for his gun at his waist, only to remember that he had given his gun to Wu Yongcheng.

"Police, get out of the way!" Zhou Yi shouted.

Upon hearing this, the doctors and nurses at the entrance immediately made way, and the surgical area, which had been previously off-limits, was now completely unobstructed.

As soon as the two entered, they heard Wu Yongcheng on the right shout, "Here!"

They immediately ran towards the sound and passed by an operating room with the lights on.

Zhou Yi stopped and looked around. There were some medical instruments on the ground, as well as some scattered bloodstains. The transfer bed where Fan Tianyou had been handcuffed was empty, with handcuffs hanging on one of the armrests.

What the hell is going on?
Wu Yongcheng's figure appeared at the end of the corridor, where there was a door that was now open.

"Come quickly!" Wu Yongcheng shouted.

The two ran over and saw that there was another elevator at the end of the corridor. It was newer than the one outside and had a sign that said it was for internal surgery only. There was also a floor display on the top of the elevator, and the numbers were scrolling.

"Captain Wu, where is he?"

Wu Yongcheng, with a serious expression and holding a gun in his right hand, said, "Just got on the elevator."

Zhou Yi looked up and saw the numbers on the elevator scrolling down floor by floor.

He looked around; there was only one elevator here.

He saw a safety exit sign where he had just come from, pointed and shouted, "Team Leader Wu, there are stairs!"

Wu Yongcheng instructed Qiao Jiali to stay here, watch the elevator floors, and keep her phone connected to prevent him from using a diversionary tactic to escape from another floor.

Then Zhou Yi and I ran downstairs.

Zhou Yi's body was young and in its prime; he could take seven or eight steps at a time, and holding onto the handrail, he practically flew down the stairs.

But when I rushed out after getting down to the first floor, I was dumbfounded. The elevator door was locked, and it was locked from the outside with a chain lock.

In other words, Fan Tianyou could not have escaped from the first floor.

"Team Leader Wu!" Zhou Yi was about to call out.

Wu Yongcheng's voice came from the stairs: "Zhou Yi, Xiao Qiao said the elevator is going up again."

It seems that Fan Tianyou went down to the first floor and found he couldn't get out, so he went back up.

"Tell Sister Qiao to press the elevator button for the sixth floor!" Zhou Yi shouted.

Wu Yongcheng replied, "No, he's very agitated right now, and the hostage is already injured. Xiao Qiao can't handle it."

Then he shouted into the phone, "Xiao Qiao, don't press the elevator button, keep reporting the elevator's location."

He shouted again, "Zhou Yi, call for reinforcements and seal off the hospital! I've already had the doctors tell the hospital to seal off all the entrances and exits on the first floor. He can't escape."

Turning my head, I found that Zhou Yi had already run up to me. At this speed, I couldn't deny that I was getting old.

“Okay.” Zhou Yi immediately took out his phone to call Liang Wei. He had tried to call him in the elevator earlier, but there was no signal, and he hadn’t had time because of the emergency after he came out.

On the task force's side, Liang Wei stepped out of the temporary interrogation room and answered the phone. Zhou Yi's speech was incredibly fast.

Liang Wei's expression changed drastically, and he replied, "Alright, I understand. You all act according to the situation!"

Just as Zhou Yi hung up the phone, he heard Qiao Jiali's voice coming from Wu Yongcheng's phone, which was on speakerphone: "Captain Wu, the elevator keeps going up, it's probably going to the top floor."

Wu Yongcheng shouted, "Quickly find a hospital and cut off the power to the elevator!"

From the time Fan Tianyou got on the elevator until now, only two or three minutes have passed. The purpose of cutting off the power was not to trap him in the elevator, because there was simply no time to do so, but to prevent him from escaping through the elevator.

Then he shouted to Zhou Yi, "Zhou Yi, the rooftop!" A few minutes earlier, Wu Yongcheng, who was guarding outside the operating area, suddenly heard a scream coming from inside.

The veteran detective's intuition told him that something was wrong!
He immediately pulled out his gun and, without caring about sterility, rushed into the operating room.

Then I saw someone screaming and running out of an operating room on the right, so I immediately rushed out.

In the operating room, Fan Tianyou's left hand was still handcuffed to the railing of the transfer bed, but his injured right hand was gripping a scalpel, and a nurse in surgical scrubs was pinned beneath him.

The emergency room doctor from earlier was still in the operating room, and he was so frightened that he kept shouting, "Calm down, calm down!"

Wu Yongcheng immediately pointed his gun at Fan Tianyou and shouted, "Fan Tianyou, release the hostage, or I'll shoot!"

Upon seeing Wu Yongcheng, Fan Tianyou immediately hid behind the hostage, but the scalpel in his hand was pressed against the hostage's neck.

He shouted excitedly, "Don't come any closer! I know where a person's major artery is; if I cut her, she'll surely die!"

The kidnapped nurse wore a cap and mask, revealing only her eyes, which were filled with terror and tears. "Help! I'm young, I don't want to die!"

"Shut up!" Fan Tianyou roared hysterically.

Wu Yongcheng discovered that, just as Zhou Yi had said, Fan Tianyou's mental state seemed unstable and he was prone to sudden agitation.

Logically speaking, someone who could commit such a cold-blooded dismemberment case as the Grand Case and then pull off such a complicated frame-up must have extreme violent tendencies, but how could they be so unsettled and have such severe emotional fluctuations?
Could it be due to a wound infection?

Regardless of the reason, he is currently so emotionally agitated that any provocation could put the hostages in mortal danger.

"Okay, I won't come over, but calm down and don't hurt the hostages. We can discuss anything." Wu Yongcheng took a step back, a gesture intended to lower the other party's guard, but the gun in Wu Yongcheng's hand was still pointed at the other party.

From the current perspective, it's certain that the shot hit Fan Tianyou's body, but killing him instantly is probably impossible; it's estimated that only Chen Yan had that capability.

If a fatal blow cannot be delivered, the sharpness of the scalpel would endanger the hostage.

And we haven't asked anything yet. If he gets shot and killed, the case will be in trouble.

Therefore, stabilizing his emotions is the most important thing.

"Unlock the handcuffs!" Fan Tianyou shouted.

Wu Yongcheng said with difficulty, "I don't have the key, I can't do it..."

Before he could finish speaking, Fan Tianyou roared, "I don't care, take off these handcuffs!"

He already had a fever, and treatment hadn't even started yet; he only received some saline solution on the way here.

The wound on his right hand was exposed to the light, a shocking sight. Blood was flowing from the wound, dripping down his arm and onto the ground.

But Fan Tianyou seemed completely unaware, and Wu Yongcheng only found out the reason later.

Upon hearing Wu Yongcheng say he didn't have the key, Fan Tianyou exerted force, and the sharp tip of the scalpel pierced the hostage's neck.

The hostage was terrified and cried loudly, but dared not move, constantly crying out for her mother.

Wu Yongcheng knew that the other party was obsessed and would fight to the death at any moment.

He quickly reassured her, "Don't get agitated, don't get agitated, let me look for it first."

He pretended to pat himself down with his left hand, thinking about how to call Zhou Yi to inform him.

But Fan Tianyou couldn't wait any longer and shouted excitedly, "Hurry up, or I'll kill her!"

Wu Yongcheng knew he couldn't delay any longer, so he took out the key and said, "Found it, found it. Don't hurt her, I'll come over and unlock your handcuffs right now."

As she spoke, she first raised her hand, showing him the key with her left hand to dispel his doubts.

He raised the gun in his right hand, then slowly squatted down, intending to put the gun on the ground.

His plan was to unlock Fan Tianyou's lock and then take the opportunity to seize the knife from him.

He knew Fan Tianyou's physical condition and was confident he could snatch it; at worst, he'd just get stabbed in the hand.

His actions were intended to reduce his perceived threat to Fan Tianyou and lower his guard.

Just as he was about to lower the gun, Fan Tianyou suddenly shouted, "Don't come any closer! Let him come closer!"

He was looking at the emergency room doctor standing to the side.

Wu Yongcheng knew he was in trouble; although the other party was emotionally unstable, he still had some intelligence.

The emergency room doctor was dumbfounded. He looked at Fan Tianyou and then at Wu Yongcheng, and said with a mournful face, "I...I can't do it..."

Wu Yongcheng didn't blame him; he had already shown courage by not running away, but at this point, a man couldn't say no.

He stood up again, handed the keys in his left hand to the emergency room doctor, and said with a dark face, "Go quickly, be careful, and don't do anything unnecessary!"

He pointed the gun at Fan Tianyou again.

Wu Yongcheng's warning was for the good of the doctors and hostages. Without professional training, rushing to rescue people could easily cause injury or death.

The emergency room doctor reluctantly took the keys and then nervously and slowly moved toward the two people opposite him.

Fan Tianyou shouted, "Hurry up!"

"Don't get agitated, don't get agitated." The emergency room doctor walked over and began trying to unlock the door.

But his hands were shaking so badly that it took him several tries to get the handcuffs into the lock.

With a snap, the handcuffs on Fan Tianyou's wrists were unlocked, and the emergency room doctor turned to run back.

Fan Tianyou shouted, "Stop!"

The doctor froze in his tracks.

"Where is the internal exit?" At this moment, Fan Tianyou was in a very bad mental state, his face was pale, and he was covered in cold sweat.

Wu Yongcheng knew that his body probably wouldn't last much longer.

He would collapse on his own if things dragged on, so I immediately spoke up to stop him.

But it was too late. The terrified emergency room doctor pointed and said, "There's an elevator over there."

Wu Yongcheng stomped his foot in anger, "It's all over!"

With his left hand freed, Fan Tianyou immediately took firm control of the hostage, shouting for Wu Yongcheng to get out of the way while moving forward in front of Wu Yongcheng.

Although Wu Yongcheng was giving advice, he knew that the other party wouldn't listen to anything under these circumstances.

While remaining in a stalemate, Fan Tianyou slowly moved to the entrance of the internal elevator. Just then, the elevator arrived, and two medical staff members came out.

Seeing this, they were stunned and stood in the elevator, too afraid to move.

It wasn't until Fan Tianyou, holding the hostage, retreated into the elevator and yelled "Get out!" that the two men were terrified and ran away with their heads in their hands.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Wu Yongcheng immediately took out his phone and called Zhou Yi.

Only after making the phone call did he question the emergency room doctor about what had happened.

Wu Yongcheng roughly understood the situation from the doctor's incoherent speech.

Fan Tianyou suddenly grabbed a scalpel right after receiving local anesthesia and then took a nurse hostage.

That's why he was oblivious to the bleeding from the wound; the local anesthesia was working, and he couldn't feel the pain from the wound.

Wu Yongcheng instructed the doctor to immediately notify the security guards downstairs to seal off all the exits.

Just as the doctor stumbled downstairs, Zhou Yi and Qiao Jiali arrived.

While climbing to the roof, Wu Yongcheng briefly told Zhou Yi about the situation.

Zhou Yi took the lead and rushed to the front because Qiao Jiali had said on Wu Yongcheng's phone call that the elevator finally stopped on the eighteenth floor.

Fan Tianyou really went to the rooftop, which was the worst possible outcome. He knew he couldn't escape, and he was probably ready to fight to the death.

If they had followed them into the operating room, this accident wouldn't have happened! But there's no point in talking about it now.

The task at hand is to rescue the hostages and capture Fan Tianyou.

……

When Zhou Yi reached the top floor, Wu Yongcheng still had one and a half flights of stairs to go.

It was only then that he realized he had indeed smoked too much. His body could handle it, but his lung capacity couldn't, and his breathing was noticeably erratic.

Then he heard Zhou Yi's loud warning from above: "Fan Tianyou! Stop! Don't make another mistake!"

Wu Yongcheng knew that Zhou Yi had spotted Fan Tianyou on the rooftop; he had indeed gone up to the rooftop!
He gritted his teeth and started climbing.

The elevator only goes up to the 18th floor, but the stairs go up one more floor, which is the emergency exit leading to the rooftop.

From the elevator entrance to the stairs, and continuing upwards, there were scattered spots of blood.

Wu Yongcheng climbed the last floor with a pained expression, wiped his sweat, and walked out through the open emergency exit.

On the empty rooftop, Fan Tianyou, about twenty or thirty meters away, held the hostage tightly with his left hand, while his right hand held a scalpel pressed firmly against the hostage's neck.

The once sterile surgical gown was now stained with blood, some of it from the hostage's injured neck, but mostly from Fan Tianyou.

This morning, when Zhou Yi met Professor Fan, he had been a gentle and refined man. Now, his hair was disheveled, his face was deathly pale, and he looked like a madman.

Zhou Yi had no weapon, so he could only raise his hands and try to get closer to the other person.

But clearly, the other party wouldn't allow him to get close, yelling, "Stand there, don't come any closer!"

The weather forecast says today will be cloudy to overcast with some wind.

The sunlight appeared and disappeared among the clouds that raced across the blue sky, occasionally shining on the group.

Without even taking a moment to catch his breath, Wu Yongcheng immediately pointed his gun at Fan Tianyou and then quickly approached Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi spoke loudly, trying to keep his tone calm: "Fan Tianyou, put down your weapons and surrender. Don't be so stubborn. I know you don't want this either. You are a respected associate professor, and you really don't need to go this far. Think about all the effort and hardship you've endured to get out of the mountains, think about your family and friends. Put down your weapons, and we won't make things difficult for you. Cooperate with our investigation and we'll try to get lenient treatment!"

Unlike Hong Kong, where there are dedicated negotiation experts, hostage situations in mainland China are usually handled by experienced veteran police officers, because a slight misstep could provoke the perpetrators.

Wu Yongcheng was actually dissatisfied with Zhou Yi's handling of the hostage situation at the food street, because Zhou Yi's reckless behavior escalated the conflict; otherwise, things wouldn't have come to this.

Fortunately, the subsequent handling was quite good, and the social response it generated was very positive, so it was a fortunate turn of events.

So he was worried that Zhou Yi taking the lead might provoke the other party.

However, Zhou Yi's words were very composed, which reassured him.

However, negotiating sudden crimes is a very complex task that puts the experience of the police officers involved to the test.

Because the core objective of negotiations is to "resolve the crisis with zero casualties," they generally focus on psychological intervention while using force as the bottom line.

Moreover, there is a particularly obvious problem: this is the rooftop of the 18th floor, and there are no buildings of that height nearby.

This means that it is impossible to set up sniping positions.

Moreover, the wind on the rooftop was quite strong, which could potentially affect the trajectory of the bullet, so he wasn't confident he could kill the opponent with a single shot.

So he decided to take over the negotiation and said, "I am Wu Yongcheng, the deputy head of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Municipal Public Security Bureau. I can assure you that if you can put down the knife now, it will be considered that you have voluntarily stopped the criminal behavior, and the law can deal with you leniently."

Unexpectedly, Fan Tianyou's words put them in a passive position.

Fan Tianyou shouted at Wu Yongcheng, "You're not allowed to stay here!"

“I…” Wu Yongcheng was taken aback.

"No one except Zhou Yi is allowed here, or I'll kill her!" Fan Tianyou applied a little pressure with the scalpel, and the wound bled. The hostage cried out in fear, but dared not move.

Wu Yongcheng was caught in a dilemma; he hadn't expected the other party to specifically name Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi winked at him, indicating that he was fine.

"Hurry up! I'll count to ten!" Fan Tianyou roared. "Ten! Nine!"

"Okay, okay, I'll leave right away, don't get agitated." Wu Yongcheng turned to leave, but tried to go in Zhou Yi's direction. He wanted to give Zhou Yi the gun he was holding, because without a weapon, they would be completely at a disadvantage.

But Fan Tianyou clearly saw through his intentions and shouted, "Don't give him the gun, or I'll kill the hostage right now!"

Helpless, Wu Yongcheng could only raise his hand in a gesture of giving up, then whispered, "Watch your back!"

Zhou Yi was stunned for a moment, not understanding what he meant.

Wu Yongcheng had only taken two steps back when he tripped and fell flat on his face.

"It's alright, it's alright, it was my carelessness." Wu Yongcheng quickly got up.

But the gun in his hand was gone.

About two meters behind Zhou Yi, there was an abandoned urinal, which no one knew which patient's family member had thrown there.

Behind the urinal was Zhou Yi's sidearm.

As Wu Yongcheng walked through the emergency exit, he glanced back, his eyes filled with worry.

Just then, Qiao Jiali ran up and asked, "Captain Wu, how's the situation?"

"Call Chen Yan and tell him to come over right away," Wu Yongcheng said, taking out his phone.

When Qiao Jiali saw him take out his phone but tell her to call Chen Yan, she asked curiously, "Captain Wu, who are you calling?"

"Give this to Director Xie and tell him to get professional snipers from the Armed Police for support."

Qiao Jiali knew that the situation was very serious.

……

On the rooftop, after Wu Yongcheng left, Zhou Yi opened his arms to indicate that he had no weapons and posed no threat, urging him not to be too nervous to avoid a slip of the hand that could lead to a tragedy.

Just as he was about to speak, the wailing of police sirens came from downstairs. He knew that reinforcements had arrived, but the current situation meant that reinforcements would not be able to come, and he would have to fight alone.

Fan Tianyou was clearly in poor condition; despite the strong wind on the rooftop, his hair was soaked with sweat.

Zhou Yi knew that his condition had not improved; the only thing that had been relieved was the anesthesia given to his wound, which had eased his pain.

He didn't know what Fan Tianyou was up to, but he knew it would be difficult to persuade him to lay down his weapons.

Therefore, the safest approach is to keep pushing him until his body reaches its limit and he passes out.

Only in this way can the safety of the hostages be guaranteed, and Fan Tianyou be allowed to survive and be investigated by the police to find out the truth about the huge case.

Therefore, he must proceed slowly and deliberately to prolong the conversation without provoking the other party, while also maintaining control of the conversation.

"Professor Fan, is there any family member or friend you would like to see? I can help you make contact."

This is a common negotiation tactic: leveraging personal relationships to activate the criminal's inner emotions.

After all, everyone has people they care about. In his previous life, Zhou Yi had seen many people who broke the law, weeping and regretting their actions in front of their loved ones.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this question, Fan Tianyou's eyes suddenly turned despairing.

He sneered and said, "Someone like me was born a mistake! I shouldn't have come into this world!"

These words startled Zhou Yi. What did this mean? Although he came from the mountains and his material conditions must have been very difficult, his achievements were undeniable. Such a young associate professor should be living in the limelight, so why would he have such an unusual reaction?

"Professor Fan, you are really underestimating yourself. If someone as superior as you shouldn't even be born into this world, then how are ordinary people like us supposed to live?" Zhou Yi said with a forced, relaxed smile.

His words were not unfounded. Previously, when he and Wu Yongcheng set a trap to examine Fan Tianyou's wounds, Fan Tianyou, who was pinned to the ground, became extremely agitated and shouted that he was a superior person and that everyone else was trash.

This is actually the second reason why Zhou Yi felt disconnected.

How could someone who inherently believes they are superior to others possibly also feel that being born was a mistake and that they shouldn't have come into this world?

This is too disjointed, too contradictory.

Unless, like Dong Lu, they also have a mental illness.

However, Zhou Yi believes this is highly unlikely, not only because there is no relevant record in the file, but also because someone who can earn a doctorate and become an associate professor at a top university would have already caused trouble if they had a mental illness; they couldn't possibly have continued teaching peacefully indefinitely.

He most likely has a serious psychological problem, but psychological problems are not the same as mental illness.

Many psychopathic killers have psychological problems, but the law will not let criminals go unpunished because of their psychological issues.

The reason why people with mental illness are not criminally liable is that they do not have full criminal responsibility when they are experiencing an episode.

However, psychopaths are fully aware of what they are doing when they commit crimes; they simply cannot control their emotions, not that they have lost the ability to control their bodies.

Fan Tianyou suddenly asked Zhou Yi a question: "You're Lu Xiaoshuang's boyfriend, right?"

"What?" Zhou Yi pretended not to hear, but in fact he was trying to stall for time and make him talk more to exhaust his energy.

“I know you’ve come to see her a few times, and I also know she often comes to your house to see you.”

As expected, Fan Tianyou had been secretly following Lu Xiaoshuang.

Immediately afterwards, Fan Tianyou asked a question that angered Zhou Yi with a cold smile.

"You slept with her, didn't you? She didn't go back to school on April 15th; she spent the night at your house!" Fan Tianyou asked coldly. "You slept with her, didn't you?"

Zhou Yi felt a burning anger in his chest. He didn't care about himself, but for Lu Xiaoshuang, who had remained a virgin until her death in her previous life, this was a huge insult!

But he dared not provoke the other party, and could only suppress his anger and grit his teeth to answer, "No!"

"Impossible! I don't believe it!"

Zhou Yi was furious, but he still took out his police ID while breathing heavily, pointed the badge at the other man, and said loudly, "Fan Tianyou, I am a policeman, and I swear to this badge! My relationship with Lu Xiaoshuang is completely innocent, and I have never done anything wrong!"

Fan Tianyou was visibly stunned, seemingly taken aback: "You...you're lying to me."

Zhou Yi gritted his teeth and said, "I've only sworn an oath to the police badge twice in my life: once on the day I officially became a policeman, and once now! You're a highly educated intellectual, don't you even believe in the faith of a policeman?"

Fan Tianyou suddenly panicked, as if Zhou Yi's words were completely unexpected. His expression was as if something inside him had been shattered.

Fan Tianyou said, "You...you all need to go somewhere quickly."

(End of this chapter)