Free Web NovelChapter 17: Chapter 17: The Frightening Truth
Zhao Qinghe looked at her in surprise. "You even know about this?"
"You tell me, and I’ll tell you how I know."
Zhao Qinghe narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing her. He silently began fiddling with the tools in his hand and, after a long moment, finally spoke. "You dreamed it, right?"
Jiang Li’s expression stiffened. She suddenly remembered that Zhang Haosheng was his friend. Others might think she was spouting nonsense, but Zhao Qinghe was so smart that, with what she had just said, it made sense he could figure it out.
"Yes, I dreamed it."
Zhao Qinghe’s hands paused. "You’re surprisingly forthright. Xu Wan always put on sunscreen whenever she went out. She had plastic surgery last month, so she was always completely covered up when she left the house. That’s why no one noticed the change."
"You guessed right. Xu Wan and I did argue about this. But unfortunately, Miss Jiang, you should be worrying about yourself right now."
Zhao Qinghe’s tone shifted as he raised the scalpel in his hand. "This scalpel... I’m sure you’re quite familiar with it, Miss Jiang. This is the very blade I used to slice open Xu Wan’s skin."
Jiang Li watched the blade get closer and closer, her heart leaping into her throat.
Suddenly, she smiled.
Zhao Qinghe’s train of thought was disrupted by her laughter, and a look of impatience slowly crept onto his face.
The next second, Jiang Li broke free from her ropes, swiftly grabbed a nearby scalpel, and with lightning speed, severed the tendons in Zhao Qinghe’s hand.
Zhao Qinghe’s eyes widened in disbelief. An intense, prickling pain shot through his hand, and only then did he scream in agony.
"You... how could you..."
Jiang Li looked down at Zhao Qinghe, who was trembling in pain on the floor. Her expression was grim as she spoke slowly, "For this, I have Doctor Zhao to thank. I learned it all from you... in my dreams."
Zhao Qinghe’s eyes went vacant. He stared at Jiang Li as if he were looking at a demon.
Zhao Qinghe tried to get up and run, but the next second, a sharp pain shot through his ankle. His eyes widened in terror, and he collapsed to the ground, all strength gone.
He realized with horror that Jiang Li had severed his ankle tendons too.
Jiang Li smiled and crouched down, wiping the bloody scalpel twice over his heart. "Doctor Zhao, don’t be in such a hurry to leave. I still have plenty of questions for you."
Zhao Qinghe trembled all over, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. His throat was dry. He couldn’t utter a single word as he looked at Jiang Li’s sinister, terrifying expression.
The aura around Jiang Li changed in an instant. She glanced around, then picked up the pen and notebook Zhao Qinghe had left nearby. In it were the recorded measurements of Xu Wan’s dismemberment.
She flipped to a blank page and looked up at him. "Did Xu Wan’s parents really go on a trip?"
"Yes. To Laos."
"When did you and Fang Xiaoling meet?"
"Four years ago."
Jiang Li scribbled down his answers, then suddenly thought of something. "Oh, I almost forgot. You were married to Xu Wan for nine years and have known Fang Xiaoling for four."
"And she only just found out? Did you hypnotize her? And what about those people in the alley?"
Zhao Qinghe’s lips trembled, and his vision started to go black.
"AAAGH!" The next second, Zhao Qinghe shrieked. The pain brought his senses into sharp focus. Jiang Li was crouching beside him with a smile, the scalpel in her hand now plunged into his thigh.
"Yes, yes, yes! I hypnotized her! Maybe I did it too many times, and it stopped working. She found out and was going to cause a scene at the hospital, so I killed her."
After speaking, Zhao Qinghe gasped for breath, his breathing shallow and weak. He stared up at the swaying light above.
Jiang Li put away the pen and notebook, then patted down his pockets, pulled out his phone, and turned it on.
Ji Qinghe and her team had been searching the basement for a while without finding anything suspicious. Thinking Jiang Li should be about done with her inspection, she decided to check in.
Instead, the news she received was that Jiang Li had disappeared.
Ji Qinghe had just started searching the hospital with her team when her phone rang. Seeing an unknown number, she answered immediately. The voice on the other end was Jiang Li’s.
"Officer Ji, I’m with Zhao Qinghe."
When Ji Qinghe heard this, her heart instantly leaped into her throat.
"Jiang Li, don’t be scared..."
Before she could finish, she heard what sounded like Jiang Li kicking something, followed by her sharp voice, "Talk. How do they get in?"
"A sewer manhole cover."
"Officer Ji, check the underground parking garage for a manhole cover. That’s the way in. I’ll be waiting for you inside."
The line went dead.
Hearing the dial tone, Ji Qinghe froze for a moment.
"I know where it is. Follow me," Lu Xingye said, then ran toward the underground garage.
Ji Qinghe snapped back to her senses. She called Zhou Tiancheng and the others as she ran after Lu Xingye toward the underground parking garage.
Lu Xingye spotted two manhole covers in the area and quickly had his people open them.
The second one revealed an exceptionally wide secret passage. The group exchanged glances, then raised their guns and descended.
"Did Zhao Qinghe hollow this whole place out?"
Zhao Shuo looked at the whole new world below, tightening his grip on his gun.
"Pick up the pace! Jiang Li is with Zhao Qinghe."
The group moved quickly downward. After walking for a while, they suddenly saw a light ahead and quickened their pace.
"Jiang Li!"
Ji Qinghe burst in, gun in hand, only to be stunned by the scene before her. The officers behind her were equally shocked.
"Officer Ji, Zhao Qinghe confessed. He killed Xu Wan. Oh, and the nurse, Fang Xiaoling, she’s the one who drugged me. She’s Zhao Qinghe’s mistress."
"Wait, Jiang Li, give us a second to process this."
Zhao Shuo raised a hand to cut Jiang Li off, overwhelmed by the sudden flood of information.
Jiang Li picked up the notebook. "This is the evidence of Zhao Qinghe murdering Xu Wan. The confession is in the back. He sent Xu Wan’s parents to Laos."
"Okay, okay, okay." Zhao Shuo nodded and quickly took the notebook from her.
Qin Shu went forward to examine him, then turned back to Ji Qinghe and said, "The tendons in his hands and feet have been severed."
"Tell the people outside not to come in," Qin Shu said as she started putting on her gloves.
Zhao Qinghe lay paralyzed on the ground, his heart filled with despair.
Soon, the entire underground parking garage was cordoned off with police tape.
Fang Xiaoling was also caught by Zhou Tiancheng and his team.
When she learned that Zhao Qinghe had been arrested, Fang Xiaoling’s eyes widened in shock. "Let me go! I have to find Qinghe! It’s all that bitch’s fault! She can’t even rest in peace."
"Qinghe and I are a match made in heaven!"
When Zhang Haosheng heard the news, the object in his hand fell with a CLATTER. He rushed outside, only believing it was all real when he saw Zhao Qinghe being led away.
The news that Zhao Qinghe had conspired with Fang Xiaoling to murder his wife, Xu Wan, sent shockwaves through the entire hospital.
No one could have imagined that the gentle and approachable Zhao Qinghe would not only cheat on his wife but also murder her.
Qin Shu, Lu Xingye, and the others began collecting evidence.
As Jiang Li watched Zhao Qinghe being led away, she suddenly thought of Zhao Anlan.
Zhao Qinghe’s actions were heinous; he was sentenced to death. Fang Xiaoling, as his accomplice, received a life sentence.
「A few days later.」
Xu Wan’s parents returned safely to the country. When Zhang Qiao Hua heard the news of her daughter’s murder, she fainted from distress.
However, Zhao Anlan’s reaction made her curious. Jiang Li walked up to him. "Zhao Anlan, did you know all along?"
Zhao Anlan looked up at her. "My mom was useless. All she did was buy groceries, cook, and clean. I don’t think Dad did anything wrong."
So, even if he had known something from the beginning, he wouldn’t have told them, because he didn’t want anything to happen to Zhao Qinghe.
Jiang Li was taken aback, a look of disgust appearing in her eyes. "Your mom gave you such a good name, and for what? For you to turn out to be such an ungrateful brat."
Jiang Li turned and walked away. ’It’s terrifying that a seven-year-old child could think like that.’
