Seeing Crime Scenes in My Sleep

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Committing Evil in the Name of Good Deeds

"I’ll go distract Master Cao. You take the chance to get the baby out."

Jiang Li looked inside. Cao Tianwang probably wasn’t stupid enough to call the police on himself.

Lu Xingye let out a sigh of relief. He had thought...

"Okay, be careful."

Jiang Li nodded. She took Lu Xingye’s jacket and balled it up. Once Chen Xiufang had cheerfully departed, she walked inside, clutching the bundle.

Lu Xingye followed her in and hid in a corner, waiting for Jiang Li to make her move.

"Master Cao, my boyfriend’s mother has cancer. I heard you have a way to help. Can you please help me?"

Cao Tianwang, who had been about to continue his work, paused. ’It seems Heaven has taken pity on me,’ he thought. ’It knows I’m just a few children short, so it keeps sending them my way.’

"Come in!"

As Jiang Li entered, she got a clear look at Cao Tianwang. He had narrow, sinister eyes, a wrinkled face, and a slight limp. He was wearing a purple Taoist robe.

Cao Tianwang glanced at the bundle of clothes in her hands and got up to prepare some medicine.

Lu Xingye peeked out from his hiding spot, keeping a close watch on the situation inside.

Jiang Li pulled a rock from the bundle of clothes and threw it straight at him.

THWACK!

Cao Tianwang felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. Before he could even turn to see what had happened, he was knocked unconscious.

Lu Xingye’s eyes went wide. ’So *that’s* how she was going to distract him!’

He quickly came inside, picked up the bottle from the floor, and put it in his pocket.

Jiang Li walked towards the room on the left, opened the door, and went straight in. She opened the jar she had seen in her dream. Inside, the baby was purple and its breathing was faint.

She quickly lifted the baby out, grabbed a nearby swaddling cloth to dry it, and then wrapped it in Lu Xingye’s jacket.

Lu Xingye took out his phone, SNAPPING pictures. Then he looked at the three other infants nearby and picked them up.

Each carrying two babies, they hurriedly left and ran towards the hospital.

Huo Qing received the message and rushed over immediately.

"What exactly is going on?"

Lu Xingye’s explanation had been rushed, so Huo Qing hadn’t gotten the full picture yet.

Lu Xingye gave him a detailed account, showing him the photos on his phone and explaining the situation involving Chen Xiufang and Master Cao.

"Every day at six, this Master Cao performs a ritual. He’s either brainwashing the public or gathering the last few children he needs."

Huo Qing listened, his head buzzing. He looked at Jiang Li. "Jiang Li was the one who called you?" he asked Lu Xingye.

Lu Xingye nodded. If it weren’t for Jiang Li, he never would have thought his mind could be stretched like this again, adding another bizarre case to his workload.

Huo Qing took a deep breath. The case of the wall of corpses wasn’t even resolved, and now this had happened. The building had been sealed off, and Ning Sinian was still there with the medical examiner and technicians, extracting the bones.

Huo Qing looked at the things in Lu Xingye’s photos, and a bold thought crossed his mind. "Don’t tell me... are those newborn babies in there?"

Lu Xingye nodded, his expression grief-stricken. "There are also a lot of venomous insects and some kind of unknown liquid in there."

Huo Qing swayed and had to brace himself against the wall to stay steady. ’And not a single person filed a report.’

"He uses the gimmick of curing all diseases to attract the masses. Plus, he doesn’t ask for money, only for children. For some people, that’s a powerful temptation."

Some families might not have the money, but they have a child. Rather than abandoning it, they might as well trade it for some benefit.

Huo Qing gritted his teeth in fury. ’He was sick of using the word ’animal’ to describe these people!’

"The truth will come out tomorrow. We’ll see exactly how he’s been deceiving those people." Lu Xingye handed the bottle from his pocket to Huo Qing. "This is the stuff Master Cao gives out."

Huo Qing quickly took it and handed it to an officer beside him. "Send this back overnight. Tell the forensics lab to rush the analysis and find out what’s inside."

The officer nodded. The forensics lab had been driven half-mad with work lately.

Jiang Li sat on a chair, taking a few breaths to relax. She could smell the hospital’s antiseptic, and a look of irritation crossed her face.

Lu Xingye went downstairs and came back up with some hot congee.

"Here, have something to eat."

"Thanks."

Jiang Li took it and started to eat.

Lu Xingye looked at her, hesitating before he spoke. "The baby... in your belly... how far along are you?"

Huo Qing’s powerful frame jolted. He shot up and grabbed Lu Xingye by the ear. "Lu Xingye, what did you do?"

’This damn kid goes looking for Jiang Li every chance he gets,’ he thought. ’If he actually... I’ll really have to skin him alive.’

Jiang Li, in the middle of eating her congee, was a bit stunned by his disjointed question.

"What baby?"

"Hiss—no, what are you thinking?!" Lu Xingye swatted Huo Qing’s hand away in embarrassment and anger. ’It’s not like it’s mine,’ he thought.

"Didn’t Chen Xiufang say you were pregnant with Qiao Siyuan’s child? How far along are you?"

After asking, Lu Xingye also felt it was a bit inappropriate. He quickly added, "Don’t get me wrong, I was just worried that with you running around so much, you might hurt yourself."

Huo Qing frowned, watching the two young people in front of him.

"I’m not. I was lying to her." Jiang Li went back to her congee. ’If I hadn’t said that, how would I have found out what was going on?’

"Oh, I see. They have barbecue downstairs. Do you want some? If you do, I can go get it for you." Lu Xingye picked up his jacket from the side and looked at Jiang Li.

Huo Qing was speechless. "Wipe that ridiculous grin off your face before you catch a cold."

He looked at Jiang Li. "Jiang Li, let’s go. My treat. You’ve all been working hard all night. Let’s get a full meal and then a good rest."

Jiang Li got up, carrying her plain congee, and followed the two men downstairs. The babies they’d brought in were now being looked after by doctors, so there was nothing else to do for the night.

Downstairs, there was a night market right next to the hospital. They found a decent-looking barbecue spot and sat down.

Jiang Li looked at the food in the display case, inhaling the tempting aroma. She swallowed hard; she hadn’t had barbecue in a long time.

After they ordered, Huo Qing sat to the side, his fingers flying across his phone screen.

Lu Xingye looked at Jiang Li. "What do you want to drink?"

Jiang Li glanced up at the drink cooler. "A Coke, I guess."

Lu Xingye got up, grabbed a few bottles, and set them on the table.

"Honey, did you see the group chat message? Master Cao is performing a ritual tomorrow. We have to take the day off to go. If we’re late, we won’t get a spot."

Lu Xingye silently glanced at the people at the table behind Jiang Li.

Huo Qing’s typing paused, then stopped completely. He started making small talk with Lu Xingye while listening in on the conversation behind them.

"That Master Cao is such a good person, telling us to bring him abandoned children. He either sends them to an orphanage or finds new homes for them."

"And if you bring him a seriously ill child, he even pays to have the child treated."

"Yeah, he’s a true saint."

Hearing the couple’s praise, Huo Qing’s fists tightened. ’So that’s the story he’s spinning. No wonder these people are so eager to bring children to that Master Cao.’

’They think they’re finding a good home for these kids, but they’re actually sending them straight to hell.’

Huo Qing gritted his teeth and lowered his head, contacting someone at the police station.

After the barbecue, Jiang Li, Huo Qing, and Lu Xingye returned to the hospital. The three other infants were fine, but the baby who had been submerged in the jar didn’t make it.

"Captain Huo, we found something."