Chapter 49 Self-Defense She finally managed to pick up his tattered clothes...
The rain was getting heavier, and police cars and ambulances were parked downstairs. Many residents in the community opened their windows to watch the commotion.
When Yang Shengnan arrived after being notified, Ni Jiaqi had already been secured to a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance.
The doctor put him on a ventilator.
Yang Shengnan was on the phone with Ni Jiaqi's parents when the ambulance doors were about to close. Suddenly, Ni Jiaqi grabbed Yang Shengnan's hand: "Officer Yang..."
His fingers were cold, he was very weak, and his lips moved as he spoke.
Yang Shengnan lowered her head to listen: "What?"
Ni Jiaqi exhaled white mist, obscuring most of his face: "Xie Shijin... took a knife... and went to find Guo Renyi."
"It really was him..." Yang Shengnan suddenly realized, and all the previous doubts instantly connected.
"Xie Shijin went to find him with a knife?"
Did Xie Shijin want to kill Guo Renyi?
Impulsive and reckless! Doesn't he know that murder leads to imprisonment?!
...He's not even afraid of death, so why would he be afraid of killing someone and going to jail?
What's more, this person was the murderer who killed that girl.
Yang Shengnan cursed under her breath and grabbed the walkie-talkie from her waist: "Has the technical team arrived yet? Check Xie Shijin and Guo Renyi's cell phone locations immediately!"
“Guo Renyi has been poisoned… by snake venom,” Ni Jiaqi said haltingly. “There’s a recording inside the sunflower toy… Officer Yang… you must catch him.”
They had waited for this day for far too long, so long that they were almost ready to give up hope.
"I will, I will..." Yang Shengnan nodded vigorously.
After saying this, the boy turned his face away and collapsed onto the pillow.
"Ni Jiaqi? Ni Jiaqi!" Yang Shengnan shouted urgently, "Quick, quick, get him to the hospital!"
The ambulance doors slammed shut and sped away through the rain.
Xiao Liu ran over, his face grave, and said, "Master, Xie Shijin and Guo Renyi have both turned off their phones!"
Yang Shengnan quickly instructed the accompanying police officers: "You guys go and check where Xie Shijin and Guo Renyi went this afternoon. Guo Renyi was bitten by a venomous snake, so he will definitely go to the hospital. Focus on checking the surrounding hospitals and clinics, and pay attention to patients who have been bitten by snakes. If you don't have enough manpower, go back to the branch office to transfer more."
"Xiao Liu, come with me to the bedroom to find the toy that Ni Jiaqi mentioned."
After the order was given, several teams set off, and Yang Shengnan and Xiao Liu rushed upstairs.
Pushing open the door, a pool of bright red blood on the living room floor was glaringly obvious, winding its way to the bedroom doorway—a truly shocking sight.
Yang Shengnan said, "Call the trace evidence specialists up here."
The bedroom door was ajar. Yang Shengnan pushed it open and entered. She saw that the sunflower toy Ni Jiaqi had mentioned was completely smashed, and next to the toy was a small, silvery-white snake coiled up.
"Master, be careful! Poisonous snake!"
"Is this the venomous snake that bit Guo Renyi?" Yang Shengnan frowned, took out her phone and took several clear photos of it before sending them to the technical team. "Go to the hospital immediately to have someone identify it and confirm the snake species and venom."
The little snake was curled up next to the toy, its body coiled into a small ball, motionless, like an exquisite silver ornament.
Xiao Liu said, "It doesn't seem aggressive."
The little snake raised its head slightly, staring at them with its large, round eyes, its gaze clear and bright, like a college student.
"Xiao Bai?" Xiao Liu called out casually.
Cheng Shiyun: "..." Please call her Xiaomei.
Xiao Liu squatted down and asked, "Are you Xie Shijin's pet?"
"hiss--!"
Xiao Liu: "Yes."
"Master, should we take this snake back as evidence?" Little Liu tentatively reached out his hand. "Don't be afraid..."
Cheng Shiyun opened her mouth: "Hiss—!" Who's afraid?
Startled, Xiao Liu jumped back, almost falling to the ground, and cried out, "Ahhh, Master! It's coming!"
Yang Shengnan couldn't bear to look at him: "...Go find a bag."
Xiao Liu ran to the living room, couldn't find the pocket, so she grabbed the cat carrier from the cabinet, ran back to the bedroom, and unzipped it: "Xiao Bai, I won't hurt you, come in quickly."
Cheng Shiyun crawled toward him.
When the doctor and nurses came in, she hid under the bed in the bedroom and only dared to crawl out after hearing Yang Shengnan's voice.
She wasn't sure if the police would take her away, but Cheng Shiyun had to try. Only by following them could she possibly find Xie Shijin.
She painstakingly picked up his tattered remains and pieced them back together.
It shouldn't be broken just because someone else did.
With a gentle flick of its tail, the little snake slid inside the cat carrier and coiled into a circle.
"Captain Yang!" came the voice from the walkie-talkie. "The technical department found that Xie Shijin went to an internet cafe this afternoon and went to Xingqing Street in the evening. His last known location on his phone was... Xuezi Road, his home."
Yang Shengnan went to the kitchen and found that two knives were missing from the knife rack.
Xiao Liu asked, "Why are two missing? Did Guo Renyi take one?"
"We'll send more people to check the surveillance footage in the nearby streets," Yang Shengnan said. "Guo Renyi has been poisoned by snake venom, so we'll arrange for one or two more ambulances to be on standby."
...
Guo Renyi drove to Yichuan City Hospital.
His left hand was swollen to the size of a steamed bun, and the lower part of his arm, bound by his tie, had turned blackish-purple. Soon, his arm would lose sensation due to poor blood flow, become necrotic, and require amputation.
But before that, the snake venom will spread to his heart, causing heart failure and death.
His fingers rested on the car door handle. He pushed the door open, and the emergency room was just a few steps away.
No.
You cannot go to the hospital.
The police must have expected him to be desperate and come to the hospital. They are probably waiting for him at the emergency room entrance, the registration desk, or even the monitoring room, just waiting for him to walk into their trap.
He trembled as he pulled out his cigarette case, lit a cigarette, smoked half of it, and crushed the remaining half to apply to the wound where the snake had bitten him, thus stopping the bleeding.
The rough tobacco shreds pierced the open wound, causing intense pain that made his jaw chatter, but he seemed oblivious, pressing down firmly.
He can't go home, so the police must have sent people to stake out his villa.
He can't even walk on the main roads, because the surveillance cameras and shop entrances will be watching him like eyes.
Guo Renyi gritted his teeth, jerked the steering wheel, and drove out of the hospital parking lot.
...
It's twelve o'clock.
After Xie Shijin left, Feng Yue was terrified. She called Guo Renyi many times but no one answered, and she had no idea what to do.
Guo Renyi said he had smashed and destroyed Cheng Shiyun's phone, but what if the police could find other evidence?
Hearing the thunderous snoring from the next room, she hurriedly packed her things.
She bought a train ticket to Linjiang City for the early morning; she wanted to leave Yichuan, the farther away the better.
After hastily stuffing a few changes of clothes into her bag and grabbing her ID card, Feng Yue held her breath and tiptoed to open the door.
The rain outside was torrential, pounding against the concrete road with a deafening crackling sound, and visibility was less than twenty meters.
Feng Yue, carrying her schoolbag, quickly went downstairs.
The external staircase was exposed to the rain, offering no shelter, and the torrential downpour soaked her to the bone. She ran down the stairs as fast as she could, as if a vengeful ghost was chasing her.
However, just as she turned the corner of the stairs, she bumped into a man.
Feng Yue's legs went weak, as if all her strength had been drained away, and she slumped down on the wet steps, leaning against the cold railing.
The man was soaked from head to toe, his neatly pressed shirt clung to his skin, and a thick layer of rain fogged up his glasses, completely obscuring the light in his eyes. His usual gentle and refined demeanor had vanished, leaving only a disheveled and ferocious appearance.
Guo Renyi asked her, "Where are you going?"
When the snake venom took effect, his voice became extremely hoarse, making him appear even more sinister.
"Trying to run?"
Feng Yue bit her lower lip tightly, tasting a faint metallic flavor of blood, but dared not let go. She could only shake her head repeatedly, her throat feeling as if it were stuffed with cotton, unable to utter a sound.
Guo Renyi took out his phone; he had already removed the SIM card and thrown it away.
He turned on the screen, opened the photo album, and found those videos on his phone as well.
"Are your parents asleep?" He leaned down, raindrops from his glasses falling onto Feng Yue's face, icy cold. "Would you mind if I woke them up to watch your amazing video together?"
"No!" Feng Yue shook her head, choking back tears as she asked, "What are you doing here?!"
Guo Renyi, panting heavily, said, "Go to the pharmacy and buy me saline solution, an oxygen bag, alcohol, and a knife."
He couldn't see clearly what kind of snake it was, but at that moment, the numbness in his limbs and the tightness in his chest and shortness of breath were getting stronger and stronger, and he had to take emergency measures as soon as possible.
He parked the car two blocks away. The police would find Feng Yue soon, and he couldn't stay here any longer.
Feng Yue nodded: "Okay...okay...My parents are at home. The rooftop door isn't locked. Go up there and wait for me."
After going downstairs, Feng Yue went to the nearest pharmacy and bought the things Guo Renyi had mentioned.
Lifting the plastic curtain, a police car was parked at the door. A policewoman opened the car door, rain streaming down her uniform. Yang Shengnan's eyes were sharp, and she immediately spotted the girl: "Feng Yue!"
Police! The police are here!
Feng Yue's mind went blank. All her fear, hope, and struggle collapsed the moment she saw the police uniform.
The police are here to arrest her! The police are here to arrest her!
She stood there dumbfounded in the rain, as if her soul had been ripped out.
Yang Shengnan stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder: "Feng Yue, have you seen Xie Shijin and Guo Renyi?"
Feng Yue was terrified, shaking her head vigorously: "No, no! I didn't!"
Yang Shengnan glanced at the item in her hand: "Where is Guo Renyi?"
"I don't know! I don't know anything!" Feng Yue screamed in despair, tearing at her clothes and hair. "Don't ask me anymore! Cheng Shiyun, don't ask me anymore! Ahhh, Cheng Shiyun, don't kill me!"
Yang Shengnan's eyes darkened. The girl seemed terrified. She said to her colleague, "Take her away and bring her back to the station for questioning."
Just as they got the person into the car, Xiao Liu called.
The rain was so heavy that all that could be heard through the receiver was the sound of the pouring rain, making it impossible to hear anything. Yang Shengnan frowned, took shelter under the eaves of the pharmacy, and answered the phone.
"Master, I went to the internet cafe Xie Shijin went to this afternoon. The receptionist said he borrowed a power bank," Xiao Liu shouted. "Their power banks have GPS tracking, I've sent it to your phone."
...
Guo Renyi's vehicle was located in a narrow alley.
The car doors were closed, and there was no one in the driver's seat.
Where can Guo Renyi go?
This street is far from the subway and bus stations, so he couldn't possibly go far without a car.
He went to find Feng Yue.
The small supermarket at the entrance of the residential area is still open.
Upon hearing the "Welcome" greeting, the shop owner, who was watching TV behind the counter, looked up and said, "What would you like to buy? Please feel free to watch whatever you like."
Upon seeing this, they were stunned: "It's raining so hard outside, young man, you didn't bring an umbrella?"
A tall, thin boy walked in, his black hair, so wet it could be wrung out, clung to his pale cheeks. His clear black and white eyes were devoid of any warmth as he stared straight at the counter: "Do you have any transparent tape?"
"Yes, yes, yes, just a moment and I'll get it for you." The shopkeeper got up, rummaged through the shelf and pulled out a roll of transparent tape, handing it over. "Five yuan."
The boy pulled out a wet ten-yuan note and placed it on the counter. Just as the shopkeeper was about to give him change, the boy turned and left.
The boss was taken aback for a moment, and was about to call out to him when his gaze inadvertently swept over the man's right hand hanging by his side.
The hand was hidden under the soaked sleeve, and a part of it could be vaguely seen, with a sharp outline and a chilling glint in its eyes.
Oh my god, it's a knife!
The shop owner turned pale with fright. After everyone had walked away, he hurriedly grabbed the phone on the counter: "Hello, 110! I need to call the police!"
The rain was so heavy, just like the day Cheng Shiyun died.
Rainwater overflowed down the staircase steps, forming small waterfalls.
Xie Shijin wrapped tape around his hand repeatedly to prevent the knife from slipping out of his grasp.
He went up to the fifth floor and knocked on the door of room 503.
Mechanically, one after another, he knocked many times.
After a while, the neighbor next door got impatient with the noise and poked his head out, cursing, "Who is it?! Knocking on the door in the middle of the night, don't you know how to let people sleep?!"
The man inside, snoring loudly, was also woken up. He cursed as he shuffled to the door in his slippers: "You brat, you're sleeping like a log! You didn't even hear me knocking so loudly? If you didn't hear me, I'll cut your ears off tomorrow!"
The man froze as he opened the door, then looked up at him and asked, "Who are you?"
The man squinted, trying to make out something: "Downstairs? Another water pipe burst?"
Xie Shijin asked, "Where is Feng Yue?"
"Feng Yue?" The man turned and shouted into the house, "Feng Yue! You wretched girl!"
He strode back into the house.
This apartment has two bedrooms and one living room. Feng Yue's parents have one room, her younger brother has another, and Feng Yue's room is a partitioned-off balcony in the living room. It gets direct sunlight in the summer and there is no air conditioning.
The electric fan inside was still whirring, and the clothes on the bed were scattered everywhere, clearly showing signs of having been hastily tidied up.
Feng Yue is not here.
She ran away.
"Damn it!" That brat ran away, who's going to do the laundry and cook now!
The man was furious and turned around to vent his anger on the boy at the door, but as soon as he turned around, he saw that Xie Shijin had already come in.
Xie Shijin's soaked clothes dripped water, forming small puddles at her feet.
"Is this your house? Why are you coming in?" The man was about to yell when he caught sight of the knife Xie Shijin was holding, its cold glint dazzling. He was instantly terrified and stammered, "W-what are you doing! The money is all in the closet in the bedroom. Take as much as you want, I won't call the police!"
Xie Shijin didn't say anything, and seeing that no one was in the room, he turned around and walked out.
The boy's back was solitary and thin, his emaciated shoulders appearing even more rugged beneath his soaked clothes, like a long, thin ghostly figure.
...
Fifteen minutes passed, and Feng Yue still hadn't returned; she must have run away.
Guo Renyi gritted his teeth and tugged hard on the tie on his arm, tightening it even more. The fabric dug into his swollen, blackened flesh, causing excruciating pain, but it also cleared his muddled mind a little.
He slowly stood up and, supporting himself against the wall, went downstairs. Strenuous exercise and emotional excitement can accelerate the venom's invasion of the heart, so he walked slowly and carefully.
Whether it was because the venom had spread to his torso or because he was afraid, his limbs went weak, and suddenly his foot slipped, causing him to fall backward uncontrollably.
"Bang!" He gripped the railing tightly.
The stainless steel railings vibrated and hummed, echoing from the fourth floor, the third floor...
Xie Shijin, who was going downstairs, turned his head and looked up through the gap in the stairs.
After regaining his balance, Guo Renyi subconsciously looked downstairs, and in just one glance, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
He saw a pair of eyes.
A pair of eyes, darker and deeper than the night, devoid of any light, like a venomous snake lurking in the darkness.
"Guo Renyi".
Guo Renyi saw his lips move.
He said.
I've found you.
Damn it, he's actually laughing!
How did Xie Shijin find his way here?
He's been keeping watch in this area.
Guo Renyi shuddered, no longer caring about the threat of heightened emotions and accelerated snake venom. He turned and ran frantically towards the rooftop. Xie Shijin downstairs also moved, rushing up the rooftop in two strides.
There's a door on the rooftop! As long as the door is closed, Xie Shijin won't be able to get in!
Guo Renyi scrambled up to the rooftop, using both hands and feet, and locked the door just before Xie Shijin caught up. But before he could even catch his breath, the rooftop door began to shake violently.
This is an old tin gate in an old residential area, not their solid wood door, nor a thick fence gate like a school gate; it can't withstand a few kicks.
With a clang—
The metal door was kicked open with a thud, the twisted lock flew out, and the door panel slammed heavily against the wall before bouncing back.
Xie Shijin pushed open the door that had been pushed back and climbed onto the rooftop.
The rooftop was only so big, and both the front and back roads were blocked. Guo Renyi was already exhausted. The excruciating pain from the snake venom and the fatigue from running made him completely unable to run. When he saw the knife in Xie Shijin's hand, he actually laughed: "Are you going to kill me?"
“Cheng Shiyun is dead. You killed me and avenged her, but you will also go to jail.”
Xie Shijin's hand, gripping the knife hilt, veins bulging, walked towards him expressionlessly and asked, "Did you run over Cheng Shiyun with your car?"
"Are you recording audio or video?" Guo Renyi leaned against the wall, shook his head, and denied it. "It wasn't me."
Cheng Shiyun's phone had long been burned to ashes by him, and the sunflower toy that could record audio had been trampled to pieces. What evidence could there be?
So what if Ni Jiaqi heard it? He's just a kid who smashed over a dozen cars to avenge Cheng Shiyun. Who would believe everything he says?
Feng Yue is timid and would probably break down after a few questions from the police, but they have no evidence.
Witness testimony alone is not enough to convict someone; physical evidence is required to form a complete chain of evidence. If the police can't find solid evidence, he'll stubbornly deny everything, and no one can do anything about it!
"On July 12th, you and Feng Yue were at school when Cheng Shiyun caught you sexually assaulting a female student. To silence her, you killed her."
"That day, she had just turned 16." Even though she knew perfectly well why, Xie Shijin still couldn't help but ask, "Why?"
He asked the witnesses, the police officers handling the case, and countless times he asked himself the same questions late at night.
Why didn't they see things clearly?
Why is it so slow for the police to find clues?
Why didn't he run faster to save her?
Guo Renyi scoffed: "There's no reason why. She deserves to die because she saw something she shouldn't have seen."
“She can’t blame anyone else.” Cheng Shiyun could have run away, but she didn’t. She wanted to be someone’s savior, to save others, even if that person didn’t need her to save them. Guo Renyi said, “Her kindness, her persistence, and her ridiculous sense of justice killed her.”
"She killed herself."
Sixteen or seventeen-year-old boys, bursting with a sense of justice, always think they can change the world, but in the face of absolute power and evil, that bit of passion and persistence is nothing more than courting death.
Guo Renyi casually concluded that he was brainwashing himself and also attempting to brainwash Xie Shijin.
Xie Shijin said, "It was you who killed her."
"You grabbed her by the neck, covered her mouth, and she suffocated. You stuffed her into the trunk, and she pried open the trunk and escaped." The boy calmly stated the facts, but he choked up when he mentioned how Cheng Shiyun ran towards him.
She ran forward so hard, trying so hard to survive.
Stones got into her shoes, and her feet were blistered when her body was wheeled out of the operating room.
Even though she tried her best, no one let her go.
Xie Shijin's hands were trembling uncontrollably, not from fear, but from extreme anger and grief. The rain washed over his mind, calming him down, and he didn't bring himself to strike Guo Renyi's neck. He took another knife from his bag and threw it in front of Guo Renyi: "Kill me, and no one will find you."
Guo Renyi looked at him strangely.
"...Are you fucking crazy?"
Xie Shijin said, "I haven't shown the USB drive to anyone else. If you kill me, no one will know what's on your USB drive."
“You can go back to being your principal and be loved by your students. I was in the park the night Guo Xuan was injured.”
“I heard his cries for help. Many cats were scratching him. He was crying so pitifully and begging you to save him.”
"Don't you want to kill me?"
"Let's do it."
...
According to the power bank's location, Yang Shengnan was leading a group of people towards Feng Yue's house.
The police car sped up, and Yang Shengnan deftly cocked the gun with her thumb, released the safety, and whispered into her earpiece to the others, "Don't fire unless absolutely necessary."
When they arrived at Feng Yue's building, the group was ready to go upstairs when Yang Shengnan received another call from Xiao Liu.
“Master!” Xiao Liu’s hurried voice came through the receiver. He was carrying a cat carrier and rushing over there. “Xie Shijin bought a train ticket to Beijing for August 22nd, rented a room on a rental app, and ordered a lot of daily necessities online to send over.”
"Murder is a crime punishable by imprisonment, so there's absolutely no need for him to buy these things."
"And this afternoon, he also bought a breeding box, a pet breeding box, which should be for his pet snake, which is in heat."
"If he wants to die together with Guo Renyi, why would he care about a pet snake?"
After listing many examples, Xiao Liu expressed his guess: "Master, I think... Xie Shijin may not have intended to kill Guo Renyi."
Upon hearing this, Yang Shengnan covered her forehead in pain.
wrong.
Something's not right.
If he didn't want to kill anyone, why would he take out a knife?
Intimidating Guo Renyi?
This will only anger the other party...
Provoke the other party.
Xie Pingxue is still in the detention center.
In an instant, Yang Shengnan had a sudden realization and said in a very fast voice, "I know, he just wants to provoke Guo Renyi."
"What?"
Yang Shengnan said, "He wanted to provoke Guo Renyi and force him to kill him first!"
"Xie Shijin's counterattack was not a premeditated act of revenge or intentional killing, but rather..."
She paused, then said incredulously.
"justifiable defense."
-----------------------
Author's note: Previous context: The USB drive contains backups that are automatically sent to the police at regular intervals.
The next chapter will end this storyline, and we can finally be happy! I'm so excited!
I saw some readers asking when it will end. The main story will probably end around the end of December!
Ball Ball Nutrient Solution~ [Lop-eared rabbit head]
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