Chapter 48 The dead and the living should be about the same.
Grandpa Dong went out specifically to see if the two young women had gone far enough, and only closed the door when they were out of sight.
He turned around with a grin, then said urgently, "They're all gone, I didn't say anything, hurry up and give me the money..."
Pfft!
The sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh suddenly rang out in the quiet night.
His eyes were wide open, filled with shock and fear, his face contorted with pain, and his finger trembled as he pointed at the man in front of him.
Liu Rong looked at him with a sinister gaze and smiled ominously.
"You old codger, how dare you threaten me! You'll have to be alive to get your money!"
"One string of cash isn't enough, you want ten?! Keep dreaming, you idiot."
He drew his short knife, the bright white blade stained with blood. Grandpa Dong clutched his blood-soaked abdomen and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Liu Rong glanced at it, turned around, opened the door, and ran into the night to escape quickly.
On the other side, Tao Tao, who was about to reach Chengbei Street, suddenly stopped, seemingly remembering something.
The moonlight was slanting down, and a shadow was visible under the left door crack. She thought it was the shadow of some inanimate object. Just then, the old man mentioned tofu, and it moved slightly, but there was no wind at all.
How could it move? She noticed it at the time, but didn't think much of it.
She asked him what he wanted for dinner because she saw something that looked like tofu on his cuff; she asked this on purpose to test him.
Grandpa Dong has no wife or children and lives alone. Now that I think about it carefully, it's possible that there was a figure standing there.
He is very likely the real culprit who killed Lady Liu!
Realizing this, Tao Tao immediately turned back, walking more and more urgently until she finally started running.
Tu Miaoling, not understanding what was going on, hurriedly followed behind.
"What's wrong, Tao'er? Why are you running around all of a sudden?"
It wasn't curfew yet, and it was just after nightfall, so there were still quite a few people on the streets, making it a bit difficult to move around.
"Miaoling, the murderer who killed Madam Liu is currently hiding at Master Dong's house. Go find someone from the government office to assist you. I'll go buy some time!"
After saying that, she took a shortcut and turned into an alley, without waiting for Tu Miaoling's response.
"Hey! Tao'er! What's going on?!"
She ran too fast, and for a moment he couldn't catch up. He thought of what she had just told him.
Left with no other choice, Tu Miaoling could only anxiously go to the government office to report the case.
Before long, Tao Tao stood panting at Grandpa Dong's door. After calming herself down, she reached out and knocked.
"Grandpa? Are you still there? Open the door."
There was no response, so she didn't wait any longer and pushed the door open forcefully, only to see the night watchman lying in a pool of blood.
She was terrified and rushed inside, crouching down to check on him.
"Grandpa?! Are you still alive? How are you?"
His cloudy eyes were now unfocused, his hand pressed against the stab wound in his abdomen, which was covered in glaring blood, and his mouth moved slightly, making hoarse sounds, as if he wanted to say something.
Tao Tao quickly took off her handbag, took out her sewing needle and thread. Fortunately, she always carried hemostatic medicine with her, and it came in handy now.
However, the bandages wrapped around her hands made it difficult for her to move freely, and her wounds were still throbbing.
It's still possible to bear with it.
She tore open the old man's clothes and saw the hideous bloody hole in his right abdomen. Her face turned slightly pale, and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead from nervousness.
The dead are often stitched up, but the living have never been stitched up.
She reached under his nose to check his breathing; it was very weak, and his heart was beating slowly, as if he could die at any moment.
"Sir, just bear with it, it'll be over soon."
She stuffed his own clothes into his mouth so he could bite them, cleaned the wound, applied medicine, and then stitched it up.
Just as she was about to apply the medicine, she took out several porcelain bottles and, while judging which one would be more useful, she saw the light black porcelain bottle that the person had given her.
"He shouldn't be such a petty person..."
Desperate times call for desperate measures; she believed that medicine given by someone in a high position of power would be far better than her ordinary wound medicine.
Without hesitating for more than two seconds, she decisively lay down on the wound and then began stitching.
Tu Miaoling found the government office and was about to go in when she was stopped at the door.
The officers and soldiers solemnly warned, "This is the Imperial Capital Government Office! How dare you, a commoner, trespass? If you don't leave now, don't blame us for being ruthless!"
She said anxiously, "I have an urgent matter to report! It's so urgent, please allow me to see the magistrate!"
He looked at her suspiciously and asked, "Your complaint?"
Tu Miaoling was extremely anxious and, in a moment of impulsiveness, shouted, "This is a matter of life and death! How could I have time to write any legal documents?!"
He snorted coldly: "Without a complaint, you cannot go in."
She glared at him. "Are you being reasonable?! I've already said that this is a critical moment, I don't have time to write a complaint!"
"This is a government-controlled area; no loud noises are allowed!"
The two officers shouted angrily at the same time, completely ignoring her words about human lives being at stake.
In their view, this excuse was overused and all about trivial matters. If these troublemakers dared to cause trouble again, they absolutely could not be let off easily.
They're only refraining from arguing with her now because she's a woman. If she continues to be so unreasonable, they'll be ruthless.
Just then, Gao Shaoguang was about to go out to Dali Temple to retrieve some case files when he suddenly heard a commotion as he approached the door.
He frowned, stood at the door, and shouted, "What's going on here? Why is there such a commotion at the government office?"
The officers and soldiers turned to look, bowed in fear, and said, "Please forgive us, sir, we will send her away immediately."
Tu Miaoling glanced at his attire; he was clearly a wealthy and noble person, likely an important figure in the government office. She quickly said:
"I'm here to report a crime! Madam Liu didn't fall into the water by accident; she was murdered. The night watchman, a witness, is in danger right now, and my friend went there alone and is in a critical situation. Please, sir, send men to hunt down the culprit immediately!"
"What did you say?!"
The case of Lady Liu has already been closed, so why are these things happening now?
Without time to think it over, Gao Shaoguang quickly turned around and went back to call for help. When he came out again, he was followed by a group of constables from the government office.
The group hurriedly ran towards the night watchman's house.
Upon arrival, I saw that the girl had a cold and serious expression, her body and hands were covered in blood, and the person on the ground was motionless, as if dead.
Seeing this, the constables behind him thought they had encountered a crime scene, and quickly drew their knives and rushed forward to surround her.
Gao Shaoguang was shocked: "Tao Tao, what are you doing?!"
"I'm saving people!"
She spoke without looking up, her outward appearance calm, but only she knew that her hands were trembling.
He walked over and squatted down, just in time to see the stitched wound covered with white gauze. He turned to look at the young woman beside him and noticed that she didn't look too well either.
He reached out and removed the clothes from Grandpa Dong's mouth. Blood mixed with saliva flowed out, and the old man began to gasp for breath.
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