Chapter 57 Inner Demons "But what can stop the doubts is only..."
The doctor put away the assessment report and said succinctly, "We will continue to monitor the patient's various bodily functions clinically, so you cannot take him out of the ward for the time being. Of course, if it involves a criminal case requiring interrogation, I can make a special application on your behalf to secure medical law enforcement cooperation..."
At this point, the doctor paused, looked at Ah K, who had become skin and bones on the hospital bed, and extended his hand, saying, "Captain Tang, perhaps to you he is a suspect, but to us he is just a patient. We have an obligation to ensure the life and health safety of our patients, and we hope you can understand that."
"I understand, I understand completely," Tang Jianshan replied, shaking hands with Zhang. "Director Zhang, please rest assured, we will definitely manage the time well. We are also very grateful for the hospital's active cooperation. Once the case is closed, I will personally bring a banner to express my gratitude!"
“No need for that,” Director Zhang waved his hand, glanced at the time, and then repeated, “The patient in room 072 still needs a dressing change. This is a medical facility, so please don’t linger too long to avoid disturbing the patient’s rest.”
Peng Wan thanked the director repeatedly as she saw him to the door, then asked in a low voice, "Director Zhang, how are our colleagues in wards 072 and 073 doing now?"
Director Zhang paused, his expression turning rather grave.
Seeing the doctor's expression, Peng Wan's heart sank. She tentatively asked, "The situation is... not very optimistic?"
But then she thought about it again and felt something was wrong—although she and Tang Jianshan had been busy with work these days, they had been sending office staff to visit them regularly. Every time they came back to report, they said that Xiao Chen and Captain Jiang were bickering with each other and seemed to be in good spirits.
Director Zhang hesitated for a moment before saying, "Patient 072's indicators are all improving, as for 073... the external injury is not serious, but the psychological assessment results are not ideal..."
Peng Wan suddenly realized: "Because of that zombie drug?"
Director Zhang nodded.
"Director! The patient in bed 3 has suddenly developed ventricular tachycardia!" A nurse rushed over.
"Excuse me." Director Zhang nodded slightly, then immediately turned and hurried towards the ward.
.
When I woke up again that day, it was already evening.
The sedative left Jiang Zheng feeling utterly exhausted. He opened his eyes first and felt the warm temperature beside him. He thought it was Fu Gui'er sleeping next to him, so he looked down.
It's a furry head.
The afterglow of the setting sun bathed the entire ward, illuminating one side of Chen Yuhuai. The warm orange-red glow made him appear less dangerous, like a young beast that had sheathed its fangs, guarding its territory.
Chen Yuhuai seemed to be fast asleep, his eyelashes fluttering rhythmically with his breathing, casting a dark blue shadow on his eyelids. He held onto his arm, a small, dried, dark brown bloodstain staining the gauze wrapped around his right hand.
Jiang Zheng vaguely remembered biting something in his dazed state. Although the pain of drug withdrawal could almost make one give up the instinct to survive, he was still subconsciously afraid that he would scream out, afraid that he would beg them for more drugs in a low voice. So he could only try to bite something to suppress those words and all that restraint.
Perhaps the extreme pain caused him to hallucinate for a moment; he seemed to hear someone say in his ear, "Don't bite your tongue, bite here."
The man's sweaty forehead, damp with pain, brushed against his burning earlobe, sending a violent shiver through him as if he'd been electrocuted.
So he gnawed on that piece of meat and wouldn't let go, until his mouth was filled with the smell of that person's blood.
"Hmm..."
Chen Yuhuai let out a muffled groan, his eyelids twitched violently a few times, and he woke up.
When he got up, his hair was a little messy, and there were obvious creases on one side of his face. He glanced at the electrocardiogram monitor next to him, then used the thermometer to touch his forehead, and finally said with a heavy nasal voice, "Hmm... 36.8 degrees... the fever has gone down."
The moment Chen Yuhuai pulled his hand back, Jiang Zheng grabbed his wrist and suddenly pulled him towards himself. Chen Yuhuai didn't have time to find a foothold and almost fell headfirst onto Jiang Zheng.
He held the hand he had bitten in front of him and examined it carefully.
"What are you doing?" Chen Yuhuai was startled and immediately pulled back into his arms.
Despite their quick reaction, Tang Jianshan, standing at the door, still caught them red-handed: "Oh, it's been half a month, and you two have made quite a bit of progress."
Jiang Zheng remained unfazed: "Oh, it's been half a month, and Deputy Captain Tang is still as sarcastic as ever."
Tang Jianshan cupped his hands in greeting: "Likewise."
"The nurse shouldn't have removed your restraints!" Chen Yuhuai said coldly, getting up to leave, but Peng Wan, who was coming from the opposite direction, pressed down on his shoulder.
"We were just here ten minutes ago. Seeing you two sleeping so well, we didn't have the heart to disturb you," Peng Wan said, feigning sadness as she wiped away non-existent tears and chuckled. "It's just that we came at an inopportune time."
“Yeah,” Jiang Zheng retorted with a forced smile, “Why didn’t you two wait? We went straight to your workplace to ‘visit’ after we were discharged.”
"?" Chen Yuhuai was inexplicably pressed down again and sat back down on Jiang Zheng's hospital bed.
Jiang Zheng changed the subject: "How is Ah K? Is he able to be interrogated?"
Tang Jianshan pulled out a small notebook and pointed at him in the air: "What did I tell you? Who's the person in charge of our task force now?"
"Nonsense?" Jiang Zheng snatched Tang Jianshan's pen and quickly flipped through it.
Chen Yuhuai also leaned over to take a look. Because the characters were so small and messy, he had to get extremely close to Jiang Zheng to see them clearly.
"I told you, we came at the worst possible time," Peng Wan said, covering her mouth and tilting her head to chatter with Tang Jianshan.
After a short while, Chen Yuhuai managed to glean some key words from the jumbled characters, and frowned, saying, "Retrograde amnesia?"
Peng Wan explained, "Simply put, it's a memory impairment caused by drowning. The patient can't recall events that occurred before a specific time, which mainly refers to the time of the drowning."
Chen Yuhuai pressed further, "Can it be restored?"
Peng Wan shook her head: "It's almost impossible to recover to normal levels in a short period of time."
“But I have an idea. Maybe we can stimulate him to briefly recall some information, even if it’s incomplete. It’s still better than having the suspect right in front of us and being unable to do anything about him.” Tang Jianshan’s playful smile vanished.
Jiang Zheng understood his implication; this was the main reason they had rushed over so late. He said, "Tell me, what do you want me to do?"
“It’s not just you, this matter requires your opinion—” Tang Jianshan’s gaze shifted to Chen Yuhuai’s face, “and also Xiao Chen’s opinion.”
.
Tang Jianshan and Peng Wan did not stay for long before they were called in for a meeting by the dean.
Jiang Zheng rolled out of bed and took a few steps before he felt less dizzy. He casually put on a shirt and then rummaged under his pillow for a while.
"And this?" Chen Yuhuai magically produced a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his hand.
"When did you run off to your place? Where did you go?" Jiang Zheng, with his long arms and legs, reached out to grab it.
Chen Yuhuai suddenly raised his cigarette and said with an eyebrow, "The doctor said you can't smoke now."
"The doctor's orders also said I should rest in bed now." Jiang Zheng chuckled, then grabbed his wrist before he could react, easily snatching the cigarette pack with his other hand. "Didn't Director Zhang tell you to make sure I take my medicine on time?"
Chen Yuhuai stumbled a step due to his sudden action.
"Come for a walk with me." Jiang Zheng deftly pulled out a cigarette, but before the cigarette holder could even touch his lips, it was snatched back.
"Isn't that enough power?" Chen Yuhuai raised an eyebrow, and the cigarette and lighter fell directly into his shirt pocket.
Night had completely fallen, and the small garden behind the inpatient department was deserted.
Jiang Zheng walked ahead, the hem of his shirt billowing slightly in the evening breeze, revealing faint red marks from the restraints rubbing against his waist and wrists.
The two remained a half-step apart, the weather was extremely hot and humid, even the cicadas had fallen silent, and soon a thin layer of sweat appeared on their foreheads and backs.
"What do you think of the proposal put forward by your detachment leader, Tang?" Jiang Zheng was still recovering from his serious illness. After walking for a while, he felt dizzy and had to stop under the old elm tree.
"Do I have a choice?" Chen Yuhuai said coldly, but still walked to the stone bench next to him and sat down.
“You have a choice,” Jiang Zheng suddenly chuckled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “As long as you can give me an answer.”
"What exactly is your relationship with A-K?"
Chen Yuhuai lowered his head, unconsciously rubbing the teeth marks under the gauze on his hand.
“Ah K seems to be particularly interested in you, far beyond what a drug dealer would do with a policeman… Chen Yuhuai, I’m not the only one who suspects you now, but I’m the only one who can stop the suspicion here.”
The night wind rustled through the treetops overhead, making the silence between the two seem even more jarring.
"Are you interrogating me?" Chen Yuhuai looked up at him, his tone indifferent.
I'm giving you a chance.
"What opportunity?" Chen Yuhuai sneered. "An opportunity to repent and start anew? Or an opportunity to abandon darkness and embrace the light?"
"The chance to choose which side to stand on." Jiang Zheng swiftly reached into Chen Yuhuai's pocket. The latter subconsciously put his hands behind his back, watching him warily, only to see Jiang Zheng put a cigarette in his mouth the next second, a flame shooting out and illuminating the darkness between the two for a moment.
Chen Yuhuai: "..."
After a long while, white smoke slowly escaped from his lips. He bit the filter with his canine teeth and continued, "You're relieved that Ah K has lost his memory... This cliché plot just had to happen. The one person who knows your secret is one less, so the risk of you being exposed is one less. But you couldn't have predicted that Tang Jianshan would use you to test and provoke Ah K..."
“You don’t even need to step into the interrogation room. Your answer—yes or no—is itself an answer. I must say, you, Captain Tang, have improved quite a bit after being by my side for so long.”
Chen Yuhuai stood up. Moonlight streamed down, and amidst the swaying shadows of the trees, the two shadows overlapped on the ground.
“That night was the closest I ever came to my target,” Chen Yuhuai’s voice was as flat as a straight line. “If I hadn’t fired those two shots, your body would probably be floating in the Sea of Japan by now… What a perfect example of using someone else to do the dirty work…”
"So?" Jiang Zheng narrowed his eyes, staring at Chen Yuhuai's retreating figure, and slowly spoke, "Those two shots were your answer to me?"
Chen Yuhuai suddenly looked up and was shocked to see Cheng Miao standing in front of him, looking at him with anger instead of a smile. Chen Yuhuai was stunned, and the words he was about to say stuck in his throat.
The ash from Jiang Zheng's cigarette fell in a flurry, only to be quickly scattered by the wind.
"...Will he survive?"
The scenes of those interrogations flashed before his eyes, and Chen Yuhuai gasped as if waking from a dream.
He understood why Cheng Miao couldn't answer him, why the two shots deliberately missed Jiang Zheng, and all the complicated causes and effects.
Because it wasn't Cheng Zheng's soul at all.
That was his inner demon.
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Author's Note: Little Chen's awakening moment! [Starry-eyed]
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