Qiming Chapter 62

Chapter 62

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The sky had brightened again. Each day, the dawn arrived a bit later than the previous one.

If only one day, the daylight would never come. Wang Kun buried his face in the pillow until he found it hard to breathe, then sat up. He walked to the door and looked outside through the glass window, noticing that the plainclothes police officers were still stationed at the door.

Had they never gone back? Or were they rotating shifts?

He didn't know, so he lay back down on the bed, pretending to be asleep. Yesterday afternoon, he had accidentally cut his hand while slicing fruit, and blood had spilt everywhere, scaring the police officers so much that they wouldn't even let him use a plastic knife anymore.

Ah, a plastic knife was indeed useless.

He lay there, watching the sun slowly rise outside the window. He asked himself what he was waiting for: for someone to come, or for something to happen? He couldn't answer, so he slowly sat up, closed his eyes, and let the sunlight gradually sweep over his face.

What was Lin Xiangrong doing now? Was she being troubled? He had denied being the murderer of the Jiang family, so would the police now turn their attention to her?

Thinking of this, he felt an immense guilt that made him wish he could die immediately. But he was unwilling, unwilling to die just like that, unwilling to lose her, unwilling to see himself become a criminal, nailed to the pillar of shame.

Then he found himself laughable. How could he lose her when he had never possessed her? They were from different worlds, except for sharing the same blood.

When he accepted Lin Xiangrong's hematopoietic stem cells, accepted that money, and agreed to the bone marrow transplant surgery, their fates intertwined, becoming a tightly woven thread. Cutting one thread would cause everyone to collapse.

He should never have accepted that money, should never have had the surgery. That way, Lin Xiangrong wouldn't have been forced by the Jiang family to marry someone she had no feelings for, living like a puppet for so many years.

He sighed deeply and heard the door behind him being pushed open.

Finally, they had come.

He turned around and, unsurprisingly, saw that it wasn't Lin Xiangrong, but those police officers.

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"These are the tools you used to cut Jiang Yang's soft tissue, a 10-27 model pen-style scalpel and a trident nerve scissor." Gu Yunfeng laid them out in front of him. "We found the scissors at your home, and the marks on the cuts match perfectly. We couldn't find the blade of the scalpel, but there are your fingerprints on the handle, and fingerprints on the nerve scissors as well."

"Moreover, this scalpel was first used in a surgery half a month ago, and the patient's blood was still on the blade. We've found the patient, and you were present as an assistant in that surgery."

"These items, will be presented as evidence by the prosecutor in court."

He looked down at Wang Kun, who sat silently by the window. Finding the blade of the scalpel would be even better, as it would serve as the most compelling evidence to convict him.

Wang Kun slowly turned around, his face pale and transparent. He stared intently at the items in Gu Yunfeng's hands, his panicked eyes gradually becoming hollow, until a single tear finally fell.

Outside the window, the clouds suddenly thickened, blocking the sun. A gust of wind blew, and the tear, whose purpose was unknown, quickly fell to the ground, mixing with the dust.

Immediately, Wang Kun used his trembling hand to grip the bedsheet tightly, while his other hand swiftly reached under the pillow, hidden by the folds.

He quickly pulled out a blade from under the pillow and pressed it against his carotid artery without hesitation.

It was the blade of the scalpel, reflecting a cold, silver light that merged with his icy gaze.

The most crucial evidence hadn't been thrown away but had been kept by his side.

"Don't act rashly." Gu Yunfeng stood up and took a few steps back.

"I want to see her."

"See who?"

"Lin Xiangrong." He lifted his head, his voice weak but resolute.

"If you want to see her, we can bring her here, there's no need to hold a knife to your neck." Xu Chengyue leaned against the wall, frowning.

"I want to see her, not have her come to see me." Wang Kun tightened his grip on the blade, its sharp edge already lightly cutting into his skin, drawing a bit of blood.

"Where is she? I just want to see her, not let her see me." His expression grew dim. "I don't want her to see me like this."

Gu Yunfeng didn't refuse. He left the hospital room and called over a few police officers who might know how to contact Lin Xiangrong.

"Where is she now? I had quite a few people following her and Jiang Quan."

"I don't know..." a young police officer said with his head down. "I just asked Officer Shu, and they said she disappeared."

"Disappeared? When did she disappear? Where did you lose her?"

"At an intersection." The police officer pointed to the address on the map and showed it to Gu Yunfeng.

Lin Xiangrong had disappeared at the edge of the city. Nearby was a business park, home to various small and medium-sized startups. Interestingly, this park was named the Zhiyin Innovation Park, a place provided by Zhiyin Technology for its strategic investment startups.

"Pan Ge said she entered one of the buildings there and never came out. It's been almost two days."

When he returned to the hospital room, Wang Kun still had the blade against his neck.

"Where is she?" Wang Kun asked, his eyes red.

"Zhiyin Innovation Park," Gu Yunfeng replied. This was the last place where Lin Xiangrong had disappeared. For her to shake off the police's surveillance there, there must be something special about this park.

Hearing this, Wang Kun looked up in surprise, but he quickly accepted the answer as if it were expected.

"So she's there." Wang Kun lowered his head, his grip on the blade loosening, his body relaxing slightly.

"Take me there, right now."

"You can't just go with a knife at your neck. How are we supposed to take you?"

"Take him," Gu Yunfeng said calmly. "You all go ahead first, Xu Chengyue and I will follow him, let him walk out openly."

The others temporarily left, leaving only Gu Yunfeng, Xu Chengyue, and two plainclothes police officers. The tense atmosphere eased a bit. The hospital crowd was mostly cleared out, making the place feel cold and empty.

Keeping a safe distance, Gu Yunfeng pointed to a car outside the window. "Please, we'll drive you there."

Wang Kun nodded, supporting himself on the bed as he cautiously stepped onto the floor, still holding the blade. Due to low platelets, the small wound on his neck continued to bleed.

He staggered to his feet, put on his shoes, and slowly walked forward.

Because he had been sitting and lying down for a long time, and was weak and malnourished, he couldn't stand for long after just a few steps, and his vision darkened.

He had to bend slightly to rest for a few seconds.

At the moment he bent over, the distance between the blade and his neck increased slightly.

– About six centimetres.

Gu Yunfeng stared at the blade, the blood vessels appearing light blue in the sunlight. In an instant, he rushed forward, his right hand gripping Wang Kun's wrist that held the blade, while his left hand pressed on Wang Kun's carotid artery. Within less than a second, he had Wang Kun pinned to the ground.

The sound of Wang Kun's shoulder and neck hitting the floor startled Xu Chengyue. Before he could react, he saw Wang Kun lying on the ground, struggling fiercely. His hand holding the blade hadn't lost all its strength, and he tried with all his might to stab his own neck.

Then the tip of the sharp blade pierced through the back of Gu Yunfeng's hand and broke Wang Kun's skin.

The next second, blood gushed out. Gu Yunfeng gritted his teeth without making a sound, grabbed Wang Kun's wrist, and forcefully twisted the joint near the radius.

There was a loud crack. Wang Kun, in immense pain, released the blade and lay on the cold floor, curling up and growling.

Wang Kun's voice was low and his fractured wrist was controlled by Gu Yunfeng. Frowning, Gu Yunfeng pulled handcuffs out from his pocket. With a crisp click, both of Wang Kun's hands were shackled.

The whole process took less than five seconds.

Hearing the commotion, two plainclothes police officers rushed in and pinned Wang Kun down. Only then did Gu Yunfeng release his left hand, which had been pierced by the blade, his face pale.

Sunlight hit the blood-stained blade, making it gleam a blinding red.

In a daze, Xu Chengyue finally noticed Gu Yunfeng's bleeding left hand. Snapping out of it, he quickly stepped over, firmly grasping Gu Yunfeng's wrist. "Go to the emergency room."

"Mhmm," he answered, not thinking, "I'll go by myself, you stay here and watch him."

"I'm going with you."

Gu Yunfeng sullenly muttered that he could go alone and that Xu Chengyue should stay.

After a second, the excessive pain seemed to hit a nerve, making Gu Yunfeng's eyes widen and his facial expression contort uncontrollably. "Fuck, it actually hurts quite a bit."

It really hurt.

It hurt like hell.

He murmured, "Do I need surgery?"

"No kidding, with a penetrating injury, if your tendons or nerves are damaged, you won't be able to hold a gun. You should stay in the hospital for a few days." Xu Chengyue suppressed his anger and supported him, blood dripping onto the floor, a distressing sight.

"Stay in the hospital for just a hand injury? You're too worried about me..." he muttered through gritted teeth, his voice changing from the pain. "It really does hurt."

The police officers who had gone downstairs rushed back up. Xu Chengyue briefed them on the situation and then had them take Gu Yunfeng and the embedded surgical blade to the emergency room.

Luckily, Gu Yunfeng's injury didn't injure his bones. After some emergency treatment in the emergency room, he was taken straight to surgery.

Xu Chengyue stood outside the door for a while before leaning against the wall and slowly squatting down. He held his forehead in one hand, taking deep breaths amidst the hustle and bustle around him. After about ten minutes, he stood up again.

In those brief, sudden seconds, he couldn't do anything, there wasn't even time to react.

Without hesitation, Xu Chengyue strode forward, directly punching Wang Kun in the face when he reached him.

He hated violence and avoided using it. But punching Wang Kun's face felt extremely satisfying, making him temporarily forget about everything that had just happened.

His fist was stained with Wang Kun's blood, hitting his nose and causing minor capillary ruptures. It was the first time he felt such anger, having hardly ever been truly angry before, and if he had, it was fleeting.

But now, he desperately wanted to snap this man's neck.

Even though Wang Kun was gravely ill and weak, likely not having long to live, Xu Chengyue felt no sympathy.

"That blade, it's the knife you used to commit the murder," he wiped the blood off his hand with disgust and bent down to Wang Kun. "Is this how you planned to provide us with evidence?"

Weakly, Wang Kun raised his head, "I just wanted to see Lin Xiangrong, if I can't, the blade will end me."

What a lunatic. He had killed so many people for a laughable, pathetic reason, taking lives and painting himself as a pitiful figure.

Whose sympathy was he trying to gain? Did he deserve anyone's pity?

Xu Chengyue sneered, grabbing Wang Kun's collar and slamming his head into the wall.

"You handed over the murder weapon yourself after all, I'll give you a chance to see the person you want to see." He felt it was ridiculous, it had been so many days yet Lin Xiangrong didn't come even after such a thing happened. She clearly didn't want to see him and was likely hiding from him. He was just a pawn she had saved on a whim, discarded without hesitation when he was no longer useful.

"How did you murder the four members of the Jiang family?" He bent down, gripping Wang Kun's fragile hair, killing intent erupting in his eyes.

The air was thick with the fishy smell of blood, and the others stood around, exchanging glances, as if time had stopped.

After what felt like an eternity, just as Xu Chengyue was losing patience, Wang Kun spoke, coughing violently.

"I killed Jiang Yang. I chopped off his limbs and cut through his flesh." His clothes were stained with blood from Gu Yunfeng's hand. Closing his eyes in despair, exhausted, he said, "I only killed Jiang Yang, the other deaths had nothing to do with me."

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The author has something to say:

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone~~ muah muah~~

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: August 16, 2024 by Angel

Edited: October 30, 2024 by Angel