Qin Yi ignored his remark, settling into the driver’s seat and instructing, “Keep watch outside. I’ll drive the car back onto the road first.”
He reached to turn the ignition key, only to find it still in the start position. It appeared the car had stalled when it plunged from higher ground…
But—the handbrake was engaged…
If the car had been forced to stop, Zhang Kui would have used the foot brake, not the handbrake…
No! If someone had tried to intercept the vehicle, Zhang Kui would have rammed into them—he wouldn’t have stopped at all!
If no one intercepted the car, why did it veer off the road?
A loss of control due to severe injuries?
And then that fellow traveler just happened to appear?
Ma Liu had a gun and explosives on him—if there was someone outside the car, why wouldn’t he fight back?
Yet Qin Yi hadn’t heard any gunshots. On such a quiet winter night, gunfire would carry far…
Moreover, he had been tailing the jeep the whole time. Jiangping County was hilly, with numerous curves and slopes, poor road conditions, and limited visibility at night.
The jeep’s speed couldn’t have exceeded forty to fifty kilometers per hour. Only fifty minutes had passed since Ma Liu fled, and Qin Yi, riding a bicycle at nearly twenty kilometers per hour, would have arrived here at most twenty minutes later.
In those twenty minutes, that “fellow traveler” would have had to intercept the car, engage in combat, tie them up, and then make a clean getaway before Qin Yi arrived.
That was simply impossible.
Based on the traces at the scene and the timing, the most plausible scenario was… it was carried out by the other person inside the car.
He could even visualize the entire sequence: pulling the handbrake as the car accelerated downhill, causing it to lose control and crash into the farmland, swiftly subduing both men during the tumble, and then binding them…
But such maneuvers required not only exceptional combat skills and quick reflexes but also knowledge of driving and bomb disposal…
If he had been in the back seat, he could have pulled it off too.
But only if it were him.
After all, there weren’t many in the entire Southwest Military Region who could match him—even Lin Li might not have been able to do it.
His gaze shifted from the engaged handbrake to the unconscious girl. Yet, she was the only one who had been in the back seat.
He had witnessed firsthand how this girl had been bullied by those two ruffians until she was half-dead—the injury on her head was proof enough. If she had such skills, how could she have ended up in such a state…
This inference seemed flawed.
“Boss! Boss! Can’t you start the car?” Lin Li called from outside, noticing Qin Yi’s prolonged stillness.
“Nothing’s wrong!” Qin Yi reached out and started the car, then suddenly added, “Lin Li, search the back seat for Ma Liu’s gun.”
Lin Li opened the back door and scanned with a flashlight. “Boss, nothing here.”
Qin Yi suddenly thought of something and reached to open the glove compartment in front of the passenger seat. Inside, he found not only Ma Liu’s handgun but also Zhang Kui’s dagger.
“Hey, neat!” Lin Li praised. “This guy even gathered the tools of the crime for us.”
Qin Yi remained silent, saying nothing.
With Lin Li guiding him with the flashlight, the jeep made it back onto the road without much trouble.
Lin Li stuffed their bicycles into the trunk, secured them, and climbed into the back seat with a relaxed expression.
Suddenly, he leaned forward mysteriously.
“Boss, tell me the truth—you actually know who it was, don’t you?”
“You arrived before he left, or they were in the midst of a struggle, and he didn’t want outsiders to see his true face. Then you agreed to keep his secret…”
Qin Yi shot Lin Li a look as if he were an idiot. “Cut down on the novels! If you want to know who it is, it’s simple—just wait for these two to wake up and ask them.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the girl in the passenger seat stirred, seeming about to wake up.
Seeing this, Lin Li hurriedly said, “Hey, hey—boss, slow down! This girl is injured!”
He then handed over a water bottle. “Here! Give her some water!”
But Qin Yi didn’t take it. “The water in the car has been tampered with—it’s not safe to drink. She’ll have to hold on a little longer.”
The girl’s eyelids fluttered, and she seemed to sink back into sleep.
Qin Yi gave her a deep look and lightly tapped the brakes, slowing the car down.
Su Tong had been “unconscious” all this while, hovering in a semi-lucid state. It was only when someone touched her forehead that she realized she had been running a fever. Her head felt dizzy, her body was chilled and weak, and her stomach burned like fire… yet she didn’t dare to truly fall asleep…
It wasn’t until Qin Yi finished speaking that she nearly jolted upright. She really was delirious from the fever—only then did she realize what a huge mistake she’d made… no, two mistakes!
Those two certainly knew who had kidnapped them. She had been so focused on not being discovered that she’d forgotten there were still two “living witnesses.” If only she had thought to drug them earlier to—
Ah! What could she have done?
She couldn’t exactly silence them or poison them into muteness, could she?
What a mess!
Then, thinking she could use the chance to “wake up” and have a drink, she found out the water in the car wasn’t safe. It was just… Her head grew heavier and heavier…
Forget it! No use thinking about it now!
Su Tong closed her eyes and fell into a deep, unconscious sleep.
Jiangping County Hospital was unusually bustling.
The two hostages and two perpetrators involved in the major case had all been admitted here.
The hospital’s doctors and patients were unaware of the details, and even the few who were in the know had been ordered to keep quiet.
Yet, the number of visitors to the inpatient ward had noticeably increased—mostly unfamiliar faces, coming and going with leather briefcases and dressed in Zhongshan suits, all appearing to be people of status and influence.
Meanwhile, the specially isolated ward in the rear courtyard was guarded around the clock by plainclothes officers in full gear, lending the hospital an air of solemnity and mystery.
Although higher authorities tried to minimize public attention on the case, the personnel involved in the capture operation had been numerous and varied, including many village militiamen who were not easily bound by discipline.
Before long, rumors began to spread. Among the uninformed public, word gradually got out that the two arrested were seasoned traffickers guilty of abducting and selling women and children…
In this era of scarce information, the incident quickly became headline news, spreading far and wide.
Qin Yi simultaneously reinforced security for the two perpetrators. Although Ma Liu wasn’t high-ranking in the criminal organization, he knew a great deal. Capturing him had opened a breach in this long-stalled case.
Rather than suppressing the information, it was better to guide its flow. By letting the public spread the news, the gains might be even greater.
In no time, everyone in the county town knew about this “earth-shattering” case that had occurred in their small city, and various versions of the story were circulating everywhere.
Su Tong had slept for a full day and night, and when she woke up, it was already the morning of the third day.
A young nurse beside her was taking her temperature. Seeing her awake, the nurse was overjoyed and exclaimed repeatedly:
“Oh! You’re finally awake, miss! You’ve done a great deed! Everyone at our hospital was deeply moved when they heard about your story.”
Su Tong’s heart sank. Her first thought was: It’s over!
Had those two escaped convicts already given her away?