The public opinion that had originally swung in Shen Yu’s favor began wavering again because of that mouthful of blood.
After all, beating someone to death was a very serious matter.
The two police officers, Lao Yu and Xiao Luo, also frowned.
The nature of the situation had changed.
If Lai Ergou had truly been seriously injured, it would be considered excessive self-defense, or even intentional assault.
“Comrade, you see…”
Lao Yu looked at “Cheng An’an” with some difficulty.
“If the injuries are genuine, regardless of what started this, you will have to bear responsibility. You could even be sentenced.”
Seeing this, Lai Pozi immediately scrambled to her feet and pointed at Shen Yu’s nose.
“Pay us! This matter isn’t over without three hundred yuan. Otherwise, I’ll make sure you spend the rest of your life in prison!”
“Just settle it,” Xiao Luo advised Shen Yu from the side. “You’re all from the same village. If someone really dies, it’ll be difficult to deal with. Just pay some money and settle this privately.”
Shen Yu looked at the pool of blood on the ground, then at Lai Ergou, who was pretending to be unconscious. A cold glint flashed through his eyes.
They were trying this trick?
They actually dared to play such a cheap trick on a reconnaissance soldier who had crawled out of piles of corpses?
Wang Xiulan’s face turned pale with fright.
“Three hundred yuan? Even if we sold our entire family, we couldn’t get three hundred yuan! Aren’t you extorting us?”
“No money? Then let your daughter-in-law go to prison!” Lai Pozi spat.
Lying on the ground, Lai Ergou heard this and deliberately let even more blood trickle from the corner of his mouth, making himself look as miserable as possible.
Suddenly, Shen Yu smiled.
He looked at Lai Youcai.
“A ruptured spleen? Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure.”
Lai Youcai puffed out his chest.
“I’m a doctor. Could I possibly get it wrong?”
“Good.”
Shen Yu nodded and rolled his wrist, the joints of his fingers cracking sharply.
“If his spleen is ruptured, he needs emergency treatment immediately. As it happens, I’ve learned a thing or two about battlefield first aid from Shen Yu. I specialize in treating this kind of internal bleeding.”
As he spoke, he walked toward Lai Ergou step by step.
His posture looked nothing like someone going to save a patient. He looked more like someone heading to a slaughterhouse.
Lai Ergou lay on the ground with one eye slightly open. When he saw “Cheng An’an’s” face getting closer and closer, an inexplicable chill rose in his heart.
Why was this woman’s gaze even more frightening than a butcher’s?
But he thought that since the act had already come this far, he absolutely couldn’t let all his efforts go to waste.
So he closed his eyes and groaned even louder.
“Don’t fool around! What does a woman like you know about medicine? Don’t kill him while you’re trying to treat him!” Lai Youcai hurriedly tried to stop her.
“Since he’s going to die anyway, let me try.”
Shen Yu completely ignored him. He stepped over Lai Pozi and crouched directly beside Lai Ergou.
His movements were astonishingly fast.
Before Lai Youcai could react, Shen Yu’s fingers had already pressed three inches below Lai Ergou’s ribs.
“Ruptured spleen, stagnant blood and qi. We need to force the blood clot out.”
Before he could finish speaking, his fingers suddenly exerted force and jabbed down hard!
The spot wasn’t fatal, but the sensation was definitely a hundred times more excruciating than giving birth.
“AHHHHH!”
Lai Ergou screamed and suddenly shot half a meter into the air.
“It hurts! It hurts like hell! Let go! Let go of me!”
His full-throated roar was so powerful that everyone’s ears rang.
Instead of letting go, Shen Yu increased the pressure and even viciously twisted his finger around.
“Why are you shouting so loudly? Looks like your lung capacity is pretty good. Your lungs seem fine.”
This time, Lai Ergou could no longer keep pretending.
A medical miracle had occurred.
The severely injured patient who had supposedly been on the verge of death just moments ago suddenly sprang up from the ground like a firework.
He jumped nearly three feet into the air. After landing, he clutched his side and hopped around in place, howling as he jumped.
“You’re killing me! You vicious woman! How can you be so ruthless?!”
The entire scene fell into complete silence.
Everyone stood there with their mouths hanging open, staring at the lively and energetic Lai Ergou.
The blood he’d just spat was still hanging from his chin.
Yet judging from how full of energy he was, where was there any sign of internal bleeding?
Shen Yu grabbed him, pinched his chin, and forced his mouth open.
“Everyone, come take a look.”
“Where exactly did this blood come from?”
Lao Yu and Xiao Luo leaned closer.
Their expressions immediately became strange.
On the tip of Lai Ergou’s tongue and the inside of his cheek were two fresh bite marks.
Tiny beads of blood were still oozing from them.
But deep in his throat, there wasn’t a trace of blood.
“So this is the so-called internal injury causing him to cough up blood?”
Shen Yu released him and disgustedly wiped his hand on Lai Ergou’s clothes.
“You were willing to bite yourself that hard just to extort money.”
“If you hadn’t spat out that blood soon, I suppose the wounds would have healed already.”
The truth was exposed.
The villagers who had been made fools of became furious.
“I knew it! He was screaming like a slaughtered pig just now. How could he possibly have been on the verge of death?”
“This Lai family is unbelievable. They’d stoop to even a trick like this!”
“Lai Youcai, you shouldn’t practice as a barefoot doctor anymore. You saw a bitten tongue and somehow diagnosed a ruptured internal organ?”
Lai Youcai’s old face turned bright red. He grabbed his medical kit and hurriedly squeezed through the crowd, fleeing in embarrassment.
Lai Ergou was now completely panicked.
The pain from Shen Yu’s jab hadn’t even subsided, and now the police had caught him red-handed. His legs were trembling uncontrollably.
“This is a misunderstanding…”
He still tried to argue.
“A misunderstanding my ass!”
Lao Yu shouted angrily.
“Causing a disturbance, breaking into someone’s home, and now adding extortion and deliberately faking injuries to deceive the police! Lai Ergou, if you don’t spend several years behind bars this time, I’ll change my surname!”
“Take him away.”
Xiao Luo had been holding himself back for a while. He pulled out his handcuffs and immediately cuffed Lai Ergou.
This time, Lai Ergou really started crying. His face was covered in tears and mucus.
“Mom, save me! I don’t want to go to prison!”
Lai Pozi dropped onto the ground, and this time she truly began wailing in despair.
Unfortunately, not a single person around her felt any sympathy.
The villagers’ pointing, scolding, and curses nearly drowned the entire Lai family.
“Serves them right. They’re a whole family of shameless thugs.”
“They even dared to deceive the police. They really have some nerve.”
Xiao Luo shoved Lai Ergou toward the road.
When he passed by Shen Yu, Lai Ergou suddenly stopped.
His beady eyes were filled with hatred and madness.
He lowered his voice so that only the two of them could hear.
“You filthy bitch, just wait.”
“When I get out, I’ll kill your whole family.”
“And that cripple too. I’ll take you right in front of him!”
After saying that, Xiao Luo gave him a shove, and he stumbled away.
Shen Yu remained where he was, watching Lai Ergou’s retreating figure.
A genuine murderous intent flashed through his eyes.
A piece of garbage like this would only become an even greater threat if he were ever released.
Zhao Weiguo glanced at the sun. It was already noon.
He called out to Lao Yu and Xiao Luo.
“You two comrades have worked hard. You’ve been busy all morning, so why don’t you come to my house and have a simple meal before you leave? We’ll keep Lai Ergou locked up in the brigade’s woodshed for now. He won’t be able to escape.”
Lao Yu nodded.
The case had basically been settled. All that remained was to complete the formal procedures.
The crowd gradually dispersed.
The Shen family’s courtyard became quiet again.
Wang Xiulan went to prepare breakfast.
When Shen Yu entered the inner room, he heard Cheng An’an teasing him.
“Not bad, Comrade Shen.”
Shen Yu rolled his eyes at her, dragged over a stool, sat down, and poured himself a cup of water.
“Did you enjoy the show?”
“Not bad. But it was missing something.”
Wearing his handsome, stern face, Cheng An’an flashed a roguish smile that was completely at odds with his appearance.
Shen Yu looked at her.
“What are you planning to do? We’re living in a society governed by law now. Don’t do anything reckless.”
“The rule of law?”
Cheng An’an chuckled.
“For scum like that, the only way to be completely safe is to make sure they’re no longer capable of doing evil. If you don’t uproot the weeds completely, they’ll grow back when the spring wind blows. That’s a truth I learned back home…”
He paused.
“That’s a truth I learned back home.”
“Let me teach you what it means when evil meets an even greater evil.”