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墨書 Inktalez
The night was already half over.
In the café, all the customers had left except for Guo Zhiqian, who was still sitting at a table by the window reading. The Cheng Sisters were tidying up the tables and chairs, preparing to close.
Cheng Yuwan looked at Guo Zhiqian and couldn't help but shout, "Hey, Guo Zhiqian! Look around you; there isn't a single customer left besides you. Aren't you leaving?"
Guo Zhiqian snapped out of his reading thoughts and replied, "Oh, I'm waiting for you to finish cleaning up so I can take you home. Weren't you targeted by someone recently? I'm worried about your safety."
Cheng Yuwan immediately understood. She slyly glanced at the shy Cheng Yuyao and then back at Guo Zhiqian, saying, "You don't want to stay just to spend more time with the girl you like, do you?"
Guo Zhiqian smiled in acknowledgment and looked at Cheng Yuyao, but she deliberately turned her head away and continued arranging the tables and chairs.
"Who needs him to stay?"
Although she said that, a happy smile lingered on Cheng Yuyao's face.
The Cheng Sisters and Guo Zhiqian exited the café and closed the door behind them.
A covered wagon was parked at a distance on the street corner.
Inside the wagon was a masked Brute. He watched as the Cheng Sisters and Guo Zhiqian left the café, disappointment washing over his face as he pulled off his mask in frustration and pounded on the steering wheel—he was Guo Zhuanghuai.
The Cheng Sisters and Guo Zhiqian walked along the quiet pedestrian street. Cheng Yuwan cheerfully skipped ahead while Cheng Yuyao and Guo Zhiqian followed closely behind her, feeling somewhat restrained.
Cheng Yuwan said, "Sister, from now on, even if bad people follow us, as long as we have Guo Zhiqian escorting us, they won't have any chance to act."
Cheng Yuyao said, "That night was also our moment of negligence, which gave the other party an opportunity."
"That's different! Even if our skills are impressive, we are still girls and always need a strong man by our side to feel secure. Right, brother-in-law?"
Cheng Yuwan's call of "brother-in-law" left both Cheng Yuyao and Guo Zhiqian stunned. Once they processed it, Cheng Yuyao feigned anger and scolded Cheng Yuwan, "Who are you calling brother-in-law? Who is your brother-in-law?"
Cheng Yuwan deliberately replied, "Of course my brother-in-law is my brother-in-law! Isn't that right, brother-in-law?"
Guo Zhiqian found himself in a dilemma being teased by the two sisters; he couldn't respond and could only smile silently.
Cheng Yuyao warned, "Call out again! If you do, I won't recognize you as my sister anymore!"
Cheng Yuwan continued to shout at Guo Zhiqian, "Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, brother-in-law..."
Cheng Yuyao chased after her to cover Cheng Yuwan's mouth while Cheng Yuwan dodged and shouted.
To avoid Cheng Yuyao, Cheng Yuwan circled around Guo Zhiqian, their laughter and shouts echoing in the quiet night sky.
Watching the two sisters playfully chase each other, Guo Zhiqian awkwardly reminded them, "You can have fun, but be careful!"
...
Tao Ziwen sat in the interrogation room. A man in his fifties, thin in both stature and appearance, was brought in by the police and seated in a specially designed prisoner chair across from Tao Ziwen. His arms were handcuffed to the armrests.
Seeing this man, Tao Ziwen felt greatly disappointed. However, he still followed the interrogation procedure and asked, "What is your name?"
“Liang An!” the criminal said.
Tao Ziwen continued to ask, “Are you the one who kidnapped the children?”
Liang An replied, “That's right, it was me!”
“Where did you hide those children?”
“I killed them and buried them by the Huangpu River. Your people found them yesterday.”
Tao Ziwen was surprised, “Why did you kill them?”
“They wouldn’t listen, so they had to die!”
Tao Ziwen kept staring into Liang An's eyes, and for a moment, Liang An showed a hint of panic. Tao Ziwen immediately had an idea in his mind.
Tao Ziwen continued to inquire, “You keep saying you kidnapped children, but why did you kidnap Zhou Junsheng?”
Liang An was taken aback; clearly, he hadn’t expected the police to ask this question.
Tao Ziwen pressed on, “And why did you kill Cai Tonghui? Also, what happened to that Pale Yellow-Skinned Boy, how did he end up like that?”
To cover up his panic, Liang An deliberately acted agitated and uncooperative: “Stop rambling! I’ve already done what I had to do. If you want to kill me or cut me up, just do it quickly so I can die and be reborn sooner.”
Tao Ziwen directly helped Liang An: “You’re taking the blame for someone else. Who is the mastermind behind this?”
Liang An glared at Tao Ziwen.
Tao Ziwen looked calm and said, "Is it Guo Zhuanghuai?"
At that moment, Sheriff and Wang Zhiyuan rushed in.
Sheriff addressed Tao Ziwen: "Tao Ziwen, at Liang An's residence by the Huangpu River, Wang Junpeng's team has found a large number of abandoned chemical instruments. We suspect he was using these children for some human experiments. We don't know the specifics yet, so please inquire about this. For now, let's hold the regular meeting to discuss things. After the meeting, you can continue your interrogation."
Although Tao Ziwen was somewhat displeased with Sheriff's arrangement, he replied, "Alright!"
During the routine meeting at the police station, Wang Junpeng, in front of Sheriff and all his colleagues, proudly read out Liang An's personal file: "Liang An, male, 5 years old this year, single, divorced early, has one son. This person has committed numerous crimes throughout his life. He was criminally detained by the police for 23 years for human trafficking in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions. Since his release last year, he has shown no remorse and has successively kidnapped multiple children, brutally murdering them, kidnapped Zhou Junsheng, and killed Cai Tonghui. This person is notorious and has committed heinous crimes; I recommend that after being tried in court, he be executed immediately."
Everyone except Tao Ziwen applauded in agreement.
Seeing that Tao Ziwen seemed lost in thought, Wang Zhiyuan asked, "Brother Ziwen, what's wrong?"
Tao Ziwen replied, "I believe we shouldn't rush into the case against Liang An. He doesn't seem to have much skill; I'm worried that he might just be a scapegoat for a more powerful mastermind."
Wang Junpeng countered, "I was very cautious during yesterday's interrogation. He was able to provide all the names of the missing children along with the times and locations of each crime."
Tao Ziwen retorted, "So what does that prove?"
Just then, Liu Secretary, the secretary of Sheriff, hurriedly walked in and whispered something in Sheriff's ear. After listening with a serious expression, Sheriff gestured for Liu Secretary to leave the meeting room.
Once Liu Secretary left, Sheriff regretfully announced to everyone: "Liang An has committed suicide."
The police were in an uproar. Soon, Sheriff, Tao Ziwen, Wang Zhiyuan, and Wang Junpeng, along with many officers, arrived at the detention room where Liang An was temporarily held.
Liang An had stabbed himself in the throat with chopsticks and lay in a pool of blood. Next to him was the lunchbox he had used to eat.
Sheriff shouted angrily at the young officer who was responsible for watching Liang An, "What happened here?"
The officer stammered in fear, "I... I was in charge of bringing him food. When I came to collect the utensils, I found him like this..."
Wang Zhiyuan muttered to himself, "He seemed fine when we just interrogated him. How could this happen so quickly..."
Tao Ziwen said, "It seems the real murderer didn't want him to live much longer."
Wang Junpeng was somewhat displeased, "You keep saying 'the real murderer.' Do you really think it's Guo Zhuanghuai?"
Tao Ziwen replied, "When Cai Tonghui was killed, he cheated Guo Zhuanghuai out of a lot of money. Only Guo Zhuanghuai had enough motive to kill Cai Tonghui."
"Guo Zhuanghuai had a motive; what about Liang An?"
"What motive does he have?"
"Ten years ago, Liang An's wife was killed by Cai Tonghui... Ten years later, Liang An could very well seek revenge!"
Liang An was captured by Wang Junpeng. Tao Ziwen's assertion that Liang An was not the true culprit effectively negated all of Wang Junpeng's achievements in the case, so he naturally argued back.
Tao Ziwen looked at Wang Junpeng and said slowly, "You have no idea—"
"Alright, you two stop arguing. Since Liang An is already dead, there's no evidence left to support your claims. These questions can be investigated later."
The Sheriff said this and hurriedly walked into his office, closing the door behind him.
Liu Secretary, who had been waiting in the office, quickly approached and saluted the Sheriff.
The Sheriff asked Liu Secretary, "When does the Supreme Commander want me to go?"
Liu Secretary replied, "He wants you to go immediately."
The Sheriff grabbed his briefcase and said, "Let's go now!"
The Sheriff and Liu Secretary exited the office and closed the door.
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