Chapter Sixty-Seven: Gongsun Has Been Captured

When he saw Gongsun, he found him lying in a hospital bed with a bandage wrapped around his head. Several uniformed police officers were also present in the ward.

“Damn it, who beat you up like this?” Qin Feng, seeing Gongsun in such a state, immediately tried to rush over, but was stopped by a police officer. “Sorry, he's currently a suspect in a theft case. Unrelated persons cannot make contact at the moment…”

“Get out of the way!” Qin Feng, worried about Gongsun's injuries and frantic with concern, ignored the warning and reached out to push the officer aside. His action instantly prompted the other officers to swarm him and subdue him.

“You dare assault a police officer!” One officer glared at him, twisting Qin Feng's arm behind his back.

Just as Yang Jiekai and Old Stick were about to step forward to pull Qin Feng away, Lin Sha raised her hand to stop them.

“Don't be reckless!” Lin Sha said, then addressed the wary officers, “Please don't misunderstand, my colleague is just anxious, he means no harm. Please, let him go.”

The leading officer looked at Lin Sha, then signaled for Qin Feng to be released. “You're Gongsun Iron Egg's supervisor, correct? He's currently a suspect in a theft case.”

“Theft?” Lin Sha's brows furrowed slightly, her voice tinged with confusion. “What happened? How did he end up like this?”

The officer replied, “Gongsun Iron Egg is suspected of stealing from a jewelry store. He was caught on the spot and beaten up. Now…”

“Where is this jewelry store?”

The usually taciturn Old Stick suddenly spoke, his voice dull and devoid of emotion, eyes fixed only on the unconscious Gongsun.

The officer glanced at Old Stick, ignored him, and continued to address Lin Sha, “Now…”

“I asked you, where is that jewelry store!” Old Stick raised his voice, repeating the question, his gaze unwaveringly fixed on the officer.

The officer shivered involuntarily under Old Stick’s stare. He’d dealt with countless ruthless criminals over the years, but never encountered such eyes before.

They were eyes devoid of emotion, hollow and wooden, shrouded in a lifeless gray—being stared at by them felt like being watched by the dead.

The ward fell silent at once. Qin Feng and Lin Sha were stunned by Old Stick’s sudden aura. Despite knowing him for so long, neither had ever seen him like this.

Yang Jiekai was equally shocked, for he could clearly sense the aura radiating from Old Stick—the kind that saw human life as mere grass, hands stained with blood, emotions frozen, emanating nothing but the chill of death.

The aura of death.

The aura of death was similar to murderous intent, but quieter and more blood-soaked.

“Let’s clarify the situation first.” Yang Jiekai, feigning relaxation, pulled Old Stick aside—his fingers pressing firmly on Old Stick’s shoulder. Only then did Old Stick’s aura dissipate, and he stood silently in place.

The situation was soon made clear: last night, Gongsun went to a gold shop to buy a ring. As he was leaving, the shop’s security stopped him, claiming something was missing. They searched him and found other gold jewelry. Gongsun insisted he hadn’t stolen anything, but the security guards beat him half to death and handed him over to the police station.

The police, seeing Gongsun’s serious injuries, sent him to the hospital. He remained unconscious. Unable to find any family contacts in his phone, the police found only his company supervisor’s number and notified Lin Sha.

“Impossible!” Qin Feng shouted upon hearing the police's account. “Gongsun may be stingy, but I’d bet my life he’d never steal—he must have been framed by the gold shop!”

One officer replied, “The suspect is still unconscious. We must wait for the investigation’s outcome. Until things are clear, Gongsun Iron Egg cannot be contacted. Please come with me to the station to handle the paperwork.”

Qin Feng was about to erupt, but Lin Sha stopped him. She kept calm, worried that Qin Feng and Old Stick might cause trouble. She instructed both to accompany her to the station, while Yang Jiekai stayed in the ward.

Yang Jiekai sat quietly, rapidly turning over the events in his mind, but could make no sense of it. Gongsun was always cautious, unlikely to offend anyone, and the gold shop had no reason to frame him for fun. Yet the missing ring was indeed found on Gongsun—how could that be explained?

“Officer, have you checked the surveillance footage from the scene? Were there any other people in the shop? Maybe the real thief planted the stolen goods on my friend when things went south and framed him.” After organizing his thoughts, Yang Jiekai asked a young officer watching over the ward.

The officer, who seemed quite young, smiled. “That’s a professional question. Of course, we checked the footage right away. At the time, only your friend and the sales clerk were in the shop—no one else.”

“Did the footage show how my friend took the items?” Yang Jiekai’s confusion only deepened.

“No, and that’s the biggest mystery of this case. We’ve reviewed the footage repeatedly, but never saw how those stolen items ended up on your friend. Though it’s a small theft case, the process is bizarre. We studied the footage over and over, but saw no theft—yet when Gongsun left, the items were indeed missing from the counter.”

Yang Jiekai closed his eyes and pondered for a while. Suddenly, as if struck by inspiration, he asked, “May I check on my friend’s injuries? Don’t worry, I’ll be right here under your supervision. I won’t do anything against your regulations.”

The officer considered for a moment. “Alright, just this once. But remember, you can’t talk to him.”

“Thank you, Officer!” Yang Jiekai pointed at the unconscious Gongsun and smiled. “In his state, even if I wanted to talk, he wouldn’t answer, haha…”

The officer chuckled, waved him on, and told him to hurry.

Yang Jiekai approached Gongsun and quickly checked his injuries—finding only superficial wounds. The unconsciousness was likely due to a blow to the head.

Then, as if examining the injuries, Yang Jiekai felt Gongsun’s shoulder and arm, picked up his hand, and suddenly looked startled.

“Huh—” Yang Jiekai exclaimed as he looked at Gongsun’s palm.

“What are you doing?” The officer, now alert, demanded.

Yang Jiekai realized he’d shown emotion and quickly waved his hand, laughing. “Nothing, just reading my buddy’s palm, seeing if he’s destined for prison.”

The officer was amused. “You believe that stuff? So, tell me—is he destined to end up behind bars?”

Yang Jiekai placed Gongsun’s hand back and smiled. “Heaven’s will must not be revealed.”

The officer, being about the same age as Yang Jiekai, found him likable and entertaining. Since he was bored anyway, he chatted with Yang Jiekai, so long as the conversation didn’t break regulations. He treated it as a way to learn more about the suspect.

Yang Jiekai, not one for gloom, began chatting with the young officer. After a while, Yang Jiekai suddenly thought of something and asked, “Do you know a policewoman named Wang Ying, also from the Tianhai City Police Bureau?”

“You mean Wang Ying from the city bureau?” the officer responded.

Yang Jiekai was surprised; he’d only asked casually. Though Wang Ying worked in the same system, Tianhai City had many police officers, and one was in the city bureau while the other was at a precinct—the chances of knowing each other should be slim.

“Yes, Wang Ying from the City Criminal Police Team,” Yang Jiekai clarified.

“What’s your relationship with her?” The officer seemed quite interested in Wang Ying and pressed for details.

“Oh, you could say… we’re acquaintances!” Yang Jiekai had wanted to say they were friends, but recalled what happened that night and refrained.

“I didn’t expect you to know Officer Wang!” The officer said, “Everyone in Tianhai’s police force knows her name—she’s the city’s top police beauty, and very capable too. She’s solved many major cases, and everyone agrees that the job of captain of the Tianhai Criminal Police Team will be hers in a few years. So young—she’s really enviable!”

As he spoke of Wang Ying, genuine admiration filled the officer’s face, tinged with a sense of unattainable longing.

“How well do you know Officer Wang?” The young officer was very interested in Wang Ying, and thus focused on anyone familiar with her.

Yang Jiekai smiled wryly inside. How well? As well as could possibly be—so well they were now like strangers.

The conversation on the rooftop in the suburbs with Wang Ying was still vivid in his mind. A night of passion—such things with strangers he’d experienced before and forgotten easily.

But last time, he couldn’t forget, no matter how hard he tried. Every time he thought of Wang Ying, his heart felt uneasy. Many times he tried to muster the courage to contact her, but always stopped at the memory of her resolute eyes on the rooftop that night.

Perhaps she hated him to the core.

At this moment, Yang Jiekai couldn’t work out exactly what he felt for Wang Ying. He only wanted to face her once more and apologize. But would an apology help? Could it rewind time? And even if it could, would the events of that night not repeat themselves?

Wang Ying was drugged that night, while Yang Jiekai acted with full clarity.

“I heard Officer Wang is getting married. Wonder which lucky man gets to marry her—he’ll enjoy a lifetime of happiness!” The young officer muttered, speaking to Yang Jiekai but also to himself.

“What!” Yang Jiekai froze, suddenly sprang up from his chair, grabbed the officer’s collar, and shouted, “What did you just say—Wang Ying is getting married?”