Chapter 203

When Chen Pu woke up, he saw an unfamiliar ward. There were patients coughing around him, and a man was lying on the edge of his bed.

The wound on his back was aching slightly, and he tried to sit up by supporting himself on the bed, when he immediately felt a sharp pain.

The man sleeping on his stomach woke up with a start, looked up and said, "Don't move. Even though it's only your shoulder blade that's injured, the doctor said you'll have to lie down for two weeks."

It was Zhou Yangxin, still wearing his field camouflage uniform, with unkempt hair and dark circles under his eyes. He immediately helped Chen Pu lie down again.

"Where is this?" Chen Pu's voice was very hoarse.

"The nearest Grade 3 hospital in Guizhou Province. Come, have a drink of water." Zhou Yangxin handed him a straw cup.

Chen Pu turned his head away and stared into his eyes: "Where is Li Qingyao?"

Zhou Yangxin was a little afraid to look him in the eye, so he put down the cup, leaned sideways and said, "You slept for a day and a night after the operation, and I was left to take care of you. During this day and night, everyone was mobilized, and the armed police force of Guizhou Province was also in place. We have searched along both sides of the river for 20 kilometers, but have not found anything yet. None of the three people have been found."

After saying that, Zhou Yangxin didn't hear Chen Pu's voice. He turned around and saw Chen Pu staring at the cabinet beside the bed, as if he wanted to stare a hole in the old light blue cabinet, his eyes were moist and red.

Zhou Yangxin also heard about what happened on the top of the Wangpu Mountain. In the past, he would never have believed that a man as strong as Chen Pu would jump off a cliff for love.

But another tougher man in the team, Xia Yongze, said, "What's wrong with jumping off a cliff? If my wife falls off, I'll jump too."

Everyone then sighed in silence.

Ding Guoqiang commented on this with just four words: "Extremely emotional and natural."

At this moment, Zhou Yangxin felt bad looking at Chen Pu's appearance, and comforted him, "Don't worry, and don't overthink. Good things will come to those who are lucky. Li Qingyao is so smart, right? I think she has the highest IQ in the entire criminal police team, so she will definitely survive. I guess she is in some jungle now, and she is walking out. And we have so many rescue forces, we will definitely find her soon."

"You're right." Chen Pu smiled at him, but that smile made Zhou Yangxin feel even more depressed. He could only pass the straw cup over again, and this time Chen Pu obeyed and took a big sip.

Then Zhou Yangxin asked the doctor to come and see him, and went to get food, medicine, and feed him medicine. Chen Pu was very cooperative and ate all the food.

After another infusion, Chen Pu fell asleep again soon. Zhou Yangxin was tired for several days, so he quickly lay down on the bed to rest. However, he set the alarm clock, so he would wake up after half an hour of nap and ask the nurse to change the dressing.

When Zhou Yangxin was awakened by the alarm on the mobile phone in his arms, he quickly turned it off. When he looked up, he found that Chen Pu was awake with bright eyes, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

Zhou Yangxin advised: "I told you to stop imagining, get more sleep and eat more, and get well soon and be discharged from the hospital, that will be the best solution."

"I'm thinking about something." Chen Pu's tone was calm. Zhou Yangxin felt a chill in his heart and realized that Boss Chen might not be just imagining things.

"what's up?"

"Why did Xie Xinrui and Xiang Siling find Luo Long and his team faster than us? Coincidence? Just bumping into them? Impossible. The mountain area is so big, and there are so many of us, but we didn't bump into them. The two women couldn't have moved as fast as we did. There is only one possibility - Xie Xinrui has some kind of positioning device, and she placed the locator on Luo Long and his team at some point in advance. Maybe it was when she attacked the cabin, or maybe even earlier."

Zhou Yangxin was stunned.

The night before, when the troops arrived at the waterfall, they saw two frightened girls, two corpses, and Chen Pu who was shot and couldn't be restrained. After that, everyone was focused on finding Li Qingyao and hunting down the two criminals. Zhou Yangxin really didn't think about the inside story.

"so what?"

Chen Pu stared at him with frosty eyes: "If you can know the position of the opponent early, you can grasp the terrain conditions early and make preparations early. Xie Xinrui is a very powerful person. She has no shortage of money, people, and willpower. From the moment she controlled Luo Long that night, she consciously dragged him to the edge of the cliff. I don't think she would be willing to die at the bottom of the river with Luo Long. That would be too easy for him. So she may have prepared a backup plan. Although jumping off the cliff is a huge risk, if it succeeds, she can break through the police encirclement and escape."

What Chen Pu didn't say was that although Xie Xinrui was already a notorious serial killer, from her original intention of doing all these things, and her and Xiang Siling's actions to save the two girls, Chen Pu had a hunch, which might not be appropriate, but he felt that in the depths of Xie Xinrui's soul, she was still a person who loved more than hated.

So Chen Pu felt that although Xie Xinrui always said that she wanted to kill her enemies, in her heart, finding Li Jincheng might be more important than killing people in revenge.

Therefore, she would not rashly take the risk of jumping off a cliff with Luo Long.

The chance that Xie Xinrui is still alive is very high.

Despite this, Chen Pu's heart was still heavy. Xie Xinrui had a backup plan, but that didn't mean she would have the energy to help Li Qingyao. And no matter how careful the plan was, if they were not careful, the three of them would die in the river.

Zhou Yangxin's eyes lit up when he heard this: "You're right. Since Xie Xinrui dared to jump, it means no one will die. The three of them are likely alive."

Chen Pu suppressed the heavy, uneasy emotion in his heart and asked, "The doctor said I will be discharged in two weeks? Go ask if it can be done sooner."

Zhou Yangxin sighed and said, "I knew you would say that. I asked the doctor and he said it would take at least a week. It can't be any faster. Old Ding also said you are not allowed to leave the hospital within a week."

Chen Pu lowered his eyes.

Li Qingyao didn't know where he was, and there was no way he could just sit there and wait for that long.

Li Qingyao felt a ray of sunlight shining on her face, which was a little hot. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that she was in a moving car, and also saw her left hand handcuffed to the handle on the roof of the car.

This is a five-seater car, Li Qingyao is sitting behind the driver's seat. There is a man driving in the front, wearing a peaked cap, with long black hair falling on his shoulders, revealing a white chin line.

It looked like a highway outside, but I couldn't see the road sign yet. The sun was hanging high in the sky, around noon.

Feeling a slight pain in his right arm, Li Qingyao lowered his head and saw his right arm hanging by a bandage. Some images flooded into his mind -

In the dark water, she was being swept forward by the current and could not stop at all. But she always tried her best to keep herself on the surface to breathe, float along with the current and save energy.

A few meters in front of her, two people were floating up and down. They were naturally Xie Xinrui and Luo Long.

At a certain moment, a piece of broken wood as thick as an adult man's waist floated from the water. Li Qingyao watched Xie Xinrui pull Luo Long's body and use him to block the violent impact of the broken wood. Then, the broken wood hit Li Qingyao. She immediately raised her arms to protect her head, and her right arm made a crisp sound at this moment...

"Awake?" Xie Xinrui asked.

Li Qingyao didn't say anything, but sat up straight. He endured the pain in his right arm and touched his waist. His heart sank - the holster was empty. He touched his pocket again, but the cell phone was gone. He only touched another thing, which was still there.

Xie Xinrui glanced in the rearview mirror and said, "Your gun must have fallen into the water, and I left your phone on the shore. They should find it soon and know that you are not dead. But it won't be easy for them to find us."

"Who bandaged me?"

"Professional doctor, rest assured."

"Where did you get the car?"

Xie Xinrui smiled and didn't answer.

So Li Qingyao came to the same conclusion as Chen Pu in just a few words:

As early as when she was at Wangpu Peak, Xie Xinrui must have had some kind of tracking and positioning device, and she had arranged it in advance. Although the Xiangcheng police had issued a wanted order for Xie Xinrui, it was only a matter of one or two days, and the time limit for dissemination was limited. Moreover, Xie Rongcheng must have several people who would work loyally for Xie Xinrui.

Li Qingyao stopped dwelling on these matters and asked the most crucial question: "Where is Luo Long?"

Xie Xinrui uttered two words from her red lips: "Dead."

Li Qingyao swallowed his dry throat and said, "I'm thirsty, do you have any water?"

"It's in the front bag."

There were two small bottles of mineral water in the net bag behind the front seat. Li Qingyao picked them up with difficulty with her broken hand, brought them to her mouth, and bit the lid with her teeth. Her movements seemed clumsy, and it took her a long time to get them open, and she drank the whole bottle in one breath.

"Did Luo Long tell me the whereabouts of my brother before he died?"

"He told me everything he knew."

Li Qingyao felt a chill on his back.

Luo Long is a smart man, and he definitely understands that if he tells the truth in Xie Xinrui's hands, he will die. So he will definitely choose not to tell the truth and delay time, maybe there is still a chance of survival.

But he said it anyway.

What does this mean?
This shows that the torture Luo Long suffered before his death made him choose to tell the truth and seek a quick death.

As if she had guessed what Li Qingyao was thinking, Xie Xinrui said, "The debt he owed me has been paid off."

"Where did he say my brother is?"

Xie Xinrui drove steadily and fast, and the mountains under the sun kept passing by on both sides. She said: "Li Qingyao, I know you are very smart and difficult to deal with. That's why I handcuffed you, but I have no ill intentions. What I can tell you is:
Luo Long didn't know where your brother went, but he revealed a key piece of information. Now, I have to do something, something I promised someone else. If everything goes well, this thing can be done in a day or two.

At that time, I will surrender and follow you, taking responsibility for the crime I committed. And, I will tell you the key information.

I'm sorry I can't let you go now, because once you leave, my car will probably be surrounded by the police within half an hour. But I don't want to hurt you either, so don't resist or try to attack me before I finish my job. You broke one of your hands, so you can't beat me, but I still have a gun. Is that okay?

Although you are a policeman and I am a fugitive, I think there is no essential conflict between us. It can even be said that our future goals are the same - to find your brother. However, I can't go back to Xiangcheng. There is a dragnet waiting for me there. I don't have the chance to find your brother in person. After I tell you the key information, the next task of finding your brother will depend on you and Chen Pu. Please, you must find him. When you have the result, no matter where I am at that time, please come and tell me, okay?"