The Brain Science Case 151

Chapter 151: The Blazing Fire (Part 2) – 9

“Haven’t… haven’t you found it yet?”

“Wait a minute, I can’t find a vein…”

“Hurry up and inject it.” Li Yuejiao urged in a harsh voice. Under the light, the inside of both her arms were already covered in needle marks, and finding a place to inject was becoming more and more difficult.

Wu Jianxiong gritted his teeth, and finally managed to inject the morphine into her. She lay down, smoking, her whole body drenched in sweat from the pain.

I can’t hold on much longer.

To her, time had become the greatest enemy.

“Did you… did you contact the ‘doctor’ for me?”

“Yes, I’ve already contacted him.”

Glancing at the pile of discarded syringes, she walked to the wall, where the targets that had been set during the operation were posted. Finally, her gaze fell on the face of the man in the middle.

“The ‘doctor’ said that the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the park is on May 9th, right?”

“I remember so.”

The day after tomorrow.

But for her, who was in the final stages of cancer, these two days were an incomparably long and highly variable period of time.

“These two days… does he have any other major appointments?”

Wu Jianxiong looked troubled. “No, you also know that his whereabouts are hard to track. Besides public events, his private schedule changes every day.”

Spitting out the cigarette butt, the pain gradually subsided, and she began to unbutton her sweat-soaked shirt. “Let’s get out of here.” Li Yuejiao held out her hand, and Wu Jianxiong immediately handed her another clean black shirt.

“Where are we going?” they had already moved all their belongings here.

“I’m going to Linkou.” Tying her tie in the mirror, Li Yuejiao began to tidy herself up. “There are only two days left before the opening ceremony. I guess besides handling company affairs, he will probably be focusing on that for the time being.”

She was planning to act early. “Okay, in that case, I’ll have the young men pack up, and I’ll go with you…”

“No, you take most of the men to deal with the other one. I’ll just go with the ‘driver,’ the ‘miner,’ and a few other young men.”

“No, I’ve said it before, no matter what, I will be by your side…”

“Even if the plan fails?”

Wu Jianxiong froze.

“Two days before you were ready to fake your death and hide your identity, that call, what did you say to me, do you still remember?”

“I will support you… in doing what you think is right…”

“That’s why I contacted you.” She closed her eyes, her regret overflowing. “That child… in the twenty-odd years she has grown up with me, I have not given her a normal family, and I have not even told her who her father is. Finally, she has accepted me, but because of the failed surgery, I was forced to carry out this plan early. I sacrificed the time I had with Jinglin, and I even went so far as to drag her into it.”

“But at least you did your best to raise her, didn’t you?” Wu Jianxiong’s hand was on his arm, and it was the scar he had gotten when he had tried to assault Zhou Jinglin while he was drunk, and had been cut by her in return. “You protected her. You did not fail in your duty.”

Li Yuejiao shook her head with a self-deprecating smile. “Jianxiong, I know you want to be good to me, but if my plan is to succeed, I need your help.”

“Of course I will help you to the end, but…” these days, because of the erosion of her illness, her mental and physical condition had been declining sharply.

But Wu Jianxiong still remembered the stunning sight of her when he had first met her. Her appearance, her grace, her conversation, and her social skills were deeply imprinted in his mind.

No matter what she became, in his eyes, Li Yuejiao was still that dazzling Lisa.

Closing his eyes, Wu Jianxiong lowered his head and gritted his teeth. “Okay, I promise you.”

“Thank you. Also, help me pass a message to Dingdang… tell her and the young ladies in the shop to take good care of themselves. Tell her she doesn’t have to provide us with financial support anymore.”

“Ah Jiao.” His eyes were filled with tears.

Li Yuejiao put on her suit jacket, took a deep breath, and put on the all-white mask again.

“Let’s go.”

**

The next day, as soon as she stepped into the special task force room, Yingli immediately asked Jian Minggui about the results of the investigation.

“Is there anything? That Angus…”

Jian Minggui shook his head. “No, I used the authority the director gave me to check, but I didn’t find any relevant results. I thought the authority had expired, so I checked a few other members, including Li Yuejiao, and confirmed that the data could be accessed smoothly. Then I made a call, but at past eight in the evening, they had all left work. I’ll try again today.”

“Is that so…” she rested her chin on her hand, “if there’s any further news, please let me know at any time.”

“I know.”

She frowned and walked to the whiteboard, and with a glance, she found that the words she had written were gone, but the details were no different from when she had left work yesterday, only that they had been reorganized.

Setting aside the still-suspicious Yan Ruiyang, there were two other potential targets that Li Yuejiao might have locked on to. One was the director of the National Security Bureau at the time of the Gan family massacre, who was now a special consultant at the city government’s ethics office, Yu Zhewei—another “superior” that Zhou Zengxiang had specifically pointed out. And then there was Zhou Zengxiang himself. And with Shi Jingde, the two killers who had carried out the assassination, they formed the five core members of the Gan family massacre.

As for Yu Zhewei’s responsibility, she held a reserved attitude. Indeed, he was Zhou Zengxiang’s superior at that time, but neither Shi Jingde nor Li Yuejiao had mentioned this person. And she still held a glimmer of hope that the National Security Bureau still had the documents signed by Zhou Zengxiang and Shi Jingde.

Simply put, she thought that the reason Zhou Zengxiang had revealed this person was just to blur the focus.

“Good morning, everyone.” After greeting everyone, Fang Zijun immediately followed with a big yawn.

“You didn’t go home, Chief Fang?” Yingli’s sharp eyes quickly noticed that his shirt was the same as yesterday.

“Uh.” Fang Zijun blushed with guilt. “Y-Yes, I spent the night in the lounge…”

Chen Huomu teased, “Chief, you last night… could it be that you didn’t sleep well because you’re not used to the bed?”

“What do you mean, not used to the bed? Don’t talk nonsense…”

“And you also had a little drink?” Yingli pointed to his collar, indicating that there was a wine stain on his clothes. “Amber-colored wine… is it whiskey? Did you drink with someone?”

“Haha, as expected, nothing can be hidden from the teacher. Yes.”

To drink in the Criminal Investigation Bureau. “Who did you drink with, Chief?”

“That’s not important.” Fang Zijun’s expression was tired, but there was a hint of a smile on his lips. “In any case, I rewrote the files yesterday and also filed them, and it got a little late, so I thought I’d just stay here and sleep.” He stretched slightly. “Jinglin, did you and the teacher have any further discussion about the case yesterday?”

Zhou Jinglin, who had been called, looked up. “Oh, the teacher told me some more details about her conversation with Xiao Shunfan at the Tucheng Detention Center…” they looked at each other, and at the thought of the comical scene of Yingli being chased around the house by a corgi last night, she couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I see… hey, what’s so funny?”

Yingli’s needle-like gaze suddenly shot at her. “Um, it’s nothing.”

“Oh?” before he could even ask, his extension rang. “Hello?”

‘Is this… Chief Fang?’ it was a man’s voice, and his tone seemed a little pained.

This familiar voice… “D-Director?”

‘Yes, it’s me… my car was just attacked, and I’m still stuck in the car.’

“What happened? No… where is it? Do you need an ambulance?”

‘I’ve already called one. The location is at the intersection of Guangfu South Road and Zhongxiao Road… please come quickly.’

That was Zhou Zengxiang’s usual route to work. “Got it.” He hung up the phone, and with a serious expression, he announced to everyone, “The director seems to have been in a car accident.”

“The director? What happened?” Chen Huomu asked with a voice that was louder than everyone else’s.

“I don’t know yet. He said he was attacked… Ah Mu, you’re in charge here for now. Ah Wei…” Cai Yuwei was not here yet. He turned to Jian Minggui, “Little Gui, you check the surveillance cameras at the intersection of Zhongxiao and Guangfu Road first, and see if you can find anything. When Ah Wei gets here, you have him check with you.”

The two of them said in unison, “Yes, sir.”

“Big Head is on leave today… Jinglin, I remember Big Head said you drive very fast?”

“Yes… hey, I’m a little worse than Senior Big Head.”

“I’ll take your car. Teacher, please come with us to the scene.”

Yingli nodded. “I understand.”

**

As soon as he got close to the scene, Fang Zijun noticed the long brake marks on the road.

Zhou Zengxiang’s car had lost control for some unknown reason and had crashed into a tree. The impact was very strong, and he was stuck in the car, unable to move. The traffic police were already directing traffic at the scene, the firefighters were rescuing him, and an ambulance was also on standby.

The three of them got out of the car, and Jinglin accompanied Fang Zijun to the rescue scene. “I’m a related person.” They showed their IDs and immediately came to the side of the car. “Director, are you okay?”

“My leg is a little stuck… but it doesn’t hurt much.” Zhou Zengxiang’s forehead was bleeding, and his face was filled with pain. The firefighters were working hard to help him get out.

“Chief, there are bullet marks.” Jinglin pointed to the front wheel and the two places on the driver’s side fender.

To openly shoot the director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau at the busiest intersection in Taipei. Fang Zijun was furious. “Director, how many cars were there?” from the angle of the bullet’s entry, Zhou Zengxiang could see the model of the car that had shot him.

“There were… ugh.”

“Two, right?”

Yingli’s voice came from behind Fang Zijun. “I looked at the brake marks. There was one behind… it didn’t seem to have hit, and the other one, with the shooter, went around to the left front of the car and shot at the front.”

“Is that so?” Fang Zijun asked, and Zhou Zengxiang could only nod in pain.

“He fired three shots, and they hit the fender and the tire?” she rested her chin on her hand, “there are no bullet holes in the side door or the glass… does that mean their purpose was not to kill?”

Jinglin heard her muttering. “What do you mean?”

She did not respond, but moved closer to examine the bullet holes. “The culprit used… at least a .40 caliber or larger bullet, with a lot of kinetic energy. Two cars surrounded him, forcing him to speed up, and finally, when they had forced him to the side of the road, they fired to make him crash.”

Jinglin immediately sent a message with the location of the scene and the nearby streets, so that Jian Minggui in the team room could quickly search the surveillance footage.

After a lot of effort, Zhou Zengxiang was finally freed from the car. Yingli quickly asked, “What color was the car that fired?”

“Teacher, let’s get the director to the hospital first…”

“I’m fine.” Zhou Zengxiang dragged his leg, and with one hand on his forehead, he answered, “a silver-gray SUV, and the killer was sticking out of the passenger seat. I saw the muzzle and immediately pulled over, and I heard a few gunshots before I hit the tree.”

“Ah, you mean the killer might have originally been aiming at the driver’s seat, and because of the angle of the car, it hit the fender?”

Zhou Zengxiang nodded.

“What about the one behind?”

“A sedan. It should have been red…”

Yingli glanced inside the car. “There’s no dash cam? As the director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, you should have one.”

“Jingxun has also nagged me about this… I’ll just get a new car.”

She ignored him, and was about to get into the driver’s seat to check the pedals when Zhou Zengxiang suddenly said again, “Dr. Tang, I saw it.”

“What?”

“The person who stuck their head out and shot me was wearing a white suit.”