Chapter 291 — The emergency

Tang Zhi said nothing more. She had only been speaking from feeling — seeing how pitiful Xiao Fen was, she did not want to repeat the same mistake herself. That was why, time and again, she sought to be certain of Wei Zhao's heart. She had to be certain, because she had already sunk too deep to pull herself out…

Qiu Lingshan was deeply troubled. How was it that bad luck had struck the moment the criminal investigation unit had fallen into her hands?

First, Black Panther had slipped away — though fortunately Wei Zhao had caught him and brought him back. She had thought she might enjoy a few quiet days, only to have a madman and serial killer suddenly go berserk while receiving treatment in the hospital, wounding the officer on guard and bolting out the door!

When that madman and killer had first been admitted, he was already badly injured — naturally, the injuries were the work of Qiu Lingshan. She knew very well how heavily she had struck, because she simply could not stand the sight of the man.

He had wiped out an entire family, not even sparing a three-year-old boy, and his methods had been unspeakably cruel — he had put the child in a washing machine and churned him to death alive! Toward a man so utterly devoid of humanity, Qiu Lingshan would show no mercy.

When they came to arrest him, the thing resisted, which suited Qiu Lingshan perfectly. A good beating of fists and kicks sent the thing straight to the hospital! True, he would be sentenced to death in any court, but letting him die just like that would have been too easy on him.

And so, at the risk of being disciplined, Qiu Lingshan had the thing sent to the hospital. Fortunately, his crimes were so cruel that they aroused public outrage; public opinion did not fault Qiu Lingshan but instead condemned the killer. Yang Huaijun put in a few good words for Qiu Lingshan as well, and the matter passed.

The madman and killer lay in the hospital for a week. By rights, his injuries would not have healed in a month, yet he had risen as if by magic, wounded the officer on guard, and fled without a trace.

When Qiu Lingshan received her subordinate's report, her face went dark as a storm cloud! Another one had escaped — was this not inviting everyone to laugh at her, Qiu Lingshan, for incompetence? When Yang Huaijun had been captain, the affairs of the unit had been managed shipshape. She, Qiu Lingshan, had taken over only days ago, and already so much chaos! The earlier trouble had scarcely been settled when this new one broke out!

How could Qiu Lingshan not be furious? And just then Wei Zhao had to call about some license plate matter — she came within a breath of cursing him out and hanging up.

Police had already been posted at every major traffic artery; she was certain that the moment the madman and killer appeared, he would be spotted. Yet, strangely enough, after the madman and killer fled the hospital, he seemed to vanish from the earth — no one had seen him since.

By rights, the man's physical features were glaringly obvious: a bandage wrapped around his head, a hospital gown on his body. A person so conspicuous, if he went out onto the streets, ought to leave witnesses somewhere. And yet, regrettably, there were none.

The pressure on Qiu Lingshan could well be imagined. She did not want to trouble Yang Huaijun again, so she could only shoulder the burden, adding more officers to search for the escaped madman and killer.

"Ring—" The sudden jangle of the telephone cut through the air. Qiu Lingshan snatched it up at once. "Qiu Lingshan speaking."

"Captain Song, this is Liu Wangli — something's happened!" Liu Wangli's voice came through the receiver.

"What is it?" Qiu Lingshan's heart gave a sudden thud. Speak of the devil — things were already bad enough, and now something else had gone wrong?

"Huang Guanya never actually escaped — he's been hiding in the hospital all along!" Liu Wangli spoke urgently. "He went after Liu Bojia again, trying to kill him, but a nurse who walked into Liu Bojia's room spotted him. Now Huang Guanya is holding that nurse hostage, demanding we prepare a helicopter to let him leave…"

Liu Wangli ran through the whole report in one breath. It was not very rigorous, but time was short and he had none to explain in detail.

Huang Guanya was the madman and killer, and Liu Bojia was one of the victims of the family massacre. Huang Guanya had stabbed him once through the heart, but because Liu Bojia's heart sat somewhat off its usual position, the wound had not killed him outright; he had been rushed to the hospital and saved, cheating death by a hair.

But what no one had expected was that even in such circumstances, Huang Guanya was still not prepared to let Liu Bojia go. What kind of hatred could drive a man to such lengths?

Qiu Lingshan had gone more than once to question Liu Bojia, hoping to learn whether he had a feud with Huang Guanya, but Liu Bojia flatly denied ever knowing him. When she asked whether he had enemies, Liu Bojia would say only that he was tired, or that his heart hurt. There was nothing Qiu Lingshan could do but wait until his injuries healed completely before questioning him carefully. Of one thing she was certain: Liu Bojia was hiding something.

And from Huang Guanya's side, nothing could be drawn out either. Apart from repeating over and over how he had put the three-year-old boy into the washing machine and churned him to death, he would describe the rape and murder of Liu Bojia's wife. Even these officers, hardened by many cases, were left with their hair standing on end by the depravity of his account.

From the earlier statements of Huang Guanya and Liu Bojia, the two were entirely unrelated persons. Huang Guanya was therefore taken simply as a homicidal madman, while Liu Bojia did not know him at all — to say nothing of any grudge between them.

But now Huang Guanya had gone to Liu Bojia's ward to strike again, and that was no simple matter. There was something strange and abnormal about it!

Liu Wangli was the captain of the first criminal investigation squad, tasked with searching the area around the hospital. When trouble broke out there, he had been first on the scene. Not daring to slacken, he dispatched a negotiation expert to talk with Huang Guanya while at once reporting the situation to Qiu Lingshan.

"I'll be right over!" Qiu Lingshan hung up and made ready to rush to the hospital at once. No wonder Huang Guanya was nowhere to be found—the fellow had never left the hospital at all!

And hospitals had no shortage of people shuffling about in patient gowns with gauze wrapped around their heads, so it was only natural that he had gone unnoticed.

Wei Zhao and Tang Zhi were sitting on the hospital bed swearing eternal devotion to each other when Liu Xinlan came stumbling into the ward: "Bad news, bad news, something terrible has happened!"

Wei Zhao, Tang Zhi, and Kang Xiaofeng and Xiao Fen, who had been talking, all froze and looked up at Liu Xinlan in puzzlement, unable to guess what this terrible thing she was talking about could be.

"They say a madman, a killer, has taken a nurse hostage in one of the wards, and a whole crowd of police has that ward surrounded—right at the end of the corridor on our floor. Scared me half to death, I ran straight back to warn you..." Liu Xinlan said, still shaken.

"A madman, a killer?" Wei Zhao was startled. "How did he end up in a hospital?"

"Who knows," Liu Xinlan said with a shake of her head. "Thank goodness he didn't come to our ward, or we'd have been in real danger."