Chapter 746 — Partners in Crime

Though anxiety churned inside him, he forced himself to stay calm. "It's possible that An Liwen and his men mistook someone else for Wei Zhao. They couldn't have just grabbed some random person and swapped his kidney into you, could they? A kidney is worth a great deal of money—they wouldn't do something so thankless!"

Hearing his father's words, Zhong Yongliang calmed down a little. Indeed, An Liwen would never do something so thankless! Giving him a random kidney made no sense—why not use one that matched? A kidney was a commodity that could be sold; any kidney was worth money. Why would he do such a thing?

The only explanation was that An Liwen had grabbed someone who looked very much like Wei Zhao, mistaken him for the man, and transplanted that person's kidney into him!

"All right! Then let's have the examination first and talk afterward!" Zhong Yongliang nodded.

Zhong Fabai did not dare delay either, and went straight to find a doctor. Zhong Yongliang's kidney transplant had not been performed at the First People's Hospital, so the hospital had no relevant records and had not been tracking his treatment—they had only provided some routine postoperative recovery care.

And because Zhong Fabai feared the kidney might draw police attention, he had not made a fuss about having doctors monitor the treatment. He trusted An Liwen deeply; since An Liwen said the kidney was a perfect match, there should be no problem! Zhong Fabai planned to wait until Zhong Yongliang had recovered somewhat, then arrange a full examination.

But now there was no time to worry about all that. Zhong Fabai went straight to find a doctor, and very soon Zhong Yongliang was wheeled out of the ward for a full examination...

Meanwhile, in another room of the hospital...

Liu Bojia did indeed wake up that afternoon, almost exactly when Wei Zhao had predicted. The doctors were astonished after examining him—a man kept alive by a ventilator had actually come back? And every vital indicator had clearly improved; apart from some physical trauma, there were no other problems?

Could this be called a miracle in the history of medicine?

Qiu Lingshan, however, did not disclose the treatment process. She merely told the hospital that an expert had been brought in to save him, and that the specifics were confidential.

The hospital had no choice. If the police said confidential, then confidential it was; all they could do was cooperate with the police on the follow-up treatment arrangements for Liu Bojia.

This time, the awakened Liu Bojia was no longer as obstinate as before. Perhaps he understood that he had narrowly escaped death—whether good fortune would follow, he did not know; everything now depended on his choice.

Previously, Liu Bojia had never imagined that after being admitted to the hospital, that madman killer could still find him, slip into the ward right under police guard, and nearly kill him! He had survived this time, but whether he would survive the next was hard to say.

Liu Bojia knew well how ruthless that bunch was. Though the madman killer had said nothing, he was certainly sent by them to silence him—of that there was no doubt, and Liu Bojia knew it clearly.

Death either way—so Liu Bojia might as well cooperate with the police and perhaps live. He knew that as long as he lived, that bunch would never let it go; better, then, to take a prison sentence, where he would be safer.

Once Liu Bojia's condition had stabilized, Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yuxuan came in and sat down not far from his bed.

"Liu Bojia, even now, is there nothing you want to say?" Qiu Lingshan looked at Liu Bojia on the bed. She had once taken him for a victim, but now it seemed it was merely infighting. "If you hadn't been lucky enough to meet a miracle doctor, do you think you'd still be alive now?"

Qiu Lingshan's words were blunt, but with a man like Liu Bojia there was no need for courtesy. He had not only cost Wei Zhao a great deal of true qi, but had also caused the police enormous trouble and confusion.

After waking, Liu Bojia had also heard from the doctors how long he had been unconscious and what his condition had been during that time—kept alive entirely by a ventilator, and certain to die the moment it was removed!

In short, the hospital had been utterly helpless about his injuries. Who knew where the police had found such an expert to treat Liu Bojia, so that he could be pulled back from the brink.

"How much do you know?" When Liu Bojia asked this, he still clung to a sliver of hope. He did not know how much the police knew, and so he could choose which questions to answer.

"The tomb-raiding organization code-named the Couple Thieves has been taken down," Chen Yuxuan said. He did not say that the two ringleaders of the Couple Thieves had been shot dead, only that they had been caught—this was meant to put psychological pressure on Liu Bojia, to make him believe the police had already found the evidence of his crimes. "According to their statements, you were also a member of the tomb-raiding gang, and you took part in their next plan as well. And this time, the annihilation of your entire family—that was the work of another tomb-raiding gang silencing you, wasn't it?"

Chen Yuxuan had not said much in detail, but he had laid out the essential facts. Yet the less detail he gave, the more Liu Bojia believed the police already knew most of it! After all, the Couple Thieves had been caught—surely the police would uncover his own small part with a little investigation.

"The Couple Thieves? What do they do? Tomb raiding? What does that have to do with me?" Liu Bojia asked tentatively. He did not believe that the Couple Thieves would have given him up the moment they were caught—that made little sense, since he had no conflict of interest with them! The tomb-raiding trade had its rules: if you were caught and started biting everyone, you would very likely bring retaliation from your fellow professionals!

You went in, but you must have family, don't you? If they can't get revenge on you, they'll get revenge on your family!

That's why so many tomb raiders, once caught, only confess their own crimes. As for the other tomb-raiding outfits they know about, and the sales channels, they say nothing more—otherwise their family on the outside would very likely become the target of frenzied revenge!

"Heh, so you're thinking that since the husband-and-wife bandits didn't confess anything else, singling you out like that seems a bit far-fetched, isn't that right?" Qiu Lingshan had spent years in criminal investigation and had learned to read faces; one look at Liu Bojia's expression told her exactly what was on his mind.

"It's true that I'm an archaeologist, and I do have connections with some tomb-raiding gangs, but I don't take part in the raids myself—I only privately appraise antiques they've plundered from tombs..." Liu Bojia began making excuses for himself.