Chapter 675 — The Tragedy of An Liwen
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Seeing that Wei Zhao wore no particular expression, Gu Pengzhan's heart settled.
Wei Zhao had no wish to deal with these students' parents here. Once he had made sure Gu Mengyao was all right, he said to Gu Pengzhan, "Uncle Chu, I'm stepping out for a bit. I'll be back once Grandpa Guan returns."
"Of course, go and see to your business!" Gu Pengzhan nodded.
Wei Zhao meant to visit Tang Zhi. After the day's events, he felt rather that he had wronged her; his relationship with the eldest young lady was only going to grow more complicated.
Gu Mengyao watched Wei Zhao's retreating back. She wanted to say something, but the words would not come; her face remained cold and impassive...
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At the entrance of Songshan City First People's Hospital, An Liwen, his kidney cut out, was rushed to the emergency room. The hospital set about saving his life while hurriedly telephoning the police.
The police had already arranged matters with the hospital beforehand: whenever another kidney-theft victim turned up, they were to give emergency treatment first and then contact the police at once.
Qiu Lingshan had not expected another kidney theft to occur on the very day the kidney-cutting ring was smashed -- which meant the gang had still been operating today.
Qiu Lingshan at once dispatched Liu Wangli and his team to the hospital: to protect the victim on the one hand, and on the other to gather criminal evidence against the gang. The victim, after all, was the most important witness.
Interrogation at the station was almost effortless. The tattooed man, ringleader of the criminal gang, put up scarcely any resistance and quickly confessed to his crimes. The entire kidney-cutting ring was a gang under his command, and Doctor Wang had been forced into crime under his coercion -- this was the promise he had made to Doctor Wang beforehand.
As for where the removed kidneys went, the tattooed man also confessed. There were underground black-market brokers dealing in organs in another city, and most of the kidneys in his hands had been sold to them. As to which parties they were sold on to, the tattooed man supplied the contact details of several brokers -- but he made it plain that before his capture he had already phoned those brokers to tip them off, and by now they had all fled; catching them would be impossible.
Faced with the tattooed man's clean-cut recklessness and his readiness to shoulder the blame alone, Qiu Lingshan was quite helpless. Acting on the man's leads, they did indeed find those brokers' premises -- but the places were long since emptied.
And by the tattooed man's account, their dealings had all been conducted under false names, without ever meeting face to face, so the police could find no useful leads at all.
Qiu Lingshan was furious, yet there was nothing to be done. The good news was that the kidney-cutting case could be considered closed. As for those brokers, they were not in this city; the police there could rack their brains over them. Qiu Lingshan did not trouble herself over troubles not her own.
When An Liwen awoke, he found himself lying in a strange place -- which seemed to be a hospital ward. An instant later he felt an unbearable pain in his left flank. He tried to reach out and touch it, but had no strength at all; the anesthetic had only just worn off, and his body's strength had not yet returned.
"Where am I? Is anyone there?" An Liwen grew anxious at once and cried out.
The anesthetic having barely worn off, An Liwen's mind was still somewhat clouded; he could not quite recall the events of before.
"Sir, you're awake?" One of Liu Wangli's subordinates, a man named Zhang Juli, came over and said to An Liwen: "I am Zhang Juli, of the First Criminal Investigation Squadron, City Police Bureau."
"I... I was, ah --" An Liwen's heart gave a slight start. How had he drawn the police to him?