Seeing Crime Scenes in My Sleep

The birthmark on her wrist was starkly visible, and Ji Qinghe’s hand trembled as she held Ruan Zhixia’s.

When Jiang Li saw this, a suffocating tightness filled her chest.

Ruan Zhixia was alive, but Guo Tianqi...

Ji Qinghe turned to look back at Jiang Li. "Let’s wait for more details. Jiang Li, you’ve already done a great job."

This situation had nothing to do with her. Even if Jiang Li hadn’t been involved, the fates of Zhang Qingzhi, Guo Tianqi, and the others would not have changed.

At least she had saved Ruan Zhixia.

"Officer Ji, have they found Guo Tianqi’s body?"

Ji Qinghe nodded, and the two of them left the hospital room.

"Qin Shu said Guo Tianqi’s internal organs were all devoured. The only reason he managed to hold on for so long was because he had taken a massive amount of drugs."

"So Guo Tianqi was doomed from the start," Jiang Li murmured, staring blankly at Ruan Zhixia’s room.

Ji Qinghe nodded. ’I admire and even envy them, but more than anything, I feel a sense of loss. If it weren’t for Zhang Qingzhi and the others, what a happy couple they would have been.’

Jiang Li sat on the bench all morning. It was impossible not to blame herself. ’If only I had been a little more perceptive, would this have happened?’

Guo Tianqi’s emotions were weighing on her.

As a bystander, she had witnessed one tragedy after another, and the crushing guilt and powerlessness had her in a stranglehold.

’Guo Tianqi is dead. When Ruan Zhixia wakes up, will she even want to go on living alone?’

"Jiang Li!" Ji Qinghe gripped Jiang Li’s shoulders, looking at her with a serious expression.

"Jiang Li, stop dwelling on it. None of this has anything to do with you. Without you, the murderer would still be at large, and there would have been even more victims."

"You’re the one who brought them justice and exposed the truth."

Ji Qinghe finished speaking and looked at Jiang Li with concern. ’If she gets trapped in this, she’ll be the most tragic victim of all.’

The vacant look in Jiang Li’s eyes gradually faded. She looked at Ji Qinghe and smiled. "Officer Ji, I know. Thank you."

Ji Qinghe opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say.

Zhang Haosheng heard a familiar voice from the hallway and frowned in confusion. ’Why do I keep seeing Jiang Li at the hospital lately? Did something happen to her?’

Zhang Haosheng walked over to Jiang Li.

"Jiang Li, we meet again," Zhang Haosheng said, giving her a warm smile.

"Doctor Zhang," Jiang Li said by way of greeting, then fell silent.

Zhang Haosheng scratched his head. ’I thought she was doing better, but now it looks like she’s gotten worse again.’

Zhang Haosheng sighed silently. ’Sometimes, we are our own worst prisons.’

"Jiang Li, if you ever need help with anything, just come find me," Zhang Haosheng said, looking at her. ’Though I hope that day never comes.’

’I much preferred the quiet days with no patients.’

Ji Qinghe watched Zhang Haosheng’s retreating back, then turned to Jiang Li. "You must be hungry, Jiang Li. Let’s go get some food."

Hearing Ji Qinghe’s suggestion, Jiang Li obediently rose from the bench and followed quietly behind her out of the hospital.

"I told you, I’m not sick! I’m not sick! What the hell do you want from me?! Won’t you be happy until I’m dead?"

A girl of sixteen or seventeen was arguing with her parents at the hospital entrance.

"If you’re not sick, then why won’t you go to school? Last semester you were in the top five of your grade, and now you’ve dropped below twentieth!"

The woman looked at her, her face a mask of bitter disappointment.

"I told you, I’m exhausted! I just want to rest for a bit, can’t I even do that? They bully me there, I don’t want to go!"

The girl, on the verge of a breakdown, flung her mother’s hand away.

"What are you talking about? It’s just kids being kids. I think you’re just being too sensitive."

The man glared at her. "You’re just making up excuses to get out of studying!"

"We work our fingers to the bone to send you to such a good school, and you don’t even try. How can you face us after all we’ve sacrificed for you?"

Ji Qinghe stepped forward, pulling the girl behind her. "What do you think you’re doing? I’m warning you, child abuse is illegal!"

"Who are you? This is none of your business. We’re disciplining our own child."

The woman shot Ji Qinghe an irritated look.

Ji Qinghe flashed her badge. The couple froze for a second, their aggressive demeanor visibly deflating.

"Officer, our daughter’s just going through a rebellious phase. She’s faking sick to get attention," the woman said, forcing a smile at Ji Qinghe. "We’re her parents, we’re just doing what’s best for her."

Seeing the girl trembling from the overwhelming emotions, Jiang Li reached out and took her cold, shaking hand.

Du Xueqing turned stiffly to look at her. The sight of Jiang Li’s calm face seemed to soothe her, and her own emotions gradually settled.

Jiang Li gave her a small smile, let go of her hand, and took a pen and a slip of paper from her bag to write down her phone number.

"You’re still young and have your whole life ahead of you. If you ever run into trouble, you have to call me, okay?"

Jiang Li pressed the note into her hand. "No matter what it is, I can help you."

Du Xueqing stared at Jiang Li, stunned. "R-really?"

"Really." Jiang Li glanced at the parents and patted Du Xueqing’s hand reassuringly.

Ji Qinghe lectured the couple for a while longer, only letting them off the hook after they made repeated promises.

"Jiang Li, let’s go."

Ji Qinghe called, looking back at Jiang Li.

Du Xueqing watched Jiang Li’s retreating back with surprise. ’So she’s the Jiang Li that Doctor Zhang was talking about?’

She glanced down at the phone number in her hand before carefully putting it away.

"Jiang Li, after we eat we’ll head back to the station. Zhou Tiancheng has already sorted things out; your brother and the others have gone home."

Ji Qinghe set a milk tea down in front of her, remembering that Jiang Li seemed to like it.

"Thank you, Officer Ji."

After their meal, Ji Qinghe took Jiang Li back to the station. The moment she walked in, Jiang Li spotted Yu Huannian and Wu Ming sitting to the side and went over to them.

The fingerprint results had come back: the person in the hospital was, without a doubt, Ruan Zhixia.

Yang Ziyi was screaming his head off in one of the rooms, clearly terrified out of his wits, but that wouldn’t absolve him of his responsibility.

In the morgue, Zhou Tiancheng looked down at Guo Tianqi, then at the diary in his hands. ’This is so important... I was going to have it buried with him, but now that Ruan Zhixia is alive, I should wait for her to wake up and give it to her.’

Jiang Li looked at a message on her phone about Wu Jianzhang. He hadn’t even made it to the day of his execution; he had apparently tormented himself to death.

Miao Anji walked out of the interrogation room, scratching his head innocently. ’So what if he’s dead? What’s that got to do with me? And they even made me look at all that feed.’

Lu Xingye followed Miao Anji out, holding a file. He looked at the information Miao Anji had provided and sighed in resignation.

Miao Anji had used a lot of technical jargon that went over their heads, but they could at least confirm there was nothing unusual in the substances Guo Tianqi had used.

Miao Anji explained that Guo Tianqi had been using the insects he raised on himself; he was doomed to die one way or another.

Jiang Li heard the commotion and glanced up.

The instant Jiang Li looked over, the extreme impatience on Miao Anji’s face vanished, replaced by a wide grin as he hurried over to her.

"Sister, Officer Lu said we can go home," Miao Anji said, pulling Jiang Li to her feet.

Lu Xingye could only watch them go. ’I’ll just have to talk to her when things quiet down.’

’It’s good for them to get some rest anyway. I’ll contact her when we get an update from the hospital.’

...

In a bathroom at No. 1 Middle School, Du Xueqing watched as several people surrounded her. A deep-seated fear took root in her heart, and she wished she could call Jiang Li for help.

But when she had returned to school that afternoon, her parents had smashed her phone without giving her a chance to argue.