A madman in France? How come he's always at crime scenes!

Meng Jiang ignored him and sat down on the chair by the bed.

"Master Ma, things weren't peaceful in the surgical building tonight. Were you scared?"

Ma Desheng smiled slightly.

"Are they setting off firecrackers? Every kid is restless; hospitals need to manage things properly too."

Wu Liang leaned against the door frame, his gaze shifting from Ma Desheng's face to sweeping over every corner of the ward. Finally, in the trash can beside the bed, several torn pieces of a diagnosis report lay scattered on crumpled paper.

Seeing Ma Desheng's state and thinking of Li Mu, who was still in critical condition, Meng Jiang couldn't help but feel angry.

"Ma Desheng, there's a good chance someone wants to kill you tonight. Please cooperate with us."

Ma Desheng picked up the enamel mug on the bedside table and took a leisurely sip.

"Who would want to kill an old man like me? You've probably got it wrong."

"Sha Yuanbao, do you still remember this name?" Wu Liang asked.

Upon hearing this name, Ma Desheng froze in his drinking motion.

Wu Liang walked to the foot of the bed and, without any hesitation, picked up the few scraps of paper from the trash can.

"Now you know what disease you have, right?"

Ma Desheng chuckled as he watched his gesture.

"The little guy has sharp eyes." He pushed the enamel cup away a bit. "Squamous cell carcinoma, it had already spread to the lymph nodes when it was discovered."

Meng Jiang looked at the old man in front of him, and his heart sank.

There's a saying that a dying man's words are good, but in all his years as a detective, he'd seen far more people take their secrets to the grave.

Wu Liang then spoke.

"So you think if someone comes to kill you, there's no need to hide."

"Why are you hiding? It's just a matter of a few months earlier or later."

Ma Desheng raised his eyelids and looked at Wu Liang.

"What can you expect a dying person to tell you?"

Wu Liang sighed softly.

"Master Ma, in your testimony to the police back then, you said that Sha Yuanbao had a meal with you at the end of April, and then he never showed up again. But you didn't explain what you talked about during that meal, or whether he told you where he was going the next day."

"Explain?" Ma Desheng clicked his tongue. "Kid, you're asking me about something that happened fifteen years ago?"

"You didn't tell the truth in the statement from fifteen years ago."

Wu Liang stood by the bed, looking down into the old man's aged eyes.

"The person who's going to kill you tonight brought a syringe. Once the drug inside is injected into your vein, it will suffocate you in minutes while you're fully conscious."

"They've already attacked you right in front of you, what good do you think hiding will do now?"

Ma Desheng put the enamel mug back on the bedside table.

"Little one, how old are you this year?"

Wu Liang did not answer.

Ma Desheng sized him up and down. "Young man, you dare to talk to a dying old man like that. You've got guts."

Meng Jiang's eyes narrowed slightly: "Master Ma, we're not here to chat. Tonight—"

"I know you're not here to chat."

Ma Desheng raised his hand to interrupt him. The skin under the IV line hung loosely on the bone.

"You've come to ask me about what happened fifteen years ago, and why I didn't tell the truth in my statement."

"Is that right?"

Meng Jiang glanced at Wu Liang.

"Master Ma," Wu Liang's tone was a little softer than before, "that box of tramadol in your bedside table drawer. The nurses' station dosage is four tablets a day. You've been in the hospital for a week, so you've probably exceeded that dosage."

Ma Desheng looked up and stared directly into Wu Liang's eyes.

"The cancer cells have metastasized to the lymph nodes, causing bone pain, which worsens at night. Your inability to sleep after the injection isn't because the injection wasn't effective—"

"Alright."

Wu Liang continued.

"It's because you're afraid to sleep. You're afraid that if you fall asleep, you won't wake up. And if you don't wake up, some things will just stay unsaid."

Ma Desheng forced a dry laugh out loud.

"Young man, you're a police officer after all, very observant."

Wu Liang did not deny it.

Ma Desheng stopped smiling and turned his head to the window.

After a long while, he finally spoke.

"Back then, I was giving a statement at the criminal investigation team."

Meng Jiang quickly gestured to the plainclothes officer behind him to pick up a pen and take notes.

"When Sha Yuanbao first went missing, your police came to ask me about him. I said that Old Sha invited me to dinner, and after dinner he said he was going to Shiqiao Village. I asked him what he was going there for, and he said he was collecting debts."

"Didn't you ask what kind of bill we're collecting?" Meng Jiang said.

"I asked," Ma Desheng turned his head. "He said he was collecting debts for someone. He didn't say who, and I didn't dare to ask."

"Why wouldn't you dare?"

Ma Desheng looked at Meng Jiang, his cloudy eyes seemingly devoid of emotion.

"Officer, have you ever seen someone collect debts for others and end up in a desolate ditch? Since you mentioned Old Sha, you should know that he's not running an honest business."

Meng Jiang remained silent, waiting for what was to come.

Ma Desheng coughed violently twice, then continued:

"But he's not the boss. He has someone above him. That person's surname is Diao, and his name is Diao Wei. In his early years, he worked as a gofer for a real estate boss in the provincial capital, and later he went solo."

Meng Jiang made a note in his notebook.

He had heard of Diao Wei before. He had been imprisoned once during the Feishui Anti-Organized Crime Campaign in the early 2000s and sentenced to eight years. After his release, there was no further news about him.

"What is the relationship between this Diao Wei and Tan Yongren?"

Ma Desheng looked puzzled.

"Who? Never heard of them."

Wu Liang and Meng Jiang exchanged a glance.

"Why didn't you write these things in your statement back then?" Meng Jiang skipped over that topic and continued asking.

"Was my writing even useful?"

Ma Desheng shook his head.

"Back then, the security situation wasn't as good as it is now. If I had made a scene, it's hard to say whether I would still be alive today."

As he spoke, Ma Desheng pulled a crumpled envelope from under his pillow and stuffed it into Meng Jiang's hand.

Inside were two folded sheets of paper. The heading read "Comrade in charge of the police station," the handwriting crooked and messy.

"I wrote this last winter." Ma Desheng leaned against the pillow, his eyelids drooping. "I was in pain every day, so much so that I couldn't sleep and I would write a few lines. I originally wanted to send it out. But then I thought it would be useless to send it out, so I just carried it with me and let it rot."

He closed his eyes.

"You can take it. I'm going to sleep for a while."

Wu Liang and Meng Jiang exchanged a glance, knowing they couldn't extract any more useful information. They instructed several plainclothes officers to protect Ma Desheng before leaving the ward.

……

Meng Jiang closed the door.

"How much of what he said tonight do you think was true?"

"It doesn't seem fake, but you can't believe it entirely."

The two walked towards the nurses' station. The nurse on duty was asleep, her shoulders rising and falling gently with her breathing. Meng Jiang lowered his voice.

"I've heard of Diao Wei. He went to jail in 2008 for organizing a criminal gang and was sentenced to seven years. After his release, at least outwardly he hasn't committed any further crimes."

Wu Liang nodded and continued Meng Jiang's words.

"Sha Yuanbao is dead, Ding Hu is dead, and the only person left who knows about what happened back then is Ma Desheng."

"Why did Tan Yongren wait until now to make his move?"

Wu Liang stopped in front of the nurses' station.

"Because of Shen Xuejun."

Meng Jiang waited for him to continue.

"This lead was useless before Shen Xuejun died. As long as Jiang Cuilan wasn't found, Tan Yongren didn't need to take this risk. No matter who identified him, their testimony would be worthless."

"But you found Shen Xuejun."

"That's right," Wu Liang said. "So Ma Desheng suddenly became a deadly card. You can discard him after you've used him, but you can't leave him in someone else's hand before you play him."

Meng Jiang took out Ma Desheng's letter from his pocket and unfolded it. The letter contained details about how Sha Yuanbao brought Shen Xin to Tongcheng and sold her.

Wu Liang stared for a long time before suddenly speaking.

He completely absolved himself of any responsibility.

Upon hearing this, Meng Jiang suddenly understood and then put the envelope into his inner pocket.

"I'll have someone investigate this lead. We also need to check on Diao Wei; I'll go to the judicial office tomorrow to retrieve his release file."

Wu Liang hummed in agreement, took two steps toward the elevator, and then stopped.

"Captain Meng, Li Mu has messaged me."

"understood."

The elevator doors closed, revealing a tired face.

Wu Liang looked at his messy hair and suddenly laughed.

I'm so hungry.

……

Zhang Jiajing and Ni Xiang stood anxiously at the entrance of Yuanda Law Firm, waiting for Wu Liang to appear.

Although there wasn't much news about the shooting at Feishui Hospital on my phone, some of it did leak out.

Wu Liang went to Feishui last night to cooperate with the police; it's unknown whether he encountered any trouble.

Fortunately, after waiting all night, Wu Liang finally appeared at the door.

"Boss, you're still alive!"

Wu Liang changed into new clothes and bought breakfast before returning. He couldn't hold back after hearing the first sentence, but he was too tired to argue with Zhang Jiajing anymore.

"I almost became a target for someone to shoot." Wu Liang threw his briefcase on the table and slumped into his recliner.

Ni Xiang handed Wu Liang a glass of water, her face anxious. "Brother Wu Liang, there are rumors outside that someone died at Feishui?"

"I'm not dead," Wu Liang said with his eyes closed. "But I almost died."

Zhang Jiajing's eyes widened, and her mouth opened slightly.

"What does 'almost died' mean? The shooting at Feishui—"

"That's the one." Wu Liang put his feet up on the desk. "It's just a door away, and there's a gun right next to my head."

Zhang Jiajing screamed.

"Weren't you going to a meeting? How did a gunfight turn into one?"

"Good luck."

"Could we be lucky enough to run into another shooting?"

"To be hit by a car and still come back alive, isn't that considered lucky?"

Zhang Jiajing's eyes were filled with lingering fear and concern.

Ni Xiang placed the water glass next to Wu Liang, then went to the kitchen and brought him a bowl of porridge.

She then sat down in the chair opposite him, placed her hands on her knees, and quietly watched him drink his porridge.

Zhang Jiajing pulled up a chair and sat down.

"Boss, could you let me know in advance if you're going to Feishui next time? I'd like to close the law firm and collect your body."

"It's not your turn to collect the body." Wu Liang put down his bowl. "The police station has plenty of forensic doctors on hand."

"Wu Liang!"

"Alright, alright." Wu Liang pulled out a tissue to wipe his hands. "Ni Xiang."

Ni Xiang raised her head.

"The court hearing is the day after tomorrow. It will be your father's final statement. If you want to go, I'll have Zhang Jiajing accompany you."

Ni Xiang clenched her fingers on her knees, then nodded forcefully.

"Okay." Wu Liang took the trial outline out of his briefcase and placed it on Zhang Jiajing's desk. "Zhang Jiajing, reorganize this material according to the timeline."

"Boss, what about you?"

"Me? I haven't slept a wink all night, I'm going to get some sleep."

Wu Liang leaned back in his recliner, his eyelids already starting to droop.

Sunlight streamed obliquely into the law firm through the window, casting swaying shadows of sycamore trees on the glass.

The day after tomorrow. Court hearing.