Chapter 119: The Interrogation

After cleaning up the scene, Xia Yubing returned the car. Recalling Guo Yanzhi’s distraught state, she kindly called him to ask, "Are you alright?"

"I am going to turn myself in..." Guo Yanzhi replied in a hollow, mechanical voice.

"You’re insane! Don't do anything stupid. Where are you right now? Stay put, I’m coming over immediately!" Xia Yubing felt a jolt of alarm and asked urgently.

"I’m at the entrance of the police station," Guo Yanzhi replied despondently.

"Don't go in! Find a café and wait for me! I’ll be there in a moment!" Xia Yubing quickly hailed a taxi and rushed toward the station.

At a café three hundred meters from the police station, Xia Yubing ran inside to find Guo Yanzhi sitting in a corner, looking utterly defeated. When a waiter approached to take his order, he merely waved him away without saying a word.

Xia Yubing sat down across from him and told the waiter, "Two coffees, please."

Guo Yanzhi’s hair was disheveled, matching the chaotic state of his emotions.

Xia Yubing lowered her voice and tapped on the table, demanding, "What are you thinking? Are you trying to get us all killed?"

"I’m not trying to hurt you. If I turn myself in, I’ll take the blame for everything. I won't implicate you," Guo Yanzhi said, wringing his hands tightly.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing? Wang Yongye has more authority than the police chief. If you turn yourself in, what do you think will happen other than you being sentenced to death?" Xia Yubing could not fathom his reasoning.

Guo Yanzhi gritted his teeth, looked up at Xia Yubing, and said, "If they want to convict me, they have to hold a public trial. If he dares to bring this to court, I’ll release the recording of Wang Huawen’s confession!"

"Have you lost your mind from reading too many books? Do you really think they’ll hold an open trial? They’ll just seal the courtroom, go through the motions, and you’ll be dead before you even get a chance to play that recording. And even if you did, what good would it do? They have a thousand ways to claim the recording is fake," Xia Yubing said, growing frustrated.

Clenching his fists to suppress his inner turmoil, Guo Yanzhi said, "I just want justice for my sister. Why is it so difficult?" As he spoke, he buried his face in the table and sobbed uncontrollably.

The waiter brought over the two coffees, saw a heavy-set man crying unreservedly in front of a beautiful woman, sighed to himself, and walked away. Clearly, the waiter assumed the man had been dumped by his girlfriend, which explained his misery.

...

A while later, Guo Yanzhi looked up, pulled the memory card from his phone, and handed it to Xia Yubing. "After I turn myself in, if they use backroom dealings to convict me, you release this recording. I want to drag Wang Yongye down with me!"

"You've gone completely mad!" Xia Yubing was beside herself with anger.

Setting aside whether they could actually topple Wang Yongye, there was no guarantee that once Guo Yanzhi was inside, he wouldn't be coerced into spilling everything under interrogation. As an assassin, Xia Yubing could never leave such an uncertainty unchecked.

"Come with me!" Xia Yubing stood up, grabbed Guo Yanzhi, and marched him outside, shoving him into a taxi.

They arrived at a mid-range apartment complex. Xia Yubing dragged him upstairs, unlocked the door, pushed him inside, and said, "This place is safe. There’s food and water. Stay here and calm down for a few days."

This apartment was a safe house left for Xia Yubing by Zhong Jianguo. Worried that Guo Yanzhi would still try to turn himself in, she decided to keep him locked up for a few days. After securing him, Xia Yubing called Lu Feng to inform him of the situation. Upon learning that Guo Yanzhi was contained and safe for the time being, Lu Feng didn't pursue the matter further, leaving it for Xia Yubing to handle.

...

Wang Huawen was dead. Wang Yongye had even received a call from the killer, who had shouted at him over the phone, leaving him on the verge of madness.

Following the homicide, police and forensic experts immediately arrived to investigate the scene, but because Xia Yubing had cleaned it thoroughly, they found no clues. The only evidence consisted of descriptions provided by bodyguards and doctors: two men and one woman, with one of the men being somewhat heavy-set. Beyond that, there was nothing.

Recently, there had been conflicts between Wang Huawen and Lu Feng, and an attempt at mediation by Zhou Zhengqian had fallen through. Coupled with the rumors that Lu Feng had killed Ye Wuhua and the fact that Wang Yongye had been cracking down on the wellness center in Yun'an, Wang Yongye immediately suspected Lu Feng.

The municipal criminal investigation team summoned Lu Feng to the station to assist with the inquiry. Lu Feng had expected this; he knew he couldn't avoid being questioned, so after informing Su Daoan, he headed to the police station accompanied by his lawyer.

...

From the entrance of the municipal bureau to the interrogation room, Su Muqing followed along, trying to get close enough to ask Lu Feng what had happened, but he was surrounded by a crowd of officers who wouldn't let her near. Watching him enter the interrogation room, she stomped her feet in worry and immediately called her father.

...

Inside the interrogation room, Lu Feng sat side-by-side with his lawyer, waiting.

Superintendent Wang and another officer entered with a notebook. The Superintendent said to the lawyer, "This is just a routine inquiry; the lawyer may step out to rest."

Lu Feng glanced at his lawyer and said, "I can handle this alone."

The lawyer nodded and cautioned, "You have the right to refuse to answer any questions. Call me if you need anything."

Lu Feng nodded, and the lawyer stood up and left the room.

Superintendent Wang was an old friend of Su Daoan and recognized Lu Feng, but he couldn't help him in this matter and had to follow procedure. "Do you know Wang Huawen?" he asked.

"I do."

"You had conflicts with Wang Huawen in the past, didn't you?"

"That depends on how you define 'conflict.' For instance, on the seventh of last month, Zhou Fuqu used me as a shield to reject Wang Huawen. I thought it was a trivial matter, but Wang Huawen held a grudge against me for it. Would you call that a conflict?" Lu Feng countered.

Superintendent Wang already knew this case was a nightmare, and now that it involved the Zhou family, it was beyond difficult. Not knowing how to proceed, he subconsciously glanced at the surveillance room behind the glass wall.

Lu Feng looked over as well. Through the glass, he saw nothing, but he knew someone must be watching.

On the other side of the glass, Wang Yongye stared at Lu Feng with cold, malicious intent. He was dissatisfied with the Superintendent's questioning. Pointing at him, he told the person behind him, "Replace this superintendent. Get someone else to do the questioning!"

Three minutes later, an elderly superintendent in his fifties took over. With a stoic face and sharp, hawk-like eyes, he fixed his gaze on Lu Feng and began, "On the night of October 27th, at 9:00 PM, were you at the Night Wave Bar?"

"I have been to the Night Wave Bar, but I don't recall the specific date," Lu Feng replied.

"You once assaulted Wang Huawen and Ye Wuhua at the Night Wave Bar. There were many witnesses," the old superintendent continued.

Lu Feng curled his lips into a smile and asked, "Do you know why they were beaten?"

The old superintendent slammed his hand on the table and barked, "I am the one asking the questions here!"