Chapter 86: Lin Wan Is in Trouble

Outside the surgery room at the hospital.

When Lu Zheng arrived, almost everyone from the third group was present.

"What happened!" Lu Zheng looked at the red "in surgery" sign on the door and then turned to ask Huang Xiumin.

"Car accident!" Huang Xiumin gritted his teeth, "But definitely not an accident!"

"Xiumin, mind the discipline!" Liang Yuandong reminded from the side.

"Damn!" Huang Xiumin cursed angrily.

On the other side, Li Jinglin’s face was gloomy, Liu Leng had a fierce look in his eyes, and the others were either silent or visibly displeased.

Lu Zheng squinted his eyes, glanced at Liang Yuandong, and then turned back to the surgery room.

Now was not the time to argue about these things.

Lu Zheng was Lin Wan’s boyfriend, a fact that was no secret in the third group of the city bureau, so no one was surprised to see him arrive.

Under normal circumstances, they might have engaged in some small talk, but given the current situation, no one was in the mood to speak, including Huang Xiumin.

...

The surgery lasted until four in the morning.

The light went out, and the door opened.

A doctor walked out expressionlessly, and Lu Zheng’s eyes flashed brightly.

Huang Xiumin was the first to rush forward, "How is Lin Wan?"

"No danger to her life." The doctor shook his head, but there was no hint of a smile.

"Then..."

"The patient suffered a burst fracture in the second lumbar vertebra due to impact, with many fragments that have entered the spinal canal and damaged the spinal nerves. We’ve done our best."

"Damn it! Speak plainly!" Liu Leng couldn’t help but shout lowly.

The doctor’s face stiffened for a moment, but eventually he shook his head and sighed, very bluntly saying four words, "Paralysis of lower limbs."

Bang!

Li Jinglin punched the hospital wall.

A silence followed.

"The patient is still in a coma. We’ll transfer her to the inpatient ward. There are too many of you here, leaving one or two to stay with her will suffice."

"I’ll stay!" Huang Xiumin immediately said.

"I..." Liu Leng had just said one word when Lu Zheng patted him on the shoulder.

"Hiss—"

Lu Zheng withdrew his palm and said calmly, "Alright, you all can leave; I’ll stay."

...

Lin Wan didn’t have any family in Hai City. The surgery consent form was signed by Li Jinglin as the leader, and now that Lu Zheng was present, he signed various documents as her boyfriend.

"Is there a single-occupancy room available?"

"There is, but the price..."

"Change!"

"Alright."

Lin Wan had mentioned to Huang Xiumin about Lu Zheng selling games, so seeing Lu Zheng now spending a lot to change her room, Huang Xiumin felt relieved and did not voice any objection.

Once everything was handled and Lin Wan was hooked up to a drip, and after the other colleagues from the third group left, it was already dawn outside.

Lu Zheng sat beside the bed, looking at the still-comatose Lin Wan.

Her face was pale, breathing weak, expression haggard, and aura languid.

"What happened?"

Lu Zheng looked at Huang Xiumin, asking the same question but not the same issue.

Huang Xiumin remained silent, not answering.

"I’m considered family, right? Don’t I have the right to know the truth about Lin Wan’s accident?"

"You should have." Huang Xiumin hesitated, "But this matter might be linked to a case..."

Lu Zheng frowned, a name suddenly flashing in his mind, "Liu Yifan?"

Huang Xiumin abruptly looked up, "You know?"

Then he quickly asked, "Did Lin Wan tell you?"

Lu Zheng shook his head and told Huang Xiumin about Lin Wan’s birthday.

"So, is it really him?"

Huang Xiumin took a deep breath, then suddenly deflated, "I don’t know..."

Lu Zheng frowned, "Why? What do you mean you don’t know? What exactly is going on?"

Huang Xiumin shook his head.

Lu Zheng immediately interrupted Huang Xiumin, who was about to refuse, "Don’t talk to me about discipline. If you don’t want me to punch Liu Yifan to death when it gets light, you better tell me."

Huang Xiumin was speechless, paused for a moment, and finally made up his mind, "Damn it, this matter does involve you, so talking about it doesn’t matter!"

Lu Zheng nodded, "Speak!"

"Remember the Li Yanjie murder case?" Huang Xiumin suddenly asked.

"I remember, could it be..."

Huang Xiumin nodded, "We suspect the mastermind is Liu Yifan."

"Then..."

"But we have no evidence." Huang Xiumin said, "Liu Yifan and Li Yanjie had a conflict abroad five months ago, and Liu Yifan’s family has deep connections in Southeast Asia and the Lighthouse Country."

Huang Xiumin paused, "We sorted through Li Yanjie’s enemy list and found only Liu Yifan had the resources and motive for murder.

But the deal went through international channels, and even the killer didn’t know the employer’s identity, so we couldn’t find any evidence."

"Then what?"

"Although there’s no evidence, your capture of the killer allowed us to trace the lead from Southeast Asia back to Liu Yifan, putting him on our watch list."

Huang Xiumin paused, "And this incident might have prompted Liu Yifan to retaliate against you."

"What?" Lu Zheng was a bit confused.

"The city’s psychological profiler analyzed Liu Yifan’s personality and concluded that your involvement led to police attention, and thus the likelihood of him retaliating against you is forty percent."

"What the hell! Is he out of his mind?"

"No, he’s not out of his mind; he’s ruthless."

Huang Xiumin said gravely, "He’s suspected of at least a dozen murder and assault cases in the Lighthouse Country and Southeast Asia, only..."

"There’s no evidence?"

"Correct, no evidence." Huang Xiumin nodded, "Moreover, he has been well-behaved in Hua Country, with no criminal record."

"Then what about Li Yanjie?"

"So a leopard never changes its spots, he couldn’t hold back."

"So..."

"So Lin Wan has been investigating potential domestic crimes committed by Liu Yifan, hoping that once he’s behind bars, you’ll naturally be safe."

Lu Zheng was silent, then turned back to look at the comatose Lin Wan, expressionless.

Huang Xiumin said, "Liu Yifan has lived in the country for two years now. Given his personality, it’s hard to imagine he has stayed in Hai City for two years as a model citizen, especially considering he’s bold enough to hire a killer across borders.

It’s more likely he’s covered his tracks well, and the police haven’t found anything.

So once a breakthrough is found, there might be an opportunity to get authorization to investigate his various emails and overseas accounts, and we might find evidence of him as the mastermind behind the current case."

Lu Zheng remained expressionless, then suddenly asked, "Has she found something?"

Huang Xiumin fell silent, then nodded, "Two incidents of drowning and a car accident.

Both were initially ruled as accidents, as the direct causes were indeed accidental, just like with Lin Wan this time. Even the victims and their families didn’t suspect anything.

But because it involved Liu Yifan, Lin Wan followed up, and then..."