It turned out that Li Zhenmi and Wang Xue had agreed to meet at point 4.2 precisely to hand over the senior student team's token to her.
Upon hearing this, everyone displayed looks of disdain.
It was just a competition, wasn't it?
And they were cheating.
Perhaps sensing the unfriendly gazes, Wang Xue's tears began to flow again.
"As it turned out, Yang Luo found out about our conversation. He threatened us, saying it was either money or nothing." Wang Xue recalled, terrified by Yang Luo's appearance at the time, but utterly helpless.
Thus, the three parties entered into negotiations.
The outcome, of course, was unsatisfactory.
Later, Li Zhenmi threatened Yang Luo, stating that if he dared to reveal this matter, Wang Xue would accuse him of assault, with Li Zhenmi acting as the witness.
Yang Luo, not expecting Li Zhenmi to resort to such a tactic, became enraged and picked up a stone, smashing it at him. Li Zhenmi collapsed on the spot.
This entire incident was witnessed by Liang Zhening, who happened to be passing by. He tried to save Li Zhenmi and got into a fight with Yang Luo. However, he underestimated the stone and dagger in Yang Luo's hand, suffering a fatal throat wound.
Seeing Yang Luo kill two people, Wang Xue panicked and fled towards the pond, hiding in a thicket along the way.
Unfortunately, Yang Luo spotted her. Thus, Wang Xue ran ahead while Yang Luo pursued her. The chase ended at the pond, where Yang Luo, due to severe head injuries, became disoriented and fell into the water.
"The water wasn't deep, but Yang Luo, injured, couldn't get up," Wang Xue took a deep breath. "I was terrified, so I hid in the nearby bushes and didn't save him."
Wang Xue claimed that the deaths of three people had frightened her into silence, fearing implication. The information about the wild man, as Hu Jia had guessed, was merely a ruse to prevent the discovery of the bodies.
The story concluded.
Many sighed in disbelief.
"Do you think she's telling the truth? Why would she be afraid of implication for something she didn't do?" Zhou Fengjiu and others whispered among themselves.
"Whether it's the truth depends on whether Captain Hu believes her," Ye Fengyi said.
"I think he won't," Lu Qingqing felt that Wang Xue's account was plausible in the beginning, but the logic faltered later on.
As expected, Hu Jia smiled faintly and then produced a scarf.
"This was what Li Zhenmi intended to give you, wasn't it?"
"Yes."
Wang Xue did not deny it, as Li Zhenmi was her boyfriend, and Hu Jia's question implied he had evidence.
"Then look at this." With that, Hu Jia ordered a log, about a bowl's width, to be brought over.
He ran his finger along one side of the log. "This is a soapberry tree. It was discovered with this scarf, wrapped around one end of the log. We all know soapberry trees are covered in thorns, but clearly, some of the thorns on this part of the log were shaved off with a knife."
Hu Jia looked at Wang Xue. "Can you tell me why?"
Without waiting for Wang Xue's reply, Hu Jia pointed to a backpack. "You probably don't know this either. We found this backpack in the pond, yet it contained Li Zhenmi's student ID. So, Miss Wang Xue, you said Yang Luo chased you when you fled. How did he have the time to carry this backpack?"
Wang Xue stammered and began to tremble.
She had never expected Hu Jia to discover Yang Luo's backpack, let alone that Yang Luo had mistakenly carried the wrong bag when he left.
"So, the truth is, after killing them, Yang Luo still controlled you. No, to be precise, you were so terrified that you didn't dare to escape," Hu Jia said. After Wang Xue was subdued by Yang Luo, she agreed to his inappropriate demands, which is why Yang Luo carried his own backpack.
And that scarf was what they had laid out on the grass in preparation for their illicit encounter.
The events that followed were indeed as Wang Xue described: Yang Luo fell into the water, but it wasn't that Wang Xue didn't save him; on the contrary, Wang Xue struck while he was down.
"I found several small puncture wounds on Yang Luo, caused by the thorns from this soapberry tree."
Hu Jia explained that to avoid injuring her hands with the thorns and leaving marks, Wang Xue had wrapped the log with the scarf and beaten the fallen Yang Luo until he was unable to stand. The end without shaved thorns inflicted wounds on Yang Luo.
Lu Qingqing, upon hearing this, had an epiphany. When examining the bodies, she had noticed contusions on Yang Luo, which she had initially attributed to a fight. She hadn't realized they were caused by blows from the log.
"And we never found the murder weapon. I assume you disposed of it?" Every question from Hu Jia struck Wang Xue to the core. She could no longer bear it and collapsed onto the ground.
At that time, Yang Luo had held a dagger to her throat. Seeing the dagger fall when he plunged into the water, Wang Xue picked it up, intending to use it for self-defense. But Yang Luo was too badly injured to get up, and Wang Xue developed a desire for revenge.
She used the dagger to shave the thorns off the log and delivered a heavy blow to Yang Luo's back.
"Was I wrong? Hahaha..." Wang Xue abandoned all pretense of denial and cried out, "He killed my boyfriend and insulted me. Was I wrong to want him to pay with his life?"
Wang Xue's outcry pierced everyone's hearts like steel needles.
She asked them if she was wrong.
Was she wrong?
From a humanistic perspective, she was not wrong. But from a legal standpoint, she was.
Human nature is rational, but also impulsive, while the law is unyielding.
No one could answer Wang Xue's question. Was she wrong? She was wrong to have entertained the thought of cheating.
Every cause has an effect, but her retribution far exceeded the consequences she could have borne.
As for Yang Luo, his ill intentions met with ill deeds, making ill requests, sowing ill karma, and ultimately reaping what he sowed.
Li Hongjiang was also indignant that the academy had produced such a student. He waved his hand. "Take her away and hand her over to the judicial department for processing."
The resolution of the case also marked the end of the wilderness training exercise. Unlike previous years, when outstanding participants were determined by scores, this time there were no scores, only results.
Lu Qingqing's group was declared the outstanding group, and she herself was crowned the outstanding participant.
This was not only because she had been scored in both segments but also because she had rescued a colleague taken by the wild man and participated in the investigation.
No one objected; on the contrary, everyone admired her.
Looking at the smiling faces and the people surrounding her, Lu Qingqing felt that her grand ambition was one step closer.
...
"You've been through mud and water these past two days. Your wound needs proper care," Hu Jia was still concerned about Lu Qingqing's leg abrasions.
"It's not that delicate. It stopped hurting long ago," Lu Qingqing said, looking at Hu Jia with an unconsciously playful tone.
This was because Hu Jia had prepared a meal for her, consisting of five dishes: four main dishes and one soup.
One dish was plain boiled meat, another was sliced meat in chili oil.
One dish was stir-fried potatoes, and another was hot and sour potatoes.
The plain, watery dishes contrasted with the heavily oiled and spicy ones, making Lu Qingqing's mouth water.
"I'll just have one bite, just one!" Seizing an opportunity when Hu Jia was distracted, Lu Qingqing quickly picked up a piece of meat from the chili oil dish. However, before she could bring it to her mouth, Hu Jia stopped her.
"No!" Hu Jia pushed the plain boiled meat slice closer to Lu Qingqing. "Eat when you're fully recovered."
Lu Qingqing was exasperated. "I'm already recovered. Really."
Seeing Hu Jia's unyielding stance, Lu Qingqing felt a surge of frustration with nowhere to vent it. "Sigh, this world has changed. Some people... promised to eat light meals with me, but now they're eating greasy food. It's so envy-inducing."
Lu Qingqing stretched out the "o" sound in each "oh," her sarcasm reaching its peak.
Hu Jia couldn't help but smile. "Who said I would eat with you?"
"You!"
"When?"
"Last week!"
"Should I remember what happened last week?"