After the clamor subsided, everyone returned to their own thoughts.
The moon hung high in the sky when two dark figures quietly appeared in a corner.
"Did you kill Liu Li?"
"She knew too much."
"And now? Are you planning to kill me too?"
"How could I? After all, you are my dear brother."
Heh.
Wang Yangang let out a cold laugh. "Brother? I've never considered you a brother."
"Yes, the bond between us was severed nine years ago. It's indeed inappropriate for me to call you brother now. After all, we are merely comrades." Wang Yanlin said.
Hearing this, Wang Yangang's eyes widened in anger. "Comrades? Don't insult the word. True comrades blocked Hu Jia for me, giving me a chance to escape. But you? You even killed my wife."
"Hmph." Wang Yangang's eyes were chilling. "Was it I who wouldn't let her go, or were you the ones who wouldn't let me go?"
"What do you mean by that? For so many years, we've kept to ourselves, and have I ever refused any of your requests?" Wang Yangang was furious, realizing Wang Yanlin was clearly trying to quibble.
"Kept to ourselves?" Wang Yanlin chuckled sarcastically. "You're really something else, daring to swallow my money."
"Talk nonsense!" Wang Yangang cursed. "When did I ever swallow your money?"
"My mother? That's your second aunt. Also, don't act tough in front of me. Your father gave birth to you, and you still want to be his elder brother?" Wang Yanlin's words made Wang Yangang want to shout. He took a deep breath. "Forget it, I won't argue with you. The urgent matter is that we need to find a way to escape."
Indeed, Hu Jia had made thorough preparations. Before devising the plan to trap these two, he had contacted Detective Chen, Ouyang Wen, Li Yang, and others. Now, the entire village was surrounded by police, and the Wang brothers had no way to leave.
"Let's go our separate ways. I'm afraid you might sell me out at any moment." Wang Yanlin rejected Wang Yangang's request to team up.
"No, I just don't understand. You killed my wife, and now you're giving me a cold shoulder." If Wang Yangang didn't want to survive, why would he put up with Wang Yanlin's attitude?
"From the moment you erased that writing, trust between us vanished." Wang Yanlin said hatefully.
"What writing?" Wang Yangang was startled. "Ah? You're saying that writing was erased?"
"Just pretend. Keep pretending." Wang Yanlin looked at Wang Yangang with disdain.
"I'm pretending your... I'm not pretending anything!" Wang Yangang quickly changed his words. "Wang Yanlin, are you an idiot? I wasn't even in the village, so how could I have erased the writing?"
"You weren't in the village? So many people from the organization came, how could you not know?"
"Weren't those people with you?"
The Wang brothers looked at each other, as if realizing something. They said in unison, "We've been set up."
...
The search area kept expanding, but the encirclement was shrinking.
"Where are these two brothers hiding? We've searched the entire village and still haven't found them." Ouyang Wen rushed over as soon as he heard Hu Jia's plea for help. He had been looking for an opportunity to investigate Wang Yanlin in Huayan Village, and now his wish was granted.
"Could they have already escaped?" Zhan Ruoxuan chimed in.
Hmm?
Ouyang Wen looked at him. "Are you questioning the capabilities of Detective Li and his brother, Li Yang?"
Lu Qingqing chuckled. This person was adept at distancing himself and stirring up trouble.
However, except for Detective Li, who just grinned and dared not voice his opinion, everyone else gave him a rolled eye.
Fortunately, everyone was intelligent.
Zhan Ruoxuan was speechless. Why were all the people around Lu Qingqing so cunning?
"Captain Hu, Captain Wen, the people have been brought." Guan Jinsong reported, stepping forward.
"Mmm." Ouyang Wen looked at the woman before him. "You are Wang Yanlin's wife?"
Lu Qingqing was seeing this woman for the first time. She was plump and well-maintained, showing few signs of aging on her face.
This was uncommon in rural areas, especially for a single farm wife whose husband was away for extended periods.
"It seems you've been doing well during your husband's years of absence." Ouyang Wen wasn't being particularly polite to the suspect's family member.
"I am the farmer's wife, Madam Wang. Greetings, sir!" The farm wife was about to kneel in fear, but Ouyang Wen stopped her. "It's not the old days anymore, we don't do these things. Let me ask you, did your husband Wang Yanlin really go to work as a miner?"
Madam Wang's eyes darted away.
Seeing this, Ouyang Wen added more pressure. "You should know that he's being hunted now, and it's only a matter of time before he's caught. If you confess first, you might even get leniency."
As expected, upon hearing this, Madam Wang trembled and knelt with a thud. "I'll tell you, I'll tell you. It was all his doing. I was completely uninvolved..."
Madam Wang confessed that about nine years ago, on the night Wang Xia left the village, Wang Yanlin returned home very late. His face was deathly pale, as if he had been terrified. Madam Wang asked him several times, but he wouldn't speak.
The next day, news spread that Wang Xia had moved.
However, Madam Wang knew that Wang Xia hadn't moved. That night, Wang Xia had come to their house to find Wang Yanlin. From Wang Xia's demeanor at the time, there was no indication that he intended to leave the village.
On the contrary, Wang Xia was arrogant, acting as if he had Wang Yanlin under his control.
In the following days, Wang Yanlin went out several times. Each time, he left at night and returned before dawn. Although Wang Yanlin was always clean when he returned, his wife could still smell the scent of blood on him.
"I didn't ask him, and I didn't dare to ask," Madam Wang said. Later, her husband said he was going out to work, and his cousin Wang Yangang went with him. For the first two years, Wang Yanlin had no contact with his family. But seven years ago, Wang Yangang returned, saying his brother was waiting for her in town.
It was the first time Madam Wang had seen Wang Yanlin since they separated. Wang Yanlin gave his wife a lot of money. In the following years, Wang Yanlin would return about every six months, giving her a generous sum of money, which also soothed Madam Wang's heart.
"Was Wang Yangang involved in killing Wang Xia?" Hu Jia pressed.
"I don't know about that, but my husband often went out those days, and Gangwa always accompanied him."
Everyone understood. It seemed Wang Yangang was also implicated in the Wang Xia case.
"What about Liu Li? Is her death related to Wang Yangang?"
"I don't know about that, because I wasn't home the night it happened."
...
Madam Wang's testimony was quite credible, but the truth would only be revealed after the Wang brothers were apprehended.
During the two days of apprehending the Wang brothers, Luo Wenwu finally regained full consciousness from his semi-comatose state. News also came from the transmission institute, notifying all students to return to school.
"With the case investigation on the verge of a breakthrough, the school is pulling us back." Many expressed dissatisfaction with this decision, but orders were orders. Before leaving, Lu Qingqing specifically held Hu Jia's hand and whispered some words.
Meanwhile, Tong Meng stood with Ouyang Wen. "You know, we're quite alike. One arrived early but was unwanted. The other came too late and is still unwanted."
Ouyang Wen took one last look at the two. "No, we are different. I see them and a happiness belonging to three people. You see them and a pain belonging to one person."
"Oh?" Tong Meng glanced at Ouyang Wen meaningfully. "Hypocrite."
Ouyang Wen smiled and turned to leave.
Perhaps, I am a hypocrite.