Chapter 1 The Relief

Wu Peng rushed back to the hospital room to see Jia Wenjun standing guard at Zhao Di's bedside, helping her drink water. Seeing that everything was normal, he finally relaxed.

Seeing him run back, panting, Jia Wenjun was taken aback. "What happened?"

Wu Peng closed the door and quickly told them what had just happened. Jia Wenjun felt a chill run down her spine.

Earlier, she had heard footsteps and glanced out through the door. She vaguely saw a nurse bringing medicine and a form, placing them on the medication cart outside the door before leaving.

The medication cart held medicine for patients in the three nearby rooms. A nurse on duty would usually distribute the medication at a set time each day. Today, no one had come yet. She had found it strange that the young nurse had delivered the medicine, and then the head nurse had taken a look and pushed the cart away. She had assumed they were dispensing medicine to other rooms first, never imagining something like this would happen.

Seeing her look of lingering fear, Wu Peng said, "I suspect the culprit already knows about Zhao Di's recovery. If that's the case, we need to watch over Zhao Di twenty-four hours a day until she's fully awake."

"That's what I was planning. I'll rotate shifts with my parents; we should be able to manage for a while."

"And me. I can come after work and guard the door at night."

"That won't do. You work during the day and then stay up all night. Even a body of iron couldn't handle that."

"It's okay; I can find some help." Wu Peng said, taking his phone, which he had forgotten earlier, from his bag and calling Zhang Lin.

The phone rang for a long time without being answered. He walked to the door and looked out through the small, transparent window, his eyes catching sight of the corridor leading to the restroom.

Earlier, the head nurse and the other nurses were looking for the female nurse who had delivered the medicine. The young nurses had mentioned that the nurse's makeup was exaggerated, which made him think of the person he had bumped into.

The nurse had disappeared in the blink of an eye. With so many people around, it was impossible that no one had seen her, unless she had hidden somewhere and then disguised herself.

Thinking this, Wu Peng opened the door and hurried towards the restroom corridor, phone in hand.

Both the men's and women's restrooms were inside. Wu Peng stood between them, unable to enter the women's restroom. He could only ask the cleaning lady to check if anyone was inside or if there were any discarded wigs or nurse uniforms. He would wait outside.

The cleaning lady assured him, "I just cleaned the women's restroom; there's no one there, and nothing in the trash can."

Wu Peng stood outside the restroom, finally getting through to Zhang Lin. He told him that Zhao Di had shown signs of recovery and might be targeted again by the culprit. Zhang Lin said he would be there immediately.

Hanging up, Wu Peng realized that the hospital's restrooms were shared by two inpatient wards, meaning people could freely move between them through the restrooms, making it easier for the culprit to escape.

Thinking that the person had already fled, Wu Peng felt frustrated. Suddenly, he remembered the nurse's instep and the force with which she had bumped into him.

"Wait, could it be a man?" Wu Peng said, immediately turning around and entering the men's restroom.

Some of the stalls in the men's restroom were open. He leaned in to peek, knocking on each stall door and pushing them open one by one. All five squatting toilets were empty.

Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a black clump in the trash can at the very back.

Wu Peng walked over, enduring his disgust, and reached in to pull it out. It was a woman's wig. Looking closely, the hair color and the small, bunched-up style matched the hairstyle of the nurse who had bumped into him.

By the time Zhang Lin arrived at the hospital, Wu Peng had already brought the wig to Zhao Di's hospital room.

He told Zhang Lin about the wig. Zhang Lin grabbed the wig, still in its bag, and sneered. "Pretty bold, trying to murder a witness in broad daylight."

Zhang Lin paused, then looked up at Jia Wenjun and Wu Peng. "I've already arranged for people to stake out the hospital and started checking the surveillance footage. That person won't get away."

Wu Peng and Zhang Lin didn't avoid Jia Wenjun or Zhao Di, who was lying in bed, when they were talking. Zhao Di could hear what they were saying. Her face twitched a few times, and she made some indistinct noises, which caught Zhang Lin's attention.

"How is the witness recovering?" Zhang Lin had only learned about the medication incident when he arrived and was now looking at Zhao Di.

"I've been saying some simple, everyday things to her, and she seems to understand. When I ask her questions, she can signal with a blink or a slight finger movement. But I'm not sure how much she understands about more complex matters," Jia Wenjun said.

Just then, Zhang Lin's team had a breakthrough while reviewing the surveillance footage and called Zhang Lin to the door to confirm.

"You guys stay here and watch her; I'll go take a look."

Zhang Lin went to the surveillance room and frowned as he watched the video of someone carrying a bulging plastic bag walking past the camera. "Bai Ma Shan, it's him again."

After watching the video, Zhang Lin said in a deep voice to his subordinate, "Have him come down to the police station."

Bai Ma Shan sat in the police station's interrogation room, asking Zhang Lin, puzzled, "Officer, is there something you need me for?"

"What were you doing at the hospital around eleven o'clock this morning?"

"Seeing a doctor. I handle pets all the time, so I inhale a lot of animal hair and dust mites. I have chronic bronchitis and have to go to the hospital every now and then to get some medicine." He coughed several times as he spoke.

"Which doctor did you see?"

"Dr. Cao from the respiratory medicine department," Bai Ma Shan said calmly.

"How long did your visit take?"

"I don't quite remember, but it took about an hour to queue up, see the doctor, get the medicine, and leave."

"What kind of medicine did you get?"

"Some traditional Chinese medicine to relieve coughing and clear my lungs."

Zhang Lin would have his subordinates verify everything Bai Ma Shan said, but since he dared to speak so confidently, it was probably true. After all, these things couldn't be faked; it would be easy to find out.

Sure enough, Zhang Lin's colleague soon called to tell him that everything Bai Ma Shan said checked out. With Bai Ma Shan having an alibi and witnesses, Zhang Lin had no choice but to let him go, even though he still suspected him.

Bai Ma Shan left the police station and got on a bus. He hadn't driven himself today, but had taken the bus.

He was extremely vigilant the whole way, afraid someone was following him.

Before the bus reached his stop, Bai Ma Shan got off early. The stop was at a local seafood market, a bustling place filled with the sounds of people buying and selling, one of the most crowded places in the area.

He chose this location because the crowd would make it easier to hide, and because parking was difficult, making it impossible for anyone following him to quickly find a place to set up surveillance.

Bai Ma Shan entered the market and quickly turned into a butcher shop, reversing his jacket to reveal a hip-hop style interior. This was a reversible jacket he had specially prepared. Then he put on a pair of thick-framed glasses, tucked his socks over his pants, and leisurely rode off on a small yellow shared bike, transforming from a middle-aged uncle into a trendy youth, slowly leaving the market and heading towards an old residential area.

Bai Ma Shan stopped in front of an old building. He entered the building, went to the ground floor, opened a door, and went inside. The windows were closed, the curtains drawn, and only a lamp was turned on. A person was sitting with their back to him, lighting a cigarette.

Bai Ma Shan went up and kicked the chair violently. The person fell to the ground, and before they could say anything, Bai Ma Shan grabbed their collar and started punching them in the face.

The other person cursed and began to fight back.

Bai Ma Shan, his face contorted, had to let go, panting as he warned, "Don't cause me any more trouble, or else…"

He didn't finish the sentence, but turned his bloodshot eyes and slammed the door shut as he left.