Chapter 282: Zhao Bin

Entering the complex, I grew even more confused. The place was incredibly ordinary; I had never been here during any of my live broadcasts.

'Could it be that the Two-Faced Buddha hid a spare Buddha statue here? Or did Lu Xing just toss the Mother-Child Gu here?' We hadn't walked far when a casual remark from Jiang Chen caught my attention.

"Why is Ye Bing's car missing?"

"Ye Bing?" I slammed Jiang Chen against a trash can. "Why would Ye Bing's car be parked here?"

"Ouch! Didn't know you still cared so much about her. That's my wife..."

"Bang!"

I fired a shot right by Jiang Chen's ear. The bullet sparked against the metal, terrifying the rich kid so badly his legs nearly gave out. "Don't think I won't kill you. Answer my question honestly."

At the sound of the gunshot, the police officers outside immediately went on high alert in the pouring rain. They only breathed a collective sigh of relief when they saw Jiang Chen was unharmed.

"Ye Bing bought this apartment with her own money. Because you got in the way, she separated from me and moved in here alone." Grinding his teeth in hatred, Jiang Chen glared at me, his expression dark and twisted. "You petty bastard! You only know how to use dirty, underhanded tricks!"

"Don't flatter me. When it comes to being dirty and sinister, I don't even amount to a tenth of your father." I had taken the old records and bad debts of Jiangjin Real Estate from Jiang Long's villa, and they were currently hidden in the Black Leather Suitcase in the girls' dormitory at Xinhu High School. "Tell me which building Ye Bing lived in."

With Jiang Chen leading the way, I quickly arrived at Ye Bing's door. It was slightly ajar.

"There are no signs of the lock being forced. It's pouring rain outside, yet the floor is clean, and there aren't any suspicious footprints left in the hallway." I pushed the door open, catching a faint scent of blood drifting in the air.

"Ye Bing?"

The furniture and decor were completely intact, with no signs of damage. It wasn't until I walked into the bathroom that I noticed something wrong. The mirror was smashed, scattering glass shards all over the floor.

The living room and bedroom were the same. All the mirrors had been smashed to pieces, and traces of blood stained some of the broken glass.

"Mirror Ghost?" Everything pointed to one obvious conclusion. The one who took Ye Bing had to be Qiu Ren.

In the rainy night serial murder case five years ago, Qiu Ren had aligned his strikes with the three times of mourning apparel, condolence visitor, and funeral door, killing three people whose destinies were illuminated by those stars.

Five years later, Ye Bing's eight characters contained mourning apparel, condolence visitor, and funeral door all at once. This saved Qiu Ren a lot of effort; he only needed to kill Ye Bing to complete some of the Two-Faced Buddha's rituals.

Jiang Chen showed no worry over Ye Bing being taken away. His face held only hatred for me.

Just as I was about to leave, I suddenly heard a faint cry for help coming from the bedroom. It was a man's voice.

I went into the room and lifted the bed board to find a blood-soaked police officer tied up underneath.

"Zhao Bin?!" I had seen this detective many times, but I never could have imagined running into him in Ye Bing's apartment.

I untied his ropes. The metallic stench of blood wafted from beneath his police uniform. His youthful body was covered in cuts from the glass—a truly gruesome sight.

"How did you end up here?"

"Gao Jian, the target was taken. I failed my mission."

"Target? Mission? Slow down and tell me."

Zhao Bin coughed twice and spat out a mouthful of bloody froth mixed with tiny glass shards. I didn't even dare to imagine what he had been through.

"When Team Leader Tie heard that you were wanted, she was extremely worried. She came to the police station to discuss things with Captain Wu Meng, wanting to investigate the real cause of Jiang Long's death. Everything was going smoothly at first. Team Leader Tie and Captain Wu were going to lead their own groups and split up, but right before we acted, someone among us leaked the information and ruined all the arrangements."

"Was it Chen Feng?" My voice was icy, devoid of joy or sorrow.

"Yes. He told Chen Jianguo and the Jiang family everything. I don't know how you offended the Jiang family, but the chairman of Jiangjin Real Estate personally went to the Municipal Hall late at night. After that, the Municipal Sub-bureau was stripped of its right to participate in the case. Not only that, but Team Leader Tie was handed over to the armed police for investigation, accused of covering up and enabling criminal activities that endanger national security." Only a trace of worry remained on Zhao Bin's weak face. "Before leaving, Team Leader Tie entrusted me with protecting Ye Bing at all costs, but I still failed. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

"You don't need to apologize. You did well." I helped Zhao Bin up. His injuries were extremely severe, with many mirror fragments embedded directly into his flesh.

Jiang Chen saw all this as well, but instead of being moved, he sensed an opportunity to escape.

He backed away, suddenly breaking into a sprint the moment his heel neared the doorway.

"Bang!" A sudden, sharp pain tore through his calf. Jiang Chen fell heavily to the floor, his agonizing screams echoing through the apartment.

"Get away! Get lost!" He desperately tried to kick at Bai Qi, but the dog nimbly dodged and clamped down on his knee with another bite.

Canine teeth sank into flesh. The pain nearly drove Jiang Chen out of his mind. His vision blurred as he stared at the local dog attacking his leg. Despite its modest size, it was more ferocious than a wolf.

"If you don't want an amputation and end up a cripple, don't try anything stupid. Once I find the real killer, I'll let you go if I'm in a good mood." I couldn't let my guard down for a single moment. Jiang Chen was currently my protective umbrella, but he was also a huge burden.

"Downstairs!" I hoisted Zhao Bin onto my back and pressed my gun against Jiang Chen's head with my free hand, forcing him to walk in front.

Limping heavily, Jiang Chen struggled forward, tears practically welling in his eyes.

"Step aside!" Hearing Jiang Chen screaming like a slaughtered pig, all the armed police swarmed over.

"An officer is injured! Call an ambulance immediately!" It was hard to imagine such words coming from the mouth of a wanted criminal like me. The armed police didn't believe it at first, not until I walked out of the stairwell and they all saw the battered and bloodied Zhao Bin on my back.

"Call a medic!"

"Gao Jian, what are you trying to do now? Is this your new plan?" Chen Jianguo stepped out of the command vehicle under a black umbrella and waved his hand behind him. "Give up your resistance. The chances of you taking on the entire city alone are absolute zero."

"I really don't know how you ever became the armed police captain. This city is on the brink of destruction. The real killer is destroying the foundation of Jiangcheng step by step!"

"Smooth talker. The killer? Are you talking about yourself?" He stopped the accompanying medic and two auxiliary police officers who were about to head over. "Attention. The suspect is extremely cunning. Do not act rashly."

"Chen Jianguo, the man on my back is a detective from the Municipal Sub-bureau! Get the medic over here right now!" A surge of anger suddenly ignited in my chest for some reason. Perhaps it was a sense of powerlessness born from my own helplessness and frustration. I could kidnap Jiang Chen as a hostage to force the police into protecting the rat by not throwing the sacrificial vessel, facing the armed police head-on. But I was helpless when it came to Zhao Bin's injuries. If Chen Jianguo stubbornly blocked the medic from coming over, Zhao Bin's life would be in real danger.

The torrential rain poured down. Chen Jianguo had seen right through this. Guessing that the person on my back might be very important to me, he was using it as leverage.

"All the detectives from the Municipal Sub-bureau have been deployed to the Lanjiang Dam to stand by for flood control. That was an order I issued personally. Do you still want to argue?"

The longer this dragged on, the worse it was for me. My best option right now was to abandon Zhao Bin and force my way out with Jiang Chen.

"Gao Jian, you don't need to worry about me. Go do what you have to do. Team Leader Tie told me you are the person closest to the truth in Jiangcheng. She's always trusted you. Don't let her down."

At the mention of Tie Ningxiang, a bright gleam surfaced in Zhao Bin's eyes. I nodded to him. "Take care."

Setting him down in the stairwell, I put Jiang Chen in a chokehold and walked out.

Only when they saw me walking away did the medic and auxiliary police bring out a stretcher to lift Zhao Bin. To prevent his wounds from getting wet, they covered him with a raincoat and prepared to carry him off.

"Hold on. I haven't confirmed his identity yet." Chen Jianguo walked over to Zhao Bin with his umbrella. "You're an officer from the Municipal Sub-bureau?"

"Badge number 106110, Zhao Bin from the Municipal Sub-bureau Criminal Investigation Department!"

"Loud voice." Chen Jianguo remained expressionless. "Just now, you clearly had the chance to shoot the suspect without harming the hostage. Why didn't you act?"

He yanked away the raincoat covering Zhao Bin and picked up Zhao Bin's service weapon. "The country granted you the authority to uphold justice, yet you're getting mixed up with a suspect?"

The torrential rain poured over Zhao Bin, the water beating against his wounds. The broken glass left in his flesh sank deeper, and his blood mixed with the rain, soaking his entire body.

His face turned pale, and the pain sent him into near spasms. He could feel the glass shards being washed by the rain, sliding deeper into his flesh and blood.