Chapter 138 - 120: Rare! The Collapse of 15 People...

"Then, Xiao Miao’s parents were gone. She was just a child, all alone, so she and this old woman were all each other had."

"I thought that even though life was rough, we could manage to get by..."

"But..."

As she spoke, the old woman’s voice suddenly grew harsh.

"A devil! She was born a devil!"

Old memories surfaced in her mind, and her stooped body trembled with anger.

Her heart twisted in agony, yet she was powerless to do anything.

Until...

Silence hung in the room for a long while before the old woman suddenly laughed again.

"Later, Xiao Miao died."

"Since she was dead, there was no reason for me to live on alone... I had to kill!"

"But I couldn’t. This body was getting older by the day. Every swing of the pendulum was a symbol of me getting one step closer to death."

"So... I needed someone who could do the killing!"

"After that, I spent a very long time finding a kid who was short on money. I gave him a large sum and told him where that devil was."

"With my own hands, step by step, I pushed that child into the abyss."

"I knew that his family, his father, would come looking for me after he got out of prison. When that time came, I would tell him where that devil is..."

"He would kill me."

"But he could also kill her!!!"

The old woman finished her story. After speaking, she fell still, sitting at the table, her clouded, vacant eyes fixed in Xu Huo’s direction.

Liu Wen’s death was no accident.

There were obvious clues during the case that pointed to this.

For instance, Liu Bo acted just one month after his release. How did he learn the truth so quickly, when even the police were in the dark?

There was no way, unless someone had told him.

And before taking action, one needs at least fourteen days to plan and gather information. Therefore, he most likely learned the whole story within two weeks of his release.

It made no sense, unless someone was waiting for him to get out, specifically to give him the clues!

But if someone else was involved—a third party—then Liu Wen’s death was no longer an accident. It was murder!

However...

"Alright. But there are a few things I don’t understand, and I need to ask you about them."

Xu Huo closed his notebook, looked at her with a calm expression, and began to speak:

"According to your story, how did you know which school Cheng Yu attended?"

"The dean of students, and those nearly ten people connected only to the Shen Miao case from the 80s—how did you know about their existence?"

"Your legs aren’t what they used to be. You can barely walk a few hundred meters."

"So how did you manage to investigate all these people?"

Xu Huo looked at the old woman, questioning her quietly.

The old woman was suddenly at a loss for words.

She stammered for a long moment before finally spitting out a sentence.

"Xiao Miao... Xiao Miao told me before she died."

"She told you?"

Xu Huo’s expression was blank as he continued to press her.

"Alright, I understand."

"What about Sun Yang?"

"Sun Yang is my relative..."

"Why, when the killer Liu Bo came for revenge, did he kill Sun Yang instead of you?"

The old woman became even more incoherent. What she said was completely unintelligible, or perhaps she herself didn’t know what to say.

After a long while, she finally said:

"He got the wrong person. He was supposed to be looking for me, but I was scared, so I hid..."

"Alright. Thank you for your time."

Xu Huo nodded, not refuting anything. He stood up and turned to the Police Officer and Qian Hua standing to the side.

"Take the old woman to rest."

At his words, a few people immediately came over and quickly helped her up to lead her out.

The old woman was still struggling. She turned her head to look at Xu Huo, "Young man... I’ve told you everything. Just arrest me, isn’t that enough...?"

Xu Huo didn’t speak. He watched her leave, then sat back down in his chair.

A look of resignation appeared on his face.

"Well?"

Qian Hua walked through the door, plopped down into a nearby seat, and turned to look at Xu Huo.

"Not well."

Xu Huo shook his head and threw the notebook in his hand onto the table with a SLAP.

"Her story is full of holes."

"First off, her eyes and her physical condition aren’t good enough for her to have carried out the plan."

"Most importantly, it’s not hard to see from her story that Song Min is a person who values relationships deeply."

"But if she really is the killer and turns herself in, she’ll certainly get the death penalty. What happens after she dies?"

"Nothing much, but Sun Yang would definitely lose most of her protection."

Xu Huo said slowly.

She can leave the house to Sun Yang, but that sense of security an elder provides can’t be passed down in a will.

So if she were to die, things would definitely become very difficult for Sun Yang.

But that would contradict her sentimental nature...

So...

"It’s fake?"

Qian Hua asked.

"That’s right. When I asked why Liu Bo killed Sun Yang instead of her, her answer was riddled with holes."

Xu Huo nodded, paused, and then added:

"Of course, it might not all be fake."

"Some parts of what she said are false, but other parts might be true."

"Like what?" Qian Hua asked.

"For example, it confirms that there was something strange about the cause of Liu Wen’s death."

Xu Huo said.

Then, he didn’t dwell on this issue and instead asked about something else.

"How is Sun Yang’s fibrosis?"

"Not optimistic. It’s just like the fatal cases from previous years."

Qian Hua sighed.

The amount of paraquat she drank caused this degree of pulmonary fibrosis; it’s basically a death sentence.

This stuff isn’t unique to any one region; many people have died from drinking it.

He had seen it himself.

And it’s precisely because he’d seen it before that he never held out any hope.

This stuff is irreversible. Drink enough of it, and you’ll be dead within fourteen days, guaranteed!

Even the most advanced medical technology in the world is helpless against it. At best, if caught on the first day, it might buy a little time, but it can’t erase the fact of death.