Chapter 268 - 267: A Beast Worse Than Pigs and Dogs

Chen Dinglai was silent for a few seconds. His eyes flickered before he finally looked away. "I... I don’t know what you’re talking about."

Yang Xun raised an eyebrow slightly. "Jin Shilong sent men to hunt you down. You’re half dead, and you still say you don’t know?"

"It was Gusan who tried to kill me. We have bad blood," Chen Dinglai gritted his teeth, speaking with absolute certainty.

"You’re still being stubborn at a time like this?" Chen Mingli stood to the side, his frown deepening. Having worked in criminal investigation for many years, he could tell at a glance that Chen Dinglai was lying. His evasive eyes and slightly trembling fingers gave away his guilty conscience.

The witness had been saved, but the man was being dishonest.

"Jin Shilong sent someone to kill you again yesterday," Chen Mingli continued. "If we hadn’t been guarding you, you’d be dead a hundred times over by now."

Chen Dinglai turned his head away, his voice noticeably weak. "I... I just owe Gusan money. He wanted to silence me."

Chen Mingli took a deep breath. Chen Dinglai was the key figure in this case. If he refused to talk to the very end, there would be no way to convict Jin Shilong.

At this moment, Yang Xun spoke up, his tone unhurried. "Chen Dinglai, did you know that Jin Zhenhai has already found your wife?"

The moment these words left his mouth, Chen Dinglai’s body stiffened violently. His bloodshot eyes instantly widened as if he had been viciously stabbed by something.

"What... what did you say?"

Yang Xun’s voice was devoid of emotion. "The Jins can’t find you right now, so they’ll target your wife. Even if you don’t say anything to us, they won’t believe you haven’t."

Chen Dinglai’s lips began to tremble, his face turning pale and then ashen.

"Do you think refusing to talk will keep your wife safe?" Yang Xun leaned in slightly, staring straight into his eyes. "You know the Jin Family’s style better than I do. As long as you’re alive, your wife won’t have a single day of peace.

"And if you die, she’ll have even less of a way out."

The hospital room fell dead silent for a full ten seconds or so. The only sound was Chen Dinglai’s increasingly rapid breathing.

Finally, his shoulders slumped.

"Is my wife... safe right now?"

"She has already been placed under police protection," Yang Xun said with certainty. "As long as you’re willing to talk, I can guarantee her safety. But if you continue to hide the truth, you know the consequences."

Watching from the side, Chen Mingli felt that Yang Xun looked more like a police captain than he did. It was mainly because of his oppressive aura.

Chen Dinglai closed his eyes, engaged in a final internal struggle. A moment later, he opened them and spoke in a hoarse voice, "I want to see my wife. Once I’m sure she’s safe, I’ll tell you the truth."

"Alright," Chen Mingli immediately chimed in. "I’ll call someone to bring her over right now. You give us your statement first."

Seeing his righteous demeanor, which didn’t seem like the type to lie, Chen Dinglai nodded and began to speak.

"Back then... Jin Shilong took a liking to Wu Xiaoyu in Bluestone Town. The girl was pretty. He tried to hit on her but got rejected. After having some drinks, he chased her back to her house and forced himself on her.

"Wu Xiaoyu called the police. Jin Shilong was afraid the situation would blow up, so he had me tie up the whole family and haul them to that ancestral hall in a van. He wanted to scare Wu Xiaoyu into dropping the case.

"But he had drank too much that day... He was too heavy-handed and ended up killing her."

Chen Dinglai’s throat tightened as he spoke. He took a sip of water before continuing.

"The rest of the family saw Jin Shilong commit the murder with their own eyes. Afraid of being exposed, he threatened them to keep their mouths shut, but the elderly couple died of anger right then and there. The husband desperately tried to take Jin Shilong down with him, but he was also killed in the end.

"The child... That child didn’t know anything, but Jin Shilong said he had to pull up the weeds by the roots...

"He gave me a million yuan and ordered me to kill the child. All the bodies were buried in the dirt behind the ancestral hall."

Having said all this, he seemed to have exhausted every ounce of his strength. He collapsed back onto his pillow, his face even paler than before.

Chen Mingli’s face was livid, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles popped. "That animal is worse than a dog!

"You must have evidence in your hands, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have asked Jin Shilong for money again," he said in a heavy voice.

Chen Dinglai slowly raised his hand, pointing toward the nightstand. "My phone... is in the pocket. There’s a video recording. When Jin Shilong ordered me to bury the bodies, I kept my wits about me."

Chen Mingli immediately opened the nightstand drawer. Rummaging through the pocket of a bloodstained jacket, he pulled out a phone with a shattered screen. He pressed the power button, and the screen lit up. He quickly found the video.

He glanced at Yang Xun, and the two exchanged a tacit look.

"With this evidence, Jin Shilong won’t be able to run." Chen Mingli let out a sigh of relief. He could finally convict that bastard.

Half an hour later, Li Xiufang was escorted to the hospital by two police officers.

Her eyes were red and swollen, evidently having cried for a long time. Seeing the deathly pale Chen Dinglai lying on the hospital bed, she rushed to his side and grabbed his freezing hand.

"Why are you so stupid..."

Looking at his wife’s haggard face, Chen Dinglai felt as if his heart had been viciously gouged. He opened his mouth, speaking in a raspy voice. "Xiufang, I’m sorry."

"Stop talking. Just focus on recovering." Li Xiufang’s voice was choked with sobs.

"Listen to me." Chen Dinglai’s fingers weakly tightened around her hand, his voice incredibly faint. "I still have some money in the safe at my factory. The passcode is... your birthday. You... Take the money, leave Shunping City, and find a place where no one knows you to start over."

"I don’t want money! I just want you to live!"

As their eyes met, Chen Dinglai choked back a sob. "I killed people. I don’t have a chance to live anymore. Take the money and go. Find a good family... and live a good life."

Tears spilled from Li Xiufang’s eyes. Pressing her forehead against the back of his icy hand, she said with a trembling voice, "I’m pregnant."

Chen Dinglai’s pupils violently shrank.

"Three months," Li Xiufang said, looking up at him through tear-blurred eyes. "I originally wanted to wait until you were done being busy with this period before telling you, but you never came back..."

Chen Dinglai was stunned for a long while. His bloodshot eyes slowly reddened, but the corners of his mouth curved into an extremely faint smile.

"It’s... mine?"

"You bastard! Who else’s could it be?" Li Xiufang scolded him, the tears in her eyes flowing even more uncontrollably.

He suddenly laughed, his smile bearing an unprecedented sense of relief.

"Then you have even more reason to leave. Take our child and find a quiet place to live." He turned his head to look at Chen Mingli and Yang Xun. "I have nothing left to say. I’ve confessed everything I needed to. Don’t forget what you promised me."

"Rest assured." Chen Mingli’s voice carried the weight of a solemn promise. "I’ll arrange for someone to escort her away and change her name. No one will find her."

Chen Dinglai nodded and tiredly closed his eyes.