Hospital 444
Chapter 301 - 37: 9 Suspects

Chapter 301: Chapter 37: 9 Suspects

Dai Wei was blindfolded and tied to a chair.

He did not know the condition of his parents and Dylan at the moment, as he was just captured and bound by the villagers. His eyes were covered, so he knew nothing.

At that time, the cloth covering his eyes was removed.

It was an airtight room.

Nian Cheng sat opposite him, holding a bamboo pole with a porcelain doll attached to it.

"Dai Wei,"

Nian Cheng’s expression was quite stern as he said, "There are many things I need to ask you."

He pointed the porcelain doll toward Dai Wei, the implication being clear: he was highly wary of Dai Wei as well.

"I’ll be patrolling with this porcelain doll at night, but now..."

The porcelain doll was almost pressing against Dai Wei’s face, a crying-faced doll.

"Brother Nian Cheng," Dai Wei quickly said, "I’ve told you everything, I didn’t lie about anything! Brother Nian Cheng, where are my parents and my sister now? Please tell me!"

"Dai Wei, behave yourself! I have to ask you again! Because you are the most suspect!"

Nian Cheng looked into Dai Wei’s eyes, filled with indifference.

Emotionally, he found it very hard to accept that his wife, who shared his bed, could be the Demon that killed his father. And Dai Wei was strange—although he wasn’t the captain, he insisted that it was his uncle Lin Tai who served as the captain that night!

"My uncle disappeared in the afternoon, yet, you claim that my uncle led the patrol as the captain that night? The count was nine people, but only you claim one person was missing, which is my uncle!"

"Brother Nian Cheng! I’m telling the truth, not a word is false! I swear to God, if I tell a single lie, may I be struck by lightning! May I have a terrible death!"

"I’m not here to listen to your nonsense. Starting now, you recount everything that happened during the patrol that night, down to the smallest detail! Don’t leave out any details! Got it?"

"Yes, yes, I understand, Brother Nian Cheng..."

"Good, then... let’s start with... no, just begin with when you said your dad took you and some cured meat to see my uncle."

Now, Dai Wei was the prime suspect in Nian Cheng’s eyes, without any doubt.

Uncle Lin Tai had clearly disappeared that afternoon, yet Dai Wei claimed he had seen his uncle, who was still serving as the captain during the patrol? The notion was absurd.

Of course, logically speaking, it was implausible for Dai Wei to say such a thing—as if he didn’t speak, nobody would know that an "unknown entity" from within the mist was mixed into the squad.

But now, Nian Cheng couldn’t afford to worry about that much. If Dai Wei really couldn’t provide a reasonable explanation, in the worst-case scenario, he would have to choose to sacrifice Dai Wei.

Dai Wei’s parents were currently missing, but he had already questioned Dylan, and Dylan could confirm that there was absolutely no incident involving their father taking Dai Wei to see his uncle with the cured meat.

"At that time, a house appeared in front of us, half-shrouded in White Mist..."

...

"Later... I heard a voice within the White Mist... It was Li Sheng’s voice..."

Upon hearing this, Nian Cheng’s gaze sharpened as he said, "This matter, Uncle Jia Yan and I have discussed, and indeed, this is what you said. Do you mean, Li Sheng was calling for help from within the mist?"

"Yes, later I indeed recognized it was Li Sheng’s voice!"

"After so many years, you still remember Li Sheng’s voice?"

"Brother Li Sheng’s voice is quite unique..."

Upon hearing this, Nian Cheng fell silent.

Indeed.

Just as Dai Wei said.

Li Sheng’s personality was too gentle, even somewhat timid, his voice even had a slightly feminine touch. On this point, he was the complete opposite of He Yun.

"And then?"

"Then..."

As he continued the story, finally, he mentioned something odd about Su Wenqing.

"At that time, Su Wenqing’s voice during the roll call sounded strange..."

"I will confirm this with the others."

At this moment, Nian Cheng felt overwhelmed.

Was what Dai Wei said actually true?

Indeed, the mist had the ability to alter human memory—there was no doubt about that. But why could Dai Wei alone retain his memory unaffected by changes? That was a bit too far-fetched, wasn’t it?

Additionally, there was Su Wenqing. Because of Su Wenxin, Nian Cheng didn’t have much fondness for Su Wenqing, but he couldn’t just conclude it was Su Wenqing based on that alone.

"I will question the others again."

Stepping out of his room, he saw Ge Jiayan emerging from another and immediately approached him.

"Uncle Jiayan, what’s the situation?"

"I’ve asked them over again," Ge Jiayan, too, was holding a porcelain doll, "The results are the same as before. Including Ruping, she said that someone had... decapitated her brother..."

As he spoke, Ge Jiayan couldn’t help but start sobbing.

"Uncle Jiayan, we need to give the villagers an explanation soon," Nian Cheng’s face grew even uglier. "The fog is spreading at a terrifying speed this time. By tonight, even patrolling will become a life-threatening task."

"Sigh..."

Ge Jiayan looked at the porcelain doll in his hand and said, "It’s a pity, all the porcelain dolls will melt away and vanish by the next day. Otherwise, if each villager had a doll, perhaps it could fend off the White Mist."

"If among the suspects there were He Yun and Su Wenxin, that would be ideal!"

Nian Cheng felt a deep resentment.

If he could sacrifice that scum He Yun to save the entire village, it would be killing two birds with one stone, utterly perfect!

"Nian Cheng, let me make this clear first, you can’t touch Dongshan and Chang Min without evidence!"

"Jiang Shan is off-limits too, his father is the village official."

"Right, he’s out of the question too..."

Suddenly, Nian Cheng felt his heart tremble.

He seriously considered whether he should kill one of the nine suspects, an innocent person.

"Back then..."

"The village chief and I did the same thing back then."

"What did you do at that time?"

"We chose... to push one into the mist."

So...

Did he also have to push someone into the dense fog?

Dai Wei and Su Wenqing, sacrificing one of them could neatly solve the village’s current problem.

"However, Nian Cheng," Ge Jiayan added another sentence, "Even if He Yun really is one of the suspects, you absolutely cannot kill him. I heard that previously you colluded with Zhiqiang and Lu Rui to try to kill He Yun, right? But instead, Lu Rui and Zhiqiang died. I’ve already hushed this up, no one will talk nonsense, and I’ve promised He Yun that you won’t try to..."

"Uncle Jiayan, why do even you talk like this? Just because He Yun is a doctor, we should indulge him? The village doesn’t even have decent medical equipment; even if he were Hua Tuo reincarnated, what good would he do?"

"Anyway, you cannot kill He Yun. Absolutely not!" Ge Jiayan reminded him, "Your brother kept He Yun alive for your own good."

"Why exactly is that? For my own good? How can you say that?"

"The village chief made an agreement with He Yun. I can’t tell you what the agreement is, but keeping He Yun alive is to your benefit."

Hearing this only deepened his confusion.

To his benefit?

And an agreement was made with the village chief for this purpose?

How could that be?

He thought for a moment when suddenly an idea flashed through his mind.

Looking at Ge Jiayan before him, he hastily asked, "Uncle Jiayan, could it be that He Yun has something to do with me..."

Suddenly, a strange noise came from the other side of the corridor.

It was as if something was being ripped apart.

Ge Jiayan paused, then said, "Nian Cheng, step back..."

"Uncle Jiayan..."

"I’ll see who dares to cause trouble!"

Ge Jiayan, holding the bamboo pole with the porcelain doll in front, advanced step by step towards the source of the noise with the resolve of a man facing death, walking into the corner of the corridor.

Nian Cheng swallowed hard, and after a long while, he saw Ge Jiayan return.

"Uncle Jiayan, are you alright?"

Nian Cheng approached Ge Jiayan cautiously step by step.

Then...

Ge Jiayan’s head neatly fell off from his neck and rolled onto the ground!