Chapter 222 Turning Herself In

Guanyan Court.

The same comfortable single armchair seat. The same premium West Lake Longjing tea.

But this time, Old He's state of mind was completely different.

The three days—the grace period he had begged Qi Zhifei for—had arrived. If Xu Ruyi still refused to turn herself in today, the police might take action against her.

Of course, Xu Ruyi did not know this.

As usual, she received him calmly, her face expressionless. Amidst the curling tea fragrance on the table, she erected an intangible barrier, guarding her boundaries, sheltering those she needed to protect.

"Is Little Pear at school? What about Auntie Feng?" Old He looked at the empty house—because it was being sold, many things had been moved out. With the daily necessities gone, the whole place had lost much of its vitality. Combined with the rainy weather and poor light, it felt even more gloomy and oppressive.

Such a wonderful home had ultimately fallen completely apart.

"Auntie Feng went to buy groceries. Captain He, please have some tea," Xu Ruyi said politely but distantly. "If you're here to repeat what you said last time, please leave after your tea. I'm very busy."

Her attitude remained resolute.

Old He held his tea cup, staring intently at Xu Ruyi's cold face—he now fully understood what lay behind the barrier she guarded. But the more he understood, the sadder he felt inside.

She had sacrificed too much to defeat Qin Guan.

To be precise, they had.

"Qi Donghao's university is over two thousand kilometers away. However, his best friend during university is from a suburban county in the neighboring city, only about sixty kilometers from our urban district."

Old He set down his tea cup and took out the investigation materials from his bag. "That friend's name is Song Xiaobin."

The moment the name left Old He's mouth, Xu Ruyi's eyelids twitched.

Old He pushed Song Xiaobin's photo towards Xu Ruyi.

While investigating Qi Donghao and Cui Yuan, Old He had combed through both men's circles of friends and classmates. At first, this Song Xiaobin hadn't drawn much of his attention—the guy had returned to his hometown after graduation, passed the civil service exam, and was now a high school teacher. His only connection to the case was that a little over a month ago, strictly speaking, on the day Qin Guan claimed the suitcase was discarded at the construction site, Qi Donghao had called him to catch up.

However, Qi Donghao had contacted quite a few old classmates he was close to that day.

Because of this, Old He had initially set this person aside and hadn't dug deeper.

It wasn't until a few nights ago, when a smart washer-dryer his ex-wife sent over ruined one of his silk pajama sets, that Old He suddenly realized he had missed a crucial clue.

"Song Xiaobin's uncle runs a chemical factory locally. That factory has a standard high-temperature refining workshop."

Xu Ruyi froze.

This was the answer to the riddle.

Old He sighed—this group of young people, desperate to nail the perpetrator, to prevent him from escaping, had resorted to taking Qi Min into that refining workshop.

The workshop was filled with the pungent smell of chemicals and extremely high temperatures. Old He couldn't bear it for even five minutes inside; he was drenched in sweat and felt suffocated.

"They stayed there for a whole night."

One night. With the lights off, only the furnace blazing, they sat through the night, accompanying Qi Min lying inside the suitcase.

Song Xiaobin's uncle was completely unaware even when Old He tracked him down. "In my workshop? There was indeed a strange day. The furnace was scalding hot early in the morning! I scolded the workers fiercely; they must have forgotten to turn it off!"

He had no idea his nephew had stolen his keys.

Of course, Song Xiaobin, who stole the keys, only knew part of the story.

"Donghao is my best friend. He just borrowed the workshop. He didn't tell me what he was going to do, and I didn't ask. I didn't need to. He never does anything bad. I trust him. Why didn't I tell you? Yes, why should I tell you? It wasn't a big deal. Is it a crime not to say anything?"

He was covering for his good friend.

His good friend Qi Donghao, from start to finish, never let him get involved.

Qi Donghao's girlfriend was also kept in the dark.

The girl studying forensic medicine knew nothing about any of it.

"Did he ask me about corpse decomposition? I don't remember. But sometimes he would look at my textbooks. Hehe, he said it would give us more to talk about."

"Whether asking his girlfriend or reading professional books, Qi Donghao learned that high temperatures accelerate corpse decomposition. Sustained high temperatures can make a body exhibit bloating and decay that would normally take one or even two weeks to appear. So, when you all decided to nail Qin Guan for the 'Qi Min disappearance case', he came up with this method."

Only this method could alter the state of the corpse in such a short time.

"But the process of carrying this out was a tremendous ordeal for each of you," Old He looked at Xu Ruyi. Xu Ruyi clenched her teeth, but her eyes were already reddening, and her lips trembled.

Yes, a huge, terrifying ordeal.

Taking the suitcase containing Qi Min to the chemical factory, sitting in the workshop filled with acrid smells, silently watching her change inside the suitcase.

Early the next morning, having stayed up all night, they covered the suitcase with a bag, loaded it back into the car, and drove hundreds of kilometers to the Lakeside Charm Hotel.

The whole way, they had to endure the foul stench seeping through the bag and their own dread.

That night, outside the Lakeside Charm Hotel, in the pitch darkness, they dragged the case into the water, inch by inch, moving it to the precise location…

This long, specific process of implementation had, for so many days, been like a heavy black shadow pressing on Xu Ruyi's heart, on everyone's heart.

Each one of them endured extreme fear and immense psychological torment.

Because none of them had ever done anything so horrifying.

Afterwards, Donghao and Cui Yuan vomited repeatedly. Both fell seriously ill.

Cui Yuan, two years older and stronger in physique, was bedridden for three days. Donghao was worse off. This usually sunny, cheerful young man couldn't get up for a week. He lost a lot of weight and recently sank into endless insomnia and nightmares.

Xiao Zhi too. Although he didn't participate directly, after completing the "corpse" part, he completely bombed an exam.

And Sister Xiaoyu—her mother had assisted throughout the night they discarded the suitcase. Afterwards, both mother and daughter came down with fevers.

Her mother has now resigned from the Lakeside Charm Hotel and temporarily returned to her hometown to lay low. For so many days, she has suffered insomnia every night.

Sister Xiaoyu too. Even after Qin Guan's first trial verdict came out, she still couldn't sleep at night. When she does fall asleep, she has nightmares. Both her children noticed something was wrong. "Mom, you've changed. You've become so strange. You don't smile anymore."

…

They were all ruined by this.

Like her, they lived under the sun, but their hearts were shrouded in gloom.

"Ultimately, you are all good kids. This immense pressure, you cannot bear it. If you don't release it in time, it might follow you for the rest of your lives," Old He said softly.

Evil, in essence, is a black hole. A bottomless black hole. When you think you can control it, manipulate it… you are actually already being consumed by it.

…

Tears were now rolling down Xu Ruyi's face—nailing Qin Guan was what she desperately wanted; she was willing to pay any price. But she did not want them to bear it for her.

She had to turn herself in. She must turn herself in.

This had been her firm decision these past days. She would shoulder everything alone. She was the mastermind; they were just misled by her for a moment…

"I… I am willing—"

As soon as Xu Ruyi began to speak, the tightly closed door of the adjacent bedroom was pulled open. Gong Xiaoyu strode out quickly. "Captain He! I'll turn myself in with you! This matter, from beginning to end, was my idea! I incited Ruyi! I dragged them all into it!"

"Sister Xiaoyu!" Xu Ruyi stood up, trying to push Gong Xiaoyu aside. But Gong Xiaoyu was stronger; with one hand, she shoved Xu Ruyi away. "I did it! I came here today to say goodbye to Ruyi, then go turn myself in. Everything at home, I've already arranged."

She truly had arranged it. Before coming, she had a long talk with her husband, who supported her decision.

"Gong Xiaoyu! What nonsense are you talking?! This has nothing to do with you!" Xu Ruyi was furious. "You get back in there! Get out right now!"

"Xu Ruyi! You stay out of this!" Gong Xiaoyu wouldn't budge an inch. "As if you could pull this off! What are you babbling about?! I did it! I suspected something when Uncle Xu passed away, didn't I?! I started planning from that very day! Everything was me! Stay out of it!"

Old He sat motionless, his nose stinging, wanting to cry.

He sniffed, about to speak, when his phone rang.

It was Xiao Wu.

"Boss! Someone has come to the station to turn themselves in for the Qin Guan case!"