Translator: CinderTL
"Both children were killed by feral dogs?" Lin Wan'er asked in surprise.
"That's right," Huai Yi sighed, looking at her. "I can't figure it out either."
Indeed.
News of children being attacked by dogs is relatively common, but fatalities are extremely rare in Huai Yi's experience.
Moreover, such a low-probability event had happened to Xiang Nan twice.
If there wasn't something fishy about it, it would be too far-fetched.
What's even stranger is that both of Xiang Nan's husbands had committed suicide.
The difference was that the first husband merely killed himself, while the second husband, Yin Zhenliang, killed Xiang Nan before taking his own life.
Both chose the same method of death: jumping from a building.
Could there be some connection here? If a child had been killed by a feral dog, logically, the parents would be on high alert, even blaming themselves for the child's death and suffering severe psychological trauma.
How could it happen a second time?
It defies common sense.
Unless... Lin Wan'er furrowed her brows. Unless it was all planned.
All within Xiang Nan's expectations.
"You've thought of it too, haven't you?" Huai Yi looked at Lin Wan'er with a slightly troubled expression, indicating that his speculation aligned with hers.
Perhaps in this case of confinement, Xiang Nan's role wasn't as simple as the victim they had initially assumed.
After a moment of thought, Lin Wan'er raised her head and spoke in a hushed voice, "Maybe Yin Zhenliang wasn't wrong. Xiang Nan might indeed have mental issues, which is why he used his connections to confine her in this hospital."
"The deaths of both children are related to Xiang Nan."
"There's nothing wrong with Yin Zhenliang. All those rumors about him having affairs with wealthy women are just baseless gossip, fabricated by those who don't know the truth."
"His so-called excessive control over the children and Xiang Nan, hiring nannies to monitor them, was actually to prevent Xiang Nan from harming the children."
Near the villa, the old man in the wheelchair had once mentioned seeing scars on the children of Yin Zhenliang and Xiang Nan.
Now it seemed that the person who left those scars was likely not Yin Zhenliang, but the psychologically twisted Xiang Nan.
"Yin Zhenliang discovered the hidden side of Xiang Nan and, through investigation, learned the truth about the children's deaths."
"The fact that he sent her to the hospital for treatment instead of directly to the police station shows that he still had genuine feelings for her. Otherwise..."
Lin Wan'er didn't finish the sentence, as it was unnecessary.
"I've considered this too," Huai Yi said quickly. "But there's one thing I can't figure out. Since Yin Zhenliang had already chosen to confine Xiang Nan in the hospital, why did he come back to kill her?"
"If he wanted to kill her from the start, there was no need to send her to the hospital."
"Wouldn't that be redundant?"
Huai Yi's words carried a strong implication. If their general assumption was correct, something must have triggered Yin Zhenliang, leading him to rush to the hospital to commit the murder.
"It was because Yin Zhenliang found out Xiang Nan was pregnant," Lin Wan'er said without hesitation.
Yes.
That must have been it.
Huai Yi nodded and said, "From the clues I've gathered so far, Xiang Nan, at least in the eyes of others, was a beautiful and gentle woman."
"To get someone like that admitted to the hospital, there must have been some internal maneuvering within the hospital."
"Zhang Zhaowei would be a perfect fit," Lin Wan'er said, raising her eyes.
"Exactly. Moreover, I found out that Zhang Zhaowei and Yin Zhenliang have known each other for a long time," Huai Yi explained. "Their relationship wasn't particularly close, but in the period leading up to Xiang Nan's admission to the hospital, their contact suddenly became frequent."
Hearing this, Lin Wan'er's gaze toward Huai Yi subtly changed.
How did he manage to obtain such specific information in such a short time?
Lin Wan'er, who had long navigated the gray areas between the city's black and white worlds, had a sensitivity to intelligence that far surpassed that of ordinary people.
She was well aware of the difficulty in obtaining such detailed information.
Seemingly noticing Lin Wan'er's doubt, Huai Yi forced a helpless smile and sighed, "Miss Lin, I know you're skeptical about the source of my information, but please believe me, every word I've said is true."
He slowly lifted the hem of his shirt, and Lin Wan'er saw that his abdomen was wrapped in thick layers of gauze, part of which was already stained with blood.
The bandaging was crude, done with cheap, wide transparent tape hastily wrapped around the gauze to secure it, much like packaging a parcel.
Huai Yi peeled off a layer of tape and removed the gauze, revealing three bloody wounds that had nearly torn open his lower abdomen.
The wounds were neatly aligned, as if clawed by a beast like a lion or tiger.
But how could there be such a beast here?
Only a Ghost.
"While I was gathering clues, a Ghost disguised as a police officer attacked me," Huai Yi said, still visibly shaken. "Fortunately, I saw through it at the last moment."
No wonder Lin Wan'er had noticed that Huai Yi looked pale and his breathing was uneven when she first saw him—he was injured.
"So you came here to find evidence of the connection between Yin Zhenliang and Zhang Zhaowei?" Lin Wan'er asked.
"Yes," Huai Yi nodded seriously and continued, "There's one more thing that supports our speculation."
"Xiang Nan's attitude toward the medical staff and everyone she came into contact with at the hospital."
"Most of the time, her mental state was very stable," Huai Yi had noticed that in Blind Zheng's recollections, Xiang Nan left a very positive impression.
"Think about it, if she were truly a woman who had suffered greatly, her mental state wouldn't be like this."
Since the evidence they were looking for wasn't found, Lin Wan'er took Huai Yi and left, while Jiang Cheng and the others were still trapped on the basement level.
As they walked down the corridor, strange sounds began to reach their ears.
The sounds weren't loud, but in the silent hallway, they quickly became noticeable.
"What's that sound?" Huai Yi looked nervous, his eyes darting around in search of the source.
It was a very faint, almost imperceptible scraping sound.
After listening for a while, it gave off an eerie feeling.
But soon, the sound disappeared.
Lin Wan'er stopped and looked at the room beside her. Huai Yi walked over and followed her gaze to the door, which bore the number 906.
This was Room 906.
The one Jiang Cheng had mentioned.
It was said to house a nurse who had gone mad, locked away for over a decade.
Huai Yi stared at the Gate, then shifted his gaze to Lin Wan'er and asked in a low voice, "Did the sound just now come from this Gate?"
Unexpectedly, after just a moment, Lin Wan'er shook her head. "I don't know, but..." She looked at the Gate and lowered her voice, "Someone just opened this Gate."
Sorry, brothers, I had an urgent matter yesterday. I'm back to updating now, and I'll make up for what I missed as soon as possible.
(End of the Chapter)
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