Chen Shi guarded the comatose kk as Tao Yueyue also stood beside him. After a while, she blurted out, "The human body is really amazing!"

"Indeed. This time it was an eye-opener."

"Will Uncle kk be okay?"

"Well, nothing should happen. Bad things live for a thousand years[1]. How could such a person die so easily?"

There was a loud cry outside, but the voice seemed very familiar. Chen Shi went out and took a look. Sun Zhen was crying at a person who was pushed out from the emergency room. Chen Shi asked, "Why are you crying? This way!"

Sun Zhen quickly wiped away his tears and said awkwardly, "Wrapped up like that, I thought it was him. I thought he was incurable... How is he?"

"The doctor said he’s out of danger."

This kind of toxin was just a type of algae. It doesn’t spread like a virus. Now that it had been controlled, it would slowly be excreted from the body through his own metabolism and the drugs.

Sun Zhen looked at the unconscious kk. "I shouldn't have told him that I had a dream this morning."

"What's going on?"

"We’re people who walk the path of Jianghu[2]. The biggest taboos in the morning are about dreams, rabbits, tigers, and the like. This kid will definitely resent me when he wakes up.”

"Your reflection point is a bit off. I think it’s my responsibility. I should have reminded him not to go alone."

Tao Yueyue pointed to the infusion bottle. "Uncle Chen, if you inject air into this thing, can it really kill people?"

"It’s fake!" Chen Shi gestured. "Ventral air embolism is not so easily formed. Blood protein itself has the function of carrying air. You have to push a needle that’s long and thick into the blood vessel to form a fatal air embolism."

Sun Zhen commented, "You two are so harmonious. If I asked my dad this kind of question, a slap would come my way."

"Is your dad still alive?"

"He was sent to the crematorium long ago."

"How about your mother?"

"Can we not talk about this in the ward?"

"What should we say then? Will you open the window and shout for his soul to come back?"

"Will that work?"

"I feel that it's the same as madly beating the CPU after the computer encounters a problem."

While the three were chatting nonchalantly, Lin Dongxue sent a text message to ask which hospital he was in. Chen Shi replied telling her they were at the Third People's Hospital. Lin Dongxue said, "We'll be there soon!"

Chen Shi asked the two of them to stay there and not go anywhere. He went to the yard when Lin Dongxue arrived. Lin Dongxue said, "Two findings. There was a woman on the road just now who said that a suspicious person was following her. The characteristics are very similar to Li Xiang, but she discovered him in time so the other party ran away. Then, Captain Peng tested the DNA of the arms and legs of the corpse and found that they came from different bodies. We asked the branches and local police stations. They said that they lost corpses from the mortuary of this hospital two years ago."

"How fast!"

"So, I was wondering if Li Xiang would come here to steal bodies?"

"Let’s go and check it out!"

The mortuary of the hospital was in the corner of the yard. It was but a small room for temporary storage of corpses, which was contracted privately. When the police arrived, they found that the lock had been smashed open. They immediately raised their vigilance and pulled out their guns.

Lin Dongxue slowly pushed the door open. Behind the door was an entryway with another door behind it. The glass on the door was frosted. Through it, a row of iron cabinets could be seen.

The creaking noise when pushing the door open was chilling. The temperature in the room was very low. Here, it had the same kind of push-pull mortuary cabinets with latches on them as the morgue in the basement of the Public Security Bureau. Since Li Xiang had been here before, he must have the tools to open them.

Lin Dongxue asked the manager who came in to pull the mortuary cabinets out. Chen Shi said, "You don't have to open them one by one. You should have registration notes of whichever cabinet holds the bodies of young women, right?"

"There is!"

The manager pulled a cabinet open, but it was empty inside. He was shocked.

Chen Shi said, "Sure enough, he’s been here. He wouldn’t have gone far dragging around a corpse. Hurry and search!”

Everyone searched in the hospital yard until someone found a rusty iron fence broken by someone. There were some icicles scattered on the ground. They chased out from there, got to a road, and looked at the vehicles coming and going. Lin Dongxue dialed for the traffic management department’s phone number to get them to check the surveillance footage at this intersection.

At this time, Chen Shi's mobile phone also rang. Unexpectedly, it was actually Li Xiang who called him. He said gloomily, "Officer Chen, you’re so efficient!"

Chen Shi made a silent gesture towards his surroundings and said to Li Xiang, "I sincerely advise you that there’s still time to surrender. Once we catch you, the nature of the crime will be different.”

"Ha, don't the police ever change their rhetoric? There is a supermarket outside the hospital. I suggest you go and check the surveillance footage there."

After saying that, Li Xiang hung up the phone.

Chen Shi crossed the road, went to the supermarket, and asked to see the surveillance footage. Half an hour ago, Li Xiang came in with a big bag on his back, picked up the mineral water on the rack, fiddled with it in his hands, and put it back again.

Chen Shi found the row of shelves. Sure enough, there were a few bottles of mineral water with pinholes in them that weren’t too noticeable. He immediately called Li Xiang back. Li Xiang said, "Did you see? I put that kind of flagellate in many supermarkets. As long as you stop targeting me, I’ll tell you the address of the places I’ve poisoned every hour. You don’t want to make this a big deal and into a large-scale poisoning incident. You police can’t bear this responsibility, but letting me go is just letting go of a person with a special fetish who is otherwise harmless. Weigh it up yourselves.”

"You want to talk to the police about conditions-"

The phone hung up before Chen Shi finished his sentence. When he called back, he found that the phone had been turned off.

"This bastard!" Chen Shi said.

"Do you want to increase the manpower? Send over SWAT as well?" Lin Dongxue frowned.

"I don't believe that he has this ability. He wouldn’t make it in time. He must be playing with us!" Chen Shi stared at the mineral water bottle for a long time before twisting it open and taking a sip… Lin Dongxue couldn’t even stop him. Chen Shi said, "If I don’t appear abnormal in ten minutes, it proves that he’s playing us!"

"You..." Lin Dongxue was rendered speechless.

"It's okay, this dose won’t affect me." Having said that, Chen Shi was still a little anxious as it was also a gamble.

At this time, Lin Dongxue received a portion of the surveillance footage from the traffic management bureau. In the footage, Li Xiang was carrying a bag and ran out of the hospital with something wrapped in cloth. He quietly turned to a truck parked on the roadside for about ten minutes. Later, the truck drove away.

Lin Dongxue called everyone. "Go, go, go. Keep up with this truck!"

With the cooperation of the traffic management and public security bureau, everyone quickly located the truck. When approaching, there was a traffic jam in front. They saw fire soaring up towards the sky. The police left their cars and ran there. They could only see a truck at the intersection getting burned up.

This was the truck that Li Xiang "rode" on. He ignited the goods inside before he escaped. The truck transported cotton textiles, which could be lit with a lighter. Lin Dongxue said, "This guy is too ruthless!"

Li Xiang’s purpose was to stall the police, so that they couldn’t split up to chase him. Chen Shi looked around. He seemed to see a figure carrying a bag running across the bridge. He immediately called Lin Dongxue and several other police officers to chase after it.

1. People usually use this to say that good people die young, but bad people don’t get the karma they deserve.

2. See glossary for WW’s explanation on this.