When Zhou Qiliang was arrested at the airport, he nearly lost his mind.
He had already bought a ticket abroad and switched to a fake passport. As long as he could leave the country, the mess involving Zhou Man and the Xu Family would not catch up with him for a while.
But the moment he cleared security, members of the Seventh Team pinned him down.
The first thing Zhou Qiliang said was, "I don't know Zhou Man!"
The team member gave him a complicated look.
"We haven't asked you anything yet."
Zhou Qiliang went deathly pale.
He knew he had said the wrong thing.
By the time Lu Wenchuan arrived, Zhou Qiliang had been taken to a temporary interview room at the airport. The man was in his early fifties, his hair disheveled and his forehead covered in sweat. His eyes kept darting toward the door.
As if he were still thinking about how to escape.
Lu Wenchuan pulled out a chair, sat down, and tossed the fake passport onto the table.
"Keeping busy, Mr. Zhou?"
Zhou Qiliang swallowed. "I was just going abroad on business."
Lu Wenchuan nodded. "On business, with a fake passport?"
Zhou Qiliang's lips moved, but no words came out.
Lu Wenchuan placed a sealed bag on the table. Inside was the memory card they had found on Zhou Qiliang.
"Where did this come from?"
Zhou Qiliang's expression changed.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Lu Wenchuan leaned back in his chair, his tone casual. "Why do you people all love that line? 'I don't know,' 'I've never seen it,' 'It has nothing to do with me.' Try something else. I'm sick of hearing it."
Zhou Qiliang's fingers trembled.
The smile faded from Lu Wenchuan's face. "He Xiaoyun is at the Special Investigation Bureau."
Zhou Qiliang jerked his head up.
Lu Wenchuan continued, "She's alive and lucid. We've locked down the Sanatorium's system, and we have records of the money you transferred there every year. You can't get away."
Zhou Qiliang's breathing quickened.
"Zhou Man made me do all of it!"
Lu Wenchuan watched him without saying a word.
As if he had finally found a way to clear himself, Zhou Qiliang rushed on. "It was Zhou Man! She told me to deliver the drugs and arrange the people. I only helped clean up what happened to He Guilan. I didn't kill anyone!"
Lu Wenchuan asked, "Who did?"
Zhou Qiliang froze.
The interview room fell silent.
Lu Wenchuan tapped the table lightly with his fingers. "Zhou Qiliang, I don't have much patience. Either you talk now, or you wait for Xu Zhihan to question you."
Zhou Qiliang's face instantly drained of color.
"Xu Zhihan?"
Lu Wenchuan raised an eyebrow. "Afraid of him?"
Zhou Qiliang said nothing.
Of course he was afraid.
Zhou Man had called him earlier and said Xu Zhihan had woken up, seemed like a different person, and could even see the dead.
At first, Zhou Qiliang had not believed her.
Only after the Sanatorium was sealed off, He Xiaoyun was taken away, and the Special Investigation Bureau intercepted him at the airport did fear begin to sink in.
It was as if Xu Zhihan really had crawled out of his grave to collect what he was owed.
Watching his reaction, Lu Wenchuan gave a soft chuckle.
"Looks like he works better than I do."
Zhou Qiliang hurriedly said, "I'll talk. I'll tell you everything."
Lu Wenchuan raised a hand, signaling a team member to start recording.
Zhou Qiliang closed his eyes briefly, his voice trembling.
"Zhou Man didn't kill He Guilan with her own hands. That day, He Guilan went to see her and said she was going to the police. She also said she had Lin Wan's medication records and photos of Xu An before he was taken away. Zhou Man panicked and told me to find people to take her away."
Lu Wenchuan asked, "Where?"
"The Xu Family Old Residence."
"And then?"
Sweat kept beading on Zhou Qiliang's forehead.
"She refused to hand anything over or say where He Xiaoyun was. Zhou Man was furious and told them to scare her. Later, during the shoving, He Guilan fell into the Old Well in the backyard."
Lu Wenchuan's gaze turned cold.
"Was she still alive when she fell?"
Zhou Qiliang did not dare look at him.
Lu Wenchuan's voice deepened. "Answer me."
"She was." Zhou Qiliang broke down, covering his face. "She was still calling for help. Zhou Man said that if we pulled her out, we'd all be finished."
A deathly silence filled the interview room.
The team member's grip tightened around his pen.
Lu Wenchuan's eyes grew colder by the second.
"So you didn't save her."
Zhou Qiliang nodded, trembling.
"The well was sealed afterward. We told everyone He Guilan had taken the money and left the Xu Family. After I found He Xiaoyun, I sent her to the Sanatorium too."
Lu Wenchuan asked, "What about Lin Wan?"
Zhou Qiliang trembled even harder.
"Zhou Man told me to switch Lin Wan's medication. But those drugs wouldn't kill her right away. They would only make her health deteriorate. The one who really hastened her death was the person the Xu Family brought in."
Lu Wenchuan's gaze shifted. "Who?"
Zhou Qiliang shook his head. "I don't know his name. All I know is that he wore black and a mask. Zhou Man called him 'sir.' He was also the one who arranged for Xu An to be taken into the basement."
The Old Gods Society.
The name came to Lu Wenchuan almost immediately.
"Why was Xu An taken down there?"
Zhou Qiliang's voice was dry. "That man said Xu Zhihan's soul was too unusual, and acting on it directly would cause trouble. First, they had to find someone whose fate line was close to his to take the calamity in his place and stabilize the Xu Family Formation."
Every trace of a smile vanished from Lu Wenchuan's face.
A seven-year-old child had been treated as something to absorb a calamity.
He suddenly recalled Xu Zhihan's expression as he looked at Xu An's Peace Amulet.
Cold and quiet, yet as if something weighed heavily behind his eyes.
Lu Wenchuan asked, "Did Xu Chengyuan know?"
Zhou Qiliang lowered his head.
"He doesn't concern himself with those details."
"I asked whether he knew."
Zhou Qiliang paused for a few seconds, then finally nodded.
"He knew."
The answer was not unexpected.
Yet hearing it still made the air in the interview room grow heavy.
Lu Wenchuan stood and saved the recording.
"Take him away."
Zhou Qiliang shouted in panic, "Captain Lu, I told you everything! I can be a witness. Zhou Man was the mastermind!"
Lu Wenchuan turned to look at him.
"Of course you'll be a witness."
Zhou Qiliang had only just breathed a sigh of relief when Lu Wenchuan added another sentence.
"You'll also go to prison."
Zhou Qiliang's face went ashen.
In the Special Investigation Bureau's medical room, Xu Zhihan finished watching the videos on the memory card.
The video quality was poor.
In the footage, someone led Xu An into the basement by the hand. Red thread was tied around his hand. Seemingly unaware of what was about to happen, he even turned back to glance toward the camera.
The next clip showed Lin Wan's medication records.
Drug names, dosages, replacement dates, recipients' signatures.
Zhou Man.
Zhou Qiliang.
Xu Chengyuan.
All three names had appeared.
After watching, Xu Zhihan remained silent for a long time.
Song Zhixia stood beside him, watching his expression with her brows tightly furrowed.
When Lu Wenchuan entered, he saw Xu Zhihan set down the tablet.
He held out the interview transcript.
"Zhou Qiliang confessed."
Xu Zhihan did not take it immediately.
Lu Wenchuan looked at him. "Zhou Man didn't push He Guilan into the well herself, but she had it sealed. She was also involved in switching Lin Wan's medication. Xu Chengyuan knew about what happened to Xu An."
Xu Zhihan raised his eyes.
"He knew."
The words left his mouth very softly.
Lu Wenchuan gave a quiet sound of assent.
Xu Zhihan suddenly smiled.
It was a faint smile, devoid of warmth.
"He knew his own son was being used as a vessel. He also knew Xu An had been sent into the basement."
Lu Wenchuan fell silent.
Xu Zhihan added, "And he's still living quite comfortably."
No one in the medical room spoke.
After a moment, Xu Zhihan picked up the interview transcript, his tone calm.
"Let Zhou Man see it."
Lu Wenchuan asked, "Now?"
"Now."
Song Zhixia immediately frowned. "What are you planning this time?"
Xu Zhihan looked at her, his voice quiet.
"Let her have one last good night's sleep."
Song Zhixia said, "That doesn't sound like you're going to let her sleep."
Xu Zhihan looked away.
"Then she can stay awake."