Yu Jianguo remained deeply troubled by the matter. He believed that Zhao Pengcheng's changes were entirely due to the psychological distortion caused by revenge killing.
"I saw that bastard go to the hospital. If I hadn't told Pengcheng, if I hadn't said I wanted revenge, Pengcheng wouldn't have ended up like that, and none of what happened afterward would have happened. He wouldn't be in jail now," Yu Jianguo sobbed.
Qingmu asked, "You've already avenged that person after they died, so why did you commit more crimes later?"
Yu Jianguo said, "It's all my fault. I was bewitched and encouraged him to do it. This is a quick way to make money. A kidney can sell for two or three hundred thousand yuan, and some people who need it urgently can get it for even more."
Qingmu said, "Kidney donors need to be matched; what's the point of just taking a kidney?"
Yu Jianguo said, "The tests for kidney matching are very simple. A blood test and a lymphocyte toxicology test are enough. Pengcheng at the hospital, and people won't suspect anything if he gives a patient two test orders. There are countless people waiting for kidney transplants in hospitals across the country, and many of them find kidneys through the black market. People who specialize in this industry collect information on kidney demand and make it into tables. I have dealings with them and got a list from them. There are thousands of people seeking kidneys, and there's bound to be a match. Even if there's no match, some people are desperate and will try anything. When a patient is in dire need of a transplant and can't delay any longer, they'll still try even if there's no match, just at a lower price."
Qingmu frowned as he listened and said, "But according to the statements taken at the police station, your second attack occurred several years after the first. Why is that?"
Yu Jianguo said, "Because... I'm short of money."
Qingmu said, "You're lying!"
Yu Jianguo shuddered in fright. "No, I didn't lie. I said the same thing in court. Because I was short of money, I encouraged Pengcheng to do a few more heists together."
But Zhao Pengcheng doesn't say that.
"That's because he defended me. He took the blame to protect me. Actually, I was the one who killed him; I was the mastermind!"
Yu Jianguo's voice grew louder, and he became somewhat agitated. The prison guards in the distance glanced at them and took a few steps closer.
Qingmu knew that Yu Jianguo was intentionally protecting Zhao Pengcheng and wouldn't tell the truth about some things. Besides, this was a prison after all, and even though he had made arrangements with his superiors, all conversations would be recorded.
He stood up and started pacing around the room until he reached the prison guard, who pulled out a cigarette and offered it to him. "Want a smoke?"
The prison guard quickly waved his hand and said, "Smoking is not allowed during working hours."
Qingmu nodded, said "Thank you for your hard work," and walked back.
The sound of footsteps echoed in the visiting room. The prison guard looked around the four corners of the room and the ceiling. Usually, the footsteps in the room weren't this loud, nor did they echo. Today was particularly strange, as if the room was very empty.
Yu Jianguo was even more confused than the prison guards. What he heard was not only an echo, but also a vibration like the beating of gongs and drums, as if every step Qingmu took had the force of a thousand pounds, shaking the house and his heart.
Qingmu handed him a cigarette, which he took groggily and lit it using the lighter Qingmu offered. A puff of smoke came out of his mouth, went back in through his nose, swirled in his lungs, turned into white mist, and dissipated into the air.
You're lying, aren't you?
Yu Jianguo heard Qingmu ask.
"You lied," he said.
He didn't know why he had lied earlier, or why he was telling the truth now; he just answered whatever they asked.
"Tell me, why did you end up selling your kidneys later?"
Yu Jianguo said, "Later, Pengcheng came to me and asked if I could still contact those who wanted to buy kidneys. I asked him why, and he said he needed the money urgently. I thought he was going to sell his own kidney, and I was shocked. I said that even if I was short of money, I couldn't sell my kidney. Pengcheng said he wouldn't sell his own kidney, but someone else's, like last time. He wanted to do that kind of deal again, and he said he had already found a target. That person was a complete scoundrel, he deserved to die! I knew he was a sensible person, so I said I would give it a try, and that's how I contacted the organ traffickers. We did it again, the process was the same as last time. He only handled the surgery, and I handled the body and the kidney."
When was that?
"After the Lunar New Year, around April 20th, before May Day."
"Has Zhao Pengcheng changed at all before that?"
"Didn't I already tell you about the change? It's that I broke up with Xiaohui before the New Year; he had some problems in that area."
"No other abnormalities?"
"Other unusual things..." Yu Jianguo took a deep drag on his cigarette, seemingly sorting through his memories, "Even if there were any, they were probably caused by that incident."
"Tell me."
"Tell me, well... there was a period of time when I noticed Pengcheng seemed a bit distracted, constantly going to the neurology department. I thought he'd become interested in women again, maybe he'd taken a fancy to that pretty new nurse in the neurology department, but I know he's shy, so I wanted to help him out. But he said he wasn't interested in anyone, he just wanted to learn neurosurgery. I was thinking, what would a general surgeon like him want to do research that? It wouldn't help him get a promotion, but what he said didn't seem like a lie. I guess that's unusual."
Upon realizing the connection, Qingmu asked, "Wasn't there a person in a vegetative state who came to the neurology department back then? The one who was later killed by Zhao Pengcheng?"
Yu Jianguo was startled, first saying yes, then no, and then explaining, "That person was indeed transferred to another hospital around that time, but he wasn't in a vegetative state then."
When did you start to become a vegetable?
"It seems he held on for about two months, then he became a vegetable."
"You weren't present when Zhao Pengcheng killed the person in a vegetative state?"
"Yes, I wasn't there."
"Why?"
"I didn't know about this. He didn't tell me, he just did it, and only handed the kidney over to me after it was all done."
"How did he explain this to you at the time?"
"He said he wanted to practice brain surgery because he thought the person could be saved surgically, but the surgery failed and the person died, so he simply removed the person's internal organs."
Do you believe what he said?
"I don't know either."
"If you don't know, it means you don't believe it; you're doubting it," Qingmu guided.
"Yes, I have my doubts," Yu Jianguo said, "Because Pengcheng acted very strangely during that period. And books."
"What's so strange about it?"
"A normal man, with a beautiful and virtuous girlfriend, suddenly loses interest in sex and never touches a woman again. He was originally a kind person, not greedy, but suddenly thought of making money by selling a kidney. Even if that dead guy is a bastard, that dead, vegetative person isn't. Also, he's a meticulous person, and the method of arranging to meet someone at a hotel to retrieve a kidney through online booking would obviously be exposed. The police would find out as soon as they investigated; he's practically courting death."
Qingmu guessed that Zhao Pengcheng was deliberately courting death, his purpose being to use selling his kidney to cover up his true intention of killing the vegetative patient. He didn't care about his own life or death at all.
"Do you think he might actually be short of money?" Qingmu asked.
Yu Jianguo shook his head and said, "He doesn't lack money; he donated it all to the Foundation."
Which Foundation?
One of them is the Kidney Love Public Welfare Fund.
"Anything else?"
"There should be more. He sold the house, and he donated the money he had saved for his wedding, as if he were preparing for his own funeral."
In the case file, the police traced the whereabouts of Zhao Pengcheng's assets and only found that they were transferred overseas, but they could not find out who received them. Qingmu guessed that the money was probably transferred to the Dream Foundation.
It's pretty much confirmed that Zhao Pengcheng is an alien. The only question is, he's just an ordinary associate chief surgeon with no money or connections, so how did the Parasitic Consciousness find him? Was it just to kill that vegetative patient? But according to the timeline, when Zhao Pengcheng was invaded, that person wasn't in a vegetative state yet, nor had they been sent to Wuzhong City No. 1 Hospital.