Chapter Summaries

Qin Ming entered the detention center as prisoner 1078 and was relentlessly abused by Zheng Qi while the guards ignored his pleas for help. By the end, Qin Ming was physically broken and trapped in a purgatory that seemed only to be beginning.

• Guard Wang put Qin Ming in cell 107, where Zheng Qi and the other inmates sized him up.
• Zheng Qi kicked Qin Ming, forced him to serve water from a mop basin, and humiliated him in front of the cell.
• Zheng Qi and his lackeys repeatedly stole Qin Ming’s food, made him clean the toilet, and beat and degraded him.
• Qin Ming tried to resist and seek help, but Zheng Qi retaliated and the guards turned a blind eye.
• Qin Ming wasted away under the abuse, losing his confidence and hope as the torment continued.

Qin Ming endured relentless abuse in Cell 107 until he considered confessing to escape. During a routine inspection, Prison Guard Li secretly signaled that Mr. Wei’s network was abandoning him, leaving Qin Ming relieved that his torment in the detention center might soon end.

• Zheng Qi subjected Qin Ming to daily beatings, humiliation, forced labor, and deprivation in Cell 107.
• Qin Ming’s mental defenses collapsed, and he began considering confessing to charges to escape the detention center.
• Prison Guard Li discreetly tapped two fingers against his thigh three times as he passed Qin Ming during an inspection.
• Qin Ming recognized the secret signal as Mr. Wei’s instruction to prepare for abandonment and inferred that the police had found a crucial breakthrough.
• After Prison Guard Li left, Qin Ming felt a measure of relief that he might soon leave Cell 107, despite the uncertain fate ahead.

Wang Lei caught Prison Guard Li making a covert signal and beat him after Li tried to shove him. Li complained to Deputy Director Zhao Jianguo, who ordered him out and feared that an unseen power had reached inside the detention center.

• Prison Guard Li finished signaling and continued his inspection, but Wang Lei blocked his path and questioned his finger movements.
• Prison Guard Li threatened Wang Lei and tried to shove him, so Wang Lei struck him with a series of forceful blows aimed at places unlikely to leave visible marks.
• Wang Lei warned Prison Guard Li to keep his hands in check and left him collapsed in the corridor.
• Prison Guard Li went to Zhao Jianguo and blamed Wang Lei for attacking him, omitting his own actions and the signal.
• Zhao Jianguo refused to hear Prison Guard Li's complaint and ordered him out, then feared that an unseen hand had infiltrated the detention center.

Expert Chen confronted Qin Ming with evidence of financial irregularities, questionable treatment decisions, and the harm to his family, breaking down his silence. Qin Ming ended the interrogation by confessing that he had done it all.

• Expert Chen calmly questioned Qin Ming about his background and his daughter, then described unusual medical spending at Ankang Hospital.
• Expert Chen linked Zhao Cheng’s accounts to shell companies and costly surgeries in Qin Ming’s department.
• Expert Chen said the preliminary assessment found insufficient grounds for Hou Xiaoya’s lymphoma diagnosis and subsequent treatment.
• Qin Ming’s resolve crumbled as he thought about his family and the evidence against him.
• Qin Ming raised his head and confessed, saying, “I admit it. ...I did all of it.”

Captain Li learned that Qin Ming had a valid bipolar disorder diagnosis, leaving the police unable to dismiss his claim or bypass a forensic psychiatric evaluation. Enraged by his powerlessness, Captain Li grabbed Qin Ming, who taunted him that the law would protect him even if he attacked again.

• Captain Li left the interrogation room after an officer summoned him to the corridor.
• The officer showed Captain Li Qin Ming’s hospital records, which documented a bipolar disorder diagnosis and nearly two years of intermittent treatment.
• Captain Li called the records fake, but the officer said the diagnosis appeared legally valid and they had no direct evidence of forgery.
• Overcome by anger, Captain Li punched the wall, injuring his hand, then stormed back into the interrogation room and seized Qin Ming by the collar.
• Qin Ming calmly mocked Captain Li, saying that even if he punched him a hundred times, the police could not lock him up, and Captain Li restrained himself from striking him.

Qin Ming confessed to his actions, then claimed a psychiatric diagnosis made him unable to understand or control them. Expert Chen challenged the excuse, while Captain Li ordered Qin Ming’s medical history checked; Qin Ming remained confident that his certificate would shield him.

• Qin Ming said he had done everything, then claimed he had bipolar disorder with delusional symptoms and could not remember or control his actions during episodes.
• Expert Chen questioned whether Qin Ming’s alleged episodes explained his treatment of Hou Xiaoya and the transfers involving Zhao Cheng.
• Qin Ming dismissed the financial records and argued that his illness could account for his behavior at Ankang Hospital.
• Captain Li ordered an officer to verify Qin Ming’s psychiatric records and diagnosis.
• Qin Ming privately relied on a certificate arranged by Mr. Wei as a defense against prosecution.
• Expert Chen explained that a forensic assessment would have to determine Qin Ming’s capacity at each specific act, but Qin Ming continued to insist he had been a madman.

Lin Feng learned that Qin Ming was using a bipolar disorder diagnosis to seek a psychiatric evaluation and avoid criminal liability, but he refused Lawyer Zhou Wenyuan’s offer to influence the evaluation. He decided to let Qin Ming stay in the psychiatric hospital, where he might encounter the genuinely dangerous Chen Meijiao.

• Lawyer Zhou Wenyuan told Lin Feng that Qin Ming had obtained a bipolar disorder diagnosis and could use it to avoid criminal punishment.
• Lawyer Zhou Wenyuan suggested asking Du Mingyuan to influence the forensic psychiatric evaluation, but Lin Feng refused.
• Lin Feng mocked Qin Ming for believing a psychiatric hospital would be a safer refuge than detention.
• Lü Yi reacted fearfully at the thought of Qin Ming encountering Chen Meijiao, a dangerous patient at Du Mingyuan’s hospital.
• Lin Feng decided to let Qin Ming remain in the psychiatric hospital until he understood madness and despair.

Qin Ming arrived at the Municipal Mental Health Center believing his staged psychiatric symptoms had secured his escape from prison. Instead, staff at the intensive care ward stripped, restrained, and confined him, leaving him terrified and powerless.

• Qin Ming recalled the training arranged by Mr. Wei and believed his performance had secured a favorable forensic assessment.
• Qin Ming was transferred to the Municipal Mental Health Center and taken to its Intensive Care and Behavior Correction Ward.
• Two orderlies stripped Qin Ming for an invasive search and identified him as patient 7409.
• The orderlies dressed Qin Ming in a restraint garment, strapped him to a bed, and put him in a diaper.
• An orderly threatened to sedate Qin Ming with a drug that could irreversibly damage his central nervous system, then locked him alone in the padded room.

Qin Ming was moved from solitary confinement to a shared room, where Chen Meijiao’s gentle company gave him hope. That night, he woke to find Chen Meijiao standing by the barred window with an inhuman, scrutinizing gaze.

• Attendants moved Qin Ming to a two-bed room and loosened his restraints slightly.
• Chen Meijiao introduced himself and comforted Qin Ming as Qin Ming spoke about his suffering.
• Qin Ming fell asleep believing Chen Meijiao’s company would help him endure the hospital.
• Qin Ming woke to the sound of scraping metal and saw that Chen Meijiao’s bed was empty and his restraints had been undone.
• Qin Ming spotted Chen Meijiao by the window and saw his eyes gleaming with cold, inhuman scrutiny.

The official investigation ruled that Qin Ming was not criminally liable because a bipolar episode had severely impaired his ability to recognize or control his actions, provoking public outrage. After Monkey poured out his anger and despair to Lin Feng over drinks, Lin Feng stopped him beside a black sedan and signaled him to get in.

• The authorities announced that Qin Ming would receive compulsory treatment and that Ankang Hospital would face administrative penalties for management failures.
• The ruling sparked widespread anger and accusations that Qin Ming and the hospital had escaped meaningful punishment.
• Monkey saw the announcement while helping his parents and silently broke down over the ruling.
• Monkey called Lin Feng to drink with him and vented his grief, anger, and helplessness about Xiaoya and the outcome.
• Lin Feng listened, paid the bill, and helped the drunken Monkey leave the food stall.
• As Monkey tried to head home, Lin Feng called him over beside a black sedan and motioned for him to get inside.

Lin Feng brought the drunk Monkey to a mental health center and showed him Qin Ming, the doctor who had nearly killed Monkey’s younger sister. The chapter ended with Lin Feng asking whether Monkey wanted to go inside and beat Qin Ming.

• Lin Feng took Monkey in a sedan toward the outskirts, refusing to explain their destination.
• Monkey discovered they had arrived at a municipal mental health center, where staff silently let Lin Feng pass without question.
• Lin Feng led Monkey through the facility to the Intensive Care and Behavioral Correction Ward, where staff continued to avoid interfering with them.
• Monkey looked through a room’s observation window and recognized Qin Ming, restrained and confined inside.
• Lin Feng smiled at Monkey and asked if he wanted to go in and beat Qin Ming.

Monkey confronted Qin Ming about nearly killing his sister Xiaoya, but Qin Ming was too traumatized to answer until Lin Feng brought Chen Meijiao into the room. Terrified of Chen Meijiao, Qin Ming broke down and revealed that Wei Guangyuan had ordered him to act.

• Monkey saw Qin Ming's injuries and demanded to know why he had harmed Xiaoya.
• Qin Ming muttered incoherently and ignored Monkey's questions.
• Lin Feng called Chen Meijiao into the room, and Qin Ming reacted with intense terror.
• Lin Feng demanded that Qin Ming tell him everything, and Qin Ming confessed that Wei Guangyuan had ordered the attack.

Qin Ming confessed that Ankang Hospital used its medical operations to target vulnerable people for illegal organ harvesting, disguising murders as medical deaths. Lin Feng suspected Xiaoya had been singled out for a specific match, but Qin Ming collapsed before revealing why.

• Qin Ming confessed to price hikes during surgery, overtreatment, false advertising, and financial crimes at Ankang Hospital.
• Qin Ming described how the hospital screened vulnerable people, matched them with VIP transplant clients, manipulated their treatment, and obtained misleading consent forms.
• Qin Ming explained that the hospital removed organs from living or dying patients, concealed the deaths, and paid families to discourage questions.
• Monkey feared that Xiaoya would have become a donor if Lin Feng had not intervened.
• Lin Feng asked whether Xiaoya had matched an important person's blood type or organ, but Qin Ming failed to answer and sank into silence.

Lin Feng forced Qin Ming to explain why Hou Xiaoya had been diagnosed with cancer, and Qin Ming revealed that a wealthy collector planned to have her turned into a human specimen. Monkey was left stunned by the revelation as Lin Feng silently watched him and Qin Ming.

• Lin Feng threatened to bring Chen Meijiao into the ward, causing Qin Ming to panic and agree to talk.
• Qin Ming explained that organ donors were not usually diagnosed with cancer because treatment damaged their organs.
• Qin Ming revealed that an anonymous super-rich man in Southeast Asia wanted Hou Xiaoya as a specimen because she fit his ideal of a sickly beauty.
• Qin Ming said the hospital had diagnosed Hou Xiaoya with lymphoma and given her high-dose chemotherapy to make her frail enough for the collector.
• Qin Ming explained that the hospital planned to fake her death, replace her body with another corpse, and secretly send Hou Xiaoya to the collector.
• Monkey stood frozen in shock while Lin Feng watched him and Qin Ming in silence.

After Qin Ming confessed that he had planned to preserve Monkey’s sister Xiaoya as a specimen, Monkey beat him nearly unconscious. Lin Feng then helped the exhausted, sobbing Monkey leave the hospital room and sit in the corridor.

• Qin Ming confessed that he had intended to turn Xiaoya into a preserved specimen for a collector.
• Monkey erupted in rage and repeatedly punched Qin Ming as Lin Feng watched without intervening.
• Monkey stopped when he was exhausted, leaving Qin Ming bloodied and barely conscious.
• Monkey collapsed against the wall and sobbed from rage, regret, and fear for his sister.
• Lin Feng pulled Monkey to his feet, led him out of the room, and settled him on a corridor bench.

After witnessing Qin Ming’s revelations and torture, Monkey wanted to call the police, but Lin Feng warned that Qin Ming’s status as a mental patient made his claims unusable as evidence. Lin Feng told Monkey to leave the matter to him and vowed to protect Xiaoya.

• Monkey accepted a cigarette from Lin Feng and calmed enough to ask to call the police.
• Lin Feng asked whether Monkey had evidence, and Monkey pointed to Qin Ming’s confession about organ trafficking and making his sister a specimen.
• Lin Feng argued that Qin Ming’s words could be dismissed because he was now legally regarded as insane.
• Lin Feng told Monkey to leave everything to him and promised that Xiaoya would not be wronged.
• Monkey nodded, relying on Lin Feng’s resolve.

After leaving Qin Ming in the mental hospital under Chen Meijiao’s care, Lin Feng sent his deathsworn to secretly surveil Wei Guangyuan and Deputy Director Qian. Their operations spread a hidden surveillance net across the city, preparing for the next move.

• Monkey asked Lin Feng whether they were leaving Qin Ming at the hospital, and Lin Feng said Chen Meijiao would take care of him.
• Lin Feng’s deathsworn began tracking Wei Guangyuan and Deputy Director Qian using information from Qin Ming’s confession.
• A deathsworn planted a location sensor and listening device around the Wei family villa.
• Another deathsworn secretly tapped the wiring connected to Deputy Director Qian’s apartment.
• With help from Du Mingyuan, a deathsworn planted listening devices in Qian’s office at Ankang Hospital.
• A deathsworn placed hidden listening devices in the private club rooms Wei often used, completing the surveillance net.

Deputy Director Qian reported that Qin Ming had been declared mentally ill and taken into compulsory treatment, but Wei Guangyuan feared he might expose their crimes. Wei ordered Qian to arrange Qin Ming’s death as a supposed suicide, and Qian reluctantly submitted.

• Deputy Director Qian told Wei Guangyuan that Qin Ming had taken the blame, been sent for compulsory treatment, and was unlikely to reignite public scrutiny.
• Wei Guangyuan questioned whether Qin Ming could be trusted to remain silent and worried he might exploit his knowledge of their crimes.
• Deputy Director Qian said he had arranged monthly payments for Qin Ming’s family to keep him compliant.
• Wei Guangyuan dismissed the plan and suggested that Qin Ming’s apparent mental illness could make suicide seem plausible.
• Deputy Director Qian hesitated under Wei Guangyuan’s pressure, then said he understood.

Mr. Wei ordered Deputy Director Qian to erase evidence of Ankang Hospital’s crimes and silence the people involved. He then demanded that Qian abduct Hou Xiaoya from the provincial hospital, alive or dead, for a Southeast Asian partner.

• Mr. Wei instructed Deputy Director Qian to make Doctor Liu leave and destroy financial, hospital purchasing, and organ-trade records linking them to crimes.
• Mr. Wei ordered Qian to pay off and sideline the nurses and caregivers involved in illegal surgeries and their cover-ups.
• Mr. Wei told Deputy Director Qian to bring Hou Xiaoya back despite her transfer to a provincial hospital and the security risks.
• Deputy Director Qian warned that retrieving Hou Xiaoya would be difficult, but Mr. Wei insisted that he wanted her alive or her corpse for his partner.

A gang of thugs stormed the hospital looking for Hou Xiaoya and terrorized patients and staff until a nurse revealed ward 721. When they kicked the door open, they found the ward empty and a formation of suited men waiting for them.

• The shaved-headed man led seven or eight thugs through the hospital corridor, frightening patients and threatening staff.
• A thug shoved an elderly man and another grabbed an intern doctor by the collar when he tried to stop them.
• The shaved-headed man seized a nurse by her hair and forced her to reveal that Hou Xiaoya was in ward 721.
• The thugs kicked open the door to ward 721, only to find the ward empty and a row of muscular men in black suits waiting inside.
• The suited men gave the intruders identical sinister grins, leaving the shaved-headed man and his gang frozen in shock and fear.