Inquiry

"Ah!"

The female voice from earlier rang out again. "He-jie, look, the door to this room~"

"Tap~ tap~ tap~"

The footsteps drew closer and closer, but Gu Sheng continued lying there lazily without making any other movement.

The reason he had not taken the opportunity to leave earlier was that the kicked-open door was simply too conspicuous. It would definitely attract attention. If he disappeared or left the hospital now, wouldn’t that be the same as blatantly telling everyone, There’s something wrong with me?

He-jie and Xiao Ya arrived at the doorway and immediately noticed the door embedded in the wall.

"My God, someone kicked this in!"

Xiao Ya stared at the obvious footprint on the door, her little face filled with shock.

A trace of gravity flashed through He-jie’s eyes. "Xiao Ya, did you see any other hospital-room doors kicked open on the way down?"

"I don’t think so!"

Xiao Ya thought for a moment. "Although there were signs of external force breaking into hospital rooms on several floors, none had been kicked away outright like this one!"

"Let’s go in and take a look!"

A trace of doubt flashed through He-jie’s eyes as she beckoned Xiao Ya into Gu Sheng’s hospital room.

"He-jie! Someone’s here!"

A beautiful woman around twenty stepped into Gu Sheng’s line of sight. Her face looked very young, filled with youthful vitality. She was startled when she saw Gu Sheng and hurriedly retreated half a step, calling out toward the back.

"Thud, thud, thud~"

Several quick footsteps sounded inside the room. A short-haired beauty rushed in, glanced at the door embedded in the wall, and then came to stand in front of Gu Sheng.

"Hello, sir!"

The short-haired beauty saluted Gu Sheng and greeted him. She was dressed simply and neatly, with a dashing bearing, a perfect figure, and striking looks. She gave off an air that brooked no violation.

"Y-you, hello!"

The other beauty, who had just been startled by Gu Sheng, also ran in and stood behind the short-haired beauty, saluting and greeting him alongside her.

Gu Sheng narrowed his eyes at the two of them, then raised his head and said, "You’re both officers. Is something wrong?"

He-jie lowered her hand and said, "We just have a few questions for you." As she spoke, her eyes surveyed the surroundings, occasionally flicking toward various places around the edge of Gu Sheng’s bed, as though she were looking for something.

"What questions?"

Gu Sheng’s expression remained unchanged, but he felt a little flustered inside. He had placed Tang Lie’s ashes in the cabinet. Although they were well hidden, if someone found them, he could only run.

He-jie asked, "Are you a patient in this room? Do you remember what happened outside the inpatient department this morning?"

"Officer, do you mean the person who died in the restroom this morning, or the incident where one person chased and tried to kill another?"

Gu Sheng pretended to shrink back unconsciously, putting on a frightened expression and appropriately dispelling some of He-jie and Xiao Ya’s doubts.

He-jie continued asking, "So you witnessed the incident firsthand. Can you tell us about it in detail?"

"This morning, I was still resting in bed…"

Gu Sheng told them most of what he knew. As he spoke, he kept shrinking back from time to time, putting on a frightened, shaken expression and once again dispelling the suspicions of the two women before him.

"Wait. You just said you didn’t know why he kicked the door open, and you also didn’t know what happened afterward!"

Xiao Ya asked strangely, "Weren’t you in the hospital room the whole time? Not knowing about the door being kicked is understandable, but after he kicked it down, he didn’t come in to look? Didn’t you see him face-to-face?"

"Officer Xiao Ya!"

Gu Sheng said irritably, "Think about it. That person was so vicious. If I had seen him, would he have let me go? I realized something was wrong as soon as it happened. The area outside was chaotic, and I was injured. I didn’t dare push my way out, so I ran back to the room and hid under the covers.

"When he kicked the door, all I heard was a loud bang. I was scared half to death then. How would I have dared turn around and look?"

"I see! What a pity!"

Xiao Ya sighed. It was impossible to tell whether she regretted that Gu Sheng had not seen Tang Lie’s face or something else.

"You stayed in bed the whole time?"

He-jie suddenly asked this. She placed her palm on the bed and seemed to touch the bedding as well. Gu Sheng was not sure whether she was testing the temperature beneath the covers.

December had already brought winter. Although there was air conditioning in the hospital room, Gu Sheng did not have enough money to keep it running, so the room was quite cold. It would be easy to tell whether the bedding was warm or cold.

Gu Sheng’s face instantly flushed red. Somewhat embarrassed, he said, "I was too scared just now, and my stomach was churning. I couldn’t hold it in, so I spent quite a while in the restroom."

"I see. All right. There’s nothing else."

He-jie nodded. Her pretty face revealed nothing, and it was impossible to tell whether she had noticed anything unusual.

Just as He-jie turned her head, she suddenly turned back and asked, "By the way, this is a personal question. Would it be convenient to tell us why you were hospitalized?"

"There’s nothing inconvenient about it!"

Gu Sheng replied timidly, "Have you heard about yesterday’s huge traffic accident? I was one of the unlucky victims. I don’t know if I had the God of Misfortune riding on my shoulders. First there was the accident, and then I ran into this kind of thing.

"Luckily, I wasn’t seriously injured either time. If I had known something like this would happen today, I wouldn’t have listened to the doctor and stayed in the hospital for observation no matter what."

Xiao Ya said in surprise, "I heard that most of the victims from yesterday’s major accident couldn’t be saved. It seems only a few made it out of intensive care, and apparently only one of them was conscious. Was that you?"

"It was me!"

Gu Sheng nodded obediently. At that moment, he was acting extremely timid.

Xiao Ya smiled. "You’re really lucky. You managed not to get hurt in either incident."

"Xiao Ya!"

He-jie called out. She felt that Xiao Ya’s words were somewhat inappropriate.

"If that counts as good luck, I’d rather not have this so-called luck."

Gu Sheng smiled bitterly. "Running into two incidents like this in a row is practically eight lifetimes’ worth of bad luck, all right? If I’d known, I wouldn’t have listened to the doctor and stayed here for observation. Who knows what might happen if I keep observing here?

"No, this hospital is too sinister. I can’t stay here. I’m leaving the hospital. I’m leaving later!"

"Hehe!"

Xiao Ya covered her mouth and laughed. "Why are you so timid?"

"Xiao Ya, stop!"

He-jie hurriedly said, "I’m sorry. Xiao Ya is young and doesn’t know any better. Please don’t take anything unpleasant she said to heart."

"It’s fine!"

Gu Sheng began gathering his belongings and said without turning his head, "Is there anything else?"

"No—"

He-jie suddenly noticed a storage device on the table. "What’s this~"

Gu Sheng followed her gaze, and his heart leaped. This was the incriminating evidence Tang Lie had given him before his death. He hurriedly gripped it in his hand. "A friend gave it to me. It’s a personal item. Do you need to inspect it?"

He had no choice. Although he knew this would only draw more attention, it would be even harder to explain if the item fell into the police’s hands.

"It’s nothing. Take your time packing."

He-jie smiled awkwardly. She had not expected Gu Sheng to react so strongly, but she did not become overly suspicious. These days, everyone cared a great deal about their privacy.

"Xiao Ya, let’s go!"

As she spoke, He-jie turned and led the way out.

"Hmph! What a cheapskate. It’s just some lousy hard drive!"

Xiao Ya snorted, muttered under her breath, and followed He-jie out.