Chapter 248

Gu Changzheng cleared his throat awkwardly; he knew Zhang Shaodong feared that if this “living shield” stepped out, the police would move against him. He thought to himself: if not for Lin Xiaoxue and the other hostage’s safety, he’d have taken him down long ago alone!

There’s no time to waste. After coughing, he spoke slowly: “This girl needs immediate hemostasis. If she doesn’t see Fang Yuan in time, you’ll never hear his voice again!”

Zhang Shaodong fixed his strange eyes on him, grinning: “Fine! Threat works. I’ll stop her bleeding—now get me on the phone with him!” With his free hand, he picked up the hemostatic gauze beside him and pressed it over Lin Xiaoxue’s wounded eye.

Since seeing Zhang Shaodong, Gu Changzheng had been pondering his relationship with Fang Yuan: two merciless killers, yet both seemed desperately trying to protect each other—and both were actively seeking death?

“Enough! I’m talking to him now—arrange it quickly! Or two more lives are gone!” Zhang Shaodong shouted sharply.

To avoid provoking him, Gu Changzheng used his earpiece to arrange for Luo Fei to contact the detention center. Soon, his phone rang. He immediately answered and switched to speaker. A young man’s voice came through: “Hello?”

Upon hearing the voice, Zhang Shaodong’s hand, which had been pressing the gauze over Lin Xiaoxue’s injured eye, loosened. He looked wildly excited, lips trembling, and after a long moment, managed to whisper: “Yuan-ge!”

There was silence on the other end, then a low, chuckling laugh: “Xiao Dong… you still won’t listen to me. Why must you take this path?”

The red scar on Zhang Shaodong’s face twitched—muscles tensed from clenching his teeth. He let out a harsh, cackling laugh at Fang Yuan’s words: “I did everything. Why lie for a useless wreck? I’ve confessed to it all—don’t take the blame for me anymore! Yuan-ge, thank you. Having you as my brother… I die without regret.”

After another silence, Fang Yuan’s voice returned: “Let Lin Xiaoxue go. She’s just a foolish girl, but not evil. Don’t hurt her. The old witch and her accomplices are already executed. Spare the innocent. Now—while you still have no blood on your hands—stop.”

Beside him, Gu Changzheng listened in silence. In his eyes, all the mutual protection between these two was meaningless. The moment they found the hostage, Zhang Shaodong’s sentence would be sealed. Still, driven by his hunger for truth, he hoped to glean clues from their words.

“No!” Zhang Shaodong roared suddenly. “Everyone who knows about that must die! I must die too—but you can’t! You must live! Like you told me as a child: fight to live, because life holds hope. But after that fire, my life lost all hope. Only you—only you were my reason to live. Now all obstacles are gone. So you must live!”

———

At the same time, in a slaughterhouse on the outskirts of Zizhen City, a drunken man staggered forward, his steps unsteady, and shoved open a door he thought was a latrine. Dazed, he unfastened himself to relieve himself, then turned to leave—when suddenly his nostrils filled with a sweet fragrance. He jolted awake, blinked hard, and realized he wasn’t in a toilet. The scent came from nearby.

Staggering inside, he froze. A cold sweat broke out across his body—he was instantly sober. In the center of a processing room, a girl in red was tightly bound to a meat-cutting table. He fumbled for his phone and called the police…

Five minutes later, Gao Ye and his team, who had been searching a furniture factory two kilometers away, burst into the slaughterhouse!

The incense stick hanging above the table saw’s switch had only five centimeters left to burn.

Gao Ye recognized the girl in red as Yu Jiajia from the dance troupe—but she’d taken some drug and was completely unconscious.

———

As Gu Changzheng received word from Gao Ye that the hostage had been found, Zhang Shaodong demanded Fang Yuan drive away from Zizhen. Gu Changzheng noticed his mental state worsening—he was growing increasingly agitated. Then Fang Yuan suddenly said: “Xiao Dong! Don’t be reckless! You haven’t killed anyone—you’ll only serve a few years. You can still walk free! Listen to me: surrender to the police. My crimes are already confirmed. Don’t throw your life away!”

Zhang Shaodong, as Gu Changzheng had feared, had reached his breaking point. His throat emitted not speech, but the guttural roar of a dying beast. On the phone, Fang Yuan shouted: “Xiao Dong! I have colorectal cancer—advanced stage. I’m beyond saving. So live—for both of us!”

Those words struck like an adrenaline shot, yanking Zhang Shaodong back from madness. But his eyes—once glazed with insanity—now burned with terrifying clarity. A faint smile curled his lips, as if trying to form the most beautiful one he could. His right hand, gripping the scalpel, twitched violently as tendons surged.

Gu Changzheng, watching every movement, suddenly screamed inside: “No!”

He had no time to warn anyone—not even a tenth of a second to think. Drawing his gun, aiming, firing—no thought, only muscle memory forged by endless drills.

*Bang!* A flash of sparks. The bullet spun from the barrel faster than the eye could track. Before the sparks faded, a pinpoint red dot appeared on Zhang Shaodong’s forehead—then, like ink dropped in water, it spread rapidly.

Outside, the sound of gunfire triggered a rush of detectives and special forces bursting in. From the phone on the floor, Fang Yuan’s terrified, broken screams echoed.

*Clang!* The thin scalpel clattered onto the cold basalt floor.

Then the massive hand that had pressed against Lin Xiaoxue’s neck went slack. *Thud.* Zhang Shaodong’s body toppled backward.

Medical staff in white coats rushed in with a stretcher. Pale-faced Lin Xiaoxue was quickly lifted onto it—but whether her eye could be saved remained uncertain.

Another doctor checked Zhang Shaodong’s pupils and pulse, then shook his head. Gu Changzheng’s shot had been clean: bullet entered forehead, exited skull. Survival probability: zero.

From the phone on the ground came chaotic noise—then a voice shouted: “Pry open his mouth…”