Chapter 59: Killing to Silence

The next day, Su Ruo told Li Zhaodi and then went again to the county police bureau to find out the situation.

After seeing Su Ruo, Wang Liangping personally received her; Wang Liangping really likes this strong and brave girl, and in this day and age, Su Ruo has done many things that girls dare not do.

Wang Liangping told Su Ruo that, regarding the incident where she was harassed, the matter was relatively brief, with both human and material evidence present, so the investigation was quickly clarified.

Sun Long and his gang confessed without reservation to this matter and also implicated Wu Xiaofeng.

But what Su Ruo didn't expect was that Wu Xiaofeng was actually a lovesick fool; no matter how the police questioned him, he insisted that he had found Su Ruo displeasing and thus had someone teach her a lesson, and he refused to implicate Li Shirou no matter what.

Upon hearing this, Su Ruo curled her lip in a cold smile; Wu Xiaofeng wanted to play the hero and protect Li Shirou, but Su Ruo would not let him have his way.

I just don't know how Accountant Wu would feel if he learned that his precious son was imprisoned because of Li Shirou.

Then Wang Liangping told Su Ruo another piece of bad news, just as she had anticipated: because so much time had passed since Lu Huaer's case, much of the evidence was gone, and even Lu Huaer herself had passed away,

Sun Long and his gang, no matter how they were interrogated, refused to admit anything, making it difficult to investigate the truth of what happened back then.

Seeing Su Ruo's poor complexion, Wang Liangping immediately comforted her: 'Don't worry, we are still looking for other victims; I believe someone will step forward to identify that beast, Sun Long.'

Su Ruo noticed the dark circles under Wang Liangping's eyes, knowing that handling this case would not be easy; otherwise, Sun Long and his gang could not have remained arrogant for so long.

'Officer Wang, I know you've done your best; don't be too hard on yourself—this isn't your fault, and Hua'er's parents won't blame you either.'

Su Ruo comforted Wang Liangping, whose hair had turned white seemingly overnight, though she also knew her words might not help much.

If Sun Long and his gang cannot be brought to justice, this upright officer might spend his whole life uneasy in conscience.

Wang Liangping nodded without saying a word.

Feeling heavy-hearted, Su Ruo left the police station and headed toward Grandma Lu's home.

As she just reached the alley entrance, she saw the lame woman from before, standing at Grandma Lu's door and looking inside.

A thought flashed through Su Ruo's mind; she walked toward the woman, but the woman fled upon seeing her, so Su Ruo immediately gave chase.

Because the woman's leg was injured, Su Ruo quickly caught up with her.

Upon seeing the woman's face, Su Ruo was startled; the woman bore a long scar that almost ruined her entire left cheek.

Su Ruo steadied herself and asked, 'You were also bullied by that bastard Sun Long, weren't you?' She phrased it as an affirmative statement.

Upon hearing the name Sun Long, the woman trembled with fear, clutching her head with both hands as she wept, 'Sun Long is just a bastard; he ruined my life, he deserves a terrible death...'

Seeing this, Su Ruo had no further doubts; she comforted the woman, 'The police are now thoroughly investigating Sun Long's case; if we go file a report now, as long as we have evidence we can certainly bring that bastard Sun Long to justice and make him pay.'

But the woman shook her head desperately, 'I don't want to, I can't, I cannot go...'

'Why?' Su Ruo could not understand; the woman had clearly suffered such severe harm, so why wouldn't she sue Sun Long to seek justice for herself?

The woman did not answer Su Ruo's question; she continued to struggle, saying she could not go to the police station...

Seeing the woman's state, Su Ruo felt a surge of anger and demanded, 'Don't you realize that if no new evidence appears, Sun Long and his gang might be released due to insufficient proof—do you want them to continue escaping justice?'

The woman stared at Su Ruo in disbelief, 'Why, those bastards killed little Hua'er, they ruined me, they hurt so many people—why would they still be let go?'

'Because no one has stepped forward to accuse them; they are demons! But convicting demons requires evidence!'

The woman continued to cry and shake her head, saying she couldn't...

Seeing her like this, Su Ruo angrily said, 'If you want to bring those bastards to justice, you must bravely step forward and expose their evil deeds to the public!'

Not hide in a dark corner, waiting for someone else to seek justice for you!

The woman kept shaking her head desperately, 'I can't, I can't...' and then she broke free from Su Ruo and ran.

Su Ruo suddenly felt discouraged; she knew how much weight women in this era placed on their reputation, and how damaging gossip could be to a person.

Therefore, those women, after being bullied, would rather endure in silence than speak out.

Su Ruo could understand her choice, but she could not agree with it.

She believed in evil meeting its due reward—those who do wrong should be punished.

But she could not persuade these women to break free from their mental shackles; must she just watch helplessly as Sun Long and his gang go free? Su Ruo's eyes turned red with agitation and anger.

Grandma Lu appeared beside Su Ruo at some point, extending her aged hand to ruffle Su Ruo's hair and saying, 'Girl, Grandma knows you've done your best...'

Su Ruo felt resentful: 'Grandma, I don't understand why bad people cannot be punished; this is unfair.'

Grandma Lu could no longer hold back her tears; she too felt resentment and hatred, but in this world, where is there so much fairness!

But, her Hua'er! Her poor Hua'er! If she cannot avenge her Hua'er, even in death she would have no face to meet them.

Su Ruo wiped her tears forcefully and said, 'No, Grandma, I absolutely cannot just give up like this!'

After Su Ruo asked Grandma Lu for the woman's address and learned it was not far, she immediately set off in pursuit.

In fact, the woman was not unwilling to seek revenge; she simply dared not, feeling her life was already ruined and nothing mattered anymore.

But she still had three daughters; she could not make this public, lest her daughters suffer gossip and be pointed at because of her.

But as the woman had just stepped inside her home, someone from behind grabbed her with a rope and tightly strangled her neck.

The man's eyes were vicious as he looked at the struggling woman and said, 'Don't blame anyone else; if you must blame someone, blame yourself for being restless—you actually still wanted to go report to the police.'

The woman gripped the rope around her neck with all her strength, her eyes full of despair; she could not understand why, after already being so miserable, the other party still refused to let her go.

At that moment, the woman suddenly felt regret, thinking that if she had listened to Su Ruo and gone to file a report, she might have survived to see her daughters grow up.

Her daughters were still so young; without a mother, what would become of them?