Chapter 111

The car headlights originally shone on the front door of No. 7 guesthouse.

When Lin Dongfan was pushed out of the house by Yin Qiuhong, the light happened to fall on him, giving him a pallid look. Lin Dongfan also looked embarrassed, staggering two steps from the push.

"Dongfan."

Father-in-law Chu Jinsong was the first to step forward to meet him.

Seeing that Lin Dongfan had all his limbs intact and showed no signs of being shot, Chu Jinsong also breathed a sigh of relief.

Chu Jinsong hurriedly asked, "What's the situation inside?"

"Hurry, get out—it's dangerous."

Without further words, Lin Dongfan supported Chu Jinsong as they ran toward the outside of the courtyard.

A cold countdown.

Behind them echoed: "Seven, six, five, four..."

Chu Jinsong realized the situation might not be optimistic, and while retreating he ordered the nearby armed police: "Withdraw from the courtyard first, move quickly!"

Under the night sky, the atmosphere instantly grew much tenser.

When the armed police had all withdrawn from the courtyard, the countdown from Yin Qiuhong also reached one, but no explosion sounded from inside the house.

The leaders tensed their nerves, staring fixedly at No. 7 guesthouse.

They waited several seconds.

Still no explosion sounded.

At this moment, Municipal Party Committee Secretary Gao Peng questioned Lin Dongfan: "From when you went in until now, you've been inside for five or six hours—what did you and Yin Qiuhong talk about? What exactly is the situation inside now?"

"I urged her to come out and surrender," Lin Dongfan replied truthfully: "There are two people inside now—one is Yin Qiuhong, and the other is a plump woman; I don't know who she is. The house not only has bombs, but also gasoline poured inside."

City Bureau's Xu Liangyuan doubted: "Does Yin Qiuhong not want to live?"

"I've been urging her to surrender, but she won't budge. She says life is meaningless, and that outsiders have no right to judge her." Lin Dongfan wore a helpless expression: "With guns and bombs, I truly can't do anything about her."

Gao Peng, half-believing and half-doubting, questioned Lin Dongfan: "If she doesn't want to live, why did she push you out? For someone intent on dying, that seems illogical."

As soon as he said that, Lin Dongfan felt gloomy, and Chu Jinsong also harbored secret anger.

On the surface Gao Peng was questioning Yin Qiuhong's death wish, but in substance he was doubting Lin Dongfan's honesty! According to his logic, Lin Dongfan would only make sense if he died inside.

Chu Jinsong, suppressing his anger, replied with a smile: "Secretary Gao, although Yin Qiuhong is corrupt and breaks the law, she still comes from public security and is not a terrorist who kills without blinking. Just now she shouted for everyone to retreat, even mentioning the two words 'humanity'—that shows she is not a brute who has obliterated humanity……"

"Calling for the armed police to withdraw might have fallen for her stalling tactic!"

Saying this, Gao Peng gave Lin Dongfan a meaningful glance, his doubtful gaze seeming to suspect Lin Dongfan of secretly aiding Yin Qiuhong.

Lin Dongfan instantly understood, and with a stiff upper lip explained: "Secretary Gao, whether Yin Qiuhong will detonate the bomb is unknown to anyone; for safety's sake……"

"Don't say more!"

Gao Peng directly cut off Lin Dongfan's explanation.

Turning his head, he again ordered the armed police: "Take immediate action, break down the door and enter the house to capture Yin Qiuhong! If she resists or refuses arrest, shoot her on the spot!"

This cold-hearted order directly plunged Chu Jinsong and the others' spirits to the depths.

Execute on the spot!

The lethal order everyone feared has finally come to pass! Is Gao trying to arrest someone? He's helping Xiao Yunce eliminate future threats!

A higher official can crush a person.

Chu Jinsong, Xu Liangyuan, Leng Chuan, Lin Dongfan, and others all fell silent helplessly.

The armed police also had no one daring to defy the order; they had to obey and charge into the courtyard.

Just as the armed police were carrying out the breach.

"Boom!"

Suddenly a thunderous roar erupted, and a terrifying ball of fire exploded inside the house.

Although this explosive force did not produce a nuclear-level mushroom cloud, the doors and windows' glass was still shattered and blown apart.

The few armed police near the doors and windows were all blown away, a sight too horrible to behold.

Whether it was the blast's shockwave, the flying shards of glass, or the terrifying flames surging out of the doors and windows, none could be endured by flesh and blood.

Such destructive force could not be withstood by the house either.

No. 7 guesthouse was originally a rustic wooden structure, and with gasoline poured inside, it instantly turned into a sea of fire, the soaring flames lighting up the cold night sky in a bloody red.

At this moment, Gao Peng's whole face turned ashen.

Because of his stubborn, selfish order.

Which caused the armed police to be blown away.

Chu Jinsong glanced at Gao Peng, said nothing, and hastily directed firefighting and rescue; the scene was already in chaos.

The fire was huge; ordinary people simply could not extinguish it.

Moreover, it was impossible to enter the house to rescue Yin Qiuhong.

When the fire brigade arrived at the scene, No. 7 guesthouse had already been burned down.

In the face of the blaze, a pure wooden structure truly burns to ashes in one go.

It cannot compare with a reinforced concrete building.

In total, seven armed police were injured by the blast; two of them had faces burned to a bloody pulp, and when they were carried away by the 120 ambulance, they were already on the brink of death.

"Are you sure there were only two people inside at that time?" Chu Jinsong asked Lin Dongfan.

"Mm."

Lin Dongfan gazed at No. 7 guesthouse, whose fire had not yet been fully extinguished, his heart a mix of emotions, unable to comprehend why Yin Qiuhong was so foolish—she could have lived, yet chose death.

He did not know, however, that Yin Qiuhong had her own meticulous survival plan.

It was past nine o'clock in the evening.

The blaze was finally completely extinguished.

The two corpses dug out of the rubble by the fire brigade had been burned to charcoal; judging by the naked eye alone, not only could their identities not be distinguished, even their gender could not be told.

Both bodies were sent to the funeral home, awaiting forensic examination.

After the blaze razed the scene, police tape was put up; as everyone withdrew, Lin Dongfan lit three cigarettes in place of incense before the ruins.

With a heavy heart, he mourned Yin Qiuhong:

"I once said: after you die, I'll burn paper for you every Qingming Festival. I keep my word—rest in peace, and in your next life don't do foolish things…"

"Senior brother, it's time to go."

Jian Sining came over to urge Lin Dongfan.

Lin Dongfan rose and bowed three times toward the rubble; as he turned and left, his heavy heart remained unrelieved. Recalling Yin Qiuhong's whispered words—that she would give him a surprise before the People's Congress election—now that she's dead, he wonders whether that surprise can still be fulfilled…

But he didn't know that Yin Qiuhong wasn't dead.

Three days later.

When the forensic report came out, everyone was stunned.

Although the two victims were female, they bore no obvious blast injuries, indicating that explosives had not been strapped to their bodies and detonated; they did not die directly from the explosion.

Furthermore, their respiratory mucosa showed no smoke or soot, indicating they were not killed by the fire; they may have died before the blaze.

Later, the criminal police team's further investigation revealed:

On the day of the incident, two female corpses were stolen from the mortuary of Qingyang County Renmin Yiyuan. After DNA comparison, the stolen bodies turned out to be the doubles of Yin Qiuhong and Pang Niu.

In other words, everyone had been duped by Yin Qiuhong.

At the case discussion meeting,

Zhang Yong muttered vexedly: "Where did Yin Qiuhong and Pang Niu go? With all those armed police outside, they certainly couldn't have run—could she have flown away or vanished underground? This question is too hard."

Speaking of flying away and escaping underground,

Yang Qing suddenly realized: "Is it difficult? No. 7 Homestay surely has a hidden cellar."

"If that's the case…" Zhang Yong stood up and said: "Let's go, bring them back."

Yang Qing gave a sideways glance: "Can't we raise our IQ a bit? It's been three days—where would we even go to catch them now? Most likely they've already fled the country."

"Then who's taking the blame?" Zhang Yong looked bewildered.

Yang Qing lit a cigarette.

He drawled: "Back then there were plenty of leaders present—who ordered whom to take the fall, in any case it's not our turn. Now you all go out and work, re‑examine the scene, and give me a report before dark."

After Zhang Yong and the others left, Yang Qing turned his gaze to the perpetually silent Lin Dongfan.

Seeing that Lin Dongfan still didn't speak,

Yang Qing questioned suspiciously: "You pretentious prick, there's no outsider here—tell me the truth: did you know that day Yin Qiuhong had the 'Golden Cicada Shell Shedding' stratagem?"

"I know your blind date failed—you deserve to be unloved!"

Lin Dongfan couldn't even be bothered to look at Yang Qing, feeling that this guy's brain must have been kicked by a donkey, otherwise he wouldn't ask such a brain‑dead question.

Lin Dongfan lit another cigarette and said: "All along, I've been the one investigating and pursuing her! Your criminal police team merely assisted; the one who truly wanted to catch her was me, not you! You actually dare to suspect I helped her escape."

Yang Qing, thick‑skinned, asked with a smile: "Then why have you kept silent all this time?"

"Because what you're arguing about is so juvenile, I feel it's an insult to my intelligence." Lin Dongfan rose and walked away, adding: "Besides, now that it's proven those two corpses aren't Yin Qiuhong and Pang Niu, I think that's a good thing."

In Lin Dongfan's view, that really is a good thing.

First of all, not to mention that two fewer people died.

Since Yin Qiuhong is alive, she will very likely fulfill her own promise—to give Lin Dongfan a big surprise before the People's Congress election.

And that surprise is very likely connected to Xiao Yunce.