Chapter 278: No One Can Bring Me to Justice

Not sure if it was Han Lianwu's laughter that got to him, Yu Dazhang tugged at the corner of his mouth too.

As a criminal investigator, he shouldn't be mocking the victim.

Unless he couldn't help it.

With a smile on his face, he waited for Han Lianwu to finish laughing, then continued asking:

"Back then, ten people assaulted your brother. Why not let any of the twelve off?"

Yu Dazhang didn't think Han Lianwu was a fiend to the core.

Though what he did was cruel, he had never harmed any innocent person outside the case.

His target was very clear — the members of that little group called the Xicheng Twelve.

"Because they were all the same sort."

Han Lianwu said coldly:

"At first I really did think about only dealing with those ten people, but as I learned more and more of what was really going on, I finally changed my mind."

"The two who joined later were no better — they had blood on their hands too."

"In the end, they were practically capable of any evil. A pack of beasts like that had to be wiped out in one sweep."

Nothing wrong with that... Though Yu Dazhang didn't show anything on the surface, he silently gave a thumbs-up in his heart.

Not one of those twelve was innocent.

Whether judged by morality or by law, they deserved to die.

From Yu Dazhang's perspective, one Han Lianwu traded for twelve of them was still a losing deal.

After all, a person can't be compared to a beast.

"Was it worth it?"

That wasn't a question a cop should ask, but in the end Yu Dazhang couldn't hold it in.

"A grievance I couldn't swallow."

Han Lianwu answered crisply, as if he'd long since decided:

"Even if I hadn't fallen ill, I would have done it the same way — the illness just moved the timetable up."

"Sometimes I feel like the Grim Reaper is laughing at my helplessness. Even it couldn't stand watching, so it used the illness to push me into acting sooner."

How did this turn into feudal superstition... Yu Dazhang found that the more serious a person's illness, the more superstitious they became.

As if getting sick was a decree from the heavens.

There were even plenty of people who, after being cured at the hospital, wouldn't say a single word of thanks to the doctor, but would go home and kowtow three times and bow nine times before a Buddha statue.

"Afraid?"

Yu Dazhang didn't ask whether he feared death.

Because he felt Han Lianwu no longer feared death.

The "afraid" he meant was regret, was remorse, was loss.

"Can't really say I'm afraid." Han Lianwu shook his head:

"Just reluctant, and helpless."

"Reluctant to leave my family. Helpless that I can't serve my parents in their hall, can't see my mother through her old age and send her off at the end."

After a pause, he raised his eyes to look at Wan Bo on the wooden bed:

"I promised my brother I wouldn't go out and kill people. I kept that promise — even though I hated them, I never took their lives."

For them, it's pretty much the same as being dead... Yu Dazhang felt the method Han Lianwu chose was even more cruel.

After enjoying the three-piece drive-them-mad set, leaving them alive in a state worse than death — that was harder to bear than simply taking their lives.

Even He Tianxin, before he died, was forced to chop off four of his own fingers.

Looking at it that way, of the whole Xicheng Twelve, the one who died in the car accident was actually the luckiest.

The room fell quiet. Yu Dazhang had a question stuck in his throat that he could never bring himself to ask.

After a moment, Han Lianwu looked at Yu Dazhang and asked:

"Was I wrong to take revenge? You must have seen long ago that I was avenging myself — why did you still chase me so hard?"

"If it weren't for you, I'd have had the chance to see my family again, even to be with them for a while. But you ruined it. Ruined everything."

The more he spoke, the more agitated he became; by the end his body was trembling slightly without his being able to stop it.

This was probably part of his plan too... Yu Dazhang guessed to himself.

In his plan, he probably intended to die at home, not be caught by the police.

But from the moment his identity was exposed, that home was one he could never return to. "You take your revenge, I solve my case."

Yu Dazhang stared at him with a solemn face:

"I respect your life. Please respect my work."

That last sentence completely separated the two of them.

They had chosen different paths, each doing what he believed was right.

That answer left Han Lianwu with nothing to retort.

"I think we're the same kind of person." Han Lianwu's smile was forced:

"We both hate evil, both long for justice to be served."

Yu Dazhang didn't pick up his thread, but took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and waved it in front of him:

"Smoke?"

"Sure." Han Lianwu agreed with his mouth, but his body didn't move.

Yu Dazhang walked over, took out a cigarette, placed it between his lips, and lit it for him.

Then he lit one for himself.

!

"I've been trying to keep myself from smoking, but today I'll make an exception. I'll have one with you."

Han Lianwu looked at him, smiled, gratitude in his eyes, but said nothing—only exhaled a deep plume of smoke.

After the two of them had taken a couple of drags facing each other, Yu Dazhang finally asked the question:

"Will you come with me?"

The words were phrased tactfully, but between the two of them, they both understood what they meant.

"It's too late." The hand holding Han Lianwu's cigarette had already begun to tremble, and his voice was a little hoarse:

"Officer Yu Dazhang, thank you again. It's just a pity your work was destined never to be finished, because no policeman can bring me to justice."

His mind was already made up—nothing could change it… Yu Dazhang had noticed something was off the moment he lit Han Lianwu's cigarette.

Compared to when he'd first entered the room, his complexion had clearly gone much paler, and his lips had taken on a bluish-purple tinge.

Han Lianwu had taken poison.

After entering the room, Yu Dazhang had kept his eyes on Han Lianwu's every move and hadn't seen him put anything in his mouth.

Which meant he must have taken the poison before opening the door, or had been holding it in his mouth.

At that moment, a burst of footsteps came from outside the door.

A moment later, Captain Xu's voice rang out:

"Listen up, person inside—you're surrounded. Don't put up any pointless resistance!"

After a pause, he shouted again:

"Yu Dazhang, are you in there? If you are, say something!"

The two men inside the room exchanged a smile.

Han Lianwu said with a smile:

"That set of surrender-persuasion lines has never changed. Don't you police find it awkward using them?"

"As long as the meaning gets across, that's enough." Yu Dazhang replied with a smile as well.

To be honest, the moment Captain Xu had shouted that first line, he had found it a little funny too.

It felt like one of those movies bleeding into reality—except this time he was the one inside.

"Thank you for coming to see me off."

Han Lianwu's voice sounded very low, as if wrapped in a thick weariness:

"Let me finish this cigarette."

Faced with this final request, Yu Dazhang truly had no reason to refuse.

He gave a slight nod, then called out toward the door:

"I'm here. Don't come in yet—wait for my order."

He was still the leader of the entire task force; no matter how anxious the people outside were, they had to follow his orders.

"Yes." Captain Xu's reply came immediately from outside the door.

"Thank you." Han Lianwu's voice had already faded to the point of being barely audible.

He raised his hand again and slowly took a drag.

As the smoke drifted from his lips, his eyes slowly closed, his head drooped, and he murmured softly:

"Mom, I'm sorry. I'll repay the grace of raising me in the next life."

(End of chapter)