Chapter 558: Chapter 528 Coma_1
Peng Shinian nodded.
"I’ve already sent my idea to Professor Li. I need some professional research data, like the collection sites of the three samples mentioned in this paper. It might take some time to get results. I’ll go to the scene with you."
Zhu Xingxing raised her hand.
"I’ll stay behind. The boss is not here, and we can’t leave this place empty. I also have to inquire about relevant laboratory matters at Mrs. Cui’s place. Mr. Pang and Mr. Zou will stay on guard with me. The rest of you go with Mr. Liu."
Liu Yongxin nodded in approval.
"Alright, you stay on guard. Call us if there’s any issue. We may not be able to help much with other things, but for Zhou Ning’s situation, we still have to rely on ourselves. First, let’s make a trip to the hospital to see my beloved apprentice."
Nobody else spoke, and Mr. Zhao clapped his hands.
"Don’t look so downcast, everyone. Zhou Xiaozhou survived such a dangerous ordeal last night. We should be happy about that. Besides, it’s not like there are absolutely no traces to follow. No matter how professional they are, I believe in the phrase Zhou Xiaozhou often says, ’Where there’s contact, there will be traces.’ This person is not a bird; we will definitely find traces. Just watch me catch him and give him a thrashing. Let’s go!"
...
Beep~ Beep~ Beep~
Through the glass window, one could see Zhou Ning lying in the ICU bed, still in a comatose state. The various data on the monitor were continuously changing, not very stable but still within the lower end of the normal range.
"When will he wake up?"
He Shancun sighed.
"Mr. Liu, from yesterday until now, everyone has been asking me this question. To be honest, I don’t know. The surgery was extremely lucky. When the chest was opened and I saw the position of the arrow, I nearly died of fright because it was a position nearly impossible to survive. But it happened so coincidentally that everything was missed. I don’t know if it was his parents in heaven watching over him."
Liu Yongxin glanced at He Shancun, trying hard to control his emotions.
Looking at Zhou Ning again, hearing about it from others and seeing it for oneself were entirely different feelings. Although Zhou Ning was his apprentice, to him, there was no difference between him and a son.
He had watched him grow from Qidong to the city bureau, always by his side. Perhaps it was just like what He Shancun said, his parents might be watching over him. If he could survive such a critical moment, he would definitely get better afterward.
Patting He Shancun’s arm, Liu Yongxin also sighed and spoke in a lowered voice.
"I’m not rushing you, Shancun. I saw the poison test report. This PSP paralytic shellfish poison is indeed rare, and as far as I know, there is no specific antidote. We can only treat the symptoms, and this is what I’m most worried about."
Xu Dayuan smiled at Liu Yongxin.
"At first, I was most worried about this too. We have treated PSP poisoning patients before. We didn’t even have time to treat the symptoms; they were gone before we could do anything. And that was from ingestion, while this toxin was applied to the arrowhead.
However, Zhou Xiaozhou has a strong will to live. It seems that only his respiratory system was affected. Once he was put on a ventilator, there were no other reactions. Moreover, he lost a lot of blood, and I believe most of the toxin was used up in the process of bleeding.
As for debridement and irrigation, we did that thoroughly, which is also a process to block the absorption of the toxin. From the end of surgery in the early morning until now, there has been no need for resuscitation. The data are relatively stable, and the poison residue from the tests half an hour ago is negligible. I just don’t understand why he hasn’t woken up yet."
Liu Yongxin thought for a moment, opened his phone’s calendar to look.
"The morning of the 2nd, we started getting busy with Shen Shuyi’s case. On the 3rd and 4th, the nights ended close to dawn, and in the mornings, we were at the city bureau before seven. Do you think it’s because he’s exhausted that he..."
He Shancun’s eyes lit up, and he hugged Liu Yongxin’s shoulder.
"That makes sense, Mr. Liu. Don’t worry anymore. Maybe because of excessive fatigue, you guys go ahead with your business, and I’ll have the ventilator removed."
With that, He Shancun hurried into the ICU, gesturing for Doctor Chen to follow and remove Zhou Ning’s ventilator. Perhaps it was the disturbance, although Zhou Ning did not wake, his eyebrows furrowed, and his fingers moved slightly.
After checking Zhou Ning’s pupillary light reflex and looking at the data, He Shancun gestured an OK sign to Liu Yongxin. Liu Yongxin breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Mr. Zhao come over, he quickly waved his hand.
"Enough. Let’s head out. Staying here won’t be helpful, and it might impede He Shancun and his team’s treatment. I believe Zhou Ning can pull through. After all, even the cold arrow didn’t claim his life, and he survived the most dangerous peak of the toxin last night. Let him rest well. You can’t order me around, but the two of us are going to find clues about this assailant."
...
The eastern foothills of Mount Fu.
Mr. Wang’s car had just stopped when Liu Yongxin was the first to get out, followed closely by Mr. Zhao, who rushed to assist Liu Yongxin’s arm.
"Mr. Liu, don’t worry, I’ve reported to Director Xu and a lot of people from Team One are coming. In a moment, we’ll join the search together. After all, Shen Shuyi’s case has come to a close, and Mrs. Fei is still in the hospital. Director Xu means to say, they won’t be assigned additional tasks," Zhou Ning reassured.
While he was speaking, the sound of cars approaching from behind grew loud, and many vehicles arrived at once. Fang Mu was the first to jump out and ran to Zhao Xinli and Liu Yongxin’s side.
"You guys are too quick. Leaving the hospital, I only saw the back of a car and had to chase all the way here to catch up. Mr. Liu, I’m Fang Mu. Please assign us a task."
Liu Yongxin waved his hand dismissively, feeling the comment was somewhat overstated since he knew his own limitations.
"Don’t mention it, you are the leaders, I’m not from the city bureau. You’ve been troubled enough with Zhou Ning’s affair, and assigning tasks is beyond me. But Mr. Zhao, maybe you could say a few words."
Mr. Zhao understood Liu Yongxin’s intent, so he quickly walked over to Fang Mu with a smile, holding a stack of printed maps in his hand.
"Here’s the map. It’s clear enough to see, right? In the middle here are the experts’ building and villa area; red dots indicate the Zhou Family’s location; blue dots show where the shooter was. The stars represent surveillance cameras. This person perfectly avoided all the surveillance, lying in wait before attacking Zhou Xiaozhou.
We’ve calculated a bit. This grey area in the middle is exactly where the cameras don’t reach, and there are two directions from which one could arrive here: one is from between the two neighborhoods toward the north side of the mountain, right under Mout Fu’s eastern foothills where we’re standing.
The other direction, out of the camera’s reach, is to go south, crossing this guardrail and slope, directly connecting to Qin University’s campus. But this spot links to the campus, and regardless of which angle you leave from, you must cross areas under surveillance.
Thus, we suspect there might still be clues on Mout Fu, especially near this angle close to Qin University Road. After all, waiting in the park for six hours is just not practical. Not to mention, there’s nowhere to relieve oneself."
Zhang Ping leaned in, blinking earnestly as he asked:
"That doesn’t make sense. I’ve checked that spot, and it’s just a shrubbery. If you need to urinate, just whip it out and go, right? Does that need to be reported or asked? Worst comes to worst, you can handle it in a drink bottle; it’s not like a living person can be allowed to die from holding it in, right?"
Mr. Zhao grabbed Zhang Ping by the ear, having grown familiar with Zhang Ping and, thus, having no other reservations.
"Being argumentative, are we? Zhou Xiaozhou is still in the hospital, unconscious, and we don’t know if the person who hurt him is still on Qindao. We need to hurry, and I have no time for nonsense."
Zhang Ping raised his hands, quickly putting away his smile.
"My bad. Tell me how we should search."
Mr. Zhao huffed in satisfaction, feeling a bit more comfortable.
"Based on the area circled on the map, we’ll spread out with one person every meter and comb through systematically, mainly looking for signs of human activity: footprints, cigarette butts, urine, feces, man-made waste, etc., and especially for fresh traces. If anything is found, everyone stops. Once we verify it, we continue with the systematic search."
Fang Mu walked over, patting Zhang Ping on the shoulder and smiling at Zhao Xinli.
"Rest assured, I’ve brought the entire Team One, all the on-duty auxiliary police, and even turned up a team from Mr. Liang’s squad. They’ll be here soon. I’ll control the pace from top and bottom with Zhang Ping."
Before he’d finished speaking, the sound of more cars arrived. Mr. Zhao stood on tiptoes to look, while Liu Yongxin also sighed with relief.
"With more people, we can search faster. Let’s start now!"
The search began, from the farthest point on the eastern foothills that could still see Qin University Road, spaced three meters apart, slowly moving towards the west side. The first hour went by extremely fast, and they found plenty of traces, with Mr. Zhao and his team checking whenever there was a call.
There were many traces, but mostly they seemed old. They collected a pile of garbage, but no relevant discoveries were made.
Mr. Wang, standing close to Mr. Yang, wiped the sweat from his face, an anxious expression his features.
"Mr. Yang, is this guy a professional hitman? He strikes so decisively, aiming to kill every time. Can such a person leave behind any valuable information?"
Yang Xuetong shook his head.
"Stop the chatter and do your job. Remind everyone searching to pay attention to footprints and signs of broken or trampled bushes and grass. Even a sniper needs space to lie in wait for a long time. Plus, he would have to move down the mountain eventually, which naturally leaves traces. If we don’t find anything the first time, we’ll search again."
Mr. Wang let out a bitter laugh, offering no rebuttal. Like Mr. Zhao, he moved among everyone, lifting his megaphone to constantly remind them what they should be looking for.
Just as Mr. Zhao was about to stand up straight and catch his breath, a young man raised his hand and called out through the radio:
"Report, I’ve found several footprints and a pit here, looks like it’s from urine!"
Mr. Zhao looked in the direction of the voice; the young man was positioned above him, at the highest point of the team. Mr. Zhao hurriedly rushed over. There, amid the sparse shrubbery—whether previously burned or for some other reason, half of it was dead, and the other half thrived—he saw indeed several indistinct footprints on the ground, with many stepping on dead leaves. Upon seeing the pattern, Mr. Zhao squatted down and lifted his camera to take pictures.
