Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Accusation and a Major Case
Zhao Nuanyue was frantic, praying that Hua Yusen could stop, or better yet, capture those people.
Miao Dahai led the men of the village, and Li Guihua led the women. They all followed Zhao Nuanyue toward the Great River Dam, where they could faintly see people fighting in the distance.
"Hurry, hurry! We have to catch the culprits this time!" Miao Dahai shouted. He was furious. He’d barely managed to smooth over the last incident. With such a huge commotion this time, there was no way to cover it up.
Since it had come to this, they had to catch the perpetrators to be able to answer to the higher-ups. Otherwise, not only would the village’s reputation be ruined, but his career here would likely be over. In the past, he wouldn’t have cared about losing this job, but things were different now.
His son-in-law had asked a favor of him in a letter, and it would be difficult to get involved if he wasn’t in this position.
Zhao Nuanyue received a message from the Little Red Carp: Hua Yusen had already captured three people.
Since so many people were heading over, Zhao Nuanyue pulled her brother along, panting as if she couldn’t run another step. Luckily, everyone had already spotted the distant fight and no longer needed her to lead the way, so they all ran ahead.
Once everyone had run ahead, Zhao Nuanyue silently asked the Little Red Carp in her mind, ’Are they all caught?’
’No. That Wang Dadan ran to the other side of the river. Liu Lanhua was caught, but she’s trying to talk her way out of it,’ the Little Red Carp replied, still shaken. ’Heavens, humans are so deceitful. I should just stay put in the water and not come out.’
’Talk her way out of it? They were caught red-handed! How could Liu Lanhua possibly talk her way out of this?’ Zhao Nuanyue felt a surge of anxiety. ’If we can’t nail Wang Dadan and Liu Lanhua this time, it’ll be even harder to catch them in the future.’
’She’s claiming she saw Li Qiong and Wang Yuan leave and was worried they might be in danger, so she followed them to protect them,’ the Little Red Carp said timidly.
Zhao Nuanyue was exhausted, but she couldn’t worry about that now. She hurried onto the Great River Dam.
Liu Lanhua was over there, wailing and trying to plead her case.
Zhao Nuanyue ran up, pointed across the river, and said, "That dark figure—did someone get away?"
Seeing that people had arrived, Hua Yusen shouted, "One of them got away! He’s short and fat!"
However, it was the dead of winter and bitterly cold. No one was willing to jump into the river to give chase.
"Big Pillar, take a few men and circle around using the bridge over there! I refuse to believe he could have gotten far," Miao Dahai ordered. Finding that scoundrel was important, but he couldn’t risk the men’s health.
Going into water that cold would mean ruined legs for sure.
Big Pillar heard him and quickly replied, "Yes, village chief! You lot, with me!"
Zhao Nuanyue scanned the area, calling out, "Yang Guanghui? Li Qiong? Wang Yuan?"
Hua Yusen pointed to a burlap sack on the riverbank, then to two people who were bound and gagged.
Li Guahua hurried over with some people to help the three victims. Yang Guanghui was unconscious and unresponsive. As soon as Li Qiong and Wang Yuan were untied, they burst into loud sobs, convinced they had been moments from death.
They were showing a movie tonight, so people from several villages knew what was happening. It couldn’t be covered up. The only option was to report it to the authorities tonight.
"I’ll take these scoundrels to the county public security bureau. Yang Guanghui, Li Qiong, and Wang Yuan need to go to the hospital to get checked out, just in case their injuries are serious," Miao Dahai declared, having already formulated a plan. "Director Li, take the women and children and head back to the village. Oh, and Mr. Hua, Zhao Nuanyue, you two will come with me to give a statement about what happened tonight."
"Okay," Zhao Nuanyue nodded. ’This has to be handed over to the authorities. Otherwise, incidents like this will just keep happening.’
When Zhao Nuan Yang saw his sister leaving, he insisted on coming too, so Zhao Nuanyue had no choice but to take him with her.
At that moment, Liu Lanhua was kneeling on the ground, wailing, "I swear, I just saw them leave and remembered the last incident, so I followed them out of concern! I never thought someone would actually be after them! I was just about to go get help when Mr. Hua showed up! I meant well! Please, don’t frame me!"
"You’re lying!" Zhao Nuanyue scoffed. "I was watching the movie when I noticed Yang Guanghui, Li Qiong, and Wang Yuan were gone. I was about to go look for them when I saw you sneak out without finishing the film. I followed you. I saw you meet up with several people at the intersection up ahead, and it looked like you were holding something like a sack. After that, I saw someone getting beaten on the Great River Dam. The voice sounded like Yang Guanghui. I was about to run back for help when Mr. Hua arrived. He gave chase and told me to go back and get people."
When Miao Dahai heard Zhao Nuanyue’s testimony, his eyes lit up. He knew Liu Lanhua wouldn’t be able to get away with it now.
"In any case, we didn’t just catch you; we have three of your accomplices. I’d like to see how tough you all act at the public security bureau," Miao Dahai said coldly. "Let’s move. We need to reach the county bureau before dawn."
Hearing this, Liu Lanhua was so frightened she collapsed to the ground.
’Wang Dadan has already escaped. It’s pitch-black out; Big Pillar and his men will probably never find him.’
’The blame is going to fall entirely on me. But if I confess, or if I implicate Wang Dadan, he’ll be finished... and his entire family would be ruined.’
They borrowed an ox-cart from Liujiawan, tied up the captives, and tossed them onto it.
Zhao Nuanyue and Zhao Nuan Yang followed behind the ox-cart, walking toward the county seat. The cold wind whipped past, making them shiver uncontrollably.
The mountain path was difficult. The dozens of people in their party carried torches, and even if there were wolves nearby, they didn’t dare approach. They finally reached the county seat just after dawn.
Miao Dahai took the captives directly to the public security bureau. The officers on duty were startled to see such a large group arrive, assuming a major crime had occurred. They quickly assembled a team to handle the case.
Hua Yusen saw that Zhao Nuanyue’s lips were purple from the cold. He went inside, asked for some hot water, and handed it to her. "Here, drink this quickly."
Zhao Nuanyue was taken aback for a moment, but she knew this was no time to be stubborn. She quickly took the cup and drank a few mouthfuls. The warmth spread through her body. Then she passed the cup to her brother.
"Will they go to prison for this?" Zhao Nuanyue asked. "And the one who escaped—is there any chance he’ll be caught?"
Hua Yusen shook his head. "I’m not sure. But since you’ve done what you’ve done, don’t have any regrets. These people have committed evil and deserve to be punished. As for you and your brother, you need to be even more careful from now on."
"Yes, I know," Zhao Nuanyue nodded. "If I hadn’t stepped up to expose them, they wouldn’t have been grateful. The moment they got a chance, they would have come after me. That’s why I was hoping we could catch them all in one go, but it seems we didn’t quite achieve that."
Hearing her words, Hua Yusen was stunned. ’So she had such a grand objective all along.’
