Chapter 104 Doubt

Chapter 104: Questions

After obtaining the lead on Ke Zhiwei, the team didn’t hesitate for a second. They floored the gas pedal, speeding at breakneck pace toward Bolang Mountain's rugged terrain.

Before leaving, Shen Qingye took some of Ke Zhiwei’s clothing and called the team, instructing Jiang Cheng to gather officers and borrow several police dogs from the police dog unit to assist in the search.

The journey, which normally took over an hour, was completed in less than forty minutes. Nearly all officers from Teams One and Three had arrived. After meeting up with Han Songlin, they roughly estimated the possible area where Ke Zhiwei might be active. They then split into groups of four, each with a police dog, to conduct a coordinated search.

Shen Qingye, Zhou Qiming, and Li Mingliang formed one team, accompanied by the police dog Xiao Jiu and its handler, Wang Lihua. After searching methodically through the mountains for some time, they finally noticed a patch of leaves that appeared slightly depressed, as if trampled by footsteps. Heartened, they tracked the trail deeper into the mountains. Eventually, Xiao Jiu perked up, letting out two sharp barks toward a particular direction.

Shen Qingye knew the dog had likely caught Ke Zhiwei’s scent and let it lead the way while the team followed. After several twists and turns over the next ten minutes, just as they were worrying Qin Jiayu might be hurt, Xiao Jiu suddenly barked loudly. The next moment, Shen Qingye heard frantic cries for help:

"Help! Help!"

"Save me—"

The team froze and turned toward the sound. A girl in a pink dress stumbled toward them from a distance, her face and body covered in mud and blood.

Behind her, a slender man around 1.7 meters tall was in relentless pursuit.

Without hesitation, Shen Qingye rushed forward, pulling the girl into a protective embrace. She stroked the trembling girl’s back, whispering soothingly: "Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. I’m a police officer. We’re here to save you!"

Qin Jiayu seemed to finally release the weight she had been carrying. Her stiff body gradually relaxed as she collapsed into Shen Qingye’s arms, breaking down in heaving sobs.

Shen Qingye pressed her lips together, her gaze turning icy with rage, yet admiring Qin Jiayu’s courage for escaping on her own. She gently patted Qin Jiayu’s back, comforting her with soft words. Then she commanded Xiao Jiu: "Xiao Jiu, go!"

The police dog, already poised for action, shot forward like a bullet.

Ke Zhiwei had sensed the danger and turned to flee—but how could he outrun a trained K-9? In the blink of an eye, he shrieked as he was taken down hard onto the grass.

Zhou Qiming swiftly restrained him, pinning him facedown and cuffing his hands behind his back. Meanwhile, Li Mingliang pulled out his phone to notify the other teams that the suspect had been apprehended.

Pinned facedown, Ke Zhiwei lifted his head and spat venom: "Bitch! You dare trick me? You dare trick me?!"

Qin Jiayu, still buried in Shen Qingye’s arms, shrank at his voice. The warmth and safety she hadn’t felt in so long clashed with her lingering terror, making her cry even harder.

Shen Qingye held her closer, murmuring reassurances.

Zhou Qiming’s expression darkened. He stomped on Ke Zhiwei’s side sharply and snapped, "Shut up!"

Ke Zhiwei coughed violently from the impact but continued glaring with naked hatred at Qin Jiayu, hurling one insult after another.

Zhou Qiming frowned, about to stuff grass into his mouth to silence him, when Qin Jiayu suddenly lifted her head from Shen Qingye’s shoulder.

Wiping her tears, she turned to face Ke Zhiwei. Despite the fear that made her hands shake, she braced herself against the ground and slowly stood up.

Shen Qingye paused but stayed silent, instead carefully helping her rise. Qin Jiayu took a deep breath, strode toward Ke Zhiwei, and stared down at him for a moment before driving her foot into his chest.

Ke Zhiwei bellowed in pain, staring at her in disbelief. "Y-you—"

Qin Jiayu’s breathing was ragged, her eyes red. She kicked him again.

Ke Zhiwei writhed in agony, his face contorted. Qin Jiayu clenched her fists, teeth gritted. "What about me?"

She unleashed her pent-up fury, delivering blow after blow, snarling through her tears, "Bastard! Scum! Worthless maggot, subhuman trash!"

"Who do you think you are? Who do you think you are?"

Her voice cracked, tears streaming as she vented her rage. Each blow landing harder, growing more merciless.

Seeing Ke Zhiwei's pale face, Zhou Qiming, fearing he might actually get hurt, quickly grabbed Qin Jiayu's arm and feigning sudden realization, stopped her: "Alright, alright. Whatever he's done, the police will investigate and handle it. No beating him up for revenge!"

Shen Qingye also stepped forward, pulling her back into a hug and gently patting her back: "It's okay now, it's okay. Don't be afraid, you're safe now."

As she spoke, she took out a tissue to wipe the dirt off Qin Jiayu's face and asked softly, "Are you hurt anywhere? Do you feel unwell? Did he abuse you?"

Qin Jiayu shook her head, her voice thick with tears: "N-no, I just fell while running, scraped my arms and legs... He just kept me tied up—the whole time, but he didn't do anything else..."

"It's good that you're okay, it's good." Shen Qingye stroked her head: "We’re getting you home now, okay? We’re going home now."

Qin Jiayu asked, "What about my parents..."

Shen Qingye quickly replied, "Your parents are fine, just worried about you. But it's okay, we've already called them. They know you’re safe. Don't worry, alright?"

Only then did Qin Jiayu truly relax as the pain and exhaustion hit her. Her knees buckled, nearly giving out.

Shen Qingye helped her sit under a nearby tree to rest.

Meanwhile, the other teams arrived. Yue Lingchuan was the first to approach, looking Shen Qingye up and down with concern: "Are you okay?"

Shen Qingye smiled at him: "I'm fine. With Xiao Jiu here, Ke Zhiwei was no match."

Yue Lingchuan finally relaxed, glancing at Qin Jiayu but holding his tongue. Instead, he went to Captain Yang and the others to plan their next move.

"So this is the mastermind behind this whole scheme?" Lao Huang scrutinized Ke Zhiwei's thin, small frame, his brows nearly hitting his hairline in disbelief. "This scrawny punk?"

Ke Zhiwei's mouth was stuffed with grass and mud by Li Mingliang to keep him quiet. Now, meeting Lao Huang's disdainful gaze and insulting words, he thrashed wildly, his eyes blazing with fury.

Li Mingliang scoffed: "Yep, this is the guy who led us on a wild goose chase."

They'd even deployed three police dogs! And it was all thanks to that student—if he hadn't spotted Ke Zhiwei, who knows how long the search would've taken.

Lao Huang glanced at the girl sitting under the tree and raised his chin, marveling: "She really escaped on her own?"

Li Mingliang nodded: "She really did."

He clicked his tongue: "We were surprised too. Tiny thing like her—no clue how she pulled it off! And she didn't even run far!"

Captain Yang studied the state of her clothes and nodded: "She’s clever."

He then asked, "Did you ask her where she was held or how she escaped?"

Li Mingliang shrugged: "Not yet. She’s still shaken up—we didn’t think it was the time to push."

He added, "Xiao Shen's still comforting her."

Captain Yang said, "I think that girl’s got grit. She’ll probably recover soon."

Hearing this, Yue Lingchuan said, "I'll go check on her."

He strode over but didn't approach Qin Jiayu directly. Instead, he first checked in with Shen Qingye before walking up to Qin Jiayu.

Shen Qingye crouched in front of her, checking her injuries, and asked gently, "How are you feeling now? Better?"

Qin Jiayu nodded, her emotions somewhat steadier, managing a weak smile: "Better. Just sore is all. It's nothing serious."

Shen Qingye reassured her: "Don't worry, I checked. Only surface wounds—nothing serious. We'll apply some medicine later, and I promise there won't be any scars."

Qin Jiayu shook her head: "That’s the least of my worries..."

Scar or no scar, after this ordeal, surviving is all that matters.

Qin Jiayu glanced at the group of officers whispering in the distance, then at Ke Zhiwei, who was firmly restrained, and couldn’t help but ask, "What will happen to him?"

Shen Qingye shot him a glance and replied coolly, "He carried out a kidnapping, attempted murder, and tried to frame someone else. He’ll do time for several years, at least."

Qin Jiayu was taken aback. "He wanted to kill me?" She wasn’t exactly shocked by that, but—

"He also tried to frame someone else? Who?" Suddenly, a thought struck her. "Zhou Yuanfeng?"

Shen Qingye paused. "You didn’t know? He never told you?"

Qin Jiayu shook her head. "No."

"He had me tied up for days now, only coming by once a day. Most of the time, he either stayed silent or spouted nonsense..." She pressed her lips together. "I had a vague feeling he didn’t like Zhou Yuanfeng."

Shen Qingye exchanged a glance with Yue Lingchuan before asking, "Then how did you manage to escape?"

Qin Jiayu licked her lips. "I... I tricked him..."

She recounted how she had escaped, including how she had used the belt from her dress to fight him off. Then, hesitantly, she asked, "Will I get in trouble for doing that?"

Shen Qingye now understood where the red mark on Ke Zhiwei’s body came from.

Hearing Qin Jiayu’s question, she quickly reassured her, "Of course not. That was self-defense."

Only then did Qin Jiayu relax, a small smile tugging at her lips.

Seeing that she seemed okay, Shen Qingye tentatively asked, "Do you still remember where Ke Zhiwei hid you? If we had to go back, could you find the place again?"

At this, Qin Jiayu flinched. During those four days of captivity, she had been tied to a chair, unable to move. The surroundings were dead silent—no one to talk to, no sounds at all. And at night, it was pitch black, without a speck of light in the entire world...

The memory made her recoil, an instinctive revulsion rising within her. But when she looked at Ke Zhiwei and met the expectant gazes of the police nearby, she stiffened for a long moment before taking a deep breath and nodding reluctantly. "I remember."

"It was a small wooden cabin, looked pretty old, like it had been there for years."

"I ran for a long time to get here—maybe ten minutes or so. I don’t remember the exact location, but if we retrace my steps slowly, we should be able to find it..."

Shen Qingye perked up and said quickly, "Then will you come back with us? All these cops around—you’ll be safe."

Yue Lingchuan added, "We’ve already called your parents. They’re on their way. By the time we find the cabin and come back down, they should be here."

Qin Jiayu looked at Shen Qingye, hesitating for a moment before steeling herself. Softly, she agreed, "Okay."