I don't know how long I stayed by Yu Ning's side. One night, I suddenly felt her stroking my head again, just like she used to when I was tired from work. She'd softly say, "He Sheng, it's late, you should rest. You have to go to work tomorrow..."
As I listened, tears involuntarily streamed down my face.
I woke up to the dampness of my hospital gown. When I sat up, I saw that Liu Yu Ning's eyes were still tightly closed in sleep, and her gown was covered in my tears.
I wiped my eyes and told myself, "Don't overthink it. I need to be strong!"
I believe if Liu Yu Ning could speak now, she would comfort me in the same way.
I stood up. Right, I should be going to work. I slept quite well last night, and now I feel very energetic.
Thanks to you, Yu Ning. You encouraged me a lot in reality, and even in my dreams, you still give me immense courage and confidence.
This is the sliver of comfort you can provide me right now.
Sometimes I feel rather sentimental, but isn't there that saying?
As Li Kaixian of the Ming Dynasty said in "The Story of the Precious Sword": "A man does not shed tears lightly, only when his sorrow is unbearable."
Leaving the ward, I contacted He Qing. He said Gao Mingqiang could be discharged.
That's another person who can help me with the investigation. We returned to the Guangming City Provincial Department. The Crime Punishment Team is in a critical situation. Director Zhang has assigned me an additional hundred police officers to command. However, without He Xin's support, the technical aspect feels like a void. Fortunately, Shao Zhengzhi learned a lot of her skills back then. I had him join us at the Anxi Town Traffic Management Bureau. It's time for us to investigate the road conditions near the psychiatric hospital.
If those people really moved, the surveillance cameras would definitely have captured it.
However, as we observed the surveillance footage, we discovered something strange: there were no vehicles on the road near the psychiatric hospital, and the surveillance footage remained static. At that moment, I realized the surveillance cameras themselves were also malfunctioning. But the culprit wouldn't possibly enter the Traffic Management Bureau to cause damage, so the problem must be with the cameras. I called Shao Zhengzhi and explained the situation. He quickly found a clue, saying the monitored road had been interfered with.
"How was that done? Can the culprit connect to the surveillance lines?" I asked.
"Cut a wire and control it with a computer. An ordinary person certainly can't do it, but for a skilled hacker, it's a piece of cake."
"I understand. Can you find a way to trace the method of interference?"
"Team Leader, your sentence is grammatically flawed. It's not about finding the method of interference, but about tracing the data from when they connected the lines. Perhaps we can trace the specific physical IP address by probing their servers."
I roughly understood what Shao Zhengzhi was saying, but the specifics were for the technical police to grasp. I told him to try his best and that I was relying on him this time. He grunted and hung up.
We could only go to Anxi Town and try our luck. There were a few supermarkets near the psychiatric hospital. Although they appeared calm, we could see cameras on the sides. I had He Qing and Gao Mingqiang split up and investigate. We soon obtained the surveillance footage from these supermarkets. As a result, near a certain street leading into the psychiatric hospital, we spotted a beige six-seater minivan driving out. Based on its size, it should be able to accommodate He Xin and the others.
And it came from the direction of the psychiatric hospital. Thus, we locked onto the vehicle's whereabouts and had traffic police assist us. Finally, based on the "Sky Eye" system and dashcam data, we found where the vehicle was last parked – it was near the psychiatric hospital again!
"How is this possible?" I looked at the route on the screen, thinking my eyes were playing tricks on me. Was he deliberately circling? But that wouldn't help. Once we returned to the psychiatric hospital, we would know everything.
Perhaps sensing my confusion, He Qing suddenly said, "No! He must be thinking that the most dangerous place is the safest."
I looked at He Qing in surprise but quickly gave the order, "Everyone, follow me back to the psychiatric hospital!"
This was our third time here. With so many people, we were no longer afraid. We, along with dozens of SWAT officers, surrounded the entire psychiatric hospital so tightly that almost all its entrances and exits were sealed and locked.
We led dozens of police officers to search everywhere. When we reached the basement again, we indeed found He Xin and the others hanging by ropes. A strange person in a blue outfit was about to break in from the door, but was caught red-handed by our people. He didn't know that I had a few men lying in ambush outside.
"What are you doing?" After being apprehended, the man struggled a few times, as if feigning ignorance.
"You're quite good at acting. Your attire? Are you pretending to be the hospital director or that 'dream person'?" I sneered as I walked towards him. Behind me, the police officers and He Qing were already rescuing everyone.
The man spat on the ground. "Bold mortal! You are not worthy to mention the name of our Nightmare Saint, for you are beneath it!"
"Right! Right! Nightmare Saint. I really want to know what this is all about! You can tell me all about it back at the station!"
Guangming City Provincial Department Interrogation Room.
We quickly identified the man's name through the household registration facial recognition system. Wang Feiwen, 39 years old, a local resident of Anxi Town, Guangming City. He used to be a security guard at the Anxi Town Psychiatric Hospital.
"Wang Feiwen, you were a security guard here?"
"That's right. What about it?"
I glanced at Wang Feiwen's expression and continued, "The psychiatric hospital has closed down. What were you still doing here?"
"Who told you the psychiatric hospital closed down means I can't stay here? If I don't want to leave, can't I?"
"Heh, that excuse is too far-fetched. Did you take those people away?"
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Don't hide it. He Xin and the others have fibers from your gloves on them. How many days have you imprisoned them? You must have some idea."
"I touched them, but I wasn't the one who imprisoned them!"
"Oh? So you're saying?"
"The Nightmare Saint told me to do it?"
"Who is this Nightmare Saint?"
"He is our master. He helps us enter a mystical realm. In dreams, we can have everything. I know that the current situation is just a dream. I will wake up soon, so I am not afraid of your interrogation."
Hearing Wang Feiwen say this, Gao Mingqiang and I couldn't help but exchange glances. For a moment, we couldn't figure out the true meaning of this man's words.
But after calming down, I understood. This guy actually thought he was dreaming!