Chapter 689 - 571: The Aftermath is Too Much

Chapter 689: Chapter 571: The Aftermath is Too Much

The dagger pierced his heart, and his circulatory system instantly collapsed. His blood pressure plummeted with each passing second.

The brain makes up only two percent of the body’s weight, yet it consumes over twenty percent of its oxygen and blood. When the circulatory system collapses, the brain shuts down like a computer abruptly unplugged from the wall. Consciousness, too, fades second by second.

Under these circumstances, a person cannot make any voluntary movements, not even the most basic groan.

After more than ten seconds, spontaneous respiration begins to cease. High-pressure blood from the aorta floods the chest cavity through the wound, causing acute internal bleeding. Within minutes, only the dying reflexes of oxygen-starved nerve endings remain.

"The doctor! Where’s the doctor? Hurry!"

Chang Zhigang dashed forward, staring helplessly at Lu Weihong, who had already collapsed limply to the floor, and screamed at the top of his lungs.

To ensure the arrest went smoothly, an ambulance had actually been called to the scene in advance.

But it seemed... they were too late.

Shen Xin’s mind went blank. A constant roar filled his ears, and he completely lost the ability to think. Out of the corner of his eye, he could only see the crowd swirling like phantoms of light.

It wasn’t until Yang Zeran, who was standing beside him, noticed something was wrong that he abruptly yanked Shen Xin aside.

The office door burst open, and Xu Jinguang rushed in with his team.

Chang Zhigang was still shouting, calling Lu Weihong’s name over and over, but there was no response.

Then came the paramedics.

Chang Zhigang was pulled aside to make room.

The paramedic quickly knelt, checked the airway, leaned in to listen for a breath, and felt for a pulse in the carotid artery.

But he too seemed to be in shock, clearly not expecting to find the situation so dire.

There was little he could do. In fact, he could already make a preliminary judgment: the man was irreversibly dead.

He turned to the others, nervously asking what to do.

"You’re asking us?" Chang Zhigang yelled, grabbing the paramedic’s arm. "Doctor, you have to do something!" he said frantically.

The roaring in Shen Xin’s ears persisted. He suddenly felt someone tugging at him again.

He turned his head and saw Ding Yuwei waving a hand frantically in front of his face, shouting something at him.

But he couldn’t hear a thing.

It wasn’t until Zhao Tianxing came over and reached out to press the pressure point under his nose that Shen Xin finally jolted back to awareness. He felt his body again and slapped Zhao Tianxing’s hand away.

"I... I’m fine."

Shen Xin shook his head and looked at Lu Weihong.

The man was motionless. The dagger was especially jarring to the eye.

Strangely, there was no external bleeding, only a patch of crimson soaking through the sweatshirt on his chest.

But his face was rapidly turning pale.

Beside him, Zhao Tianxing muttered, "How could this happen?"

Yang Zeran shook his head. "Don’t say it."

Ding Yuwei gripped Shen Xin’s arm nervously, her eyes filled with concern.

She had never expected something like this to happen.

Now, she was more worried about Shen Xin’s condition.

’She knew Shen Xin well. He was rational enough; deep down, he understood everything.’

’He understood that some things were beyond human control, that many things couldn’t be judged as simply right or wrong, and that he had to uphold justice.’

’When it came to emotion versus the law, Shen Xin would always put the law first.’

’But knowing all that didn’t mean Shen Xin had a heart of stone, that he was indifferent to everything.’

’Shen Xin used to tell himself that after being a detective for so long and seeing so much darkness, he couldn’t afford to get too emotionally invested.’

’But Ding Yuwei knew that Shen Xin was actually a very sensitive person. There were some things he just couldn’t get over.’

’Now, with Lu Weihong dying right in front of him, Ding Yuwei was truly afraid that Shen Xin would blame himself and be unable to overcome this emotional hurdle.’

Shen Xin forced himself to calm down. He didn’t want to think about all the chaos; he just wanted to focus on the situation at hand.

Seeing employees peeking in from outside the office, he quickly gave Zhao Tianxing a push, telling him to go out and make them stop looking.

Most importantly, no one was to call Ruan Jia.

Under the current circumstances, she absolutely could not find out.

"Director Xu," Shen Xin said, walking over. "Lu Weihong just called Ruan Jia. Should we send someone to check on them? Their child is young and home alone."

The mere mention of the young child made Shen Xin’s heart feel as if it had been struck by a hammer, and it throbbed with a searing pain.

An indescribable emotion, impossible to put into words, surged up like a tide, enveloping him completely. His skin felt tight, and an unnameable anguish washed over him.

Xu Jinguang nodded slightly and immediately sent some officers.

Meanwhile, the paramedic hesitated. He could have declared the time of death right then, but seeing everyone’s reactions, he found it hard to speak.

It was Xu Jinguang who finally spoke, waving a hand to signal them to take the body away for now.

Lu Weihong was lifted onto a stretcher.

Xu Jinguang watched the gurney being wheeled away, then tilted his head back and let out a long, heavy sigh, his feelings a complex tangle.

Chang Zhigang had been wearing a body camera, so Xu Jinguang knew exactly what had happened—everything Lu Weihong had said, and his reason for choosing suicide.

Today was supposed to be a good day.

A decade-old cold case had been solved. The truth was out. This was supposed to be the day the killer was brought to justice, bringing solace to the families of the six victims after ten long years of waiting.

Instead, Lu Weihong had died like this.

Was it suicide to escape punishment?

Xu Jinguang didn’t think so. Lu Weihong himself had said it—he knew he couldn’t live, knew he deserved to die.

No, he was afraid that the process of his arrest and execution would harm the wife and daughter he cherished most.

He was trying to use his death to protect them one last time.

This reasoning left an indescribable unease in Xu Jinguang’s heart, casting a shadow over what should have been a moment of triumph.

It even gave Xu Jinguang a sense of guilt, as if he had brutally torn apart a happy family just to solve a case.

’Even though Xu Jinguang knew he shouldn’t think this way. There had to be a right and wrong. Lu Weihong deserved to die, deserved to pay the price and bring closure to the families of those six victims.’

With another soft sigh, Xu Jinguang turned and walked out of the office.

Ding Yuwei grabbed Shen Xin and pulled him downstairs.

"Shen Xin, don’t let your mind run wild. I..." Ding Yuwei hugged Shen Xin tightly.

’She was scared.’

’At that moment, she wasn’t a police officer; she was just Shen Xin’s fiancée, worried he would be deeply affected.’

The warm embrace soothed Shen Xin’s tumultuous emotions. After a long moment, he patted Ding Yuwei on the back and said softly, "Don’t worry, I’m okay."

"I was just thinking, maybe we were too hasty. Maybe the arrest plan was wrong. For example..."

Before he could finish, Yang Zeran, who was standing nearby, cut him off.

"Shen Xin, don’t think like that." Yang Zeran seemed to have accepted the outcome more quickly. He sighed. "How else could we have arrested him? Ambush him at home? Or wait for him to come downstairs and jump him?"

"You have to look at it this way: no matter how we tried to arrest him, he would have done this. I even think he had this ending planned out long ago."

The task force’s investigation hadn’t made any contact with him before this.

We showed up at his door to take him in, and he was able to make a split-second decision, threaten suicide to buy time, and say goodbye to his wife and daughter. To Yang Zeran, it seemed like he had planned for this very scenario all along.

Even that ornamental dagger, placed right behind him, had been sharpened. He was probably prepared for this long ago.

"Even if we had managed to restrain him, he would have found another opportunity to kill himself later. He’s not like Bai Jifei."

Bai Jifei is a refined egoist; all his death threats were just for show, to get attention.

But Lu Weihong was truly prepared to die. He pierced his own heart with such resolution, without a shred of hesitation.

It takes immense determination for someone to commit suicide.

Therefore, in Yang Zeran’s opinion, to achieve his goal of avoiding a public trial, Lu Weihong was determined to die. No one could have stopped him.

"I understand..."

Shen Xin nodded and sat on the edge of a planter. "I just feel like this case... the way we handled it was just so..."

Shen Xin shook his head slightly, unable to find the right word to describe how he felt.

’Logically, I’m a police officer. It’s my duty to solve cases.’

’Especially a major case that had gone unsolved for nine years.’

’Six victims... that wasn’t just a cold number in a file. It represented six families.’

’Even a monster like Wang Shulin had old, lonely parents.’

’Solving the case was supposed to bring closure to everyone.’

’At the beginning, Shen Xin had been filled with a fighting spirit, determined to bring the killer to justice.’

’But as the truth of the case was peeled back, layer by layer...’

’Wrong time, wrong place, wrong judgment. The truth of this major case was laid bare before everyone, cold and stark, for all to judge.’

’Wang Shulin was a victim, but also a perpetrator.’

’Lu Weihong was a murderer, but also a victim.’

’Especially since Lu Weihong had already put his past behind him and chosen to start over.’

’He had worked hard to build a life for himself, finding a wife he loved and having an adorable daughter.’

’Even at the last moment of his life, he was still giving everything he had to love his family.’

’And then there was his motive.’

’He was avenging Li Suhua, but he was also driven by guilt—guilt for the child in her womb whose paternity could never be confirmed.’

All these complex emotions had been swirling in Shen Xin’s mind, and now, with Lu Weihong’s gruesome death, they erupted all at once.

’It made Shen Xin feel a pang of regret, making him wonder if he should have even tried so hard to solve this cold case in the first place.’

’Just let that scoundrel Wang Shulin die and pay the price.’

’But he knew there were also innocent victims like Hu Zeyang. Their families needed the truth, they needed closure.’

At this thought, Shen Xin felt a profound weariness.

He was so tired.

The aftershock of this case was too much. Shen Xin needed a break.