He got down to business.

Zhao Hongjie had just been discussing with Kong Lingzhi whether they should start interrogating Fan Lei immediately.

Or if they should wait until the chain of evidence was more complete before interrogating him.

He asked Zhang Hancheng for his opinion.

Zhang Hancheng thought for a moment, then said he wanted to make contact with Fan Lei first to gauge his mindset.

Zhao Hongjie and Kong Lingzhi discussed it for a moment and agreed.

Liu Baoqing would conduct the interrogation personally.

Everyone crowded into the observation room.

Just then, Cui Xuesong answered a call. His expression changed, and he hurried over. "Director Zhao, Director Kong, Zhang Zhi, there’s a new development. The hospital found Fan Lei’s medical records."

"Terminal stomach cancer with metastasis. The doctor recommended chemotherapy, but he refused it."

Shen Xin was startled. He quickly turned his head to look at Fan Lei in the next room.

’So, he thinks he’s going to die and wanted to pull one last job to leave some money for his wife and kids?’

Inside the interrogation room, Liu Baoqing had already begun his questioning.

Fan Lei was very familiar with the procedure. After giving his basic information, he spoke before Liu Baoqing could even ask a question, "I’ve been inside before, been ’educated’ on the process. Let’s save some time. Just ask whatever you want to know."

He knew very well that once the police had their sights on him, anything he tried to stubbornly hide would be found out sooner or later. It was only a matter of time.

Liu Baoqing frowned, but this was a rare opportunity. He thought for a moment and asked, "Who hired you to kill Huang Weili and Xu Rulin?"

Without a hint of hesitation, Fan Lei said directly, "Yang Xing. He’s the one who found me and asked me to kill Xu Rulin."

In the observation room, Zhang Hancheng’s eyes flew wide open.

He never would have expected Fan Lei to say that name.

Shen Xin also remembered at once.

The owner of the Luminous Pearl Forum that He Wei had mentioned before.

But Zhang Hancheng had said that Yang Xing was arrested in ’05, the year after He Wei went to prison, and sentenced to ten years.

If it was Yang Xing, then it was indeed possible that he would have sought out Fan Lei.

He Wei did say that Yang Xing knew the underworld scene very well.

Zhang Hancheng immediately waved Du Yong over and told him to check on Yang Xing’s current situation.

In the interrogation room, Liu Baoqing was clearly unfamiliar with the name Yang Xing, but he noted a detail and asked, "You said you were hired to kill Xu Rulin, so why did you kill Huang Weili?"

At the mention of this, Fan Lei actually sighed.

"How should I put it?" Fan Lei tilted his head back, thought for a moment, and said, "I can only say he was unlucky and got caught up in it. On the night of the 19th, Yang Xing kept rushing me. He laid his cards on the table, saying it was the final deadline. If I didn’t make a move, he’d find someone else."

"I couldn’t help it. That guy Huang Weili was a fishing fanatic. When he was night fishing, he was always the last to leave, so I never had a chance to make my move."

"Then Yang Xing kept pressuring me, and I was out of ideas. I had no choice but to go. I figured if things didn’t work out, I’d just wait for Xu Rulin on his way down the mountain and kill him there."

"But I had such bad luck that day. By the time I got there, it was already past eleven, and only Huang Weili was left. I only found out after asking him that Xu Rulin had already left."

"Usually, he’d fish until at least midnight. Who knew he’d leave early that day? And he drove off, too. I couldn’t exactly go to his house to kill him, could I?"

"I thought about it for a second and came up with a plan: I’d just kill Huang Weili instead."

"You must have seen them; the two have similar body types. So I figured, I’ll kill Huang Weili, toss him in the water, face down, let him float there, and then take a video for Yang Xing. I’d tell him I’d killed Xu Rulin and get the money first."

Liu Baoqing’s eyes went wide.

Everyone in the observation room had the same expression.

"Holy shit."

Behind Shen Xin, Chen Chao let out a soft exclamation.

Shen Xin had the same thought.

’If that’s what happened, then Huang Weili’s death was just too unfair.’

’But the key question is, would Yang Xing buy it?’

In the interrogation room, Liu Baoqing, still stunned, immediately thought of the same point and pressed on, "Wouldn’t Yang Xing verify whether it was actually Xu Rulin?"

He truly felt this was all too much like a farce.

"I was taking a gamble," Fan Lei said. "If he didn’t check, great. If he wanted to check, I’d just say I’d have to go into the water and that it would leave evidence."

"If he really insisted on checking, that’s fine too. The important thing is that I killed someone."

Fan Lei gave Liu Baoqing a knowing look.

Liu Baoqing understood.

It meant that Fan Lei was planning to use Huang Weili’s death to blackmail Yang Xing in turn.

Fan Lei continued, "I figured even if Yang Xing found out, I could just say I accidentally killed the wrong person and would find another chance to kill the right one for him later. That would buy me a few more days. And killing Huang Weili was a bonus—it’d stop him from fishing so late all the time."

Liu Baoqing frowned.

In the observation room, everyone frowned.

This was a truth that no one had expected.