Chapter 80: The Ventilation Duct

“I am the owner of the car. What’s so wonderful about Jiangnan? I’ve never even been to a place like that… No, I’m not making excuses. My car was parked in the hospital lot, and I have no idea how it ended up wherever you said… I didn’t mean the car drove itself there, but even if I did, that wouldn’t be so strange, would it? People have legs, cars have wheels—why couldn’t a car go somewhere on its own? Why am I being accused of spinning tales?”
“What do you mean if I don’t take the initiative, I’ll be passive? I’ve told you everything I know. Believe it or not, it’s up to you… Shouldn’t you be investigating how the car got there? Why ask me? Besides active and passive, there’s automatic, for heaven’s sake!”
The young doctor hung up the phone, his face flushed with anger, and tossed the device onto his desk. He looked at Wang Chao, who sat across from him. “That was the traffic police. They found my car parked outside some place called Jiangnan Club, and told me to retrieve it from their station tomorrow… Wait, why are you smirking? Don’t tell me you don’t believe me either?”
“I believe you…” Wang Chao cast a sidelong glance at the young doctor. “Most men who visit places like that wouldn’t admit it was their own idea. It’s just the way it is… But next time, don’t blame it on ‘automatic.’ That’s a weak excuse. In situations like this, you can always say a friend drove it over—create a friend out of thin air.”
The young doctor rubbed his forehead and sighed, pondering for a moment before speaking uncertainly, “Maybe someone really did steal my car from the parking lot…”
“With so many luxury cars in the lot, why steal your beat-up Ford?” Wang Chao scoffed. “Besides, even if a thief did take a fancy to your car, they wouldn’t hang around at Jiangnan Club—they’d try to sell it off quick. Parking it out front in broad daylight? That’s either bold or just plain unprofessional.”
“Forget it, arguing won’t help now…” The young doctor shot Wang Chao a cold look. “Let’s get to the point. What are you up to? Why haven’t you tried to leave the hospital? Are you just going to sit here and wait?”
Wang Chao briefly outlined his “diversion plan,” his bloodshot eyes fierce and resolved. “I’m not thinking about escape anymore. If I can go, I’ll go. If not, I’ll do what I can for Jinyue, help her disentangle herself from all this as soon as possible…”
“Fool!” The young doctor’s face hardened. “You’ve turned a simple matter into a mess. I told you to go after Han Mei to muddy the waters and mobilize the city’s police force—only then could we pull off what we wanted. Now that you’ve failed, you must withdraw quickly, preserve yourself, and regroup. What, do you think the police are useless, or Zhang Xiaoman is senile? This ‘diversion’ nonsense—if you try to approach Han Mei’s room, you’ll have a dozen guns pointed at your head.”
Wang Chao frowned, “My first step succeeded. Most cops are now gathered around Yang Qingqing’s room…”
The young doctor opened his computer, clicked a surveillance program, and pointed to the feed from the hospital’s main entrance. “Look for yourself… Five minutes ago, Zhang Xiaoman arrived with three officers. Only he went to the ER—so I bet the others are at Han Mei’s room. Also, I felt someone tailing me when I returned to my office.”
Wang Chao stared at the video, mouth agape. “Even you’re being watched now? How do they know you’re involved? What do we do—stuck here, we can’t just wait to die, can we?”
“How they know doesn’t matter now. And…” The young doctor produced a blueprint and spread it on the desk, pointing to the overhead air ducts. “You have two minutes to memorize this. Escape through the ducts, head for the hospital’s back alley. This afternoon I placed a discarded hospital bookshelf there. Hide inside it. In half an hour, someone collecting scrap will haul it away—you can slip out of the net then.”

Wang Chao worked to memorize the duct layout, all the while feigning concern. “So you’re not leaving with me?”
“There’s only room for one in the bookshelf…” The young doctor eyed Wang Chao’s clothes and casual shoes. “Someone needs to distract them so you have time to get away. I’m not doing this for you. I’ve been planning for years—I won’t stop now. Don’t pretend; even if I walked out openly and flaunted myself before them, they wouldn’t arrest me. I know exactly what cards Zhang Xiaoman holds.”
“That’s good…” Wang Chao felt a chill. Only now did he sense the scale of the game—he was nothing but a pawn. He caught the young doctor’s gaze, straightened, and said, “Pack it up. Wait until you walk out, then I’ll climb up. No one saw me enter your office.”
The young doctor nodded approvingly. “You do have some sense. Did you memorize everything?”
“I did!” He Wei shifted his gaze from the duct map to Zhang Xiaoman, puzzled. “Do you think Dr. Wang will really escape through the ducts? There are so many exits—if we pull the police out, what about the hospital? There’s still a rat inside, and that bastard is more dangerous than Dr. Wang. What if he strikes again right now?”
“When I passed the main entrance earlier, I noticed two cameras—one obvious, one concealed,” Zhang Xiaoman replied calmly. “I checked the monitoring room. The hidden camera isn’t hospital-issued. That’s interesting… Someone foresaw today’s situation and prepared accordingly. That’s why the bastard who stabbed ‘Yellow Hair’ didn’t rush to leave, but played another diversion.”
He Wei wiped the cold sweat from his brow. “Who could plan so far ahead?”
“When playing chess, you think ten moves ahead. Any decent player can do that…” Zhang Xiaoman’s eyes were deep. “He Wei, I’ve known your father for decades—you’re like a son to me. Let me speak plainly. Fatty Ma was your mentor at the police academy. Some things you can learn from him, others you shouldn’t—especially his suspicion.”
He Wei felt exposed, cheeks burning. “Uncle Man, I…”
“Let me finish,” Zhang Xiaoman cut him off. “Doubting everything is a good trait for a detective, but you need experience to discern truth from falsehood. Sometimes what you see isn’t real; wild guessing is useless. You must probe the root of things. Take these cases—not as simple as they appear. Someone exploits your eagerness, and you exploit my concern for my protégé. Layer upon layer, it’s all a setup.”
He Wei buried his head between his shoulders and whispered, “No matter what, as long as the case is solved and the guilty punished, it’s fine to be used, right?”
“Wrong,” Zhang Xiaoman sighed. “I used to think it didn’t matter to let others lead me—it saved effort. But later, it caused more innocent people to suffer harm that could’ve been avoided. The names haunt me. Changping’s father was one. When justice loses its restraints, someday evil will be done in its name. I told Nie Yi this; now I’m telling you. Remember it always…”
Just then, a police officer rushed into the office, saluted He Wei, and exclaimed, “Captain He, someone just left Dr. Wang’s office. His clothes and shoes match those of the suspect exactly!”

He Wei’s eyes lit up. “Have you got him?”
“Yes, both teams are tightening the net,” the officer said excitedly. “He’s heading toward the ward where your wife is. Thanks to Professor Zhang’s preparations, as soon as he approaches, we’ll close the trap.”
He Wei rubbed his hands. “Good! I’ll go with you—it’s been a long night, but finally something’s happening!” He ran a few steps, stopped suddenly, and turned to Zhang Xiaoman. “Uncle Man, catching the suspect is what matters. I’ll send a few officers to the closest duct exits, but honestly… even if we catch Dr. Wang, we don’t have solid evidence linking him to all this…”
Zhang Xiaoman watched He Wei leave, his brows knit in concern. Something felt off. He walked slowly from the office, exhaling a heavy breath, and hunched toward Dr. Wang’s room.
Minutes later, Zhang Xiaoman arrived at the office door. He didn’t enter. He scanned the interior, his gaze settling on the ceiling’s air duct, where loose boards revealed the truth. Closing his eyes, he conjured a three-dimensional map of the hospital, tracing every duct, quickly connecting an escape route from Dr. Wang’s office.
After a moment, he opened his eyes again, and at his feet, he mapped a parallel path mirroring the one overhead. He moved steadily between the two routes. After ten minutes, he stopped, catching his breath. His ears twitched, picking up faint sounds above. He looked up at dust falling from the ceiling, his lips curling into a cold smile. “Found you, little mouse!”
Up in the ceiling, a bead of sweat rolled down Wang Chao’s cheek and dropped from his chin. He swallowed, frozen as Zhang Xiaoman’s calm, aged voice reached him like a thunderclap. He drew a deep breath, panic rising, and began crawling away rapidly in terror, like a mouse fleeing a stalking black cat…