Reservoir Dogs chapter 105
Cemetery
The sun was still hanging in the sky, yet it started to rain. During the clear moment of blue skies and white clouds, fine rain drizzled on the car windows, blurring everything into a patchwork of dark green, gray, and light purple.
Jiang Chengyuan turned on the wipers, left and right, the water streaming down the windshield.
He thought about the anonymous call he had just received. Liang Hanqing said he was clever, congratulated him on temporarily escaping danger, and asked to meet at Beishan. Jiang Chengyuan detected no malice in his tone, seeming sincere, but he knew Liang Hanqing worked for the Jiang family and couldn’t be sure what he truly wanted, so he was cautious.
Recently, he had been investigating a case from several years ago, with many scattered pieces of evidence. He suspected Wu Yichang’s death was connected to the Jiang family but couldn’t find a link to Li Xin.
Was it just a coincidence that after Wu Yichang was killed, the murderer ran into Li Xin and killed him too, framing Xiao Zhou? Though the Jiang family was unscrupulous, they built their fortune from scratch and conducted legitimate business, unlikely to resort to hired murder.
Moreover, even if Li Xin had encountered the murderer late at night, why didn’t the murderer kill him to eliminate witnesses, letting him return home safely only to die from a blood clot in his brain? Wasn’t the murderer afraid Li Xin would reveal something? These were just speculations without evidence.
Driving, Jiang Chengyuan was somewhat lost in thought. He and Liang Hanqing were once comrades with deep bonds, never expecting to end up like this.
Arriving at Beishan Cemetery, Jiang Chengyuan got out of the car, holding a bouquet of white chrysanthemums.
The drizzle fell on his shoulders. He entered the cemetery, passing through pines, willows, a drainage ditch, and several rows of tombstones.
He walked to the graves of his mentor and Wanwan. Liang Hanqing was sitting in front of the graves, smoking, one leg bent, the other flat. Not seen for days, he had grown thin, like a skeleton in a suit.
Jiang Chengyuan offered the white chrysanthemums and turned to Liang Hanqing, “Why are you in hiding?”
Liang Hanqing stubbed out his cigarette on the wet stone slab, looking up with a layer of mist on his face, clinging to his eyelashes. A blink made a droplet fall, rolling down his cheek, “To stay alive.”
“Who’s trying to kill you?”
Liang Hanqing lightly coughed into a pale handkerchief, “You must already know.” He sighed softly, “Time flies. It’s been almost ten years.”
Jiang Chengyuan frowned, seeing the faint bloodstain on the handkerchief, “What’s wrong with you?”
Liang Hanqing put away the handkerchief, stood up with dirty pants, unfazed, and looked at Jiang Chengyuan with earnest eyes, “Senior, I don’t have long to live.”
Jiang Chengyuan’s expression changed, looking at Liang Hanqing’s pale face. “What’s going on?”
Liang Hanqing smiled bitterly, “Lung cancer, late stage. I have at most two months.”
Jiang Chengyuan tightened his grip and asked, “When did you find out? Which hospital did you go to?”
Liang Hanqing shook his head. “It’s been a while. I’ve been treated twice. It’s too painful. I don’t want to endure it anymore. There’s nothing worth enduring for, and I have no one to miss.”
The most terrifying thing is the utter hopelessness. The illness hadn’t yet destroyed his body, but it had already killed his spirit.
Jiang Chengyuan looked at his pale face, devoid of any will to live. He seemed utterly resigned and self-destructive. Despite the many mysteries in his heart, Jiang Chengyuan softened his tone and advised, “Don’t be stubborn. Don’t take such matters lightly. If you’ve been diagnosed, you should get treated.”
Liang Hanqing gave a low, bitter laugh, “Even when I let the killer of our mentor escape and caused an innocent person to go to jail, do you still think I deserve to live?”
Jiang Chengyuan stared at him without blinking. “Are you admitting it?”
Liang Hanqing nodded.
“Who killed our mentor?”
Liang Hanqing replied, “Jiang Wenhao. He was dissatisfied because our mentor took on his appeal case. It was the first company he started with his own effort, separate from his family’s support. He was desperate to make a name for himself and didn’t want his father to know that he had used corrupt methods. Despite repeated bribery and threats, there was no effect. In a fit of rage, he broke into the house late at night to steal court materials and to scare our mentor, hoping to teach him a lesson. our mentor thought it was a burglar, and in the struggle, he fell out of the window and died.”
Jiang Chengyuan’s guess was not far off. “What about Li Xin?”
Liang Hanqing, leaning on a mossy stone monument, looked especially frail in the chilly wind. “After killing our mentor, Jiang Wenhao sought help from his brother. It was his brother who cleaned up the scene and staged a suicide. When they were leaving, they ran into the drunken Li Xin, who had previously had a run-in with Jiang Wenxing at a bar. Seeing him again, Li Xin naturally wouldn’t let it go and demanded an explanation. In the ensuing scuffle, Li Xin fell down the stairs.”
Jiang Chengyuan frowned, “What does this have to do with Xiao Zhou?”
Liang Hanqing said, “It was just a coincidence. Jiang Wenxing saw Li Xin as a drunk and didn’t think much of it, hurriedly dragging Jiang Wenhao away. The next day he found out Li Xin had died but didn’t expect the police to suspect Xiao Zhou. Jiang Wenxing, fearing being implicated, went along with it, bribing lawyers and various channels to pin the crime on Xiao Zhou.”
After finishing, he coughed twice, looked up at Jiang Chengyuan, and said, “That’s the gist of it. Since I asked you to investigate, I wasn’t afraid of you knowing the truth.”
Jiang Chengyuan looked at him, “Why did you do all this?”
Liang Hanqing touched the rain-soaked stone monument, “I wanted to seek justice. Don’t you think it’s unfair? Wang Li did so many bad things but was only sentenced to three years because there was only concrete evidence in one case, and it didn’t cause serious injury or death.”
Jiang Chengyuan remained silent.
Liang Hanqing sneered, “You hated him too, didn’t you? You almost killed him back then, but our mentor stopped you. I finished what you couldn’t. I had no such reservations. People can’t come back from the dead, but vengeance must be served.”
“So you helped Jiang Wenhao cover up the two incidents in exchange for a chance to enter the judicial department.”
“Yes.”
In the cold rain, Jiang Chengyuan’s eyes were sharp as lightning. “You avenged Wanwan, but what about our mentor?”
Liang Hanqing said, “Didn’t I bring you here today? I’m dying; it’s my retribution. That settles the old debts. As for the rest,” he looked up, his eyes meeting Jiang Chengyuan’s through the drizzling rain, “it’s up to you to settle. I’ve given you everything you need.”
As he spoke, he could no longer stand and almost collapsed.
Jiang Chengyuan instinctively supported him. “Do you think this clears everything up? You let an innocent person take the place of the guilty one. Xiao Zhou suffered unjustly. What about his grievance?”
The drizzle quickly turned into large raindrops. Liang Hanqing was drenched and shivering uncontrollably. He closed his eyes, tears streaming down, grabbing Jiang Chengyuan’s arm, and sobbed, “But I… I haven’t been well either. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep for years. I have insomnia every night, always dreaming of those people. Even though I didn’t kill them, why do they come for me? Even our mentor won’t forgive me; he wants my life. Why does he hate me so much?”
Jiang Chengyuan lowered his eyes, his expression complex. Liang Hanqing’s current state was truly pitiable. The cold water soaked his clothes, revealing his skinny, bony back, and his wet hair clung to his scalp, accentuating his thin, pale face.
What Liang Hanqing did was absurd, but Jiang Chengyuan couldn’t bring himself to blame him further. Liang Hanqing was his only junior. In his memory, Liang Hanqing was always the stubborn child who lost both parents, who was diligent and reserved, studying late into the night, washing his face with cold water to stay awake, never missing a class despite a fever, and always providing the most comprehensive and detailed notes.
A single misguided action ruined both others and himself. He was not the mastermind, but he had aided and abetted the crime.
Jiang Chengyuan sighed softly, helped Liang Hanqing stand, and let him lean on his shoulder as they walked out of the cemetery. “I’ll take you to the hospital. Get treated properly. Don’t think about anything else for now.”
He placed Liang Hanqing in the back seat and drove down the mountain.
When Liang Hanqing asked to meet him earlier, he forbade him from using his phone or disclosing anything to others. Jiang Chengyuan was worried that Liang Hanqing might have some tricks up his sleeve, but he had complied. Now, as he was driving and checking his phone, many messages appeared.
Jiang Chengyuan redialed, and when the call connected, Xiao Zhou asked where he was and what he was doing.
Jiang Chengyuan connected the Bluetooth and said he was on Beishan and was preparing to return.
“Are you driving?”
Jiang Chengyuan replied with a “mm,” “There was something earlier, so I had my phone off. I should be back in the city in about 20 minutes.”
At this moment, the car was going downhill, and the speed naturally increased. Jiang Chengyuan instinctively pressed the brakes to control it, but even after pressing multiple times, there was no response, and the braking effect was nonexistent. The car, driven by inertia, was speeding up. Jiang Chengyuan’s heart skipped a beat.
Xiao Zhou’s voice quickly said, “Share your location with me. Don’t go into the city; try to head toward less populated areas.” The sound of wind howling on Xiao Zhou’s end suggested that he was also rushing somewhere.
Jiang Chengyuan said, “The brakes are malfunctioning.”
“Someone tampered with your car,” Xiao Zhou replied.
Jiang Chengyuan frowned, his expression changing. He continued to press the brakes hard and pulled the handbrake up. “I was too careless; I should have anticipated they would retaliate.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve already had the police close off the mountain roads and evacuate the crowds. No one else will come after you.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll be there soon.”
“Why would you come to such a dangerous place? If the car loses control, I won’t be able to manage it,” Jiang Chengyuan raised his voice, but there was no response from the other end, only the sound of the fierce wind.
Jiang Chengyuan felt anxious and angry hearing Xiao Zhou’s silence. Part of him thought it was nice to see him one last time, while another part worried about what would happen if there was an accident.