Silent Testimony - Chapter 16

Li Hewei was caught completely off guard. Just inches away, the person wearing a mask pulled out a dagger from their waist. The blade, sharpened multiple times, reflected a chilling white light in the moonlight.

The person moved quickly, lunging toward her in the blink of an eye.

“Watch out!” Li Hewei was shoved away by a heavy force, stepping back slightly to the right. Turning her head, she saw the blade slice across Tao Ling’s fair forearm. Startling bright blood instantly welled up, staining her right hand, which she instinctively used to cover the wound.

Although the first strike drew blood, the intended target was unharmed. A cold, star-like glint flashed in the masked person’s eyes. They raised their hand and swung the dagger from behind her in a downward arc.

Li Hewei suddenly realized the situation: the attack was aimed at her. She dodged the blade that whisked past her ear, then swung the glass cup in her hand backward, hitting the attacker hard. The hard bottom of the cup made the assailant groan in muffled pain on the spot.

“Tao Ling, go get help! Captain Qiu’s house is right across the street from the back gate.” She was concerned about Tao Ling’s injury but knew the cut wasn’t deep and hadn’t hit an artery, so she deliberately sent her away.

“Okay.” Tao Ling, stunned by Li Hewei’s agile moves, collected herself and ran in the direction of the convenience store.

From a ventilation opening on the third floor of an old building at the end of the alley, a person in a baseball cap held binoculars in their left hand and a mobile phone in their right, complaining profusely: “You said she was just a technical police officer who draws sketches. How can she fight?”

Through the binoculars, the commotion in the distance was fully visible: a tall woman fighting a man armed with a sharp blade, using only a glass cup and her bare hands.

“Who did you hire?”

“Just a hired thug I found at a martial arts school. Two hundred thousand to seriously injure and incapacitate her, five hundred thousand to kill her outright.” The person in the baseball cap spat. “Damn it, how stupid! He got completely flipped over.”

As she watched, Li Hewei reached out and grabbed the forearm of the man who had just gotten up from the ground. She quickly pressed her elbow down, striking his radial bone. The man’s right palm went numb, and he instantly lost strength, the dagger clattering to the ground.

“If he’s caught by the police, he won’t tell them anything, right?”

“Don’t worry. If he misses, he’ll just claim it was a robbery. Besides, the SIM card I used to contact him has already been destroyed.” The person in the baseball cap put away the binoculars, turned, and walked into the shadows, disappearing at the end of the corridor.

“Are you going to keep fighting?” Under the dim light, Li Hewei’s expression was calm as she stared at the panting man. Unexpectedly, he suddenly swung his right fist straight at her face. Li Hewei quickly turned left, deftly dodging the blow. At the same time, she clapped her hands outward against the man’s back, using skill to counteract his forceful punch. Without stopping, she quickly stepped forward behind the man, tripped his right leg, and then twisted to the left, striking his chest forcefully with her right fist. The man fell backward.

Li Hewei subdued him, pressing down on the soft part under his collarbone, then picked up the dagger nearby and lightly slashed his left arm. Her voice was cold: “An eye for an eye. You hurt my colleague.”

“Still resisting?” Li Hewei reached out, ripped off his mask, and frowned as she looked at the young man’s immature face. “How old are you?”

The young man looked at her with terrified eyes: “Seventeen.”

“Who hired you to hurt me?”

The young man swallowed, his deep brown eyes shifting: “I… I just needed money and wanted to rob you.”

Li Hewei scoffed lightly: “Do you think I’ll believe that?”

“Captain Qiu, Sister Wei is over there!” Footsteps approached from the depths of the dark alley. Li Hewei turned her head, seeing the two people hurrying in the night. The pressure in her right hand eased slightly.

Qiu Wan quickly walked over, bent down, handcuffed the young man, and looked up with concern: “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Tao Ling, seeing only minor, closed injuries on her, felt a great sense of relief but couldn’t help asking, “Sister Wei, are you hurt anywhere else?”

Li Hewei looked at Tao Ling’s injured left arm. The blood was almost coagulated, and the skin tissue was clearly turned outward. Earlier, due to the critical situation, she hadn’t had time to react, but now that she had calmed down, her distress was evident: “No, but you…”

Tao Ling quickly interjected: “It doesn’t hurt much. I’ll just go to the clinic near the community for disinfection and bandaging later.”

A four-centimeter wound—how could it not hurt? Li Hewei’s eyes felt a burning sensation, and her expression darkened. Her voice was muffled: “In the future, always think of yourself first before doing anything.”

Tao Ling obediently replied: “Okay.”

“Captain Li, have you trained?” Qiu Wan asked, checking the young man’s injury. She recalled that Li Hewei graduated from a comprehensive university’s medical school and shouldn’t know much about grappling and fighting.

“Yes, just some rudimentary skills, enough to defend myself, but certainly not comparable to Captain Qiu.” In truth, Li Hewei graduated from the Forensic Medicine Department of the Criminal Police Academy. Although they both belonged to the technical police branch, they had to participate in daily training, and police grappling and fighting were mandatory skills.

The career she once aspired to, she abandoned halfway because of her love for freedom, and was subsequently hired with a high salary by a forensic identification center in Shenzhen.

“This is more than rudimentary skills.” Qiu Wan lifted the young man’s T-shirt, pointing to the bruise on his chest. “His rib is likely broken.”

Li Hewei managed a small smile: “Thanks to my newly bought glass cup.” Her expression suddenly changed, becoming serious. “Right, you need to find out who hired him to kill me.”

“He won’t talk. His mouth is sealed tight. I’ll take him back.” Qiu Wan pulled the young man up. “This kid is seventeen. He started training at Weiling Martial Arts School at fifteen. He usually engages in petty theft. I just checked him; he has a record.”

“Understood. You handle him. Tao Ling and I are going to the clinic.” Li Hewei was worried about Tao Ling’s wound getting infected.

“I’ll treat you to a meal this weekend. Teacher Cheng agreed to come. What about Xiao Tao? Are you free? I see you three live together, so you might as well join us.”

“Just call her Yingqiu, not Teacher Cheng,” Li Hewei’s smile deepened. “I’ll accept on Tao Ling’s behalf.”

Tao Ling did not decline the necessary social engagement: “Thank you, Captain Qiu.”

“Thank me for what? I’ll contact you on the weekend.” Qiu Wan complained: “Ugh, I have to work overtime again. I haven’t even had two bites of the dry-pot shrimp my grandmother fried.” She ushered the young man toward the police station, and the three separated.

In the misty moonlight, the two walked side by side. Tao Ling suddenly spoke: “Sister Wei, where did you learn self-defense?” She parted her thinly pressed lips. “Can you teach me?”

Li Hewei was slightly surprised: “Why do you suddenly want to learn?”

“So I can at least defend myself if I run into danger in the future.” Tao Ling’s tone was regretful. “The Serious Crime Squad sends people to teach us some simple grappling moves every year, but Sister Xiaoting says they’re not very useful. You’re still helpless against a real attacker.”

A smile unconsciously touched the corner of Li Hewei’s eye: “You think it will work if I teach you?”

“Captain Qiu said that guy trained at a martial arts school, and you were able to subdue him.”

“That kid was poorly trained and must have often slacked off.” Li Hewei considered Tao Ling’s safety, put away her smile, and promised earnestly: “Okay, I’ll teach you.”

“Thank you, Sister Wei.” Tao Ling beamed, her eyes growing brighter. She occasionally felt cheerful on normal days, but her smiles were usually faint and carried an obvious sense of distance. Tonight’s smile, however, was exceptionally unrestrained. In Li Hewei’s words, did she win the lottery?

“Sister Wei, don’t tease me. What lottery win?”

As they spoke, they pushed open the glass door of the clinic.

A nurse greeted them at the entrance, asking for basic information: “Who isn’t feeling well?”

Tao Ling raised her arm: “I accidentally got cut by a knife.”

“Name, age, any drug allergies?”

“Tao Ling, 24 years old, no drug allergies.”

“Oh my, that’s quite a long wound, at least four centimeters.” The nurse recorded the information, and touched the edge of the wound with a gloved hand. “But it doesn’t look deep. We’ll decide whether to stitch it after debridement.” She pointed to the first room on the right. “You can wait in the treatment room. I’ll have Dr. Chen handle the debridement.”

Tao Ling nodded: “Okay, thank you.”

Li Hewei asked: “Nurse, where is the payment slip?”

The nurse tapped on the keyboard: “Dr. Chen will give it to you.”

“Alright.”

Bypassing the triage desk, the treatment room was two meters to the right. The two entered, and Tao Ling sat on the high stool in front of the treatment table. Before long, a female doctor entered from outside: “Who is Tao Ling, the patient for debridement?”

“Doctor, that’s me.”

The doctor handed a slip of paper to Li Hewei: “Are you the family member? Please pay first.”

Tao Ling reached out: “Doctor, I can go.”

Li Hewei lightly patted her hand: “Sit still.” It was a command, yet the tone was incredibly gentle. Seeing Tao Ling blink and stop resisting, Li Hewei turned and left the room.

When she returned after paying, the doctor was already performing the debridement.

“Iodophor disinfection. It won’t hurt too much, but a slight stinging sensation is unavoidable.”

“I know.”

The cotton ball slowly wiped away the bloodstains. The doctor carefully observed the wound and advised her: “It’s better to stitch it, or the wound will heal slowly.”

Tao Ling frowned slightly, nodding: “Understood. Thank you for your trouble.”

“Do you want an anesthetic?” Local anesthesia for stitches is a regional block, which requires multiple injections around the tissue and under the skin to block the area, at least two or three shots. So the doctor asked for her opinion; if her tolerance was high, they wouldn’t use one.

“No.”

Li Hewei worried: “Tao Ling? You’ll need at least five stitches. No anesthetic?”

Tao Ling forced a smile: “Sister Wei, I was mischievous as a child and split my scalp open. I got six stitches and didn’t cry.”

Seeing her insistence, Li Hewei finally conceded: “Alright.”

The female doctor finished the debridement and disinfection and began preparing the tools for stitching, quietly reassuring her: “Don’t worry, my technique is quite good.”

Tao Ling hummed in acknowledgment and looked away. As the needle pierced her skin, her slender fingers slowly curled up, gripping her thigh in endurance.

The first stitch, the second stitch, the third stitch. Li Hewei clearly saw Tao Ling’s shoulders tremble slightly, and her forehead, which was already damp with a thin layer of sweat, gradually became covered in fine beads of perspiration. Unable to stop herself, she reached out and took the other person’s right hand, coaxing her tenderly: “Just endure a little longer. Only two more stitches.”

Tao Ling endured the pain, and instinctively, she squeezed Li Hewei’s warm hand in return.