After emerging from the narrow alley, Li Yi first flagged down a passing man and asked him to help report the incident to the nearby police station.
Only then did he take Jiang Longcheng to a nearby clinic.
The reason they went to a clinic rather than a large hospital was mainly because the wound on this guy’s arm looked rather terrifying.
Although Li Yi had already staunched the bleeding, the blood was still flowing—after all, the wound was simply too deep, and simply tying off the main artery wasn’t enough to stop the bleeding completely.
The nearest major hospital was two or three kilometers away, and Li Yi was worried the man might go into shock on the walk there, forcing him to carry him.
So he decided to take him to a nearby small clinic first to properly stop the bleeding and bandage the wound before heading to a major hospital.
Fortunately, there was a small clinic nearby, and the two reached it after walking just a short distance.
But it was already past ten o’clock, and the clinic had long since closed.
Li Yi didn’t stand on ceremony; he walked up and kicked the wooden door a few times.
Soon, a middle-aged man’s voice came from inside: “Who’s there? What’s the matter in the middle of the night?”
“We need medicine!”
Li Yi didn’t dare mention treating an injury; he was afraid the doctor inside would worry about getting into trouble and refuse to open the door.
“What’s wrong? Can’t you wait until tomorrow?”
“I have a fever. It’s a matter of life and death—hurry up!” Li Yi said.
“Then please wait a moment…”
“I can’t wait. If you don’t open the door, I’ll break it down!”
Seeing Jiang Longcheng’s pale face and his body trembling slightly, Li Yi feared he might not hold on much longer, and his tone grew anxious.
“All right, all right, I’ll open it right away!”
Soon, the door to the small clinic swung open from the inside!
Before the doctor could even figure out what was going on, Li Yi burst in, supporting Jiang Longcheng.
When the doctor saw the two men covered in blood, he was completely stunned. Trembling, he stammered, “You… you…”
“We’re not bad guys, we just ran into some robbers. You need to bandage his wounds right away!” Li Yi said.
“I…”
“I’ve made myself perfectly clear. If you don’t treat him now, you’re standing by and letting him die. If anything happens to him later, you’ll be held responsible, understand?”
The doctor was clearly intimidated and immediately replied, “I’ll treat him. I’ll tend to his wounds right away!”
The doctor then came over, unbuttoned Jiang Longcheng’s shirt, and examined his wound.
Seeing that there were no life-threatening injuries, the doctor breathed a sigh of relief and then fetched some gauze to bandage the wounds.
After about ten minutes, he finally finished treating the three wounds on Jiang Longcheng’s body.
Then, Li Yi pulled a 100-yuan note from his pocket, placed it on the clinic counter, and left with Jiang Longcheng.
After leaving the clinic, the two stepped out onto the street, intending to hail a taxi to the hospital.
However, several cars drove by, and upon seeing the two of them covered in blood, they all flatly refused to pick them up.
With no other option, Li Yi had no choice but to walk with Jiang Longcheng to the hospital.
By the time they reached the nearest affiliated hospital, it was already 11 o’clock.
Fortunately, the doctor at the clinic had stopped the bleeding before they left; otherwise, after walking for so long, he would likely have gone into shock long ago.
Even so, Jiang Longcheng was on the verge of collapse by then; if Li Yi hadn’t been supporting him, he would have collapsed long ago.
By the time he finally got the guy into the hospital, Li Yi was completely exhausted.
He told Jiang Longcheng to take good care of his injuries and, while he was at it, mentioned that he didn’t want to get involved in any trouble, so he asked him to handle the rest of the matter. He knew that with the Jiang family’s resources, it would be a piece of cake.
After taking care of all that, Li Yi finally left the hospital and headed home.
He’d just forgotten that he was covered in blood—some of it from those thugs, but mostly from Jiang Longcheng.
He looked like a demon crawling out of hell—anyone who saw him would panic.
As luck would have it, not long after he stepped out of the hospital, a police car pulled up behind him.
Good grief—seeing him in that state, they immediately pulled over to stop him.
And no matter how he tried to explain, they still slapped the handcuffs on him and took him back to the police station!
……
Beiguan Village Police Station. Interrogation Room!
“Spill it! Who are you, and where did that blood on you come from?” a middle-aged police officer shouted, pounding the table.
Li Yi, sitting in the interrogation chair across from him, said somewhat helplessly, “Didn’t I already tell you? I got this while saving someone!”
“Saving who? Where’s the victim? Or have you already killed them?”
“The Affiliated Hospital!”
Li Yi continued, “Oh, and there are three injured knife-wielding robbers in the alley diagonally across from the second state-run restaurant on Main Street. I’ve already had someone call the police. I don’t know if they’ve been taken away yet, but you should go check it out right away!”
“What? You’re the one who injured those three?” the middle-aged police officer asked, looking stunned.
Just moments ago, they’d received a report from a member of the public claiming someone had asked them to report that there were several injured robbers in a nearby alley.
Although they weren’t sure if it was true, they rushed over immediately.
When they arrived at the scene, they were all stunned by what they saw.
Three young men, beaten beyond recognition, lay sprawled in the alley. One was still conscious, while the other two had already lost consciousness.
Several bloodstained daggers and a pinewood club as thick as an arm were left at the scene.
They immediately rushed the victims to the hospital for emergency treatment. The doctors said their injuries were extremely severe and would take at least three to five months to heal.
They were also stunned to wonder who could have been so ruthless.
On the way back, they discussed who the assailant might be and how to solve the case.
Unexpectedly, halfway there, they ran into Li Yi. Seeing him covered in blood, they knew at a glance he was no good, so they stopped him.
To their surprise, he was the one who had dealt the brutal blows—truly, they had searched high and low in vain, only to find him so easily.
After the initial shock, the middle-aged police officer immediately asked, “Did you really beat those three men? Are they really robbers?”
Li Yi replied immediately, “It’s not up to me to say whether it is or not, and even if I did, you wouldn’t believe me!”
“I suggest you go straight to the inpatient ward at the affiliated hospital and find a man named Jiang Longcheng. He’s the robbery victim—the one I rescued. Once you find him, everything will become crystal clear!”
“Alright, I’ll send someone to verify that right away!”
With that, the middle-aged police officer was about to leave.
“Wait!” Li Yi called out to him.
“What else do you want?”
“Are you just going to leave me handcuffed here and walk away like that?” Li Yi asked, frowning.
It wasn’t the first time he’d worn these iron handcuffs, but having both hands shackled to the metal frame and his body confined to such a tiny space made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
On top of that, after being kept up all this time in the middle of the night—even a person of iron couldn’t hold out—all he wanted now was a good night’s sleep.
But this position was too uncomfortable; he simply couldn’t sleep.
Yet his words put the middle-aged police officer in a bind. Judging by the injuries of those victims, the man before him was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous violent criminal.
If they removed his handcuffs, might this guy suddenly lash out and hurt someone?
Li Yi clearly sensed his hesitation and immediately said, “If I hadn’t been cooperating with you, I would have attacked just now. Why would I be standing here enduring this humiliation?”
“Also, let me remind you: the man I saved is the director of the cotton mill, and he’s also a member of the Jiang family. If he finds out this is how you treat his life-saver, I think you know what the consequences will be!”
Hearing this, the middle-aged police officer’s brow furrowed even deeper.
After some hesitation, he finally led Li Yi from the interrogation room to a separate holding cell and removed his handcuffs.
After warning him repeatedly not to cause any trouble, he locked the door and hurried off to the affiliated hospital.
But neither Li Yi nor the middle-aged police officer could have anticipated that, at that very moment, Jiang Longcheng had already left the hospital.