Chapter 5: The Serpent Case (Part Five)

The siren pierced the night sky, casting eerie shadows across the surface of the moat with its red and blue lights. Standing on the embankment, Li Rui heard Captain Zhang’s voice crackle through his walkie-talkie: "Forensic Doctor Li, we have sealed off the surrounding area. The snipers are in position and ready to act at any moment."

"Wait," Li Rui said in a low voice. "They specifically requested to see me alone."

He walked alone toward the agreed-upon location—an abandoned pier by the riverbank. Under the moonlight, a figure sat in a wheelchair, flickering in and out of view. Li Rui’s heart raced; it was indeed Lin Xiaoman.

"Ms. Lin?" he called out softly.

The wheelchair turned slowly, but the person sitting in it was not Lin Xiaoman; it was a man wearing a mask. Li Rui immediately realized he had been lured into a trap, but it was too late. Several dark figures emerged from the shadows, surrounding him.

"Welcome to the real game, Forensic Doctor Li," the masked man said, his voice distorted by a modulator. "Let’s see how much you are willing to pay for the truth."

Li Rui calmly scanned his surroundings. There were five of them, all masked and armed. He quietly pressed the alarm hidden in his cuff—a contingency he had prepared in advance.

"What do you want?" he asked.

The masked man laughed. "We want the evidence you have. Hand it over, and we will tell you where Lin Xiaoman is."

Li Rui feigned hesitation and reached slowly into his pocket. Suddenly, he threw a bag of powder at the two closest men and dove to the side, dodging an attack from two others.

Sirens wailed as the ambushing police officers charged in. But just then, the masked man pressed a remote control. Several columns of water erupted from the river, and a massive shockwave knocked everyone to the ground.

Li Rui struggled to his feet, only to find the masked man gone, leaving behind nothing but an empty wheelchair. Worse still, the evidence bag he had been carrying was missing.

"Damn it!" Captain Zhang ran over. "Are you alright?"

Li Rui shook his head. "They took the evidence. But we have a backup, it's in..."

His words were cut short as his phone chimed with a video notification. On the screen, Lin Xiaoman was tied to a chair against the backdrop of a countdown timer on a bomb.

"Forensic Doctor Li," the masked man’s voice came through. "If you want to save her, come alone to the chemical plant in the south of the city. Remember, you must come alone."

Li Rui stood up immediately. "Captain Zhang, I need your car keys."

"No! That's too dangerous!"

"I have to go," Li Rui said firmly. "It's the only chance."

Inside the chemical plant, Li Rui followed the instructions to the designated spot. Lin Xiaoman was tied in the center, the bomb’s timer showing ten minutes remaining.

"Welcome," the masked man’s voice echoed through the speakers. "Now, let’s play the final game."

Suddenly, monitors all around the room lit up, displaying five different scenes: Lin Xiaoman, Captain Zhang, Xiao Wang, Li Rui’s family, and a warehouse packed with explosives.

"You have ten minutes," the masked man said. "But you can only save one. Make your choice, Forensic Doctor Li."

Li Rui’s brain raced. This was not a simple choice; it was a meticulously designed trap. No matter whom he chose to save, it would lead to an irreversible outcome.

Just then, he noticed Lin Xiaoman’s hand trembling slightly. It was not the tremor of fear, but... Morse code!

"...evidence... fake..." Li Rui decoded the message and suddenly understood.

He strode toward Lin Xiaoman and, amid the masked man’s mocking laughter, ripped off her wig. Sure enough, this was not Lin Xiaoman at all, but a man wearing a human-skin mask.

"Brilliant," the masked man’s voice remained calm. "But the game isn't over yet."

The real Lin Xiaoman appeared on another screen, locked in an iron cage that was slowly descending into a pool of chemicals.

"This time, it's real," the masked man said. "You have five minutes."

Li Rui, however, smiled. "No, the game is already over."

He pressed a button on his watch, and the entire chemical plant’s power system failed. This was an emergency plan he and Captain Zhang had prepared beforehand.

In the darkness, Li Rui relied on his memory to dash toward the control room. He had studied the plant’s blueprints long ago and knew the masked man had to be there.

In the control room, the masked man was preparing to escape, but Li Rui blocked his path. The two scuffled, and the mask fell off during the struggle.

Li Rui froze. "Cap... Captain Zhang?"

But what shocked him even more was that Captain Zhang’s face began to distort and morph, revealing another face beneath—Elder Lin!

"Didn't expect that, did you?" Elder Lin sneered. "Did you think I was truly senile? I designed all of this, including Lin Xiuwen’s revenge."

Li Rui immediately understood. "You wanted to use Lin Xiuwen’s hand to eliminate your business rivals while framing him?"

"Clever," Elder Lin said. "But now, it is all over."

He pressed the detonator in his hand, but nothing happened. Li Rui smiled. "I cut the ignition wires long ago. Your game is over."

Police officers rushed in and subdued Elder Lin. Lin Xiaoman was successfully rescued; though weak, she was alive.

However, just as everyone thought the dust had settled, Li Rui’s phone rang again. This time it was a video of an unfamiliar room filled with documents and photographs.

"Forensic Doctor Li," a distorted voice said. "Do you think this is the whole truth? Look at this..."

The screen switched to a document titled: "The Moat Project." Li Rui’s heart skipped a beat as he saw his father’s name on the file.

"That accident twenty years ago," the voice continued. "Do you really think it was an accident?"

Li Rui’s hands began to tremble. He suddenly recalled that his father had indeed participated in the Moat Project twenty years ago, before dying in an "accident."

"Want to know the truth?" the voice teased. "Come to the old place. I’ll be waiting."

The video ended. Li Rui stood motionless, unable to calm his mind. He knew this "old place" referred to the original site of the Moat Project.

"Forensic Doctor Li?" Xiao Wang watched him with concern.

Li Rui took a deep breath. "I need to go to the site of the Moat Project. You take Lin Xiaoman to the hospital."

Deep in the night, the site was desolate. Li Rui walked into the abandoned office building and found an envelope on a desk. Inside was an old photograph of his young father and a group of engineers.

On the back of the photo, a line was written: "The Moat Project—the truth is forever buried underwater."

Li Rui’s hands shook violently. He suddenly recalled his father’s words: "Some truths are more painful once you know them..."

Just then, the lights went out. A familiar voice echoed in the darkness: "Welcome home, Li Rui."

Li Rui turned to see a figure standing in the doorway. Moonlight illuminated the man’s face—it was the supposedly "dead" Lin Xiuwen!

"Surprised?" Lin Xiuwen smiled. "Did you think I was really dead? No, that was just part of the plan. We are all pawns, Li Rui. And this game has been going on for twenty years."

Li Rui’s mind was in chaos. Every clue, every case, seemed to point toward a much larger conspiracy.

"Why tell me this?" he asked.

"Because," Lin Xiuwen said, "it is time to end this game. And you are the only one who can put an end to it all."

He handed Li Rui a USB drive. "The whole truth is in here. But I must warn you, some truths might cost you your life."

Li Rui took the drive and suddenly noticed a familiar tattoo on Lin Xiuwen’s wrist: a snake.

"You..." Li Rui stared at him in shock.

Lin Xiuwen smiled. "That’s right. I am 'The Snake.' This game has finally reached its end."

With that, he turned and vanished into the darkness, leaving Li Rui standing alone in the moonlight, clutching the drive that might change everything.

He knew his life was about to be turned upside down. This truth might shatter everything he had ever believed.

But regardless, he had to face it. Because he was Li Rui, a seeker of the truth. And this pursuit would never stop.