Simulated Crime, This Criminal Doesn’t Seem to Be Acting

The shrill sound was different from before, carrying an ominous premonition that jolted Zhao Hong awake from his slumber.

He jolted in response to the ringing, his feet kicking up in fright before quickly dropping back down.

Leveraging this momentum, he quickly sat up, then with the light from the television and the small lamp in the room, he glanced towards the right side of the sofa.

According to previous experience, from this angle, he could see the upper halves of two heads, confirming their presence.

As long as he confirmed they were still there, he would go back to sleep immediately.

Blurry-eyed, he looked over and found that there were no heads in sight—the corner was empty.

In an instant, his mind cleared.

His widened eyes were filled with alarm as he scrambled from one end of the sofa to the other, only to spot a pile of ropes lying on the floor.

The couple had escaped!

Realizing this stark reality, he jumped to his feet and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Qiu Fu! Lin Deqiang! Wang Lao'er! They've escaped!"

He tripped and fell off the sofa, scrambling to the master bedroom and pounding on the door frantically.

"Bang bang bang!"

The loud knocking awoke the other three men, who quickly opened the door and stared at Zhao Hong, demanding to know what was going on.

They had all slept in their clothes, so there was no need to get dressed.

Qiu Fu asked first, "Where are they? How long ago did they leave? How long have you been asleep?"

His questions came out in a hurried, jumbled manner.

"N-not long! I set a five-minute alarm, just a minute or two after falling asleep—they couldn't have gotten far!" Zhao Hong, fearing blame, scrambled to justify himself.

Lin Deqiang turned on the light, looking at the empty room and vented his frustration, "Didn’t I tell you not to set an alarm? You’re such a heavy sleeper, can’t you skip a little sleep? Will you die?"

Zhao Hong stayed quiet, his heart heavy with guilt.

Wang Lao’er examined the open door.

"Check the room. They must have fled. Two elevators and the stairways—hurry and search! We must find them!" Qiu Fu suppressed his anger, directing them to act quickly.

They grabbed their weapons, with Lin Deqiang and Wang Lao’er pairing up and heading straight for the stairs.

Zhao Hong, panicked, checked each room hastily, peering into closets as he went. He met Qiu Fu, who had been searching other rooms, and they both took the elevator down to search the ground floor.

Ye Sangsang felt the light as it flicked on and clenched her hand tightly onto the underside of the bathroom window.

Thankfully, the couple hadn’t tiled the area below, otherwise, she and Chen Yu would have slipped and fallen, probably ending up in pieces.

Earlier, when she had opened the bathroom and looked down, the idea had come to her: This was the spot; it could just about fit two people crouching.

If they had tried directly to escape, they would have been caught effortlessly. So, they needed to lead their captors out first.

She had shared the plan with Chen Yu, who, despite knowing how dangerous it was—one wrong move and they could fall to their deaths—had not protested, silently supporting Ye Sangsang’s move.

For Ye Sangsang, Chen Yu was a teammate worth saving.

As she went to close the door, he had quietly started climbing out the window.

When Ye Sangsang returned after opening the door, he had reached out to assist, seamlessly coordinating their movements without a word of hesitation.

The windowsill wasn’t high, just above Ye Sangsang’s waist, but it was narrow.

Enduring the intense pain from the movement, she bit back tears, stepping carefully until her feet found solid ground, and then clung tightly to the outer edge of the windowsill, freeing one hand to slowly push the window back.

And then, they waited.

As Ye Sangsang counted in her head, "Three, two, one," the sharp, piercing ring of an old-fashioned phone echoed through the room.

Soon, Zhao Hong’s shouted warnings could be heard.

Ye Sangsang shook her head at Chen Yu, who was straining to look down, signaling him not to look below.

Chen Yu nodded with difficulty, mustering the courage to keep his gaze upwards.

Ye Sangsang closed her eyes, waiting for their captors to search the room.

If any of them thought to check the bathroom and glanced out the window just a little, they would see Ye Sangsang and Chen Yu. So, this move was risky; they could be found.

The sounds of doors opening and slamming closed filled the air, and Ye Sangsang felt her grip weakening, her fingers slipping as exhaustion set in.

"Ahhhhh! I’m so tense! Hang on Sangsang!!!!"

"I’m pacing around, praying for them to succeed!"

"So thrilling! My heart's pounding!"

The sound of the bathroom door opening quickly followed.

Time seemed to stretch endlessly for Ye Sangsang:

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

And then, the sound of the bathroom door closing.

Ye Sangsang looked at Chen Yu, who was sweating profusely.

As soon as the bathroom door shut, she slowly pushed open the window.

Their pursuers' footsteps were moving towards the exit, and Ye Sangsang, nearly out of strength, knew she couldn’t delay anymore.

After opening it, she heaved herself up with all her might.

The surge of adrenaline suppressed the pain, giving her body a momentary burst of strength.

She quickly climbed inside, stretched out a hand, and began helping Chen Yu.

His strength was clearly waning; with multiple fractures, beatings, and a penetrating wound in his abdomen, his ability to move was something to be astonished by, considering his condition.

Of course, Shen Lingling wasn’t faring much better.

She could barely walk, every step felt like she was being stabbed—her body was in agonizing pain everywhere except her feet, each movement akin to rolling over a bed of nails.

When helping Chen Yu climb in, he almost slipped, prompting Ye Sangsang to steady him once more.

They supported each other as they got indoors, Chen Yu whispering softly, "Should we lock the door and stay inside?" His knowledge of the remaining plan was limited.

"No, we have to leave!" Ye Sangsang responded, confirming there was no one in the room before stepping outside.

Before leaving, she would eliminate anyone who might stay behind.

Chen Yu, unaware of Ye Sangsang’s dangerous intentions, simply followed her lead, understanding her reasoning.

Their communication devices had been confiscated, and the locks wouldn’t hold back seasoned criminals for more than ten minutes.

Staying put would make them sitting ducks; at least if they could escape, there was a glimmer of hope to survive.

Stumbling like zombies, they reached the living room, where Ye Sangsang quickly grabbed a knife from the table, hurrying to the entrance with Chen Yu.

She reached out, ready to turn off all the lights in the living room, but not before glancing at the other rooms.

"Close the lights and doors in the other rooms," Ye Sangsang instructed. The locks on all the bedroom doors were already broken, so she merely mentioned shutting them.

Confused but obedient, Chen Yu, clutching his damaged chest with a broken rib or two nestled in, hurriedly turned off the lights.

Afterwards, Ye Sangsang sensed their pursuers would discover the situation.

Leaving immediately, she guided Chen Yu out, shutting the door gently behind them.

"I get it! Make them think Sangsang and Chen Yu chose to lock themselves in to resist!"

"Turning off the lights would mean they’d need to be cautious when they enter, leaving a short but vital period to search the room!"

"The others will return when they see the lights are out! Sangsang aims to lure them back!"

The live stream chat exploded with theories, everyone on edge about the unfolding scenario.

Ye Sangsang closed the door, with no intentions of heading downstairs; she estimated the time and took Chen Yu up to the floor above.

"This isn’t safe; they’ll check it," Chen Yu whispered cautiously.

Ye Sangsang knew that. She gripped the knife tightly and trekked up the stairs, taking Chen Yu and hiding them in the triangular space behind the fire door.

As the motion-sensor lights flickered on and off, the slight sound of the elevator reaching their floor became audible, and two sets of footsteps exited the elevator on the twelfth floor, walking towards Ye Sangsang and Chen Yu’s apartment.

Then came the echoing sounds of the lock being pressed down.

"Go search the vicinity!" Qiu Fu ordered instantly, adding, "Have them sweep the stairs up and down, check every floor!"

The sound was very faint, so Ye Sangsang could only hear it vaguely.

She knew that "they" here referred to Lin Deqiang and his group, urging them to come up.

If they were in a hurry to go down, they would soon run into them.

These people were very strong physically, and in just three minutes, Ye Sangsang could already feel the sound of their footsteps on the stairwell.

This building had a total of sixteen floors. Soon, they had checked the first twelve floors and were continuing upwards.

One person would enter each floor to search the corridors, while the other would continue going up.

Hearing the footsteps moving upwards, Ye Sangsang gestured to Chen Yu beside her, indicating that they should start going down now.

Otherwise, if they opened the door and found them missing, the group wouldn't be as lax as they were now; they would search more rigorously.

She stepped out and began to move cautiously, trying to minimize her footsteps to avoid triggering the sound-activated lights.

The fire escape staircase was to the left of the elevator, and next to the elevator was the door to the couple’s apartment.

After descending, Ye Sangsang quickly glanced around to make sure no one was there before continuing down.

Chen Yu followed silently without a word.

In the dark stairwell, the silence was so profound that their breathing was audible.

When they reached the ninth floor, Ye Sangsang picked up the pace a bit, quickly triggering the sound-activated light and continuing downwards.

She had no intention of knocking on any doors, as that would be tantamount to suicide.

The building had few residents, and with such a sparse population, any attempt to seek help was futile. Being allowed inside by someone would be like asking for divine intervention.

Even if someone did let them in, it was likely a ploy to shift blame, and both the door opener and themselves would end up dead.

Eighth floor, seventh floor, sixth floor.

The two of them pressed on down the narrow staircase, driven by the instinct to survive, even though the pain was excruciating, not a single sound escaped their lips.

When they caught the scent of the evening breeze wafting from the lobby, they felt an almost forgotten sense of freedom.

Chen Yu led Ye Sangsang toward the guard house.

Ye Sangsang shook her head at him, pointing toward the east exit, and they moved toward the secluded path instead.

She had read the information earlier and knew that the group behind them would be dressed in the community security guard uniforms after knocking on doors, making it difficult to guarantee whether the guards were aware of the situation. Given their precarious state, they couldn't take any risks.

After taking seven or eight steps, the two stopped and looked up toward the twelfth floor, where the lights had just turned on.

Ye Sangsang took two steps and turned back to look up, meeting the gaze of someone leaning out from the balcony in the dark. The person quickly vanished, clearly having spotted them.

"Let's hurry, they’ve realized we’re not in the apartment," Ye Sangsang accelerated her pace, unleashing all her survival instincts.

Chen Yu had also seen it. Gritting his teeth despite the pain from his bleeding abdomen and Ye Sangsang's wounded shoulder, he pulled her along in a desperate burst of speed.

Run!

They had to escape alive!

Apart from the main entrance, the east gate was unguarded, allowing free entry and exit.

Clutching their wounds, the two sprinted out as if their lives depended on it. Ye Sangsang pointed toward the park hill, "If we climb over, there's a police station. Going anywhere else might expose us."

"Okay," Chen Yu forced down the blood rising in his throat and agreed with difficulty, supporting Ye Sangsang as they made their way up the hill.

For both of them, this mere hundred-meter-high hill was an extremely challenging climb.

But it was their only way out.

As habitual robbers, they weren't stupid and would undoubtedly split into two groups to search.

Although the east gate wasn’t the priority, if they didn’t find them in other directions, they would inevitably focus their search on this area.

After climbing three flights of steps, the path split into a two-meter-wide main trail and a smaller, cement-paved path. It was past midnight, so they wouldn’t encounter anyone on the mountain. Thus, they needed to make a choice.

Ye Sangsang recalled the path she had memorized earlier and gestured for Chen Yu to help her take the smaller trail.

They needed to quickly enter the woods to make it harder for their pursuers to find them.

Ye Sangsang relied on Chen Yu’s support, not because she needed the strength but to conserve her energy. If they encountered any of the group members, she could muster her remaining strength to take them out.

As for Chen Yu, Ye Sangsang didn’t have much hope for him. A regular person who couldn’t even muster the resolve to kill a chicken wouldn’t suddenly become a killer. And even if he did, how could he possibly compare to professional robbers who had killed before?

That’s why she hadn’t even let him carry a weapon, as it would only drain his energy needlessly.

Every fifteen meters or so on the small trail, there was a dim, black pole streetlight. After passing the fifth light, Ye Sangsang guessed they were far enough.

She led the way to a spot between two streetlights and headed directly into the woods. She had a rough mental map of the area, knowing their current position and the direction they needed to head.

Once they had set their course, they couldn’t continue following the trail; doing so would be suicidal.

Before entering, she still observed the path they had come from, making sure to avoid leaving any traces of blood that might lead their pursuers to them.

Confident that there were no visible signs to betray them, Ye Sangsang led the way into the woods.

Staying calm was essential for survival, and paying attention to detail was crucial to avoid being caught.

The path through the mountain wasn’t easy, and the night in autumn was a bit chilly.

Luckily, both Ye Sangsang and Chen Yu were wearing relatively thick clothing, so the cold wasn’t much of an issue.

The hundred-meter-high hill wasn't particularly steep, but it wasn't small either. The trail wound from the mid-slope to the summit and then back down, curving around to the main road near the park square. According to the map, the total length was over three kilometers.

Since they were taking the wooded path, they had to stop and rest frequently, making their progress painfully slow.

The intense pain gnawed at both their wills, and even Ye Sangsang felt like she was about to be consumed by it. This was by far the most painful situation she had ever faced.

Just as Chen Yu was about to ask if they would ever make it out, Ye Sangsang shook her head at him in the dark.

Below them, about twenty meters away, was the location of the trail’s streetlight.

Ye Sangsang signaled for him to stay silent and then slowly crouched down to look below. With Shen Lingling’s slight nearsightedness, Ye Sangsang had to squint to make out the details.

Approaching were two people. Based on her understanding of the gang members' habits and gait, she was certain they were Qiu Fu and Zhao Hong.

They weren't talking, and even their footsteps were barely audible. If not for Ye Sangsang’s constant vigilance, they wouldn’t have noticed the pair at all.

They moved like shadows in the dark, gliding silently like snakes, afraid to startle their prey.

The spot where they were hiding was a bend overlooking the trail, and Qiu Fu and Zhao Hong approached, their flashlights scanning the surroundings.

Gradually, their straight-line distance shrank to just over ten meters, directly below them.

Ye Sangsang and Chen Yu were hidden behind a clump of bushes. Even though they knew they weren’t easily visible, the tension was palpable.

She could even feel that Chen Yu’s breathing had grown heavier.

There was no escape; they were doomed to die here.

At that moment, Ye Sangsang looked up, alert.

Above them, in the pine tree, came the faint rustling sound.

【Ahhh! Stop it!】

【Can’t be that unlucky, right? Everyone else just stumbles and steps on a twig, attracting the bad guys’ attention, and then an animal shows up to clear their suspicions. Is my Sangsang here just cursed with bad luck? Did some critter get her attention?! It’s not fair!】

【Stupid game system, we’re filing a complaint tomorrow!】

Meanwhile, in the live stream’s comment section, the audience was venting their frustrations.

The flashlight beams from Qiu Fu and Zhao Hong swept back and forth around the bushes where Ye Sangsang and Chen Yu were hiding.

The rustling above continued to move, soon leaping onto the bushes in front of Ye Sangsang, and then quickly climbed up the tree and disappeared.

The flashlight followed the direction of its movements.

“It’s just a squirrel. Probably woke up because of our movements,” Qiu Fu muttered, his voice low and irritated.

Zhao Hong responded faintly, and the two continued walking.

After a few steps, Zhao Hong spoke again, “What if we can’t find them?”

“Just keep looking. Shut up and work, or we’ll have to clean up the scene and leave quickly if we don’t find them,” Qiu Fu’s voice was cold, devoid of any emotion.

Ye Sangsang and Chen Yu didn’t move.

Walking in the woods would create noise, and they had to ensure they couldn’t be heard.

After confirming the pair had passed by, Ye Sangsang led Chen Yu up the slope and began moving below the main road.

The main road was the shortest route, unlike the winding trail that curved to provide scenic views among the trees for hikers.

The main reason Ye Sangsang chose this path was Qiu Fu. She preferred not to deal with someone with a sharp mind.

Neither of them spoke, for speaking required strength and might reveal their location.

Ye Sangsang quickly located the path below the main road and began walking in the predetermined direction. They had no idea how far the journey still was, stumbling through the woods, sometimes even stepping into potholes.

After an unknown amount of time, Ye Sangsang saw a dense cluster of lights. Those should be the lights of the park plaza.

The plaza, near the street, had a police station. If they could get there, they would be saved.

But Ye Sangsang stopped. She saw two moving figures on the plaza. This was not a good sign. Although she couldn’t see who they were, she instinctively knew they wouldn’t be people out for a midnight stroll.

Chen Yu also stopped. His vision was quite good, and he whispered to Ye Sangsang by her side, “Lingling, it’s Lin Deqiang and Wang Lao'er. They’re lying in wait for us.”

“Let’s lie down and rest,” Ye Sangsang whispered back.

Neither of them had rested much, and with their battered bodies, they were at the end of their strength. Rushing for rescue now wasn’t an option; they needed to conserve their energy, or they might be killed outright.

Hearing this, Chen Yu quietly lay down. Fortunately, it hadn’t rained recently, so lying on fallen leaves wasn’t too uncomfortable.

Once they stopped, the intense pain in their bodies began to gnaw away at their spirits. Unable to sleep due to the pain, and haunted by the nightmare they had just endured, they could only rest their bodies, though their minds were under constant torment.

Gradually, dawn broke.

Morning light fell upon the two, and Ye Sangsang opened her eyes. She moved slightly and felt as if her entire body was being stabbed by needles, even making facial expressions caused sharp pain as her facial muscles twitched.

She gingerly touched her head, and it was so hot it almost burned her hand.

Chen Yu’s vision was good, and after struggling to his feet, he carefully looked down at the situation twenty meters below. He saw quite a few people.

He pressed a hand to his chest, reached out, and helped Ye Sangsang up, slowly moving downhill.

As long as they walked down and were seen by someone, they would be saved.

Ye Sangsang followed, her face calm, but there was no trace of relief. She knew what might happen, but didn’t stop, because both of their bodies were running high fevers. Their wounds were severely infected, and they had delayed too long; they needed immediate treatment. Resting earlier had been the limit of their effort to conserve strength.

She clutched the knife in her hand tightly, her eyes ice cold.

If they had the skill, let them try to take their lives from her hands. If not, they could wait for her judgment.

Chen Yu must have anticipated something, picking up a roughly one-meter long thick branch to support himself as he slowly walked toward the plaza at the foot of the hill.

The twenty-meter distance took them about ten minutes.

Pain constantly ripped at their nerves, and their drowsy minds gnawed away at their last scraps of sanity.

After walking about ten meters on the path at the bottom of the woods, the two arrived at the plaza.

They needed to cross the seven or eight hundred-meter-long plaza to reach the other end, where the morning square dancers, aunties waving their fans, were in full swing.

In the distance, after waiting for two hours and hiding in the corner, Lin Deqiang and Wang Lao'er saw the two approaching and revealed sinister grins.

They slowly approached the two, clearly preparing to kill them in broad daylight.

But when Ye Sangsang revealed the dagger in her hand, the two men’s steps noticeably faltered.

Chen Yu’s instinct for survival surged, and he shouted loudly, “Help! They’re killing people!”

His body trembled, terror almost swallowing his reason whole, as he kept shouting, trying to deter them.@@novelbin@@

The square dancers began to panic, and people walking by also started looking around.

Unsure if it was a prank, they watched intently.

But when their gazes fell on the two, their faces showed signs of horrific torment, and their injuries were not something that could be explained by a fall.

Ye Sangsang’s cold gaze locked onto the two men, while Chen Yu used every last ounce of strength to scream.

Now it depended on whether they could carry out their plan to kill them and cover it up.

Although Lin Deqiang wasn’t as smart as Qiu Fu, he wasn’t a fool either. He quickly realized they couldn’t make a move and began to retreat and flee.

At this moment, Chen Yu finally couldn’t hold on and his hand fell from Ye Sangsang’s shoulder as he passed out on the ground.

Ye Sangsang felt the massive dizziness brought on by her high fever, but she still didn’t fall, because she needed to make sure they had left.

But what eased her heart was that someone had called the police.

After Lin Deqiang and Wang Lao'er thoroughly confirmed they couldn’t carry out the killing, they fixed their gazes on Ye Sangsang for a moment before turning to leave.

After their figures disappeared from sight, Ye Sangsang finally couldn’t hold on and collapsed, unconscious.

The knife slipped from her hand and fell to the ground with a clatter.

Fortunately, she was slightly luckier than Chen Yu; an auntie from the square dance troupe caught her.

Two minutes later, when the police arrived, the ambulance also showed up.

Ye Sangsang felt the sensation of her arm wound being stitched up, her body being wrapped in medicine, and the liquid entering her body through the needle in her hand.

This sense of safety was truly comforting.

After vaguely thinking a meaningless thought, Ye Sangsang passed out under the effects of the anesthesia after the simple surgery.

When she woke up, it was already afternoon, with the sunlight pouring in through the window, fiery and intense.

【Watching the process of dealing with the wounds, even though it was blurred out, just seeing the doctor constantly sewing made me feel so much pain.】

【Finally, a sense of security. I’m in tears. They’ve gone through so much and finally escaped.】

【My Sangsang is really amazing. If it were me experiencing this torture, I’d immediately collapse and say, just kill me.】

When Ye Sangsang woke up, the liveliness returned to the livestream room.

Ye Sangsang glanced at the time outside the game. It seemed the super-intelligent time had skipped ahead, and she still had about an hour to play.

So Ye Sangsang chose not to log out, looking at the scars on her arms and body.

At this moment, footsteps sounded, followed by the sound of a plastic basin hitting the ground, splashing water everywhere.

“My daughter!” A heart-wrenching wail sounded as the basin fell, filled with unbearable pain.

Tears instantly filled the woman’s eyes as she quickly stepped to her daughter’s side, wanting to hold her hand.

Then she realized her daughter’s hand had also been injured, and she quickly pulled back, trembling, as if she were a fragile piece of porcelain.

She stared at her every tiny detail, her sobs echoed over and over again.

Behind her, following the woman’s wail, a middle-aged man with graying temples walked in.

Seeing his awake daughter, he stared blankly for several seconds before realizing she had really woken up. He abruptly turned away, wiping the tears that had fallen on the spot with his palm.

Waaaaah, don't stab me with emotions!

【The joy of surviving after a disaster, I’m crying tears of joy.】

【They escaped, they survived, survival is the hope!】

Ye Sangsang couldn’t move, looking at them and revealing a smile, “It’s alright.”

As long as they survived, everything would be fine.

The middle-aged man was Shen Lingling’s father. After calming down (regaining his composure), he informed Ye Sangsang about Chen Yu's condition.

He had three broken ribs, severe head injuries, a fractured hand, and a stab wound in his abdomen that barely missed damaging his internal organs. Due to severe blood loss and infected wounds, he was still in surgery.

As for Ye Sangsang’s own condition, her arm wound had been dealt with, but she had a concussion, severe tearing in her lower body with severe infection, and the doctors had been treating her for hours.

However, the man didn’t dare to tell his daughter about her situation, only reassuring her that everything was fine.

After speaking, to hide his emotions, he went to fetch the mop to clean the floor.

Shen Lingling’s body was both painfully aching and exhausted, and her spirits weren’t good, so after speaking a couple of sentences, she decided not to say anything more.

In fact, by this point, Ye Sangsang had perfectly completed this dungeon.

If she clicked to complete, she could exit the current state and start selecting a new copy again.

After all, the mission objective was —— escape to survive.

But for someone with a somewhat twisted mindset, leaving like this would only provoke a derisive laugh about their own mental state.

Having been injured, revenge was necessary.

The couple realized Ye Sangsang didn’t want to talk for now, quietly exchanged glances, and slipped out.

After a while, the door of Ye Sangsang’s hospital room was knocked upon.

The ward was a single-bed room, and the door was wide open. Ye Sangsang directly said, "Come in."

After she spoke, two women and one man, all police officers, walked in.

“Hello, sorry to disturb you. How is your health?” The middle-aged female police officer approached Ye Sangsang's bed, placing the congratulatory fruit basket she had brought on the nearby cabinet. Her expression was filled with concern as she asked.

The other two police officers stood behind her, with expressions of tension and sorrow.

Ye Sangsang knew that they were feeling sorrow for her, as her face, now swollen and grotesque, was barely recognizable. She forced a slight smile and said softly, "Please sit. Are you here to inquire about the situation? I can provide answers."

"Thank you for your cooperation. We will catch the perpetrator as soon as possible," she said after sitting down and expressing gratitude, then began asking about the details.

Initially, their tone was gentle. Even though it was 2012, social attitudes had only truly opened up in the past one or two decades, and many people were still quite conservative.

Even in ordinary inquiries, questions were usually kept to a minimum.

Especially in cases of sexual assault, the process had to be gradual, as they needed the victim to recall many, many details. This was undoubtedly a secondary trauma for the victim.

Many victims would break down countless times during this process, and there were often situations where the police could not continue the questioning because the victims were already inconsolable.

Moreover, sexual assaults are not as simple as people think, where the victim is just pinned down and harmed.

In reality, most victims experience brutal violence along with the assault, and the fear that accompanies it can shatter anyone's sanity.

Ye Sangsang belonged to the latter category. The violence she had endured was thoroughly understood by the police, who had received the medical examination reports from the doctors.

As someone who had been a detective, Ye Sangsang was clear about what information they needed. Although she had to maintain Shen Lingling's persona, she clearly described every detail of the crime scene.

She recounted how the perpetrators entered, the ordeal in between, their escape attempt, being captured again, and the robbery that followed.

She detailed everything.

"I can describe their general physical appearance," Ye Sangsang said, as someone who was a language teacher, her expressions were clear.

Officer Jiang Li listened and inquired about the heights and appearances of the four perpetrators.

Ye Sangsang thought for a moment and replied, "Qiu Fu is the leader. His personality is very cunning and suspicious..."

The others included Lin Deqiang, Wang Lao'er, and Zhao Hong.

During the questioning, the accompanying officer also poured some water for Ye Sangsang, helping her to drink a little, just to moisten her throat.

The police were amazed by the couple's escape process. To be honest, even if it had been them in that situation, they doubted they could have been so calm.

Ye Sangsang didn't pay much attention to their thoughts. After they finished asking questions, she also asked what she wanted to know, "Was the crime scene cleaned up?"

Since there were only two people at the plaza, the other two must have been preparing to flee. The room was full of their fingerprints and DNA; they definitely had to clean up.

These people were all repeat offenders.

"How did you know?" Jiang Li asked, then rubbed her forehead, "Yes, we cleaned up. When you and your husband managed to escape, you could think all this through. I won't hide it from you. Your house was cleaned very thoroughly; at first glance, we even thought the crime scene was elsewhere."

But, many things couldn't escape the police's eyes.

They didn't eliminate the evidence completely. They found traces of blood and DNA. The community's surveillance footage, the car's departure from the surveillance area, and some footage near the ATM machine.

However, the facial information was obtained from Ye Sangsang.

These individuals were likely habitual offenders, and they were very skilled at concealing their facial features, so the surveillance didn't capture any clear images.

Ye Sangsang looked at Jiang Li and voiced her speculation, "They are very short of money; they probably need money for something else, and there is a high chance they will commit another crime or directly proceed with their plans. They should still be in the city now."

She hoped they would be caught quickly and brought to justice, which would also be a form of revenge for her.

"Okay, thank you for your cooperation. Get well soon, and we will catch them as soon as possible," Jiang Li said, her eyes full of concern for Ye Sangsang. She stood up, ready to leave.

Just as she was about to walk out the door, she turned back and said, "If you think of any more clues, remember to contact me. We will have colleagues stationed outside. Rest assured and take care."

Since the offenders hadn't been caught and the specific motives for the crime were unclear, to prevent retaliation against the victims, police officers would be stationed at the hospital to protect them.

Ye Sangsang nodded towards Jiang Li, then closed her eyes, continuously thinking.

This case was different from previous ones, even from the first copy. In the first scenario, although the murderer wasn't found on the surface, it was essentially unclosed, the murderer was dead, and their identity was known to the police.

In this case, the police only knew their physical features and approximate names, but the individuals themselves hadn't been captured.

Therefore, in the copy, it was possible that the police might not catch them.

The only thing different from reality was that the couple managed to escape.

There was also a question: why did they torture the couple for three days before leaving?

Ye Sangsang didn't believe it was a sudden whim. It seemed more like there was another purpose, such as them observing the couple and knowing they had just returned from visiting their parents, and there wouldn't be any relatives coming to visit them for a while.

What exactly were they planning?

Ye Sangsang felt that the current information was too limited.

"Can you provide some information about the criminal suspects that the real-world police have uncovered?" Ye Sangsang asked the superintelligence.

Even though she asked, Ye Sangsang didn't hold much hope.

However, to her surprise, she received a pop-up message from the superintelligence.

A dense pile of information appeared in the blue-glowing popup window, and she quickly started reviewing it.

This was the information about the four suspects that the real-world police had uncovered.

Including the crimes they had committed in addition to this case...

After carefully reading through the information, Ye Sangsang had a thought.

Were they planning to pull off a big heist and then completely change their identities?