Chapter 170: Misalignment

Under the cover of night, inside the Mingzheng Orphanage, Li Changqing, Bai Chuan, and Li Minghao were gathered in Bai Chuan’s office.

On the coffee table in the office lay three sets of night-prowling garments. Although once they made a move, their actions and combat techniques would instantly betray their identities, preparing the outfits in advance was still a prudent step—having them was better than not.

"Are we really going through with this?" Li Minghao looked at the garments on the coffee table, pacing back and forth. Doing this would entail severe consequences for them, but if they failed to rescue Hu Xiong before the investigators from the General Investigation Bureau arrived, they would lose all chances of ever saving him.

"Aside from this method, unless we can come up with a foolproof way to prove old Hu's innocence..." Li Changqing picked up one of the garments with a solemn expression, fully aware of the potential fallout if they took this path.

Li Changqing took a deep breath. Although Hu Xiong occasionally dragged him into trouble—such as repeatedly promising to protect him from the shadows, only to mysteriously vanish into thin air—he was, in reality, a deeply loyal person and a rare, precious friend.

Now that Hu Xiong was trapped in dire straits, Li Changqing could naturally not stand by and do nothing.

Bai Chuan stood up and glanced at the two of them. "Remember, I am the primary mastermind behind this operation. The two of you merely acted on my orders and ran errands."

"Old Bai, talking like that is looking down on me." Li Minghao forced a smile. "Old Hu is definitely innocent. As long as we investigate the truth after the fact..."

"Wait, it seems we've overlooked something crucial." Li Changqing suddenly slammed his hand onto the desk, clutching his forehead as he mentally cursed himself for only thinking of it now.

The other two turned their gazes toward him, their eyes filled with confusion.

"The bite mark! Ziyu Ranyan and Xia Yi—one is a woman, and the other is a man. Their bite marks naturally have distinct differences," Li Changqing said. "If we simply compare Xia Yi's dental mold to old Hu's wound, won't the truth be crystal clear?"

Slightly excited, Li Minghao slapped his palm. "I'll have someone from the company bring a dentist over right away to gather forensic evidence from Xia Yi's corpse."

Bai Chuan frowned slightly, raising a hand to temporarily stop Li Minghao as he voiced his own concern. "Changqing, there is someone pulling strings behind the scenes regarding Hu Xiong's case. What if they even managed to replicate a matching bite mark?"

Bai Chuan's worry was justified. If the bite mark genuinely matched, Hu Xiong's guilt would be sealed beyond redemption.

"Old Hu said the bite mark on his arm was left by Ziyu Ranyan. As long as he wasn't lying, the bite marks cannot possibly match," Li Changqing paused, narrowing his eyes. "Unless, Ziyu Ranyan is the one with the problem."

In truth, Li Changqing was deeply conflicted inside.

Hu Xiong had no reason to lie about this matter, yet why did Ziyu Ranyan claim she had never bitten him?

Either Ziyu Ranyan or Zhuo Qingqiang was definitely lying.

"I'll go suggest this to the Bureau Chief first," Bai Chuan said, pointing at the three sets of garments on the coffee table. "You two stay hidden for now. If the test results don't pan out, we'll figure out another plan."

Bai Chuan walked over to Zhang Guichuan's office, knocked on the door, and pushed it open.

Zhang Guichuan was sitting at his desk, nursing a headache over Hu Xiong's case. A man who rarely smoked, he had been chain-smoking one cigarette after another.

"Bureau Chief, we should examine the bite mark on Hu Xiong's arm and compare it with Xia Yi's teeth."

Zhang Guichuan's eyes lit up, and he mentally cursed himself and the others for falling into a blind spot of thinking.

After all, the surveillance footage clearly showed Xia Yi biting 'Hu Xiong' just before his death, and a bite mark had indeed been subsequently found on Hu Xiong's arm.

Although Hu Xiong claimed the bite mark was inflicted by Ziyu Ranyan, Ziyu Ranyan denied it.

Therefore, even Zhang Guichuan had fallen into inertial thinking and failed to consider other angles.

"Immediately invite a professional dentist over," Zhang Guichuan said in a loud voice.

Inside the gloomy, freezing dungeon, Hu Xiong was held captive.

His eyes now held an expression they had never shown before.

Disappointment, desolation, resignation, and confusion.

A vortex of varied emotions intertwined within his heart.

The reason was not simply that he had been framed—Hu Xiong firmly believed that a straight tree fears no crooked shadow. The sole blow that truly crushed him was Ziyu Ranyan's claim that she had never bitten him.

How could this be?

Moreover, why was the coincidence so bizarre that Ziyu Ranyan happened to bite his wrist?

Could it be that Ziyu Ranyan had a problem?

Throughout his thirty-odd years of life, Hu Xiong had never experienced romance. Having finally encountered a girl like Ziyu Ranyan, all these clues were now pointing to the terrifying possibility that she was hiding something.

"Hu Xiong, what are you thinking about?" Zhuo Qingqiang stood with his hands behind his back, gripping his weapon and remaining on high alert, terrified that Hu Xiong might escape.

Hu Xiong raised his head, his gaze landing on him. "Old Zhuo, about this matter, I..."

"Stop right there," Zhuo Qingqiang raised a hand. "You claim Miss Ranyan bit you, but Miss Ranyan refuses to admit it. Unless you're implying that Miss Ranyan herself is the problem."

"I..." Hu Xiong wanted to voice his suspicion, but if he implicated Ziyu Ranyan, the Thirty-Sixth Bureau would go and arrest her...

Things might spiral into an uncontrollable direction.

Besides, what if he was just overthinking it and had wronged an innocent Ziyu Ranyan?

Recalling Ziyu Ranyan's innocent and pure smile, Hu Xiong's heart stubbornly refused to believe that such a girl would frame him in this manner.

Knock, knock, knock.

From the distant end of the dungeon corridor came the sound of hurried footsteps. Gripping his weapon, Zhuo Qingqiang watched vigilantly.

Leading the approaching group was Zhang Guichuan, followed by Li Changqing and the other two, accompanied by a dentist.

The dentist was slightly plump and wore a white lab coat.

"Bureau Chief," Zhuo Qingqiang saluted hastily, his gaze sweeping over the others as he asked, "What are they doing here?"

"Open the dungeon. We've had a dentist extract the dental impressions from Xia Yi's corpse. As long as we compare it with the mark on Hu Xiong's arm, we'll know whether Hu Xiong did it or not." With a wave of Zhang Guichuan's hand, Zhuo Qingqiang obediently unlocked the door and let the dentist inside.

The dentist was trembling slightly. Who could have imagined that beneath this remote orphanage, such a secret dungeon had been constructed?

Had these people not shown him their federal police credentials upon arrival, he would have already been terrified for his life.

From his carried toolkit, the dentist retrieved a mold cast out of dental clay.

The mold already bore the impression of Xia Yi's dental structure.

Stepping forward, he uncovered the bite mark on Hu Xiong's arm and began a meticulous, earnest comparison.

Li Changqing watched the dentist with intense nervousness. The words this dentist was about to utter would decide the fate of many.

After examining the wound, the dentist formed his conclusion. He stood up and announced, "The bite mark on this man's arm—both in terms of tooth size and shape—does not match the dental mold at all."