Jiang Yu saw Zhao Yan suddenly move, raising her axe to strike forward. He was so startled that he immediately said, "It's me, Jiang Yu."
Zhao Yan didn't immediately lower her axe. Instead, she heard Wu Jiaxin's sobbing and then her hand loosened its grip on the axe.
The moment her taut nerves relaxed, Zhao Yan could no longer maintain her posture. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.
Fortunately, Jiang Yu was quick and grabbed her arm.
"Two teams, hurry up and search," Jiang Yu said to the officers behind him as he picked Zhao Yan up to carry her.
"Miss Zhao, I'll take you to the hospital first," Jiang Yu said.
He was truly startled by the bloodshot look in Zhao Yan's eyes, which seemed about to burst.
Zhao Yan, leaning on Jiang Yu's shoulder, urged, "Officer Jiang, please turn on your phone's recording."
"We'll talk about it at the hospital. Your condition is very bad right now," Jiang Yu replied.
Zhao Yan said, "I'm afraid I might pass out later. I need to do this while I'm still conscious."
Jiang Yu freed one hand and handed his phone to Wu Jiaxin, who was nearby.
Wu Jiaxin turned on the recording and said to Zhao Yan, "Okay, Sister Zhao."
Zhao Yan began, "The killer is about 164-166 cm tall, with a slender build. Although he wore a mask and a hat, his eyes were visible – a pair of narrow, elongated eyes."
"He was hunched over slightly."
"He must have a connection to the first victim, Zhang Wenwen. It's highly likely to be someone she knew."
"He's very familiar with the tinplate factory, perhaps an employee there."
"For the other victims, the killer might have seen them as masterpieces for his art, but for the first victim, he definitely had feelings."
"Killing Zhang Wenwen opened the killer's Pandora's box of evil. This murder gave him immense excitement and a sense of accomplishment."
Jiang Yu's expression was serious. Zhao Yan's provided clues were of great help to the case.
They could narrow down the search scope.
After speaking, Zhao Yan could no longer hold on and fell asleep.
She was taken to the Jiangcheng City People's First Hospital.
Her eyes were cleaned, and eye drops were administered.
"The substance in her eyes is a type of herbicide. She endured for so long without rubbing her eyes; that's something an ordinary person couldn't bear," exclaimed Doctor Zheng, who was in charge of Zhao Yan.
Rubbing one's eyes would only make the itching more unbearable, and in some cases, patients have been known to scratch out their eyeballs.
But Zhao Yan hadn't, demonstrating incredible willpower.
"Doctor, is Sister Zhao going to be alright?" Wu Jiaxin asked.
Doctor Zheng replied, "We need to keep her for observation. In severe cases, surgery might be necessary, possibly even removing the eyeball."
"Removing the eyeball? That serious?" Jiang Yu exclaimed, startled.
"That's the worst-case scenario. It depends on the follow-up. However, the patient not rubbing her eyes has reduced the risk of secondary infection."
Zhao Yan slept through the next day and night, with Wu Jiaxin constantly by her side, taking care of her.
She was in a private room and, as she was assisting with the case, all expenses were covered, including future treatment.
Upon waking, she didn't experience dizziness. Her eyes were bandaged, and the inability to see caused significant inconvenience.
But there was no other choice. Wu Jiaxin told her that being able to keep her eyes was already a stroke of luck.
What made Zhao Yan feel distressed was that she couldn't draw talismans without being able to see.
She thought of the drawing board Lin Xihang had bought for her and asked Wu Jiaxin to fetch it.
She wanted to see if she could draw without sight, but discovered the difficulty was immense.
Thinking of the killer's appearance, Zhao Yan began to sketch on the drawing board.
Just as she was nearly finished, Zhao Yan heard footsteps.
She said to Wu Jiaxin, "Xinxin, go open the door, someone's coming."
Wu Jiaxin, who was peeling fruit for Zhao Yan, looked confused at Zhao Yan's words, "Is there someone?"
As soon as she finished speaking, there was a knock on the door.
Wu Jiaxin exclaimed, "Sister Zhao, your hearing is too good!"
She got up and opened the door.
Jiang Yu and Officer Xiao Qin arrived with a flower basket, followed by two other police colleagues.
"I'm so sorry, Miss Zhao. I apologize. I've been so busy that I couldn't come to see you sooner," Officer Xiao Qin said, placing the flower basket on the table and immediately addressing Zhao Yan.
Zhao Yan placed the drawing board on her lap and shook her head, "It's alright, your work is more important."
"When can the bandages on your eyes be removed?" Officer Xiao Qin asked.
Wu Jiaxin answered for Zhao Yan, "The doctor said five to seven days. She needs to have eye drops and cleaning at night."
"Five to seven days, that long."
"It's not long. The doctor said if it were any later, your eyeballs might have to be removed. Officer Qin, do you want to see me turn into Mei Chaofeng?" Zhao Yan said.
Officer Xiao Qin gave a dry chuckle and waved his hand, "That's not what I said."
"Sister Zhao, have some pear," Wu Jiaxin said, sitting down and offering the peeled pear to Zhao Yan.
After taking a bite, she turned to her left and asked, "Officer Jiang, how is the investigation of the clues progressing?"
She was particularly concerned about this matter.
When she woke up, she had asked Wu Jiaxin, who had shaken her head, saying she wasn't too clear.
"Based on the clues provided by Miss Zhao, we are investigating people around the deceased Zhang Wenwen. Zhang Wenwen died over twenty years ago, so it's been a long time."
"We found her former boyfriend and a close friend who worked with her at the factory. However, her friend has been living in a mental hospital and has some mental issues."
Zhao Yan nodded understandingly. The time span was too large, making the investigation very difficult.
"Miss Zhao, I went door-to-door and interviewed Zhang Wenwen's former boyfriend. I've recorded this conversation, and I think Miss Zhao will be interested."
Zhao Yan said, "Okay."
Jiang Yu played the audio.
"You are Zhang Pin, right? I am a police officer, and I'm here to ask about the murder case in 1996, concerning the victim Zhang Wenwen."
The voice on the other end paused for three seconds before a man's voice emerged.
"It's been too long, I've forgotten some things."
"What was your relationship with the deceased Zhang Wenwen before 1996?"
"We were boyfriend and girlfriend. Back then, her family thought I was a poor boy and wouldn't agree to our marriage registration."
"Where were you when she had her accident?"
"I was in the steelmaking workshop, processing a batch of foreign steel orders."
Zhao Yan listened carefully. The conversation was quite long.
"What kind of person do you think Zhang Wenwen was? Did she have any conflicts with anyone?"
"Wenwen had a good personality. She was an honest and dutiful woman, and she got along well with everyone. She didn't have any grudges."
After listening to the general content, Jiang Yu said, "There are many issues. Zhang Wenwen's boyfriend forgot a lot of things. I compared his height, and he's around 170 cm, which doesn't match the killer's height that Miss Zhao described."
Zhao Yan sighed.
Just as she was about to say something, Officer Xiao Qin looked at the drawing at her feet.
"Miss Zhao, who is this person you've drawn? I feel like it resembles someone I know."