The snow-white walls bore dark crimson bloodstains, glaringly conspicuous.
Qin Guan stood frozen, his bloodstream seeming to solidify instantaneously.
Impossible! Impossible! Impossible!
The three colossal characters tumbled violently through his mind - How could this be?
Was Yang Qingqing's testimony genuine?
Had Xu Ruyi truly fallen down these stairs?
But no - that was supposed to be her fabricated lie! Her flushed cheeks during the police interrogation proved it false!
Yet the evidence before his lawyer's eyes was irrefutable. The chest-level blood splatter clearly resulted from impact, the surrounding spray patterns undeniable proof - impossible to fake manually.
Had Xu Ruyi actually fallen here?
Then her injuries weren't from Qi Min and Zeng Demei's assault?
But Xu Ruyi herself had confessed this to Auntie Feng in the hospital - how Qi Min and her mother had ganged up on her during their fight. Even Qi Min's scratched face corroborated this version!
Now reality inverted completely.
Xu Ruyi's "lie" to the police was truth.
Which meant her original "truth" was false.
Why?
Why frame Qi Min?
The manager burst in panic-stricken: "Lawyer Qin! Police returning!"
Qin Guan mechanically slipped through a side door onto the second-floor landing, pressing against cold concrete walls.
Police voices drifted up:
"Bloodstain height matches Xu Ruyi's 160cm frame."
"Spatter patterns consistent with nasal injury."
"Wall protrusion here - arm-level abrasion matching her account."
Footsteps reenacted the fall:
"Tripped here, arm scraped, then plunged face-first into wall."
A phone rang. "Forensic team's arriving. Collect all evidence thoroughly."
Qin Guan slid down a grimy pipe, landing in an alley. No sweat despite scorching sun - only cold tremors racking his bloodless face.
Mental replays tormented him: Xu Ruyi's flushed cheeks, evasive eyes, awkward smiles during interrogation - textbook liar's tells. Yet she'd narrated truth through feigned deception!
Oxygen seemed scarce. Qin Guan clawed at his hair, forcing steady breaths.
Filmstrip memories unreeled - every interaction with Xu Ruyi reassessed. The "naive" wife who blushed at white lies, the "simple-minded" homemaker... All facades?
The officer's words haunted him: "Would you say Xu Ruyi always obeys her husband Qin Guan?"
Chills crawled up his spine.
Had Xu Ruyi deliberately exposed her poor lying skills? Signaling to police: I'm covering crimes under my husband's coercion.
But how much did she truly know?
About the affair?
About Qi Min's... disposal?
The "innocent lamb" had become the wolf in shadows.