Chapter 107: The Ring
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An Bu stood on the side, watching the veterinarian examine the horse, knowing that it would survive for now, but it would likely suffer severe consequences later. The death energy on its back was the source of the disease.
She looked around at the crowd and found that two people had similar sources of death energy on them—one in the liver area and the other in the head. This meant that, barring accidents, they might die from liver issues and brain disorders in the future.
An Bu looked at Jian Ningxuan beside her. Well… full of vitality, healthier than anyone else present, just a bit excessive in heat.
Jian Ningxuan: “?”
An Bu was about to say something when she was interrupted by Silvia’s voice from the other side. “Thank goodness you’re okay, or I wouldn’t know how to explain to your parents,” Senn breathed a sigh of relief.
“Silvia, don’t be so impulsive in the future. Your riding skills are so good, and you almost had an accident, let alone Hettie?” Senn’s brother, Yilic, also advised.
Others followed suit, gradually shifting from comfort to blame. They criticized Silvia for being too willful, with a hint of schadenfreude in their tone.
Silvia was holding back her anger. Her boyfriend was slept with by her “best friend,” and she almost fell to her death. Clearly, she was the victim, yet she couldn’t vent her frustration.
At this moment, Hettie suddenly spoke, “I’m sorry, Silvia. This is all my fault. I let down your trust. You can punish me however you want, I just hope you won’t do anything dangerous again.”
Smack! Silvia raised her hand and slapped her.
“Silvia, what are you doing?” Senn quickly pulled Hettie behind him.
“She said I could punish her however I wanted, right?” Silvia looked coldly at Senn, who was defending Hettie.
“She has already apologized to you. Can’t you forgive her?”
“Haha.” Silvia scoffed as if hearing a joke, “What qualifications do you have for me to forgive her? Shouldn’t I also forgive you, the man who cheated on his girlfriend with her ‘best friend’?”
Senn stammered, “Didn’t I explain? I was drunk that day and mistook her for you…”
“Shut up. You find yourself not disgusting enough?” Silvia angrily interrupted him, pointing at him and Hettie. “From now on, don’t appear in front of me. Otherwise, I’ll hit you every time I see you. The cooperation between your family and mine is also impossible.”
Senn anxiously said, “Silvia, don’t act on impulse. The cooperation between the two families has been agreed upon long ago. How can you easily back out?”
“Didn’t my good ‘best friend’ contact other business partners for you?” Silvia mocked, “Go find them.”
Yilic looked disappointed at Silvia. “Silvia, I didn’t expect you to be like this. Because of a bad relationship, you’re destroying the cooperation between the two families? Hettie is more generous than you. Although she feels sorry for you, she is trying to make amends. Love is uncontrollable. What do you want her to do to make you happy? Let her compete with you in horse racing, then fall and become disabled? Although not explicitly stated, we all know what you’re thinking. If it weren’t for this accident, Hettie would probably have been sent to the hospital by now.”
“Yeah, Silvia, don’t make things irreparable.”
“Let Senn apologize to you, swear never to cheat again, and let it be.”
…
An Bu frowned, walked over to the veterinarian, and pointed at the back of the horse. “Doctor, look, is there something strange here?”
The veterinarian, upon hearing this, approached and took a closer look. Puzzled, he asked, “What’s strange?”
The horse was a deep brown color, with smooth fur, appearing flawless.
An Bu wrapped her finger with a handkerchief and flicked it a couple of times at the location with the lingering dead energy, revealing a small, inconspicuous mosquito bite-like wound.
“Huh?” The veterinarian adjusted his glasses, instructed the caretaker to control the horse, and then approached for a careful examination. Muttering to himself, “The area around the wound is tinged with purple, and there are signs of swelling. Could it be bitten by some poisonous insect?”
Silvia and others also noticed the abnormality here, and they all gathered around. The horse, uneasy, kicked its hooves and made a hissing sound. The caretaker calmed it down while asking others to stay away.
Only Silvia, Senn, and Hettie did not move, standing behind the veterinarian to watch his diagnosis.
Hettie’s eyes flickered, gripping her fingers tightly. Although her face didn’t show panic, cold sweat oozed from her palms. Hearing the veterinarian speculate about a bug bite, she hadn’t had time to exhale before An Bu asked, “What kind of insect has a mouthpart this large?”
Hettie gave her a subtle glare.
The veterinarian paused, staring at the wound, and said puzzledly, “Indeed, as far as I know, there are no poisonous insects in the vicinity with mouthparts this large. This wound looks more like a needle prick.”
The reason they initially overlooked it was mainly because they didn’t consider the possibility of foul play. After all, the veterinarian was not a forensic expert. In cases of small wounds like this, it would generally be attributed to insect bites. People and horses on the ranch were inevitably exposed to insects, and these insects usually had low toxicity, and the animals could recover on their own without the need for medication. But if someone intentionally poisoned them, the nature of the incident would be different.
The veterinarian looked up and said to one of the riders, “Del, inform the owner and call the police. Whether this is targeting the ranch or the riders who were on the horses earlier, the person who poisoned them clearly has malicious intent.”
Hettie’s breath was slightly rapid for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure. An Bu quietly observed her expression, wondering why she remained so calm. Was she not afraid of being exposed as the culprit, or did An Bu guess wrong? Was this girl actually innocent?
An Bu’s gaze fell on Hettie’s left hand, and her pupils suddenly contracted. A ring that should have been on her left ring finger was missing, and she couldn’t tell when it disappeared.
At this moment, Silvia seemed to have guessed something. She suddenly rushed towards Hettie, grabbed her arm, and angrily said, “Was it you who did this? The horse was perfectly fine, and as soon as I got on it, you came over to talk to me, even placed your hand on the horse’s back. Then the horse went crazy. How could this be a coincidence? Tell me, was it you?”
“What are you talking about?” Hettie looked at her with grievances. “Why would I do such a thing?”
“Silvia, what madness are you spouting now?” Senn forcefully pulled her away. “Hettie just casually touched the horse’s back. How could she poison it? Your horse was chosen by Yilic, and before you mounted, I also patted the horse’s back. Are you going to suspect us too?”
Yilic also looked dissatisfied with Silvia.
The expressions of the others were somewhat subtle; they believed that Silvia was trying to frame Hettie, and no one believed that Hettie would poison the horse.
Silvia was furious but had no evidence. She couldn’t be sure that Hettie did it, so she could only hatefully say, “Then let the police investigate. Until the results are out, none of you are allowed to leave the ranch.”
“Silvia, what do you mean?”
“Hehe, now she’s treating all of us as suspects.”
“Don’t blame Silvia, everyone.” Hettie spoke in a conciliatory tone, “It’s best to let the police investigate this matter. It can prove everyone’s innocence and prevent misunderstandings.”
“Hettie is right. Since we haven’t done anything wrong, let them investigate.”
Everyone looked at Silvia with eyes filled with mockery and disgust.
Silvia was almost isolated by everyone, but she still stood tall, meeting their gazes with a defiant look.
Within half an hour, several police officers arrived. After understanding the situation, they began to question everyone who had contact with the horse.
The veterinarian determined that the horse had been poisoned less than an hour ago, so the police eventually focused on Silvia, Hettie, Sain, Yilic, and the caretaker. As for An Bu and Jian Ningxuan, they were temporarily ruled out as suspects.
Since the victim was a horse and there were no fatalities, the police did not treat it as a severe criminal case. When the veterinarian identified the poison as coming from a bee, they felt that this incident might be just an accident. Although bees were rare in the area, they were not nonexistent. The stinger on the bee’s tail was highly toxic, and an overdose could be fatal.
The horse might have accidentally been stung by a bee, and then it went out of control due to the onset of toxicity.
“Silvia, do you have anything else to say now?” Yilic and the others stared coldly at Silvia.
“Silvia, jealousy has clouded your judgment! Intentionally blaming Hettie just to vent your frustration over a trivial matter.”
“Looks like we need to be more careful in the future, so as not to offend Silvia and be treated as suspects.”
Silvia lowered her head, her eyes somewhat bitter.
Hettie sighed softly, “Silvia, don’t take everyone’s words to heart. In the end, it’s my fault. Everyone is just implicated by me.”
“Hettie, you dare to admit your mistake, but certain people are truly incorrigible, becoming even more relentless.”
“Yeah, when making friends, it’s better to choose someone kinder, so you don’t have to worry about being slandered all the time.”
Silvia’s popularity was quite low; surprisingly, no one was willing to speak up for her, and even those who were initially supportive seemed resentful after being questioned by the police.
Hettie’s half-lowered eyes flashed with a hint of satisfaction.
At this moment, a police officer walked up to Hettie and handed her a piece of paper, asking, “Is this yours?”
Seeing what was drawn on the paper, Hettie’s expression changed slightly. Before she could deny it, Senn next to her said, “Hettie, isn’t this the ring you bought a few days ago?”
Hettie gave Senn a speechless glance: You really are a lousy teammate.
After Senn’s confirmation, the others also said, “It must be Hettie’s. I remember she was wearing it when she went out today.”
“Where is this ring now?” the police officer asked.
Hettie hesitated, “It seems I lost it on the way.”
The ring was very thin, and few people would notice it. Plus, Hettie had gloves on after changing into her riding attire, only taking them off for a few minutes before and after Silvia mounted the horse.
“Is that so?” The police officer had an expressionless face. “But someone saw you wearing this ring on the ranch.”
“Sorry, I don’t remember very well. If you hadn’t reminded us, I probably wouldn’t have noticed that I lost my ring. It’s just a small accessory worth a few hundred yuan. I don’t really care about it.” Hettie looked puzzled and asked in return, “Officer, what happened to my ring?”
“Somebody accused you of poisoning the horse with this ring. Please allow us to search you, and others will undergo inspection as well to see if the ring is hidden on any of you. If not, we’ll conduct a search within the premises of the stable.”
“Who accused me of poisoning with the ring?” Hettie asked casually, but her gaze drifted towards Silvia.
Senn looked disappointedly at Silvia. “I didn’t expect you to be so reckless.”
Silvia sneered, “You’ve never believed in me anyway.”
“Officer, if the person accusing Hettie is her,” Senn pointed at Silvia, “I think there’s no need to waste your efforts. She and Hettie have personal grievances, and she’s just trying to frame and accuse.”
“Sorry, the accuser is not this girl but an unrelated witness.” Because it was an unrelated passerby, their testimony was especially credible, not to mention that the drawn ring shape was confirmed by the person involved.
Senn was momentarily stunned, looking at Hettie and then at Silvia, feeling somewhat confused.
Silvia raised her head thoughtfully and saw two figures standing side by side not far away. The girl among them waved at her, showing an encouraging smile.
In an instant, the previously despondent Silvia seemed infused with new vitality, turning back into a confident peacock, eagerly waiting for the police to expose the true face of that black lotus.
Hettie thought she had executed her plan seamlessly, but she happened to encounter An Bu, who had an excellent memory.
“As you walk, you leave your trace.” Unless she could create something out of nothing, she would always leave a flaw.
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