“Captain Zou, Captain Zou?” Xiao Tang called out twice. When he saw that Zou Shuyang was staring blankly ahead, he waved his hand in front of Zou Shuyang’s eyes. “Captain Zou, are you still with us? Did you disconnect?”
Zou Shuyang raised a hand to push Xiao Tang’s hand away. “What?”
Seeing Zou Shuyang snap back to reality, Xiao Tang smiled ingratiatingly. “Jiang Hongye is here. Should we head down now?”
Zou Shuyang nodded and stood up, walking as he gave instructions. “Investigate the victim’s social connections. Also, let the archives know to pull out the case file for the teacher murder at Jiangzhou No.4 High School from ten years ago.”
“The file from ten years ago?” Xiao Tang froze for a moment. “The Jiangzhou No.4 High teacher murder case? Shen Jun’s case?”
Zou Shuyang responded with a simple “Yeah.” adding, “It’s related to this victim too.”
A blurry image appeared in front of Zou Shuyang’s eyes—Jian Mengyan hugging his waist and whispering in a low voice, “I know that victim. He was my high school homeroom teacher, the one who was killed.”
“Captain Zou, are you saying…”
But this time, Zou Shuyang didn’t respond to Xiao Tang. Without stopping, he quickly reached the door of the interrogation room. Through the glass, he could see Jiang Hongye inside, pale-faced, his lips trembling uncontrollably.
“Creak—”
The heavy, old door opened, and Jiang Hongye shrank back, looking over in fear.
The two officers who had been accompanying him nodded to Zou Shuyang and Xiao Tang before leaving the room, thoughtfully closing the door behind them.
Inside the interrogation room, Jiang Hongye was a far cry from the relaxed and carefree attitude he had shown just a few hours earlier. He was huddled up, looking as if he wanted to curl up in the chair if only it were big enough.
“Jiang Hongye, we meet again.”
As soon as Zou Shuyang finished speaking, Jiang Hongye suddenly burst into tears. He leaned forward, grabbing Zou Shuyang’s wrist as if he were possessed, pleading frantically, “Save me, save me, please, save me!”
It took considerable effort for Zou Shuyang to pry Jiang Hongye’s hands off his wrist, his expression remaining unchanged. “What’s got you so scared? Did the victim say something to you?”
Jiang Hongye stared at Zou Shuyang for a long moment before finally calming down enough to answer, “Is he really dead?”
“What do you think?” Zou Shuyang raised an eyebrow. As Jiang Hongye’s face turned even paler, Zou Shuyang chose his words carefully. “It happened suddenly, and we haven’t had time to fully investigate the victim’s identity. Why don’t you tell us what you know?”
This statement was half true. They had indeed started the investigation, but the sudden nature of the events meant they hadn’t been able to gather much detailed information yet.
Perhaps driven by overwhelming fear, Jiang Hongye didn’t question Zou Shuyang’s words and began spilling everything he knew.
“The man who died this morning was Shen Jun. The one who just died was Cheng Hao. They used to be my friends. Ten years ago, we accidentally killed a high school teacher.” Jiang Hongye stared at his trembling hands. “Back then, I had already dropped out of school, thinking I was cool, hanging out with a gang of punks. One day, Shen Jun found me. He said his homeroom teacher was always picking on him, wouldn’t let other teachers answer his questions, and he wanted to teach the teacher a lesson. He asked if I wanted to join him and some friends.”
“By that time, Shen Jun and I weren’t as close as we used to be, but when I thought about how this arrogant guy was coming to me for help, I felt important and agreed immediately.”
Jiang Hongye covered his face with his hands, taking a deep breath. “There were seven of us in total. When we met up, Shen Jun spoke to this short guy with glasses, and after a while, the short guy ran off. None of us paid any attention to it. Later, we blocked the path where Shen Jun’s homeroom teacher always walked after school. At first, we planned to rob him, but Shen Jun got so worked up that after just a few words, he started fighting.”
Jiang Hongye’s face showed fear as if he was reliving the moment. “We were all shocked by Shen Jun’s actions. When we saw him losing the fight, Cheng Hao jumped in, grabbing the teacher. Then Shen Jun… he picked up a rock from the ground and smashed it against the teacher’s head.”
Jiang Hongye mimicked the action with his hands, his expression filled with horror. “Just one hit, and the teacher’s head was bleeding. Then Shen Jun hit him a second time, a third time… I was so scared, I just stood there watching as the teacher struggled at first, then slowly just twitched on the ground. Finally, his head had a big hole in it, and he collapsed in a bloody mess, his chest no longer moving.”
Zou Shuyang didn’t interrupt Jiang Hongye’s story. After a long silence, he finally asked, “So why did you ask me to save you just now? What did you say to Cheng Hao when you called him?”
Jiang Hongye’s expression turned strange. After a moment, he took a deep breath. “Did you know? Out of everyone who helped kill that high school teacher, except for me, they’re all dead.”
Zou Shuyang and Xiao Tang exchanged glances, surprise evident in both their eyes.
Hearing no response from Zou Shuyang, Jiang Hongye let out a nervous laugh, his fingers twitching unconsciously. “You probably didn’t know.”
Then he suddenly looked up, the pale light reflecting off his equally pale face. “Because those three all died in ways that seemed perfectly normal.”
Listening to Jiang Hongye, Xiao Tang felt an inexplicable tightness in his throat.
As if sensing Xiao Tang’s fear, Jiang Hongye added, “Now Cheng Hao and Shen Jun are dead too. Next, it’s going to be my turn.”
The lights seemed to be playing along with Jiang Hongye’s words, flickering just as he said this.
Xiao Tang: !!!
The creepy atmosphere instantly intensified.
However, Zou Shuyang, sitting next to Xiao Tang, seemed unfazed, as if born with nerves of steel. “So you think someone’s seeking revenge on behalf of that teacher?”
Jiang Hongye, who firmly believed it was the teacher’s ghost seeking revenge, was stunned, his expression blank as he let out a confused sound. “Huh?”
“So you think the killer’s next target is you?”
Jiang Hongye: “Huh? Uh… yeah, I’m next.”
Zou Shuyang asked again, “Is that why you called Cheng Hao?”
Jiang Hongye blinked. “I told Cheng Hao that Shen Jun was dead too, and now it’s just the two of us left.”
Realizing Jiang Hongye hadn’t finished his story, Zou Shuyang pressed him further. “And then?”
Jiang Hongye hesitated for a moment, then gave a smile more pitiful than a sob. “The other three—one drowned after jumping into a river, one drank himself to death, and the last one died in a car accident, his body so mangled it couldn’t even be pieced back together. But they all died in such ‘normal’ ways that Cheng Hao never thought anything was off. Even when I told him Shen Jun was dead, he thought Shen Jun had just lost his balance. He scolded me and then hung up. Who could’ve known… now he’s dead too.”
By this point, Xiao Tang’s goosebumps had crept up from his back to his face.
This was all too strange.
Neither Cheng Hao’s nor Shen Jun’s death scenes had any trace of a second person. Cheng Hao had even died right under Zou Shuyang’s nose.
Zou Shuyang had seen a shadow, but when he immediately rushed upstairs, there was no one there. The building only had one exit, and so many people were watching. No one had entered or left during that time. This seemed to support Jiang Hongye’s theory!
Feeling the trembling next to him, Zou Shuyang slapped Xiao Tang on the back.
Startled, Xiao Tang jerked in surprise and turned his head to see Zou Shuyang’s disapproving expression.
“Alright, we’ve got a handle on your situation. Anything else you want to add?”
Jiang Hongye looked at Zou Shuyang and hoarsely asked, “You… don’t believe me?”
Zou Shuyang shook his head. “I don’t know about those other three deaths since I haven’t seen the files, but I’m sure that Shen Jun and Cheng Hao were murdered. We’ve already opened a case for investigation.”
Just as he was about to leave, Zou Shuyang suddenly thought of something and asked, “Is there anything different about you compared to the other five?”
Jiang Hongye looked up, confused, clearly not understanding what Zou Shuyang meant.
“As you said, if the killer is avenging the teacher, all six of you would be targets. So why were you the first to be released from juvenile detention, but you’re still alive?”
In most revenge killings, there’s usually a pattern.
For example, the killer might target people in the order they were released from detention. But that clearly wasn’t the case here.
Or they might go by the severity of the crime. But in the teacher murder case, Shen Jun, as the main perpetrator, wasn’t the first or the last to die, which didn’t fit either.
So…
Zou Shuyang crossed his hands in front of him. “There must be something different about you compared to the others. Maybe the killer never intended to kill you in the first place, or something changed along the way, prompting the killer to start targeting you.”
“The killer… didn’t plan to kill me?”
Whether it was because of Zou Shuyang’s status as a police officer that gave Jiang Hongye a sense of security, or because of the confidence in Zou Shuyang’s tone that unknowingly gave Jiang Hongye strength, he seemed a little less panicked. His muddled brain started working, following the direction Zou Shuyang had provided, and gradually, things he had overlooked began to catch his attention.
“They were all better off financially than I was.”
Zou Shuyang’s interest was piqued. He exchanged a glance with Xiao Tang. “Tell me more.”
Jiang Hongye organized his thoughts. “All of our families were in similar situations. Oh, except for Shen Jun. His family was particularly poor. But the rest of us weren’t that different—none of us starved, but we weren’t rich either. Even though I committed the lightest offense and was the first to be released, they all ended up living better lives than me.”
“Oh, right, Cheng Hao and I were distant relatives, so I kept an eye on him for a while after he got out of juvenile detention. At first, things weren’t great for him. His family kicked him out, and I even let him stay at my place for a few days because I felt sorry for him.”
“And then?”
Jiang Hongye’s expression turned blank, as if he couldn’t quite understand what had happened. “Then he started going out early and coming back late. One day, he came to me and told me he… had won the lottery? He didn’t tell me exactly how much he won, but after that, every time I saw him, he was dressed nicely, looking like someone with money.”
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