“Tsk, I’m sure you’re wondering why I still didn’t believe Chu Ruochun’s warning just now,” Zhang Dongliang had a look of “I already knew” on his face.
“Captain Zhang, how did you know I started believing again just now?”
“We’re detectives, what we need most is observation and deduction skills. Otherwise, how do we solve cases? When faced with situations, use your brain more. I really don’t know how you made it onto our team. After this case is over, you should seriously learn from your seniors.”
“It’s just too coincidental. He just watched a video and knew that Jiang Qiao’s birth mother had passed away.”
“That’s the hint he gave you. How do you know he didn’t learn about it from another source before you, or that he already knows the course of events in advance? Perhaps he just wanted to use this method to gain attention and market the personas of those in the entertainment industry. But even if he didn’t know about Zhao Lizhu’s death beforehand, upon learning of it, he could still deduce that Jiang Qiao’s father might be the next victim. It’s quite clear this is a revenge case targeted at Jiang Qiao’s family. I suspect the perpetrator is either the girl herself who was most deeply hurt by Jiang Qiao, or her family.”
“So, we can rule out the Zhuang Yanyan family?”
“We can pretty much rule them out. Zhuang Yanyan’s mother had mental health issues, and there’s no death certificate for her, so we didn’t find any record of her death in the system. Her father died years ago due to a safety accident. The mother and daughter were dependent on each other for many years. After Zhuang Yanyan’s death, her mother couldn’t handle it and had a mental breakdown. No one in their condition would have the capability to go after a trainee. It must be someone who’s still alive.”
Xiao Li was convinced immediately. “So, should we send someone to protect Jiang Yuping right now?”
Captain Zhang explained logically, “Of course, even though we don’t know how the killer managed to murder both Jiang Qiao and Zhao Lizhu, at least now we know their motive is revenge.”
They bought tickets for the fastest high-speed train back to Jingzhou City.
Zhang Dongliang and Xiao Li returned to the police station and continued to cooperate with other colleagues in investigating the girls from Jiang Qiao’s video.
Several girls had mustered the courage to come to the police station to give statements. Zhang Dongliang watched the videos of their statements but found nothing substantial.
Some of the girls were indeed Jiang Qiao’s girlfriends, while others had casual relationships with him. As for the girls who had been drugged, there were only a couple, most of whom were in college and didn’t want their lives to be affected.
When Zhang Dongliang reached the last video, a heavily made-up girl named Liao Yujing mentioned Zhuang Yanyan.
At the time of her statement, the video of Zhao Lizhu berating Zhuang Yanyan hadn’t yet gone viral online.
Liao Yujing said, “The one who had it worst back then was Zhuang Yanyan.”
The female officer asked, “How so?”
Liao Yujing told the female officer that Zhuang Yanyan had been a very innocent and beautiful girl at the time. She ranked first in her grade, was studious, and was named the city’s top student every year.
As a prominent figure in the school, Zhuang Yanyan caught the attention of Jiang Qiao. Jiang Qiao was wealthy but had questionable character. Privately, he made bets with his friends, aiming to win her over within a week, just to see if she was all about studying and if she was boring.
Jiang Qiao didn’t succeed in winning over Zhuang Yanyan, who was solely focused on her studies, within that week. Jiang Qiao couldn’t stand being ignored, so he continued to employ various tactics to pursue her. Not long after, Zhuang Yanyan succumbed to Jiang Qiao’s advances. However, their relationship didn’t last long. Shortly after finally getting together, Jiang Qiao lost interest and broke up with her after less than two months.
They broke up just as they were about to enter their final year of high school. It was Zhuang Yanyan’s first experience with romance, and it should have been a passionate time, but she was suddenly dumped. Her grades started to decline. After a struggle, she managed to regain her composure and had just entered her senior year when she discovered she was four months pregnant. She wanted to go to the hospital, but the doctor advised against an abortion. Later, she approached Jiang Qiao, hoping they could share responsibility for the child, but Jiang Qiao flatly refused. Not long after, rumors about the situation began circulating within the school, and it became widely known, even reaching the school’s administration and Jiang Qiao’s mother.
Jiang Qiao’s mother, Zhao Lizhu, was a person who blindly defended her son regardless of right or wrong. She stormed into the school and verbally abused Zhuang Yanyan, using derogatory language with every word.
Later on, when Zhuang Yanyan’s pregnancy became too advanced for an abortion and the school didn’t want her to attend with a visible pregnancy, fearing it would affect other students, they suggested she take a leave of absence and return home. She had no choice but to comply. However, since the child was Jiang Qiao’s, whether he acknowledged it or not, Zhuang Yanyan decided to approach him once more. Jiang Qiao, who was a mama’s boy, had only seen it as a fling at the time and didn’t care about Zhuang Yanyan. He let his mother handle the problem. Subsequently, Zhao Lizhu, who doted on her son, brought money to Zhuang’s home and pressured Zhuang Yanyan relentlessly to get rid of the child, even insulting her in front of neighbors. In such a situation, who would dare to take money from the Jiang family? Mother Zhuang had integrity and drove them away.
Naturally, Zhao Lizhu couldn’t stand being humiliated and sent thugs to disrupt Mother Zhuang’s workplace. Due to this incident, Mother Zhuang lost her job.
Later on, due to the pressure from the Jiang family, a blossoming young girl succumbed to societal judgment and rumors and chose to end her life by jumping off a building. The instigator of all this, Jiang Qiao, quietly transferred to another school. However, his reason for transferring wasn’t because of Zhuang Yanyan but because he wanted to pursue the school’s campus belle.
Zhang Dongliang couldn’t help but feel sorrowful thinking about the tragedy that befell Zhuang Yanyan’s family. Without all these tainted events, Zhuang Yanyan should have been a university student at a prestigious school by now.
Having finished watching the videos, Zhang Dongliang couldn’t determine whose motive for the crimes was the strongest. He realized that tonight might be a risky night, recalling the nonsense that Chu Ruochun had mentioned in the afternoon. He had a gut feeling that something might happen, so he instructed his colleague who was protecting Jiang Yuping to pay attention to his food and ensure there was no opportunity for the assailant to poison him. He also called Officer Wang Yize to join him in visiting Jiang Yuping’s home.
Upon arriving at Jiang Yuping’s home, Zhang Dongliang and Wang Yize brought some late-night snacks with them. The current Jiang Yuping was quite cooperative with the police’s work. The mysterious deaths of his son and wife had deeply affected him, and he now feared the hidden assailant who might be after his life.
Jiang Yuping, who had just lost his son and wife, felt trapped at home. He was both fearful and agitated, and overnight, he had grown a small patch of white hair.
The Deputy Captain reported to Zhang Dongliang while eating the late-night snacks, “We’ve checked all the surveillance cameras in his house, and there were no suspicious individuals. In the afternoon, we also had technicians from the forensic department come over to inspect the water and food, and no traces of poison were found. It seems like the assailant won’t strike today.”
Zhang Dongliang said, “Regardless, we need to stay vigilant.” He glanced at his watch; it was around 10 PM.
As the time approached midnight, the temperature inside the house dropped, making Jiang Yuping shiver under his blanket. Even Wang Yize rubbed his arms for warmth.
“Captain Zhang, did you notice that the temperature suddenly dropped by twenty degrees?” Wang Yize, the burliest man in their detective team, someone who would only wear two layers of clothing even on snowy days, now mentioned feeling cold.
Jiang Yuping woke up due to the cold and said, “I’ll go check if the central air conditioning is broken. Normally, the indoor temperature is maintained at a constant level.”
Zhang Dongliang thought about the day when Jiang Qiao died, and the training room experienced a power outage. He held Jiang Yuping back and said, “You stay in the living room. Where is the control panel? I’ll go take a look.”
Jiang Yuping told him, “It’s right under the stairs.”
Zhang Dongliang found the control panel, but it was in a constant temperature mode and not malfunctioning.
He turned it off and waited for a few minutes. However, everyone in the room felt even colder, so he turned it back on. Yet, it seemed that the temperature hadn’t risen.
Why was it so cold?
Wang Yize was preparing to open the door and feel the outdoor temperature. The room felt like an ice cellar, and he was wearing relatively light clothing.
Wang Yize tugged at the door handle but didn’t manage to open it. He thought it might be some high-tech feature and asked Jiang Yuping, “Jiang Yuping, how do you open this door in your house?”
“Just gently push it in the direction of your body, and it should open,” Jiang Yuping muttered to himself, thinking that this police officer seemed like a country bumpkin who didn’t even know how to open a door.
Wang Yize tried pulling the door again, but it wouldn’t budge. The Deputy Captain came over to help him, teasing, “Old Wang, you’re the manliest guy in our team. If the ladies found out you couldn’t even open a door, they’d have a good laugh at you.”
The Deputy Captain thought he could easily open the door, but he also couldn’t move it, proving himself wrong in a matter of seconds.
Wang Yize shrugged and said, “I told you, it won’t open.”
The Deputy Captain, always one to assert himself, put all his strength into trying to force the door open. However, the door remained unmoved.
Jiang Yuping watched the two police officers struggling with the door, rolling his eyes discreetly at their antics, and then quietly came over to open it for them.
As the homeowner, Jiang Yuping had the most say in this matter, but even he couldn’t open the door!
Perplexed, Jiang Yuping said, “Is the lock broken? It can’t be. We just replaced it with the latest facial recognition lock last year.”
Wang Yize asked, “Are there any other doors? I’ll go outside for a while; it’s too cold in here.”
Jiang Yuping pointed towards the French doors leading to a small garden and said, “There’s another door over there, to the little garden.”
A minute later, Wang Yize puzzledly reported, “This door won’t open either!”
Jiang Yuping rushed over and tried it himself, saying, “I saw the nanny come back from the small garden tonight. It couldn’t be broken, and I don’t see any signs of tampering.”
As it turned out, this glass door wouldn’t open either.
At this moment, Zhang Dongliang returned and asked, “What are you all doing?”
Wang Yize explained directly, “Captain Zhang, something strange is going on. Both of his doors won’t open.”
The Deputy Captain added, “The windows are no good either; it’s as if they’re glued shut with super glue, and we can’t move them at all.”
Zhang Dongliang’s heart skipped a beat as he asked, “What about the other doors?”
Another colleague said, “I tried them; any door leading outside won’t open at all. The interior doors are fine.”
The Deputy Captain said, “How did the killer manage this? When we entered, the front door didn’t seem to have been tampered with.”
Wang Yize added, “And we didn’t see any suspicious individuals around when we arrived.”
Jiang Yuping, who knew the killer was coming for him, stayed close to Wang Yize, anxiously asking, “Has he come? Has he come? Where is he?”
Zhang Dongliang reassured him, saying, “Don’t be nervous. I just checked the ground floor, and I didn’t see any signs of someone moving.”
The Deputy Captain glanced at his phone and frowned, “Captain Zhang, my phone has no signal. Do any of you have a signal?”
Everyone, including Jiang Yuping, checked their phones and found that none of them had a signal.
Wang Yize pulled out the handgun from his waist.: “It seems like there’s a signal jammer installed. It looks like the killer has indeed appeared. Everyone, stay vigilant!”
The time displayed on the clock was getting closer to midnight.
The living room at this moment was quiet and eerie, with the clock ticking, sending shivers down the spines of those present, creating a spine-chilling atmosphere.
㇐
Meanwhile, at the police station, Xiao Li received a message from Chu Ruochun.
They had just become friends that afternoon.
Chu Ruochun had a clear purpose.
Chu Ruochun: Xiao Li, did your Captain Zhang go to see Jiang Yuping?
Xiao Li, who had been sitting casually, immediately straightened up: Yes, how did you know?
Chu Ruochun: Take me there. They can’t handle Zhuang Yanyan. Midnight is when her spiritual power is the strongest.
Xiao Li: Don’t tell ghost stories at this late hour. Even though I’m a police officer, I can get scared too. Besides, Zhuang Yanyan is already dead.
Chu Ruochun: I’m not joking. You can try contacting Captain Zhang.
Xiao Li subconsciously dialed Captain Zhang’s number, but he couldn’t get through, even after trying three times. The same was true for the other people with them, including the other three. None of their phones could connect!
A colleague exclaimed, “What’s going on? How can the culprit be so cunning with their methods?”
Xiao Li said to his colleagues, “We need to hurry and provide support! Oh, also, let’s contact Jiang Yu’an, Jiang Yuping’s brother, and ask if he can reach his brother!”
Since their phones couldn’t get through, maybe Jiang Yu’an could.
Soon, Jiang Yu’an responded to the police. He also couldn’t reach his brother and said he would go to his house immediately.
Xiao Li and his colleagues set out right away. Although they didn’t bring Chu Ruochun along, they still messaged him, informing him that they were going directly to the location and asking him not to interfere with apprehending the suspect.
In the afternoon, Chu Ruochun took Chu Ruolin back to Jingzhou City. He checked his phone and searched for the route to Jiang Qiao’s house.
Previously, Jiang Qiao had taken He Jun and others to a party to show off his newly purchased sports car, and the address was obtained from He Jun.
When Xiao Li and his colleagues arrived near Jiang Qiao’s house, they found themselves repeatedly circling on the road adjacent to the villa area, unable to get out.
Xiao Li and his colleagues were baffled.
Xiao Li, feeling uneasy, said, “Is this what they call a ghost wall?”
His colleagues, gripping the steering wheel tightly, were sweating. “My phone has no signal, even the GPS navigation is frozen!”
Other colleagues checked their phones and all reported having no signal. It was extremely strange.
Xiao Li looked at his own phone, which also had no signal. However, when Chu Ruochun called him, he answered immediately!
“Ruochun!” Xiao Li’s heart suddenly steadied.
“Turn right and then right again. I’m using my phone’s flashlight.”
“Alright, alright,” Xiao Li truly believed now!
Their car made the right turns as instructed and indeed spotted Chu Ruochun standing at the intersection, his phone flashlight on.
Xiao Li opened the door for him, saying, “Get in, get in.”
His colleagues in the car didn’t dare to ask too many questions now, fearing their worldview might shatter.
This time, their car smoothly entered the road leading to Jiang Yuping’s house. Just as they stopped at the gate, a Maybach also pulled up.
Jiang Yu’an ran toward the group of police officers.
“Officer, how’s my brother?”
Xiao Li instinctively looked at Chu Ruochun, and Jiang Yu’an then noticed Chu Ruochun, wedged among the police officers.
“Chu Ruochun, what are you doing here?”
Before Xiao Li could come up with an explanation, Chu Ruochun straightforwardly said, “Mr. Jiang, your eldest brother’s family caused the death of a girl, and now she has returned as a vengeful spirit. Only I can help resolve this malevolent spirit.”
Jiang Yu’an was already in a bad mood, and hearing this, he immediately retorted, “Don’t talk nonsense! There are no such things as ghosts in this world!”
Just as he finished speaking, they heard a faint cry for help from above.
“Help… help…”
Jiang Yu’an looked up and saw his brother, suspended in a bizarre posture, someone gripping his neck, struggling and kicking desperately!
