I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 5: Chapter 3: I Saw It Again...

The murderer was Wang Lang, a thirty-six-year-old man from Jinghai.

He was an only son.

He dropped out of college and was unemployed for a long time afterward.

After injuring his left leg at a construction site five years ago, he had remained unemployed at home.

At the beginning of the year, a relative got him a job as a security guard in the inpatient department of the Sixth Hospital.

His usual job was to stand at the entrance of the inpatient department and swipe key cards for people coming and going.

Two months ago, he came across a live stream by Jiang Yun on Platform X. Her account ID was ”Just a Cloud.”

Within a single month, he had donated over 800,000 yuan to Jiang Yun through his own account, ”Faithful Heart.”

”That fucking bitch! She took my money and danced for other men! Even called other men ’bro’!”

”I told her I’d support her, but she still wanted to keep streaming! She wouldn’t answer my calls or reply to my WeChat messages! I spent so much money on her, and she wouldn’t even agree to meet me once.”

”I stopped donating for just one week, and when I entered her stream again, she didn’t even say a word of welcome! To donate to her, to support her, I sold my apartment! An apartment in Jinghai! I loved her so much. And she just cut me off, just like that!”

”And what happened? I saw her last night! She looked nothing like she did on the stream! How is that any different from fraud!”

”A woman like that, what right does she have to live? I was just ridding the world of a pest.”

These were Wang Lang’s exact words.

Jiang Yun had probably sensed his paranoia and refunded the money from his donations to Wang Lang via a bank transfer.

According to Wang Lang’s confession, he couldn’t contact Jiang Yun anymore after receiving the money.

Last night, he had a few drinks and used the address he had from ordering takeout for Jiang Yun in the past to find Jinrong District.

He then knocked on her door, posing as a deliveryman.

He proceeded to murder Jiang Yun.

Worried about being caught on camera and leaving fingerprints, he wore a mask, a hat, and gloves.

After the murder, he staged the room to look like a robbery, took Jiang Yun’s two phones, and threw them into a sewer outside Jinrong District.

Then he went home.

The next morning, he went to work as usual.

Zhuang Yanzheng dangled an unlit cigarette from his lips, looking over the preliminary summary of Wang Lang’s confession.

He then looked at the detailed record of Wang Lang’s donations, retrieved from Platform X.

The total was just under 850,000 yuan.

There was also the bank statement.

Two weeks ago, Jiang Yun had transferred exactly 850,000 yuan to Wang Lang’s account.

The platform took half of all donated money.

Jiang Yun had not only lost money but also her life.

”You really should never give your address to strangers. This is terrifying,” Qi Feng said as he walked over, a slice of bread hanging from his mouth.

Zhuang Yanzheng glanced up at him and tossed the cigarette onto the table. ”Back with the food already? That was quick.”

”Beef noodles from across the street,” Qi Feng said, munching on his bread.

”There are no beef noodles across the street,” Zhuang Yanzheng said, looking at him.

”Braised Beef Noodles from the supermarket across the street,” Qi Feng said with a grin.

Zhuang Yanzheng smacked him on the back of the head. ”She’s been starving all day and you’re giving her instant noodles?”

”Hey, I even added a sausage and an egg for her. I wouldn’t even do that for myself,” Qi Feng said, rubbing the back of his head.

Zhuang Yanzheng: ”...”

”Captain Zhuang, I made a cup for you too. It’ll be ready in a minute,” Qi Feng said.

Zhuang Yanzheng didn’t say anything and stood up, heading toward the interrogation room.

Qi Feng followed him. ”Captain Zhuang, aren’t we going to let Su Miaoyi go? The killer has already confessed. It doesn’t seem right to keep holding the person who reported the crime. Besides, she has a history of mental illness. If something happens to her, it’ll be on us.”

”Right. If something happens, your beef noodles can take the blame,” Zhuang Yanzheng said before entering the interrogation room.

Qi Feng stood frozen, the corner of his mouth twitching.

’Those were Braised Beef Noodles!’

...

When he pushed the door open, Su Miaoyi was blowing on her instant noodles.

She paused and looked up at him.

Zhuang Yanzheng sat down. ”Go on, eat.”

Su Miaoyi blew on her noodles again and quickly started eating.

Zhuang Yanzheng watched her.

Wang Lang had stated that he had never heard the name Su Miaoyi.

He had been shown her photo.

And he confessed truthfully that he had seen her at the hospital that day.

He remembered her clearly because she was very pretty and had bumped into him.

This matched the security footage.

Su Miaoyi took a few bites, feeling his eyes on her.

She glanced up, met his gaze, then looked back at her noodles, and then back at him before asking, ”Want... some?”

Zhuang Yanzheng studied her expression.

’She looks like she’s worried I’m going to take her food.’

Zhuang Yanzheng’s neutral expression already looked fierce. He was speechless but managed to reply, ”...No.”

Su Miaoyi paid his stare no more mind and continued to eat.

’She really was starving. Instant noodles had never tasted so good.’

In no time, she had eaten everything, not even leaving a drop of broth.

Zhuang Yanzheng was still watching her.

Seeing that she had finished, he got up, went outside, and brought back a pack of tissues for her.

Su Miaoyi pulled out two. ”Thank you.”

The moment the tissue touched her lips, the murder scene suddenly flashed before her eyes again.

This time... she felt pain.

Her hands hurt, her legs hurt, her ankles hurt, her head hurt.

A sharp, piercing pain that cut to the bone.

Her face felt sticky all over.

Blood. It was blood, running into her eyes and blurring her vision.

She stared at the man in front of her, stared fixedly at his face.

When the man saw her eyes, his face filled with terror. He raised the shovel in his hands and brought it down again.

More blood flowed into her eyes.

Her vision grew blurrier, but then, just as quickly, it became clearer.

She saw a road sign on a distant overpass.

Airport Road Overpass.

Jinghai Airport.

500m.

Then, the dirt from the shovel covered her eyes, her mouth, her nose, and the feeling of suffocation washed over her...

”Su Miaoyi! Su Miaoyi! Su Miaoyi!”

Su Miaoyi snapped back to reality, gasping for air.

She looked at her surroundings.

She was still in the interrogation room.

She immediately touched her head, her face, then quickly looked at her hands.

No blood.

She felt her wrists and the rest of her body. There were no injuries, no pain.

”What’s wrong?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked, standing beside her.

Su Miaoyi looked up at him.

The feeling of suffocation had been so real that her breathing was still heavy and uneven.

”Captain Zhuang, everything I told you today is true. I don’t know why I’m seeing these things. If I did, I wouldn’t have gone to the hospital,” Su Miaoyi said, looking at him. ”And... I just saw it again.”

Zhuang Yanzheng furrowed his brow.

Her reaction just now had certainly been strange.

It was as if her consciousness had been pulled from her body—her eyes were vacant, her whole body was still, and she didn’t respond no matter how many times he called her name.

Su Miaoyi continued, ”Under the overpass near Jinghai Airport. If you take me there, you might be able to clear my name. I also want to know if I’m really just sick.”

Zhuang Yanzheng didn’t speak.

Su Miaoyi said, ”Just trust me this once.”

Zhuang Yanzheng looked into her eyes.

That feeling of familiarity suddenly grew stronger in that moment.

He was a staunch materialist.

He had become the captain of the municipal criminal investigation division at just thirty years old.

’Something this absurd... even Dahuang, the dog from across the street, wouldn’t believe it.’

But he was human.

Zhuang Yanzheng unlocked the interrogation chair. ”Let’s go.”

...