I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 41: Chapter 39: Another New Case

They got out of the car at the body disposal site.

Su Miaoyi looked around as she put on her gloves.

When Ge Yu and Cheng Yong had picked her up yesterday, the sky hadn’t fully brightened, and everything was shrouded in a gray haze.

Qi Feng got out of another car, carrying a forensics kit.

Su Miaoyi pushed aside the surrounding tall grass to get a better look.

The grass in this area was very high.

There was only a single, man-made path trampled through it, likely from people who often came here to fish.

But now, it was cordoned off.

Qi Feng and Chu Xingrou walked ahead.

Su Miaoyi whispered to Zhuang Yanzheng and Yan Cheng, ”I saw the killer committing the crime in the woman’s home. The victim’s information...”

”On our way here, Lu Zhishen reconstructed the victim’s face from the skull, and we got a match. The police have already gone to the victim’s residence,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”Hopefully, they’ll find some clues. The scenes from the previous three cases were spotless. The killer has a strong sense of counter-surveillance.”

”He must have some familiarity with this place to choose it for dumping the body,” Su Miaoyi said.

”We’ve already narrowed down the search area based on the current information,” said Zhuang Yanzheng.

”Has it rained here in the last week?” Yan Cheng asked.

”I’ve been back for over a week, and it hasn’t rained,” Su Miaoyi said.

Yan Cheng nodded.

Zhuang Yanzheng lowered his gaze, looking at the grass at his feet.

There was no way any footprints would be left behind.

The body was wrapped tightly in plastic, so no bloodstains were left either.

The group carefully surveyed the surroundings.

After a moment, Zhuang Yanzheng pulled a cufflink out from the thick grass.

He held it in his hand and examined it.

It was a black cufflink, glinting slightly in the sunlight.

Zhuang Yanzheng placed it in an evidence bag.

”A cufflink?” Su Miaoyi asked, spotting it.

Zhuang Yanzheng handed the evidence bag to her.

Su Miaoyi looked at it. ”This can’t be cheap, can it?”

”A pair costs over three thousand at the counter,” said Zhuang Yanzheng.

Su Miaoyi sucked in a sharp breath. ”Can we trace it?”

”They should have customer purchase information.” Just as Zhuang Yanzheng finished speaking, the group suddenly fell silent and looked toward the waist-high grass to the west.

They had all heard a noise.

Someone over there had just moved.

Chu Xingrou and Qi Feng both looked at Zhuang Yanzheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng made a hand signal.

Qi Feng slowly advanced.

Zhuang Yanzheng and Yan Cheng also began to move forward slowly.

Chu Xingrou understood the signal.

But since this was her first time out on a bust, she was a bit nervous. Her whole body tensed up, and she clenched her fists, held her breath, and crept forward inch by inch.

Su Miaoyi stood still.

Suddenly, a noise came from the grass—the person was running.

They quickly moved forward and entered the tall grass.

Yan Cheng and Zhuang Yanzheng exchanged a glance. Yan Cheng didn’t advance further, instead walking over to Su Miaoyi’s side.

Su Miaoyi glanced behind her again. ”Someone isn’t going to circle around and ambush us from this side, are they?”

”That would be very unlucky,” Yan Cheng said, his voice flat.

”Can you fight?” Su Miaoyi asked.

”Not as well as Zhuang Yanzheng,” Yan Cheng answered honestly.

”Is he that good?” Su Miaoyi only knew that he was very strong.

Yan Cheng nodded. ”Very good. They... they had a very good foundation from a young age.”

’From a young age?’

Su Miaoyi was curious, but she didn’t press for more details.

She looked around again. There was no noise now, which probably meant no one else was there; they had already missed the best window for an ambush.

Soon, Zhuang Yanzheng and the others returned.

Qi Feng came back, escorting a man in his forties.

The man wore a baggy white T-shirt and black pants.

The man’s hands were cuffed behind his back. ”Officer, I was just curious and came to take a look! I didn’t do anything, why are you arresting me?”

”If you didn’t do anything, why did you run?” Qi Feng said.

”I came over here to see, but who knew you all would suddenly show up? I was worried I couldn’t explain myself, so I hid. I guess I didn’t hide well enough, and you found me,” the man said.

”What’s so interesting to see here that you’d come all this way?” Qi Feng retorted.

Su Miaoyi looked at the man.

’He isn’t the killer who dumped the body. His height, weight, and build don’t match, and his voice and accent are different too. But his appearance here in the middle of the day is highly suspicious.’

The man was talking to Qi Feng, but perhaps he sensed a gaze fixed on him.

He tilted his head slightly and looked at Su Miaoyi.

The moment their eyes met,

Su Miaoyi’s vision suddenly went dark.

A pitch-black night.

The river’s surface rippled with small sounds, carried by the wind.

The man hauled a large rock to the riverbank.

He looked around nervously as he tied a rope to the rock.

His eyes were filled with terror.

One end of the rope was tied to the rock.

The other end was tied around the waist of a woman lying on the riverbank.

After that, he tied the woman’s hands and feet together, and tied rocks to them as well.

Then, he pushed everything—the woman and the rocks—into the river.

SPLASH!

Water flew everywhere. After a long moment, the river surface grew calm again.

Then, the man knelt on the riverbank and kowtowed toward the river.

He said, ”I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, I just drank too much. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Go and be reincarnated, live a peaceful life in your next one. Please don’t come looking for me, please don’t come looking for me.”

”Besides, besides... now that I think about it, this isn’t all my fault. Weren’t you just asking for it, wandering around late at night in such a short skirt? I was just giving you what you wanted. You can’t blame me, you can’t blame me.”

”I just had a few drinks, I didn’t know my own strength. I didn’t mean to kill you. It was you who wouldn’t stop screaming. Crying and screaming. That’s why I accidentally...”

”With this kind of thing, was I the only one who enjoyed it? What’s there to feel wronged about, crying and screaming so loud? If you have to blame something, blame your fate for ending here. It has nothing to do with me. Just please, don’t come looking for me.”

After he finished speaking, he kowtowed again, then got up.

He wiped away all the footprints and traces around him, then ran off.

The darkness vanished, and the sun shone in her eyes.

Su Miaoyi raised a hand to block the sun.

Zhuang Yanzheng and Yan Cheng were both watching her.

When they saw her move, Zhuang Yanzheng asked, ”What did you see?”

Su Miaoyi looked at the two of them, then pointed at the man and said, ”He’s a murderer.”

Both of them turned to look at the man again.

The moment the man heard her, he started yelling, ”I didn’t, I didn’t! I was really just curious and came to take a look. How could I kill someone? It’s a misunderstanding, it must be a misunderstanding!”

”You killed someone,” Su Miaoyi said, taking a few steps forward. ”You came to see if the police had found the body you threw in the river, didn’t you?”

”Wh-what are you talking about? I don’t understand,” the man said, his eyes flickering almost imperceptibly.

”You tied rocks to a woman’s waist, hands, and feet, and threw her into the river. And you’re saying you don’t know?” Su Miaoyi said.

Something seemed to occur to the man, and his face suddenly changed. ”What are you talking about? What are you saying? Impossible, impossible!”

Besides fear, his eyes were filled with disbelief.

’How could anyone know?’

”You don’t know what I’m talking about, huh?” Su Miaoyi snorted. ”Fine. Once we pull the body out of the water, you can let her ask you herself.”

Her words struck the man’s deepest fear.

The man’s legs suddenly gave out, and he collapsed to his knees.

’A ghost, it’s a ghost!’

’She came back for me!’

’She came back for me!’