The Killer

All the officers stationed at the church surrounded Li Wei.

While patrolling at night, they had heard a commotion coming from here. The deputy superintendent Tian Yuan had assigned to the area soon arrived with a group of officers.

Li Wei showed no intention of resisting. He didn't think he needed to.

This trick of shifting the blame was, at most, meant to buy the killer enough time to escape. There was no way it could actually pin the crime on him.

Besides, even if they did frame him, it wouldn't matter. Feng Zi was still out there. Though the cripple usually kept a low profile, she was absolutely reliable.

With more than a dozen guns aimed at him, he raised his hands without changing expression to show he posed no threat.

The first officer to enter the ramshackle hut also spotted Wang Xiaole's body lying on the ground.

When he saw the empty eye sockets where the corpse's eyes should have been, the officer recoiled in horror. He instinctively took two steps back, his finger on the trigger as he nervously trained his gun on Li Wei.

The other officers, including the deputy superintendent, soon saw the body as well.

"Don't move!"

"Get down! Hands behind your head!"

An officer barked the order. Li Wei made no attempt to resist and didn't seem nervous. He simply did as he was told, crouching on the ground and letting them cuff his wrists.

The deputy superintendent, who had once investigated a murder at the Coal Mine Field, first glanced at Wang Xiaole's body, then at Li Wei.

Having already read the files on the Yuguang massacre, he found the scene all too familiar.

The boy lying on the ground was clearly another victim.

But rather than immediately search for clues to determine whether Li Wei was the killer, the deputy superintendent found himself entertaining another thought.

Yuguang was already beset by all sorts of trouble. The massacres and corpse thefts had left the laborers here in constant fear.

Should he take this opportunity to close the case once and for all?

Whether or not this Choir boy had done it, he could beat a confession out of him, pin the crime on him, and close the case. That would give Yuguang's laborers some peace of mind while also giving his own record a small boost.

The deputy superintendent stared at Li Wei but didn't make up his mind right away. He first ordered one of his men to go to the church and fetch the nanny in charge of the choir.

Then he began questioning Li Wei at the scene.

"Did you kill him?"

"His great-aunt killed him." Li Wei seemed composed—so composed that it took the deputy superintendent by surprise.

He looked completely unaffected by the bloody scene and answered the questions with ease.

This put the deputy superintendent on his guard. He decided he didn't need to frame the boy; there was a good chance he really was the killer.

How else could he explain a child who hadn't even come of age having such nerves?

"Your great-aunt?"

"Nanny Cheng from the church."

"How do you know?"

"He told me himself before he died."

"Did anyone else hear him?"

"Just me."

"Then why are you here?"

"Nanny Cheng took five of us to the Prayer Hall on the hill behind the church. She said we were going to take part in a church event tonight, but she locked us inside. I heard some strange noises and came here to investigate."

At that, the deputy superintendent stopped questioning him. He shook his head, already nearly eighty percent certain that Li Wei was the killer.

He didn't even consider bringing over the other children who, according to Li Wei, had been taken to the Prayer Hall with him.

Soon, the officer sent to fetch people from the church arrived at the hut in a raincoat, accompanied by several nannies and a pastor.

They had tried to prepare themselves on the way, but when they actually saw Wang Xiaole's body lying on the ground, they still couldn't help but recoil in horror.

They also noticed Li Wei nearby, and all the church staff frowned.

"Which of you is Nanny Cheng?"

The deputy superintendent glanced over the group of church staff and asked.

A pastor who ranked just below The Bishop spoke up.

"Nanny Cheng isn't at the church, so we came instead."

The deputy superintendent pointed at Li Wei.

"He says Nanny Cheng is the killer."

The church staff exchanged glances at his words.

They seemed unable to believe it, and all shook their heads.

The deputy superintendent stubbed out the cigarette he had only just lit. His mind was made up.

"Take him with us. Let's go. The night is still young. We can take our time asking questions."

But before the officers nearby could grab Li Wei by the arm and march him out of the hut, a petite figure came laboriously trudging through the downpour, dragging a body behind her.

The drug's effects had worn off. A deep weakness kept assaulting Feng Zi's senses. Cold rain pelted her pale face as she breathed heavily and stopped in front of the hut.

The officers, pastors, and nannies inside stared wide-eyed at her—and at the mud-covered corpse in her grasp, its face still recognizable!

Li Wei looked at Feng Zi's eyes, darkened by black contact lenses. She blinked at him, as if seeking praise, or perhaps showing off.

The corners of Li Wei's mouth curled despite himself.

"What happened? What's going on?"

The church staff panicked. They rushed into the rain and tried to lift Nanny Cheng, whose body had gone completely cold. Only then did they realize she had long since stopped breathing.

"She ran after killing him. I chased her down to an abandoned house by the underground river. There's plenty of evidence inside."

Noticing all the eyes on her, Feng Zi pressed her lips together. But she knew this wasn't the time to lose her nerve, so she briefly explained what had happened.

The scene erupted into chaos. The church staff looked utterly disbelieving, and even the deputy superintendent, who had been ready to close the case, furrowed his brow.

Li Wei's claims had little evidence to support them; they were just his word. Feng Zi's account was different. She had a location and physical evidence, not to mention the testimony of the three children still waiting in the Prayer Hall. The truth could be determined simply by sending someone to check.

The deputy superintendent didn't care either way. As long as they produced a killer in the end, it didn't matter who it was.

Feng Zi was soon taken into custody, just like Li Wei. A team of officers followed the address she gave and found the little house beside the underground river, along with the room full of severed limbs.

After various comparisons, the truth became clear: the killer behind the massacre was Nanny Cheng, a nun from the church!

But a crucial question remained.

The eyes gouged out of Wang Xiaole had not been found in the ramshackle hut.

That vital piece of evidence had vanished as if into thin air!