"Once, while I was fixing Yu Yan's pipes, I tried to see if she had any of those private things in the bathroom... and guess what I saw? A dead cat! It had been dissected. When Yu Yan saw me looking, she told me it was standard practice in their studies. Besides, it was a stray, so it wasn't worth anything-perfect for practicing on."
Che Quan quietly watched Jin Jiang ask and answer his own questions in agitation.
Jin Jiang seemed to be reliving the scene, his face twisting with utter disgust and nausea.
But apparently, Jin Jiang was such an incorrigible creep that nothing, however disgusting, could extinguish his enthusiasm for beautiful women.
So in the end, he still wrapped up with a compliment for Yu Yan.
"What a waste of Yu Yan's gorgeous face and figure. She was doing just fine. Who on earth did she offend...?"
Once Jin Jiang finished, the barrage of viewer comments began tearing into him-
[This... guy's something else. Maybe once you're creepy enough, your desire for beautiful women really can outweigh your fear of death.]
[I never expected this ** character to survive.]
[She even cut up stray cats? Doesn't Yu Yan have some psychological issues herself?]
Afterward, Che Quan rode back to the apartment building in Wu Yi's car.
Everything along the way seemed like a mirage, strangely unreal.
Perhaps because Wu Yi was there, time didn't pass as quickly as it had before.
It had been pitch-black when Che Quan left, and it was still pitch-black when he returned.
Seeing Che Quan remain silent, Wu Yi thought the kid had been scared senseless.
So he kept trying to find topics to lighten the mood throughout the drive.
"How old are you?"
No response.
"You graduated from high school this year, right?"
No response.
"You look pretty frail. You should exercise more!"
No response.
By the end, Wu Yi was feeling rather depressed as he gripped the steering wheel, so he stopped talking.
Just then, however, Che Quan spoke, taking him by surprise.
"Could you walk me upstairs when we get there?"
"Sure. Of course I will." Wu Yi was delighted, though he couldn't help sighing. "Your apartment building's practically been cursed lately. One incident after another... hey, don't be scared. Leave everything to us."
Che Quan interrupted Wu Yi's reassurances.
"Are the other officers on their way too?"
Wu Yi paused. "Ah, yes, that's right. My colleagues are already on their way. They'll be thoroughly examining room 302 tonight. There might be some noise, but it'll definitely make the culprit think twice. Don't be afraid."
Che Quan nodded and asked one last question. "Did you suddenly come over today because you received the same kind of emergency call as before?"
Wu Yi scratched his head. With Yuan Rong absent, he hesitated, unsure whether he should tell a kid about these things.
The thin, pale boy before him looked as though he could, at most, have only just graduated from high school.
But then he thought about how Che Quan lived alone in this eerie apartment building where incidents kept occurring. He was bound to be a little frightened. Worried that he might overthink things, Wu Yi answered honestly, "No. We made a new discovery today, so we were planning to take a look at room 602, where the victim, Zhang Bei, lived."
"What new discovery?"
Faced with Che Quan's immediate follow-up question, Wu Yi was firm this time. "I can't tell you that. It's related to the investigation."
Seeing this, Che Quan thought for a moment. "Did you discover that he might have threatened the culprit who dismembered Yu Yan?"
"Fuck." Wu Yi couldn't contain his shock, and the curse slipped out. "How did you know that too?"
Che Quan looked calmly at Wu Yi without answering.
Seeing that Che Quan really didn't seem to be an ordinary kid, Wu Yi figured he might know some inside information. After some hesitation, he revealed a little of what he knew.
"Here's the thing. You can tell us what you know. What we've established so far is that Zhang Bei had a 'connection' to Yu Yan's killer. I can't tell you exactly what that connection was yet. Could you explain this threat first...?"
"No."
"Mm... huh?" Wu Yi blinked, wondering if he'd misheard.
"Information for information."
Che Quan kept it brief, then calmly added:
"However you look at it, you're getting the better deal. You only know that Zhang Bei might have known who the killer was. You don't know how he knew, or how he hinted at it so that I found out. Right?"
"Hey, you little brat!" Wu Yi was left spluttering. "Fine, fine. We'll do it your way. I'll cut the crap and tell you."
"We found a pile of crumpled, torn-up draft paper in his study's trash can. After piecing it together, we got: 'I know you killed Yu Yan.'"
Che Quan nodded after hearing this.
Wu Yi waited for ages, but Che Quan still didn't share his information. He couldn't help asking, "What about you? Isn't it your turn to talk?"
"I guessed."
"You little fucking brat!"
In the end, Wu Yi drove back to the apartment, grumbling and swearing.
They headed up the stairs, one behind the other.
Outside, the night had grown darker, as thick as undiluted ink.
When Che Quan reached the second floor, he didn't stop to go home. Instead, he kept climbing.
Wu Yi was puzzled. "What are you doing, kid? Isn't your place here?"
Che Quan continued upward without looking back, saying lazily, "Taking you to the killer. Coming or not?"
"Huh? Seriously?!"
Wu Yi hurried after him, watching the floor numbers with half-believing eyes.
They didn't stop on the third floor.
Nor did they stop on the fourth.
Seeing this, Wu Yi guessed, "Is it one of the two guys on the fifth floor? Or were they working together?"
Che Quan smiled faintly at that but didn't answer.
Then they reached the fifth floor.
As the steps disappeared from view one by one, the fifth floor gradually came into sight.
The moment Wu Yi climbed high enough to see the fifth-floor wall clearly, he halted in shock. He had never expected to see a scene like this-
The old white wall, yellowed with age, was now covered in sprays of fresh blood.
A little farther up, there was practically a river of blood.
The person lying in that river was none other than Liao Zhiming.
Someone seemed to have attacked from behind with a knife. A horrifying gash across the back of the neck was drenched in blood.
Judging by those wide-open eyes, it was already too late.
Che Quan's gaze was cold, and he gave an almost imperceptible scoff-he suddenly understood why solving the mystery in such a stupid instance was still so difficult.
It was probably because this deranged murderer killed you before you even had time to gather all the evidence.
Wu Yi gradually recovered from his immense shock. Just as he was about to call headquarters for more backup, he heard faint cries for help coming from another apartment on the fifth floor.
The old apartment building's soundproofing really wasn't very good, so Che Quan and Wu Yi could hear that it was a girl screaming in terror.
A very young female voice.
Whether it was Fu Na or Xuan Shuhui, there was no way it was Wen Ping.
And those cries were coming from room 501, where Cui Tang lived.
Wu Yi's expression immediately tightened. Gripping the service pistol at his waist, he approached room 501's ajar door, one silent step at a time.
Before you continue