Chapter 364: Submitting the Case File, the Fifth Corpse

「January 12th.」

「8:30 in the morning.」

Xu Huo rewrote a case file and submitted it.

“So detailed? Where did you get this information?”

“I interrogated Shen Fei again, using a different method. He’s the one who told me.”

“Hmm… Didn’t he go insane? You could still get something out of him?”

“That’s right. You can even interrogate the insane.”

Inside the city police department, Li Jianye looked at Xu Huo beside him, a puzzled and bewildered expression on his face.

Shen Fei had gone insane. The entire police department was helpless against him; interrogation was impossible.

But over the past two days, Xu Huo had gone to question him from time to time, without cameras or other officers present.

Shen Fei’s mental state hadn’t worsened, which meant no force had been used.

So how in the world do you interrogate a raving lunatic and get results!?

Li Jianye couldn’t figure it out.

“How did you do it?”

“A secret. A special Skill, passed down only to my descendants.”

Xu Huo said, feigning profound mystery.

“As if I’m dying to know.”

Li Jianye scoffed.

But after carefully reading the case file in his hands, he couldn’t help but ask again:

“You really can’t tell me?”

“Really,” Xu Huo nodded.

“You make it sound like I actually care!”

Li Jianye, flustered, shot back, “There are so many special Skills in the world! I’d be better off learning Ba Hu’s Skill—drawing a clear portrait from a footprint at a crime scene. Isn’t that way more impressive than this!?”

“So… you really can’t?”

“I really can’t,” Xu Huo said calmly.

Li Jianye left with the case file.

The file was already very detailed, and it even included the location of a fifth body.

In other words, it wasn’t four people who had snuck into Wang Wei’s house, but five.

Another person had been killed on the spot, and their body, along with Zhang Jiayu’s, was consumed by the blaze.

Later, Zhang Jiayu’s body was moved, a hole was dug at the ancestral gravesite, and it was simply buried there.

Wang Wei had no other relatives; he was the last of his line. So, no one would notice if he added another grave to the family plot.

As for the fifth body…

…its burial spot was something else.

Wang Wei figured the person had burned to death, so he threw the body into the water to “cool off” in the afterlife.

He even used iron hooks to secure the body, preventing it from being washed away by the river.

And the location…

Well, it was the spot where the Shuangyue Village chief did most of his fishing.

Using a rotting corpse as bait, the more you fish, the more you catch.

After a pile of bones was dredged up from the place he sat every day, the village chief…

…he completely lost it on the spot.

“Fucking animal! How could someone do something like this?! I’m so fucking…”

Li Jianye watched the commotion for a bit before heading back to submit the case file.

The appearance of the fifth body added enormous credibility to the file’s contents.

It would pass review without any problems.

As for the sentencing…

Shen Fei probably wouldn’t get a long sentence.

But he was already insane, long gone, so it didn’t matter if the sentence was long or short.

Once he was in a mental hospital, a nurse would probably look away for a second and he’d jump from a building to his death.

At that moment, a sense of calm gradually descended upon the entire city department.

The 21st was New Year’s Eve, less than ten days away.

No one wanted to work overtime or pull all-nighters anymore.

Xu Huo was no exception.

Security across all of Jiangsan City was tightening up.

Xu Huo barely saw anyone at the department; most of the police force had been dispatched to maintain order at congested areas like the train station and bus terminals.

He collected his bounty—ah, no, his reward—and prepared to grab a quick meal at the cafeteria.

But as soon as he walked in, he saw two familiar faces.

“Huh? Chao Zi?”

“You’re not home for the New Year yet?”

Xu Huo paused, looking at Wang Chao, who was busy with his daily routine of mooching food in the cafeteria. A suspicious look crossed Xu Huo’s face as he bought himself a savory crepe.

“Sigh, it’s just the New Year. You can celebrate it anywhere, right?”

Wang Chao wiped his mouth, thought for a moment, and said:

“I’m not planning on going home this year. It’d be fine if my parents came to Jiangsan City, though.”

“It’s just… I really don’t want to see certain relatives.”

Xu Huo was filled with a sudden, solemn respect.

‘Chao Zi, a man with a story to tell!’

The family tree is often full of rogues and oddballs, and Wang Chao’s relatives were probably the worst of the worst.

Otherwise, there was no way they’d get such a reaction from the easy-going Wang Chao.

“So…”

“What about you, Zhang Min? What are your plans?”

Xu Huo looked over at Zhang Min as he ate. She seemed a little embarrassed to be mooching food.

The area where they worked was very close to the police station.

Indeed, every cop in the station knew what was on Wang Chao’s mind.

The proximity was good, convenient, and made for faster police dispatches.

The only downside was that, because it was so close, Wang Chao really did come to the station cafeteria to mooch meals every single day. Even Chu Linhai was left speechless by his persistence.

But it was fine. Let him mooch. At least it was better than him eating out.

If the kid got a bad idea and decided to eat at “certain places” and something happened to him…

…the entire police department would be cursed with bad luck.

The New Year?

Forget about it. They’d be making dumplings with corpses instead.

As for Zhang Min… She wasn’t familiar with Jiangsan City, so she had asked Wang Chao to pick a place to eat, her treat. But Wang Chao had chosen the police station.

“What about you? Not going home for the New Year?”

Xu Huo was puzzled.

The 21st was New Year’s Eve, and the 22nd was the Spring Festival.

It was already the 12th. Why wasn’t she heading back?

“I…”

Zhang Min paused, then said, “I’m staying in Jiangsan City for the New Year.”

That had been her plan for a while now.

Although the terrifying experience of finding a corpse in her air conditioner had shaken her resolve…

…she was still determined not to go back.

“Heh, that’s my niece!”

Wang Chao gave her a thumbs-up, which earned him an eye-roll. He paused, then added:

“You’re six months younger than me.”

“Eh, that’s not important. Don’t worry, Uncle will give you a red envelope for the New Year.”

Wang Chao said nonchalantly, then slurped up two mouthfuls of noodles.

Xu Huo: “…”

He opened his mouth, then closed it, wrestling with what to say but ultimately deciding against it.

Just as Zhang Min was about to speak, her phone rang.

She looked down at it.

[Caller ID: Scalper.]

Wang Chao looked confused. “You need to buy tickets from a scalper?”

“That’s my dad.”

Zhang Min looked embarrassed. ‘She’d nicknamed her own father “Scalper”…’

A mocking smile appeared on Wang Chao’s face. ‘Zhang Niu can’t even handle his own daughter…’

“Wait, what do you have me saved as?”

Wang Chao snapped to attention, suddenly remembering he was Zhang Niu’s sworn brother from a drunken night. He looked at Zhang Min warily.

Zhang Min decisively pressed the answer button, ignoring his question.

A moment later.

She hung up the phone.

“What did Brother Niu say?” Wang Chao asked suspiciously.

“My dad said they’re coming to Jiangsan City for the New Year.”

A resigned look appeared on Zhang Min’s face.

“Coming to Jiangsan City? That’s great!”

Wang Chao’s eyes lit up.

“When we went to the Capital City, it was Brother Niu who arranged our accommodations.”

“Now Brother Niu is coming to Jiangsan City, to Brother Huo’s turf! We have to give him a proper welcome!”

“Leave it to me!”

“I’ll definitely find him a suitable house!”

Lost in thought, Xu Huo stopped eating and looked up, silently watching Wang Chao.

He remembered…

…hadn’t Wang Chao been the one who found Zhang Min’s house, too?

‘You can’t just keep fleecing the same family…’

Seeing Wang Chao’s dead-set expression and how he immediately rushed out to start his “careful selection”…

Xu Huo was lost in thought.

A while later.

Having finished his work, Li Jianye also walked into the cafeteria.

“Damn it, I’m dead tired. Dragging a corpse out of the water in the dead of winter is no job for a human!”

“That body was hooked on so fucking tight. I had to dive down myself. These old bones almost froze solid…”

“Thank God the New Year is just a few days away. I can finally get some rest then.”

Li Jianye grumbled, letting out a heavy breath.

Xu Huo kindly handed him a dragon fruit.

“Captain Li, have a dragon fruit to relax.”

Li Jianye took it instinctively, but then…

He looked at the dragon fruit, then at Xu Huo, and a question mark appeared in his mind.

Li Jianye: ?

“You…”

“Are you serious!?”

“Of course, I’m serious.”

Xu Huo nodded.

“Eat this dragon fruit.”

“So we can have a fiery red, prosperous New Year!”

…

…

Note: The previous chapter was actually quite sweet, about young love. You can check it out if you’re interested.