Chapter 123 - 121: Seeing the Scene of Lu Zhishen’s Parents...

Chapter 123: Chapter 121: Seeing the Scene of Lu Zhishen’s Parents...

After breakfast that morning.

Su Miaoyi was sitting at her workstation.

She’d woken up too early and was feeling a bit drowsy after her meal.

Her mind felt foggy with sleepiness.

She leaned back in her chair, her gaze fixed ahead as her mind wandered.

A moment later, Chu Xingrou walked past her workstation.

Su Miaoyi watched her.

Chu Xingrou was in her police uniform today.

A few minutes later, Chu Xingrou passed by again.

After another moment, she scurried past once more.

Then she hurried back.

All that coming and going completely chased away Su Miaoyi’s drowsiness.

"Sister Miaomiao, do you have a pen?" Chu Xingrou asked, stopping beside her.

Su Miaoyi handed her a pen.

Chu Xingrou ticked some boxes, jotted down a few words, and handed the pen back.

Su Miaoyi didn’t ask what she was busy with. Instead, her eyes were fixed on the police uniform. "Sharp," she said.

"What?" Chu Xingrou asked.

"I said you look pretty." Su Miaoyi reached out and playfully tilted her chin up.

Chu Xingrou laughed. "I feel like I’m in top form today, too. I’ve got to run, Sister Miaomiao."

Su Miaoyi smiled and nodded.

Chu Xingrou left, a stack of documents in hand.

Su Miaoyi’s gaze followed the uniform until Chu Xingrou was out of sight, then she finally looked away.

She rested her chin on her hand, her other hand tapping silently on the desk as her mind sifted through the details of Huang Haoxu’s case.

As she mulled it over, the finger tapping on her desk suddenly stilled. She was seeing a crime scene again.

A moment later, she began to cough. She patted her chest to catch her breath, then hastily stood up and headed for Lu Zhishen’s sketch room.

Halfway there, she suddenly stopped.

She stood frozen for two seconds, then turned and walked toward Zhuang Yanzheng’s office.

She knocked and went in.

Zhuang Yanzheng was busy with work. He glanced up at her. "So you knew I was swamped and came to write my disciplinary report for me."

Su Miaoyi walked toward his desk.

Zhuang Yanzheng glanced at her again, his expression turning serious. "What did you see?"

"Yeah." Su Miaoyi pulled out a chair and sat. "I think I saw the murder of Lu Zhishen’s parents."

Zhuang Yanzheng’s pupils constricted. "Are you sure?"

Su Miaoyi frowned. "When I was in Jiangcheng, I visited Lu Zhishen’s family villa. I saw a photo of his parents and remember the layout and decor. I think I saw it through his mother’s eyes."

"I saw the killer push his father out of the study window, then hang his mother in the same room."

Zhuang Yanzheng fell silent for a moment.

’That did, to a certain extent, match the autopsy results for Lu Zhishen’s parents.’

"Did you see the killer?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

Su Miaoyi nodded. "I did. I was on my way to find Lu Zhishen when it hit me—the layout of the room and the man being pushed out the window... it seemed to be Lu Zhishen’s study and his father. That’s why I came to you first."

Zhuang Yanzheng toyed with the pen in his hand.

"Is Lu Zhishen in any state to handle this?" Su Miaoyi asked, worried.

’This whole thing was so traumatic for him.’

"He still needs to know," Zhuang Yanzheng said, putting down his pen and rising to his feet. "Let’s go together."

Su Miaoyi stood up and followed him out.

The two of them went to the sketch room.

Lu Zhishen was organizing his sketches.

He glanced over at them. "New case?"

Su Miaoyi nodded.

Lu Zhishen set down his sketches, grabbed a fresh sheet of paper, and pulled a pen from his pocket. He walked over to the sofa and sat down, then glanced at Zhuang Yanzheng. "Finished writing your report?"

Zhuang Yanzheng: "..."

"You look pretty free. I was thinking you could write one for me," Zhuang Yanzheng said, sitting beside him.

Lu Zhishen gave him a cool look.

"Daydreaming already, and the sun hasn’t even set," Lu Zhishen said. "I could draw you a sketch of Director Meng kicking you from two years ago."

Zhuang Yanzheng: "..."

Zhuang Yanzheng’s face fell.

Su Miaoyi glanced at Zhuang Yanzheng.

"Alright," Lu Zhishen said. "Go on."

Su Miaoyi began to describe the killer’s appearance.

She started with his height and build, then moved on to his face.

The shape of his face, his chin, mouth, philtrum, nose, eyes...

As Lu Zhishen sketched, the tip of his pen suddenly stopped. He looked up at Su Miaoyi.

His breathing grew ragged, his eyes instantly turning bloodshot. He stared at Su Miaoyi, seeking confirmation.

Su Miaoyi met his gaze and, for a moment, said nothing.

’He saw the killer that year.’

’He just couldn’t draw him.’

’Su Miaoyi had expected he would realize who the killer was as he drew.’

Lu Zhishen’s hand was shaking.

Zhuang Yanzheng gripped his forearm, steadying his hand.

Lu Zhishen suddenly turned his head to look at him.

"You have to finish the sketch to find the killer," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Lu Zhishen’s breathing became even more rapid.

He couldn’t just draw the killer; he couldn’t even describe him.

He had once asked his mentor to create a sketch, but he was unable to describe the face.

He had drawn countless portraits.

He had guided others through their own descriptions an uncountable number of times.

But he could never draw or describe this face himself.

"You’re almost there," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi saw beads of sweat trickling down Lu Zhishen’s temples.

"What did you see?" Lu Zhishen asked her.

Su Miaoyi opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Lu Zhishen quickly added, "Just describe the killer’s face for now."

All that was left were the eyes, eyebrows, forehead, and ears.

But the progress slowed considerably, and they had to make many revisions.

Zhuang Yanzheng sat quietly by their side.

Su Miaoyi wasn’t anxious either, patiently working through the numerous revisions with Lu Zhishen.

Lu Zhishen’s palms were constantly sweating; he had to wipe them several times.

Once the sketch was finished, Zhuang Yanzheng immediately ran it through the Jinghai City database and contacted Kang Ting at the Jiangcheng City Bureau.

In the sketch room.

Lu Zhishen put down his drawing pen and wiped his fingers with a tissue.

Su Miaoyi sat across from him.

Lu Zhishen asked his earlier question again. "What exactly did you see?"

Su Miaoyi didn’t speak.

’Saying it out loud would just be reopening old wounds.’

"I was in my bedroom. The killer suddenly burst in and dragged me toward the bathroom. Once we were inside, he fended off my struggles and screams while turning on the faucet. He stuffed a few pills in my mouth and forced me to swallow them."

As Lu Zhishen recalled the incident, he remembered how he had struggled with all his might, screaming for his parents.

But the man was too strong. He had no chance to fight back, no hope of breaking free.

"When the tub was nearly full, the killer forced me under the water. I saw his face right before I lost consciousness. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the hospital."

Su Miaoyi looked at him.

"And that was two days later. The nanny had heard a commotion upstairs that night, came up, pulled me out of the tub, and took me to the hospital." Lu Zhishen’s voice was heavy, his head bowed. "It was only after I woke up that I learned my parents were gone."

"The autopsy results said... my father committed suicide by jumping from the building, and my mother hanged herself."

Su Miaoyi frowned.

’How is that possible?’

"I was thirteen. They found traces of sleeping pills in my system. The official story was that my mother fed me the pills, tried to drown me in the bathtub, and then killed herself."

"They found a half-empty bottle of sleeping pills in the house with my mother’s fingerprints on it."

"I told them I saw the killer, but they said it was just a hallucination, a side effect of the sleeping pills and my near-death experience."

...