Chapter 331 - 329: If They Knew...

Chapter 331: Chapter 329: If They Knew...

The photo on Zhuang Yanzheng’s phone was a still from a surveillance camera.

It showed the woman sitting in a car, captured by a traffic camera.

After some technical enhancement, it was much clearer.

But only the upper half of her face was visible; the lower half was covered by a mask.

Tian Min stared at the partial face in the photo for a long while.

Su Miaoyi saw in her eyes the longing that comes from a long separation.

Seeing her reaction, Zhuang Yanzheng knew it was the person in the photo.

After a while, Tian Min asked, "When was this taken?"

Zhuang Yanzheng put his phone away. "Five years ago."

"Five years ago," Tian Min repeated. By then, it had already been three years since the woman left her.

Su Miaoyi glanced at the photo on Zhuang Yanzheng’s phone.

’They said five years ago, but it’s probably been almost six.’

She still remembered the skeleton, pinned down with nails, that had been unearthed at a neighbor’s house when she went back to her hometown for the New Year.

The murderer, Yao Ying, had disposed of the body parts in four different locations around Jinghai.

While disposing of the body, she had encountered a woman in a mask and hat who helped her.

That woman had come to Jinghai to eliminate a drug dealer whose cover had been blown.

That was also the first time Zhuang Yanzheng and his team had their first run-in with her.

This photo was the one they had found from traffic surveillance at the time.

Su Miaoyi remembered Zhuang Yanzheng saying this was the same woman from the duo, a man and a woman, who had tried to kill her on Xiangyao Street.

She was called Sister Ying, but her full name was unknown.

’Five years ago, before Qin Leyan went undercover... Doesn’t that mean she was involved in this case too?’

She couldn’t remember.

"To think you spent nearly a year with her and don’t even know her name," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"That’s right," Tian Min said. "Do you know it?"

Zhuang Yanzheng didn’t answer her, asking instead, "Have you kept in touch all these years?"

"We’d get in touch once or twice a year," Tian Min said, then added with a smile, "So you don’t know her name either."

Her mockery was blatant.

"She’s hunting you down to kill you, and you don’t even know her name, yet you claim to know her. If this keeps up..." Tian Min looked at Su Miaoyi, laughing so hard that tears almost came to her eyes. "You’ll probably die before I do."

"You have a nasty way of talking," Su Miaoyi said. "When did she contact you and tell you to kill me?"

"The day before Tian Ming died," Tian Min said. "If I hadn’t been worried about exposing myself, you’d probably be dead already."

"Not only are you nasty, you’re a dreamer," Su Miaoyi said. "When did you tell Twenty-one?"

"The day Zhao Yongliang released me." Tian Min sighed. "I killed Zhao Yongliang, then avoided people and went to North Mountain in town to pick flowers, then to the Sheep God Temple. After coming home from the Sheep God Temple, I saw my mom and had her act as a witness to prove I had really gone home. Then I texted Twenty-one, and came back here to the police station."

"Does Twenty-one have anywhere else to live?"

"No. He isn’t around here often. He only comes when I call him, and he leaves as soon as his business is done. He stayed longer this time because you all were here. He was worried something might happen, so he stayed a few extra days," Tian Min said. "The day you went, he happened to be out. Otherwise, you might have run into him."

"What about this person? Do you know him?" Zhuang Yanzheng showed her a photo of Lu Xian.

Tian Min glanced at it. "Don’t know him."

"Is that the truth?" Su Miaoyi asked.

Tian Min smiled. "Is the trust between us really that fragile? I said I’d cooperate with you. I really don’t know him, and I’ve never seen him before."

Afterward, Zhuang Yanzheng asked Tian Min for more information about the woman backing her.

Tian Min wasn’t very willing to talk, and besides, she didn’t know much.

When they came out of the interrogation room, Chu Xingrou and Lu Zhishen were already back.

Zhao Yongliang’s body had also been brought back.

Su Miaoyi examined it.

There were heavy ligature marks on the neck, with minor skin abrasions.

She had seen in a vision that Tian Min had simply twisted some grass together, strangled Zhao Yongliang with it, and then thrown him directly into the cellar.

The multiple contusions on Zhao Yongliang’s body also proved this.

The vital reactions were not prominent, indicating the injuries were post-mortem, inflicted shortly after death.

"Send him to the city for an autopsy," Su Miaoyi said. "And notify his family."

"Got it," Duan Wenrui said.

"The person behind Tian Min is that ’Sister Ying’," Zhuang Yanzheng said, looking at Lu Zhishen. "Tian Min has seen her. Get her to describe her for a composite sketch."

Lu Zhishen quickly processed this news. "Why won’t those people from Country D ever give up? To think we’d run into them even here."

"How did we end up here?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

Lu Zhishen looked at Su Miaoyi. "Suddenly, it doesn’t seem so strange anymore."

Chu Xingrou also looked at Su Miaoyi.

"She might not cooperate with the sketch," Su Miaoyi said.

"Go try first," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "Xingrou, you two go together."

"Okay."

The two of them went to the interrogation room.

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at Su Miaoyi. "What do you think? Should we go question Twenty-one?"

"Let’s rest a bit." Su Miaoyi sat down, propped her chin on her hands, and gazed out at the courtyard. After a moment, she said, "Tian Min met this ’Sister Ying’ when she was eighteen, which was nine years ago. Nine years ago, this woman came to Chang City. Three years ago, Lu Xian came to Chang City. What is it about this place?"

"Remember Zhu Xuan?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

Su Miaoyi nodded. "I remember. When we were arresting Zhu Xuan, the hostage’s grandmother grabbed your arm, and Brother Zheng made a huge deal about it back at the bureau, telling everyone you were injured."

Zhuang Yanzheng: "...You sure have a long memory."

Su Miaoyi stretched her legs out and leaned back in her chair. "The influencer case. Zhu Xuan was an orphan from the Sunshine Welfare Institute. Her parents were professors at Jicheng University. She was abducted and sent to the welfare institute, where her name was changed to He Qiu. Later, she was adopted, but she was actually taken to a private island. I saw her at the institute when I was a kid."

"She said the man was called Xie An when he was at the Sunshine Welfare Institute," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi nodded. "Xie An, Sister Ying. Why do you think they’re so determined to kill me?"

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at her and paused for a moment before speaking. "Lu Jing, Ren Mao, Huang Haoxu, Zhu Xuan—you were involved and played a key role in every single one of their arrests. You’ve been pulling up the nails he hammered down, one by one, and you’ll keep pulling them. Why do you think he’s trying to kill you?"

"But... the first time they tried to kill me, I hadn’t done anything! I was just helping you guys with a case," Su Miaoyi said. "Back then, I couldn’t remember anything, and I didn’t know how to do anything. That man and woman cornered me to kill me; I almost died. I had just come back, and I nearly lost my life."

"Because back then you looked like Qin Leyan. Killing you would have been a provocation to the police, a slap in the face to all of us."

"What if they find out that I *am* Qin Leyan?" Su Miaoyi asked in a low voice. "After all... they didn’t manage to kill me back then."

Zhuang Yanzheng frowned. "What are you thinking of doing?"

Seeing his serious expression, Su Miaoyi averted her gaze. "I was just saying."

"If you dare to take matters into your own hands and do something reckless, I won’t let you take the police exam," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi glared at him. "You!"

"I have that authority," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"You, you..."

Zhuang Yanzheng’s lips curved into a humorless smile. "On this matter, whose side do you think Minister Qin will be on?"

Su Miaoyi looked at him and suddenly felt like she had no one backing her. "I just mentioned it in passing. If I were going to do something, I would definitely file a report and request approval."

"Request denied."

Su Miaoyi: "...You’re unbelievable."

Zhuang Yanzheng’s serious expression softened slightly. "If you have what it takes, become my superior. Then I’ll have to listen to you."

"Just you wait," Su Miaoyi said. "When I’m your boss, I’ll make you bring me tea and water every day. I’ll make you write self-criticisms every day, plus a ten-thousand-word daily report praising your leadership."

"Fine," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "When that time comes, just you wait for me to file a complaint against you."

Su Miaoyi pouted.

"Watch your expression. I’m still your boss, you know."

Su Miaoyi pouted again.

Zhuang Yanzheng: "..."

...