Chapter 48 - 46: Stupid, You’re the Stupid One

Chapter 48: Chapter 46: Stupid, You’re the Stupid One

Forensic Center

Because the killer hadn’t been caught, the family of the deceased, Xiang Sisi, decided to leave her body at the Forensic Center for the time being. They wanted to wait until the police solved the case so their daughter could depart this world whole.

So, Yan Cheng directly compared the hands from the glass jar labeled with the most recent date to the wrists of the deceased, Xiang Sisi.

The incisions were a perfect match.

They could preliminarily confirm that the hands belonged to the victim.

But a DNA verification was still necessary.

The other pairs of hands were also compared against the autopsy photos from their respective years, based on the cut surfaces, and they too were mostly consistent.

It was just that they had been soaking in formalin for too long. Comparing them with the previously collected DNA data would take time.

Su Miaoyi waited in the reception room. Chu Xingrou kept her company for a while before leaving to attend to her own work.

Afterward, she went to the sketch artist’s room.

Lu Zhishen was staring blankly at his drawing board, a chocolate stick dangling from his mouth.

She knocked on the door.

Lu Zhishen turned his head. Seeing it was her, he asked, "Another case?"

Su Miaoyi shook her head. "Am I interrupting?"

"Not at all," Lu Zhishen said, getting up with the chocolate stick still in his mouth. "Sit wherever."

"Why haven’t you gotten off work yet?" Su Miaoyi asked, sitting on the sofa.

Lu Zhishen finished the chocolate stick in a few bites and got her some snacks and a drink. "I only just got here less than half an hour ago."

Su Miaoyi looked at him. "Don’t you have to work regular hours?"

"Usually," Lu Zhishen said. "But there was a lecture at the art academy today."

Su Miaoyi eyed the table full of snacks, picked out a bag of chips, and tore it open. "You have a position at the art academy now?"

"Not really a position. I’m just occasionally invited over," Lu Zhishen said. "Yan Cheng holds a position at the medical school, and he even supervises graduate students. Don’t you think Yan Cheng looks world-weary sometimes?"

Su Miaoyi thought about it and shook her head. "He’s so young to be supervising graduate students, huh?"

"He started college early. In the future, if you see him looking like he’s aged several years overnight, it just means he’s been grading his students’ papers," Lu Zhishen said.

Su Miaoyi couldn’t help but laugh.

"It’s true," Lu Zhishen said, sitting across from her. "It’s a fact proven by Yan Cheng that a person really can age five or six years in a single night."

Su Miaoyi nodded, eating her chips.

The people at the Municipal Bureau were young, and all of them were incredibly skilled.

They were truly top-tier talents, even on a national level.

Lu Zhishen handed her a piece of dried kiwi. "This one’s good."

Just as Su Miaoyi was getting full from all the snacks, Zhuang Yanzheng and Yan Cheng arrived.

"Is the interrogation over?" she asked.

"Yeah." Zhuang Yanzheng sat on the sofa, grabbed a bottle of water to drink, and then gave them a rough summary of Liu Fan’s confession.

"Was his ex-girlfriend among the victims?" Su Miaoyi asked.

Zhuang Yanzheng shook his head. "According to Liu Fan, his ex-girlfriend got married and had children in Luo City."

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

’What kind of monster is he!’

’How can such a monster exist!’

Su Miaoyi clutched at her chest, her heart aching with anger.

After calming down a bit, she asked, "Has he been in Jinghai this whole time?"

"Yeah," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "He’s been in that rental apartment the whole time and has barely gone out for the past half-month or so. The place was sublet to him by the original tenant, and he’s been there for nearly three years. The contract and paperwork were incomplete, which is why we never found this residence."

Su Miaoyi nodded.

Zhuang Yanzheng sighed and reached for the beef jerky on the table.

Before he could touch it, Lu Zhishen pressed his hand down.

He looked up at him.

Lu Zhishen stared back at him coolly.

"Why are you so protective of your food?" Zhuang Yanzheng tutted. "Even the police dogs are better at sharing than you."

"Then go share with them," Lu Zhishen said flatly.

Zhuang Yanzheng was determined to have a piece.

Lu Zhishen was determined not to let him.

Accustomed to this, Yan Cheng sat to the side, sipping water from his thermos.

Su Miaoyi watched them quietly and licked her lips.

’Is he really that protective of his food?’

’I just ate so much, I’m stuffed. I tried a little bit of almost everything.’

She furtively nudged the trash can beside her, filled with empty wrappers, further under the coffee table.

"She can eat it, but I can’t?" Zhuang Yanzheng said, turning to Su Miaoyi. "You’ve eaten quite a bit, haven’t you? I haven’t seen you for a moment and your face is already rounder."

Su Miaoyi’s eyes went wide.

’An attack!’

’A blatant personal attack!’

"The captain of the Criminal Investigation Division is too childish. Come to the Forensic Center," Yan Cheng began his recruitment pitch while the other two were still wrestling over the beef jerky. "It’s more secure here."

Zhuang Yanzheng immediately let go of the beef jerky.

Lu Zhishen quickly hid all his snacks.

Zhuang Yanzheng glared at Yan Cheng. "You’re always up to no good, plotting in secret."

Yan Cheng blew on the steam from his thermos. "I call this fair competition."

Su Miaoyi scratched her head and pointed out the window. "Look!"

All three men looked in the direction she was pointing.

Then they heard her say, "There’s nothing there."

Zhuang Yanzheng stared at her. "..."

Lu Zhishen also stared at her.

Yan Cheng chuckled.

Su Miaoyi gave an awkward laugh. "I, uh, I just remembered the rice I put on before I left must be done. I should go home and eat."

She stood up as she spoke.

Zhuang Yanzheng stood up with her. "Who are you trying to fool? Do you even own a rice cooker?"

Su Miaoyi fell silent.

"You take her home," Zhuang Yanzheng said to Lu Zhishen.

"I’ll take her," Yan Cheng offered, standing up.

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at him. "You’re staying here and working overtime with me."

Yan Cheng: "..."

...

Su Miaoyi returned to her apartment, quickly washed up, changed into her pajamas, and sat cross-legged on her bed. She placed her hands on her knees, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and focused on the darkness before her.

Then she asked, "Is anyone there? Are you still here?"

There was no response.

"If you’re still there, make a sound. How about we get to know each other?"

No sound.

"Hello! Hi! Are you there? Want to be friends? How about a heart-to-heart?! I promise you won’t regret it, it’s not a scam!"

Su Miaoyi opened her eyes.

She felt her method might be wrong.

So she gave up on meditating, got off the bed, and did a handstand against the wall.

She instantly felt the blood rush to her head.

"Are you there? Are you still there? Come on out, let’s have a little chat! Hello! Annyeonghaseyo! Let’s talk. Don’t worry, I’m a good person. I definitely won’t rat you out, and I absolutely won’t find a Taoist priest to exorcise you. You can come out, it’s safe!"

Su Miaoyi waited for a while, but there was still no sound.

She squatted by the wall, cupping her chin in her hands and facing it.

"Was I really just hallucinating? Was there actually no voice, just one I imagined?"

She thought for a moment, then gently bumped her forehead against the wall.

Then she flopped backward onto the floor and stared at the ceiling.

Still, no voice came.

"Ah, that hurts."

Su Miaoyi lay there for a few seconds before crawling back into bed. "Fine, don’t come out. Good night, then."

She closed her eyes, and within moments, her consciousness drifted into a haze.

In the state between waking and sleep, she heard a single word pop into her mind: "Stupid."

Mumbling in her drowsy state, Su Miaoyi retorted, "You’re the stupid one."

Then she fell completely asleep, not waking until dawn...