Chapter 81 - 79: Nearing the Year’s End, a New Case Appears

Chapter 81: Chapter 79: Nearing the Year’s End, a New Case Appears

After moving, Su Miaoyi started a new book.

She had moved again, this time to a new, spacious apartment with three bedrooms and two living rooms.

Shen Yanzhou wasn’t charging her rent, though, to be fair, she couldn’t have afforded it anyway.

But she had to contribute what she could.

She couldn’t just live there for free.

More money was going out than coming in.

It made her anxious.

That’s why she’d started a new book.

She hoped it would do well, so her life could get a little better, too.

As the Lunar New Year drew near.

A heavy snow began to fall.

Su Miaoyi sat at her bay window, a small lap desk set up before her. She sipped her coffee and wrote, watching the snowflakes drift down outside.

She planned to wait for the snow to stop and melt a little before heading back to the old district to celebrate the New Year.

She didn’t plan on going to the boxing club anymore.

They had already taught her everything they could.

If she went, she would just be practicing on her own anyway.

Now that she had moved to a bigger place,

she had cleared out a room specifically for training.

So she hadn’t left the apartment for the past few days.

She just practiced her boxing and wrote.

Since she wasn’t going out to work for the time being, she tried to write as much as possible. That way, if another case came up, she wouldn’t have to miss an update.

The snow was coming down so hard that it obscured her vision, making it difficult to see anything outside.

Su Miaoyi watched for a moment.

She’d always found gently falling snow to be beautiful. But this frantic, hurried blizzard just made her feel anxious.

So she drew the sheer curtain, shutting out the frenzied snow.

But just then, the scene before her eyes changed.

She was in a pitch-black room.

She saw an old man collapsed on the floor.

A girl was grabbing his arm, shaking him repeatedly, hoping he would get up.

Her face was covered in tears.

She tried to speak but couldn’t, only managing to make guttural, "ah, ah" sounds.

She kept shaking the old man.

Suddenly, her hair was grabbed from behind, and she was dragged across the floor.

She flailed, trying to hit the hand that held her hair, striking it over and over.

But she was no match for her attacker’s strength.

She was helpless as she was dragged into an inner room.

She tried to scream, but again, only choked noises came out.

Once they were in the other room, the hand released her.

She immediately scrambled to her feet and tried to run.

But her hair was seized once more.

This time, he didn’t drag her. Instead, he grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head viciously into the wall.

A wave of dizziness washed over her instantly.

She collapsed stiffly to the floor.

Warm blood trickled down her forehead.

The room was dark, and after the blow to her head, her vision became extremely blurry.

She looked at the person standing before her.

He was wearing a black ski mask, with only his eyes visible.

She watched as the man before her undid his belt.

Then, her vision grew blurrier and blurrier. She could no longer keep her eyes open, until everything faded to black.

Su Miaoyi snapped out of the vision. She turned her head and covered her mouth, gagging.

The phantom dizziness from the blow to the head made her nauseous.

The final image of the man casting his belt aside also made her want to throw up.

She ran to the bathroom.

She gagged a few more times.

Then she splashed her face with cold water.

Once she had recovered slightly, she grabbed her phone and quickly called Zhuang Yanzheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng answered, but his end of the line was very noisy.

"Captain Zhuang, I saw another murder scene," Su Miaoyi said. "An elderly man, and a... young girl."

In the vision, she couldn’t speak, but from the choked sounds she made, I could tell it was a girl.

Plus, when she was on the floor being dragged, judging by her thrashing legs and feet, she didn’t seem very old.

"The girl must be mute," Su Miaoyi said. "But I’m not sure where it is."

Zhuang Yanzheng was silent for a couple of seconds. "It might be the case we’re working right now. We’re at the scene. You..."

"I’m on my way," Su Miaoyi said. "Send me the address. I’ll get a car."

"Alright. Be safe on your way," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

After hanging up, Su Miaoyi immediately tried to book a ride.

The blizzard had only lasted a short while, and the snow was already much lighter.

But still, no one accepted her ride request.

Even when she added a tip, no one took the fare.

Su Miaoyi changed her clothes, deciding to go outside first and figure something else out.

When she opened her door, she saw Shen Yanzhou across the hall, just about to open his own.

They both froze for a second, looking at each other.

"Mr. Shen?" Su Miaoyi said, watching him open the door to the apartment across the hall.

The apartment opposite hers was his, too.

On her first night, Shen Yanzhou had let her choose between them, and she had just pointed to one at random.

Still, she hadn’t expected to run into him here.

"Going out?" Shen Yanzhou asked.

Su Miaoyi nodded.

"What for, in this snow? Is it urgent?" Shen Yanzhou asked.

"There’s a case," Su Miaoyi replied.

Shen Yanzhou was silent for a moment. "...Were you able to get a car?"

Su Miaoyi shook her head. "No."

"So you came out planning to walk?" Shen Yanzhou asked.

"Maybe I came out hoping to run into you," Su Miaoyi said. She really hadn’t expected such a coincidence.

A pleasant surprise, just for opening her door.

Shen Yanzhou fell silent.

Su Miaoyi just looked at him.

"Let’s go. I’ll give you a ride," Shen Yanzhou said, closing his door.

Su Miaoyi smiled. "Thank you."

...

When they arrived at the scene.

Su Miaoyi jumped out of the car and ran toward the building. After a few steps, she glanced back at Shen Yanzhou.

"Go on, don’t worry about me," Shen Yanzhou said.

Su Miaoyi nodded and entered the building.

It was an old residential complex.

There was no elevator.

Su Miaoyi quickly ran up to the sixth floor without stopping.

The doorway on the sixth floor was already cordoned off with police tape.

But when she glanced up the stairs toward the seventh floor, she saw another body lying sprawled on the steps.

A jolt of shock went through her.

"Sister Miaomiao." Chu Xingrou called out, handing her a pair of gloves and shoe covers.

Su Miaoyi looked at her.

"Captain Zhuang and Forensic Doctor Yan are inside," Chu Xingrou said.

Su Miaoyi glanced at the body on the stairs. It was an older person, but not the elderly man from her vision.

"Three bodies?"

Chu Xingrou didn’t know how she knew there were two more bodies inside the apartment, but she nodded anyway. "Yes."

Su Miaoyi frowned and entered the apartment.

Their work was already winding down.

"You’re here?" Zhuang Yanzheng said when he saw her.

Su Miaoyi nodded, quickly scanning her surroundings before crouching down across from Yan Cheng to examine the body in the living room.

It was the elderly man from her vision.

He looked to be in his eighties.

"Five stab wounds to the abdomen," Yan Cheng said, "and one to the chest."

The vision she’d seen had been too dark; she had only vaguely made out the old man’s face and the blood on the floor.

She hadn’t seen much else.

Su Miaoyi examined a wound, touching it lightly. "Looks like it was a fruit knife."

"It was," Yan Cheng confirmed. "We haven’t found a weapon at the scene."

Su Miaoyi turned her attention to the chest wound.

As her gloved finger touched the wound, another vision flooded her mind: the old man grabbing the attacker.

"Take all the money! Take all the money in the house, just don’t hurt my granddaughter! I’m begging you, don’t hurt my granddaughter!"

"I won’t call the police, I swear I won’t call the police!"

The man in the ski mask tried to shake him off, but couldn’t. He raised the fruit knife in his hand and plunged it into the old man’s chest.

Even after being stabbed, the old man held on tight, refusing to let go.

Unable to break free, the attacker pulled the knife from the man’s chest and stabbed him in the abdomen, again and again.

Until the old man’s grip slackened and he collapsed...