Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Because Zhao Yu was having an infusion and his cast changed, he and Cui Lizhu had to return to the hospital ward after Jiang Ke’s interrogation was over.
By the time he got back, it was almost dawn, and Zhao Yu remembered that he had forgotten today’s hexagram. He shook his head and figured that he should have done that before the interrogation.
As Zhao Yu touched his injured leg that was wrapped in a plaster cast, his head felt foggy and was still pretty swollen. In that moment, he also remembered that he had even forgotten to ask some Jiang Ke some important questions earlier.
“Boss… Don’t worry!” Cui Lizhu saw Zhao Yu’s impatience and tried to console him. “The case was 10 years ago, so we don’t need to get upset about wasting just one more day. But, if you don’t have a healthy body, you won’t be able to accomplish anything!”
When Cui Lizhu was gentle and considerate in the past, Zhao Yu didn’t mind bantering with her, but now, he really felt tired and very uncomfortable.
However, he still stubbornly hit the home page of the system and opened a hexagram for the day. Fortunately, it was the ideal hexagram, a Gen Li hexagram!
“Leader Zhao…” Zhao Yu didn’t have time to analyze this hexagram before Officer Wang came in and said impatiently after giving him a respectful salute, “I have reported to my leader as you instructed. Bureau Chief Guan asked me to thank you for your reminder. He said that the Provincial Office has made deployment arrangements and has also sent a large number of professional forces to ensure that nothing unexpected will happen!”
Officer Wang then thought of something else and said, “Oh yeah… Bureau Chief Guan ask me tell you that the City Council officials won’t come to disturb you today, as it’s too late. Please don’t blame them for coming to see you after dawn. By the way, Bureau Chief Guan asked me to temporarily act in Captain Jin’s place and assist your team.”
Officer Wang then handed Zhao Yu a document and said, “This is the record on file of Hou Shengyun’s case from 15 years ago. Jiang Ke did not lie. The time, location, and specifics regarding how Hou Shengyun died were exactly as he said. The police closed the case, citing it as an accidental death. They believed that Hou Shengyun fell off of the building after drinking too much that night.”
Zhao Yu took the document and read it. He then nodded and said, “Although Jiang Ke is cunning, because he is not involved directly with this case, he has no reason to lie to us.”
Zhao Yu then waved at Cui Lizhu over and showed her the photos of the crime scene in the document. At the same time, he asked, “Look, does this scene look familiar to you?”
“Yes…” Cui Lizhu looked at the photo that he was now pointing to carefully, then nodded. “It’s a lot like the crimes scenes from the Devil Case. They’re all abandoned or unfinished buildings!”
“Yes!” Zhao Yu nodded, then said, “This seems to be much more than a mere coincidence. The two cases must be closely related to each other. Did you realize that before now? Actually, Han Kuan’s 11 Kills is not a work of fiction, as the prototype of the story is his own life!”
Cui Lizhu stared at him and said excitedly, “Yes! Having suffered through long-term bullying on campus, Han Kuan wrote 11 Kills. His purpose may have been to vent his anger, right? Han Kuan also drew demons, which means that he may have committed a case similar to the Devil Case. So… Was he the murderer from the Devil Case?”
“Boss…” Cui Lizhu glanced at Officer Wang, then whispered to Zhao Yu, “Zhang Jingru was at Beiqian at that time. Do you think it would be possible that the two knew each other back then? In other words, is Zhang Jingru also involved in the Devil Case?”
Zhao Yu sighed heavily, then said in a concerned tone, “The Devil Case has had a wide impact. If it was really just two of them behind it, it would be a good thing for us.”
“So… Do you actually think that there might be other murderers?” Cui Lizhu was shocked to think of this possibility. “That would mean that the Devil Case murders were not committed by just one or two people, but by many murderers, like a murderer squad retaliating against campus bullying? In that case, it’s even beyond my scope of imagination!”
“It’s highly possible!” Zhao Yu said. “Although the methods are the same, it appears that there were different murderers. Such a case is very difficult to solve! Imagine that you have finally found out a suspect, but that suspect was not at the scene or even in the same city where the victim died!”
“Then… That’s really difficult!” Cui Lizhu said. “If Han Kuan represents Yaoming, and Zhang Jingru represents Beiqian or Changfeng, then were there similar murderers in others cities?”
When they thought about this, the two immediately felt scared. Officer Wang was also frightened and started to shiver.
Zhao Yu was the first to calm down. He then said to them, “Let’s not make such blind assumptions. We must find proof first! For example, I remember that among the nine victims in the Beiqian Devil Case, there was a 50-year-old man. How could he be related to campus bullying?”
“Yes… How could I forget that?” Cui Lizhu wondered aloud. “We have to prove that the nine victims are all related to campus bullying in order for our assumption to be proven!”
“I think I remember that he was a teacher,” Zhao Yu said, but then immediately corrected himself after thinking upon it a little longer. “No! That 50-year-old victim was actually a grocery store owner! I also remember that another victim was an unemployed old lady in her sixties. These two have nothing to do with any campus!”
“Um… Yes… But…” Cui Lizhu seemed to have thought of something, but for a moment, she couldn’t seem to find the right words, but only stuttered a few ones, then nervously scratched at her ears and cheeks.
At such a critical moment, Cui Lizhu’s mobile phone suddenly rang.
“Hi. Is this Cui speaking?” After she answered the phone, Wu Xiumin’s voice was heard on the other end of the line. “Sorry for waking you up so early!”
“It’s okay, Wu. I’m awake most all of the time!” Cui Lizhu seemed to have a premonition of something, so she asked quickly, “Wu, is there any news?”
“How is Leader Zhao? Did his operation go well?” Wu Xiumin asked. “I do have something important to tell him. If it’s an inconvenient time for him, you can write it down and then tell him when he wakes up…”
“Zhao Yu here! Say what you have to say!” Zhao Yu, aware of the importance of this call, rushed over to take the phone from Cui Lizhu. He knew that Wu Xiumin wouldn’t call him at this hour for anything that was not important.
“Oh… Team Leader…” Wu Xiumin said, “I’m calling for a very important reason. Well… Last night, as you instructed me, I interrogated Han Kuan again, mainly asking him about his school days…”
Zhao Yu’s eyes lit up as he asked, “What did he say?”
“I’ll send you the complete video recording of it later!” Wu Xiumin said. “Now, I’ll tell you what’s most important. It’s so weird… Last night, when I went to the interrogation room to interrogate Han Kuan, I thought that when I mentioned Beiqian, Yaoming, or the Devil Case, he would be surprised. However, just as before, he did not show any emotions on his face. It really seemed as if he had nothing to do with these things!”
Wu Xiumin then said, “Then, I asked him about his school days, and he told me about all of his classmates and teachers, and he even shared some stories about himself when he was at Yaoming Oil School.”
She paused to take a deep breath, then continued, “He said that because he was not very talkative and was often bullied because of it, he wrote 11 Kills and some other novels, hoping that he could punish the world’s bad guys as the hero in his own book. Among these bad guys, he mentioned a person who often bullied him. His name is Hou Shengyun!”
Wu Xiumin then said excitedly, “He said that Hou Shengyun had drunk too much one night, then fell off of a building! He said that it was god’s punishment to him!”
Zhao Yu and Cui Lizhu looked at each other in shock. They never thought that Han Kuan would actually share such things with them!
Wu Xiumin then added quickly, “Most importantly, when I asked him if he had ever been to Beiqian, he did not hesitate to give me an affirmative answer. Then, he said…”
At this point, Wu Xiumin’s voice began to tremble. “He said that the year before graduation, he went to Beiqian with a retired teacher to do business, and he even mentioned that he had been working there during the SARS outbreak!”
