Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Xi City?
Xiang Wan’s heart gave a shudder!
There was as though a thought, like a newborn chick that just broke its shell and showed its tiny head, all geared up to break out of its shell entirely…
She calmed herself down. “What did you do in Xi City?”
Yu Bo bit his lips, not saying a word.
Xiang Wan’s eyebrows furrowed at his uncooperative attitude. “What’s the problem? Are you unwilling to tell us what that bad person did?”
Yu Bo shook his head. “I can’t say it…”
Xiang Wan replied, “Why not?”
This time, Yu Bo only shook his head, not saying a word.
Xiang Wan was anxious. “If you don’t tell us,” she puffed a sigh, “we would not be able to help you punish the bad person!”
Yu Bo opened his mouth but was unable to make any sound. He closed his mouth and shook his head.
He was like a mute now!
Everything fell into silence.
One second!
Ten seconds!
One minute!
Quan Shaoteng slammed a fist on the table. He had run out of patience. “Hurry up and talk! Do you know where you are right now? You can’t walk out of here without telling us what you know! Do you understand?”
Yu Bo trembled with fear.
However, he did not lift his head.
His silence went to the extent that he ignored them.
It was obvious that threatening… was of no use.
His behavior infuriated Quan Shaoteng much!
“Yu Bo, I need to let you know this. If you don’t tell us anything, you’ll be in serious trouble…”
Yu Bo pouted his lips like a child and ignored Quan Shaoteng. However, he swept a glance at Xiang Wan timidly before he looked down and hung his head low.
It was so low that they felt like his head would touch his chest.
… Yeah, he did not say another word.
Quan Shaoteng was still angry. He sprang up from his seat, but Bai Muchuan stopped him from taking any further action.
“Give him a break. We’ll go outside and drink some water!”
“Okay!”
Captain Zhang got up from his seat!
…
When the three of them turned away, Xiang Wan went nearer to Yu Bo.
She pointed to their back in front of Yu Bo. “See? Since you’re unwilling to cooperate with us, I couldn’t help you!”
Yu Bo did not raise his head. There was no reaction from him.
Xiang Wan sat there for two minutes and realized he did not have any intention to communicate with her at all.
“Fine,” she sighed, “I’ll go out for some water as well. Do think it over carefully. You have to tell us all you know, no matter what you’ve gone through… The police are currently treating you as a good and honest civilian. They are only keeping you for questioning, not for interrogation… If the police knew that you’re involved in your uncle’s business, then…”
“I’m not involved!” Yu Bo yelled in exasperation.
That hysterical look of his was similar to when he had shouted at Meng Chi earlier.
Xiang Wan took a step back and looked at his bloodshot eyes.
He looked like an accused child. His expression made him look as if he was in a hurry to explain, yet he was unable to find a way to do so…
At this moment, Bai Muchuan came back into the questioning room and took Xiang Wan’s hand.
“You need not say anything more. Let him think it over by himself. Let’s go out.”
“Mm…”
Xiang Wan turned for another look at him.
However, Yu Bo never looked at her again.
…
“He does not trust me anymore.”
When they were out, Xiang Wan made a remark.
Bai Muchuan patted her shoulders. “No, he’s just hesitating!”
“He’s not hesitating.” Xiang Wan’s brows crumpled together. “No matter how you intimidate or threaten him… nothing would be of use…”
“Oh?”
“In fact, Yu Bo has quite a strong mentality…”
He had a strong mentality?
Bai Muchuan raised his eyebrows.
Xiang Wan nodded. “Why are ordinary people afraid of threats? This is only because they have people they cared for and still have things they wanted to do in this world. For this young fellow though, he doesn’t have anyone left to care for. He did not know anything and no longer have anything. He’s totally the embodiment of the saying—the ignorant are fearless!”
“Hur! To put it simply, doesn’t that mean he’s just mentally challenged?”
“He’s not mentally challenged, he’s more naive.” Xiang Wan gave a sidelong glance at him.
Bai Muchuan laughed.
It was obvious he did not believe her.
“I don’t know how they raised him. In my opinion, he was basically brought up by his mother in the village and was well protected by her that he did not come in contact with any bad influences… However, the protection was also a kind of isolation. He’s completely ignorant of how society works since he did not come in contact with how life is like out here… Surely, we can’t expect him to be the same as ordinary people.”
He was a child who grew up in the mountains.
Just like the children who grew up in primitive societies.
They had not seen the ugly side of the world, and they were so pure like a piece of white paper.
“Did you notice? He’s like a child, just a child… He feels like a young child, only a few years old…”
“Doesn’t that mean he’s still mentally challenged?” Bai Muchuan laughed softly.
“…” Xiang Wan did not want to explain to him anymore. “So what do you think we should do?”
Bai Muchuan glanced at him. “Come with me!”
…
The Nanmu police had prepared a temporary office space for Serious Crime Division One and the Xi City police.
At that moment, besides Tu Liang and Ding Yifan, there were also a few others.
When Bai Muchuan brought Xiang Wan over, Quan Shaoteng was sitting in front of a computer, going through some documents.
“… This can’t be true. It’s unbelievable!”
“It’s Cheng Zheng’s report,” Bai Muchuan said solemnly.
Was he trying to say he believed what Cheng Zheng had mentioned in the report?
Quan Shaoteng glanced at him. “So, you also believe this Yu Bo… is the suspect for the 121 case?”
Bai Muchuan replied. “At the moment, he is!”
After that, he pulled out a chair and motioned Xiang Wan to sit down. Then he took the mouse from Quan Shaoteng and clicked on the information he had gotten that morning and showed it to her.
“When the police was investigating the 121 case, they found the fingerprints of the suspect on the ‘murder weapon’… Ehem, which is the bra strap. At that time, they did not manage to find any match in the database…”
“And?” Xiang Wan’s heart suddenly felt cold.
“We re-investigated the 121 case and did a match with the fingerprints of all those people we came in contact with. Our results showed that Yu Bo’s fingerprints matched the ones… on the ‘murder weapon’.”
“What?” Yu Bo?
The one who killed the girls was Yu Bo? She couldn’t believe her ears.
This reminded Xiang Wan of the video “Meng Chi” showed her back in Wen Xin Nunnery.
“But I remember the hand that appeared in the video, it looked like a hand that belonged to a woman…”
Bai Muchuan turned his head. “Why? Yu Bo’s hand did not look like that?”
Xiang Wan was dumbstruck for a moment.
Yu Bo’s hands were also thin and slender, just like his frame.
However, he had the distinctive features of the Nanmu people.
He was darker and did not have smooth skin…
Well, maybe there was a possibility that Meng Chi’s hands could have looked like a woman’s, but as for Yu Bo?
Xiang Wan shook her head slowly, as if she was thinking at the same time. “Impossible, it’s absolutely impossible!”
Silence.
For a long time, Bai Muchuan did not say anything.
Whether it was Meng Chi or Yu Bo… they did not have enough evidence.
“Currently, what we can ascertain is that Yu Bo must have come into contact with the victims before… We need to think of a way to make him talk!”
However, with regard to this simpleton that Xiang Wan regarded as ignorant, fearless and naive… Unless he was willing to talk, there seemed to be no other way out to make him talk?
“Take it easy! We’ll find a way…”
Xiang Wan rubbed her forehead and looked at Bai Muchuan.
“I suggest that you meet Meng Chi and see what he has to say about this!”
“We don’t have to hurry,” Bai Muchuan smirked, “I’ll let him wait for a while more!”
Alright!
He had his own plans.
Xiang Wan pointed at the office.
“So I’ll go talk to Yu Bo?”
Bai Muchuan nodded. “Alright!”
Then he glanced at Quan Shaoteng. “You’ll go with her!”
Quan Shaoteng nodded reluctantly. “…”
He felt a little miserable!
He was supposed to be the valiant and imposing Operations Captain.
Why did he end up like a security guard?
…
Ten minutes later.
Bai Muchuan went to another questioning room.
Tu Liang and Ding Yifan were “accompanying” Meng Chi in there.
Same as Yu Bo, Meng Chi did not have any intention to talk to anyone. The three of them sat on their seats without saying a word.
Tu Liang and Ding Yifan watched him patiently without moving.
Meng Chi, on the other hand, was playing with his mobile phone, calm and relaxed.
Not sure what he was doing on his phone, but occasionally, he would either be smiling or laughing happily…
Bai Muchuan went inside the room.
Tu Liang got up and let him have a seat.
Bai Muchuan waved his hand, gesturing him to sit while he pulled another chair to sit.
“CEO Meng is busy, isn’t he? Do you have time to see me?”
Meng Chi looked up from his mobile phone when he heard his sarcasm-filled voice. He paused for a moment and showed an innocent and harmless smile.
“No, no, I’m waiting for you, Captain Bai… I was bored, so I played a game!”
“Hur!” Bai Muchuan laughed. “You said you wanted to talk to me about the case?”
“Well, yes…” Meng Chi glanced at the two detectives with Bai Muchuan and seemed a little hesitant. “I discovered something unusual.”
Bai Muchuan responded coolly, “Say it!”
“I have something that you should see, Captain Bai…” Meng Chi suddenly played a video filmed using a mobile phone.
It’s a video again!
Bai Muchuan swept a glance at him.
Meng Chi’s expression was relaxed, just that there was a slight frown on his face.
He seemed like he was extremely serious about what he was doing.
The video showed a granny from Yu Bo’s village.
She said that a few nights prior to the death of Yu Bo’s mother, both of them quarreled fiercely over the issue of his departure to Xi City to find work. Yu Bo’s mother did not want him to go, but Yu Bo insisted on leaving. Yu Bo’s mother threw a fit and started to smash things…
After that, one of Brother Steel’s men came. It was Liang. He persuaded them, and granny said she did not hear anymore ruckus from Yu Bo’s mother consequently.
The next day after that night, Yu Bo left the village to go to Xi City.
Liang was the one who brought him away.
Those still living in the village knew that Liang was one of Brother Steel’s men, so no one said anything about it.
A few days later, Yu Bo came back. When he stepped into the house, he cried and made an awful din as he found his mother dead. She had taken her own life by hanging herself in the house…
The granny did not know when his mother had died.
That very day, the people from the funeral parlor from Nanmu City came and cremated the body. Her ashes were then buried in the village, and there was not even a tablet made for her!
After the funeral, Brother Steel took Yu Bo to his villa.
Nobody dared to say anything about it either.
Granny said that it was only when the police came looking for her that she got to know that Brother Steel did not treat Yu Bo well and had locked him up in a basement…
…
The granny talked for a long time.
That was basically what he summarized from the video.
Bai Muchuan finished watching the video indifferently before a half-smile appeared on his face. “Why is CEO Meng so interested in this matter?”
Meng Chi kept his mobile phone. His smile slowly deepened. “I want to save myself! Captain Bai should know that I’m a businessman. I don’t want to be involved in something I didn’t do!”
“Oh?” Bai Muchuan said, waiting for him to continue.
“Didn’t Miss Xiang identify me as the suspect in Wen Xin Nunnery?” Meng Chi laughed. “I’m being investigated everyday. I feel uncomfortable and my work also got affected…
“People nowadays have nothing to do and spread gossip with the help of the internet… Hurhur, all of you should know, if I’m a suspect, investors will abandon the Meng Group and in turn, cause the stock price to drop! My dead father is going to come after me if he knew this. I feel like I’m being used as a scapegoat, it’s going to impact me somehow…”
Suddenly, he did not say another word.
After a short pause, he looked at Bai Muchuan with some contempt in his eyes.
“I’ve been waiting for a result from the police. However, I’ve been greatly disappointed. None of you could clear my name. I can only suffer from all the finger-pointing. I can’t stand to watch how my business opponents mock me. I can only look on helplessly at my falling stock prices… If you were me, would you tolerate this?”
Bai Muchuan raised his chin and looked at him coldly without any other response.
Meng Chi gritted his teeth. “Since none of you can prove my innocence, I can only take things into my own hands and investigate the case myself…”
Bai Muchuan pointed at his mobile phone. “So this is the result of your investigation?”
Meng Chi fiddled with his mobile phone, his smile deepened. “Captain Bai, don’t you think there’s a big problem here? Liang took Yu Bo to Xi City, only to come back and realize that his mother had died… When did Yu Bo’s mother die? Did she really hang herself or was she killed by someone else? Don’t you find this strange?”
Hur!
What a professional analysis!
Bai Muchuan smiled as he swept a chilly glance.
“Is this also your explanation of Yu Bo’s accusation earlier?”
“I don’t know why Yu Bo said those things to me.” Meng Chi shook his head. “But I suspect that Yu Bo, being a simpleton, could have been made use of… He had killed his own mother and those victims!”
Bai Muchuan looked at him coldly.
If what the granny from the village said was true…
That meant Yu Bo’s trip to Xi City was at least three months ago.
… His mother had indeed died three months back.
When he came back to Xi City, Brother Steel locked him in a basement. If so, how did he get in contact with the victims?
“… The lingerie!”
After listening to Bai Muchuan’s words, that was her first reaction.
“The problem could only lie on the lingerie.”
In the 121 case, the only trace the murderer had left behind was the fingerprints on the bra strap.
“Is there a possibility that three months ago, Yu Bo had come in contact with the victim’s lingerie? Coming in contact with the lingerie would not prove that he had come in contact with the victims! You know it!”
