Chapter 186 - 139: Found It! The Murderer’s True Identity

’If...’

’If that woman really gave birth to a child in prison...’

’Then we can definitely find all the information about that person inside the prison!’

The three of them exchanged a look, and then...

"To Penglai City Prison!"

...

...

Penglai City was located in Hanhai Province, about a hundred kilometers from Jiangsan City.

Since their contacts there knew little about the case, Xu Huo and his team booked the earliest direct flight.

They arrived at 5:00 AM on the morning of the fifth.

The place was a fortress of cement and reinforced concrete.

The walls were topped with barbed-wire fencing.

Flanking the sturdy iron gates stood several watchtowers, manned by guards in bulletproof vests, armed with live ammunition.

Countless figures patrolled within its walls.

Searchlights positioned in every corner could illuminate the entire, impenetrable fortress, leaving no blind spots.

"1983?"

"1983... I’ll have to check. It’s been over twenty years, after all. We’ve gone through several wardens. Any information from that time is either in someone’s memory or written down in the archives."

"Zhou Hong? I don’t know the name. I was transferred here five years ago, so I’m not familiar with the people from back then..."

"I have Zhou Hong’s file here. As for whether she gave birth, I’ll have to check the records room."

「In the maximum-security section of Penglai City Prison.」

A staff member handed him a file and hurried away. Xu Huo frowned as he looked down at it.

He glanced around.

The interior of the prison was a maze of iron bars.

’What does it look like...’

It resembled a school dormitory, but it was far, far more oppressive. The entire scene was cast in a grim, heavy palette.

The prison staff escorting them stood behind him.

"How many people could possibly still remember Zhou Hong?"

Li Jianye looked troubled.

There were so many inmates here; almost every cell was full.

With an hour to go before the wake-up call, most of them were still sprawled on their beds, fast asleep.

"Back in ’83, which block was Zhou Hong in?"

"Which cell?"

Xu Huo glanced at the dense file, then handed it to the escorting staff member and asked his questions.

"Finding the cell is pointless. The prison reassigns cells periodically."

"But her cellmates aren’t dead. I recognize a few of these names."

The man scanned the file, nodded, and started walking.

"Follow me."

He led the way.

In prison, male and female inmates were housed in separate blocks and would not meet during normal activities.

As a result, after being locked up for a long time, one’s sexual orientation could sometimes... shift.

Zhou Hong was a woman, so naturally, she was held in the women’s block.

Of course, the women’s block wasn’t staffed entirely by female guards. There were a few female officers, but the majority were men.

After all, while convicts have human rights, they don’t have many. The priority was managing their dangerousness, not upholding social mores.

「5:23 AM.」

Xu Huo stood before an iron door.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The guard rapped on the door, waited a few seconds, then pushed it open and entered.

CLICK!

The lights flickered on, flooding the cell with light.

Eight groggy women in prison uniforms stood ramrod straight by their beds, lining the path from the door.

"Shen Sanniang, come out. The rest of you, back to bed until the wake-up call."

None of the women made a fuss. They complied obediently, and one middle-aged woman stepped forward.

The woman was around fifty, slightly overweight, with plain features. She carried herself with a timid, withdrawn air.

She followed the group, her mind racing. ’Why did they call me out?’

Before long, she was joined by two other women.

"There are three of them left."

"Twenty years ago, it was a large, communal cell. Besides Zhou Hong and these three, the others have either been released after serving their time or executed."

The guard led them all to an interrogation room and reported this to Xu Huo.

"Thank you for your trouble," Xu Huo said with a nod.

"No trouble at all." The guard shook his head and moved to stand in a corner by the door.

Xu Huo cut the pleasantries and turned his attention to the three women before him.

’These three...’

Two were in their fifties, one was nearly seventy.

All three seemed timid and withdrawn, their eyes darting around nervously. They looked harmless enough, but the reality was...

They were all on death row with a reprieve.

This was the maximum-security block; the minimum sentence here was twenty years.

As for how they were still alive after a death sentence... a death sentence with a two-year reprieve could typically be commuted to life imprisonment, provided the inmate showed no clear intent to commit further crimes during that period.

"We only have a few questions for you."

"Back in 1983, did you know a woman named Zhou Hong?!"

Xu Huo’s sudden question was sharp, his eyes fixed on their faces, searching for any reaction.

But he was met with only blank confusion.

"Do you remember a child with the surname Sun?" Xu Huo pressed.

At this, their expressions changed.

"A child? You mean a boy?"

The eldest of the three, the woman nearing seventy, asked tentatively.

’There really was a child!’

A jolt went through Li Jianye. His focus sharpened, and he stared intently at the women.

"I don’t recognize the name Zhou Hong, but I do remember a child..."

The other two chimed in as well.

"What did he look like?"

"How old was he?"

"When did you meet him?"

"When did he leave?"

Li Jianye fired off a series of urgent questions.

Xu Huo held up a hand to silence him. After a moment of thought, he asked, "The corner of the boy’s eye..."

"Did he have a mole there?"

The three women thought back for a moment before nodding.

’It’s really him!’ Li Jianye thought, his heart pounding, but he kept the words to himself.

"Tell us what you remember about this child," Xu Huo said.

The three women exchanged glances.

Finally, the eldest one spoke up.

"Officer, we don’t remember a Zhou Hong, but now that you mention the boy, I do recall something. Zhou Hong did stay with us, but not for long—only about six months before her execution."

"I know she was connected to that boy, but whether she was his mother, I can’t say for sure."

The old woman shook her head.

This was standard procedure. Pregnant inmates weren’t housed with the general population. They were kept in a special section and would only be moved to a regular cell sometime after giving birth and caring for the infant.

"It was about fourteen years ago, I think."

"The prison had just finished a major expansion and renovation. There was much more open space, and things felt a little less confining."

"It was around that time that a few children appeared. They were always darting around everywhere, with guards constantly trying to round them up."

"Their ringleader was named Sun Jiang. He was a very mischievous child, always zipping between the different blocks. It drove the warden crazy."

"But there was nothing they could do. He could squeeze through the gaps in the iron gates, so they couldn’t keep him contained."

"The warden wanted to send them away, but the welfare agencies wouldn’t accept them, and they couldn’t find any family."

"Luckily, the kids stuck to the common areas, like the exercise yard or the main pathways. They never went near the maximum-security cells, so the warden mostly turned a blind eye."

"To be honest, that warden really liked the boy. He was just too stubborn to admit it."

"When we had our yard time, out on the exercise field, we’d sometimes play with him a little. But we could only get close when the guards weren’t looking..."

As she spoke, a nostalgic expression softened the old woman’s features.

The presence of those children brought a splash of color to the dreary prison.

The usual barrage of shouted orders was occasionally punctuated by the sound of a child’s laughter.

"What happened later?"

Xu Huo nodded, mentally filing away the information before pressing on.

"Later?"

"Later... I don’t know what got into the warden, but he gave the boy... oh, right, Zhou Hong’s belongings."

"After that, the boy came to say goodbye to us, and then he just... disappeared."

"It must have been ’94? He was about eleven. He left with those belongings, and who knows where that kid went..."

The woman’s voice was tinged with fondness as she spoke.

She and the other two inmates would likely never leave this place, nor would they ever have children of their own.

’Born in ’83 or ’84, disappeared in ’95...’

Xu Huo calculated silently, his brow furrowed in thought.

Putting the pieces together, he was almost certain this was their man.

However...

"During that time, in the prison..."

"Were there any inmates who... taught him things?"

"For example..."

Looking at the women before him, Xu Huo slowly uttered two words.

"A thief?"