Chapter 82 - 81: Final Interrogation, Who... Are You?

"What’s going on?"

"What’s wrong with Zhang Cui?!"

Xu Huo frowned, his gaze fixed on Zhang Cui in the distance. She was curled up in a corner, highly agitated and not in her right mind.

Her body was trembling and her breathing was ragged. It was clear she had suffered some kind of psychological shock, a trace of terror clouding her vacant eyes.

"Did you agitate her?!"

He turned to Qian Hua and the others, his brow furrowed.

"How could we possibly have agitated her?!"

Qian Hua clicked his tongue, at a loss himself.

Of Zhang Cui, Wang Jinyuan, and Wang Jinbao, the key figure, Wang Jinyuan, had vanished. The paralyzed Wang Jinbao had little useful information to offer. That left only Zhang Cui.

And even though her mental state was poor, making it incredibly difficult to question her...

...they certainly wouldn’t go and deliberately trigger her!

The police weren’t fools. Qian Hua would never resort to such a crude tactic; there was no reason for it.

"Could it be because of Wang Jinbao?"

Li Jianye suddenly mused aloud.

"Wang Jinbao?" Xu Huo frowned.

"Yes. A moment ago, a stretcher carrying Wang Jinbao was brought out of the guest bedroom. Zhang Cui saw him."

Li Jianye nodded, voicing his suspicion.

"After that, Zhang Cui became extremely agitated. She was radiating an indescribable terror, curled up and trembling, the very picture of someone who had just suffered a severe psychological blow."

"Could it be because Wang Jinbao’s appearance is too similar to the murderer, Wang Jinyuan?"

’Too similar in appearance?’

Wang Jinyuan and Wang Jinbao were twin brothers. Aside from one being unable to get out of bed and walk, the two were identical.

Even the townspeople occasionally mixed them up, but they could quickly tell who was who by their physical condition.

As for Zhang Cui...

...it was entirely possible she had mistaken one for the other.

"Have you found out Zhang Cui’s identity yet?"

The thought occurred to Xu Huo, and he suddenly frowned and asked the question.

He suspected "Zhang Cui" wasn’t her real name. It might have been given to her by a human trafficker, or perhaps by Wang Jinyuan himself.

She was very good-looking. Of course, after living in a dog cage, there wasn’t much to see, but her bone structure was undeniable. With a little care, she would surely be a great beauty.

Her figure and the air she carried, based on what Li Jianye had found, were not something a family of modest means could cultivate.

Of course, it was also possible she had achieved success on her own merits in some field.

"No, nothing so far."

Li Jianye shook his head, clicking his tongue in frustration.

’This case hasn’t been open long, but the workload is absolutely massive.’

He’d never seen a single case generate such a staggering amount of work. It was enough to suffocate a person!

And this was just one piece of the entire investigation. God only knew what a headache this afternoon had been for him. If Xu Huo hadn’t narrowed down a few specific lines of inquiry, if they had to check *everything*...

...Li Jianye would have been ready to pack his bags and flee. A full-on, overnight escape, the kind where you’d be desperate enough to try and piggyback on a train.

"Look into it as soon as you can."

Xu Huo said in a low voice, looking at Zhang Cui with a sigh.

Judging by her age, she was likely a student—probably a university student from a good school. But to think she had fallen to this...

She should have had a wonderful future, yet she was forced to act as an accomplice to a depraved killer.

Worse, she wasn’t even treated with any care. After the building was slated for demolition and she lost her value as a lure, she was simply locked away in a dog cage...

"Take her back to the municipal bureau. Find a psychologist to treat her."

Qian Hua said after a moment’s thought.

"The therapy can start slow!" Li Jianye quickly added.

Some people, after enduring inhuman torture and returning to a normal life, if their brain’s self-preservation mechanism doesn’t suppress those memories, they can do extreme things. For example...

Suicide!

"Let me find her family first," Li Jianye said.

"Finding her family will give Zhang Cui an anchor. It might prevent her from trying to commit suicide once her mind is clear."

Qian Hua didn’t argue, just nodded in agreement.

Just as they were contemplating how to track down Wang Jinyuan,

a shout suddenly rang out.

"Boss, we’ve got something!"

’Something?’

Everyone froze, then whipped their heads toward the shout.

It came from the back door area.

Xu Huo and Wang Hu rushed over to find a group of Police Officers gathered around a certain spot.

"What is it?"

"A cellar!" someone answered.

’A cellar?’

Wang Hu paused, a knot of dread tightening in his chest.

"Has anyone gone inside?" Wang Hu asked, frowning.

"No." The Police Officer shook his head.

"Open it!"

In the next moment, several officers hurried forward. Heaving together, they slowly forced the cellar door open.

A putrid, bloody stench billowed from the opening, making the faces of every officer who caught a whiff of it drain of color. Some even ran outside to vomit on the spot.

Xu Huo pulled out his flashlight and switched it on. After making sure it was safe below, he cautiously stepped down.

A damp, bone-chilling cold seeped into his marrow.

He shined the flashlight overhead.

The next second...

Countless racks of bloody ribs appeared before him. They were pierced with iron hooks, hanging in the air inside this modified cellar, which had been converted into something like a walk-in freezer.

In the distance was a pile of skeletons, still flecked with scraps of reddish-brown meat, clearly not picked clean.

The pile of white bones was like a scene from the demonic Shituo Ridge—utterly horrifying!

Xu Huo walked closer. He looked at the pile of severed, rotting human heads.

The atmosphere was heavy, suffocating.

Even after a long time in the cellar, no one spoke a word.

Until...

"Put all resources into tracking Wang Jinyuan’s whereabouts!"

Xu Huo emerged from the cellar, his face ashen. His voice was quiet but unshakably resolute.

"Sir!"

Several Police Chiefs responded at once.

The cellar was, in all likelihood, where the victims were killed, butchered, and their flesh was temporarily stored.

It was also where he processed the bones.

Barring any surprises, they could now fully confirm Wang Jinyuan as the murderer. Once they caught him, the case would be closed.

’But... where in the world did he go?’

Xu Huo stepped out of the dog meat restaurant and frowned at the rustic, farmhouse-style courtyard.

The sky was just beginning to lighten. It was six-thirty in the morning.

The crisp, cold air sent a slight chill through him.

The silhouettes that had been shrouded in darkness were now gradually taking on color.

Passersby, up early for work or breakfast, had now gathered around the place, whispering amongst themselves.

"What’s going on here?"

"No idea... Look at this commotion!"

"You think the shop owner did something? Did he kill someone?"

"Who knows. Maybe the meat was expired, or from sick animals?"

"Can’t say for sure. It’s dog meat, though. We all know the deal with where it comes from..."

"But I have to admit, the dog meat buns from this place are seriously delicious. I had two last time, and the flavor was just incredible. I just don’t know how they make them..."

Old men and women, along with young guys, stood on the road in the distance, craning their necks and standing on their toes to get a better look, chattering away without bothering to lower their voices.

Xu Huo shot them a glance, then looked away and shook his head.

He looked down at the officers handling the evidence.

They were holding several clear, sealed bags.

Inside the bags were several fragrant, fluffy white buns. Freshly steamed, they would have looked absolutely mouthwatering.

But...

’The dog meat buns are delicious?’

’You want to eat a couple more?’

Heh...

Xu Huo pushed the thought aside. He scanned the crime scene, which was now mostly packed up. He paused for a beat, then...

"Pack it up!"

...

...

Wang Jinyuan had vanished.

The police couldn’t find a single lead on him.

Nothing at all!

According to Wang Jinbao, his brother had left through the back door last night. But that door led to the road to the city center, and while surveillance was sparse, it wasn’t nonexistent.

Wang Jinyuan never appeared on any of the cameras.

The police conducted door-to-door inquiries but found no one who had seen him.

The case, once again, ground to a halt.

There was no information at all to indicate where he had gone.

Even Xu Huo personally inspected the area around the back door.

The scene yielded no tracks or clues. He even used [Wang Die’s Scent], but he couldn’t pick up any trace of Wang Jinyuan’s scent.

In other words...

The lead Wang Jinbao provided was worthless.

’Wang Jinyuan left? He tricked Wang Jinbao?’

’And how did he realize he was in danger?’

’A leak? No, by the time we found out about him, he’d already been gone for several hours.’

’Where did he go?’

In the office, everyone’s brows were furrowed. The blackboard was covered with countless lines of reasoning.

They had been up for ages without a minute of sleep, yet they couldn’t come up with a single useful lead.

It was as if Wang Jinyuan had...

...truly vanished from the face of the earth.

Xu Huo frowned, deep in thought. He had a nagging feeling that something was wrong.

He mulled it over for a moment, then suddenly froze.

’If the lead about Wang Jinyuan disappearing was invalid, then...’

’...were there other invalid clues in the course of this investigation?!’

’If so, then who... were those clues about?!’

In a flash, something clicked in Xu Huo’s mind. He narrowed his eyes, a realization dawning.

"Bring Wang Jinbao to the interrogation room!"

Xu Huo suddenly barked the order, startling everyone. They turned to look at him, their brows furrowed.

"What is it?"

"Set up an interrogation for me!"

Without another word, Xu Huo turned and strode toward the interrogation room.

Everyone was baffled, but they hurried to make the arrangements nonetheless.

Since being brought in, Wang Jinbao had been held in a detention room at the municipal bureau.

His situation made sentencing complicated. On one hand, he might not have participated in the killings. On the other, the case was so massive and involved so many victims that even Zhang Cui wouldn’t escape the judge’s gavel.

He had been interrogated during this time, but the leads they’d gotten had proven useless.

But this time...

...Xu Huo would be the one asking the questions.

CREAK—

「On the 23rd, at 9:30 in the morning, the door to an interrogation room at the Linlan City Municipal Bureau was pushed open.」

Wang Jinbao’s propped-up figure appeared before them. He was visibly nervous as police officers helped him into the chair opposite Xu Huo.

"Off-officer..."

Wang Jinbao was extremely nervous. He looked at Xu Huo, not quite daring to meet his gaze.

Xu Huo simply looked at him, watching him in silence.

The atmosphere was stretched to its breaking point.

Not a sound could be heard in the interrogation room. The silence stretched on, so profound that everyone’s breathing was audible.

Until...

"That’s a pretty good performance. Honestly, I think you should consider a career in acting."

Xu Huo suddenly broke into a smile, looking at Wang Jinbao.

"Wh-what?"

Wang Jinbao looked completely baffled.

"You don’t know?"

Xu Huo chuckled, then stopped. The smile vanished, his expression becoming blank, and then...

...gradually darkened.

Nearby, Qian Hua frowned, watching him with confusion.

"Then let me rephrase the question."

"Wang Jinbao..."

Xu Huo stared intently at the man before him, his eyes so piercing they seemed to be staring directly into his soul.

A scene flashed through his mind.

The scene of Zhang Cui’s sudden breakdown...

"When did he die?"

When did Wang Jinbao die?!

Everyone froze. Their shocked faces darted back and forth between Xu Huo and the man sitting across from him.

Wasn’t Wang Jinbao sitting right there in front of them?!

"It wasn’t Wang Jinyuan who disappeared."

Xu Huo stared silently at the man before him.

"It was Wang Jinbao."

When he said that, the room fell utterly silent. The quiet was absolute.

Qian Hua froze, but a second later, his pupils constricted as he stared intently at the man in the chair.

If Wang Jinbao had disappeared, then the man in front of them...

...who was he?!

"Perhaps we’ve already caught the murderer. We just didn’t realize it."

Xu Huo looked at the man, his voice calm and steady.

The killer, perhaps, never ran.

He’s been right under the police’s noses this whole time.

"Isn’t that right..."

"...Wang Jinyuan?"