Ji Xun told Xia Youqing to go back to her hospital room first; a pregnant woman who had just fainted yesterday shouldn’t be standing outside for too long. Not two minutes after Xia Youqing left, Huo Ranyin came over, as expected.
Ji Xun casually greeted him, “Hi.”
“We meet again,” Huo Ranyin said blandly. “Also just wandering around the investigation scene this time?”
“Actually, I’m here to visit a friend,” Ji Xun said, rolling the plum in his mouth with his tongue. “But based on common sense, I deduced that you or someone from your team would come to Sunshine Hospital today or tomorrow at the latest. So, it wouldn’t be wrong to say I came here specifically to check up on you.”
“And what did you find?”
“A small, insignificant thing.”
Ji Xun shook his phone, turned on the Bluetooth, and sent the photo to Huo Ranyin, while asking, “How many people’s DNA were at the scene?”
“Besides the deceased, two. One is Zeng Peng, the other is Tang Jinglong.”
Huo Ranyin’s phone received the photo. He glanced at it; it was a picture focused on the thermos in Tang Jinglong’s hand. The thermos had a small cloud logo printed on it, with a simple drawing of a coffee cup next to it, looking like a promotional gift from some coffee shop.
“You suspect Tang Jinglong?” Huo Ranyin asked. “At the time of the victim’s death, he was traveling out of town with his wife.”
“Oh, it seems this is a twin murder case.”
“…”
“Of course, the one traveling with his wife was the twin, and the one who committed the murder was him. As we all know, identical twins have the same DNA, but fraternal twins do not. From this point, a side plot could emerge about whether Tang Jinglong engaged in wife-swapping—”
“Ji Xun,” Huo Ranyin cut him off, impatience written all over his face. “Tang Jinglong is listed as an only child on his household registration.”
“Perhaps there’s a long-lost brother. Aren’t novels about long-lost siblings all the rage right now? Art imitates life, and life is often more absurd than art.”
“Is talking nonsense very interesting?”
“Ha…” Ji Xun chuckled. “Alright, so besides the deceased, there are two DNA samples. Captain Huo, do you think Zeng Peng or Tang Jinglong is the murderer? They both have alibis. Looking at Zeng Peng, the motive might also be insufficient, right?”
“We can’t rule out a third person.”
“That must be a cautious, fully-equipped killer, careful to avoid leaving even a single hair behind. Either they were in a bizarre costume or they are a master sweeper. Zeng Peng, Tang Jinglong, the hardworking third party. It’s the classic ‘choose one of three’ scenario again,” Ji Xun smiled flippantly, then asked abruptly, “Who does Captain Huo think it is?”
Huo Ranyin’s brow furrowed slightly. Before he could speak, Ji Xun had already come to his own conclusion, “It seems we agree. A third party isn’t suspenseful enough, so the killer is Tang Jinglong. Otherwise, Captain Huo would have no need to come back to see what I have after already questioning Tang Jinglong and Rao Fangjie. So…”
He looked at Huo Ranyin, a playful curve on his lips:
“How exactly did Tang Jinglong fly over several thousand kilometers to kill the victim that day?”
He finished the plum in his mouth and wanted to shoot the pit into the trash can like a basketball, but under the watchful eye of an elderly sanitation worker, Ji Xun politely spat the pit into his palm and gently placed it in the wet waste bin.
After he was done, he clapped his hands and, before leaving, seemed to remember something and turned back with a smile:
“By the way, don’t take a novelist’s words seriously. Twins and all that, it’s boring and cliché. Reality wouldn’t be so unexciting.”
The two people on the lawn left one after another. The elderly sanitation worker was still diligently cleaning the area, but as she bent down to pick something up, a pair of dirty sneakers stopped in front of her.
The shoes were so dirty that a half-eaten vegetable leaf stuck to them hadn’t been removed, something the owner could have easily fixed with a simple bend of the waist.
What a slob, has no one told him?
The sanitation worker grumbled inwardly.
__
The dream came again.
Dreams are such uninvited guests. Even if no one opens the door for them, they will find a way to slip into your mind.
Xia Youqing was familiar with this numbness. Ever since Xi Lei’s death, she was always lost in the illusion that the other was still alive. She knew it was fake, a hallucination born from her heart’s unwillingness to let Xi Lei go.
But this illusion had persisted for several days, unearthing all the bits and pieces of her time with Xi Lei that she had neatly packed away in her memory box.
The first thing she heard was her own crying. The surroundings were a mess—broken glass, tissues, pillows, quilts, a thermos. She had smashed everything like a madwoman and could only curl up in a corner, sobbing in a state of collapse.
She didn’t even know what she was crying about. Was it the sleepless nights or the despair of early pregnancy that made her vomit every three to five minutes? But every woman gets pregnant, every woman can have a child. Why were they all fine, while she alone couldn’t bear it?
Xi Lei silently wrapped her arms around her, gently patting her back.
Although the other was two years younger than her, she was comforting her like an older sister—that was because she didn’t understand her pain at all; no one understood her pain!
A venomous snake was biting at her heart. She almost wanted to push Xi Lei away, and in front of her, open the window and jump. This was what Xi Lei owed her. If Xi Lei hadn’t stopped her from walking into the road, maybe she would have been free long ago!
But when she looked up, Xi Lei’s eyes did not hold comfort or pity, but insight and understanding. She said nothing, only moved closer, pressing her ordinary but warm cheek against hers.
Her crying gradually stopped. Xi Lei looked at her, but her gaze was so distant, as if she could see through her, through this room, through the boundary between life and death. Then Xi Lei gave a compassionate smile, placed something in her hand, and opened her mouth…
A sharp pain from her stomach pulled Xia Youqing from the dream.
It was the same every night. No matter how she slept, the pain from her abdomen would wake her up at a fixed time. It was like a tumor, a tumor attached to her, absorbing her nutrients.
She opened her eyes and saw the familiar room. A few months ago, she had smashed everything in it, and then her memory became blurry. It was only now that she finally remembered: Xi Lei had placed a doll in her hand.
She was holding a long-haired doll. The doll was chubby, round, and wore a blue dress with pink flowers.
But it had no eyes.
Empty white pupils stared at her.
Her blood ran cold, but Xi Lei’s quiet, gentle voice soothed her:
“Don’t be afraid. She will protect you. They will all protect you. And I, Qingqing, I will take good care of you. I definitely will.”
In the night-filled room, there was the sound of a rat gnawing on wood. It wasn’t a rat hidden in a shadowy corner, but Xia Youqing’s bones. She was trembling, her bones knocking against each other, clattering, like a rat gnawing on wood.
They compelled her:
Do something—you must do something.
__
Ji Xun caught Xia Youqing in a coffee shop downstairs from a pharmaceutical company. As he entered the coffee shop, he deliberately looked up at the sign—Zero Point Coffee, no clouds, not the same as the logo on the thermos Tang Jinglong was holding.
When he saw Xia Youqing, she saw him too. Compared to him, who was idly doodling on a tablet and drinking coffee, Xia Youqing’s expression was as if she had seen a ghost in broad daylight.
He placed his tablet face down on the table, waved to Xia Youqing, and had the pregnant woman sit across from him. Before greeting her, he couldn’t help but yawn again and had to take another gulp of black coffee.
“So surprised to see me?”
“How did you—”
“How did I end up here? How did I know Tang Jinglong works in this building? How did I know you would sneak off to investigate on your own?” Ji Xun’s tone was casual. “Wouldn’t it be strange if I didn’t show up? Compared to such obvious things, I’m more curious about you…”
This time, Ji Xun looked hesitant and rubbed his brow.
“A woman who is six months pregnant – what was she thinking, daring to do something so dangerous on her own? Do you think you’re writing ‘The Pregnant Detective’ or ‘Chasing the Killer with a Baby Bump’?”
“…”
“Being pregnant is certainly a very strong memorable point,” Ji Xun analyzed frankly. “But crime fiction inevitably involves action scenes, and readers probably wouldn’t want to see a pregnant woman involved in any action. They would think it’s idiotic. I think so too.”
“…”
“Why aren’t you talking?” Ji Xun asked again.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Xia Youqing said with a tense face.
“Let’s go.” Ji Xun finished his coffee and stood up from his seat.
Xia Youqing didn’t move. She sat there, her voice slightly rushed, “Ji Xun, I wasn’t trying to do anything strange. I wanted to see Tang Jinglong. I put a micro-camera in the second button of my clothes. Maybe Tang Jinglong won’t be so wary of a pregnant woman, and if he slips up during our conversation, you’ll be able to spot it right away. I absolutely did not distrust you.”
“I didn’t think you distrusted me either…” Ji Xun said casually.
It wasn’t uncommon for the family and friends of a deceased person to do things that interfere with an investigation out of excessive grief and anger. Ji Xun wasn’t angry about Xia Youqing’s actions. It was just that from his perspective, he needed to warn her to be careful, in case she interfered with solving the case, in case she got hurt in this incident.
“I just… I just have to do something for Xi Lei… for the person who always took care of me. I can’t just push everything onto you and wait for the result—I can’t wrong her like that.”
Ji Xun’s gaze fell on Xia Youqing.
She could hardly breathe.
Xi Lei was her only close friend, and her death was like a spiderweb, binding her tightly. She struggled desperately within it, and in the end, she was still struggling.
“Let me tell you about my investigation process,” Ji Xun said suddenly.
Xia Youqing’s struggling stopped, her gaze eagerly latching onto him.
“According to normal procedure, first we observe the crime scene, then we investigate the deceased’s social circle, and finally, we understand the deceased’s movements before death. With these three steps, most cases can be solved. Since the police are definitely doing this, there’s no need for us to repeat the work. We just need to know the results of their investigation.”
“Case information is confidential, how would you know?” Xia Youqing asked subconsciously.
“Oh, just follow them and see where they focus their efforts in the end. Just like what we did at Sunshine Hospital,” Ji Xun said as if it were nothing. “That’s not important. Do you remember the crime scene?”
Xia Youqing had just opened her mouth.
Ji Xun, as if knowing what she was about to say, waved his hand, “It’s okay if you don’t know, I’ll just tell you.”
Xia Youqing obediently closed her mouth.
“There was a bouquet of flowers at the scene, placed in a glass vase with no water. The killer brought it—because if Xi Lei had bought it herself or if someone had given it to her, she obviously wouldn’t have forgotten to add water to the vase; and the killer had no reason to pour the water out of the vase.”
“The killer came to see Xi Lei with flowers…” Ji Xun said slowly. “After killing her, they chose not to take the flowers with them, but they tore off the wrapping paper, which might have had a shop’s logo, and casually put the bouquet in a vase before leaving in a hurry.”
“Tang Jinglong!” Xia Youqing blurted out.
“Tang Jinglong is indeed very suspicious, but we can’t rule out another possibility here: if the killer pretended to be a flower delivery person, saying someone had ordered flowers for Xi Lei, she would have opened the door too—this bouquet is a key.”
Ji Xun flipped over the tablet that was face down on the table.
It was a sketch of the bouquet from the crime scene that day.
“Later, you can help me search for flower shops in the city to see which one sells bouquets like this.”
Xia Youqing obediently nodded again.
“As for now…”
“I’m sorry, I’ll go back.” Xia Youqing lowered her head.
“I didn’t tell you to go back,” Ji Xun interrupted her.
Xia Youqing looked up in confusion and saw Ji Xun’s eyes. His eyes were dark, as black as the night. In the depths of the black night, there was an incredible sense of tolerance and gentleness.
“I’ll take you up to meet Tang Jinglong. Also, you’ve already done a lot. You came to me, you led the police to discover the body, you provided a valuable time advantage for solving the case and tracking the killer.”
“…It’s not enough.”
After a brief moment of daze, the vulnerability disappeared from her face, and strength covered her again like armor. Her left hand was loosely closed in a strange posture, as if another person was holding her hand.
“I only did a little, insignificant thing.”
But Lei Lei saved me.
The morning and evening rushes were the busiest times in the office building. When Ji Xun and Xia Youqing got on the elevator, the sizable elevator was packed full. Some people in a hurry decided not to wait for the elevator and took the stairs next to it instead.
The elevator ascended. Inside was a delivery man holding a large, transparent box. Inside the box was a bouquet of flowers. Ji Xun glanced over and saw the densely packed petals at the bottom of the box, and the delivery slip stuck to it.
The recipient was Tang Jinglong.
The floor arrived, and the people in the elevator filed out. Ji Xun deliberately pulled Xia Youqing back a step. By the time they got out of the elevator, Tang Jinglong had already come to the front desk and was looking at the flowers in his hand with a hint of confusion. But the confusion didn’t stop his actions. He opened the box and took out the bouquet.
Then, something unexpected happened.
With a “buzz,” several bees flew out from the flowers and towards Tang Jinglong.
Ji Xun’s pupils reflected the image of the bees, as well as Tang Jinglong’s shocked and distorted face. He shouted, quickly retracting his arms to cover his face. The bouquet he was holding, along with the box it came in, was thrown away by him, and he himself fell to the ground in an agitated stumble.
The bouquet hit the wall and landed on the ground, and more bees crawled out from it. The plastic box fell even further, landing at Ji Xun’s feet. The petals laid inside spilled out from the open end, like a red velvet carpet, dotted with the bodies of butterflies and bees.
Ji Xun’s gaze shifted from the bouquet to the box.
In front of Xi Lei’s body, there was also a bouquet of flowers.
He wrapped his hand in his clothes, pushed aside the petals and insect corpses on the ground, and in the depths of this mess, he saw an MP4 player.
“So retro,” Ji Xun muttered to himself, pondered for a moment, and said to Xia Youqing, “Call the police.”
Before Xia Youqing could act, the MP4 player lit up, as if it had an automatic start device installed.
A pre-set video popped up. It was a surveillance video, and the footage was of Ji Xun on the lawn at Sunshine Hospital. But a mechanical voice accompanied the video, repeating Ji Xun and Xia Youqing’s analysis of Tang Jinglong on the lawn, sentence by sentence.
At the end of the recording, after the surveillance content finished, a black screen appeared, but the voice continued. It said:
“Ji Xun, I believe you. If you say he’s a bad person, then he’s a bad person. Bad people need to be punished.”
The video ended.
The small screen wasn’t big enough for everyone to see the image, but the sound had spread throughout the hallway. The other employees of the pharmaceutical company were all staring at Tang Jinglong, and Tang Jinglong, sitting on the ground, also looked around in panic.
The eerie atmosphere, just like the fear on Tang Jinglong’s face at this moment, gathered drop by drop in the large box that was the office building.
Wow, so exciting. With this kind of imagination, why not write a novel?
Ji Xun thought irritably.
After a while, someone went to help Tang Jinglong up, “Are you okay?”
“Call the police,” Ji Xun said again to Xia Youqing. He wasn’t at all anxious about the MP4 player that had put on a show for him without him paying, and even found it very tacky. He didn’t even have the slightest thought of touching the thing. He stood up from the ground. “Let the police handle this cliché prank.”
“Don’t call the police!”
Just as Xia Youqing took out her phone, Tang Jinglong’s voice followed. He hadn’t even stood up from the ground yet, but his face was already plastered with a layer of shaky, false composure.
“It’s just a prank, no need to involve the police. Help me get that thing, I don’t know which of my competitors is playing a joke on me.”
The person supporting Tang Jinglong let go of his hand and took two steps forward, preparing to pick up the MP4 player.
The atmosphere at the scene became even stranger. Ji Xun watched coldly. The silence was broken by an abrupt footstep. The footstep came from behind, but not from the elevator; the elevator’s distinctive opening sound hadn’t rung.
The person had been hiding in the stairwell all along!
Ji Xun turned around warily.
Another delivery man appeared, holding a delivery box and wearing a delivery uniform.
His first step out was to throw away his hat and delivery box. His second step was to pull a wooden stick from his clothes.
It was Zeng Peng!
The last time Ji Xun saw him, he was a timid, slow-moving man who barely lifted his head.
But this time, he stood tall, strode forward, his face grim.
In a flash, Ji Xun understood the strange feeling he had about Zeng Peng since he first saw him—this person was a jackal, who had merely put on a sheep’s skin for a stable life, for his girlfriend.
But a wolf is always a wolf.
Now that Xi Lei was dead, the sheep’s skin on him had also been torn to shreds.
The moment he saw this man, Ji Xun knew what Zeng Peng wanted to do. Zeng Peng believed Tang Jinglong was the killer and wanted to avenge Xi Lei! His reason commanded his body to rush forward, and he did take a step. But—
“Ji Xun!”
Xia Youqing cried out nervously. Her voice was suddenly distorted, twisted into a strange tone.
A tone that remained in his memory.
Reason and instinct split. He did something that was perhaps understandable but completely meaningless. He subconsciously protected Xia Youqing, who was behind him.
This was indeed meaningless.
Zeng Peng didn’t even glance in their direction. He crossed the final distance in large strides and arrived in front of Tang Jinglong.
He raised the wooden stick high.
The jackal brandished its sharp claws.
He smashed it down fiercely.
The jackal tore its prey to shreds.
“Bang—”
