Nightmare Apostle

"He was reported by several female employees, saying that Zhou Wenqing used to stare at them, and his gaze was very frightening."

"By the way, among those who reported him was the victim of the second case, Cui Hongying, which was one of the reasons the factory joint defense team identified him as the culprit."

"But after our investigation, Zhou Wenqing had no personal resentment with these female employees, and they had never even been in contact, they were completely not in the same circle."

"Before this incident, Zhou Wenqing’s record was very clean, he hadn’t committed any illegal acts nor had any criminal record, he was simply unpopular."

At this point, Chief Zhou’s expression became serious, and his tone grew heavier, "If these are still just suspicions, then the following few events become even more inexplicable."

"Remember Cui Hongying, the victim of the second case, it was she who came forward to identify Zhou Wenqing, completely confirming his identity as the killer."

"Less than three months after the case occurred, this Cui Hongying left the factory, her whereabouts unknown."

"We contacted higher departments and struggled to find her whereabouts; she was transferred to the towel factory in the neighboring county and even changed her name, she’s now Cui Xiulian," Chief Zhou said.

"Guess who helped her get transferred to the towel factory?" Chief Zhou asked with seeming intention.

"Who?" Yang Xiao pursued further.

"The man is Qian Shouyi, he was the factory leader at the time, newly promoted; before this, he was the head of the factory’s joint defense team."

"Zhou Wenqing’s case was under his charge, and his promotion was directly related to this case."

"There is also a very interesting matter; the case back then had a very adverse impact, causing a large number of female employees in the factory to be anxious and afraid, not daring to go out at night, which delayed the state’s planned work progress."

"So the upper leadership took it very seriously, issued a strict order commanding the factory’s joint defense team to solve the case within a deadline, find the real culprit, and stabilize the people’s hearts."

"And on the day the case was closed, which was also the night of Zhou Wenqing’s self-immolation, there were only two days left until the deadline given by the higher-ups," Chief Zhou sighed.

In fact, hearing this, Yang Xiao understood everything, Zhou Wenqing was taken to bear the guilt.

Anyway, he was not well-liked, and no one in the factory liked him, let alone spoke for him.

Moreover, he did have some suspicion, so everyone went with the flow, turning a blind eye, and settled this matter.

As for Zhou Wenqing... his opinion didn’t matter, whether he was the true murderer didn’t matter, what mattered was that he was dead, the case was solved, the leaders were satisfied, the captain was promoted, the female employees were reassured, and the factory’s task progress caught up... everyone was happy.

A fire, burning away Zhou Wenqing, an insignificant character, an unlikable eccentric, but fulfilled many people.

Yang Xiao took a deep breath, pulled at his collar with one hand, gasping, his chest heavy, for Zhou Wenqing and for this absurd world.

"This Qian Shouyi, and... and that Cui Hongying, what do you plan to do?" Yang Xiao looked at Chief Zhou.

"Thorough investigation, Qian Shouyi is already under our control, now detained in the factory’s security department, Director Zhai is responsible for the interrogation."

"Cui Hongying’s side is a bit more troublesome, but we have already notified the towel factory, they’ve detained her for now, hoping to transfer her to us tomorrow after discussions," Chief Zhou explained.

"How are things going with Qian Shouyi?" Yang Xiao asked again.

"Not well, this guy’s attitude is very rigid, insists Zhou Wenqing was the culprit, says the evidence is rock-solid, and he has enough anti-investigation awareness, breaking through is very difficult."

"But we have found the other joint defense team members involved in the case back then, as long as we break through one of them and get a confession, the rest will be easy." Chief Zhou, experienced in this aspect, knew how to deal with them, fortresses can only be breached from the inside.

In fact, in terms of interrogation, Yang Xiao is the expert, but his means are rather special, not too convenient to exhibit.

But if pushed too far, he wouldn’t mind showing a few tricks; Yang Xiao felt no psychological burden dealing with these guys.

Evil is dealt with by evil; Yang Xiao considered himself a good person, but if necessary, he could temporarily play the villain, even without being human.

While Chief Zhou and Yang Xiao were analyzing the case together, hurried footsteps sounded outside, and then a young team member rushed in recklessly, panting heavily, with a slight but undeniable look of panic on his face: "Report, Chief! The body, the body has appeared!"

Hearing this, Chief Zhou immediately stood up, "Where?!"

"In the auditorium, the main auditorium!" The young man gasped as he ran.

Chief Zhou pushed past the young man standing at the door to bring the news, heading downstairs, with Yang Xiao following closely.

Entering the auditorium, the lights were all on, Yang Xiao heard a woman sobbing.

They saw the corpse at a seat in the right back corner of the auditorium.

The body leaned against the chair back, the whole person arched in an extremely unreasonable manner, the facial skin completely peeled off, retaining the last moment of posture before death.

It’s Feng Xiaoyan, without a doubt, Yang Xiao recognized her immediately.

Yang Xiao turned around, walking towards the front of the auditorium towards the woman who was crying. She was wearing a Cultural Palace staff uniform.