Chapter 117: Another One Dies
Zhang Qingzhi looked at Yang Ziyan. "Brother Ziyan, I can’t believe Liu Shan and Wang Hua were the ones who killed Li Deming.
Does that mean we can leave now?"
Yang Ziyan gave her an inscrutable look, then stood up and asked the officer on guard, "Excuse me, are we free to go?
My girlfriend has been through a scare, and I’d like to take her home to rest."
Zhao Shuo walked over at that moment and looked at them. "The case of Li Deming is temporarily closed, but we now suspect that Ruan Zhixia’s disappearance is connected to you."
Zhao Shuo sat down in front of them as he spoke, his gaze fixed on Zhang Qingzhi.
"Zhang Qingzhi, I heard that during casting for the opera *Three Battles with the White Bone Spirit*, you and Ruan Zhixia had a dispute over the role of the White Bone Demon.
Liu Shan said that he and Wang Hua got into that argument with Li Deming because of you."
Zhao Shuo stared at Zhang Qingzhi.
Zhang Qingzhi looked at Yang Ziyan in a panic. "Brother Ziyan, you have to believe me. I... I didn’t know anything about this.
I just thought of them as big brothers. I have no idea why they got the wrong idea."
After her explanation, Zhang Qingzhi looked at Zhao Shuo. "Officer, Ruan Zhixia and I get along very well. As for the dispute over the role you mentioned, I was the one who was originally cast as the White Bone Demon.
I don’t know what Zhixia said to the troupe leader afterward, but he ended up recasting the part. I’m the real victim here.
I knew even less about what Liu Shan and his friends were doing. You can’t blame me for a murder they chose to commit, can you?"
Zhao Shuo’s gaze shifted between the two of them before turning to Chen Meihua, who sat listlessly in the corner.
"Chen Meihua, do you have anything to say about your son, Liu Shan?"
Chen Meihua wiped away nonexistent tears, her eyes red as she looked at Zhao Shuo. "The day my boy came back, I saw he was injured, so I took him to the hospital.
I didn’t know he’d killed someone. If he really is the murderer, I... I have nothing to say. It’s only right to pay for murder with your life."
Zhao Shuo nodded at her words. He looked over at Chen Kai and Guo Tianqi. The surveillance footage showed that Guo Tianqi hadn’t gone to the gathering that day, and everything was normal before Chen Kai left. Both of them could be completely ruled out as suspects.
Zhao Shuo looked at Zhang Qingzhi and Yang Ziyan. Out of the original twelve people, three were now dead and one was missing.
The door opened and a colleague walked in, whispering a few words in his ear.
Zhao Shuo looked at the people in front of him. "Until this case is closed, none of you are to leave the city. You can go home for now."
Yang Ziyan helped Zhang Qingzhi walk out, and the others followed them, leaving together.
"Stay on them. Report anything immediately."
"Right."
Jiang Li watched them leave.
Guo Tianqi’s steps faltered for a moment, but then he continued on his way.
"I bet Zhang Qingzhi has something to do with this."
The team sat down and started analyzing the case. Past experience told them that any case Jiang Li dreamed about was never as simple as it seemed.
Having drunk her fill, Jiang Li suddenly felt sleepy. She leaned against the wall and dozed off.
Miao Anji looked down at himself and saw he wasn’t wearing a proper jacket. He grabbed a piece of clothing from nearby and draped it over her.
The others instinctively lowered their voices. No one noticed that the little snake Miao Anji always carried with him was gone.
"Ruan Zhixia, I was wrong! I was drunk that day! If you have a score to settle, go after the one responsible! You... you, don’t come for me! I’m begging you!"
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The solid thuds of a kowtow and trembling pleas for mercy echoed through the room. The curtains by the window billowed, and a wind chime tinkled nonstop.
The White Bone Demon, face covered in blood and wearing a blood-stained costume, flashed past the window. He screamed in terror.
FZZT! FZZT!
The lights in the room began to flicker nonstop, illuminating a horrifying face.
As the lights flickered, bloody handprints appeared on the wall. Objects around the room were knocked over, creating piercing, horrifying sounds.
He collapsed onto the floor, his heart pounding.
CRASH! A glass bottle shattered. The makeup mirror on the desk fell, and in its reflection, Liu Shan stared with wide-open eyes, blood pouring from them. His good hand was twisted like a pretzel.
Jiang Li woke with a start, unconsciously tightening her grip on Miao Anji’s hand.
Miao Anji was startled too. He reached out to pat her back, comforting her softly. "Sister, it’s okay. Don’t be scared, don’t be scared."
The conversation among the others came to a halt, and all eyes turned to her.
"I... I dreamed that Liu Shan died."
Zhao Shuo stood up. "How is that possible? He’s in..."
An officer ran out, his face pale. "It’s bad! Liu Shan is dead!"
The group shot to their feet and rushed to look at the room where Liu Shan was being held.
In the chair, Liu Shan was bleeding from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. The hand resting at his side was twisted into a pretzel—exactly as she had seen in her dream.
Zhao Shuo stared in horror at the scene before him. "This is insane. It’s like we’re haunted. Two deaths in one day."
And both happened right here in the station, right under our noses!
"Pull up the surveillance footage!" Zhou Tiancheng said hurriedly.
Soon, the video was playing.
In the footage, an anxious Liu Shan sat in the chair. As time ticked by, the same expression that had been on Wang Hua’s face appeared on his.
Then, he took his own cuffed hand and brutally twisted it into a pretzel, before slamming his head against the table again and again.
By the time officers reached him, Liu Shan was convulsing. His legs shot out, his eyes bulged, and then... he was gone.
"Should we... call Wu Ming to take a look?"
Zhao Shuo swallowed nervously, a wave of post-traumatic fear washing over him. It had been less than an hour and a half since Wang Hua died, and now both men were dead in the same bizarre manner.
Zhou Tiancheng stared at the two surveillance videos. In both, the men seemed to go mad without warning and kill themselves, as if they had witnessed something terrifying.
"It’s Ruan Zhixia. In my dream, Liu Shan saw Ruan Zhixia, and then he died. Ruan Zhixia is probably already dead, murdered by them.
What Liu Shan saw must have been Ruan Zhixia coming back for revenge. The place in my dream... it must have been Liu Shan’s house."
Jiang Li looked up at the others and described the scene from her dream.
"So, not only did Liu Shan and Wang Hua kill Li Deming, but they also murdered Ruan Zhixia."
Jiang Li nodded. "Something unspeakable must have happened on the day of the gathering."
Zhou Tiancheng looked at Zhao Shuo. "Take some men and search Yunding Mountain Villa thoroughly. Xingye, you go too. Actually, forget it, all of you go. If Wu Ming is free, have him go along as well."
’This is too damn freaky,’ he thought. ’The police alone can’t handle this. In desperate times, you have to be willing to bend your beliefs a little.’
"Okay."
Zhao Shuo went down to get the car.
Qin Shu came in with her team to examine Liu Shan’s body. The initial findings were the same as Wang Hua’s, but a full autopsy would be required for details.
It was still possible they had been drugged.
Jiang Li turned her head and saw Miao Anji squatting by a nearby flowerbed. A second later, he plucked an insect from it.
Jiang Li froze for a second. ’How does he manage to find bugs everywhere?’
Miao Anji stared at the Gu Worm in his hand, his expression displeased. He walked over to a trash can, looking down at the squirming Gu Worm as his face turned cold.
SQUISH. He crushed it, tossed it into the can, then took a tissue from his bag to wipe his fingers.
After wiping them clean, he couldn’t resist bringing his fingers to his nose for a sniff. He smiled, satisfied. It smelled pleasantly of the wet wipe.