Seeing Crime Scenes in My Sleep

Deng Jin listened to Jiang Li’s words and hesitated for only two seconds. "I believe you!"

Even though he wasn’t in the country, he had friends back home and had heard the rumors about Jiang Li.

Jiang Li felt a bit better. She’d expected to get stuck having to prove herself again.

"In the sea. Get someone to start a salvage operation. Any later, and something terrible might really happen."

Deng Jin nodded, grabbed his phone, and immediately contacted his people, ordering them to head to the coast that very night.

Jiang Li sat for a moment before three people rushed in from outside, looking frantic.

"Hello, is there any news about my wife?" The man in the lead looked haggard, his face etched with worry.

"How’s my best friend? Is she okay?"

The man beside the woman simply glanced over, holding her and offering silent comfort.

Jiang Li took one look at them. ’So this must be the husband, Qiu Jitong; the best friend, Yin Chuman; and the best friend’s boyfriend, Xiao Linfeng.’

"Mr. Qiu, we’ve found some clues, but we have yet to verify if it is indeed your wife, Geng Weiyang."

Deng Jin looked at the three of them. Qiu Jitong claimed his wife had disappeared from a bar, so why would Geng Weiyang turn up in the sea?

According to Jiang Li’s description, she was wearing an oxygen tank. This suggested it wasn’t an accident. For something like this to happen, an acquaintance had to be involved.

Deng Jin’s gaze fell on the clues they had gathered over the last few days. The bar’s security footage showed Geng Weiyang going in but never coming out. Outside the bar, Qiu Jitong had been on the phone for over ten minutes. Initially, they suspected he was calling an accomplice.

But the call was to his home country.

Deng Jin looked up at Geng Weiyang’s best friend, Yin Chuman. "Miss Yin, you said you were with your boyfriend when your best friend went into the bar, is that correct?"

Yin Chuman nodded. "Yes, I was with my boyfriend."

Xiao Linfeng nodded as well. "The four of us came together, but after the party started, we got separated in the crowd. Chuman and I are a couple, so we thought we’d take the opportunity to have some time to ourselves.

"It was only later that we got a call from Deng Jin saying Geng Weiyang was missing."

Listening to them, Deng Jin lowered his head in thought, his scrutinizing gaze drifting between the three.

Jiang Li had said Geng Weiyang was also locked in a cage—a task impossible for one person to accomplish alone.

’A crime of passion?’

According to their previous statements, all four had met in college. Qiu Jitong and Geng Weiyang had gotten together first, and after graduation, Yin Chuman and Xiao Linfeng became a couple.

But the police didn’t know how much of that was true.

He had asked his colleagues back home to look into their university records, but he hadn’t heard back yet.

Jiang Li leaned back lazily on the sofa, watching the scene and listening to their conversation.

’It’s already the middle of the night. The earliest we’ll hear anything is tomorrow.’

Jiang Li glanced at the case beside her, yawned, and drifted off to sleep.

She was jolted awake by a commotion at the crack of dawn. Groggily, she opened her eyes to a chaotic scene.

"Xiao Linfeng, tell me! Was it you, you bastard!

"Didn’t you say confessing your feelings to Weiyang was just a joke for a game of truth or dare?"

Qiu Jitong had Xiao Linfeng by the collar, his already haggard face now twisted into a ferocious snarl.

He and Xiao Linfeng were practically brothers. He had seen Geng Weiyang during his freshman year and fallen in love at first sight, trying every trick in the book to create opportunities to meet her.

Geng Weiyang and Yin Chuman were roommates and got along very well. To woo Geng Weiyang, he often asked Yin Chuman to act as a go-between.

Xiao Linfeng had known from the very beginning that he was in love with Geng Weiyang.

During a party in the second semester of their sophomore year, he went to find Yin Chuman, planning to confess his feelings to Geng Weiyang. But instead, he saw Xiao Linfeng confessing to Geng Weiyang. He was completely stunned.

When Xiao Linfeng saw him, he immediately explained it was just a dare and wasn’t real. And he had believed him.

Last night, desperate for news about Weiyang, he couldn’t sleep and decided to go for a walk to clear his head.

That’s when he overheard Yin Chuman asking Xiao Linfeng if he still had lingering feelings for her best friend.

He was dumbfounded. Then the police called him in and told him that Xiao Linfeng and Geng Weiyang had dated in high school. They were forced to break up after their parents found out and raised hell at the school.

In that moment, he felt like a complete fool. While he was pursuing Geng Weiyang, he would be overjoyed for a whole day if she just replied to his messages instantly.

Xiao Linfeng took several solid punches to the face. "We did have a past," he spat, "but I stopped liking her after that incident! I’ve kept my distance. You saw it with your own eyes, didn’t you?"

’Why would I still like a woman who forced me to make a public apology in front of the entire school? I’m not crazy.’

’He never expected Qiu Jitong to fall for Geng Weiyang, either. Qiu Jitong was hopelessly devoted, so he couldn’t be bothered to say anything.’

’As for that confession, he admitted to himself it was for revenge. He figured if Geng Weiyang had actually said yes, he would have just dumped her spectacularly.’

’But she didn’t agree. Instead, she said that Qiu Jitong was very good to her and that he was the one she liked.’

Yin Chuman sat to the side, looking silently heartbroken.

Deng Jin listened to their argument. "Xiao Linfeng, you said Geng Weiyang made you give a public apology in front of all the teachers and students, making you a laughingstock."

Xiao Linfeng let out a bitter laugh. "You can’t possibly think I held a grudge over that and killed Geng Weiyang, can you?"

"Am I crazy? After working my ass off to secure a stable career, I’m going to throw it all away by killing someone?"

’Am I some kind of idiot? Sure, I was pissed, but not pissed enough to commit murder and destroy my own future.’

Hearing this, Qiu Jitong let go of Xiao Linfeng. Xiao Linfeng had been dead serious about passing the civil service exam, studying so hard he’d forget to eat or sleep. It really didn’t seem possible.

Qiu Jitong broke down, squatting on the floor and clutching his head. "Then who was it? Weiyang was always so well-liked, she didn’t have any enemies. We come to this unfamiliar place and she vanishes the same day."

Seeing Qiu Jitong fall apart, Xiao Linfeng sighed with resignation and patted his shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"Officer," he said, "we heard this area wasn’t very safe before we came. Could it have been a local?"

At this, Qiu Jitong choked back a sob, slapping his own head in frustration. "We never should have come! When Weiyang wanted to come here, I thought it was too dangerous and tried to stop her."

"Then why did you end up coming after all?" Jiang Li, now fully awake, stepped forward to face the three of them.

"Weiyang saw some travel bloggers who said that while this place is a bit rough, it wasn’t as bad as people thought."

Deng Jin pressed further. "So why come? What was your purpose for this trip?"

Qiu Jitong looked up, dazed. "Weiyang said she wanted to come have some fun and look around, so I came with her. There was no specific purpose."

Deng Jin looked at Xiao Linfeng.

Xiao Linfeng quickly added, "They were coming, so I just tagged along."

Yin Chuman said through her sobs, "It was the same for me. Weiyang said she wanted to visit, so I came too."

Deng Jin felt a massive headache coming on. "Let’s just wait for word from the salvage team. The truth will come to light then."

It was the fastest, most direct way to get answers.

Jiang Li’s eyes swept over the three of them before she went to sit down off to the side.

"Captain, the salvage team found her. It’s Geng Weiyang. But she’s in critical condition. They’ve already rushed her to the hospital."

"What!" Yin Chuman cried out.