Seeing Crime Scenes in My Sleep

"The locksmith, Old Li, is forty-one this year and lives in 10-1. According to the hallway surveillance footage, Old Li came down the stairs that day."

Zhao Shuo looked at Old Li with a stern expression. "Old Li, what were you doing at He Ming’s home?"

Li Shen snorted and turned his head away. "That’s just your side of the story. What proof do you have?"

Lu Xingye held up a bagged cigarette butt. "This is the proof."

Lu Xingye handed the cigarette butt to a colleague.

Li Shen stared at the cigarette butt in Lu Xingye’s hand, his brow furrowed. He couldn’t quite remember. ’What does a cigarette butt have to do with anything?’

Lu Xingye raised an eyebrow. ’The analysis will take time. I might as well try to rattle him first.’

"We found an identical cigarette butt at He Ming’s door, and the way it was stubbed out is exactly the same."

Li Shen’s eyes widened for a moment, but he quickly composed himself. "Lots of men smoke. You can’t pin it on me just because of a cigarette butt."

"We can’t prove it with just words, that’s true, but the lab results will be back soon. If you confess honestly, we’ll be lenient.

Otherwise, you’ll be a suspect in the disappearance of He Ming and Kong Zhen."

Li Shen swallowed nervously, a thin layer of sweat breaking out on his hairline. He had only just heard about what happened at He Ming’s place. It was hard not to know, with the police coming to the complex every day.

"Old Li, I hear your grandson was just born at the hospital." Lu Xingye’s single sentence sent Li Shen into a panic.

"I... I just wanted to get inside and steal some money. But before I could find any, I heard a noise outside, so I hid. I only ran out after it was quiet again.

I only wanted to steal a little cash. Kong Zhen has millions of followers, and I heard she makes a lot from a single ad. I just got a bad idea."

Li Shen looked at them with a miserable expression. He just hadn’t been thinking straight.

"Do you know Qin Hao?"

Li Shen was baffled. "Who’s Qin Hao?"

Seeing his reaction, a wave of disappointment washed over them. It looked like the lead had gone cold again.

For the attempted theft, Li Shen was detained and fined.

"Jiang Li, you should go home and rest for now. We’ll contact you as soon as we have any news. Our tracking will take some more time."

Ji Qinghe looked at Jiang Li and patted her on the shoulder.

Jiang Li nodded. She hadn’t made any new discoveries, and she’d just be waiting around anyway, so she might as well go home.

"Oh, right, Jiang Li. The bonus money for you, your brother, and the others has been deposited into your accounts."

Ji Qinghe remembered and told Jiang Li. ’Come the year-end awards, our station will be full of model officers, rising up the ranks!’

’It’s all thanks to Jiang Li.’

"Okay, thank you, Officer Ji."

After speaking, Jiang Li turned and walked out of the police station. Her gaze was suddenly drawn to a figure in the distance.

The woman was about fifty years old, wearing the same style of clothing as Xiao Ji. She held a wooden staff adorned with silver ornaments and a silver bell.

Jiang Li’s mouth fell open in surprise. ’Isn’t that Xiao Ji’s grandma? What is she doing here all of a sudden?’

Jiang Li walked toward Miao Jiangling.

Miao Jiangling watched Jiang Li approach, surprised for a few seconds herself. Then it belatedly occurred to her that she’d said hello during a video call.

At that thought, the expression on Miao Jiangling’s face changed in an instant, becoming warm and kind as she watched Jiang Li walk over.

"Grandma, are you here looking for Xiao Ji?"

Jiang Li looked nervously at Miao Jiangling. This was the grandma who was supposedly so good to Xiao Ji.

Xiao Ji had been gone with her for several months without going back. It was only natural for his family to be a little upset.

The more Jiang Li thought about it, the more nervous she became, afraid she had done something wrong.

Miao Jiangling smiled kindly. "I’ve already seen that boy, Xiao Ji. I’m looking for a place to stay and just happened to wander over here."

When Jiang Li heard that, she thought, ’How can I let an elder stay somewhere else!’

"Grandma, please come stay at my place! I have plenty of rooms," Jiang Li offered with a smile.

"Oh my, how could I? That would be too much trouble."

Jiang Li quickly waved her hands. "It’s no trouble, no trouble at all."

Miao Anji heard the door open and stood up happily, but when he saw Miao Jiangling behind Jiang Li, his expression briefly darkened.

"Sister, come sit down. You must be exhausted." Miao Anji smiled and guided Jiang Li to the sofa, not forgetting to shoot a warning glance at Miao Jiangling.

Seeing Miao Anji act like this, Miao Jiangling was utterly shocked. ’Is this still the little hellion from the village?’

"Xiao Ji, why didn’t you tell me your grandma was coming? I would have picked her up from the station," Jiang Li whispered to Miao Anji.

"It’s fine, Sister. She likes to walk."

Jiang Li’s mouth twitched.

That evening, after Yu Huannian and Wu Ming returned, they all prepared a huge feast.

"Sis, Officer Ji deposited the bonus money. I’m transferring it to you." Yu Huannian took out his phone to transfer half of it to Jiang Li.

"Why are you sending it to me? Keep it for yourself. You’ll definitely need it later." Jiang Li sent the money back.

Yu Huannian glanced at it. "I can’t just live here for free."

"We’re family, don’t talk about living here for free. Keep it. That way you’ll have some startup capital if you want to do something in the future."

Jiang Li put down her chopsticks and glanced at the other two, who were also getting ready to transfer money. "Really, you don’t have to."

Wu Ming’s eyes instantly sparkled. "Jiang Li, you’re the best! I’m sticking with you for life!"

Wu Ming threw an arm around her shoulder and nuzzled against her affectionately.

Jiang Li smiled happily.

Miao Jiangling watched this scene and understood the situation. None of them were related by blood; it was just like with Miao Anji.

Jiang Li noticed Miao Jiangling’s gaze and felt a little strange.

A while later, she got up to prepare a room for Miao Jiangling. After getting her settled, Jiang Li returned to her own place.

Closing the door, she sat on the small sofa in her room and looked at Little Li.

"Little Li, it seems like Grandma and Xiao Ji aren’t as close as I thought."

Ever since she met Miao Anji, he’s contacted his grandma almost every day.

But since Miao Jiangling arrived, she hasn’t said a single word to Xiao Ji. On the surface, there’s nothing wrong.

But if you truly care about someone, even just a friend, you’d ask them how they’ve been.

And someone from the older generation would never show up empty-handed. She didn’t bring a single thing from their hometown for Xiao Ji.

Little Li crossed her little arms and tilted her head, mimicking Jiang Li. "Sister, Xiao Ji is Xiao Ji, and Grandma is Grandma. If she’s a bad grandma, we’ll turn her over to Officer Ji and make a lot of money!"

Jiang Li chuckled and patted Little Li’s head. "Okay, we’ll do whatever Little Li says. Let’s go to bed. Early to bed, early to rise, makes you healthy."

After Jiang Li fell asleep, a rustling sound came from inside the room. A centipede squeezed through a crack and crawled toward Jiang Li’s bed.

It had just crawled onto the blanket when, in the next second, CRUNCH!

Red Scorpion snipped it in half with one of its large pincers, then treated itself to an extra meal.

"PTHOO!" Miao Jiangling suffered a backlash and spat out a mouthful of black blood. Her eyes flew open, the shock in them not fading for a long time.

"He’s insane, completely insane! Miao Anji actually gave his Life Gu to her."

...

"He Ming told me you have a blood clotting disorder. If I were to make a small cut right here, how long do you think you could last?"

A person with violently cropped hair was locked in a rusty cage. At the sound of the voice, her hand twitched.

"Where’s He Ming? You... what did you do to him...?"