Seeing Crime Scenes in My Sleep

After dinner, Jiang Li took Miao Anji to the police station. Miao Anji was in high spirits the entire way.

When they arrived at the station, Jiang Li followed Ji Qinghe to Qin Shu’s domain. Two bodies lay in the morgue.

"The deceased is Li Chang, forty-eight years old, leader of the opera troupe. Cause of death was falling off a cliff after losing his footing. Two days before the incident, they went to Yunding Mountain Villa to celebrate a successful performance, according to the person who filed the report, Liang Zhilin.

Li Chang had been drinking at the time and insisted on going up the mountain no matter what. By the time they went looking for him, he was already gone. They later came to the station to file a report, and someone subsequently found Li Chang’s body at the bottom of the cliff.

The autopsy report shows that Li Chang did indeed have a large amount of alcohol in his system."

After speaking, Qin Shu glanced at Jiang Li. "The other deceased, Li Deming, is Li Chang’s son. He has clear ligature marks on his neck and a large amount of soil under his fingernails. A belt was found not far from where the body was buried.

We can determine that the deceased was strangled from behind by the killer in the mountains, leading to asphyxiation. He struggled violently. For now, the analysis results for the shovel and the belt are not back yet."

Ji Qinghe listened to Qin Shu’s analysis. "So it was the father and son who died. Li Deming died after Li Chang fell from the cliff. Could it be that Li Deming discovered the real cause of Li Chang’s death and was then killed to be silenced?"

Jiang Li looked at the three of them, then took out her phone to check against the list of troupe members. "Who was the one who filed the report?"

There were too many people; she was having trouble remembering them all.

"Liang Zhilin. He plays Zhu Bajie," Zhou Tiancheng said, walking in with a file.

Jiang Li nodded. "So it wasn’t Tang Seng or the village girl. Officer Ji, I can’t make sense of it all. Let me tell you what I know, and you can analyze it."

"I dreamed about the troupe’s performance. During the dream, I can confirm that I saw things from the perspectives of the village girl, Tang Seng, Sha Wujing, and the old woman. Tang Seng and Sha Wujing both like the village girl, but the village girl seems to like Sun Wukong. And then... there was the scene of the body being buried last night."

Jiang Li described the scenes from her dream to Ji Qinghe, who made special notes of the people whose perspectives Jiang Li had experienced.

"Zhao Shuo has already gone to summon them. He should be back in a little while," Ji Qinghe said, looking at Jiang Li.

Zhou Tiancheng sat down beside them. "According to our investigation, Li Chang was extremely strict and harsh with the troupe. He wouldn’t tolerate the slightest mistake. There have been several performance accidents in the past where a few members were severely injured. A revenge killing is a possibility.

Secondly, based on the perspectives Jiang Li mentioned, we can’t rule out a crime of passion.

We’ll interrogate them carefully once they arrive. Forensic Doctor Qin, the fingerprint analysis on the weapon—that should be ready today, right?"

"Yes," Qin Shu replied before heading off to get back to work.

Ji Qinghe and Zhou Tiancheng watched the surveillance footage from the mountain villa.

Jiang Li and Miao Anji sat to the side, waiting.

Miao Anji was looking down, his fingers flying across his phone as he typed.

Jiang Li watched his flying fingers for a moment, then glanced around before taking out her own phone to check her messages. Nothing particularly important.

Lu Xingye came limping in, clutching his lower back and grimacing in pain. ’Huo Qing really didn’t hold back.’

Hearing the noise, Jiang Li looked up.

Lu Xingye hadn’t expected to see Jiang Li there. He immediately straightened up. "Ahem, why aren’t you at home getting some rest?"

"It’s fine. I’m just sitting here anyway," Jiang Li said, smiling at Lu Xingye.

Lu Xingye nodded and walked over to his desk. He picked up a case file and started reading, his gaze occasionally drifting toward Jiang Li in the distance.

Jiang Li picked up her phone and began typing notes in her memo app: vital points on the human body, and how to respond to certain emergencies.

Lu Xingye watched the two of them sitting in the distance, both holding their phones and typing furiously. He scratched his head in confusion. ’What are they doing?’

Lu Xingye stood up to get some water, but a sharp ache shot through his lower back the next second, and he almost cried out in pain.

Jiang Li committed the images in her mind to memory. ’I should practice more in my free time to consolidate my skills.’

Holding a cup of water, Lu Xingye walked over to Jiang Li and glanced at her hands.

Jiang Li’s hands froze. She turned off her phone screen and looked up at him.

Lu Xingye touched the tip of his nose. "Ahem, do you two want some water?"

"No thanks. I ordered something nice for Sister to drink," Miao Anji said with a smile, turning Lu Xingye down.

Lu Xingye nodded and took the opportunity to sit down next to them, his mind racing as he tried to think of a conversation starter.

"This is a peace charm I got from Wu Ming. You..."

"Thanks."

Jiang Li hadn’t even finished speaking before Lu Xingye happily took it from her hand. He then held it, turning it over and over, unable to put it down.

Jiang Li froze for a second, then pulled back her hand and looked down at her phone.

After they had been sitting for a while, Zhao Shuo came in with the rest of the opera troupe. Jiang Li immediately spotted the "village girl," Zhang Qingzhi, in the crowd.

The moment Zhang Qingzhi saw Jiang Li, her heart skipped a beat. She had clearly recognized her too.

After learning why they had been summoned, the group members spoke one after another.

Wang Hua, who played the Leopard Monster: "I don’t know. I drank too much that day and passed out. I only found out something had happened after I woke up. There are security cameras in the hallway, you can check them. I never left my room after I went in."

Guo Tianqi: "I don’t like crowds, so I didn’t go."

Chen Kai, the Wolf Monster: "After I finished eating, Guo Tianqi came to get me, and I left. Here are the chat logs. We went to the Midnight Bar after that."

Liu Shan, who played the Tiger Monster: "The troupe leader went out and never came back, so Liang Zhilin and I went into the mountains to look for him. He can vouch for me."

Chen Meihua, the old woman: "Liu Shan is my son. My legs were bothering me that day, so I didn’t go with them. When Liu Shan came back, he’d twisted his ankle, so I went to bandage it."

Sun Cong, Sha Wujing: "I don’t know. I drank too much that day, too. By the time I woke up, the incident had already happened. As for Li Deming, I was exhausted after the party and just rested at home."

Yang Ziyi, Tang Seng: "We only found out about the troupe leader later. As for Li Deming, I don’t know. At the time you mentioned, Qingzhi and I were on a date."

Zhang Qingzhi wiped her tears: "I was the one who suggested the party. I just wanted to celebrate, I never thought something like this would happen. As for Li Deming, I only just found out about him."

Zhao Shuo and the other officers listened to their statements while colleagues went to verify the information.

Zhao Shuo looked up, his expression blank. "We’ve already found the weapon used to murder Li Deming at the crime scene, as well as a shovel. Our team is currently running fingerprint comparisons. Until the analysis is complete, none of you can leave."

After speaking, Zhao Shuo’s gaze swept over each of their faces. ’A crime this full of holes was clearly unplanned. There must have been a dispute.’

Jiang Li looked at Guo Tianqi, who hadn’t said a word. ’He’s the one who was staring at me in court.’

"Where’s Ruan Zhixia?" Zhao Shuo glanced at the list. Besides the deceased, the only one missing was Ruan Zhixia, who played the White Bone Demon.

"N-no, we don’t know. Ruan Zhixia left early that day. We haven’t seen her since, we don’t know where she went," Zhang Qingzhi answered quickly.

"Hold out your hands," Zhao Shuo said, looking at the group. ’They’re all being pretty tight-lipped.’

Confused, the group members exchanged glances and held out their hands. Zhao Shuo examined them one by one.

A wave of panic washed over Zhang Qingzhi. ’Don’t tell me they’ve figured something out?’

Zhao Shuo looked at each person’s hands, his gaze finally pausing on Wang Hua’s for a few seconds.

Zhao Shuo and Lu Xingye exchanged a look. "Please have a seat and wait," Zhao Shuo said to the group.

With that, the officers left one after another, leaving the troupe members alone in the room.

Ji Qinghe watched the group on the monitor. They all had their own stories, but it was obvious that every one of them was hiding something.

After coming out, Zhao Shuo went to confer with his colleagues.

Jiang Li watched them through the glass.

Yang Ziyi had his arm around Zhang Qingzhi, comforting her. Sun Cong watched them jealously. Chen Meihua and Liu Shan sat huddled together off to one side.

Guo Tianqi was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

"Brother Ziyan, this has nothing to do with us. The troupe leader slipped and fell on his own, and I know even less about Li Deming.

Making us stay here at the police station for no reason... this atmosphere is terrifying."

"It’s okay, Qingzhi. The innocent have nothing to fear," Yang Ziyi whispered comfortingly, his arm still around Zhang Qingzhi. His gaze flickered toward Guo Tianqi.

’Ruan Zhixia is missing, yet he’s acting so calm.’

A moment later, the group was taken in for individual interrogations.