Yuan Hao had just pushed open the door to the interrogation room when he heard Sang Hai’s words. He rebuked, “Should I say you guys are fearless or just naturally foolish and legally illiterate? In this day and age, you still dare to steal artifacts? Do you carry a Luoyang shovel with you as well?”
Sang Hai suddenly became agitated, his face turning red as he stared with wide eyes: “Can law enforcement officers freely slander people? We’re only taking artifacts for research, not stealing!”
Yuan Hao’s mouth twitched, as if he wanted to retort. However, Hua Chong raised his hand, signaling him not to speak. Then, he looked at Sang Hai, running his hand through his hair, “Have you ever taken artifacts from other archaeological sites to study?”
“No,” Sang Hai answered straightforwardly this time. “It’s not that easy! This time, we happened to be in Luocheng, so we wanted to try our luck.”
“You didn’t. Are you sure that Xu Yujiao didn’t either?”
“I…” Songhai paused, his eyes flickered, and his voice lowered, “She said she didn’t.”
“Oh, so this is your first time going to take artifacts?” Hua Chong had a few speculations in mind, but his expression remained calm. “Why didn’t she let you come along?”
Sang Hai struggled for a while, his face turning extremely unpleasant. He gritted his teeth and said angrily: “She was too selfish. She was worried that I’d get the artifacts before she did!”
Yuan Hao showed an incomprehensible expression, unable to understand why a couple would have conflicts over who’d get the artifacts first.
But on second thought, he thought that the behavior of these two people was not in line with common sense.
Which normal person would go to an archaeological site in the middle of the night to steal artifacts?
Hua Chong, however, was much more calm and continued his interrogation: “She didn’t want to go with you, but you went along?”
“I was afraid that something would happen to her! Daoqiao Road is so messy, and she’s a girl…”
Before Sang Hai could finish, Hua Chong interrupted him with a laugh: “My friend, let me remind you, this is the Serious Crime Unit. What are you pretending to be affectionate about in front of me? Save it. Instead of wasting time with this act, you might as well recall what you said earlier before opening your mouth to make yourself look less erratic.”
Sang Hai gritted his teeth and breathed rapidly.
Hua Chong asked again, “The time gap between your two appearances on the surveillance footage is over two hours. Did you find any artifacts during that time?”
Sang Hai shook his head in agony.
“And you…” Hua Chong paused, “found Xu Yujiao, didn’t you?”
Instantly, Sang Hai’s spine straightened up, as stiff as a sculpture.
A few seconds later, his shoulders began to convulse violently, as if he had witnessed an extremely horrifying scene.
Hua Chong lowered his voice and slowed down his speaking speed, “What did you see?”
There was a muffled sound, and Sang Hai’s forehead suddenly hit the edge of the table. Yuan Hao immediately restrained him, shouting, “What the hell are you doing!”
Sang Hai’s lips were white, and crimson blood oozed from the bitten area. He whimpered and shook his head as if he was desperately trying to push the bloody scene out of his mind.
“The surveillance footage shows that when you hastily left Daoqiao Road, you were holding a rectangular box about the size of a palm.” Hua Chong glanced at the video screenshot Yuan Hao had just brought in and asked, “What was inside that box?”
At the mention of the ‘rectangular box’, Sang Hai’s expression changed abruptly, and he stammered, “Nothing, it’s just a regular box.”
“Why won’t you confess honestly?” Hua Chong shook the printed paper in his hand. “After image processing, this thing couldn’t be clearer—it’s a PSV[footnote]Sony’s PlayStation Vita (PS Vita)[/footnote] game card.”
Sang Hai snatched the printed paper, quickly crumpling it in his grip. The sound of the paper rustling echoed in the cramped interrogation room.
“This belongs to Xu Yujiao, right?” Hua Chong asked, “Why did you take it?”
“I had to take it!” Sang Hai choked out, “It’s a game disc I lent her, and my fingerprints are on it! If it’s left there, you’d quickly find out about me!”
Hua Chong shrugged, “But we’re onto you now too. Tell us—what did you do during those two hours, or… what did you see?”
Sang Hai leaned back, his disheveled hair dampened by cold sweat sticking to his forehead.
“I knew Daoqiao Road was chaotic; I had never been there before,” Sang Hai, tilting his head slightly, finally spoke. “Last week, Yujiao mentioned she wanted to visit an excavation site, but I didn’t expect her to go on that Friday. When she contacted me in the morning, she only mentioned having hotpot together in the evening and asked me to bring the PSV game card I bought last time, lending it to her to play. I didn’t think much about it, and when the time came, I went to the subway station near the bank to pick her up.”
“During dinner, she suddenly mentioned going to Daoqiao Road alone later. I was surprised and argued with her, but it couldn’t be considered a heated argument. I sent her to the subway station, and after she left, the more I thought about it, the more dissatisfied I became. I made up my mind and also took the subway. But, once I reached Daoqiao Road, I felt uneasy. The streetlights were either flickering or non-existent, and it was gloomy. I couldn’t distinguish between streets and alleys, and when I saw a relatively well-lit alley, I entered it.”
Having said this, Sang Hai began to wipe his face frequently and his eyes kept scanning downwards.
Hua Chong leaned back in his chair, calmly watching him.
“Daoqiao Road is a mess inside, like a maze. I got confused shortly after entering, couldn’t find the way to the excavation site, and didn’t run into Yujiao. It was almost 12 o’clock, and many houses had turned off the lights. I was panicking and wanted to leave quickly but couldn’t recognize the way. I kept going in circles and ended up in the same place. I even encountered some people.”
Hua Chong asked, “What kind of people?”
“Probably some local hooligans, I don’t know them.” Sang Hai repeated the motion of clenching and releasing his hands, leaving small traces of heat on the table from the sweat. “I didn’t dare to engage with them, so I tried to take paths with no people as much as possible. Somehow, I ended up stumbling into a wasteland.”
Yuan Hao involuntarily leaned forward, but Hua Chong remained calmly against the back of his chair.
Sang Hai paused for a few seconds, his voice trembling again, “I walked for a while in the wasteland, suddenly tripped, and when I turned on the flashlight on my phone to look…”
“It was actually a head!”
The sound of rapid breathing filled the interrogation room.
“I actually didn’t recognize it was Yujiao at first; she was pinned under a wooden board and only her head and legs without feet were visible.” Sang Hai’s face turned pale, and his speech alternated between quick and slow. “Her eyes were gone, just two bloody holes. I was so scared that I couldn’t move. I fell down all of a sudden, and it took me a while to see a corner of her skirt.”
“Then what?” Hua Chong asked. “What did you do?”
“My mind was completely messed up at that time. I used my clothes to cover my hands and lifted the wooden board to confirm if it was her.” Sang Hai held his head. “It was really her, really! Her feet were cut off, eyes and ears were gone, her skirt was covered in blood, her bag was missing, but her bank card, ID, and PSV game card were placed nearby. I couldn’t think much at that moment. I didn’t know why she died there and who killed her. I was terrified, afraid of being killed like her, and even more afraid of being considered the murderer. So, I took the PSV game card and left in a hurry. Please believe me; I’m really not the murderer!”
At this moment, Qu Zhi walked in quickly and whispered in Hua Chong’s ear: “The same soil vegetation composition as that of the Daoqiao Road wasteland has been detected on Sang Hai’s sneakers. He indeed went to the crime scene.”
Hua Chong glanced at the almost collapsing Sang Hai and instructed the investigators who were taking statements to take him downstairs for a break.
Qu Zhi asked, “This guy didn’t run away, did he?”
Hua Chong lit a cigarette, “I don’t think so.”
“Who else could it be if not him?” Qu Zhi was skeptical, “The timing matches, we found the shoes, and he had a dispute with Xu Yujiao. The only challenge is the murder weapon. Logically speaking, he took the subway near the Daoqiao Road, so he couldn’t have carried a knife or hammer with him. Still, we can’t rule out the possibility that he may have hidden the weapon in one of the alleys beforehand.”
“He does have a major suspicion, and based on the evidence we have now, he is the only suspect,” Hua Chong leaned against the corridor wall. “But look at him. Does he seem like a psychopathic killer capable of rape and mutilation?”
“What if he’s just faking it?”
“If he’s faking it, can’t I tell?”
Qu Zhi suddenly became discouraged and said, “What should we do? This case has a great social impact. The higher-ups are constantly watching us. If we don’t catch the killer soon, we won’t be able to deal with it.”
“Even so, we can’t just hastily grab him.” Hua Chong patted Qu Zhi on the shoulder and smiled. “It’s not like we didn’t gain anything from interrogating Sang Hai for a long time. At least, we now know why Xu Yujiao went to Daqiao Road late at night.”
As he spoke, he curled his lips and added: “Assuming, of course, that the kid didn’t lie.”
Qu Zhi pondered and said, “Whether he lied or not, can you tell?”
Hua Chong let out a ‘yo’” and said: “Alright, I know you admire me. What would you like to drink? Kang Shifu iced tea or Tongyi iced tea?”
“Stingy!” Quzhi shouted: “At least go for Vita Lemon Tea!”
“Please do.” Hua Chong and Qu Zhi walked toward the staircase together. “Keep Sang Hai in custody for now. Tomorrow, arrange for a few people to revisit Daqiao Road. Sang Hai spent over two hours there on Friday night; someone might have seen him or remembered him.”
“Got it. Do we need to keep an eye on Xu Yujiao’s small villa? What about Xu Qiangsheng’s side?”
“Keep an eye on that too.” Hua Chong said and suddenly turned around as if he felt something and looked towards the other side of the corridor.
Qu Zhi followed suit and turned around but didn’t see anything, “What’s wrong? What are you looking at?”
“Nothing,” Hua Chong frowned slightly. Just a moment ago, he faintly felt a gaze on himself.
It was not the first time he had the feeling of being watched. For five years, he had been relentlessly chasing the trail of that shadowy figure. The eyes hidden in the darkness had coldly stared back at him.
But this time, the gaze from behind seemed different than usual.
It was as if the numbing stickiness of his back had faded, and there was more of an unfamiliar warmth.
He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling that perhaps he was just too exhausted today.
“Captain Hua?” Qu Zhi waved his right hand, “Are you having a headache again?”
Hua Chong laughed, “Always with the headaches. Do you think I’m a frail Lin Daiyu?”[footnote]Lin Daiyu is a character from the classic Chinese novel ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ (also known as ‘The Story of the Stone’ or “红楼梦” in Chinese), written by Cao Xueqin during the 18th century Qing Dynasty. She is described as sickly and being in a delicate health[/footnote]
Qu Zhi chuckled, “You don’t say, the Special Forces treated you like Lin Daiyu. Last winter, when you had a cold, Captain Han was so worried. He argued with our Captain Chen every few days, accusing him of mistreating you.”
“They love to make a fuss,” Hua Chong understood their antics. “Just an excuse to bring me into the conversation. By the way, how’s the investigation going on Xu Yujiao’s computer and communication records?”
T/N: Hellloooooo all, I’m back! Sorry for being MIA for a year. Basically I was too busy to work on two projects on the same time, and since the other novel has less chapter and I also had a lot of chapters already translated, I decided to focus on that first. And now that the novel is completed and no one has picked up this book, I’ll continue to work on this! However, do note that the update will still be sporadic but I’ll try to update once a week.
