When Wei Qingzheng arrived at the scene, the corpse had already reached the stage of bloating, and the stench permeated the entire room and the hallway outside. The onlookers had long since dispersed due to the unbearable smell, as it was the kind of odor that lingered even after washing.
"Where is the person who reported the case?" Wei Qingzheng asked, covering his nose and mouth with a gauze mask. The smell was overwhelming, and it took him a moment to adjust before he turned to the police officer beside him.
They were from the major crimes unit, and the local police from the nearby precinct had initially responded to the call. Now that the forensic team was already inside conducting their investigation, Wei Qingzheng decided to first question the person who had reported the case before entering the scene to assess the situation.
The person who had reported the case was a middle-aged man. As the officer guided him forward, he reluctantly stepped closer, enduring the stench. "I was the one who reported it. I own a shop downstairs. The smell has been unbearable for the past couple of days, and I traced it to the apartment above mine. I knocked on the door to talk to the resident about cleaning up, but no one answered. So, I forced the door open and found the owner dead. That's when I called the police."
"So, you forced open someone else's door without permission and discovered the owner was dead, which led you to call the police?" Wei Qingzheng frowned, eyeing the shop owner, who had a menacing appearance with a dragon tattoo on his arm.
This kind of person was exactly the type to resort to such thuggish behavior.
The middle-aged man awkwardly smiled and avoided Wei Qingzheng's gaze. "I... I just thought maybe they were asleep. I didn't expect... they were dead..."
He had a history of petty theft and knew some shady characters, so he thought he could just "reason" his way in.
Wei Qingzheng nodded, glancing at the shoe prints on the floor and then at the chipped paint near the lock. "These shoe prints are yours. What about the chipped paint?"
The man stepped forward to take a look. "The paint came off when I was trying to pick the lock. I got frustrated and kicked the door a couple of times."
"So, the door was properly closed before you broke in?" Wei Qingzheng asked.
The man nodded.
Wei Qingzheng waved his hand, signaling the tattooed shop owner to leave.
A colleague who had been recording the details stepped forward. "There are no signs of forced entry, so it could be someone the victim knew?"
Wei Qingzheng didn't respond but continued to observe the scene inside the room.
The forensic team was in the process of removing the bedding from the corpse. The sheets were soaked with a dark yellow fluid.
The deceased lay flat on the bed, their body in an advanced state of decomposition, emitting a foul odor and covered in gruesome wounds.
At the sight of this, the young officer following Wei Qingzheng bolted out of the room.
Three seconds later, the sound of retching echoed from outside.
Even the seasoned forensic examiner in the room turned pale, pausing for several seconds with a furrowed brow.
Wei Qingzheng suppressed his own physical discomfort caused by the sight and focused on the body of Zhou Qiang.
Based on his experience, the victim had been dead for over five days. The warm weather had accelerated the decomposition, causing the body to rot and emit the unbearable stench.
The numerous circular wounds covering the body, resembling fish scales, made the scene utterly horrifying.
His first instinct was that this was a crime of vengeance or the work of a highly skilled and psychologically disturbed individual.
The thought made Wei Qingzheng's expression darken. If such a person wasn't apprehended soon and allowed to remain active in Jiang City, similar cases would undoubtedly occur in the future.
Or perhaps they were already happening.
The officer who had been vomiting outside returned, having composed himself. He looked at Wei Qingzheng with a troubled expression. "Wei, do you have any leads? Where should we start?"
Wei Qingzheng studied the condition of the body, his gaze lingering on the wounds on the limbs. He turned to the forensic examiner. "What's the preliminary cause of death?"
The examiner, having set aside the bedding, replied, "Based on our initial assessment, the victim died from excessive blood loss. The major arteries in his limbs were severed. He was tied up and tortured until he bled to death."
"Time of death?" Wei Qingzheng asked again.
The examiner paused for a moment, looking at the body. "It was likely five days ago, between midnight on the 21st and 6 a.m. the next day. We'll need to conduct further examinations to pinpoint the exact time."
Wei Qingzheng nodded slightly, signaling for the examiner to continue. He then began to inspect the surroundings.
The officer followed him as they surveyed the area.
Wei Qingzheng could clearly sense that the perpetrator was someone with a certain level of education and counter-surveillance skills.
Aside from signs of a struggle, all other traces in the room belonged solely to the victim.
He pulled on gloves and drew back the curtains, allowing sunlight to flood in.
Wei Qingzheng's gaze fell on the large balcony in Zhou Qiang's home, which was adorned with potted plants. Many of the plants had withered due to neglect, giving the space a desolate appearance.
According to the investigation records, Zhou Qiang had purchased the apartment a few months ago. The withered plants were likely left behind by the previous owner.
Wei Qingzheng stepped out of the living room and onto the balcony.
The balcony overlooked the street below. As they walked around, Wei Qingzheng's attention was drawn to small protrusions on the wall.
He crouched down, carefully examining the marks.
After a moment, he concluded that the killer had entered Zhou Qiang's home through this route.
"Zhao Sheng, investigate Zhou Qiang's social connections. Pull up surveillance footage from nearby areas for the early hours of the 21st. Identify any suspects and question the neighbors to see if anyone suspicious was seen loitering recently," Wei Qingzheng instructed his colleague as he stood up.
Zhao Sheng nodded and left to carry out the task.
Wei Qingzheng remained on the balcony, staring in the direction of Zhou Qiang's bedroom.
He had a strong intuition that he was dealing with an exceptionally formidable adversary.
After observing the scene a bit longer and learning that all valuables in the house had been stolen, Zhao Sheng returned with information on Zhou Qiang's social connections.
Wei Qingzheng reviewed the details, noting that Zhou Qiang, like Wang Shun, was from Lin City and had been wanted by the Lin City police. Both men had a history of violent crimes.
A thought suddenly occurred to Wei Qingzheng: Could these two cases, despite their differing methods, be the work of the same killer?
He looked at the body, which had been removed by the forensic team, and then examined the way the ropes had been tied on the bed.
He recalled the knot used to tie the body bag in the previous riverside case.
Comparing the two, he found the knots to be identical.
However, this alone wasn't enough to conclusively link the two cases, as the knotting technique was common and used by many people in their daily lives.
To merge the investigations, he needed more evidence.
He turned and boarded the police vehicle, deciding to start his investigation in Lin City.
If the addresses matched, the next target might also be someone from Lin City, especially someone with a criminal record.
Jiang City had a port and a dense population. With the city in a phase of rapid development, the killer might target similar individuals again, particularly those connected to Wang Shun and Zhou Qiang.
...
Meanwhile, Ye Sangsang was unaware that Wei Qingzheng had already begun his investigation in Lin City. After confirming that the police had discovered the body, she used her connections to gather information on Jiang Jiansheng.
She felt a sense of anticipation. If it weren't for the constraints of her mission, she might have sent Wei Qingzheng a letter to hint at her activities.
Thinking about her actions, Ye Sangsang suddenly remembered something her therapist had once told her: This kind of behavior was characteristic of high-risk individuals—specifically, high-intelligence criminals. Returning to the scene of the crime was one such trait.
She touched her nose, feeling a twinge of guilt for having argued with her therapist about it.
It seemed she really was a little abnormal.
After some reflection, she began to plan her next move, preparing to approach Jiang Jiansheng and trigger her next mission.
This time, unlike before, Ye Sangsang had a rough idea of the possible methods the killer might use.
Wang Shun had killed Sun Bin's daughter by beating her to death, while Zhou Qiang had tortured her.
Zhou Qiang's claim of "just a few scratches" was something Ye Sangsang didn't believe for a second.
Like her, Zhou Qiang was a sadist who wouldn't let his prey off easily.
People always tend to downplay their own actions.
In front of the victim's father, he would undoubtedly minimize the severity of his crimes.
As for why Zhou Qiang's limbs hadn't been broken, Ye Sangsang guessed it was either Jiang Jiansheng or Wang Zhi who had done it.
Breaking limbs and dismembering the body—each of these two actions matched one of the men.
She just wasn't sure which one matched which.
Ye Sangsang decided to focus on breaking limbs first. She was someone who preferred to endure the bitter before savoring the sweet. To her, breaking limbs was the less thrilling option, the "bitter" part.
What surprised Ye Sangsang was that Lin Shu had changed over the past few days.
She was clearly in a better mood, and when she returned, there would still be dinner waiting for her.
Although the timeline had jumped several times, Ye Sangsang could still sense the changes that had taken root deep within her.
She couldn’t quite understand these emotions.
But she was intelligent enough to know that it was because her long-awaited vengeance had been fulfilled.
She felt that the couple truly loved their daughter deeply.
The word "love" stirred a strange sensation in Ye Sangsang’s heart whenever she thought of it, as she didn’t know how to comprehend it.
Emotions, to her, were something precious.
She had never lost them, but from the expression on the doctor’s face when they were mentioned, she could tell they were something valuable.
Precious, rare, and unknown.
This was enough to pique Ye Sangsang’s curiosity.
As for curiosity itself, it was the only thing Ye Sangsang possessed that could be called an emotion.
Lin Shu’s behavior also helped her understand these things better.
She thought this was a secondary reason for her playing the game.
The primary reason, of course, was to unleash the surging "interest" within her.
With such thoughts in mind, Ye Sangsang set out to find Jiang Jiansheng.
Her mission—she was ready for it.
Thinking of this, Ye Sangsang felt an overwhelming sense of joy.
However, this joy lasted only until she saw Wei Qingzheng.
Police and criminals were synonymous with order-keepers and chaos-makers.
When two opposing forces met, it was naturally not a pleasant encounter.
