Before observing Yuan Yue's interrogation, Guan Xia first went to give her statent, as she had nearly beco one of the victims. Earlier, she had been in a hurry to go to the hospital to treat her injuries, but now that she had ti, the statent naturally had to be completed.
The officer taking her statent was a female police officer in uniform with delicate features, though her face bore two large dark circles under her eyes. Wang Yu was also present.
After briefly describing the incident, with Pang Le and Ji An adding supplentary details, the back-and-forth questioning finally concluded. Just as Guan Xia finished signing her na, the female officer hugged the statent folder to her chest and sprinted off as if in a hurry.
Guan Xia, still holding the pen she had used to sign, was montarily stunned. "What…?"
Wang Yu took the pen from her hand and explained, "The entire Fengshan District police force has been mobilized for the search and rescue operation. The suspect has been caught, but Zhuo Mingyan and Xiang Zhenli are still missing. Even the administrative staff are being deployed in the field now—there’s a lot going on."
Guan Xia was both surprised and unsurprised. "Yuan Yue refuses to confess?"
Wang Yu said, "Not exactly. She admitted to the murder of Zhuo Xuanya without hesitation, even providing many details about the cri. But the mont she’s asked about the whereabouts of Zhuo Mingyan and Xiang Zhenli, she clams up. Oh, and she insists on seeing you."
"?" Guan Xia was startled. "Why does she want to see ?"
After a pause, she added, "Though now that I think about it, I also want to see her. I’m very curious—why did she want to kill ?"
"I knew you’d want to et her," Wang Yu said with a smile. "Captain Xu anticipated it too. But arranging a eting between a suspect and a victim isn’t sothing they can decide on their own. The request has been submitted—it’s up to the deputy director in charge of criminal investigations at Fengshan District whether to approve it. Until then, we’ll just have to wait here."
Wang Yu poured them so water as she spoke. Though anxious, Guan Xia had no choice but to sit patiently.
With Wang Yu keeping them company, Guan Xia asked directly, "Did Yuan Yue explain her motive for killing Zhuo Xuanya?"
Wang Yu nodded. "She did. According to her, she believed Zhuo Xuanya didn’t deserve to be the daughter of Zhuo Mingyan and Xiang Zhenli—that she had such wonderful parents but didn’t cherish them, constantly worrying and angering them. Since that was the case, she thought it would be better if Zhuo Xuanya disappeared. She could beco the good daughter Zhuo Mingyan and his wife deserved instead."
"What? Not out of jealousy?" Pang Le asked in surprise.
Wang Yu replied, "According to the suspect’s statent, she wasn’t jealous. At first, she only felt envy. But after becoming close friends with Zhuo Xuanya and frequently visiting her ho—even spending the New Year there—she felt truly happy. It was like returning to the ti before her own mother and stepfather died in the car accident. The ho was warm and peaceful, without argunts or fights. The family spoke to her gently and lovingly. She could act spoiled, do whatever she wanted freely, and have soone care about whether she’d lost weight, if she was dressed warmly enough, if her job was too exhausting, or if she had enough money."
Guan Xia understood. "She projected her longing for family onto Zhuo Xuanya’s parents. That’s why, before eting Zhuo Xuanya, she lived frugally despite having money. But after becoming friends and getting to know her parents, she saw them as replacents for her late mother and stepfather—hence the extravagant gifts."
Pang Le was skeptical. "She never thought of usurping their place?"
Wang Yu said, "According to the suspect, she never intended to take over. At first, she treated Zhuo Xuanya like a younger sister. She was willing to give anything to make Zhuo Xuanya and her parents happy. She loved seeing them smile and enjoyed the warm, harmonious atmosphere of their ho—it made all the exhaustion from work worth it."
Guan Xia sighed. "So when Zhuo Xuanya was forced into matchmaking and repeatedly argued with her parents, and Yuan Yue’s attempts to diate didn’t help, she decided to kill her."
Pang Le remarked, "In the end, Yuan Yue’s ntal state wasn’t normal—or she had so hidden psychological trauma. Seeing Zhuo Xuanya argue with her parents must have reminded her of her childhood. But will this affect her sentencing?"
Realizing the implications, Pang Le quickly added the question.
Wang Yu thought for a mont. "Based on the current situation, the suspect has clear self-awareness and cognitive function. But for judicial fairness, she’ll likely undergo a psychiatric evaluation later. Still, in my experience, it probably won’t significantly impact the verdict."
"That’s good," Guan Xia and Pang Le said in relief.
Then Guan Xia thought of Sha Junhao and pressed further, "By the way, how did she arrange the mutual killing with Sha Junhao? Did she explain that?"
Wang Yu shook her head. "She refuses to talk about that too. Every ti we ask, she just demands to see you."
After saying this, Wang Yu couldn’t help but look at Guan Xia with curiosity.
Guan Xia was baffled. "Huh? I can understand her wanting to see about the motive for killing , but what does this have to do with ?"
Pang Le frowned, equally puzzled. But Ji An, after a few seconds of thought, had an idea. "She might have questions of her own—using these two points as bargaining chips."
Guan Xia suddenly understood. "You’re right. She got away with killing Zhuo Xuanya for nearly two years without suspicion. She must be wondering how we figured it out."
Pang Le chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "In that case, she’s just as anxious as we are. So we don’t have to worry about whether we’ll get to see her. Let’s just wait patiently."
For the rest of the ti, no matter how eager they were, they had no choice but to sit idly in the interrogation room, suppressing their impatience. To distract themselves, they chatted about random topics—even discussing post-case celebration plans.
Wang Yu had brought it up, but before she could finish, the interrogation room door suddenly swung open. Xu Nian and the middle-aged officer they’d t that afternoon stood at the entrance, looking at Guan Xia. "The request’s been approved. You can et the suspect now."
The mont Xu Nian appeared, Guan Xia had already guessed. Before his words fully landed, she practically leaped up from the sofa. "Good. I’ll go now."
Following Xu Nian down a hallway and around a corner, they arrived outside the interrogation room where Yuan Yue was held.
The middle-aged officer accompanied her inside. As soon as Guan Xia sat down at the interrogation table, she looked up to study Yuan Yue, who was handcuffed to the chair opposite her.
Compared to their encounter an hour earlier, Yuan Yue’s expression was much calr now. But the look she gave Guan Xia still burned with intense hatred—as if Guan Xia had committed so unforgivable cri against her.
Having lived in this world for twenty-five years, this was the first ti Guan Xia had faced such a gaze. Her heart pounded for a few seconds before she steadied herself and spoke as calmly as possible.
"Why did you want to kill ?"
Guan Xia initially wanted to ask why Yuan Yue had gone to such lengths to kidnap Zhuo Mingyan and Xiang Zhenli, only to divert her attention from them—or flee the city—and instead take the enormous risk of returning downtown to kill her. But the question felt inappropriate, so she swallowed it back.
When Guan Xia posed her question, Yuan Yue didn’t answer imdiately. Instead, she studied her for a mont before curling her lips into a mocking smile. "Clearly, you didn’t know this, but we’ve been following you."
Guan Xia shuddered at the revelation, and the middle-aged detective beside her frowned.
Yuan Yue’s grin widened, her tone turning almost manic. "Oh, wait—not we. It was Sha Junhao who hired people. After his scumbag father Sha Guoliang died, since you and your friend had seen us together, I told him to tail you both for a while. If you showed any signs of going to the police, we’d consider silencing you. But obviously, you didn’t even rember."
Guan Xia struggled to keep her expression neutral as she racked her brain. She recalled that around that ti, her latest comic had just wrapped up. With money and free ti on her hands—and Pang Le’s enthusiasm—they’d spent nearly every day together, eating, singing, shopping, traveling. She hadn’t noticed anyone following them, and Pang Le hadn’t reacted unusually either.
"But what does that have to do with you wanting to kill ?" Guan Xia pressed. Turning it over in her mind, Yuan Yue seed to imply that the police cracked the case mainly because of her. But how had Yuan Yue even known?
Guan Xia stared intently at Yuan Yue, waiting for her answer.
Suddenly, Yuan Yue’s expression twisted into fury. She slamd her cuffed hands against the table, glaring at Guan Xia as if she were a sworn enemy. "What does it have to do with you? It’s all because of you! If not for you, I’d still be their obedient daughter. I wouldn’t have ended up like this! You ruined everything! All I wanted was a family, soone to care about , to love . Why did you have to destroy it? You deserve to die—even more than Zhuo Xuanya!"
Yuan Yue lunged forward, arms outstretched as if to strangle Guan Xia, but the interrogation chair was bolted to the floor. No matter how violently she thrashed, all she produced was the screech of tal.
Though Guan Xia had braced herself, she still flinched, instinctively shrinking back. The middle-aged detective reacted swiftly, pinning Yuan Yue back into the chair. "Enough!"
Despite his strength, Yuan Yue kept struggling like a madwoman, only calming minutes later when exhaustion finally took over. Yet her eyes still burned with hatred. "You rember , but I rember you even more. You must be curious, right? Why kill you and not your friend? Because she didn’t have your damn curiosity. That day in the alley, your friend was only focused on the thief. But you—you looked at , more than once. So when I saw you on the surveillance footage this afternoon, I knew. You did rember . You went to the police. You ruined my happy life. That’s why I had to kill you. You deserve to die! You deserve it!"
From then on, Yuan Yue seed to spiral into hysterics, repeating the sa phrase over and over: You deserve to die.
Guan Xia tentatively asked how she and Sha Junhao had arranged their murder exchange, but Yuan Yue only kept chanting her mantra.
After a tense standoff lasting over ten minutes, Guan Xia had to end the interrogation as Yuan Yue’s ntal state deteriorated further. The detective escorted her out.
The mont the door opened, Pang Le rushed over, scanning her up and down. "Are you okay? Did she scare you?"
She even spun Guan Xia around, scrutinizing her eyes before sighing in relief. "Yuan Yue’s a real psycho. What kind of deranged motive is that? Everything that happened to her was her own fault—how is any of it on you?"
Once Pang Le finally settled, Ji An handed Guan Xia a cup of warm water. "Drink this to calm your nerves. Let’s find sowhere to sit and talk."
Pang Le then rembered Guan Xia’s injury and carefully supported her arm.
Wang Yu, familiar with the precinct, led them to an interview room with a sofa. She pressed a chocolate bar into Guan Xia’s hand. "Sothing sweet will help."
Though the interrogation had lasted less than twenty minutes, Guan Xia felt as drained as if she’d run a marathon—ntally and physically exhausted, her head pounding.
chanically unwrapping the chocolate, she ate it slowly, gradually regaining her composure.
The other three noticed her stabilizing mood. Pang Le quickly shoved more snacks at her. "Eat more."
Guan Xia clenched the beef jerky in her hand, the uneven packaging pressing into her palm, sharpening her focus.
"I’m fine," she said, shaking her head. "At first, I was startled, but mostly, it was just the noise. Yuan Yue kept screaming the sa thing—her voice was so shrill. I don’t think I’ll be listening to music for a while."
Seeing Guan Xia could still joke, the others relaxed. Pang Le patted her shoulder. "We heard everything from outside. I already thought Yuan Yue was twisted, but she outdid herself. Not only did she plant all those surveillance caras, but she also stalked us two years ago just to see if we rembered her? Unless you’re a cop or so high-profile case is plastered everywhere begging for tips, who’d even pay attention? And that’s her reason for trying to kill you? Insane."
Guan Xia agreed. Yuan Yue’s behavior proved her ntal instability had started long before—even before she t Zhuo Xuanya. It just hadn’t surfaced until the right trigger.
With that mystery solved, Guan Xia set it aside. What gnawed at her now was sothing else. "Given Yuan Yue’s state, a proper interrogation won’t happen anyti soon. But we still don’t know where Zhuo Mingyan and his wife are, or how she and Sha Junhao arranged their deal."
"Should we go help search the scene?" Pang Le jumped in, as if she’d been waiting for the suggestion. "Wasn’t that why we left the hotel in the first place?"
She glanced at Guan Xia’s knee, then turned to Ji An. "Ji An, Zhuo Mingyan and Xiang Zhenli disappeared in the old industrial zone, right? Those areas are all concrete roads—could I ride an e-bike or bicycle with Guan Xia to cover more ground?"
Guan Xia, Ji An, and Wang Yu clearly hadn’t expected Pang Le to say that. They froze for a mont, exchanging glances before Ji An finally nodded with a faint smile. "Sure, that’s fine. If you don’t mind, we can do it that way."
"Then isn’t the problem solved?" Pang Le eagerly jumped up from the couch. "Let’s go, hurry up! I’ve never been part of sothing this big before. Will they even bring out police dogs?"
His eyes sparkled with excitent as he bent down to help Guan Xia up. But before she could stand, his hopes were dashed by a loud bang—Xu Nian pushed the door open, his voice brimming with excitent. "Zhuo Mingyan and Xiang Zhenli have been found."
Everyone instinctively stood up. Wang Yu perked up and pressed, "Where were they found? The old industrial district?"
Xu Nian shook his head. "No, on a provincial highway about six kiloters from the old industrial district. We don’t know yet how they got away, but it’s confird they made it to the highway on their own and flagged down a passing car to call the police."
"They walked to the highway on their own?" The group was stunned. "This ans Yuan Yue didn’t harm them—at least not like how she went all out on Zhuo Xuanya. Otherwise, two people in their late fifties or early sixties wouldn’t have been able to escape such a vast, maze-like industrial district and walk that far."
"Soone’s already on their way to pick them up," Xu Nian added. "They should be here soon. Oh, and I just got a call from the third division—Sha Junhao’s confession is in."
Good news seed to be pouring in all at once. Their eyes lit up, and Guan Xia imdiately asked, "How did Yuan Yue strike a deal with him?"
This had been a lingering question for everyone, including Guan Xia.
Xu Nian explained, "Yuan Yue forged several high-value traffic accident insurance policies with Zhuo Mingyan and his wife as the insured and Zhuo Xuanya as the beneficiary. She used this to trick Sha Junhao into fabricating a lie. According to his testimony, Yuan Yue told him that Zhuo Xuanya had developed a gambling addiction, draining the family’s savings. Despite repeated warnings, Zhuo Xuanya refused to change. Recently, Yuan Yue claid she found these insurance policies under Zhuo Xuanya’s bed and suspected she was planning to kill her parents for the payout."
Guan Xia’s mind flooded with disbelief. "And Sha Junhao just believed that? He didn’t verify anything? He killed a stranger over these lies?"
Xu Nian continued, "Sha Junhao said he was skeptical at first and intended to confirm before acting. But while he was still on the fence, Yuan Yue had already killed Sha Guoliang. He was backed into a corner. On top of that, Yuan Yue kept pressuring and threatening him—if he didn’t act soon, she’d turn herself in and na him as the mastermind. If he went to prison, his mother would be left with no one to care for her. Given her fragile ntal state, she might attempt suicide again. In a panic, he had no choice but to follow Yuan Yue’s orders."
"No wonder there was a three-month gap between the two cases," Pang Le muttered. But then he frowned. "Wait, how did they even communicate? You must’ve checked Sha Junhao’s devices back then. Frequent contact like that wouldn’t have gone unnoticed."
"Unregistered SIM cards," Ji An interjected. "Even though carriers now require real-na registration, back then, unregistered cards were everywhere—not just at authorized stores but even in newspaper stands. While ordinary people couldn’t easily get them, soone like Sha Junhao, with his shady connections, wouldn’t have had trouble."
Guan Xia still found it absurd. "If Sha Junhao had such a complex network, he wasn’t naive. He even knew how to hire people to tail others. How could he be so easily threatened by Yuan Yue? It’d make more sense if he’d just silenced her."
"Maybe he was blinded by hatred?" Pang Le scratched his head. "Didn’t Sha Junhao want his scumbag father dead for years? When it finally happened, his long-held wish was fulfilled. Maybe in that emotional state, Yuan Yue took advantage?"
Guan Xia wavered between finding Pang Le’s reasoning plausible and feeling it was still unconvincing. Either way, Sha Junhao had talked. Whether it was the truth or not would have to be confird once Yuan Yue spoke again.
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