Asai Ling didn’t return ho until midnight.
At the front door, seeing that the living room lights were off reassured her, and she stayed out late because she knew her father and brother were simring with anger. She lingered until they had gone to bed, hoping a night’s sleep would cool their tempers.
Asai Ling pulled out her keys to unlock the door, being careful not to wake her father and brother by keeping the lights off, and tiptoed towards the stairs after closing the door.
"Snap!"
The next second, with a sharp sound.
The living room suddenly lit up bright as day.
It was as though she had hit the pause button; Asai Ling froze on the spot, her father and brother sitting side by side on the couch, expressionless, staring straight at her.
An intangible aura made the air feel suffocating.
"Gulp~" Asai Ling’s pretty throat moved slightly, and she forced a smile more dreadful than tears, "Dad, bro, why are you sitting in the dark?"
"We were afraid that you’d just run away again if you saw the lights on," Asai Youki said icily.
No one knows a daughter like her father.
Asai Ze Xi, unable to contain his anger any longer, violently stood up, glaring at Asai Ling, "Don’t you think you owe us an explanation?"
Asai Youki was also waiting to hear Asai Ling’s defense.
"..." Asai Ling was silent for a mont, then pressed her tender, dripping red lips together and tentatively asked, "Dad, bro, do you believe in love?"
Asai Ze Xi looked at her as one would look at a fool.
"I didn’t, but after all the foolish things you’ve done, I’m starting to!" Asai Youki, more furious than ever, continued after speaking, growing increasingly angry, and stood abruptly, "You’ve always been an obedient child, but now you dare to use the Asai family’s connections for Aoyama Xiu Xin, an outsider! How dare you!"
For the Asai family, the generations of networking and favors are the most precious wealth, and once used, they are gone.
Not to ntion being used for an outsider.
"Dad, maybe, perhaps, love blinds people," Asai Ling could only craft herself into a love-struck fool; after all, she couldn’t outright confess she was being threatened. After finishing, she added, "Besides, didn’t you agree to our marriage? So Mr. Aoyama isn’t really an outsider, and using that favor sowhat stays within the Asai family."
"You truly are eloquent now," Asai Ze Xi said, laughing in scorn and mockery.
Asai Ling, feeling guilty, hung her head silently.
"Ling, dad isn’t considering this from the family’s interest, but purely as a father wanting his daughter’s happiness. Aoyama Xiu Xin isn’t a suitable match! He’s ruthless and unscrupulous—if you really marry him, could you live with that?" Asai Youki said seriously.
Yes, dad, you also know that bastard is ruthless and will do anything; I am in his hands, how could I not marry him?
Asai Ling was indeed desperate and helpless, but outwardly she appeared deeply infatuated, her gaze resolute as she responded, "Dad, I love him. I will marry no one else in this life, or else I’d rather die!"
"Have you ever thought that he might not actually love you at all and he is only approaching you to take advantage of the Asai family?" Asai Youki said, deeply distressed.
Asai Ling thought to herself how perceptive her father truly was, seeing right through Aoyama Xiu Xin, that bastard. But she had to defend her love, "Dad! Mr. Aoyama isn’t that kind of person, I can feel it—he loves deeply too."
After all, every ti she felt it was deep, her knees had to bend to allow Aoyama Xiu Xin to take it slow.
Or perhaps her na was too shallow like its aning?
"Dad, she’s beyond help now, I don’t know what Aoyama Xiu Xin has fed her," Asai Ze Xi said, sitting back on the couch with a dark expression, looking at Asai Ling, "If Aoyama Xiu Xin wants to marry you, let him return the one billion he tricked from first."
One billion wasn’t a small sum for him.
"What one billion? Big brother, I don’t understand what you’re talking about," Asai Ling feigned ignorance, for that billion was her dowry, her money!
Asai Ze Xi beca exasperated, "Look at what you’ve beco, you’ve been corrupted by him..."
"Enough! Quit embarrassing yourself!" Asai Youki rebuked sharply, interrupting him, and said impatiently to Asai Ling, "Have him et at the police station tomorrow."
With those words, he headed upstairs without another look back.
At this point, since his daughter was adamant and wouldn’t turn back, there was no other option.
"Hey!" Asai Ling bowed in response, then said to Asai Ze Xi, "Brother, go to sleep early, good night."
With that, she hurried upstairs as well.
Leaving Asai Ze Xi alone in the living room, cursing Aoyama Xiu Xin like a resentful woman.
.........
anwhile, at Iwamoto Town Third District.
Sunset Apartnt, where Mikami Yasuko lived, stood in the darkness, taller than the surrounding buildings, looming like a massive shadow.
The entrance of the apartnt looked like a gaping maw.
"Tap~ Tap~ Tap~"
Accompanied by the sound of high heels hitting the ground.
A young woman, dressed seductively with heavy makeup and slightly intoxicated, carried her bag into the apartnt and then took the elevator to the 18th floor.
"Ding~"
As the elevator door slowly opened and the cold air hit her, the woman felt inexplicably cold, and looking down the dark corridor, she quickened her pace with so fear since she lived on the sa floor as Mikami Yasuko, who had been brutally murdered a few days ago. Perhaps it was psychological, but she always felt the corridor was eerie.
It seed like soone was following her.
She dared not look back, and her steps grew faster.
The crisp sound of her high heels caused the motion-sensor lights to flicker on and off, adding an aura of terror. When she reached her doorstep, panic had completely overtaken her. She pulled out her keys, quickly entered the house, and then slamd the door shut, leaning heavily against it and taking deep breaths with her eyes closed.
Her intuition had been right; soone had indeed been following her in the hallway—a thief driven by lust. Unfortunately for him, he was a step too slow and could only watch in frustration as she entered her ho and closed the door. He cursed under his breath and went off to look for another target to rob tonight.
Inside the room, the curtains were tightly drawn, allowing no light to enter, and it was pitch dark without the lights on.
After regaining her composure, the woman opened her eyes and instinctively reached for the light switch on the wall. With a click, the mont the lights turned on, she saw a sinister, pale-faced man standing in front of her, grinning eerily.
Her pupils dilated in an instant, and just as she was about to scream, a gloved hand covered her mouth and brutally slamd her against the door, followed by a flurry of slashes from a kitchen knife—one, two...
Fresh blood splattered on the pristine white walls.
Finally, the woman ceased to struggle. Beigong Liangxiong laid her on the ground, recalling every detail of how he had killed Mikami Yasuko, then dragged her body towards the bedroom, leaving a long trail of blood on the floor.
He then removed the gold necklace from around the woman’s neck, pocketing it before randomly hacking at her neck with the kitchen knife, the scarlet blood spattering everywhere, until her head was barely attached by a layer of skin.
Exhausted from the effort, as Beigong Liangxiong was not in good physical condition, he collapsed on the bed, looking down at his grueso creation with a satisfied smile on his face.
He believed the police would instantly realize that this cri was the handiwork of the sa man who had killed Mikami Yasuko.
He wanted to tell the world he had not yet been caught!
After resting for a while and feeling a bit hungry, he went to the kitchen with the knife to clean the blood off his hands and changed into spare clothes. Then, opening the fridge and finding so food, he decided to cook.
As sizzling oil popped in the kitchen, filling the room with the sll of cooking, he grabbed a soda, returned to the living room, turned on the TV and ate while watching, while the apartnt’s original owner lay in a pool of blood in the bedroom, eyes wide open and staring lifelessly at the ceiling.
At 3 a.m., satiated, Beigong Liangxiong left her apartnt, burned his cri-related clothes and tools by the roadside, and then went ho.
He slept until morning and then went to work as if nothing had happened; he was a plumber.
"Morning, everyone."
On his arrival, coworkers who had been chatting and joking suddenly fell silent and dispersed, going about their individual tasks without paying him any heed.
Beigong Liangxiong thought he was accustod to being ostracized by his colleagues, but this still left him feeling hurt and awkward. He managed a sheepish smile and returned to his work station.
As he left to repair a water pipe, he had just stepped out when the chattering and laughter resud in the office behind him.
A surge of anger filled him inexplicably.
Aoyama Xiu Xin was having breakfast when he received news of another murder at Sunset Apartnt. To him, it was just another person dead—not a big deal. He calmly finished his al before driving over.
By the ti he arrived at the scene, there was already a crowd outside the corridor. Pushing through, he entered the room to find Asai Ayumi already investigating inside.
"Ti of death between 7 and 9 hours ago, thod identical to the Mikami Yasuko case, even the position, posture, and facial expression at the ti of death," Asai Ayumi approached Aoyama Xiu Xin and briefed him, then looking concerned, she said, "The killer left a note at the scene, claiming he hasn’t been caught and will continue killing. Could this really be..."
"This is clearly a copycat cri!" Aoyama Xiu Xin interrupted her, categorizing the case.
"A copycat cri?" Asai Ayumi was montarily taken aback.
"That’s right!" Aoyama Xiu Xin said solemnly, nodding. "This murderer chose to commit the cri on the sa floor as Kitano Jinghua, even using the sa thod. If this isn’t imitation, what is? The note left behind was rely intended to mystify!"
Seeing Asai Ayumi standing dumbfounded, he couldn’t help but laugh, "You don’t really believe he’s the killer of Mikami Yasuko, do you? Then what about Kitano Jinghua, who’s already been sentenced to prison?"
Aoyama Xiu Xin knew the real killer of the won must be the true murderer of Mikami Yasuko, overconfident from having escaped apprehension and taunting the police deliberately, but he had to fra it as a new criminal mimicking the act.
Otherwise, wouldn’t that imply he had arrested the wrong person?
How could he be wrong? He couldn’t be wrong!
"I was overthinking," Asai Ayumi said, patting her forehead, then added, "The killer even cooked a al at the victim’s ho after the murder, clearly more deranged than Kitano Jinghua, indeed not the sa person."
Aoyama Xiu Xin thought to himself: This only showed that after the initial murder, the killer had beco even more composed and arrogant, and there would definitely be a third ti.
"By the way, when I arrived I saw several police cars parked below," Aoyama Xiu Xin suddenly recalled, noting there weren’t normally this many officers.
Asai Ayumi explained, "A few other apartnts in the building were not ho last night and got burglarized. Two of the squad cars belong to the robbery unit. With murder and burglary under one roof, the feng shui here must be off."
Aoyama Xiu Xin nodded in agreent.
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