The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 11 Another Murder

Qi Fei muttered to himself as he ran towards Xiao Lu who was not far away.

"Yesterday, when that person handed you the lunch box, you said you didn't look at his face, but did you see his hand?"

Seeing Qi Fei's anxious look, Xiao Lu was stunned and stammered, "Yes, what's wrong?"

"That's great. Do you remember if he wore gloves?" Qi Fei asked immediately.

"It seems not." Xiao Lu gave Qi Fei the answer he expected.

"Brother Fei, you are confused. We checked the dining car early in the morning and cleaned it up, but we didn't find any effective traces." Wu Shanqiu said from the side.

"No, no, he definitely cleaned the dining cart, but not the lunch boxes." Qi Fei checked the time and said to Xiao Lu anxiously, "Which trash can did you throw your lunch boxes into?"

At this moment, everyone suddenly realized what was going on and rushed towards the floor where Zhu Mingen was hospitalized.

……

In the Criminal Police Brigade, Wu Shanqiu walked quickly to Qi Fei with the test report in hand. "Brother Fei, you're right. Besides Xiao Lu's fingerprints, we also found another person's fingerprints on the lunch box he discarded. We compared them and they don't match anyone else's fingerprints in the hospital."

Qi Fei snatched the report and looked at the clearly visible fingerprint copy inside with a sharp gaze: "It seems that this is the person we are looking for. Has it been compared in the system?"

Wu Shanqiu shook her head and said, "We've compared them. Brother Fei, you have to take a look at this."

Wu Shanqiu turned on the computer and retrieved the information. As the search began, after a while, content began to appear on the blank search page.

Wu Shanqiu looked at the lonely record that appeared on the screen and said to Qi Fei, "Brother Fei, do you still remember this case? Isn't it the arson case that Lanhe asked us to assist in investigating last year?"

Qi Fei's memory flashed back. He hadn't forgotten that the deceased, Yang Jinhan, was a live-in son-in-law of a family surnamed Gu in Sanwu Town. He vividly remembered the scene when he went to the town to find out about the situation. Unlike the typical family members' reaction of grief and shock upon hearing the news of a death, Yang Jinhan's father-in-law and mother-in-law had ignored the police and declared that the death was a good thing. However, the crime scene was in Lanhe, hundreds of kilometers away from Sanwu Town. The Gu family members, with their solid alibis, were gradually ruled out as suspects.

"This case has not been solved yet," said Wu Shanqiu.

"What a coincidence, and it's related to Sanwu Town?" Qi Fei muttered, "Let's look at the details again."

Photos of the scene were flashed one by one. Ninety percent of Yang Jinhan's skin was burned, and he looked horrible in the photos.

Wu Shanqiu recalled vividly, "I spoke with Lanhe's friends at the time. Yang Jinhan died over a month after being sent to the hospital. But they didn't get any useful information from him. His burns were so severe that whenever he was woken, he would only scream and go into shock from the intense pain. The hospital had to inject him with large amounts of sedatives to keep him in a coma, so no one knew who had committed this murder."

"Well, Brother Fei, I still remember that Yang Jinhan was doused with gasoline at a gas station in Lanhe and ignited. He was sent to the hospital and died. Speaking of which!" Wu Shanqiu suddenly remembered something, "We also investigated the Gu family members who had unusual reactions. Yes, it was said that Yang Jinhan had a serious tendency to domestic violence. He beat his wife to the point of miscarriage, and he refused to divorce, threatening to kill Gu Ruyun's entire family if they divorced. I still remember the wounds on Gu Ruyun's body. It was so pitiful."

"It seems that Yang Jinhan is an unforgivable person, just like Zhu Mingen." Qi Fei said thoughtfully.

"It seems so, and the same fingerprints were left at the scene."

Qi Fei's eyes caught sight of something in the picture. "Wait!" he said, snatching the keyboard from Wu Shanqiu's hand and bringing up the photo he had just swiped through. Unconsciously, he leaned forward toward the computer screen, zooming in on a particular spot. Wu Shanqiu, seeing his serious expression, couldn't help but concentrate on checking the photo for any anomalies. Qi Fei had zoomed in on a wall in the background of the crime scene. There seemed to be graffiti on it. The crime scene was dilapidated and desolate, so it wasn't unusual to see graffiti there, but at this moment, the shape of the graffiti caught Qi Fei's attention.

The image wasn't very clear; it was a circle with some lines extending from the edges. As the image continued to zoom in, Wu Shanqiu couldn't help but exclaim, "Ah! Brother Fei, isn't this the monster on the wall of the morgue?"

Yes, this pattern sprayed with black paint vaguely shows two head-like things on it. There are eight lines in total, which look like four arms and four legs. If you don’t pay attention, you might think it is a randomly drawn crab or something, but now Qi Fei is very concerned about this pattern.

"Shanqiu." Qi Fei said in a deep voice, "We are facing a serial killer. It seems we have to go to Sanwu Town again."

When Qi Fei said this, he didn't know how long this chase would last, and how protracted this fateful confrontation would be when he stepped into Sanwu Town again.

Arriving in Sanwu Town, it was snowing heavily during the 24th solar term. Although the snow hadn't actually fallen in the small southern town, a solemn atmosphere was still evident. Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar streets, Qi Fei's fragmented memories would flash back and then vanish. Whenever he recalled these disturbed memories, he felt an indescribable sense of frustration. If even one's own memories could be invaded and destroyed, then one must be incredibly fragile.

Many roads in Sanwu Town are not accessible by car, so Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu can only walk. They walk on the centuries-old bluestone road, receiving strange looks from the people in the town.

This place is too small, and any outsider who comes here will be particularly conspicuous.

They soon arrived at Gu Ruyun's home, an inconspicuous two-story old building with two rooms facing the street.

From a distance, I could hear the sound of quarreling.

I saw Old Man Gu arguing with a hunchbacked old lady in the street.

"You old woman, I've told you so many times not to smoke in front of my house!" Old Man Gu said angrily.

The hunchbacked old woman responded with curses: "Your family is so difficult to deal with. Your daughter deserves to be a widow!"

This sentence was really vicious and it really irritated Old Man Gu. He picked up the broom at the door and was about to go up and hit the old lady, but Qi Fei who arrived stopped him.

Old Man Gu was about to scold Qi Fei, but after seeing who was coming, his face suddenly changed. He didn't bother to argue with the old lady, dropped the broom and turned to walk in.

Before Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu could react, the security door slammed shut with a "swish".

"Hey? Old man, open the door. We are from Nancheng Police Station. We want to find out about the situation." Wu Shanqiu knocked on the security door and shouted into the house.

Old Man Gu didn't care at all. Instead, he quickened his pace and went straight upstairs when he heard the sound.

"Forget it, Shanqiu." Qi Fei looked at the neighbors who were sticking their heads out to look at them curiously. "There are no secrets in this town. Let's ask others."

As he said this, he looked at the hunchbacked old woman who was still standing there, smoking a cigarette, as if waiting for them to ask questions.

(End of this chapter)