Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 2: The Elopement Murder Case
Things took a bizarre turn. Tan Jia touched the back of her neck, which felt cold, and stood in the center of the crowd listening to He Jianming's mediation process. She finally understood this shocking case of infidelity.

The middle-aged woman seeking mediation is named Luo Mei, her husband is Wang Yong, and she has an older brother named Luo Zhiyong.

Five years ago, the eldest brother, Luo Zhiyong, remarried a woman named Mi Junfang who was unable to have children.

When they first got married, the two had a good relationship. Mi Junfang was capable and hardworking, and she took great care of the housework and the children. Although Luo Zhiyong was a bit of a wimp, he had a good temper, and they got along very well.

However, two years ago, Mi Junfang took control of the family and managed all the family's assets. She then revealed her true colors, neglecting her children, ignoring her husband, and spending her days playing mahjong while claiming she wanted to go out and work.

But the neighbors all knew that she was lying; in reality, she had someone else on the side and would accept anyone who came to the mahjong parlor.

Why am I so sure? Because someone saw her hugging and cuddling with other men, and then she would either hit or verbally abuse Luo Zhiyong.

What's even more despicable is that she even ate her brother-in-law Wang Yong, and was caught in bed with him. It's said that her older brother Luo Zhiyong saw her that day before she had even put her pants on properly.

The affair caused quite a stir, and Mi Junfang couldn't stay any longer. She declared she wanted a divorce and would run away with her first love. Luo Zhiyong refused, kneeling down to beg her and also pleading with Wang Yong to stop coming to his house.

Luo Mei was caught in the middle and was so angry she almost ended up in the hospital.

She was determined to get a divorce because her husband was having an affair with her sister-in-law and her child overheard it.

But Wang Yong refused, saying that her child had good grades and might have a bright future. Even the good-for-nothing Luo Zhiyong tried to dissuade her, saying it wasn't that bad.

Luo Mei was shocked by the two shameless cowards and finally ended up in the hospital in anger.

I was just discharged from the hospital these past two days. I heard that my shameless sister-in-law ran off with someone else. Today, she called the mediator to our house and said she wanted a divorce and wanted to sever ties with her own brother.

The onlookers strongly supported her decision and berated Wang Yong severely.

Mi Junfang is the middle-aged woman with a red mole between her eyebrows. It is said that she ran away with her lover yesterday afternoon.

What a coincidence!

Could it be that the dream wasn't a dream at all, but a paranormal event?

"Does anyone have a photo of Mi Junfang?" Tan Jia asked casually, trying to control his expression. "I want to see if she's the person I ran into on the street yesterday."

She took the initiative to speak, and the people around her looked at her more noticeably, with most of their eyes falling on her distinctive green wolf tail hairstyle.

Then they answered that there really weren't any photos, but everyone described Mi Junfang's appearance clearly in just a few words.

She had long, curly hair that reached her neck, tattooed eyebrows, and was thin. The red mole between her eyebrows was very eye-catching. She liked to wear gold bracelets, and she was wearing a beige short coat when she left yesterday.

Tan Jia recalled her dream from last night. The darkness obscured her vision, so she couldn't see clearly. But if she remembered correctly, when she was choking the victim, she could feel the curled ends of her hair poking the back of her hand. The lines on her neck were deep and the skin was loose, so she must have been quite old. Combined with the red mole between her eyebrows, she could be fairly certain that the victim was Mi Junfang.

In that instant, the absurdity of her racing heart made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

Why did she dream of the scene of Mi Junfang's death?

Is Mi Junfang really dead?

A chill ran down her spine. She asked the people shouting the loudest by the door, "You're saying Mi Junfang ran off with someone yesterday afternoon? Can anyone vouch for that?"

Everyone was in the middle of a heated argument, spitting as they went, and no one cared who was asking the question; they all rushed to explain.

“Someone saw that the man came to pick her up, dragging his suitcase and about to leave. Luo Zhiyong couldn’t stop him, and Wang Yong even ran out to help.”

“I saw him too. He looked a bit young, tall and thin. I heard he’s very rich, but I don’t know where he’s from.”

It sounds like many people saw Mi Junfang and her lover leave the neighborhood.

What happened next? Did Mi Junfang successfully go to another city with her lover, or was she murdered in the bushes in the dead of night, just like in her dream?
If he was indeed murdered, who was the killer?
After the mediation session came to an end, Tan Jia went home alone and rushed upstairs to check all the clothes and shoes she had worn in the last two days.

There was no visible soil, nor any grass clippings or bloodstains.

She breathed a sigh of relief, calming her rapid breathing. Good, at least she could rule out the possibility that she had sleepwalked out and killed someone in the middle of the night.

Tan Jia put the clothes back, slowly sat down at the table, and calmed down while kneading the dough, seriously thinking about the matter.

There are now three possibilities—

First, this was just a random dream she had, and it had nothing to do with Mi Junfang's real situation.

Second, Mi Junfang is indeed dead. She was murdered in her dream last night. The murderer may be her lover, or it may be someone else.

Third, this is a precognitive dream. Mi Junfang is fine now, but she will be strangled or smashed to death by the murderer tonight or sometime in the future.

Now, what she needs to do is confirm whether Mi Junfang is still alive.

How can she confirm this? If it's the third scenario, she has no way to stop it from happening because she doesn't know where the crime scene is or who her lover is or where he is.

She patiently continued sculpting the dough for two hours to reduce the level of perversion, lost in thought as she sculpted. Unconsciously, she sculpted the image of a middle-aged woman lying on the ground, the red dough on her face creating a bloody, mangled appearance. Bloody. She suppressed her trembling and recalled the face in her dream that had been smashed to its death.

When He Jianming suddenly knocked on the door, she was so startled that she almost flattened half of the dough figurine's face, and her back was sweating profusely.

"Dinner's ready," He Jianming said, oblivious to her odd behavior, his gaze falling on the dough figurine. "Is this a spoon? A red watermelon spoon? It's quite cute."

Tan Jia's feigned calm expression cracked.

……

The next day, Tan Jia rode on her uncle He Jianming's electric scooter to Luo Mei's house again.

Wang Yong and Luo Mei reached a consensus to divorce, but there was still a dispute over child support. In addition, Luo Zhiyong's family situation was more serious, so they also had to go there. So today they were busy with this matter.

I didn't expect to encounter such a good show as soon as I got to the apartment building.

Luo Zhiyong came crying and begging his brother-in-law and sister not to divorce him. When he got emotional, he even slapped himself repeatedly.

"It's all my fault for getting married badly, which has dragged you all down with me. Xiaojun and Xiaoxiao are still so young. If they lose their father because of me, I won't even have the face to see my parents when I die!"

A man in his fifties, with graying hair, cloudy eyes, and a tanned complexion, his crying was truly heartbreaking.

Luo Mei was also crying, hating him for being a coward and scolding him for being too kind-hearted. People around her pulled her aside and tried to comfort her.

Among the crowd, only Tan Jia frowned and stared warily at the Luo family members.

The onlookers were outraged, but seeing Luo Zhiyong's pitiful state, they couldn't bear to continue cursing him and instead tried to persuade him.

"Let's put aside whether your sister and Wang Yong get a divorce for now, you should divorce Mi Junfang first!"

"Yes, things have become so ugly. If you don't think about yourself, think about your two children. Anyway, you don't have any children together."

"Get a divorce! I've advised you so many times. Mi Junfang also said she wanted a divorce before. You don't want to wait until she's spent almost all the money before coming back to kick you to the curb, do you?"

He was trying to persuade him sincerely, but Luo Zhiyong was crying so hard that he couldn't speak coherently and just kept repeating that it was okay.

His pathetic attitude was infuriating, and everyone was disappointed in him. The voices of advice quieted down. Just then, a voice emerged from the crowd.

"How can we tolerate this! Luo Mei, please call your sister-in-law back and make them divorce. Our whole family is ashamed because of this!"

The one shouting, his face red and neck thick, was a cousin of the Luo family. He must have heard some gossip, because he was so agitated that he wanted to rush up and slap Luo Zhiyong twice.

Tan Jia took two steps back, pretending that she hadn't stirred things up, and watched as they forced Luo Zhiyong to take out his phone.

He Jianming and his men stopped them, while also advising, "It would be best if both parties were present, so that we can mediate any conflicts and minimize the damage in time."

When Luo Mei made the call, she shouted indignantly, "She's not answering!"

Luo Zhiyong was still crying: "Forget it, forget it, her heart isn't in this family anymore, let her go and live a good life..."

Tan Jia shouted from the crowd, "Fight again!"

Tears and snot streamed down Luo Zhiyong's face. When he looked at the crowd through his cloudy eyes, all he could see was the green end of a man's hair under a baseball cap.

That shout to call again got everyone worked up, and they all yelled to call again. They dialed four or five times, and the phone rang twelve times, but no one answered.

Luo Mei spat fiercely on the ground: "She knows she's too ashamed to accept it!"

It's probably not that they're too ashamed to accept.

Tan Jiaxin's heart sank. Feigning indignation, she asked those around her, "What time did she leave yesterday? If it's been long enough, she could have left the province by now, right?"

When people are out having fun, they're always ready to answer any questions.

"It was a little after one o'clock. My family had just finished lunch not long ago. Luo Zhiyong was pulling people from behind, and Mi Junfang was shamelessly holding hands with that man in front of us!"

“Luo Zhiyong chased after him for a long time and didn’t come back crying until late afternoon. He didn’t want to cook, so his son went to my restaurant and brought him two dishes.”

Luo Zhiyong returned in the late afternoon, but in his dream, Mi Junfang was murdered late at night.

Assuming Mi Junfang is dead, Luo Zhiyong can be ruled out as a suspect for the time being, but a detailed investigation into their whereabouts yesterday is still needed.

However, since 1 p.m. yesterday, Mi Junfang has been missing for less than 24 hours, and there is not enough reason for people to believe that she may have been murdered, so the police cannot open a case.

Tan Jia pondered how to open a case and investigate this paranormal event. Unexpectedly, the next morning, Mi Junfang's body was found in an agricultural reservoir on the outskirts of the city.

The city's criminal investigation branch took over the case and quickly cordoned off the scene.

(End of this chapter)