Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 32 Ghost Hotline - Serial Murder Case 12
The case is actually quite clear. Qu Li and her accomplices did not intend to cover up their murder for revenge, so it would be easy to convict them.

However, the investigation has now shifted its focus to Peng Siyan and his group. They want to find out what exactly happened back then that led to this tragedy.

The group returned to the conference room and reviewed the known information once again.

“I looked into Qu Li and Peng Siyan’s situation. They used to attend different branches of the same middle school, junior high and senior high respectively. Some of their former classmates still remember him and confirmed that Peng Siyan would often visit Qu Li. Qu Li and some of her classmates were a little afraid of him. But when asked for examples, they couldn’t give any. They even thought he was quite polite to girls, witty, and would escort his girlfriends home, but he just made people afraid to get close to him.”

"Nearly ten years have passed, and Qu Li doesn't have many friends. Information about her is incomplete. It's said that she did have a best friend back then, but she passed away in her second year of high school. As for other things, her family said that Qu Li had a bad personality, liked to hang out with outsiders, often came home late when she was in school, wasn't close to her family, and never came home again after a falling out a few years ago."

Wu Yang asked in surprise, "Didn't they suspect that Qu Li was being bullied because she came home late? They've lived together for so long, didn't they notice any injuries on the child?"

Xiao Chen shrugged: "They said Qu Li hadn't told them anything, so they hadn't considered this possibility. They emphasized that Qu Li was a very stubborn child. In short, it wasn't entirely their fault."

"...I'm speechless. Sometimes, parents and relatives are more righteous and annoying than murderers trying to evade their crimes."

Zheng Yan banged on the table: "Where's Chen Yingying?"

“She…” Tan Ming sighed before he could finish speaking, “Chen Yingying’s affair caused quite a stir back then. It’s said that she was dating a senior boy at first, but it’s all just hearsay, and we’re not sure if that person even existed, or if that person was Feng Yang.”

"After that, she took a break from school for a while. Her family said she was in a bad state. Just when she was recovering a bit, the photo loan incident happened, which made things even worse. People were banging on her door in the middle of the night, and debt collectors kept calling. In the end, her parents had to pay back the money. Yingying's mental state deteriorated rapidly, and she eventually had to leave home and live in a place that nobody knew."

For a girl, this is a devastating blow.

Tan Jia frowned, arms crossed: "Doesn't Feng Yang suffer any consequences at all? He used someone else's photo to take out a loan online, and then easily walked out of the police station with a simple denial?"

It's obvious that someone is helping out here.

Tan Ming: "I've spoken with the officers who handled the case back then. One of them was promoted to a retirement home. But that person had no connection to Feng Yang's family, nor did he show any signs of accepting bribes. Feng Yang's family couldn't produce any money for a bribe..."

“Brother, you just said that the people back then weren’t sure who Chen Yingying was dating, right? Is it possible that there was no dating at all, and that Feng Yang committed the crime with his friends, and one of his friends had the means to bribe the investigators?” Tan Jia had a sudden inspiration.

Does the fact that Chen Yingying and her accomplices each killed only one person before their deaths mean that there was only one perpetrator back then? Wei Ting only killed Zhang Jie, but Jiang Zhixin escaped as well.

Jiang Zhixin, on the other hand, looks very wealthy.

“Jiang Zhixin fits the bill; his family is in real estate.” Tan Ming found a document, looked it over, and agreed with her idea.

“Speaking of which,” Wu Yang suddenly said, “the Shizi Garden residential complex where Qu Li fell to her death seems to be a project contracted by the Jiang family’s real estate company.”

Such a subtle relationship?
Zheng Yan: "Investigate the Jiang family's companies. Without clarifying these matters, it will be difficult to convict Feng Yang of any crimes."

Yes, they are now doing what Qu Li and the others failed to do, and what they want them to do—to convict the group of perpetrators from back then. Even if they are dead, their crimes should be known. When it was Xue Jing's turn to tell her story, everyone listened more carefully; she was a key figure.

"Xue Jing's case is easy to investigate. Four years ago, she reported to the police that someone was following her, but no suspect was found at the time, so no one believed her. They thought she was just overwhelmed by academic pressure and was being paranoid. However, Xue Jing insisted that someone was following her and even pointed to one person, Wan Lei, but there was no evidence. Wan Lei only said that he liked her and would occasionally walk her home. Later, she made a scene by installing surveillance cameras at home and even threatened her family with jumping off a building to transfer her to another school. Because of her unstable mental state, her family almost gave up on her and focused on raising her younger brother."

"The police officers who handled the case back then said that when she identified Wan Lei as following her, she appeared very panicked and said that Wan Lei threatened to kill her, but there was no evidence, and Wan Lei directly denied it."

Such a familiar scene.

“There’s something suspicious,” Zheng Yan said. “Qu Li and the others wanted to kill for revenge because they had suffered horrific torture and wished those people were dead. But Xue Jing wasn’t tortured; she just suspected someone was following and threatening her. Was that why she decided to kill Wan Lei? Was it because of a gang’s sense of loyalty, so they figured it was better to kill him than not? Or is there more to the story?”

No one could answer this question for the time being. After a few seconds of silence, they brought up Wei Ting's matter again.

"Wei Ting is only 19 years old, a senior high school student repeating her final year. Two years ago, she was harassed by Zhang Jie and others. Their methods were very similar to Peng Siyan's 'gentlemanly' behavior, including walking people home. Some classmates who saw them thought they were dating. More than half a year ago, she called the police, saying that someone had killed her grandmother. The specific reason was that she had been sexually assaulted by many people, and photos were taken. Various wounds were cut on her body. She wanted to call the police at the time, but while she was still hesitating, her grandmother suddenly fell and was injured. A month later, her grandmother was chased by a dog and fell again..."

"This was intimidation. She believed those people harmed her grandmother to intimidate her from calling the police, but in the end, she gave up on calling the police, and her grandmother still died from a heart attack. Only then did she call the police on both matters at once, but in the end..."

"Still nothing to do?" Tan Jia's anger was burning up to the point of being on fire. The dough figurine he was kneading was just being reshaped and then folded back into its original form. "So Jiang Zhixin was also involved in Wei Ting's death."

It's outrageous, it's despicable. I imagine countless swear words being thrown in their faces like excrement.

Zheng Yan paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and said, "Their methods of committing crimes are progressive. At first, it may have just been verbal provocation and spreading rumors, and then it slowly developed into stalking. Perhaps Qu Li was the first victim. In other words, they have been at large for ten years."

"Ten years ago, Jiang Zhixin and his friends were only in primary or junior high school, and they were in different schools, so the number of people gradually increased, like a gang recruiting members from different regions. But now there are probably more than a few people. We must find all of them."

Wu Yang shook his head solemnly: "But it's very difficult to convict them, especially those who haven't been killed yet. Some people only made verbal threats, stalked, or caused psychological provocation, without committing any criminal offenses. Even if they are sentenced, how many years in prison can they serve?"

Perhaps it won't even take several months. In comparison, the fact that Qu Li and her group committed murder seems much more serious, as it's a done deal.

If even the police have it so tough, you can imagine how desperate Qu Li and her colleagues must have felt to ultimately take such a path of no return.

Just as the atmosphere became tense, someone pushed open the door and walked in, solemnly showing a video on their phone.

"The person we're looking for, Mr. Bian, has given an interview to the media."

The girl in the video was pale and thin, but her eyes seemed to burn with a fierce fire.

"...They are fighting back in desperation! Why is it that Peng Siyan's criminal gang started killing people ten years ago, but nothing ever came of it, leaving us only to suffer depression and misery for the rest of our lives!"

(End of this chapter)