The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 110 The hiding place has been found! The blood has not yet congealed!
Two quarters of an hour later.

Liu Shuyi, accompanied by Zhao Feng, Wan'er, and several officials from the Court of Judicial Review, rode to Yongpingfang.

As soon as they entered the gate, Wan'er pointed to the road on the left and said, "Go in through this road, cross the alley, and turn left at the end. That's where you'll find Mo Xiaofan's shoes and the blood-red skull pattern."

At this moment, Wan'er was riding the same horse as Liu Shuyi, who was protecting her in front of him. As she raised her fingers, she turned her head slightly, and her hair, which carried a faint fragrance, brushed against Liu Shuyi's nose, making him feel itchy and giving him an urge to sneeze.

"Sit still and don't move."

Liu Shuyi raised his hand and turned Wan'er's head back. At the same time, he used his arms to hold Wan'er firmly to prevent her from turning around and making him sneeze.

Without any delay, he quickly turned into the alleyway following Wan'er's directions.

With her back pressed against Liu Shuyi's chest, Wan'er felt the strong beating of his heart and her tense and worried heart calmed down at that moment.

It seems that as long as Liu Shuyi is around, even if the sky falls, Liu Shuyi can solve it.

As Liu Shuyi hurried along, he kept looking around. Yongping Ward was located in the southwest of Chang'an City, in a relatively remote location. It was neither too far nor too close to Xinghua Ward, where Liu's residence was located.

While traveling, he had asked Wan'er about Mo Xiaofan's whereabouts.

Mo Xiaofan originally lived in the refugee and beggar's quarters built by Xingshan Temple in Jingshanfang. However, after helping him capture Liu Yuanming, he was afraid of being retaliated against by Liu Yuanming's accomplices, so he left Jingshanfang and moved to Feng'anfang.

Feng'anfang is located directly south of Xinghuafang, which means that if Mo Xiaofan wants to go to Liu's residence, he can simply walk north along the street.

Yongping Ward, where he is currently located, is in the northwest of Feng'an Ward, and is in a completely different direction from the road Mo Xiaofan took to Liu's residence.

Why did Mo Xiaofan, who had clearly stated that he was going to the Liu residence, end up in Yongpingfang, which is in a completely different direction, after setting off?
Did he come here on his own initiative?

Or was she kidnapped and brought here by that so-called murderer?

But if it was a kidnapping, why bring Mo Xiaofan here in the first place?
In other neighborhoods, is it not permissible to leave a skull and crossbones symbol representing one's identity?

As Liu Shuyi pondered, he followed Wan'er's instructions and turned left at the end of the road.

As soon as he turned the corner, he saw that the alley not far ahead was blocked off by the yamen runners of Chang'an County.

Wang Gui, dressed in the official robes of a county magistrate, was squatting by the wall, scratching his head, looking worried and sighing incessantly.

"County Magistrate Wang, Assistant Magistrate Liu has arrived."

At this moment, a yamen runner spoke to Wang Gui.

Upon hearing this, Wang Gui immediately raised his head.

Upon seeing Liu Shuyi galloping towards him, he jumped to his feet. The sudden movement made his vision go black for a moment, and he instinctively braced himself against the wall to prevent himself from falling.

After adjusting for a while and seeing things again, he rushed towards Liu Shuyi.

"Master Liu, you've finally arrived."

Liu Shuyi dismounted and lifted Wan'er down from the horse before smiling at Wang Gui and saying, "Why is County Commandant Wang more anxious than I am?"

Wang Gui said with a bitter face, "How can I not be anxious? This is a serial killer! The most brutal, cruel, arrogant, and mysterious serial killer since the founding of the Tang Dynasty!"

"He has reappeared after five years. Who knows how many more people will fall victim to his evil deeds!"

"Moreover, he not only killed people, but also deliberately provoked the government. During the Wude era, many county magistrates and judicial officers were demoted by the retired emperor in his anger because they could not catch him."

"This murderer has now come to the very heart of the land, and into the very territory under my jurisdiction. If we fail to capture him, and Mo Xiaofan is brutally murdered by him, His Majesty will surely be furious, and my official robes may be stripped off!"

Liu Shuyi nodded, understanding Wang Gui's predicament.

This serial killer had previously trampled the dignity of the Tang Dynasty into the ground, making him completely different from other murderers in the eyes of the court.

Whether or not the murderer can be caught is no longer just a matter of solving the case, but also a matter of whether the dignity of the imperial court can be preserved.

Thinking about this, he couldn't help but feel curious about this murderer.

Why would the other side provoke the imperial court?
If the original owner's memories are correct, the serial killer seemed to have left a blood-red skull pattern when he killed someone for the first time, and left words under the blood-red skull, saying that he would give the government three days to catch him, and if they could not catch him, he would let the victim's body parts be scattered throughout the local streets and alleys.

After that, he committed the crime once a month, and before each crime, he would leave behind a bloody skull.

The provocation against the government can be described as blatant.

Why did he do that?
Dissatisfaction with the imperial court?
Or does he have a peculiar fetish, enjoying the thrill of being investigated by the imperial court?
Whatever the reason, this serial killer's counter-surveillance methods and meticulous, cautious nature mean that finding him will not be an easy task.

Liu Shuyi said, "The case has already happened, and the murderer has returned to the scene. There's no use in rushing things. The only solution is to find clues and find a way to bring him to justice."

Wang Gui nodded quickly; he knew exactly what he should do.

However, countless predecessors who had their official robes stripped off have proven with facts that this murderer was not someone they could catch in a short time.

If he finds nothing after three days, and Mo Xiaofan is killed with his body parts scattered throughout the capital... he can imagine how furious His Majesty would be. This would be a slap in the face to the court, and His Majesty would probably even consider cutting off his own head.

So when he learned that the serial killer had resurfaced, he immediately sent Wan'er to find Liu Shuyi. In his opinion, only Liu Shuyi could find this vicious serial killer within three days.

Only Liu Shuyi could save him from this predicament.

"Sir, this way please. The mark left by the murderer is over here..."

Without any hesitation, Wang Gui led Liu Shuyi directly to the wall where he had just been squatting.

Liu Shuyi looked up and his pupils twitched slightly.

Then you see a skull about a foot in size painted on the gray wall.

The skull was blood-red, with traces of blood dripping down, making it look twisted and terrifying.

Beneath the skull was a blood-red knife, its tip dripping crimson blood. The blood flowed down and coalesced into four twisted, blood-red characters—

I am back!

The stench of blood was overwhelming!

Below these four large characters is a shoe that looks very worn out.

Liu Shuyi picked up the shoe and said, "When the shoe was found, it was right below these words?"

Wan'er nodded and said, "I asked the little beggars who found the shoes. They said that when they came here, they first noticed the pattern on the wall, and then they noticed the shoes under the pattern."

Liu Shuyi nodded.

The shoes were placed right below the words, which couldn't be a coincidence; the killer must have put them there.

In the past, when committing his crimes, the murderer would place one of the victim's belongings near the skull to let the authorities know who his target was.

This aligns with the modus operandi of a serial killer.

Liu Shuyi turned to Zhao Feng and said, "Chief Zhao, the files."

Before leaving the Ministry of Justice, he specifically ordered someone to retrieve the murderer's files.

Zhao Feng quickly took out the case file and handed it to Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi opened the file, his gaze quickly sweeping over it before settling on a picture.

This is a red skull, which the government commissioned to have the most famous painter imitate it almost exactly from the pattern left by the murderer when they were investigating him.

Looking at the skull on the file and then at the skull on the wall, Liu Shuyi said, "The skulls are basically the same, but the pattern on the file doesn't have a knife under the skull."

"is it?"

Wang Gui had never actually encountered a serial killer before, but he knew of the terrifying deeds of this notorious killer. Upon hearing this, he immediately looked at the dossier in Liu Shuyi's hand.

"It really is……"

He thought for a moment and said, "Could it be that it was added specifically to emphasize his words 'I'm back'? Or perhaps it represents his return after five years, and this knife signifies that he is different from the past and will engage in even more bloody killings in the future?"

Liu Shuyi shook his head; there was too little information for him to make any effective inferences.

However, he kept this in mind.

Based on his understanding of serial killers from his previous life, killers who have developed a complete set of criminal habits rarely change. And if they do change in some way, it means that they have encountered something special in real life.

These events either triggered him or caused certain changes in his body, making it impossible for him to commit crimes as before... Therefore, if we could know why the killer changed his pattern, we might be able to further understand what happened to the killer over the past five years.

He slowly exhaled, looked at Wang Gui, and said, "Did County Commandant Wang inquire with the local residents whether they saw any unusual people or heard any unusual noises last night? Besides the little beggar, did they also see the patterns on this wall? When did they see them?"

Liu Shuyi asked a lot of questions in one go. Fortunately, Wang Gui was also a front-line criminal investigator with rich experience. Although his ability to investigate cases was not as good as Liu Shuyi's, his basic professional qualities were still good.

He said, "While I was waiting for the arrival of the Assistant Minister, I had already ordered people to knock on the doors of the surrounding people's houses and asked them some simple questions."

"According to them, they did not find anyone behaving strangely yesterday, nor did they see any little beggars, and they did not hear any strange noises last night."

"As for the pattern, they saw it when they went out this morning, but they didn't know what it meant. They thought it was just some kid scribbling and didn't pay any attention to it."

The murderer never committed any crimes in Chang'an, so the people may have heard about his deeds before, but since they didn't happen nearby, they only talked about them over tea and didn't remember them very well. In addition, the murderer disappeared for five years, so even if the people had memories of him, they had long since forgotten them.

Therefore, it's perfectly normal that they didn't know what the blood-red skull meant and didn't pay attention to it.

Liu Shuyi thought for a moment and continued, "They didn't see the skull on the wall yesterday, right?"

"Yes."

Wang Gui said, "I specifically asked about the skulls, and they said that when they passed by here yesterday, there were no skulls on the walls."

"What time was the last person to pass by here yesterday?" Liu Shuyi asked again.

Around the hour of Xu (7-9 PM).

Liu Shuyi turned to Wan'er and asked, "What was the exact time you agreed to meet with Mo Xiaofan?"

Wan'er said, "I only asked him to come and pick up the food in the evening. I didn't specify a time, but according to our usual practice, it would be around 5-7 PM to 7-9 PM."

Liu Shuyi nodded: "Have you asked the other beggars when Mo Xiaofan parted ways with them?"

"I asked them, but they didn't know the exact time either. But it shouldn't be until the hour of You (5-7 PM) yet, when it's not too dark."

Liu Shuyi pondered, "If he doesn't leave before 5 PM, at Mo Xiaofan's speed, it will take him two to three quarters of an hour to get from Feng'anfang to Xinghuafang. Therefore, he can be assured that he will arrive at Liu's residence between 5 PM and 7 PM, which is consistent with Wan'er and Mo Xiaofan's usual meeting habits."

"Around the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), people living nearby passed by, but at that time there were no patterns on the walls, nor were there any strange people or beggars..."

"This means that the murderer must have been drawing here after 7 PM, or even later..."

"So, yesterday's situation should be like this... Before 5:45 PM, Mo Xiaofan left Feng'anfang as agreed. As usual, he headed north along the road, but encountered a murderer on the way. It is unknown what methods the murderer used to capture Mo Xiaofan. At this time, it was most likely before 5:45 PM."

"After that, he locked Mo Xiaofan up, and when it got dark and no one was around, he came here to paint..."

Thinking of this, Liu Shuyi couldn't help but look around.

My doubts deepened.

Why did the killer choose this location to leave the skull?
The local people clearly didn't know his identity. Even if they saw the skull, they didn't care much, let alone report it to the authorities.

If the people don't report the case, how can the government know that he has returned?
If the authorities are unaware, wouldn't his provocation have been in vain?

As his first case since his return, he chose to commit the crime in Chang'an, clearly to announce his return in a high-profile manner.

In this situation, shouldn't he leave his skull on a busy main street?

His purpose and his actions were so contradictory... Liu Shuyi's eyes flickered, and he suddenly said, "County Commandant Wang, arrange for someone to investigate whether there are any empty houses in Yongping Ward that have been uninhabited for a long time, or houses that are inhabited but have not been opened all day and no one has entered or left."

Wang Gui's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but ask, "Does the Master suspect that this murderer is hiding in Yongping Ward?"

Wan'er's big eyes were also fixed on Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi said, “Yongping Ward is located in Chang’an City. It is neither a ward with a large population nor an economically developed ward. On the contrary, because of its remote location, there are few outsiders, and the population of the ward moves around on its own.”

“In this situation, it is much more difficult for the murderer to leave a skull pattern here and make the people recognize the meaning of the skull than in other markets.”

"But from the words he left behind, it's clear that he wanted everyone to know he had returned. From this perspective, he should never have chosen to leave a skull and crossbones symbol here."

"But the fact is, he just happened to leave the pattern here, so the only reason that can explain why he did this, I think... is that he had no choice."

No choice?
Wang Gui and Wan'er seemed to be deep in thought.

"So, most likely, he encountered some accident while capturing Mo Xiaofan and was trapped here. After the curfew started, the gates of the ward were closed, and he could not leave Yongping Ward. However, he had already captured Mo Xiaofan. He was unwilling to change his habit of killing and dismembering people three days after capturing them, so he could only leave a pattern in Yongping Ward to start the timer."

After pondering for a moment, Wang Gui nodded and said, "What the official said makes sense. If he is accidentally trapped here, he will definitely need to find a place to hide at night, so an empty, uninhabited house is his first choice."

Liu Shuyi nodded: "But there may not be any empty houses here. If he can't find such a house in a short time, he may sneak directly into the people's houses... If that happens, he will definitely tie up these people as well, or even kill them to silence them."

"So, looking for houses that haven't been opened all day and no one has come out is also a direction to consider."

Listening to Liu Shuyi's words, Wang Gui couldn't help but nod emphatically and said excitedly, "I knew that no case would be difficult for you, Master Liu!"

"It hasn't been long, and the young master has already made a breakthrough!"

Liu Shuyi smiled and shook his head: "I've only deduced the most likely scenario, but whether it's actually true or not, we'll have to investigate further."

"This humble official will immediately send someone to investigate!"

Without any hesitation, Wang Gui turned around and ordered the yamen runners to take action.

Liu Shuyi withdrew his gaze and looked at Wan'er, only to see that Wan'er's lips were tightly pursed. Her usually energetic and seemingly carefree face was now full of worry.

He said softly, "Although Mo Xiaofan was unfortunately captured by the murderer, the murderer is different from other thieves. He has extremely high requirements and principles for committing crimes. If he says he will act in three days, he will never act in two and a half days."

"So Mo Xiaofan will not be in any danger before the three-day deadline. I assure you, I will do everything in my power to rescue Mo Xiaofan within three days and I will make sure nothing happens to him."

Wan'er bit her lower lip lightly and nodded emphatically: "I believe in Young Master. Young Master is the best at solving cases in the world. Young Master will definitely be able to rescue him."

Liu Shuyi smiled and nodded: "Since you trust me, relax a bit."

Wan'er knew that the young master cared about her, so she took a deep breath and her brows finally relaxed.

Seeing this, Liu Shuyi felt relieved.

He looked back at the wall, at the bloody patterns on it, thought for a moment, and then reopened the file.

His gaze fell upon the file, and he saw that it contained far more words than any file he had ever seen before.

It was described as a single case file, but in reality, it contained a total of sixty murder cases, involving more than forty government departments.

It's not an easy task to watch it from beginning to end.

But to understand the killer better, he had to read the entire file from beginning to end.

Based on his experience from his previous life, a serial killer like him would definitely reveal a lot of information about himself during the crime.

For example, how did he choose his targets?
The more demanding a murderer is of himself, the more selective he will be when choosing his targets.

In other words, these goals must have some commonality.

If this commonality can be found, it will be possible to deduce how the killer found the victims and why they sought out these victims, thereby further identifying information about the killer.

For example, were all sixty crimes committed by the murderer exactly the same?

Are there any differences in the details of each instance?

Even the slightest difference could indicate what unexpected event the murderer encountered during that crime.

This accident also presents an opportunity to find information related to the murderer.

In short... serial murder cases are both difficult and easy to solve.

The difficulty in cracking the case lies in his extensive experience in committing crimes, making it hard to find useful clues at the crime scene.

However, the problem is that he has committed so many crimes that his behavioral logic and habits have been fully revealed. As long as we can find any flaw, there is hope of catching him!

So what he needs to do now is wait for Wang Gui's results while thoroughly reviewing the case files in an attempt to find the information he wants from these sixty cases.

Liu Shuyi took a deep breath, suppressed his complicated thoughts, and carefully and quickly scanned the text on the file.

These cases were branded into his mind like a brand.

At the same time, these cases were analyzed and compared.

At this moment, his brain was working like a CPU, the extreme mental exertion causing beads of sweat to appear on Liu Shuyi's forehead, even though the weather was cold.

Wan'er watched quietly as Liu Shuyi analyzed the case file. Seeing that Liu Shuyi was sweating, she took out her handkerchief from her bosom and gently wiped his forehead.

Seeing Liu Shuyi's slightly furrowed brows, as if he had encountered difficulties, Wan'er bit her lip lightly. She knew that the young master had done all this for her sake, not wanting to disappoint her.

But she had to rescue Mo Xiaofan and couldn't persuade Liu Shuyi to stop.

So all she could do was wipe Liu Shuyi's sweat and repay the young master properly in the future, never letting him have given so much in vain.

And so, the sun set and night began to fall.

The surrounding residents lit lanterns in front of the mansion one after another, and the lights came on as dusk fell.

"Master Yuanwai..."

At this moment, Wang Gui suddenly strode over and said, "I've found the empty house you're looking for."

Upon hearing Wang Gui's words, Liu Shuyi immediately raised his head.

Wan'er's eyes lit up, and she quickly looked at him.

"Where is it?" Wan'er asked impatiently.

Wang Gui said, "There are three houses in Yongping Ward that are currently empty and uninhabited. As for whether there are any problems with the houses that are inhabited, we have not yet investigated clearly."

"It doesn't matter."

Liu Shuyi said, "Let's consider these three vacant houses first."

He asked, "Where are these three houses located?"

Wang Gui was prepared. He took out a map of Chang'an from his pocket and laid it flat on the ground.

He pointed to the location on the map and said, "The first residence is located at the southernmost part of Yongping Ward. It was originally a merchant's lodging in Chang'an. This merchant would come to Chang'an to do business every summer and autumn and stay here. He would go to Jiangnan in winter and spring, so this residence is temporarily vacant."

"The second residence is located in the northeast corner. It was originally the residence of the Crown Prince's retainers to keep his mistresses. Later, after the Xuanwu Gate Incident... after His Majesty ascended the throne, this former subordinate of the Prince of Xi was executed because he was too close to the Prince of Xi. His mistresses were afraid of being implicated, so they moved away in a hurry, and the residence was left empty."

"And the last mansion isn't far from here; we can see it from here..."

As he spoke, Wang Gui raised his hand and pointed to the house on the left at the intersection ahead, saying, "That's the house. A family of three originally lived there, but the male head of the household was a gambler. He lost everything in the house and even tried to gamble away his wife and daughter. When his wife found out about this, she took her daughter and went back to her parents' home."

"Later, we divorced."

"But the man remained unrepentant and continued to gamble, eventually accumulating a mountain of debt and even losing his ancestral home. Only then did he wake up, filled with remorse, and finally hanged himself in his ancestral home on the eve of the gambling den's seizure."

"After his death, sobbing could be heard from inside the house from time to time. The local people said that the man died with his eyes open... All sorts of rumors led to no one being willing to buy the house, and the gambling den was unable to sell it, so it remained vacant."

Liu Shuyi nodded slightly: "You've done a great job investigating in such a short time, County Commandant Wang."

Wang Gui shook his head: "Hard work is not important. As long as we can find this murderer, that's more important than anything else."

He looked at Liu Shuyi and said, "Master Liu, these are the three vacant mansions. If the murderer is really hiding in one of them, which one would he be in? Should we search them one by one?"

Liu Shuyi pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "There's no need to search them one by one; just search one mansion."

"Which one?" Wang Gui's eyes flashed, and he quickly asked.

Then Liu Shuyi raised his head, looked at the intersection ahead, and said, "The one closest to us!"

"The ancestral home of a gambler?"

Liu Shuyi nodded: "Even if the murderer is trapped in Yongping Ward, there are still many places where he can paint. He has no need to cross half of the ward to come here to paint."

"After all, there aren't many people here; compared to other places, there aren't many more people passing by."

"So, the reason he's painting here is most likely because his hiding place is nearby."

"After he finished the painting, he would definitely want to know if passersby could recognize what the skull represented. Therefore, he would likely observe it in secret. The gambler's house is right in front of this place. So, taking all of this into account, if he chose an empty house, this house would be the most likely one!"

Wang Gui's eyes suddenly lit up, and he nodded repeatedly: "That's right! We can see the gambler's ancestral home from here, and the thief can definitely see here from the house. He must be hiding there!"

Without any hesitation, he quickly ordered the yamen runners to take action.

Liu Shuyi stood up and said, "Let's go over there too."

Soon, they arrived at the front of the house.

This is a very old house. The plaster on the courtyard wall has peeled off, making it look very mottled. The wooden gate has even started to rot and was kicked down by the yamen runners.

With a bang, the courtyard gate was kicked down.

The constables drew their swords and rushed into the courtyard with vigilance and speed.

As soon as they rushed into the courtyard, they stopped abruptly upon seeing something, and their expressions changed drastically.

"Minister, County Commandant, look!"

The yamen runner at the front cried out in disbelief.

Liu Shuyi and Wang Gui exchanged a glance, realized something, and quickly entered the courtyard.

Upon entering and seeing the scene before them, both of their pupils contracted.

On the gray ground, a blood-red skull was drawn.

Below the skull was a blood-red knife, from which drops of blood dripped down, eventually forming four characters:
— Two days left.

"Two days left..."

Wang Gui's pupils dilated suddenly, and he quickly looked at Liu Shuyi, saying, "Master, he... he really was hiding here, but how could he know that we would definitely find this place?"

Liu Shuyi's eyes flashed, as if he had thought of something.

He strode over to the blood-red skull, then knelt down and ran his fingertip across it.

Then, he withdrew his finger and looked up.

Then you can see that his fingers are stained with bright red blood.

The blood hasn't clotted yet!
(End of this chapter)