Siheyuan: Hang Jia Dongxu, smash Banggeng to death!

In the police station's duty dormitory.

Lin Tian and Tangtang sat side by side on the bed.

The room was small but very clean, with a red banner that read "Serve the People" on the wall and faded blue curtains hanging in the window.

"Xiaotian, Tangtang, are you hungry?"

Officer Han placed the two children's small bags on the bedside table and said gently, "I'll go to the cafeteria to get you some good food. Children need to grow, so they can't go hungry."

Lin Tian looked up and said obediently, "Thank you, sister."

Tangtang imitated her brother, saying in a childish voice, "Thank you, sister..."

Xiao Han's heart softened, and she patted the two children's heads: "Then you two have to be good, okay? I'm going to the cafeteria to get food. You wait in the dormitory and don't run around, okay?"

"We promise we'll stay put," Lin Tian said earnestly. "Don't worry, Sister Han."

"Good boy." Xiao Han nodded with satisfaction, picked up two aluminum lunch boxes, and went out the door.

The moment the door closed, the obedient look on Lin Tian's face vanished, and his eyes turned cold and sharp.

……

Red Star Hotel.

After settling in, Yi Zhonghai, Yan Bugui, and Sha Zhu left the hotel in a hurry without even having a sip of water.

The sun began to set.

The three walked hurriedly down the street, their expressions tense.

"Uncle, how should we start?" Sha Zhu asked in a low voice, his eyes scanning the surroundings uneasily.

Yi Zhonghai did not answer immediately.

He led the two men around to the back wall of the Hongxing Police Station, where they squatted behind an old locust tree and carefully observed the area.

There weren't many people in the police station; you could only see two or three officers on duty.

The other officers—without a doubt—were all staking out the courtyard house, waiting for the "murderer" to reappear.

"The bodies are all in the morgue in the backyard."

Yi Zhonghai lowered his voice and pointed to the wall, "There are guards at the main gate, so we can't go through the front gate. I'll distract them. Zhu Zi, you climb over from the backyard in a bit."

He turned to Yan Bugui: "Old Yan, you keep watch. If anyone gets around to the backyard, meow like a cat to warn Zhu Zi."

Yan Bugui nodded and pushed up his glasses: "Okay! Let's do as Lao Yi says."

Sha Zhu nervously rubbed his hands together. "Uncle, when I go in... which section should I cut?"

"Fingers." Yi Zhonghai's eyes were cold.

He pulled a small knife wrapped in red cloth from his pocket and handed it to Sha Zhu, saying, "After you cut it off, wrap it in red cloth and throw it out. Old Yan will pick it up."

Yan Bugui replied, "I will pick it up and hide it right away."

Yi Zhonghai made the final decision: "Okay, do it this way. Zhu Zi, remember to be quick and gentle. Get the item and come out immediately, don't linger."

"Understood!" Sha Zhu took the knife, gripping it tightly in his palm, which was covered in sweat.

"Let's begin." Yi Zhonghai glanced at his watch; it was 7:30 PM.

He straightened his clothes, took a deep breath, and walked out from behind the tree, swaggering towards the main entrance of the police station.

Yan Bugui and Sha Zhu hid in the shadows, watching Yi Zhonghai's back.

Police station duty room.

Young police officer Liu was engrossed in writing a report when he heard footsteps. He looked up and asked, "Master Yi? What brings you here?"

Yi Zhonghai forced an anxious smile: "Comrade Liu, I just want to ask, when will the murderer be caught?"

He walked into the duty room and closed the door behind him: "There's a lot of panic in the compound right now, everyone's scared. I'm here on behalf of everyone in the compound to ask about the situation..."

Xiao Liu put down his pen and sighed, "Master Yi, we understand everyone's feelings. Captain Qin and his team are investigating with all their might, but the case... is indeed strange."

"Yeah yeah……"

Yi Zhonghai nodded repeatedly, pulled up a chair and sat down. "Comrade Liu, what do you think of this murderer... is he a human or a ghost?"

Xiao Liu's expression changed. He looked around and lowered his voice, "Master Yi, you can't just say things like that. We're police officers; we need to be scientific and based on evidence."

But the unease in his eyes betrayed his true thoughts; he clearly didn't believe in science either.

Yi Zhonghai sneered inwardly, but his expression became even more sincere: "Comrade Liu, I'm not advocating feudal superstition, it's just that what's happened in the courtyard is really inexplicable..."

He began to recount the strange things that had happened in the courtyard, from Jia Dongxu's hanging to Liu Guangfu's disappearance, to the deaf old lady dying in the latrine...

He spoke so vividly that Xiao Liu's face grew paler and paler.

Even if Xiao Liu knew the general idea, he hadn't actually seen it himself...

And at this moment—

The backyard of the police station.

Seeing that Yi Zhonghai had successfully "entangled" the on-duty police officer, Sha Zhu took a deep breath and stretched his arms and legs.

He was known as the "Courtyard War God" for his fighting and brawling since childhood, and climbing walls and trees was a common occurrence for him.

This two-meter-high wall is nothing to him.

"Zhu Zi, be careful," Yan Bugui whispered a warning.

"Don't worry, Second Uncle."

Sha Zhu grinned, took a few steps back, took a running start, pushed off the wall with his feet, grabbed the top of the wall with both hands, and flipped himself up.

The movements were clean and efficient.

He crouched on the wall and observed the situation inside the courtyard.

The backyard was quiet, with a simple shed built against the wall; that was the morgue.

There was a cordon around the shed, but no one was guarding it.

Sha Zhu flipped over and jumped down, making a slight sound when he landed.

He immediately crouched down and looked around warily.

no one.

He tiptoed to the front of the morgue and lifted the curtain.

A strong smell of formaldehyde and disinfectant hit him, almost making him cough.

Five corpses were neatly arranged in the shed, covered with white sheets.

Sha Zhu's heart pounded, filled with fear.

With trembling hands, he lifted a corner of the white cloth that had been used to examine Jia Dongxu's body that afternoon, revealing a pale gray face.

With his eyes closed, the ligature mark on his neck was particularly glaring in the dim light.

Sha Zhu swallowed hard, pulled out a red cloth and a small knife from his pocket, and silently prayed, "Brother Dongxu, don't blame me. We will avenge you, and I will take good care of Sister Qin for you."

He pulled out Jia Dongxu's cold, stiff hand; his hand was trembling.

The knife was trembling.

"Brother Dongxu, I'm so sorry..."

Sha Zhu muttered under his breath, "For Sister Qin, for revenge for everyone, you...you can't blame me..."

He gritted his teeth and raised the knife—

Just then!

"Meow--!"

A sharp meow came from outside the wall.

This is Yan Bugui's signal.

Someone's coming!

Sha Zhu was so frightened that his hand trembled, and he almost dropped the knife.

He quickly crouched down, hid behind the corpse, and held his breath.

Footsteps came from afar.

Getting closer.

It was the sound of two patrol officers talking:

"Captain Qin ordered us to increase patrols. Does the murderer dare to come to the police station to steal the body?"

"This case... it's really strange..."

"Shh! Don't talk nonsense!"

The footsteps stopped outside the morgue.

Sha Zhu's heart was in his throat.

He covered his mouth tightly, not daring to even breathe.

"Shall we go in and take a look?" one of the officers said.

"What are you looking at... It's creepy..." another officer said, his voice trembling. "Just wander around outside."

"Too…"

The two police officers walked around outside for a while, and their footsteps gradually faded away.

Sha Zhu finally breathed a sigh of relief; his clothes were soaked with cold sweat.

We can't delay any longer!

He raised the knife, aimed it at Jia Dongxu's little finger, and forcefully cut it off.

"Snap!"

A slight cracking sound.

A small, bluish-gray finger fell to the ground.

Sha Zhu quickly wrapped it in red cloth and stuffed it into his clothes.

They covered it with the white cloth again to make sure nothing was amiss.

After doing all this, he turned to leave.

But he stopped as soon as he reached the entrance of the shed.

His gaze fell on the fifth corpse, which was Liu Guangtian's.

Sha Zhu recalled the horrific scene of Liu Guangtian's death, and the way Li Zhaodi cried her heart out...

As if guided by some strange force, he walked to Liu Guangtian's body and lifted the white sheet.

Sha Zhu hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a tattered cloth.

It's better to have one more section than one less section.

"Snap!"

Another finger has been obtained.

Sha Zhu wrapped up the two severed fingers and stuffed them into the pocket in his pocket.

Then, he quickly slipped out of the morgue, ran to the wall, took a running start, climbed over the wall, and jumped down.

"How is it?" Yan Bugui quickly came up to greet him.

"Got them!" Sha Zhu panted, patting his chest. "Two!"

"Two?" Yan Bugui was taken aback.

"Dongxu's, and Liu Guangtian's too," Shazhu said. "Having another enemy makes things safer."

Yan Bugui thought for a moment and nodded: "Alright... Let's go!"

The two hurriedly left the backyard of the police station and went around to the front gate.

……