Starting with dissecting ghost stories

"ha......"

It's 6:30 in the morning.

Shen Yuan yawned and walked out of the bedroom.

Taking a day off yesterday didn't help her rest better; even now, her eyelids are still red and swollen.

After washing up in the bathroom, she went to the living room and looked towards the dining table. When she saw a plate of stir-fried rice noodles on it, she paused for a moment.

She looked at Shen Xing sitting at the dining table, where there were normal eggs and milk in front of him.

"Grandma Zhang's stall is open?" Shen Yuan hesitated for a moment before sitting down at the table and asking Shen Xing.

"She asked me to bring this back for you last night. You were asleep, so I put it in the refrigerator. I just took it out and heated it up a bit," Shen Xing said, wiping his mouth with a tissue after finishing his meal.

"Oh..." Shen Yuan picked up her chopsticks and started eating.

There have been enough sad things happening lately. I haven't even gotten over the loss of my parents when I was hit with the murder of Li Xiaohua.

But after crying all night yesterday, she has basically recovered, although she still occasionally stares blankly at something.

"Buzz".

Shen Xing's phone vibrated. He had just put the dishes in the sink, wiped his hands briefly, and then took out his phone to check the incoming call information.

Lu Wenying?

After hearing what I said yesterday, she still hasn't given up on continuing the investigation?

It's highly unlikely.

The case will not be closed in substance if the body torso cannot be found, but it will be suspended procedurally.

According to Article 15 of the Criminal Procedure Law: If a criminal suspect or defendant dies, no criminal liability shall be pursued; if criminal liability has already been pursued, the case shall be dismissed, or the prosecution shall be dropped, or the trial shall be terminated.

Since the suspect Li Ya is dead, there is no substantial evidence to prove that another murderer killed Li Ya. The legal entity has disappeared, there is no one to prosecute, and the police prosecution process must be terminated.

Now that the head has been found, the identity confirmed, and the murderer identified, the police department will announce that the case has been solved in order to improve the case-solving rate and appease the public.

The case itself remains unsolved, waiting for the day when the body or bones are accidentally found.

Since it wouldn't affect him anyway, Shen Xing answered the phone.

"Hey? Xiao Lu?" Shen Xing greeted him after answering the phone.

"Shen Xing..." Lu Wenying's somewhat hoarse voice came through the receiver, her voice filled with a complex mix of emotions: exhaustion, confusion, and even fear.

Meanwhile, in the old town, Lu Wenying, who hadn't slept all night, stood by the roadside wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans.

Firefighters, ambulances, forensic investigators, police officers, onlookers... a group of people surrounded the pile of embers.

Her voice trembled as she looked at the video store across the street, now completely burned to ashes.

"The video rental store exploded..."

"The firefighters said that the load-bearing walls were cracked, it wasn't a normal gas leak, the gas cylinder was blown open and torn into several pieces..."

Lu Wenying mechanically relayed what the fire chief said; even after making the call, she wasn't prepared to tell him what happened next.

She seems a bit dazed right now.

Where exactly did we go wrong?

She just wanted to help the old lady continue the investigation; she just wanted to give the victim's family a perfect explanation.

But......

What went wrong?

Just as bewildered as Lu Wenying was Old Zhang, the local police officer, who stood with his hands hanging down inside the cordon.

Last night, he found Granny Zhang, talked to her for a long time, and left only after confirming that she was in a normal emotional state and would not do anything foolish.

Why is this happening?

Standing not far from Lao Zhang, Captain Chen's arms trembled slightly as he looked at the remains that had been cleared out.

Three people died and the suspect committed suicide. This is already a major and heinous social incident, and the provincial authorities are also paying attention to it.

However, the self-immolation of the victim's family members immediately changed the nature of the case, transforming it from a criminal investigation into a stability maintenance incident.

People from above will definitely be sent down, and there will be two groups of people.

The Provincial Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Department will send people down. Although they may not be able to find anything from this chaotic scene, they will definitely send someone to verify it.

The second wave will be the supervisory teams from the Discipline Inspection Commission or the Political and Legal Affairs Commission...

Investigate the people, the case, the bureau chief, all the police officers involved, and why no one could stop the family members.

The scariest thing is that if the situation can't be classified in the end, it will be steered towards drug control... In short, you'll be badly hurt even if you don't die.

From the moment they learned that the arsonist was a family member of the victim, the entire police force fell into a tense, deathly silence, with everyone feeling insecure.

Things are about to change.

".......I see."

At home, Shen Xing patiently listened to Lu Wenying's story before hanging up the phone.

Did Granny Zhang commit suicide?

This is the outcome that Shen Xing least wanted to see.

This was a heinous crime, but at least its impact was limited to this small city.

However, when the victim's family set themselves on fire, it attracted the attention of higher-ups, and the police became furious.

At least one person's job is in jeopardy. The bureau chief will definitely issue a death order: a case that might have been hastily shelved will now be subject to repeated autopsies and investigations. The chain of evidence must be perfect, and the case must be made airtight.

In a few days, I might see my former colleagues, who knows.

The most critical issue is that after Granny Zhang's death, Shen Yuan will become the person, besides her relatives, who has the closest relationship with the suicide victim and the victim, and will definitely receive special attention.

And because of their guardians, they will also be listed as persons of concern.

I originally planned to wait a few days before going to the garage, but now it seems I have to change my plans.

Move to a detached house with a basement, and then move all the old stuff to the basement.

This method might work if I lived alone, but I currently live with my sister, who is not yet an adult, so there is no possibility of us living separately for the time being.

The local police nowadays will dig deep like mad dogs. It's fortunate that the victim's family didn't self-immolate in front of the police station, otherwise there wouldn't be any chance for investigation and redress.

Now, unless evidence can be found to prove that Grandma Zhang's suicide was unrelated to the police investigation and was just a complete tragedy, this matter will not be over.

This is so troublesome...

At this moment, Shen Xing had an unprecedented desire for an "independent operating room".

But does such a place really exist?

An independent place where no one can find you, where you can freely express yourself?

"What happened?"

Shen Yuan seemed to notice that her brother stood there in a daze after finishing the phone call, so she asked him about it.

Shen Xing turned his head and looked into his younger sister Shen Yuan's eyes, as if assessing whether her spirit could withstand a new round of shocks.

She'll find out sooner or later; if I deliberately hide it, she might hold a grudge against me.

"Grandma Zhang is dead..." Shen Xing said, feigning indifference, "She committed suicide by self-immolation at the video studio where Li Xiaohua died..."

Clang.

The stainless steel chopsticks slipped from Shen Yuan's hand and fell to the ground. Shen Yuan's expression was one of deep bewilderment, as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard.