Over the two days of the weekend, Su Miaoyi took Cheng Jue to several institutions to get a sense of the situation.
On Sunday afternoon, Su Miaoyi sent Cheng Jue back to school.
She gave him a week to decide which institution to choose, and she planned to use that week to go home and talk things over with her uncle and aunt.
On Monday, a little after eight in the morning, Su Miaoyi went to pick up her phone.
Once she had it in hand, she first transferred money to Zhuang Yanzheng.
She transferred the thousand yuan in cash, plus the extra hundred Zhuang Yanzheng had paid for groceries, all to him.
Then she planned to buy some things and make a trip back to the old city district.
After buying two pieces of clothing for Cheng Yong and Ge Yu, Su Miaoyi went to a fruit shop.
She picked out some fruit, and as she was paying, the cashier introduced the store’s discount promotion.
Su Miaoyi said, “No need.”
“Alright then,” the cashier said. “I’ll scan you.”
Su Miaoyi opened her phone, her fingertip hovering over the payment code. Before she could tap it, she suddenly froze entirely.
The cashier saw that she wasn’t moving and called out to her: “Excuse me?”
Su Miaoyi didn’t react.
“Excuse me?” The cashier waved a hand in front of her face.
Su Miaoyi’s eyes were half-lowered, still no reaction.
When the cashier called her a third time, she turned and walked straight out.
“Your fruit!” the cashier called after her.
She showed no reaction at all, carrying the clothes she’d bought and her phone, and left directly.
She walked across an intersection thick with traffic.
She forced many normally moving vehicles to brake.
Horns blared from all directions.
A driver rolled down his window and cursed: “Watch where you’re going! Can’t you see the red light?!”
Su Miaoyi showed no reaction whatsoever, just walking straight ahead.
The sun gradually shifted from the east to the south.
Finally, Su Miaoyi stopped in front of an abandoned amusement park.
For nearly a minute, Su Miaoyi’s eyes finally moved.
She snapped back to herself and raised a hand to shield against the glaring sun.
Before she could even see where she was.
She suddenly saw more images.
She saw herself in an alley, with thumping music not far away. The sky was pitch black, and she could only make out the face of the man in front of her by the dim streetlight.
“Brother Qiang, here’s the money for this time. Where’s the stuff?”
The man in front of her spoke: “They’ve been cracking down hard lately. I might be watched. I need to lay low for a couple of days outside. I’ll take you to meet my supplier. From now on, if you need more goods, contact my supplier directly.”
“Okay.”
She followed the man out of the alley, and soon a black car pulled up in front of them.
She glanced at the license plate.
Then she got into the car with the man.
But just as she got in, before she could even see anything clearly, something struck the back of her head, and everything went black before her eyes.
Su Miaoyi pulled herself out of the vision.
The dizziness from the vision made her stagger back a step.
Steadying herself, Su Miaoyi looked around.
She looked at everything unfamiliar before her.
Where is this?
Su Miaoyi picked up her phone and checked.
It was already past noon, twelve-something.
When she’d been paying at the fruit shop, it had been just past ten.
Su Miaoyi looked up at the abandoned amusement park in front of her, then turned to look at the ruins behind her.
Some building had been demolished—judging by the size, it looked like it had once been a residential complex.
Now it was rubble, covered with netting.
Aside from her, there wasn’t a single person around.
Even at high noon with the sun this high, it felt eerie.
Su Miaoyi opened her phone and checked her current location.
At this distance, it would have taken over two hours just walking here.
She’d blacked out.
It couldn’t really be dissociative identity disorder, could it?
Just as she was thinking this, a gust of wind blew past, and she suddenly caught a very foul smell.
It was unpleasant but very familiar.
She’d smelled it before under the elevated bridge—the stench of decomposing flesh.
Su Miaoyi looked in the direction the wind had come from and quickly walked into the amusement park.
She finally spotted a large black plastic bag beside a spinning swing ride.
The bag had a tear in it, as if pecked open by birds.
Su Miaoyi broke a branch off a small tree nearby, approached, and pried open the tear.
The plastic bag split open, and its contents spilled out instantly.
Su Miaoyi was so startled she squeezed her eyes shut and took several steps back.
After composing herself, she immediately called Zhuang Yanzheng.
It connected, but no one answered.
Su Miaoyi didn’t call a second time, worried about disrupting his mission.
She dialed 110 directly.
“Hello, 110? I’d like to report a case. I found human remains at the abandoned amusement park on Qingyang Road.”
…
Municipal Bureau.
Conference room.
“The victim, He Kai, twenty-seven years old. A local of Jinghai, formerly the driver for Shen Yanzhou, the owner of Huating Diyuan. He resigned three months ago. In the three months following his resignation, no work-related information was found. According to his parents, he was on leave during those three months.”
“We searched He Kai’s residence. We found a bar wristband at his place. We confirmed at the bar that he’d been going there frequently during this period. But he always went alone—no fixed friends, just partying with strangers.”
“We also found a glass pipe at his residence.”
A glass pipe is a device used to smoke meth.
“The hair follicle drug test came back positive,” Yan Cheng said. “Dismemberment after death. There’s a depression at the back of the skull—a blunt-force strike delivered before death, something like a rounded hammer.”
“We’ve dredged all the sewers near Huating Imperial Court and found no human tissue. We’re expanding the search radius.”
“In Room 601 at Huating Imperial Court, only the cleaner’s fingerprints were found on the refrigerator. Nothing else.”
“The surveillance cameras and access control at Huating Imperial Court show no suspicious individuals.”
No one had rested since the report came in yesterday afternoon.
Searches for body parts around Huating Imperial Court. Dredging the sewers.
Teams had been sent to He Kai’s residence and his parents’ home.
Shen Yanzhou, as the prime suspect, was still in the interrogation room.
“Send more people to the bar,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. “Focus on whether anyone was using drugs—especially those who had frequent contact with He Kai.”
“Yes, sir.”
Zhuang Yanzheng studied the information on the screen.
Shen Yanzhou claimed he didn’t kill anyone.
But then why did the victim’s head end up in his residence?
And where were the rest of the body parts?
“Check all properties under Shen Yanzhou’s name and send teams to search every one of them,” Zhuang Yanzheng ordered, then added, “Not just properties—also any businesses he owns. Go through them one by one. Prioritize locations suitable for body disposal.”
“The Shen family…” The officer speaking looked at Zhuang Yanzheng. “Will they cooperate?”
“They’ll cooperate fully,” Zhuang Yanzheng said with absolute certainty. “Don’t be intimidated by anyone’s status. Investigate however the case requires. Never forget who you are, and never disgrace the uniform you wear.”
“Yes, sir!” Everyone responded in unison.
“Keep an ear out for tips from the public.” No sooner had Zhuang Yanzheng finished speaking than a knock came at the conference room door.
“Captain Zhuang, the command center received a report—a citizen found body parts at the abandoned amusement park on Qingyang Road. The Qingyang Road precinct has already been dispatched.”
Everyone looked at Zhuang Yanzheng.
Speak of the devil.
Zhuang Yanzheng rose and headed out.
Yan Cheng and Qi Feng followed.
They quickly got into the car and drove toward Qingyang Road.
……