Chapter 56: Capturing the Beautiful Snake

Lu Ye understood her meaning; he had already warned the woman with the "unusual" charm before coming to investigate. Now he realized that something "unusual" had happened.

Holding his mobile phone, he walked a distance away and dialed Gu Yanzheng's number: "Boss, we found the body transport equipment. There's cement residue inside... Teacher Qin on the flyer does indeed have an extraordinary aura if you look closely."

Gu Yanzheng, who was in a meeting at the Municipal Bureau, immediately handed over the on-site command to Shen Zhenzhu and came over from the Municipal Bureau himself: "I'll be there soon. Be careful. The opponent is very cunning. If necessary, you can kill him."

After Lu Ye finished his call, he summoned Liu Hongmei and Ma Xiaobao and repeatedly instructed her not to mention his and Shen Zhenzhu's identities as criminal police officers to anyone.

Liu Hongmei hugged her son tightly and said, "Don't worry, police officer. I'll sew my mouth shut today, and I won't talk to anyone."

Ma Xiaobao looked up: "Mom!"

Liu Hongmei sighed and quickly glanced at Lu Ye: "I might as well stay home and not go out. Remember to remind me when you're done. I'm willing to cooperate with you on anything. The faster you solve the case, the better for me."

"You understand in your heart." Lu Ye urged them to go home, then quickened his pace toward the kindergarten.

The principal was still introducing the kindergarten to Shen Zhenzhu, and kept looking her up and down as she spoke: "Our kindergarten has a history of more than ten years. Our students have gone on to Tsinghua and Peking Universities, or studied abroad and achieved great success. People say that our kindergarten has good feng shui, and they are eager to send their children in to make friends."

With the kindergarten right in front of her, Chen Zhenzhu chuckled dryly and said, "How can someone this young make friends?"

"I didn't hear it, they must be too busy." The principal rang the doorbell and waited for a while without anyone answering. He took out his key and said, "Even if they can't make friends, their parents can make friends. They are all outstanding people in their respective fields. Having more friends means having more options."

Shen Zhenzhu looked anxiously into the kindergarten and said, "You're right. If we had such good social connections, we would tighten our belts and let our child in to build up our network."

The kindergarten director noticed that she was dressed simply, but extremely beautiful, and the fact that she could pull out a mobile phone suggested that she was a low-key, wealthy person.

She spoke to Shen Zhenzhu more politely, and slowly unlocked the door: "What does the child's father do for a living? I didn't mean to inquire about your family, but our kindergarten often has parent-child activities. If only we had more time to spend with the child like Professor Zhou."

Shen Zhenzhu said without hesitation, "The child's father's hometown is in the provincial capital. Don't tell anyone, okay? His family owns a gold mine."

The principal's gaze towards her changed, as if she were looking at a moving golden Buddha. She smiled brightly and said, "You have a very good family background, which perfectly matches our kindergarten's philosophy."

She quickly pushed open the kindergarten gate, carefully observed Chen Zhenzhu, and hissed, "Why do you look so familiar?"

Chen Zhenzhu said shyly, "Perhaps you saw me when I visited my sister's house before."

The kindergarten director said with some skepticism, "It's possible."

Thinking of the rumors surrounding Liu Hongmei, the kindergarten director thought that the two sisters were quite good at currying favor.

Are you sure Teacher Qin is at the kindergarten?

"Yes, I'm sure. She came to work today."

Chen Zhenzhu followed the principal, changed into slippers, and entered the kindergarten. The floor was spotless and there was a faint smell of baby milk.

"The small class is called the Strawberry Class. You sit down and I'll go ask Teacher Qin to come over and explain it to you. She's very patient, and I'm sure you'll like it." The principal dragged out a small stool, and Shen Zhenzhu reluctantly sat down on it, looking at the carefully arranged Strawberry Class.

Seeing the twenty-six letters of the alphabet written on the front panel, Chen Zhenzhu couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement. Nowadays, children from wealthy families start bilingual education in kindergarten.

She waited a while, but the principal didn't come. Determined to catch Teacher Qin, Shen Zhenzhu simply left the classroom and followed the arrow on the ground towards the teacher's office.

"Excuse me, parent. I just heard that Ms. Qin's mother wasn't feeling well and she had to take leave to go home. How about I ask her co-teacher to come back and talk to you about it?"

Shen Zhenzhu brushed past the principal, rushed to the office, quickly checked to make sure she wasn't there, and pulled out her police ID to show the principal: "I'm a criminal police officer. Where is Teacher Qin's home address? Tell me right now!"

The kindergarten director exclaimed "Ah!" and his old face immediately turned pale and purplish: "We haven't done anything illegal or disorderly."

Chen Zhenzhu asked, "Where does Teacher Qin live?!"

The principal stammered, "I can't tell you that. The parents in our kindergarten are all very important people. The kindergarten can't afford any problems. If something happens, how will we all survive? It must be a misunderstanding, absolutely a misunderstanding."

"You're really getting senile. By the time you tell me something really bad happens at the kindergarten, it will be too late!" Shen Zhenzhu rushed outside.

Lu Ye ran over just then: "Sister Pearl, the boss will be here soon."

Shen Zhenzhu said, "The suspect probably knew we were coming to arrest her, so she has already slipped away and run away."

Lu Ye said, "Then what should we do?"

Chen Zhenzhu took off running outside and caught up with the kindergarten teacher who was about to cross the road, saying, "Excuse me, do you know Teacher Qin's address?"

The kindergarten teacher hesitated and said, "What do you need the address for? Are you here to collect a debt again? I can't tell you."

Shen Zhenzhu took out her police ID and said, "I'm a criminal investigator. I suspect she's involved in two murder cases. Qin Lingling is very dangerous. Please tell me her address!"

While Shen Zhenzhu was speaking, the senior teacher looked at Shen Zhenzhu's face and suddenly realized, "So you're that policewoman from TV... She's in that tenement building two stops away from here, on the top floor of building number three, which is half-demolished."

When Shen Zhenzhu arrived, she had seen this row of tenement buildings before. She waved to Lu Ye and said, "Let's hurry over there!"

Their figures ran past the Jingangwan residential area, and Liu Hongmei stood on the second-floor balcony holding her son Ma Xiaobao, watching.

Ma Xiaobao pointed at Chen Zhenzhu's fast-moving shadow and asked, "Mom, are they playing a game?"

Liu Hongmei covered Ma Xiaobao's mouth and said, "It's to avenge your father."

"What does 'revenge' mean?" Ma Xiaobao asked in his childish voice. "Mommy, do you miss my daddy?"

Liu Hongmei closed the balcony sliding door carefully and locked it, then sighed and said, "After so many years, there must have been some feelings. But you must remember to be strong no matter what happens; the weak don't deserve pity."

Looking at Chen Zhenzhu's increasingly smaller shadow, Ma Xiaobao said, "Then I want to be a policeman when I grow up!"

Liu Hongmei quickly said, "Just remember this sister. Don't become a police officer. It's dangerous, with wind and sun, and the salary isn't much. You'd be better off being a rich tycoon. But don't go looking for random women outside. They're all bad and shameless... But Mom isn't bad. Mom was just tricked by that dead guy."

"Oh." Ma Xiaobao said, holding Liu Hongmei's hand, "I remember, Mom. I don't want my deadbeat dad. I want to stay with Mom."

***

The tenement building where Qin Lingling lives is not divided into a community. It consists of several red brick buildings built in the 1970s that stand by the street and are already 20 years old.

In front of each red brick house is a row of newly built cement bungalows, some of which have crooked brick walls and are uninhabited.

Almost all the residents here are from the old courtyard houses. They see each other all the time and have been neighbors for decades. They were all poor, but when the demolition and relocation results came out, the neighbors who had money in their pockets left the community and went to buy houses elsewhere. They no longer looked down on the poor neighbors here.

The word "demolish" is painted in black on the side of the red brick building. In some places, only the foundation remains after demolition, while in others, the demolition is complete and the ground is being repaired.

Chen Zhenzhu struggled to identify the apartment building's address from the old, rusty door numbers, and even went to the wrong place at first.

Fortunately, there was an elderly man collecting garbage nearby who pointed ahead and said, "That's Building No. 3 over there. Keep your voice down when you go upstairs. There's a crazy woman living upstairs who will yell at you out the window if you make any noise."

Lu Ye lowered his head and said to Shen Zhenzhu, "I'll go first."

Shen Zhenzhu took out her mobile phone and reported her location to Gu Yanzheng. After hanging up, she said, "Brother Zheng will be here soon. Tell us to act according to the situation."

Lu Ye nodded: "Understood." As he spoke, he took the pistol from his waist and cocked it.

Shen Zhenzhu also carried a pistol and walked behind. They went up to the seventh floor. Lu Ye stood by the door and knocked on it. Shen Zhenzhu hid on the steps below to observe the situation.

Unfortunately, no one answered the door. Remembering that there were still victims in Qin Lingling's hands, Shen Zhenzhu decisively ordered, "Brother Aye, break down the door!"

The old, dark green wooden door couldn't withstand Lu Ye's fierce kick and slammed against the wall with a loud bang.

Lu Ye rushed inside first, while Chen Zhenzhu blocked the doorway, alerting everyone to possible escape routes inside the room.

"Sister Pearl!!" Lu Ye's voice came from the bedroom. Shen Zhenzhu raised her gun and was shocked by the scene before her. A paralyzed woman in her fifties was lying on a single bed, strangled to death by hanging from her neck with a stocking.

Qin Lingling actually hanged her mother with her own hands!

The flashback from her dying eye suddenly appeared before Shen Zhenzhu's eyes—

Qin Lingling took leave from work, but her keen sixth sense told her that danger was approaching. The first thing she did after leaving the kindergarten was not to go home, but to go to Liu Hongmei's house.

At that time, Liu Hongmei took Shen Zhenzhu and Lu Ye to Jingangwan Park to find Ma Xiaobao. She had a good relationship with Liu Hongmei's aunt and had arranged to meet Ma Xiangxiang at home without Liu Hongmei's knowledge.

The aunt accepted her bribe and told her that the police had arrived, and it was the same Section Chief Shen from the TV show.

Qin Lingling returned home, took off her stockings, and went into the bedroom.

'Don't kill me, please spare me!'

"Mom, there's no time. After I finish dealing with you, I still need to go to the warehouse to clean up the trash."

The paralyzed woman was strangled by a stocking around her neck, with the other end tightly tied to the headboard.

The head of the bed was less than half a meter from the bed surface; if one could have propped themselves up slightly with their hands, they could have escaped. Qin Lingling came over and carried out the hanging, and the once fierce and resilient paralyzed woman suffocated to death after enduring excruciating pain.

"Two left." Qin Lingling bent down to wipe her mother's tear-streaked face, wrapped her in a new diaper, and then leisurely left the room.

"A warehouse?" Shen Zhenzhu rushed to the window but didn't find any warehouse nearby.

While looking around, she saw the old man she had just asked open the door of the bungalow in front of the building, carrying the garbage he had collected. The inside was full of garbage, indicating that the later residents had privately converted the uninhabited bungalow into their own warehouse!

So that's what it was!

"Sister Pearl, what do we do now?" Lu Ye returned from inspecting the house: "No clues."

Shen Zhenzhu's big eyes were practically spitting fire as she stared at the bungalow warehouse below and said, "She can both kill and transport corpses, so the crime scene can't be too far away. She must be hiding nearby. Let's go downstairs and investigate first."

Lu Ye thought Shen Zhenzhu was right. He followed Shen Zhenzhu out the door and said, "We didn't see her when we came over. There are construction workers here, so she might be hiding."

"Perhaps a warehouse would be a better hiding place." Chen Zhenzhu ran downstairs as fast as she could and first found the old man who collected garbage and asked, "Excuse me, where is the warehouse of that family on the seventh floor?"

The old woman, dazed from the sun, picked up the flattened can, stood up, and said, "I'm not quite sure about that, but she always walks in the first few rows."

Shen Zhenzhu had roughly determined the direction and was about to walk outside when the old woman suddenly stopped her: "Could something have happened to her? Her mother is like a madwoman, scolding her every day. We all know that she was scolded by her mother and grew up eating food from many families. Now that life is a little better, she can't do something rash."

Shen Zhenzhu gritted her teeth and said, "Don't worry, she's very open-minded, extremely open-minded."

"Brother Ye, you and I will each take one side and search the warehouse separately. We have to hurry, I suspect she has more victims on her hands!"

"Yes, Sister Pearl."

Lu Ye strode towards the warehouse next door and checked each door.

Shen Zhenzhu slung her pistol behind her back to avoid accidentally injuring the crowd and began inspecting the warehouses one by one.

Under the blazing sun, the cicadas' chirping sounded like ghostly howls.

A damp smell emanated from the corner of the bungalow warehouse, while Professor Zhou knelt down and wiped the terrazzo floor until it was spotless.

This is his spiritual sanctuary, a sacred and inviolable ideal palace.

The two combined single-story warehouses were originally inhabited by elderly people, making it convenient as they didn't need to go up or down stairs. The inner room was fully furnished, and although it was cold in winter, it was cool and comfortable in summer. Sometimes he would peek at the woman sleeping behind the gauze curtain from the dog cage, his fantasies and reality alternating and eroding his reason... No, whenever he came here, he had already lost his reason.

All his humble actions were aimed at winning her favor.

Today was a surprise to him. He thought he would have to wait for the woman to come over after get off work, but he never expected to see her looking so charming in her kindergarten uniform.

Qin Lingling grabbed Zhou Huaxian by the collar and dragged him into the dog cage.

Zhou Huaxian quickly loosened his tie and explained, "I thought there was still time, so I didn't have time to prepare."

Before Zhou Huaxian could kneel down, Qin Lingling pointed at the dog cage and said, "Go in!"

Zhou Huaxian couldn't help but look towards the cantilevered area.

He agreed to accept the final test, but the cement wasn't ready yet. There should have been a suitable one, but the rubber man begged him to use it on the other person first. Zhou Huaxian regretted it all night, wondering why he hadn't been the one to beg first.

A stinging slap landed on his face, drawing Zhou Huaxian's attention back. He was surprised by the woman's unusual behavior today, but obeyed her command, kneeling in the dog cage and beginning to remove his human clothes.

At such times, he always imagines himself as a wild beast awakened, shedding his hypocritical facade and leaving behind his primal and sincere love.

"Open the door." An aged voice came from outside, causing Qin Lingling to pause. She had light brown eyes and scarlet lips and tongue. She slowly straightened up, took the stun gun from the dog cage, and stepped into the doorway in her red high heels: "What is it?"

An elderly man collecting garbage stood at the door and shouted, "The pipes at the door are leaking! Is it your water? It's soaked all my cardboard boxes!"

Qin Lingling pressed her face against the door but heard no other sounds. With her hand on the door latch, she thought for a moment and said, "My water has been cut off for a long time. Go find someone else."

The old man paused for a few seconds, then cursed, "What's wrong with you? You've turned the river into a raging torrent and you're not even doing anything about it! You owe me money!!"

Qin Lingling returned to the dog cage, hooked her toe on Zhou Huaxian's suit jacket, took out her wallet from the dark blue suit pocket, pulled out a few bills, and came to the crack in the door: "Here you go, don't bother me again."

After she gave him the money, she turned her head and listened for a while. The old man took the money and stopped cursing. He dragged the snakeskin bag on the ground, making a clanging sound as he walked away.

Qin Lingling lowered her guard and turned to walk towards the dog cage when suddenly a loud door-breaking sound came from behind her!

She turned around quickly, but someone was faster than her!

The moment Lu Ye burst through the door, Shen Zhenzhu rushed up behind Qin Lingling and, before she could react, grabbed her by the neck and threw her to the ground!

The stun gun was thrown aside, and ignoring Qin Lingling's struggles, Shen Zhenzhu pressed her back with her knee and pulled out handcuffs to cuff her right hand.

Lu Ye quickly went into the inner room to search, but just as Shen Zhenzhu was about to handcuff Qin Lingling's left hand, a dark figure suddenly appeared behind her, grabbed an electric baton, and smashed it against Shen Zhenzhu's shoulder!

"ah!"

Shen Zhenzhu felt excruciating pain throughout her body. Stimulated by the electric current, she lay curled up on the ground, her body contorted in shock. She stared at Zhou Huaxian, who was locked in the dog cage. The victim, who should have been rescued, raised the stun gun high and struck Shen Zhenzhu's head heavily—

Bang!

A gunshot rang out, and the stun baton in Zhou Huaxian's hand fell to the ground! A black hole appeared in his palm, bleeding profusely: "Ugh! A gun? Ha...ha...how could this be..."

The next second, Zhou Huaxian was kicked away by Gu Yanzheng and fell heavily to the edge of the cage! He was panting heavily and couldn't get up for a long time.

Lu Ye rushed over, grabbed him by the back of the collar, slammed his head to the ground, and pressed it down: "Are you crazy! She came to save you!"

Gu Yanzheng put away his gun and quickly walked to Chen Zhenzhu, squatting down to support her upper body: "How are you?"

Shen Zhenzhu stared blankly at Gu Yanzheng, as if all her strength had been drained away, and her wildly beating heart slowly regained its rhythm: "I'm... fine."

Gu Yanzheng pressed her wrist to check her pulse. After waiting for half a minute, he found that it was still within the normal range and her body temperature was also normal. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Let me help you up."

With her eyes glazed over and no strength to move, Shen Zhenzhu said with difficulty, "Give me five more minutes, lie down, lie down for a bit." As she spoke, her toes twitched a few times.

Oh dear, we've capsized in a ditch.

Police officers kept pouring in at the main gate. Gu Yanzheng, who had received electric shock training, knew she was not seriously injured. He took off his uniform jacket and placed it under her before leading his men inside to search.

"If you love me, bite your tongue and kill yourself right now!" Qin Lingling's hysterical voice rang out as she was dragged up by two police officers, yelling, "Bite it!"

Zhou Huaxian clutched his bleeding wrist tightly, his mind thrown into disarray by the sudden intruders. All the police officers who appeared in the warehouse were in uniform, and not only that, the ignorant onlookers standing at the windows and doors were also dressed.

He was the only one who appeared naked before them, instantly pulled into the cruel reality, and subjected to the world's pointing fingers as an outcast.

He hesitated; he had doubts.

"What we see now is the rescue scene of this case. As you can see, this is a warehouse under a residential building. Who would have thought that such a horrific case of a body sealed in cement would happen right downstairs in their own home?"

Liu Mei walked into the warehouse, microphone in hand, her voice filled with anticipation as she spoke to the camera: "This is the crime scene discovered by Section Chief Shen. I heard that Section Chief Shen lived up to expectations and subdued the suspect. Section Chief Shen? Section Chief Shen—"

She turned around and saw Chen Zhenzhu convulsing on the ground. The dignity of the junior cadre was in jeopardy. Chen Zhenzhu quietly touched her eyes, nose and mouth. They were not crooked or drooling. The situation was still optimistic... right?

As someone in the same boat, Liu Mei quickly reacted by blocking the camera with her body and pointing to the other side, she forcefully stepped over Shen Zhenzhu's body: "Section Chief Shen might be over there. Let's go take a look."

"..." Shen Zhenzhu looked up and saw Qin Lingling's furious expression. She pointed at her fiercely and said, "If you glare at me again, I'll put a hood on your head."

If it weren't for the fact that he was lying on a terrazzo floor, he would have looked quite intimidating.

Gu Yanzheng looked around and came out, squatting down in front of Qin Lingling and saying, "It's you."

Qin Lingling tilted her head and looked at Gu Yanzheng blankly, saying, "What a coincidence! I should have pestered you to take me for a drive."

Gu Yanzheng asked, "Are there any other victims? Or are there any other bodies?"

Given her use of personal pleasure as a means of murder and her sophisticated techniques for disposing of corpses, Gu Yanzheng did not believe that Xu Jiachang and Ma Xiangxiang were the only two victims.

Knowing she wouldn't have a good ending, Qin Lingling squinted, craned her neck, and whispered, "I won't tell you."

Gu Yanzheng stood up and said to the dozen or so police officers at the scene, "There are other victims. Search carefully."

Qin Lingling's expression froze for a moment, then she gritted her teeth and said, "That's all!"

Gu Yanzheng ignored her and continued searching in the warehouse.

"Report: No findings found."

"No."

"Nothing was found."

......

The reports, one after another, only widened Qin Lingling's smile. Her face twisted with glee as she uttered to the retreating figures searching for the victims, "Men are all cowards!"

Gu Yanzheng's voice came from the inner room to Chen Zhenzhu's ears: "Search every inch of the place, don't let any clue slip by."

Shen Zhenzhu had recovered and was lying on the ground. She stared wide-eyed as she recalled the scenes from the Heavenly Eye, but unfortunately, there were still no clues about the other victim. All that came to her was disgust.

Shen Zhenzhu tried to get up by supporting herself on the ground with her hands, but suddenly she remained motionless in the supporting position.

Gu Yanzheng was still worried about Shen Zhenzhu's situation. He hadn't found any secret passages, cellars, or secret rooms in the inner room. Just as he was thinking of discussing it with Shen Zhenzhu, he saw her sticking out her buttocks and carefully looking around by the baseboard wall.

"A discovery?" Gu Yanzheng said, then turned around and saw Qin Lingling's stiff expression, confirming his suspicions.

Shen Zhenzhu hesitated before saying, "The cement lines at the corner of the wall are not consistent and are partially misaligned."

Gu Yanzheng looked along the wall and saw that the cement wall was connected to the wardrobe in the inner room. He walked over and saw that the wardrobe was a modular, stylish wardrobe, usually purchased by families and assembled in pairs to form a complete wardrobe.

However, there was only one wardrobe in the inner room, which was not enough to store clothes and bedding.

He looked up from the wardrobe and suddenly noticed a damp patch in the corner next to it.

"Old Shen, come here for a second." Gu Yanzheng called Shen Zhenzhu over.

Chen Zhenzhu walked over and asked, "What's wrong?"

Gu Yanzheng squatted down and patted his thigh: "Step on it once you've recovered. There's something wrong with the cement on the edge of the ceiling."

Shen Zhenzhu obediently took off her shoes and stepped on Gu Yanzheng's strong and muscular thighs. Before she could react, Gu Yanzheng stood up, holding her legs: "Sit on my shoulders, be careful not to fall."

Shen Zhenzhu sat obediently on the leader's broad and strong shoulders.

Gu Yanzheng helped her steadily to the wall and pointed to the corner where they had found it.

Shen Zhenzhu reached out, touched and scratched it, then looked down and exclaimed, "Brother Zheng, it's cement that was just laid not long ago!"

Gu Yanzheng, without even putting down Chen Zhenzhu, shouted outside, "Come on, a few people with shovels, dig at the wall!"

Lu Ye rushed in and asked, "Did you find anything?" He looked up and saw Chen Zhenzhu sitting on Gu Yanzheng's shoulders, and said inexplicably, "There's a ladder over there."

Gu Yanzheng silently put down the heavy pearl, raised his arm to help her put on her shoes, and said, "There's a shovel at the door, don't wait for the cement to dry."

"yes!"

The live broadcast of the "Legal Scene" program achieved outstanding viewership ratings. Viewers watching the program saw dog cages being dug out of a cement wall one after another. The three bodies inside were in similar positions to the two bodies found earlier, and all belonged to middle-aged men.

Their appearance in front of the camera, with their bizarre yet perfectly synchronized poses, caused the scorching temperature to drop dramatically.

The ashen skin was lifeless, the naked body was objectified, and the expression of fear was sealed by cement dust, leaving only a pair of dry and helpless eyes.

This scene is chilling even through the screen, greatly satisfying the audience's curiosity.

The case has been solved, and Section Chief Shen and others who successfully rescued the victims have made them feel how trustworthy Shen Zhenzhu and other police officers are. Standing fearlessly in front of the horrific and tragically murdered corpses, they are the guardians of the people.

Following Director Liu's instructions, Liu Mei refrained from conducting interviews or moving around unnecessarily. Instead, she focused on providing updates on the findings and the situation on-site, demonstrating her competence as a reporter on the scene.

When she turned around and saw that Section Chief Shen was already better, her eyebrows curved slightly.

The camera then focused on the medical staff.

The victim, who was still breathing, was pulled out of the recently laid cement and is currently undergoing on-site resuscitation.

The other person was wearing a black, tight-fitting rubber suit, and their severed head revealed a painful and ferocious expression.

Based on the surface of the scene, the suspect had sealed his airway just over ten minutes earlier. Cement takes 24 hours to harden, meaning that if the police hadn't noticed something amiss with the wall, the victim would have been trapped inside like other bodies and ultimately suffocated.

This was a voluntary murder, an elaborately designed death game. By the time the victim realized he was in the trap, it was too late.

Zhou Chuanxi and others rushed over from the criminal investigation team and found that the work was already being wrapped up: "She's really bold. If Sister Pearl hadn't noticed that the cement lines were inconsistent, Qin Lingling would have killed someone right under our police noses! This is simply fooling us!"

Wu Zhongguo clicked his tongue twice and exclaimed, "This is truly shocking. If this victim wasn't born with a longer breath-holding time than normal people... no, I mean, born with the ability to hold his breath, then this is just too abnormal."

Chen Zhenzhu rubbed her aching shoulder and said, "Snow in July, huh? I didn't get beaten up by the suspect, but I got slapped by the victim instead. Brother Zheng—"

"Work injury, I'll apply for a bonus for you." Gu Yanzheng had lost count of how many times he'd said this. He looked helplessly at Chen Zhenzhu, then suddenly smiled: "Did you feel that tingling, refreshing sensation?"

You know what, it really felt like my Ren and Du meridians had been violently opened.

She was about to answer when she saw Gu Yanzheng's teasing look and immediately denied it, saying, "How could that be? I'm not a pervert."

Zhou Chuanxi held up his camera and took pictures of the dog cages that had been cleared out. The people on site swept away the cement debris on the ground. Even through the lens, Zhou Chuanxi felt horrified.

Zhao Qiqi took out a pen and wrote down the postures of the three people: "Including the three corpses inside the wall, she killed five people, and there were two more attempts."

Wu Zhongguo said, "Did you notice that there was a silver ring in the palm of the left hand of each of these three corpses? It looks like they were proposing to Qin Lingling."

Zhao Qiqi slapped his thigh: "Right, so that's what it means!"

"She killed six people, including her own mother. Brother Aye has already led people to the scene."

Shen Zhenzhu sneered and said, "They all wear wedding rings on their left ring fingers, indicating that they have entered into marriage and family life. These men, who have wives and children, are here stripping naked and wagging their tails to beg for Qin Lingling's love. Even a professor would not hesitate to assault a police officer for her. How ironic is that?"

Qin Lingling was led to the crime scene for identification. Shen Zhenzhu leaned against the door frame, watching Qin Lingling's calm and expressionless expression, and shook her head.

Qin Lingling suddenly looked up at Chen Zhenzhu: "Are you regretting that people died? Shouldn't they have died?"

Shen Zhenzhu looked up at her, but did not answer her question. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and said, "So you admit that you killed them?"

Qin Lingling curled her lips into a cold smile, her light brown pupils staring directly into Chen Zhenzhu's eyes, and said, word by word, "That's right, they killed me first, so I killed them."

Shen Zhenzhu looked directly into her eyes and asked without fear, "You want to punish the cheating man because of your father? You hate him, and you hate your mother, am I right?"

“That’s right, no wonder he’s Section Chief Shen.” Qin Lingling said indifferently, “He ruined my and my mother’s lives.”

"You think you're punishing a cheating man to avenge your mother and yourself, but what role do you think you play now? Your father wasn't a good person, and you yourself are even worse, a truly wicked villain. He didn't kill your mother; you strangled her."

Upon hearing this, everyone present, except for Gu Yanzheng and Lu Ye, gasped in shock. What kind of woman could be so ruthless as to kill her own mother?

Under the camera's lens, Qin Lingling sneered, "She's been in my bed for almost twenty years, and I've been the one serving her the whole time. She's like a dog I keep in my bed, but even after twenty years, she's still not tamed and bites me at the drop of a hat. Shouldn't she die?"

“You don’t need to fake your mental state in front of me. During the investigation of the crime, professional psychology experts have already determined that your mental state is normal and that you are not a mentally ill person who committed the crime.” Gu Yanzheng glanced at the dog cages lined up on the ground, where the bodies had already been moved.

Qin Lingling stared straight at Gu Yanzheng, swallowed hard, and said, "I originally thought that even if you weren't from Hong Kong, I would still want to have you. Consider this a lucky escape."

“You escaped unscathed.” Shen Zhenzhu inexplicably disliked the way Qin Lingling looked at Gu Yanzheng, and walked up to Qin Lingling, saying, “What made you have such an impulse to kill? What was your motive for the crime?”

Qin Lingling laughed loudly, "If Section Chief Shen is so capable, how come he can't find out about the twenty-year-old massacre of a wealthy family? Go and investigate it yourself. Nobody doesn't love a massacre of a wealthy family."

Seeing that she was unwilling to talk about the past, Shen Zhenzhu glanced at Gu Yanzheng and, at his signal, took out a black hood and covered her head and face completely.

Tian Yongfeng came over with the shackles, squatted down and locked them on Qin Lingling: "You've got the airs of a criminal gang all by yourself. Go back and give us a proper account. We've all been working so hard because of you these past few days."

Qin Lingling, through the black hood, said to Tian Yongfeng, "If you want to hear my confession, I can tell you everything, but I'll only tell you—"

"Forget it, at least two people are present during our interrogation. I don't want to break the rules. Take her away." Tian Yongfeng was unmoved and shoved Qin Lingling out.

Wu Zhongguo whispered to Shen Zhenzhu, "If you have righteous energy, evil spirits will stay away."

“That’s right. If those people had refused her invitation like Brother Zheng did, they wouldn’t have ended up like this.” Shen Zhenzhu was proud of her Brother Zheng.

Gu Yanzheng didn't expect it to turn into a compliment: "To be honest, I really don't look down on ordinary people."

"real?"

“It has to be true. Even a gold mine needs a suitable partner. You can’t just pick any old one.” Gu Yanzheng absentmindedly patted Chen Zhenzhu’s injured shoulder. “The bone is fine. Go get a massage to improve blood circulation. The place Old Wu recommended to me last time was pretty good.”

Chen Zhenzhu hunched her shoulders and grinned, "Okay."

Zhao Qiqi followed behind and whispered as she passed by Chen Zhenzhu, "Sister Zhenzhu, I think gold mines are too rustic and not nearly as good as pearls."

Shen Zhenzhu chuckled and said, "Thank you for the compliment."

Zhao Qiqi turned around and met Gu Yanzheng's deep gaze, then quickly picked up her notebook and pretended to take notes.

Gu Yanzheng looked past him at the smug junior official and smiled enigmatically: "That's right, pearls are priceless and jade is flawless."

Tian Yongfeng took a step back from the doorway and looked up at the sky: "Has the sun risen in the west? Even a dog's mouth can spout ivory now."

Gu Yanzheng raised his hand and beckoned him, "Come here, kid. Why don't you greet your elders?"

-----------------------

Author's Note: Old Gu: Sorry, I have no obligation to you.

***

See you tomorrow, there's a red envelope coming! [Let me see]