No Ads on this website buy me a beer instead. Click me!(KO-FI)
Commision a novel to translate Click me!(KO-FI)
He Chuan Zhou did not react as Sun Yiyao had expected. Seeing her smile, she instead followed suit, smiling along.
That mocking grin sent a chill down Sun Yiyao’s spine, making her feel as though she was sitting on needles. The muscles at the corners of her mouth twitched twice before gravity tugged them back down. What emerged was an expression tinged with bitterness and resentment as she coldly averted her gaze.
Time seemed to crawl forward, frame by frame, with each scene frozen in place. Subtle changes in body language were magnified and processed by her overworked mind, which teetered on the verge of failure before finally issuing a directive: do nothing.
Sun Yiyao held firm in her conviction, though an unshakable dread gnawed at her inside. Outwardly, she maintained an air of unyielding confidence.
She sat as steady as a mountain, her posture straight and proud.
Brother Huang pressed a hand to his forehead, clearly exasperated. "Ah, you people… What can I even say to you?"
"Who fed you this nonsense?" He Chuan Zhou sneered. "During those three years of dreading prison life, is this how you comforted yourself?"
"You police have no solid evidence and yet slander and humiliate me. I won’t let this slide. I’m not afraid of you," Sun Yiyao shot back, finding a flicker of courage to confront them. "All you can do is hurl verbal attacks without providing anything substantial. If you really have the guts, arrest me. Stop trying to trap me with vague insinuations."
"You’ve got a hard mouth, I’ll give you that," He Chuan Zhou said with a sharp tilt of his chin toward Brother Huang. "Halfway to the grave, and still no tears. This is why I say there’s no need to give her any chances."
Unmoved, Sun Yiyao’s confidence seemed to grow as she detected the sharpness in her opponent's tone. She countered sarcastically, "What an act."
Brother Huang, clearly at his wits' end, pressed his lips into a thin line and gestured for He Chuan Zhou to stop. Leaning closer to Sun Yiyao, he spoke gently, "We’re just following protocol. We can’t disclose specific details of the investigation. If you keep being so obstinate, you’ll lose your last chance to turn yourself in."
He leaned in further, locking eyes with her. "Don’t let yourself be fooled into taking the fall for someone else. You’ve worked so hard to build the life you have now, it’s worth protecting. Think about it—"
"Captain He!" he cried out suddenly, his voice tinged with alarm.
Behind him, He Chuan Zhou had lunged forward without warning, gripping Sun Yiyao’s shoulder and pushing her against the sofa’s backrest. The movement was rough but stopped short of causing injury.
He Chuan Zhou’s window for friendly dialogue had slammed shut. Her smile, now stripped of warmth, carried a dangerous edge. She demanded, "When you helped Zhu Shujun pay rent for her landlord, did it ever cross your mind that she might leave something behind in the rental house? She’s foolish, she’s greedy, but she’s not so stupid as to leave no trail. With all that money involved, did you really think she wouldn’t hedge her bets? Isn’t it convenient that the landlord kept some items safe, just waiting for this day to come?"
Sun Yiyao, stretched taut like a spring under immense pressure, felt every nerve in her body quiver dangerously at He Chuan Zhou’s pull. She turned sharply, her gaze locking onto He Chuan Zhou’s. Their faces were mere inches apart, less than five centimeters. It was as if her very soul was being drawn into the dark depths of He Chuan Zhou’s piercing eyes.
He Chuan Zhou closed her eyes briefly, softening her intimidating expression into one of the frustrated exasperation. “Zhu Shujun wouldn’t have trusted you if she hadn’t believed in you. When you looked at her body, what exactly went through your mind?”
Sun Yiyao remained fixed in the same rigid posture she’d adopted earlier, sitting as still as a statue. At that moment, her carefully controlled demeanor shattered, leaving her with a vacant, stunned expression, as though she’d forgotten how to mask her emotions.
She didn’t show any confusion or alarm after hearing He Chuan Zhou’s words.
A flood of thoughts surged through He Chuan Zhou’s mind like a lightning storm.
Sun Yiyao’s reaction confirmed that she had indeed seen the body.
Her deliberate inquiries about specific information suggested that her actions might entail criminal liability.
She wasn’t necessarily the killer, she lacked the ferocity and ruthlessness of someone who had taken a life. Even when Brother Huang tried to exonerate her, her expression betrayed no significant fluctuation, it was an automatic acceptance of his intervention.
Yet, the killer allowed her to exist, and she remained so evasive. There had to be a direct connection between the two.
Furthermore, when Brother Huang mentioned that there was an eyewitness, she had believed him without question. This indicated that, at the time, she had been in a state of panic, unsure whether she’d left behind any incriminating traces. She’d likely spent a long time living in fear, which explained her redundant move of paying the landlord rent to delay the filing of a missing person report.
He Chuan Zhou didn’t linger on these thoughts too long, careful not to arouse Sun Yiyao’s suspicion. Nor did she delve into deeper questions, instead, she relied on her years of investigative instinct to form a hypothesis.
With limited leads, she couldn’t afford hesitation. Whatever she could coax out of her now, she would. Her lips parted, and her words came out measured and firm:
“Do you think we can’t find the body? It’s just a matter of time. Murder cases don’t go unresolved, they don’t get shelved. That’s the creed of every criminal investigator.
City A has undergone massive changes in recent years, renovations, relocations, construction. I don’t care if you dumped her in an abandoned riverbed, buried her in some desolate wasteland, or left her in a remote, uninhabited area. Inch by inch, we’ll scour every corner of City A, dig three feet into the ground if we must, and we’ll find her. If we’re lucky, maybe someone’s already unearthed her remains, and we’re just waiting for DNA confirmation. In these three and a half years, have you gone back to check the burial site even once?”
Sun Yiyao turned deathly pale. She stubbornly stiffened her neck, forcing herself to hold on, muttering repeatedly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
But her acting wasn’t convincing. Her expression, tinged with avoidance she didn’t even realize, betrayed her.
Years of mental torment had already shattered her psychological defenses. In the endless cycles of self-hypnosis, she had failed to teach herself how to be truly ruthless and cold-hearted.
After having her child, the chaos of everyday chores temporarily dulled her inner unease. While it brought a semblance of stability, it also imposed an unbearable weight on her shoulders.
The moment He Chuan Zhou exposed her, the carefully constructed illusion shattered like a vibrant bubble bursting, leaving only jagged fragments behind. From those shards, the pressure she had suppressed loomed like towering mountains, crashing down one after another.
If someone handed her a mirror, she would see just how defeated and drained she looked at that moment.
He Chuan Zhou immediately grasped her state of mind and let out a slow, deliberate breath before launching a relentless verbal assault:
“If we do find the body, can you clearly explain whether you helped dispose of it or were complicit in the murder? Do you have any evidence to back yourself up?”
“Even if you can, with your current attitude, how much of a sentence do you think you’ll face? Did that person ever tell you? Would they even be honest with you? You’re standing in front, stalling for them, giving them time to cover their tracks, have they paid you enough for that? Someone who dares to kill won’t think twice about turning on you next. Do you really think you’re safe? Running with wolves, isn’t that insane?”
A low buzz rang in Sun Yiyao’s ears. Her gaze drifted aimlessly in the haze, clinging to a sliver of desperate hope. She stubbornly retorted, “If you can’t find the body, you can’t open a case. I was just passing by that day, it has nothing to do with me. You can’t arrest me.”
He Chuan Zhou let go of her. She rolled her shoulders, swallowing hard.
“I’ve seen plenty of people who thought they were clever,” He Chuan Zhou said coldly. “Every single one of them ended up losing terribly.”
Brother Huang, clearly frustrated, clapped his hands together and spoke with barely concealed anger. “How are you still not getting it? If you just tell us who the killer is and where the body is, you’ll be helping the police solve the case, and we’ll plead for leniency on your behalf! Back then, you were just a powerless, defenseless girl. If you were coerced into helping dispose of the body, the sentence wouldn’t be severe!”
Sun Yiyao stayed silent, her fists clenched tightly, her chest rising and falling heavily with her breath.
The tension in the room was palpable, each side waiting for the other to crack, until a faint cry from the bedroom pierced through the suffocating atmosphere.
Sun Yiyao’s head snapped toward the sound, a flicker of life returning to her hollow eyes. As if granted a reprieve from death, she bolted into the room.
Brother Huang deflated, letting out a frustrated grunt and throwing a half-hearted punch into the air. Clicking his tongue in disappointment, he adjusted his body camera and exchanged a wordless glance with He Chuan Zhou.
Minutes passed, but the crying didn’t stop. In fact, it grew louder and more frantic, while Sun Yiyao’s murmured attempts to soothe the child became increasingly strained.
Brohter Huang finally walked to the doorway and saw Sun Yiyao bouncing the baby in her arms awkwardly. Unable to hold back, he said, “Hey, you can’t shake a baby like that! Haven’t you taken any early childhood classes? Give him to me, come on.”
Sun Yiyao didn’t put up much of a guard against him. Besides, she wasn’t worried a police officer would do anything to a child. She handed the baby over to Brother Huang’s outstretched arms.
With years of experience as a dad, Brother Huang supported the baby’s bottom with ease. Using no special techniques, just a few simple motions, he managed to calm the baby down almost instantly.
Relieved, Sun Yiyao went to the kitchen to prepare a bottle, and Brother Huang followed her with the baby in tow.
“Let’s go find Mommy,” he cooed, waving the baby’s tiny hand. “Mommy’s up ahead.”
As Sun Yiyao rinsed the bottle with hot water, she watched Brother Huang tend to the child with a loving expression. He looked like a typical father, or perhaps even more attentive than most. Gradually, the suffocating tension she had felt earlier started to dissipate.
She discreetly flexed her fingers, loosening the stiffness in her muscles. Her heartbeat slowed, and her emotions calmed. Casually, she struck up a conversation with Brother Huang. “Is she your superior?”
“Yep,” Brother Huang replied. “Higher rank than me. You saw how cocky she was just now, completely unstoppable.”
“So young,” Sun Yiyao murmured.
Still focused on the baby, Brohter Huang´s tone and expression became exaggerated, almost comically so. “Isn’t she? Top of her class, too. Her resume’s way more impressive than mine. She’s one of the bureau’s rising stars, fast-tracked for promotions. That speed, whoosh, whoosh.’ Plus, they’re all about having younger leadership these days. Give it a few more years, and she might not even stay in our precinct.”
Sun Yiyao’s voice dropped. “Don’t you think that’s unfair?”
“Unfair how?” Brother Huanf looked genuinely startled, sucking in a sharp breath as he glanced over his shoulder for He Chuan Zhou. Not seeing her, he leaned in conspiratorially. “You’re not saying our dear Captain He cheated on her college entrance exams, are you? That’s a major accusation!”
Sun Yiyao felt utterly choked by his absurd reaction, a flare of indignation rising in her chest. But Brother Huang’s over-the-top performance was so earnest that it gave her pause, leaving her unable to muster her anger fully. She simply stared at him, dumbfounded.
“You’re clearly capable,” she said haltingly, “but just because you don’t have her degree, you’re stuck beneath her. Look at how she didn’t respect you at all just now, she didn’t even listen to you.”
Brother Huang sighed dramatically. “I’ve made my peace with it. After all, I got in through the back door. You wouldn’t believe it, but back in the day, I was so dashing that the bureau didn’t dare send me out for interviews. They were afraid I’d be in danger!”
Sun Yiyao stared at him, utterly at a loss for words. Halfway through mixing the formula, her hands froze mid-motion. All she wanted now was to dump the bottle over this shameless man’s head.
From nearby, it was clear He Chuan Zhou had overheard the nonsense. At some point, she had wandered over, leaning casually against the wall with an amused smirk. “He’s a legitimate police academy graduate,” she said, her tone teasing. “Don’t waste your energy writing a complaint. He’s just messing with you.”
“I wasn’t planning to write one,” Sun Yiyao snapped, her expression dark.
Clearly displeased, she took the baby back from Brother Huang and walked off without another word.
The rhythm of the interrogation had been disrupted, making it hard to regain momentum. He Chuan Zhou also realized that she had already gained an unexpectedly significant lead and doubted that Sun Yiyao, in her current state, would reveal anything more. Pushing further might risk exposing her strategy.
She tore a page from the notebook she carried, scribbled her phone number on it, and handed it to Sun Yiyao. “If you change your mind, you can reach me. South District Precinct, we’re always here.”
Sun Yiyao didn’t take the note. Without pressing, He Chuan Zhou left it on the table and walked out.
Outside the building, Brother Huang was still mulling over the interaction. The more he thought about it, the more amused he became. “What was she thinking? Trying to stir things up between us? That’s bold! I’ve never seen a suspect with such guts, not even Shao Zhixin could pull that off. What a wild imagination!”
“She probably thought you seemed a bit slow,” He Chuan Zhou replied, opening the car door.
Clicking his tongue, Brother Huang feigned indignation. “That’s not fair. I think the real issue is you. You’ve been off your game lately, maybe from dating too much. Your vibe isn’t strong enough to keep her in check. Forget self-restraint, next time, show her what it means to be as fierce as a tiger.”
Chuckling as she climbed into the car, He Chuan Zhou said, “Looks like her attempt to stir things up worked on you.”
“There’s no need for that,” Brother Huang said, laughing as he gestured between them. “Our relationship is as flimsy as plastic anyway. Next time, no need for her to instigate anything, we’ll argue right in front of her and scare her to death!”
When they returned to the precinct, Shao Zhixin was buried in a pile of documents, looking completely lost.
They had already reviewed Zhu Shujun’s phone records, along with her WeChat and QQ chat histories. Her social circle in City A was limited to clients and coworkers, with almost no personal friends. Even her clients rarely used such insecure methods of communication.
Out of options, Shao Zhixin resorted to the most tedious method: calling each number in her contact history one by one. Most were either invalid or belonged to real estate agents. He still hadn’t found the person who had arranged to meet her.
The only conclusion he could draw was that Zhu Shujun had been looking to buy a house and had contacted several real estate agents.
It wasn’t surprising. His own salary was low, and he also dreamed of owning a home.
A universal struggle.
Xu Yu perked up when she saw the two walk in. Noticing the faint glow of satisfaction on Brother Huang’s face, she asked eagerly, “Captain He, Brother Huang, did you get anything from Sun Yiyao?”
“After Zhu Shujun’s death, Sun Yiyao helped dispose of the body,” He Chuan Zhou said hoarsely, her voice dry from a morning of talking without a sip of water. “Dumping the body must have required a vehicle. Check if Sun Yiyao has any driving records under her name.”
Her calm and understated delivery hit the office like a thunderclap.
"Huh?" Xu Yu, overwhelmed by the pile of documents in front of her, looked up with her disheveled hair and exclaimed, "How do you know that? Did you find some key evidence?"
He Chuan Zhou calmly picked up the half glass of water left on the table and replied, “She told us herself.”
Xu Yu was dumbfounded. After a moment of shock, she slammed the table and stood up. “Since when did she get so generous? She wouldn’t even fart in our direction before!”
Shao Zhixin, equally indignant, threw down the contact log in his hands. “Exactly!”
Brother Huang, with an air of mystery, said, “You just need to gently awaken her soul, and the world will open its doors to you. It’s all about technique, kids.”
Xu Yu frowned slightly, finding his tone oddly sleazy. She twitched her lips and said, “Uh... no thanks, I think I’ll pass on that.”
A colleague sprang into action, darting off to the traffic department to pull driving records. Brother Huang, sitting in front of the air conditioner and tugging at his sweat-dampened shirt, cursed the oppressive weather before continuing the discussion.
“If Sun Yiyao used a car to help dispose of the body, it might not necessarily be her own. If it was the killer’s car, tracking it down could be tricky.”
Xu Yu, ever diligent, brewed a cup of coffee and eagerly swapped it with the glass in He Chuan Zhou’s hand, gesturing for her to enjoy it at her leisure.
He Chuan Zhou, touched by the gesture, gave her an encouraging handshake. “If the killer went so far as to have someone else handle the body disposal, it’s clear they wanted to avoid any direct connection to the crime. Lending their own car for the task would go against that. Chances are, they’ve already dealt with any evidence that could lead back to them. Even if things fell apart, they’d still have Sun Yiyao as the scapegoat. The question is, did that foolish girl leave herself any lifeline, like preserving evidence from the body?”
Brother Huang, feigning outrage, turned to Xu Yu and bellowed, “Hey, young lady, why the favoritism? We both went to question her, so why does your beloved Captain get coffee while I get nothing? I sweat more than she did!”
“My lips are so dry from frustration they’re about to crack, and you still expect me to make you coffee?” Xu Yu had just sat down but stood up again with a resigned sigh. “Fine, fine, I’ll make you some wolfberry tea to keep you healthy.”
Satisfied, Brother Huang leaned back in his chair, letting the cool breeze from the air conditioner wash over his face. With a serious tone, he added, “What I can’t figure out is why Sun Yiyao, who didn’t commit murder, would help dispose of a body. Didn’t she realize it would bring disaster upon herself? This is a huge problem. Was the other party so powerful that she couldn’t refuse, or did they have some leverage over her?”
After a moment, he added, “I don’t think it’s about money. You saw her house today, the furniture wasn’t expensive. Neither were her clothes or the kid’s toys. Her most valuable asset is that apartment, but even that is something she could barely afford on her own salary. She didn’t suddenly strike it rich because of this. And that’s what’s so strange.”
Xu Yu listened to their discussion and shrugged, adding, “But why?”
Brother Huang pondered for a moment before suggesting, “Can we apply to investigate Sun Yiyao’s finances and communication records with the evidence we have? Maybe she has hidden assets or has been secretly in contact with the killer without us knowing.”
Without hesitation, He Chuan Zhou rejected the idea. “What evidence do you even have? Director Feng has already warned me to tread carefully. We’ve already upset Sun Yiyao today, there’s no avoiding a complaint. If you want to take the heat, go ahead.”
“I’m not going.” Brother Huang shook his head vehemently. Even with his usual slyness, he wasn’t keen to face unnecessary scolding. After all, willingly offering up both cheeks for a slap still hurt. Scratching his eyebrow, he changed his approach. “I think figuring out her motive isn’t important right now. Let’s find concrete evidence first. That way, her defense will crumble on its own. For now, we should think about where she might’ve dumped the body. We’ll need to prepare for a wide-scale search.”
Xu Yu raised her hand, chiming in eagerly, “First, I think it’s unlikely she dumped the body in City A. The risk of disposing of a body in an urban area is too high. The fact that it’s gone undiscovered for over three years suggests it was left somewhere remote. Second, I don’t think she would’ve gone too far from City A. She wouldn’t have the confidence to handle things in a completely unfamiliar location, right?”
Brother Huang gave her a thumbs-up. “Good, keep going.”
Thanks to their strong connections at the traffic department, records were pulled up quickly.
While He Chuan Zhou had been summoned by Director Feng to report on the case's progress, she returned to the office just as the team was debating possible body disposal locations. Before any conclusions could be drawn, a colleague who had been checking records burst in with exciting news.
“Captain He!” he called out, nearly shouting in his excitement. “You won’t believe this, we’ve got a major breakthrough!”
His voice cracked with enthusiasm. “She was caught on camera!”
As it turned out, Sun Yiyao, inexperienced as she was, had used her own car.
In a moment of apparent distraction, she racked up two traffic violations within 24 hours: running a red light in City A at 8:20 p.m. on December 4th and crossing a lane divider on a highway outside the city at 12:13 a.m. on December 5th.
After that, there were no further records of her red car, it had likely been abandoned.
The timing aligned perfectly with Zhu Shujun’s estimated time of death, matching He Chuan Zhou’s hypothesis.
For the first time in this baffling disappearance case, the team had gained the upper hand. The discovery filled the room with excitement. Xu Yu clapped her hands together in joy, so elated she nearly teared up.
He Chuan Zhou marked two locations on the map and zoomed out to calculate the distance.
The two points were less than 100 kilometers apart, yet Sun Yiyao had wandered between them for nearly four hours, a clear indication of her indecision at the time.
“She left the city to dump the body, didn’t she?” Xu Yu speculated. “But she couldn’t settle on a location, so she hesitated before deciding to head out. Still, City A has so many mountains. If she just threw the body into some random nook, how are we supposed to find it?”
He Chuan Zhou thought for a moment, then traced a red line across the map with her finger. “We’ll follow this route. Drive along it, and we’ll know.”