I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 230: Chapter 228: A Fight at Weiyang Palace??

「Two days later.」

Zhuang Yanzheng’s eyes had recovered somewhat. Although it still felt like there was a film over his vision, he could at least see again.

The police officer who was injured and hospitalized was now out of danger.

However, there was still no news from Qin City, and the investigation was proving difficult.

Officers posing as tourists had visited the reservoir, driven around the mountain, and spoken with local farmers, but they found nothing unusual.

All they did was buy two chickens and come back down.

They didn’t dare go too often, worried about being discovered.

Besides the farms on the mountain, they had also covertly investigated the bed-and-breakfasts, the dorms by the reservoir, the dam’s floodgates, and the water level observation points. None of them showed any abnormalities.

"If it’s not on the mountain, where could it be?" Su Miaoyi said suddenly, looking at the map. "Kang Hong said that every time he was taken there blindfolded, he couldn’t tell what kind of road they were on. Sometimes it felt like a mountain road, other times it didn’t."

She and Zhuang Yanzheng had gone to the hospital again yesterday.

"Was he always taken to the same place?" Lu Zhishen asked.

"Kang Hong said so."

"Some people just aren’t very sensitive to their sense of direction or the feel of the road," Yan Cheng said.

Su Miaoyi nodded.

"Besides the reservoir, there’s a village here. Drug manufacturing creates a smell, so it’s unlikely to be in the village, right?" Chu Xingrou said. "If there were a strange smell in the village, someone would have definitely reported it to the village committee."

"Could the villagers be covering for each other?" Qi Feng asked.

The group exchanged glances.

"This village doesn’t have a large population—just over three hundred households," Qi Feng said. "The kids start going to school elsewhere from middle school onwards. Almost all of them leave for their education and then stay away for work. The people left in the village are mostly in their fifties and sixties or older."

"Lin Yue’s team went into the village and secretly took some photos." Zhuang Yanzheng projected them onto the screen.

The group looked at them.

"It doesn’t seem likely," Chu Xingrou said. "The income level in this village doesn’t seem very high."

"Anyone who made money moved away and bought property elsewhere, which is why there are so many old houses and so few people," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "And for something like this, unless the entire village is in on it, it would definitely be reported. There are too many people and wagging tongues in a village; honestly, there are no secrets."

They could only analyze and discuss based on the photos Lin Yue sent back, but their analysis yielded very little. And anything they did conclude would still need to be verified on-site.

Meanwhile, Zhang Bai still hadn’t said a word.

He had stopped shouting after two days, only to develop a high fever. His throat was so swollen he couldn’t have shouted even if he wanted to.

The teams in Qin City and Jinghai began to formulate a new plan and change their investigation strategy.

Another day passed quickly.

Around nine o’clock that night.

Yan Cheng was driving Zhuang Yanzheng and Su Miaoyi home.

The three of them lived along the same route.

Yan Cheng’s apartment was in the complex next to Zhuang Yanzheng’s, so it was on the way.

"Did your parents get back?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

"Yeah," Yan Cheng said. "How did you know?"

"You seem to be in a good mood."

"I was thinking the same thing. You’ve been in high spirits these past two days. You usually are, but it’s even more noticeable now," Su Miaoyi said from the back seat.

"Is it that obvious?" A faint smile touched the corners of Yan Cheng’s mouth.

"You’re always like this whenever your parents come back. And you leave work earlier than usual," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Yan Cheng chuckled. "My mom missed me. They finished up their work and came back to stay for a week. Only a week, though. My mom says if they stay any longer, it might strain our mother-son relationship."

Su Miaoyi laughed. "Does that really happen?"

"Don’t your parents get tired of you if you stay home too long?" Yan Cheng asked, then immediately added, "Sorry."

"What’s there to be sorry about?" Su Miaoyi said, then clapped Zhuang Yanzheng on the shoulder. "My external memory card will answer for me."

Zhuang Yanzheng winced from the force of her slap. "Tsk. You sure know who to pick."

Su Miaoyi made a ’go ahead’ gesture.

"Minister Qin is completely smitten with his daughter. He wishes she were home every day," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi pictured Qin Chengyuan’s face.

It was quite stern.

She couldn’t imagine what he was like at home at all.

’He’s the type who would slap someone in cuffs and discipline them harshly if they broke a rule at home,’ Su Miaoyi figured.

Back at Weiyang Palace, Su Miaoyi stepped out of the elevator and walked a few steps toward her apartment when she suddenly stopped.

’Something’s wrong. There’s someone by my door.’

From where she was standing, she couldn’t see her doorway, and the voice-activated lights hadn’t turned on.

But she could sense people in the darkness, and more than one.

Su Miaoyi froze. Her hand had just touched the phone in her bag when the figures by her door suddenly moved toward her.

Her finger pressed the power button twice. As she pressed it a third time, she saw who it was. Her hand immediately relaxed.

It was Qin Chengyuan.

Su Miaoyi was stunned for a moment, then she saw Shen Shilan behind Qin Chengyuan.

While she was still bewildered, Qin Chengyuan was already upon her.

Su Miaoyi instinctively raised a hand to block.

Qin Chengyuan smirked and launched another attack.

Su Miaoyi’s mind hadn’t caught up yet, but her hands were already moving.

She parried a few blows, and just as her body instinctively prepared to counter-attack, her brain finally processed the situation.

’I can’t. He’s my superior.’

She pulled her hands back.

Then, Qin Chengyuan twisted her arms behind her back and pressed down on her shoulder with his other hand.

His movements were light; he didn’t use any force.

Su Miaoyi didn’t resist. "I had no idea your skills were so impressive, Minister Qin," she said.

Hearing her words, Qin Chengyuan chuckled and let her go. "Not as good as yours."

"Not at all! You subdued me in just a few moves. I’m clearly out of practice and need more training." Su Miaoyi laid on the flattery. "Compared to you, I’m like a sapling before a towering sequoia."

Shen Shilan was smiling off to the side.

Qin Chengyuan usually hated it when people were slick-tongued flatterers.

But... this was different.

The person was different.

These were his daughter’s words.

And he loved to hear them.

"Go on, just enjoy it in secret," Shen Shilan whispered as she walked past him.

Qin Chengyuan cleared his throat lightly.

"You’re not hurt, are you?" Shen Shilan asked, looking Su Miaoyi over.

"No," Su Miaoyi continued. "All thanks to Minister Qin holding back."

Qin Chengyuan’s back straightened a little more.

Shen Shilan said, "We just got here a little while ago. We were at Yan Zhou’s place and saw you coming upstairs from his window, so he came out, and I followed."

Su Miaoyi had received a message from Shen Shilan after work, asking if she had to work overtime tonight.

’So they were planning to come see me.’

"He’s a grown man, but so childish," Shen Shilan whispered to her.

"I was just testing her alertness and sensitivity to her surroundings," Qin Chengyuan, having overheard, quickly said to justify himself.

Shen Shilan had nothing to say to that.

Su Miaoyi smiled. "So, did I pass?"

"Very good."

"Thank you for the verbal commendation, Minister Qin."

"Mm, keep up the good work," Qin Chengyuan said.

Shen Shilan shook her head and sighed.

’Two such drama queens in my family...’