I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 280: Chapter 278: Don’t Tell Her

"No resistance, no struggle, no fear," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Yan Cheng said, "A hallucinogenic drug... Could it be that the victim was a long-term user and had become addicted? That’s why she didn’t realize what she was seeing."

Su Miaoyi thought for a moment.

From the very beginning of the vision, she had seen a masked person injecting her with a drug in a pitch-black room.

As for the victim’s state when she was injected, she wasn’t sure.

It was as if, for those few seconds, she hadn’t been empathizing with the victim.

"I didn’t feel it," Su Miaoyi said.

"Later, did you hear someone crying for help again?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

Su Miaoyi glanced at where she was standing.

She had walked from the sofa to the window.

"Mhm. A man’s voice," Su Miaoyi said.

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded.

"It’s a serial murder case, so there must be police reports," Chu Xingrou said. "If the well is still in use, the body would have definitely been discovered."

"True." Lu Zhishen twirled the pen in his hand. "We’ve seen two cases now: a married couple and a man. The fact that she can see them means the cases haven’t been solved. The police probably don’t know it was a ’ghost face’ murder, since the three people who saw the killer are already dead."

"But we can search for related cases based on the causes of death," Yan Cheng said. "A cut-out tongue, sewn lips, a heavy blow to the back of the head, and jumping into a well—those are all distinctive features."

Chu Xingrou nodded.

Zhuang Yanzheng was silent for a moment before speaking. "We’ve overlooked something. Besides the fact that the killers all wore ghost face masks, are there any other similarities between the cases?"

The other four fell silent.

"The masks being the same doesn’t mean it’s one person. Anyone can wear that mask. We can’t be sure if it’s a single killer. We also can’t be sure if the crimes happened in the same location," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "We can’t just assume the two cases are connected."

Su Miaoyi didn’t speak, but she agreed with his point.

’I only saw the mask of the person who injected the drug, not their build.’

’And the victim’s gaze was fixed on the mask, so I didn’t see the masked person’s hands.’

’The masked person was squatting, dressed in black that blended almost perfectly with the darkness.’

’I couldn’t judge their height or weight.’

’After that, the victim fell into a hallucination.’

’The scenes I saw were also the victim’s hallucinations.’

’I didn’t see the surroundings or any nearby buildings.’

’It was only after falling into the well that I saw the well itself.’

’So it’s impossible to be certain if it was the same killer or the same location.’

"Whether they are or not, we still have to follow the current leads," Su Miaoyi said. "Let’s start the search."

"That’s true," Zhuang Yanzheng agreed with a nod. "I’ll go tell the others to start looking into it. The rest of you can get back to your work."

"Yes," Chu Xingrou replied.

Su Miaoyi started walking straight out.

"Hold on. Confirm the details of the mask Zhishen drew, then wait for me in the office," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi stopped and looked at Lu Zhishen.

Lu Zhishen went to get the sketch from the coffee table.

Chu Xingrou, Yan Cheng, and Zhuang Yanzheng all left the office.

"Is this it?" Lu Zhishen asked, showing her the drawing.

Su Miaoyi studied it for a moment. "There should be some creases here on the cheeks, and the chin needs to be longer. The nose is exaggerated, too, with flared nostrils and wrinkles above them."

Lu Zhishen made modifications based on her description.

The modified mask was even more terrifying, giving off a sense of bloody depravity.

"Could this be related to some local custom or folklore?" Lu Zhishen asked.

Su Miaoyi didn’t know, so she said nothing.

Lu Zhishen took out his phone and started searching.

Su Miaoyi sat beside him, still and silent, just waiting for Zhuang Yanzheng.

After a while, Zhuang Yanzheng still hadn’t returned.

Lu Zhishen’s search also yielded no results.

Su Miaoyi held out her hand to Lu Zhishen.

Lu Zhishen was looking at his phone, but he caught sight of a hand extending toward him out of the corner of his eye and turned his head.

He first glanced at her hand, then up at her.

Su Miaoyi simply held out her hand, not looking at him.

’Her profile looked quite cold.’

Lu Zhishen felt around in his pocket, pulled out two pieces of candy and a small bag of cookies, and placed them all in her hand.

Only then did Su Miaoyi look down at her hand. She took the cookies and gave the candy back to him.

"It’s sweet, not sour," Lu Zhishen said.

After he said that, Su Miaoyi took the candy from his hand as well.

Her expression remained completely blank the entire time.

Lu Zhishen raised an eyebrow. Taking in the aroma of the small cookies, he went back to searching for information about the mask.

Almost an hour passed before Zhuang Yanzheng returned.

Su Miaoyi looked at him.

Zhuang Yanzheng said, "No news yet."

The scope of the search was too broad, and the information wasn’t precise enough. It would just take more time.

"I’ll head back then," Lu Zhishen said.

"It’s fine if you stay," Zhuang Yanzheng said, sitting down.

Since he said that, Lu Zhishen stayed put.

Zhuang Yanzheng turned to Su Miaoyi. "What happened? Why the sudden switch? This has never happened before."

Lu Zhishen looked at her too.

’He knew this person was also his snack buddy.’

’But... for some reason, he found her a little scary.’

Su Miaoyi looked at Zhuang Yanzheng and asked, "Who is Brother Ye?"

Zhuang Yanzheng’s eyes shifted. He leaned back against the sofa without a word.

Su Miaoyi continued to watch him, her gaze analytical and probing.

Lu Zhishen also looked at Zhuang Yanzheng.

’He didn’t know who that was either; it was the first time he’d heard the name.’

"Qin Leyan’s senior from university," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"Were they close?" Su Miaoyi asked.

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded. "A very outstanding person. Le Yan was a legend in college, and so was he. He was two years older than Le Yan, and they were always very close."

"Killed in the line of duty?" Su Miaoyi asked.

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded again.

Having asked this much, Su Miaoyi didn’t press further. She didn’t want to know the rest, and she didn’t want the other ’her’ to know, either.

She answered his question. "She was empathizing with the victim in the vision. Although the victim struggled after jumping into the well, the hallucinogen was still in effect. Her empathy was affected to some extent, and in that state of hazy consciousness, she remembered something."

"The incident was a huge blow to her. Her mind couldn’t handle it, so I appeared."

"Is that how you first appeared, too?" Lu Zhishen asked.

"Maybe. She can’t remember, and there are many things I can’t remember either," Su Miaoyi said.

Lu Zhishen frowned.

Zhuang Yanzheng said nothing.

Su Miaoyi looked at the two of them. "About that senior, Brother Ye... if she can’t remember, don’t tell her."

Both men looked at her.

Su Miaoyi narrowed her eyes. "Or... I could make you shut up right now."

Lu Zhishen was startled, feeling threatened.

Zhuang Yanzheng frowned and tutted. "What do you think you’re doing?"

Su Miaoyi met his gaze for a moment, then reached under the coffee table, pulled out a tube of super glue, and slapped it down on the table.

Her presence was intimidating.

Lu Zhishen’s eyes widened.

’Is she going to glue their mouths shut with that thing?’

"Put that back. I use that to fix my belt," Zhuang Yanzheng said with a frown. "Don’t mess with it."

Su Miaoyi lifted her gaze to his belt.

Zhuang Yanzheng immediately sat up straight. "Where do you think you’re looking?!"

Su Miaoyi’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. She calmly averted her gaze and put the super glue back.

Zhuang Yanzheng sighed.

’Every last one of them is a handful.’