I See Murders Before They Happen

“I asked about the recording in the player. The people in the city said they could try to process it, but… first, it’ll take time, and second, it’s difficult. There’s no guarantee they can recover it,” Duan Wenrui said.

Lu Zhishen nodded.

“The analysis on the fabric isn’t back yet.” Duan Wenrui finished speaking and looked at Su Miaoyi and the others. “You haven’t gotten any proper rest all night. Why don’t you head back to town and get some sleep?”

Su Miaoyi looked at Lu Zhishen and Chu Xingrou.

“I’m fine, I’m wide awake,” Lu Zhishen said, despite the dark circles under his eyes.

“I’m fine, too.” Chu Xingrou actually did look full of energy. “Pulling a little all-nighter is nothing.”

“It’s great to be young,” Zhao Yongliang said, his voice tinged with the weariness of age as he pounded his lower back.

“You all should get some rest,” Su Miaoyi said. “We’re going to check out the mountain.”

“The mountain?” Duan Wenrui asked.

“Mhm,” Su Miaoyi said. “Just to look around. We can go by ourselves.”

“I’ll go with you,” Duan Wenrui said, getting up.

“No need,” Su Miaoyi refused.

“Alright then,” Duan Wenrui said. “Call me if anything comes up.”

The three of them headed up the mountain.

There were many mountains here, range after range, stretching out as far as the eye could see.

“Yesterday, they showed the photo to everyone in the village, but no one said they’d seen the person in it,” Chu Xingrou said. “There’s still no progress on the case.”

“A case that hasn’t been solved in three years is bound to be a difficult one,” Lu Zhishen said.

“This killer is too cunning.” Chu Xingrou linked her arm with Su Miaoyi’s. “That nursery rhyme… it just makes me so uneasy. I made it through last night safely, but what about tonight? And the night after? If the case is never solved, what will we do? They can’t patrol every single day, can they?”

Lu Zhishen was silent for a moment.

Su Miaoyi didn’t say anything either.

“Do you think the killer could be among the families that left yesterday?” Chu Xingrou asked.

“Captain Duan and his team verified their exact destinations later,” Lu Zhishen said. “Since the killer played the nursery rhyme in Yanjing Village, his intended target should be here in the village. If I were the killer, I wouldn’t leave. The round trip is too far, and it would be easy to attract attention.”

Chu Xingrou nodded.

As they continued up the mountain, Chu Xingrou suddenly felt Su Miaoyi tug on her arm.

Her arm was lifted forward slightly.

“Hm?” Chu Xingrou looked at her.

But Su Miaoyi just walked straight ahead.

“Sister Miaomiao?” Chu Xingrou, her arm still linked with hers, was pulled forward. “What’s wrong?”

Su Miaoyi didn’t respond.

Lu Zhishen had been walking behind the two of them. Seeing that Su Miaoyi wasn’t reacting, he quickly took a few long strides to get in front of her.

He waved a hand in front of her eyes, but Su Miaoyi didn’t react at all. She didn’t even blink, just continued single-mindedly up the mountain along the well-trodden path.

Seeing this, Lu Zhishen and Chu Xingrou exchanged a look.

They could both see the excitement in each other’s eyes.

This most likely meant a new discovery was imminent.

A new discovery!

Lu Zhishen and Chu Xingrou flanked Su Miaoyi, one on her left and one on her right.

Although there was a path worn into the mountainside, it was also covered with loose stones, making the walk difficult.

Worried she would fall, they flanked her on wider sections of the path and protected her from the front and back on narrower parts.

And so they walked, for a very long time.

In the morning, the weather had been a bit cold, so all three had worn jackets.

Gradually, the sun rose higher and the temperature climbed, but the three of them were still climbing the mountain.

It grew hotter and hotter, and sweat began to drip from their foreheads.

Chu Xingrou and Lu Zhishen both took off their jackets.

They wanted to help Su Miaoyi take hers off too, but after several failed attempts, they only managed to unzip it for her.

Chu Xingrou picked up a large leaf and fanned her with it, worried she might get heatstroke before she woke up.

After all, the two of them could at least drink water, but she couldn’t even take a single sip.

“Wet a tissue with some water and wipe her face,” Lu Zhishen said, already a little out of breath. This was his second time participating in one of Su Miaoyi’s long walks. It was already exhausting, but doing it on a mountain in this heat made him feel like he was being baked dry. “Her face is getting redder and redder. That color doesn’t look right. We can’t let her actually get heatstroke.”

Chu Xingrou poured some water onto a tissue and wiped her face. “I wish I’d brought a bottle of rubbing alcohol. I saw one on the table before I left.”

Lu Zhishen caught his breath for a moment, and as they walked, he pulled off some soft branches and wove them into two fans. He gave one to Chu Xingrou and used the other to fan Su Miaoyi.

“Brother Lu, you’re so handy,” Chu Xingrou praised.

“I think so too,” Lu Zhishen said. “I’ll take them back to Jinghai and sell them to Zhuang Yanzheng for five hundred a piece.”

“Make it a thousand,” Chu Xingrou said.

“You’re even more ruthless,” Lu Zhishen murmured.

The sun reached its zenith.

The three of them had long since walked past the boundaries of Yanjing Village.

If it weren’t for his phone’s GPS, Lu Zhishen would have had no idea where he was.

At first, they could see farmland, but now there was only forest.

There were no signs of human activity here.

With no worn path, the going got even tougher.

One moment there was a jutting rock, the next a sudden dip, and some of the stones were loose.

But while Su Miaoyi would occasionally step on a loose stone, she still managed to precisely avoid every other obstacle, never once tripping.

Once they entered the forest, the shade offered some relief from the sun.

Su Miaoyi walked deeper and deeper into the forest, on and on.

They walked for nearly another half an hour.

Su Miaoyi finally stopped.

Lu Zhishen and Chu Xingrou looked at each other, seeing a glimmer of hope. They both quickly took a couple of gasps of air to catch their breath.

Su Miaoyi stood in place for a moment, took two steps to the left, then squatted down and began digging at the stones and dirt with her bare hands.

Chu Xingrou tried to stop her a couple of times but was completely unable to.

So she and Lu Zhishen each grabbed a branch and started helping her dig.

The stones made the digging difficult. They had just managed to clear a small hollow when Su Miaoyi suddenly stood up again.

She stood up so abruptly that she startled Chu Xingrou, who fell and landed on her butt.

“Are you okay?” Lu Zhishen helped her up.

Chu Xingrou brushed the dry, yellow leaves off her clothes. “I’m fine.”

Su Miaoyi walked another three meters or so forward, squatted down, and started digging again.

Lu Zhishen and Chu Xingrou exchanged bewildered looks. After a moment of confusion, they hurried to catch up, squatting down to help her dig again.

But after they’d dug another small pit, Su Miaoyi got up and started walking forward again.

Lu Zhishen and Chu Xingrou knew the drill by now. They got up and followed right behind her.

Su Miaoyi clawed at the ground with her bare hands while the other two dug furiously with wooden sticks.

The more they dug, the less Su Miaoyi had to, and the less her hands would be injured.

After digging, she got up again, walked two or three meters to the right, squatted, and continued to dig. Chu Xingrou and Lu Zhishen followed suit once more…