How You Can Sue Me for My Crimes in Dreams

”Help me... I’m in Liu Family Village in Sishui County, help me...”

”Help me...”

Under the cover of night, in the darkness, a faint, ethereal female voice emerged, reaching everyone’s ears.

At the broadcasting company.

Wang Chao was completely baffled. He turned to his uncle, who also seemed at a loss, having no experience with this kind of situation.

Nearly a hundred thousand ordinary people, dozing off in front of their radios, were instantly jolted awake. They stared intently at their radios or car stereos.

At that moment, it felt as if the entirety of Jiangsan City had its eyes fixed on Sishui County!

The Police Officer who had stayed behind answered the call.

”Let her go. We’ll meet any demands you have!”

the Police Officer said in a deep voice.

He didn’t make threats or use harsh words.

The person on the other end had a hostage. Although she was likely already dead, it wasn’t a certainty. There was still a small chance she was alive!

”Help me, help me...”

A tearful voice still came from the other end of the line. Compared to last time, it was clearly not the same person.

”I’m in Liu Family Village in Sishui County, help me...”

”We can negotiate any conditions. Trust me, the police will cooperate...”

The Police Officer’s heart sank. He realized something.

But unfortunately, the other party only replayed the same recording.

The Police Officer pressed on relentlessly, continuing his questions, until...

”Heh heh.”

A sudden, sleazy-sounding male voice, completely out of place with the cries for help, emerged!

’Is that... glee!?’

The Police Officer’s pupils contracted. He wanted to ask more, but unfortunately...

”BEEP BEEP BEEP~”

The person on the other end hung up.

...

”To Liu Family Village!”

Xu Huo got straight into the car, shoving Li Jianye into the back seat.

Li Jianye had wanted to grab the wheel. After all, he’d been driving for decades, and his skills were far beyond those of an ordinary person. Every second the police saved could add a sliver of hope for the victim.

However...

[Level 5 Street Racing]

Xu Huo fastened his seatbelt, reached out, and quickly shifted gears.

”VROOOM!”

The next second, the police car shot forward as if launched from a catapult.

A powerful force threw him back into his seat. Li Jianye’s expression changed, and he gripped the handle for dear life.

The car kept accelerating, becoming a streak of light in the night. It continuously overtook other vehicles, speeding toward its destination. Soon, the other police cars were left far behind.

Li Jianye’s face was a little pale, but he didn’t tell him to slow down.

Until...

”SCREECH!”

With a sharp drift, the police car came to a swift, stable halt.

”CLICK!”

Xu Huo opened the car door, baton in hand, and scanned his surroundings, his eyes locking onto points along the dark street.

Li Jianye forced himself out of the car, one hand on his lower back, and warily observed the area.

”Where is she?!” Li Jianye’s brow furrowed.

Liu Family Village was on the very edge of a residential area, but they couldn’t see anyone around.

Xu Huo didn’t speak. He just twitched his nose slightly.

[Wang Die’s Scent!]

The next second, Xu Huo captured certain traces in the air, drawing them into his lungs.

”This way.”

Xu Huo opened his eyes and headed in a specific direction. Li Jianye didn’t ask any questions and followed behind him.

A moment later.

The two of them stopped and pushed aside the obstruction in front of them.

They saw a body.

A woman’s body... tossed in a cornfield. The cornstalks concealed the corpse, its bright red blood absorbed by the roots!

The body lay hidden in a corner in the darkness. Her pale, dead-fish eyes, facing the ground, seemed to peer through a narrow gap at the people passing outside.

She had been dead for at least three hours.

The two men stared for a long time, silent for a long time.

Only when the piercing wail of sirens reached their ears and the halo of interweaving red and blue lights appeared in the distance did they snap back to their senses.

Li Jianye took a deep breath.

”Find out who she is!”

...

...

「September 30th, 2:30 PM.」

In the criminal investigation department office.

”The second murder scene is located in Liu Family Village, Sishui County. The specific location of death is a cornfield on the edge of the village’s farmland.”

”Based on interviews and record collection, we have confirmed the victim’s identity.”

”The deceased is named Zhao Lian, forty-six years old, a farmer. She was a local, born and raised in Liu Family Village, and had never left Sishui County in her life. She had no connection to the first victim, Chen Li.”

”The time of death was approximately 7:00 PM on the 29th.”

”According to her family, she came home from work at five, ate dinner, and then went out to the fields to check if the corn was ready for harvest. Unexpectedly, she met her demise shortly after leaving the house.”

Her family went to the farmland to call for her, but when they got no response, they assumed she had gone to her parents’ house.

But they didn’t know...

...that she was lying there, covered by cornstalks, staring with those pale eyes at her family calling her name from outside the field.

The room fell silent.

Xu Huo took a deep breath, his brow furrowed. He turned to look at the crime scene photos of the body on the table, along with the report from the preliminary autopsy.

”The victim was stabbed three times in the back...”

As he said this, the surrounding personnel fell into silence.

What was the significance of that statement?

It overturned the conclusion from the first crime scene!

Based on the information from the first crime scene and the victim, Chen Li, the deduction was that the killer was very likely an acquaintance of hers, who had lured her out and then suddenly attacked and killed her over some dispute.

But the second crime scene...

Zhao Lian and Chen Li were completely and utterly unrelated!

One was a beautiful young woman in her twenties, the other was nearly fifty.

Their social circles and daily lives had absolutely nothing in common!

While one could argue that Chen Li might have had a complicated social life—she was a reporter, after all, making her connections hard for the police to investigate—

Zhao Lian was different!

She was a farmer from a more traditional background. The people she knew fell into only three categories: colleagues, neighbors, and relatives.

It would be very difficult for her to meet anyone else. Even if she did, it would have to be someone her own age to ask her out.

But if it was someone her age... how could he possibly have lured Chen Li out alone?

Any woman would be on her guard going out with a man approaching fifty, let alone to a deserted area. The only exceptions would be if Chen Li had a sugar daddy or if the killer was her father, but the police had already ruled out both possibilities.

Her father was still in Jiangsan City, Chen Li’s income didn’t necessitate a sponsor, and her boss was a married woman.

Moreover, based on the crime scene...

”Zhao Lian was stabbed multiple times in the back. The footprints left at the scene are off to the side, which strongly suggests the killer approached stealthily before the murder.”

Xu Huo said slowly, looking at the photos.

In the photos, several bloody wounds were visible on Zhao Lian’s back. It was precisely these injuries that made the victim’s voice so weak in the killer’s recording.

And deducing from this information...

”The killer and the victim...”

”...might not have known each other at all!”

That’s right. At the second murder scene, the victim, Zhao Lian, and her killer may have been complete strangers!

Zhao Lian had gone out for her own reasons, not at someone else’s behest. The killer’s footprints and the location of the wounds indicated a sneak attack.

In all likelihood, the killer was selecting a target and just happened to see Zhao Lian, murdering her on the spot.

But if that was the case, a new question emerged in everyone’s minds.

And that was...

”If the killer and the victim at the second crime scene, Zhao Lian, were complete strangers, then...”

Li Jianye paused, let out a heavy breath, and said slowly,

”Why did he kill?”

”Why kill Zhao Lian!?”