I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 16: Chapter 14: No Evidence

”Police!”

When Su Miaoyi said the word, she instinctively reached for the front pocket of her pants.

It was a subconscious gesture; she was reaching for her police ID.

But she found the pocket was still sewn shut, never having been opened since she bought them. Only then did it hit her that she wasn’t a police officer.

She also realized she had been too impulsive.

She glanced back in the direction she’d come from. ’There was a cop with me just a moment ago. Didn’t he come with me?’

Su Miaoyi controlled her expression, careful not to give anything away, and nonchalantly moved her hand away from her pants.

Her other hand was holding her phone the entire time.

She found the phone’s power button and pressed it five times.

She had set Zhuang Yanzheng as her emergency contact.

Pressing the power button five times would send him an SOS message with her precise location.

Su Miaoyi looked at the man in front of her.

He was bald, shirtless, and wearing a pair of baggy, floral-patterned shorts.

He was quite burly.

Although she had never seen his face, she had heard his voice in one of her visions.

When the man heard her say she was the police, he was visibly startled. ”Police? What’s this about?”

Su Miaoyi looked past him into the room, then said after a moment’s thought, ”We received a tip from the public about an illegal gambling operation here.”

The room was dim due to the poor lighting, and she could only make out a woman standing inside.

A flicker of something passed through the man’s eyes. He put on an obsequious smile. ”How could that be? We’re just law-abiding citizens. We’d never do something like that.”

”What’s that sound coming from the room?” Su Miaoyi asked.

Just as she finished her question, a shout and a dog’s bark suddenly erupted from the direction she had come from.

The shout sounded like the officer who had been with her earlier.

’Did something happen? Is that why he didn’t follow me?’

The man took a few steps outside, standing opposite her.

Su Miaoyi looked at the man again.

The man said, ”You must have misheard. There’s no sound. Oh, my daughter is inside watching TV. It’s just the sound of the television.”

The woman inside the room quickly moved away, and the faint cries for help ceased.

The man looked at her and said, ”If you don’t believe me, come on in and see for yourself. We just run a small business, selling some cigarettes and alcohol on the other side of the courtyard. How could we be gambling?”

Su Miaoyi didn’t know what the situation was inside, and she didn’t dare enter recklessly. She was worried that if she went in, she might not be able to get back out.

And in that moment of hesitation,

The man’s expression suddenly changed. ”Where’s your police ID? How can you prove you’re a cop?”

Su Miaoyi looked at him.

She could clearly see fear and nervousness in his eyes, but even more prominent was a sudden, surging murderous intent.

Su Miaoyi backed away, but the man suddenly grabbed her arm and started dragging her into the house.

”Let go!” Su Miaoyi twisted her wrist, trying to break free.

But he was too strong.

A sharp pain shot through her wrist bone; she couldn’t break his grip at all.

The man dragged her toward the room.

Su Miaoyi pulled against him with all her might.

”Zhuang Yanzheng! Zhuang Yanzheng!” Su Miaoyi screamed.

”Shut up.” The man pulled harder and tried to cover her mouth.

Su Miaoyi struggled, and her phone fell to the ground.

She gripped his arm, her nails digging into his flesh.

The man grunted in pain but didn’t let her go.

Hearing the commotion, some neighbors came out to look.

The difference in strength was too great. In the blink of an eye, Su Miaoyi was dragged to the doorway.

She was about to be pulled inside.

Suddenly, a cold glint flashed in Su Miaoyi’s eyes. She placed her hand on his wrist bone and applied pressure.

The man let out a muffled groan. His entire arm went numb, and he subconsciously released her.

Su Miaoyi had been pulling away from him the whole time.

The moment he let go,

Su Miaoyi stumbled backward violently. To regain her balance, she instinctively grabbed the man’s now-free hand.

At the same time, a hand suddenly supported her from behind.

Su Miaoyi steadied herself, yanked outward, and slammed the man into the doorframe.

The man’s head hit the doorframe, and he let out a pained cry.

Then Su Miaoyi turned her head to look back and saw Zhuang Yanzheng standing behind her. The coldness in her eyes faded away.

He had run over as soon as he got her text. He was a little out of breath, sweat dripping down his cheeks.

Zhuang Yanzheng glanced at Su Miaoyi, then placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her behind him.

As the man clutched his forehead, howling, and charged at them,

he whipped out his police ID and shoved it in the man’s face. ”Police!”

The man froze on the spot, stunned.

At that same moment, a woman’s scream suddenly came from the room on the left.

Zhuang Yanzheng shoved the man aside and walked straight in.

Su Miaoyi followed behind him. ”I heard someone crying for help just now.”

The man tried to block Zhuang Yanzheng again.

Just then, the woman from the inner room ran out, her hands covered in blood. ”Blood! It’s all blood!”

Zhuang Yanzheng and Su Miaoyi immediately rushed into the inner room.

They saw a young woman lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

”Call 911,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Su Miaoyi felt for her phone, but it was still on the ground outside.

Zhuang Yanzheng took out his phone to call for an ambulance.

Su Miaoyi immediately entered the room, knelt beside the young woman, and took her hand.

It was completely cold.

”Wake up, wake up, can you hear me?” Su Miaoyi held her hand. ”Can you hear what I’m saying?”

The young woman’s eyes were closed, but her eyelashes fluttered faintly. Her hand slowly tightened around Su Miaoyi’s fingers.

”Don’t fall asleep. We’ve already called for an ambulance. Help is on the way. Just hold on, don’t fall asleep.” Su Miaoyi pulled a blanket from the nearby bed and covered her with it.

The young woman had lost too much blood, and they didn’t dare move her, afraid of causing even more bleeding.

Zhuang Yanzheng hung up the phone. Qi Feng and the others had arrived as well.

Just as Zhuang Yanzheng was about to enter the room to check on the young woman, the man suddenly stepped forward to block him. ”Officer, my daughter just broke up with her boyfriend a while ago. She only found out she was pregnant after the breakup... Look at this... this... we don’t know how this suddenly happened.”

”Oh! My poor, ill-fated daughter!” the woman suddenly wailed, collapsing to the floor.

Zhuang Yanzheng turned to look at her.

It took Qi Feng and another officer a great deal of effort to help her into a nearby chair.

Zhuang Yanzheng glanced at the young woman on the floor and Su Miaoyi, then turned to the man and asked, ”What’s your name?”

”Feng Ming,” the man said.

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at the wailing woman who was slapping her thighs in despair.

Feng Ming said, ”That’s my wife, Zhao Qin.”

”The young woman in the room is your daughter?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

”Yes. The child came with her mother when she remarried me,” Feng Ming said. ”Even though she’s not my biological daughter, I’ve raised her as my own. That boyfriend of hers... he... he did this, then broke up with my daughter. He’s a real piece of work. How is my daughter supposed to go on after this!”

As he spoke, he covered his face.

Zhao Qin’s wails grew louder.

Zhuang Yanzheng watched them.

Feng Ming wiped his face. ”Officer, this is about my daughter’s reputation. This... can we... can we handle this ourselves? Look, there are gawkers everywhere outside.”

There were many voices outside, but the police had promptly stopped them from getting any closer.

Zhuang Yanzheng looked around.

They had no evidence. Nothing.

He hadn’t had a chance to exchange information with Su Miaoyi since he arrived.

Zhuang Yanzheng circled the outer room.

Feng Ming followed him. ”Officer, there must be a misunderstanding. We just run a small shop, selling a few things. How could we be running a gambling den?”

Zhuang Yanzheng glanced at him, guessing that was what Su Miaoyi had said. ”Whether you were or not isn’t something I’ll take your word for. If you weren’t, why were you dragging someone into your room?”

”We really weren’t! We wouldn’t dare.” Feng Ming slapped his thigh. ”Oh! That was all a misunderstanding! I thought she was some kind of con artist. I was going to drag her inside and call the police to get rid of a public menace.”

Zhuang Yanzheng shot him a look, then went to check the small cigarette and liquor shop in the back.

Su Miaoyi remained kneeling beside the young woman, talking to her continuously, afraid she would pass out.

”We’re here to save you. You have to hold on. You have to endure. Don’t fall asleep, please don’t fall asleep. The ambulance will be here any second,” Su Miaoyi said, gently stroking her arm.

Suddenly, the young woman’s grip on her fingers loosened slightly.

Su Miaoyi’s heart clenched. ”Wake up! Wake up! You can’t sleep! You can’t! The ambulance is here! Hold on! You...”

The young woman was completely unresponsive. Her eyes were shut tight, and her breathing had all but stopped.

Su Miaoyi’s voice grew louder as she called out to her.

Soon, Feng Ming and Zhao Qin both rushed into the room.

Zhao Qin entered and plopped down on the floor beside the young woman, beginning to wail loudly. ”My poor, miserable daughter—”

Feng Ming took in the scene, abruptly shoved Su Miaoyi aside, and knelt on the ground as if his legs had given out.

Zhuang Yanzheng quickly leaned over to steady Su Miaoyi, taking her wrist and pulling her to her feet.

”Girl, girl, you can’t leave us. What will we do if you go?” Feng Ming cried out, while simultaneously glancing back at Zhuang Yanzheng and the others.

He saw that Zhuang Yanzheng was looking at Su Miaoyi, his attention not on them.

His hand slipped under the blanket and rested on the young woman’s stomach, his body shielding his hand from view.

”Girl, wake up, wake up.”

He shouted the words, but his mind was racing.

’Things have come to this. Once this girl is taken away by the ambulance, once she wakes up, she’ll definitely tell the police everything.’

’So she can’t wake up...’

’As long as she doesn’t wake up, the police won’t have any evidence.’

Feng Ming’s hand trembled, but he still pressed down hard...

...