I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 121: Chapter 119: She’s Dead! Impulse

They returned to the municipal bureau.

The interrogation began that very night.

But Huang Haoxu was a tough nut to crack. He hadn’t said a word since he sat down in the interrogation room.

He refused to answer any questions.

Let alone how his contact reached him, who they were, where they were, or the location of the list in his possession.

They couldn’t get anything out of him.

It was as if his mouth was glued shut; he wouldn’t utter a single word.

For twelve hours, the police interrogated him in shifts.

Finally, on the afternoon of the second day, Huang Haoxu said he wanted to see Zhuang Yanzheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng was in the conference room discussing Huang Haoxu’s case at that moment.

When he heard Huang Haoxu wanted to see him, he glanced at Director Meng.

Director Meng nodded.

Zhuang Yanzheng went to the interrogation room.

Meng Shuyi, Su Miaoyi, and Lin Yue went to listen from the observation room.

Zhuang Yanzheng sat down and looked at Huang Haoxu.

He hadn’t slept all last night, having been sitting there since yesterday. His face showed exhaustion, but his eyes were still dark and sullen, filled with disdain and defiance.

”Go ahead,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”What do you want to tell me?”

”What do you want to ask me?” Huang Haoxu countered.

”Did you kill Ren Mao?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

”Yes.”

”Why?”

”He knew too much. If you caught him, I couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t talk. So he had to die,” Huang Haoxu said.

”What did he know?”

Huang Haoxu smirked. ”You’ll have to ask him that. If you really want to know, you can go ask him down below.”

Zhuang Yanzheng studied him, then asked, ”Your boss, how does he usually contact you?”

”I don’t know,” Huang Haoxu said.

Zhuang Yanzheng narrowed his eyes.

’This guy still has no intention of talking,’ he thought.

’He’s just bored sitting here, so he’s looking for some entertainment.’

”Did you give Lu Jing the wooden beads she had?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

”Mhm.”

”Where is the list you have?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked again.

”It’s...” Huang Haoxu looked at him.

Zhuang Yanzheng frowned.

Huang Haoxu started laughing. ”You think after you made such a huge scene to catch me, the list would still be around?”

”I’m asking for its location,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”Where is it?”

”Aren’t you guys so capable? Don’t you have an undercover agent? Let them tell you,” Huang Haoxu said with a grin.

”Did this boss of yours save your lives? Is that why you follow him so devotedly?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

Huang Haoxu chuckled. ”Yeah. Without him, we’d all be dead.”

”So in the end, you’re just going to die for him?” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”He knows full well that doing this kind of work means a dead end if you get caught.”

”What would people like you know about the loyalty and brotherhood between us?!”

”Loyalty? Brotherhood? But when you heard someone tried to slit your throat, you didn’t even suspect your boss had abandoned you. Because you know deep down, once you’re exposed, you’re disposable,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”Is that the kind of loyalty and brotherhood where everyone scatters when disaster strikes?”

Huang Haoxu glared at him.

”You think it’s about loyalty and brotherhood, but to your boss, you’re all just pawns,” Zhuang Yanzheng continued. ”If one dies, there’ll be a new one. In his eyes, you don’t even count as people.”

Huang Haoxu glared at him fiercely, the muscles in his face tensed. But after a few seconds, he suddenly started laughing again. ”You think I’ll believe you just because you’re trying to stir up trouble with a few words?”

”I’m just stating the facts. You know perfectly well what the situation is,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”Take that scar on your neck, for example. If you hadn’t been saved back then, what would have happened to the person who tried to kill you—to *her*?”

Huang Haoxu suddenly fell silent for a moment.

From his reaction, Zhuang Yanzheng already had his answer. ”Nothing would have happened to her. As for you, if you lived, you could still be of use. If you died... you just died. A useless person isn’t worth keeping around.”

Hitting a raw nerve, Huang Haoxu suddenly struggled in the interrogation chair.

”You’re already sitting here. Don’t even think about getting out,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

”Ren Mao was also from the Sunshine Welfare Institute, wasn’t he?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked suddenly, taking advantage of his emotional state.

There was very little information on Ren Mao.

They hadn’t found any information on his parents or family.

And he also worked under Huang Haoxu.

Lu Jing was from the Sunshine Welfare Institute.

Furthermore, the Sunshine Welfare Institute’s records had been erased.

So he suspected Ren Mao had once been at the Sunshine Welfare Institute too.

Huang Haoxu suddenly froze, even looking a bit nervous.

Hearing the name Sunshine Welfare Institute, he initially thought they had found the institute’s list, but he quickly realized that wasn’t the case.

Seeing his reaction, Zhuang Yanzheng immediately pressed, ”You too?”

Huang Haoxu didn’t speak.

Zhuang Yanzheng said, ”Your boss... could he also be from the Sunshine Welfare Institute?”

Huang Haoxu was silent for a moment, then said with a smile, ”Captain Zhuang, don’t you find it strange that a welfare institute’s records just vanished from the public security system?”

Zhuang Yanzheng ignored his question. ”The list you have overlaps with the institute’s list, doesn’t it?”

”So what if it overlaps? So what if it doesn’t? You’re not going to find it anyway,” Huang Haoxu said. ”Oh, right, you still have an undercover agent. I wonder if this one will be as lucky as the one surnamed Su.”

After saying this, he put on a look of sudden recollection. ”She only used the surname Su. Her real surname was... Qin. She was called Qin Leyan.”

Zhuang Yanzheng stared at him.

Meng Shuyi and Su Miaoyi listened from outside.

”Do you know what she went through during those two years?” A hideous smile spread across Huang Haoxu’s face.

Zhuang Yanzheng said nothing.

Huang Haoxu continued, ”She was strapped to a treatment table, her head covered in wires. With the flip of a switch, a current would surge through her entire body.”

Zhuang Yanzheng’s jaw tightened.

”Ever heard of electroshock therapy?” Huang Haoxu’s smile grew more and more excited. ”The procedure causes memory loss. It’s usually done under general anesthesia, but... what’s the fun in using anesthesia? Isn’t it more interesting to experience it while you’re wide awake?”

Outside the interrogation room, Su Miaoyi slowly clenched her fists.

”You’ve probably only ever seen people convulsing from electricity on TV, right?” Huang Haoxu said. ”Zhuang Yanzheng, just imagine it. Your colleague, your former colleague! Strapped to a table, being shocked by electricity over and over again...”

Zhuang Yanzheng suddenly stood up and walked toward Huang Haoxu.

Meng Shuyi immediately pressed her earpiece and yelled, ”Zhuang Yanzheng! You calm down right now!”

Zhuang Yanzheng violently grabbed Huang Haoxu by the collar.

”She’s dead,” Huang Haoxu said with a laugh.

Meng Shuyi’s roar came through the earpiece: ”Zhuang Yanzheng! If you want to avenge her, you need to calm down!”

Zhuang Yanzheng’s grip on Huang Haoxu’s collar remained tight.

Meng Shuyi ripped off her earpiece and headed for the interrogation room.

Su Miaoyi closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at him and said, ”You’re going to die too.”

Just as Meng Shuyi reached the door to the interrogation room, Zhuang Yanzheng was walking out.

Seeing her furious expression, Zhuang Yanzheng spoke before she could. ”I was reckless. I’ll write a self-criticism report.”

The words died on Meng Shuyi’s lips...