I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 188: Chapter 186: The Murderer Has Been Found

Su Miaoyi called the police.

Officers from the branch station took Liu Beiqing, his driver, and the eight burly men back to the station.

Su Miaoyi also went to the branch station to give her statement.

The security cameras at the community entrance and in the surrounding area had captured everything clearly.

The branch station also confirmed the details with the municipal bureau.

By the time Su Miaoyi left the branch station, an hour had passed.

Outside, she saw Shen Yanzhou waiting in the lobby.

”When did you get back?” Su Miaoyi asked.

”I landed about an hour ago. Just as I left the airport, I saw a message in the Weiyang Palace property management group chat saying there was trouble at the south gate. I recognized your back in one of the photos,” Shen Yanzhou said. ”I asked the guards what happened and came straight here.”

Su Miaoyi looked at him. He did indeed look like he had come straight from the airport.

”I’m the one who reported it. I’m fine,” Su Miaoyi said. ”Let’s go.”

”Why did you end up at the branch station?” Shen Yanzhou asked.

”That’s where the call was dispatched,” Su Miaoyi said.

The two of them walked out together. Once they were in the car, Shen Yanzhou asked, ”What happened?”

Su Miaoyi gave him a brief overview of the situation with Liu Namo and Liu Beiqing, skipping the specific details of the case.

”I’d heard a little about this, but I didn’t expect you to get dragged into it.” Shen Yanzhou glanced at her.

”I didn’t expect it either,” Su Miaoyi said. ”I have no idea how they traced it back to me and showed up right at the entrance to Weiyang Palace.”

Shen Yanzhou fell silent for a moment.

Su Miaoyi tilted her head to look at him. ”Do you know Liu Beiqing?”

”Mhm,” Shen Yanzhou said. ”We’ve had dealings before.”

”What kind of person is he?” Su Miaoyi asked.

”We weren’t close, so it’s hard to say,” Shen Yanzhou said. ”But my first impression of him was good.”

”Well, the first impression he left on me wasn’t so great,” Su Miaoyi said.

Shen Yanzhou looked at her.

Su Miaoyi looked back at him. ”What is it?”

”Losing a loved one can make a person lose all reason,” Shen Yanzhou said. ”Because you know, with absolute clarity, that they’re never coming back. That you’ll never see them again. No matter the cost, anything you can do for her feels worth it.”

”At that moment, the pain is greater than anything else. The person who’s gone becomes more important than anything else. If you could bring them back to life, you’d even trade your own life for it.”

Su Miaoyi watched him.

Shen Yanzhou said, ”If you’ve never been through it, you can’t imagine that kind of pain.”

Su Miaoyi listened to him speak.

”He might look normal on the outside, but his ability to think clearly is limited right now,” Shen Yanzhou said. ”If someone tells him something at a time like this, he might not be able to process it properly and could easily be manipulated.”

Su Miaoyi continued to watch him.

Shen Yanzhou tilted his head and smiled. ”Is there something on my face?”

Su Miaoyi: ”...I’m feeling sorry for you. Can’t you tell?”

Shen Yanzhou looked at her again, then looked forward for a few seconds before looking back at her once more.

”Shen Yanzhou, what’s with that look?” Su Miaoyi asked, studying his expression.

Shen Yanzhou started to laugh. ”I’ve never seen you look sorry for someone before. I wanted to get a better look.”

Su Miaoyi raised her hand and smacked him.

Shen Yanzhou sucked in a breath. ”Do you know how strong you are?”

”You’re just being a baby. I didn’t even hit you that hard,” Su Miaoyi said.

Shen Yanzhou: ”...”

Su Miaoyi let out a proud little huff and fell silent, her thoughts turning to what he had just said.

’Everyone was under close surveillance.’

’Did someone whisper in Liu Beiqing’s ear and fan the flames?’

’Why was he so fixated on Xu Jinlan?’

”I really don’t think Liu Beiqing can think straight anymore. He actually thinks the Ji Family is behind this. If the Ji Family had that kind of power right now, Ji Sheng and Cai Qinglian would probably be laughing in their sleep,” Su Miaoyi said.

Just as she said that, Su Miaoyi’s stomach rumbled twice.

Shen Yanzhou looked at her again.

Su Miaoyi cleared her throat lightly.

Shen Yanzhou smiled. ”What would you like to eat?”

”Anything’s fine,” Su Miaoyi said. ”I was actually on my way out to eat when I ran into this mess.”

Shen Yanzhou said, ”There’s a good Western restaurant nearby.”

”Sounds good,” Su Miaoyi said. ”I’m not a picky eater.”

Shen Yanzhou chuckled at that.

Su Miaoyi looked at him. ”...”

Shen Yanzhou drove them there.

After dinner, they returned to Weiyang Palace.

Su Miaoyi stood before her whiteboard again and added Liu Beiqing’s name.

The online discussion was still trending.

The municipal bureau must be under immense pressure.

Su Miaoyi tapped the whiteboard back and forth with her pen.

It started to rain again outside, accompanied by flashes of lightning.

Su Miaoyi put down her pen, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and watched the lightning on the horizon.

After watching for a while, her eyes started to feel strained. She went back to the living room, hugged An’an, and sat on the sofa.

As lightning flashed incessantly outside, she scrolled through the online discussions, trying to find any clues.

She ended up falling asleep right there on the sofa while reading.

She slept until dawn the next day, when she was jolted awake by her phone ringing.

She opened her eyes and looked at the caller ID on her phone.

It was a call from Cheng Jue.

She answered the phone.

”Sis, I’m in the clear over here.”

”In the clear?” Su Miaoyi felt like she wasn’t fully awake yet and was a bit dazed.

”Yeah. They caught the killer, so the surveillance on us has been lifted,” Cheng Jue said.

Su Miaoyi shot up from the sofa. ”They caught the killer?”

”You didn’t know?” Cheng Jue asked.

”I didn’t know.” Su Miaoyi felt dazed again. ”Um... when was the surveillance lifted?”

”About ten minutes ago,” Cheng Jue said.

Su Miaoyi glanced at the time. It was already past eight. ”Okay, got it. Are you coming to my place, or going back to the old district?”

”I’ll go back to the old district. Mom and Dad are worried sick, so I’ll go let them know I’m okay,” Cheng Jue said. ”The show probably won’t continue filming, and my grades should be out soon, so I’ll head back first.”

”Okay, be safe then.”

”I will.”

After hanging up, Su Miaoyi checked the messages on her phone.

Zhuang Yanzheng had sent her a message a little after four in the morning.

The killer has been caught. It’s Xu Yu.

She hadn’t heard her phone go off.

”Xu Yu?”

”The other man who participated in the filming,” said the voice in her head.

”It was him?” Su Miaoyi was a little surprised.

”Just go down to the station to find out what really happened. Now that the killer’s been caught, you don’t have to stay away anymore.”

Su Miaoyi nodded. She sat on the sofa for a moment before deciding to get up and wash her face.

But as soon as she stood up, her vision suddenly went black.

Then, just as suddenly, it flashed bright.

She saw a face.

She was lying somewhere.

There were wooden planks above, below, and on all sides.

She looked at the face above her.

The person was staring intently at her. They leaned in, reached out to touch her neck, and then stood up straight.

Then they disappeared from view.

Su Miaoyi was pulled out of the vision, flopping back onto the sofa.

She thought about what she had just seen.

’Wooden planks above, below, and on all sides...’

’That scene... the material of the planks, the depth... It was the coffin from the film set.’

’Liu Namo. It was from Liu Namo’s perspective.’

’Through Liu Namo’s eyes, I saw... the director, Wang Youxian?’

Su Miaoyi found it strange, but she knew she wouldn’t see a vision for no reason, so she immediately called Zhuang Yanzheng.

After a few rings, Zhuang Yanzheng picked up. ”What’s up?”

”Captain Zhuang, I saw Wang Youxian from Liu Namo’s perspective. But it wasn’t a vision of the murder.”

”Not of the murder?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

”It was after Liu Namo was already dead. It was a vision of Wang Youxian checking to see if she had a heartbeat,” Su Miaoyi said.

’It was actually a very normal scene.’

’When you see someone lying motionless, you instinctively check their breathing, their heartbeat.’

”Got it,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”I’ll go talk to him again.”

”Okay.”

After hanging up, Su Miaoyi thought about what she had just seen.

’The vision was bright, not pitch black.’

’Wang Youxian leaned over, touched Liu Namo’s neck, and checked if she still had a heartbeat.’

’It was after the coffin had been opened, after Xu Jinlan had run out of it.’

’According to what the film crew and staff said about that night...’

’After Xu Jinlan ran out and Liu Namo didn’t respond, the first people to rush over were the on-site staff and Liu Namo’s assistant.’

’When the director went over to check, there were a lot of people around.’

’So why did I only see the director?’

’And it was a scene from after Liu Namo’s death...’