CH 13

Upon arriving at the police station, forensic doctor Xiang Yuan glanced at the time on his watch. “Twelve-thirty. Just nice, let’s eat together, I have something on in the afternoon.”

As they ate their lunch, demonic cultivator turned police officer Gu Xizhou took advantage of his free time to look at the photos of the scene of the crime again. Due to the rain last night, there weren’t any traces or clues left beside the pool. In particular, the rain had washed away any marks left at the side of the pool, and there wasn’t even a single footprint. 

The deceased Yang Zhi had bruises on his body, but it might have been because he hit against the side of the pipes when he was struggling in the water. They just had to wait for the analysis of the body. 

After looking at the photos for a long day, Gu Xizhou still didn’t find any valuable clues, but Fang Zhi’s phone rang. 

After answering the phone, Fang Zhi reached for the things in Gu Xizhou’s hands. “Gu Ge, the deceased’s family is in the bureau, waiting for us to go over.”

“En.”

Gu Xizhou waved his hand at the boss. “Boss, the bill.”

He felt for his pocket, and after opening his wallet, his entire body froze.

This photo… why was it in his wallet?

He obviously put the photo in the album yesterday!

“Hey, Old Gu isn’t so stingy ba? Why are you zoning out? Look at Xiao Fang, other people like him, how much do they earn in a month, and compare it to how much you earn in a month? Letting Fang Zhi treat us, being the elder, won’t your conscience be hurt?” Xiang Yuan waved his hand in front of Gu Xizhou’s eyes, showing the impression of wanting to be beaten up.

Recovering his senses, Gu Xizhou stopped Fang Zhi from footing the bill and took out a 100-yuan bill from his wallet, handing it to the boss. The boss was a little embarrassed, and only accepted Gu Xizhou’s money after hearing Xiang Yuan’s words. 

After paying the bill, Gu Xizhou kept opening the wallet and looking inside on the way back. That family portrait was kept in pristine condition inside his wallet.

As soon as they arrived at the police bureau, Gu Xizhou saw a woman with a slender figure wearing a long-sleeved shirt and long pants, with a silk scarf around her neck. There wasn’t any need to ask, this was definitely Yang Zhi’s wife Yan Li. 

Xiang Yuan said quietly: “You couldn’t tell, but his wife is really quite pretty.”

“Please come with me.”

The woman nodded cautiously, and there was a visible hint of sadness in her eyes. 

After going up, Gu Xizhou glanced at her, and asked in amazement: “Wearing so many layers, isn’t it hot?”

“No, not hot.” Yan Li averted her gaze and lowered her head, but the sweat on her neck betrayed her. 

Gu Xizhou saw all of this, but didn’t say a word.

Upon entering the interrogation room, Fang Zhi asked a few questions first. After seeing that she was nervous, he offered her a cup of warm water. “Don’t be nervous, drink some water.”

“Your husband went out last night to drink at Hong Yong’s house, did you know of this?”

Yan Li: “I don’t dare to ask about his matters, but lately he often drinks until he’s flat out drunk, and comes home at about three or four o’clock.”

Fang Zhi: “Okay, then pardon me for asking, but where were you last night?”

Tjc Ol: “Ca tbwf.”

“Cibcf?”

“Tfr, Tjcu… joafg tf mjwf yjmx, tf ifoa jiwbra lwwfvljafis. Zs rbc rajsr ja atf vbgw lc tlr eclnfgrlas. Tfrafgvjs, P kjr algfv joafg ufaalcu boo ogbw kbgx, rb P vlvc’a ub klat atfw obg vlccfg, jcv kfca ragjluta tbwf.”

“Jjc jcsbcf qgbnf atlr?”

Yan Li: “No, there shouldn’t be anyone, en… But the elevator in the community area is monitored, so you can see when I reached home.”

Fang Zhi made an affirmative noise. “Has your husband had a grudge with anyone recently? As long as he said it or mentioned it, it will count!”

“He’s never mentioned anything to me. I’m not very clear on his company matters.”

Fang Zhi nodded his head, and recorded it all down. “That’s it for the time being. If you remember anything, do remember to notify us, and we will contact you again if necessary.”

“Okay, okay… about that… Can I see my husband?” The woman asked hesitantly.

“Of course you can.”

The sound of crying leaked out from the autopsy room. Gu Xizhou and Fang Zhi looked at each other, and helplessly shook their heads. It seemed that the relationship between the woman and the deceased wasn’t as bad as Hong Yong said. 

After getting the transcript of the interrogation, Gu Xizhou glanced at it and said: “Ask the community security to help out and check the elevator monitor recording.”

As Gu Xizhou went downstairs to send the woman off, he received a call from Fang Zhi. “The area has been checked. Yan Li didn’t leave after she reached home at 8pm.”

“Does the monitor system have any blind spots?”

“No, their neighbourhood is a high-end district, with surveillance stretching around the wall. After she returned, she never left.”

Fang Zhi: “Gu Ge, I plan on going to that man’s company to investigate the circumstances there.”

Gu Xizhou heard Fang Zhi’s words and made an affirmative noise. He returned to his office and took his wallet out, pulling the photo out and flipping it to the back over and over again.

On the back,  the three numbers “705” were written. Gu Xizhou remembered the writing style and the location of those numbers, mainly because that photo helped him find the original owner’s apartment, else who knows where he would have stayed last night. The writing style and location were exactly the same as the ones from last night.

Gu Xizhou: …

At 3 in the afternoon, the results came in from the forensic doctors. Yang Zhi died from drowning, and it was confirmed to be the water in the pool after further investigation.

When Gu Xizhou received the autopsy report, he stared at it for a moment, and felt clueless. Was it really because Yang Zhi got drunk, and drowned himself?

Just when Gu Xizhou was wildly thinking, his phone rang. 

Fang Zhi, who was on the other side of the phone, panted as he spoke. “Gu Ge, I’ve asked everyone I can ask. The deceased’s relationship with his colleagues in the office wasn’t bad, and he’s never had an argument with anyone despite working there for so long.”

Gu Xizhou: “That’s it?”

“That’s it, oh… and there’s something a little strange…”

Gu Xizhou asked subconsciously: “What is it?”

Fang Zhi looked back at the logistics company behind him, and answered Gu Xizhou’s question. “Just now, when I said that the deceased had died, they all seemed rather unhappy, and even said that the deceased’s wife must be very sad, because their relationship was so good… I casually asked a few more questions, and they said that the deceased and his wife, Yan Li, were pretty much an exemplary couple in their hearts, and everyone was particularly envious of the feelings between them.”

“But I remember Hong Yong saying the deceased’s relationship with his wife was never harmonious…” Fang Zhi said as he wiped the sweat on his face.

Gu Xizhou froze for a moment, recalling the expressions of Hong Yong and Liu Xue when they answered questions. It didn’t seem like they were lying.

“Gu Ge, I’ll go to Yan Li’s company and ask about her situation!”

Gu Xizhou told Fang Zhi the results of the autopsy report, worried that Fang Zhi would be going over for nothing. However, Fang Zhi said: “It’s okay if I go over for nothing, I’m not afraid of trouble. I’m just afraid that this case won’t be thoroughly investigated, and the grievous wrong done to the deceased will be wiped clean.”

Hearing Fang Zhi’s words, Gu Xizhou could only shake his head and let him go. 

Gu Xizhou, who didn’t know how to investigate, stared at the autopsy report for a while more. Thinking of Fang Zhi’s words, he turned back to ask someone to investigate the recent phone conversations between Yan Li and Yang Zhi.

“Leader Gu, the two of them didn’t contact each other on the day itself. There were only three calls in the last week, and this is the call record.”

Gu Xizhou took the call record from the female police officer and looked at it for a while. He pointed at a few numbers that had been called quite a few times, and said, “Help me to investigate who owns these phone numbers, what their names are, what their occupations are, and how they’re related to the deceased and his wife.”

“Okay, I’ll inform the technical department immediately.”

In less than half an hour, Gu Xizhou had the details of the owners of those numbers in front of him. Most of the people who had contacted the deceased were business customers, while the people who contacted Yan Li were more interesting. The number she had contacted the most was a doctor at an orthopedic hospital. 

“Contact this Doctor Lin, and ask them about the situation.”

Gu Xizhou sat at the side, listening to his subordinate call Doctor Lin. 

Doctor Lin: “Hello, what’s the matter?”

“Hello, this is the Jinluo Police Bureau, we would like to ask you a few questions. Is it convenient to ask now?”

The person on the other side joked, “Is this a real or fake policeman? I’m 27 years old, no sons or daughters, so don’t tell me my son got into an accident or some silly story like that.”

“En… if you’re not assured, you can come directly to the Jinluo Police Bureau,” the policeman who called explained to him.

“Oh, I’m just kidding. Lately, people have always been doing these sort of scam calls, wouldn’t you say, Comrade Police?”

“Do you know a Ms Yan, Yan Li? We investigated and found that the two of you often communicate over the phone.”

The woman on the other side of the phone raised her voice by about eight levels: “I know, I know! Did she finally stop resisting and called the police? I can testify! Her beast of a husband keeps beating her, and we often call each other because of this. Because of that man’s domestic violence, she often comes to our hospital to get medicine or something, and that’s how I got to know her.”

“I’m telling you, you must catch him. I have Yan Li’s medical records for the past two years to use as evidence, okay?! Yesterday, she even came to the hospital to find me!”

Gu Xizhou froze. “Domestic violence? But I just saw her, and she didn’t seem hurt.”

Hearing Gu Xizhou’s voice, Doctor Lin said passionately: “Aiya, that shameless man who should be hacked to pieces! When he hits her, he only hits on the parts of the body that won’t be exposed! I’ve never seen this kind of guy before, I keep advising Yan Li to divorce him, but she just refuses to do so, and I seriously can’t understand what’s wrong with her! She can even tolerate this kind of man! Just thinking of it makes me angry!”

“Don’t get so excited first…”

The policeman who was calling wrote out a transcript. Gu Xizhou listened for a while, and furrowed his brows. When the call ended, Fang Zhi on the other side called him again.

“Gu Ge, I asked around at Yan Li’s company, and Yan Li doesn’t have any enemies. They also said the same thing as the deceased’s colleagues, that the two of them had a very good relationship… On Valentine’s day, flowers would be sent to the hospital, something that’s rarely seen at their age, so everyone envied them.”

“Interesting.” Gu Xizhou shook his head, and glanced at the time. “Let’s end it here today. You don’t have to report to the police station, just go straight home.”

…

When Gu Xizhou returned home, he threw the case materials on the sofa, went into his room, and took out the photo album that he had placed there yesterday.

After opening the album, Gu Xizhou froze. The photo actually wasn’t in the album. Upon proving that the photo in his hand really was the one from yesterday, Gu Xizhou subconsciously looked around, but he didn’t find anything.

Or maybe he wasn’t able to see anything?

In the middle of the night, Gu Xizhou pretended to sleep for a long time, but he still didn’t see even a single shadow!

After a night where nothing happened, Gu Xizhou dragged his dark eyebags to the police bureau. Right as the car stopped outside the police bureau, he encountered Fang Zhi, who had just walked in.

From these past two days, Gu Xizhou learnt that Fang Zhi’s family circumstances weren’t too good. It was a single-parent family, and they sold their only house to pay for their mother’s treatment, but Fang Zhi’s mother still wasn’t able to escape the palm of Death, leaving Fang Zhi and a little sister studying in university.  Other than renting a house, Fang Zhi’s salary was sent to his sister every month, for her to use as living expenses. 

Gu Xizhou waved his hand and put it on Fang Zhi’s shoulder. “Let’s go and eat breakfast together!”

The two people found somewhere to casually eat a meal. As they ate, Fang Zhi suddenly took out his phone, and after knocking around on it, suddenly shouted in shock. “Gu Ge, the deceased was actually the neighbour of the deceased in the burglary case 819!

Gu Xizhou paused, looking at him, a face full of confusion.

This was what and what?

Fang Zhi pointed at the materials that Gu Xizhou set aside. The outermost page of the material was folded in, revealing just a corner, and on that corner were the words  “House Robbery Case 819?” written in pencil. Gu Xizhou opened it to take a look. The materials that were just blank yesterday had suddenly a lot of comments written on it, with a deep analysis written on everyone’s words.

Fang Zhi looked at Gu Xizhou with a face full of admiration: “Gu Ge, the deceased just showed his face in this piece of news, but you actually thought of the connection between them! You’re seriously too great!”

Gu Xizhou: “???”

… I don’t know if this is related or not, but there must be some ghostly things in my house!

soya: (i read as i tl, so i don’t know what happens in the future!!) somehow i think the actual policeman Gu Xizhou is still alive… but this useless demonic cultivator turned policeman Gu Xizhou can’t sense him…