Volume 2 Chapter 10

Volume 2 Chapter 10

Almost at the last chapter of this volume...!

Translated by: TaffyGirl13

Chapter Ten

“Yu!”

Yu immediately returned to his senses the moment he felt an abrupt pat on his shoulder. He turned around to see Yu Yin standing behind him with an expression of confusion. “What are you doing here? Come in and eat first.”

Yu Yin had just entered the living room after chilling the desserts and noticed that Yu still hadn’t come in. When he walked out to the entrance hall, he saw Yu standing at the doorway, already with his bag open and book taken out, in some kind of daze.

Yu turned and quickly shut the door. After placing the books down properly, he walked into the living room with his head down.

Yu Yin was completely unable to make any sense of Yu’s actions as he stared at the retreating figure for a while with a puzzled expression before following behind. “I put the puddings on the table along with the drinks from the food delivery.”

Yu sat down at the table with his gaze locked onto the puddings before reaching out to grab one a split second later.

Yu Yin sat on the other side.

The owner of the home returned probably around half an hour later.

“Your uncle’s group left. Ye Li Sheng was also brought back to the police station,” Yan Si blurted out the moment he walked in. “The inside of that cabinet also tested as positive for blood, so the owner was invited to the police station for a proper interrogation.”

“Is that so...” Yu Yin nodded. In actuality, he had roughly guessed that Ye Li Sheng was involved with Ye Xiao Xiang’s death, but he had this nagging feeling that something was wrong.

Would someone actually kill their biological daughter?

Especially when he doesn’t look like that type of person at all.

“What about the murder weapon?” He recalled that Ye Xiao Xiang had supposedly been killed with a blow from a heavy object.

“Wasn’t found, perhaps it was tossed.” Yan Si shrugged as he entered the living room. “How come you two didn’t eat first? It’s all gotten cold.” He opened the bags of food and began to take the entrees out one by one.

“Don’t you think it’s weird if we start eating by ourselves without the host?” Yu Yin chuckled from his seat at the table. He then tossed the change at him. “I also just thought of something. The last time we were here...which was also the day the body was discovered, we saw Mister Ye heading out to throw away a bunch of plastic bags, the really large, black-colored type trash bags. You later said that there were traces of being bound by bags on the body...I a.s.sume you get what I’m trying to say?”

Yan Si paused for a moment before slowly opened the boxes of food. “You mean to say that the reason we discovered so late was because he had placed it in the bags? As in, he only brought the body out that particular day to toss it?”

“Do you not think it’s possible?” Yu Yin glanced at him before pa.s.sing an entree over to Yu.

“It’s because I think it’s possible that I’m shocked. But it also would explain why I didn’t discover it if it was soaking for so long.” Yan Si immediately dialed a number on his cellphone as he gave a thumbs-up. “The disposal service our complex provides has non-working days: they come once every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.”

In other words, it was likely that the bags were still in the disposal bins.

The line quickly connected, and Yan Si left his seat to stand next to the window while talking over matters with the other person.

“Yu, you still haven’t eaten?” Yu sat across him and seemed to be staring off blankly at a random spot on the table. Yu Yin reached a hand out to wave in front of his eyes.

As if waking up from a dream, Yu started suddenly and lowered his head to start eating mechanically.

Yu Yin grabbed one of the delivery-provided spoons to mix the exquisite food in the boxes while slowly pondering over what was fishy about the situation.

He really didn’t think Ye Li Sheng gave off the aura of a murderer.

But if he isn’t the murderer, then who is? This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com

“Here’s some news.” Yan Si finished his call and walked back over to sit down with them. “Boss just gave me an update that the headless corpse is confirmed to be Ye Li Sheng’s wife. All possible tests have been completed, so there’s no doubt about it.”

In other words, there was over a month’s time between the deaths of Ye Li Sheng’s wife and his daughter.

“Then Ye Li Sheng was lying when he said his wife ran off with somebody else.” Yu Yin held the spoon between his fingers, his eyebrows furrowed.

He just couldn’t understand. If the wife really eloped with someone, then what role did the private investigator that Zhao Liang Yi had mentioned play?

She had gotten on the car. If she had really gone to have an affair, then the private investigator should’ve reported her as missing ages ago.

But if she wasn’t having an affair...

Then who was she spying on?

Or perhaps the one actually having an affair wasn’t Ye Li Sheng’s wife?

Yu Yin thought of multiple conjectures. As he thought about it more and more, he began to feel his body grow cold. There were some probable coincidences that made him think they had overlooked a possibility.

He felt that Ye Li Sheng hadn’t personally murdered anyone.

All that person had done was toss the body.

Yu Yin didn’t believe he had done anything else.

***

“Ye Li Sheng confessed to the murder.”

Yu Tong reported this news on the second evening following the search. It was 7 PM. The television was currently broadcasting on the evening news that the girl in the water tower and the headless corpse cases were officially resolved. All the residents that had been interviewed condemned the perpetrator as cruel and merciless, while also expressing extreme shock, constantly saying that it was impossible and so on.

Yu Yin, who had been watching the news in their living room, paused. He then looked up at the person that had just walked in. “He conceded to all of it?”

“Mmm, he conceded to all of it last night actually, since the evidence all matched up. Traces of Ye Xiao Xiang’s blood were also found in the trash bags from the disposal bins, and Ye Li Sheng’s fingerprints were also found on the bags, so he admitted to doing everything.” Yu Tong pulled off his tie as he pushed his gla.s.ses up and said, “He confessed that, because his wife had been having an affair, he momentarily lost rationale and cut her neck with a kitchen knife. After chopping off the head in the bathroom, he carried the body out to the city outskirts to discard it. Because he was in a hurry, he doesn’t remember where he tossed the head and the murder weapon. The police are currently widening their search perimeters for the murder weapon around where the body was found.”

Yu Yin exchanged glances with Yu. “Where did he cut his wife’s neck?”

“The kitchen. He said his wife had been making a late-night snack at the time.” Yu Tong brought his work bag into his room and changed out from his suit into a lighter T-shirt. As he walked back into the kitchen, he said, “After discarding the body, things calmed down for a while. Because he was afraid of being discovered, he bleached, disinfected, and used any other cleaning solutions he could find to completely clean the kitchen and bathroom, which is why we couldn’t find anything.”

Yu Yin stood up to follow him into the kitchen. He kept an eye on Yu, who was currently changing the channel, as he chatted, “Then why kill his daughter?”

“It seems it was also a moment of lost control. After killing his wife, he was unable to sleep for many days and his temperament grew short while he also resorted to drinking and such. Because his daughter annoyed him one day, he lost control and grabbed something to hit her on the head. Only later did he realise he had messed up again.” Yu Tong took some vegetables out from the fridge and began to prepare them with practiced movements. A clear soup had already been made earlier and was sitting on the stove. “He put his daughter’s body into trash bags and just wanted to throw it away, so he tossed it into the water tower on the rooftop. However, he worried about it for a few days, and ended up running back to take it out from the bags.”

Everything sounded reasonable.

That’s right, a bit too reasonable.

It just made Yu Yin feel more doubtful instead. “What does Uncle think?”

“Xia doesn’t think he’s lying. He pa.s.sed the lie detector as well, so what he’s saying is the truth. But forgetting where he tossed both the murder weapons has become a big issue. I’m sure the investigation has already concluded and he’s just awaiting prosecution.” Yu Tong took off his fogged-up gla.s.ses as he turned on the stove and said, “So the cases should be resolved like this.” Since both cases had the same perpetrator, it reduced the amount of trouble required for investigations.

Yu Yin stared at the gas stove and suddenly thought of something. “Dad, you said just now his wife had been making a late-night snack at the time?”

Yu Tong turned to look at his son in confusion. “Yes, she was murdered while cooking.”

“Could you guys inspect one more place?” It really bugged him that Ye Li Sheng had confessed, since no matter how much he thought about it, there was something wrong.

Yu Tong put down the things he was holding and narrowed his eyes slightly. “Ah Yin, what do you want to know about?”

“The gas stove.” Yu Yin’s gaze stayed on the currently lit gas stove and replied, “If her neck got chopped while she was cooking a late-night snack, there must be traces of blood on the gas stove. The crevices underneath the plates would definitely have it, and I’m sure no matter how much he tried to clean, he probably didn’t clean down there.”

He recalled that when he had pa.s.sed through Ye Li Sheng’s kitchen, it had indeed been very clean. However, it wasn’t to the point where it gave off that overwhelming sparkling aura after a thorough cleaning.

“If there are traces of blood in the gas stove, that means the female owner truly was murdered there.” Yu Tong looked at his son standing a few steps away, immediately understanding the train of thought.

“If there aren’t, it means Ye Li Sheng is lying.” Yu Yin snapped his fingers.

“But I can’t imagine any reason for him to lie, all the evidence points at him as the murderer behind both cases.” After these words, Yu Tong also felt like something was off and began to think it over, contemplating both views in his head.

“But isn’t is really strange that the murderer forgot the whereabouts of both weapons?” Forgetting one would be fine, but isn’t forgetting both a bit too ridiculous? Yu Yin believed that there was a very big problem there.

Aside from students, there were also teachers in the school.

The one that Ye Xiao Xiang’s mother and the private investigator tried to find outside the elementary school is a teacher?

Then, which teacher has the closest relationship with the Ye family?

Yu Yin suddenly felt like he had an answer to his question.

“So that’s why she was like that...” Yu Yin tossed his pen and hurriedly reached out to grab his cellphone.

Just as his fingertips touched the phone, static suddenly rang out from his side. The voice of the host that had been presenting some music turned into a jumble of random noise, as if there was some kind of interference, and began to continuously emit sharp and strange sounds.

Yu Yin frowned and reached to change the frequency. However, after changing a few times, the high-pitched, hair-raising noises persisted. The noise didn’t change at all even after changing channels.

“Is there an interference with the current?” Yu Yin doubtfully turned off the power and after inspecting the speakers, turned the sound back on.

This time, nothing came out. Both the static and the broadcast had disappeared.

It was completely quiet.

For a while, Yu Yin stared at the radio that was clearly on yet silent. He put down his cellphone. If he listened closely, he could still hear the sound of the machine working, but the broadcast was completely gone.

He had never heard of noise disappearing due to static interference before.

He suddenly felt his back grow cold and gooseb.u.mps form on his arms. This familiar feeling made him realise something. “d.a.m.n it!”

Just when Yu Yin jumped off his bed, the power suddenly went off with a pop. Now he couldn’t even hear the sound of the machine running.

He quickly pulled out the power cord and looked around, afraid that the light had also been cut. He really hated encountering those kinds of things in the dark, as it made him feel their full menace.

Then he heard the sound of a bouncing ball outside the door. From the crack under the door, a shadow pacing back and forth appeared. However, Yu Yin recalled that if his dad had gone back to his room, he definitely would’ve turned off the hallway lights.

So how is there a shadow?

The temperature of his surroundings seemed to drop. Yu Yin furrowed his brows and took a few steps back. Just as he was about to do something, he heard a cackling noise from behind, and the radio’s power source red light lit up by itself.

He noticed that the power cord still wasn’t connected.

The only thing he was glad about was that his light was still on. “What else do you want? The police are already searching and will soon find the murderer. You should leave soon.” If his speculation was correct, they would lock onto the other person soon. It would just be matter of time before they were caught in the net.

The shadow’s movements outside the door quickened.

Yu Yin suddenly heard the radio start the broadcast from earlier. Slowly, he began to hear a faint sound among the screeching static sounds caused by the interference. It seemed like the voice of a little girl, constantly repeating:

“He personally promised to go with me!”

The voice filled with resentment from amidst the noise continuously repeated this sentence. The sounds of static gradually changed to that of water, which were subsequently distorted by the sound waves as well. It was an extremely bizarre sound.

“Who promised to go with you?” Yu Yin realised the implication of this phrase. He suddenly felt his whole body grow cold. “Promised to go with you?!”

He had an extremely bad premonition.

The voice suddenly cut off. The power light turned off and no more noise could be heard.

“Ye Xiao Xiang! You are not to leave until you say who promised you!” Yu Yin roared at the radio and turned around. The shadow that he had seen from under his door quickly disappeared. Without even thinking, he charged over to yank the door open.

Then, he froze.

What appeared before him wasn’t his hallway, but a place that was foreign to him.

He saw a door.

More precisely, through the door he could see another door: the closed doors of an elevator.

Yu Yin backpedaled as he saw the reflection of himself and his background on the glossy doors. Behind him wasn’t his room, but the inside of the elevator with three walls of mirrors.

He turned around, but the sight behind him was still his own bedroom.

With a ding, the elevator doors opened.

Outside was the yellow-stained ground, the moist air, and the sound of a machine.

A drop of water fell onto his hair.

He heard a noise.

From outside the elevator came the faint sound of a bouncing ball. It got closer and closer, coming from the other side of the door.

Yu Yin wanted to walk over to close his bedroom door, but he was unable to move his feet. He could only stand rooted in his original spot, staring at the small shadow walking over to him with a ball in her hands.

It was a girl with her head lowered, identical to what he had seen at the school and the complex.

The girl stretched her hand out to him.

Yu Yin watched the palm reaching out towards him. He felt like he absolutely could not touch it, or else something would definitely happen.

They remained in this standstill for a few seconds. With her hand still held up in midair, she slowly lifted her head. The ash-colored eyes on her intact yet deathly-white face stared at him as she opened her lips. “He promised to go with me...”

In that moment, the elevator doors closed. The bedroom door before Yu Yin was slammed shut with a loud bang.

The girl disappeared, and everything went completely silent.

When Yu Yin came back to awareness, he felt wet and cold. When he looked down, he discovered that his entire body seemed to be drenched, as if he had just been lying in water. He was even dripping water onto the ground.

He didn’t understand what it meant.

She had specially acted out that scene...

No!

He had gotten it all wrong!

Yu Yin instantly thought of something, and without any hesitation, threw open the bedroom door that had been taken over by a ghost just now and walked out to the pitch-black hallway. The door flew open with a loud bang.

A few seconds later, the bedroom door diagonally across from him was wordlessly opened as well. “Who’s there?!”

Yu Yin seemed to hear the sound of a gun being c.o.c.ked, but he couldn’t see anything from his angle. “Dad, it’s me!” He walked over a few steps to turn on the hallway lights before seeing Yu Tong put away what he was holding.

“Why did you slam the door in the middle of the night?” Yu Tong released his guard and glared at him.

“I’ll explain later.” Yu Yin quickly raced to Yu’s bedroom door and knocked heavily. “Yu, open the door!”

A while pa.s.sed without any response.

It was too quiet, there wasn’t a single sound to be heard.

“Use this.” Yu Tong quickly handed the master key to him.

Yu Yin accepted the master key and inserted it into the keyhole to unlock it. He hoped that everything would be just like what had happened with the bathroom last time, where the kid was just sleeping too deeply inside to hear anything.

The door opened within a few seconds.

What welcomed them was an uninhabited room with an opened window. The curtains were fluttering about wildly from the night winds.

“Yu is gone.”