I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 45: Chapter 43: The Voice in the Mind

「Half a month later.」

It was now November.

The weather grew colder and colder.

Su Miaoyi still insisted on going to the Muay Thai combat club to train every day.

She didn’t know if she was making any progress, but she could tell the muscles in her arms seemed a bit firmer.

This gave her a great sense of accomplishment.

Zhuang Yanzheng and Yan Cheng were still very busy.

There was no new progress on the case.

The longer it dragged on, the harder the investigation would become.

It looked like this would soon become another case added to the list of unsolved ones.

However, even though the two of them were busy, they would still extend an olive branch to her whenever they had free time.

After all this time, she still hadn’t made up her mind.

She was a little worried that one day, she would no longer be able to see those images.

The knowledge in her head might disappear along with them.

At that point, she would be useless.

After finishing her class at the club, Su Miaoyi came out of the shopping mall.

She looked at the sky, which was already growing dark.

It was getting dark earlier and earlier.

She had already moved her class one session earlier.

At this rate, she would have to move it another session earlier soon.

Otherwise, in a little while, it would be completely dark by the time she got out.

Zhuang Yanzheng had warned her not to go out after dark if she could help it.

Su Miaoyi wrapped her coat tighter around herself and walked toward the bus stop.

But she didn’t stop there.

Instead, she continued walking east, past the bus stop sign.

She passed through crowds of people and streams of traffic, walked down a main street, and cut through a small alley.

When she reached a dead end, she backtracked and took a detour.

She walked like this for over an hour.

When Su Miaoyi came to her senses, she was standing at the entrance of an apartment building.

Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, she stumbled back several steps in fright.

She looked at the surrounding high-rises.

It was a place she had never been to before.

Utterly strange.

She quickly pulled out her phone to check her location.

She was in the complete opposite direction of her apartment.

’But I didn’t hear any voices... how did I end up here?’

’Please don’t let there be another body...’

This apartment building was at least twenty stories high.

’I blacked out again.’

Su Miaoyi marked her precise location on the map, planning to leave the area first.

Unfamiliar places always felt fraught with hidden dangers.

Besides, for such a large residential complex, there should have been a lot of people around at this hour. Why was it so deserted?

Su Miaoyi turned to leave. After just a few steps, she saw a man in a surgical mask.

’Height around six feet, weight around 165 pounds. Poor body proportions: broad shoulders, a narrow head, and his left shoulder is higher than his right.’

The descriptive information flashed through Su Miaoyi’s mind.

And those eyes, visible over the mask.

Su Miaoyi had seen his photo in Liu Fan’s file.

’There’s no mistake. It’s those eyes.’

Their eyes met for a brief moment.

Images of a face being slashed, hands being cut, and eyes being gouged flashed before Su Miaoyi’s own.

They brushed past each other.

Su Miaoyi kept walking, acting as if nothing had happened, as if she had just encountered a stranger.

But after Liu Fan neared the building entrance, he turned back to look at her.

Only after exiting the residential complex did Su Miaoyi realize this place was truly...

Across the street was a wet market.

But it looked as if it had suffered a fire and was now temporarily abandoned.

Su Miaoyi passed the market and continued walking away, trying to get somewhere with more people.

As she walked, she shared the marked location with Zhuang Yanzheng and sent him a message.

Worried he might be busy and miss her text, Su Miaoyi decided to call him instead.

’For someone with such strong counter-surveillance awareness, my unfamiliar face appearing here has probably made him suspicious.’

Just as the call to Zhuang Yanzheng began to ring, Su Miaoyi felt eyes on her back.

She walked a little faster, confirming that someone was following her.

The call hadn’t connected yet, so she hung up immediately.

An unfamiliar place, a completely unknown layout.

Su Miaoyi walked even faster. As she turned a corner onto the next street, she glanced back.

She saw Liu Fan.

He was now carrying a bag.

’He went home to grab something and immediately gave chase.’

’He was so fast. His apartment can’t be on a very high floor.’

Su Miaoyi dialed 911 again and told the operator that someone was trying to kill her. She gave them her address as she ran, but after a short distance, Liu Fan suddenly appeared in front of her, having apparently taken a shortcut.

Su Miaoyi stopped dead in her tracks and instinctively glanced behind her.

Of course, no one was there.

Su Miaoyi spun around to run, and Liu Fan chased after her.

But she didn’t get far before she abruptly stopped. A voice suddenly echoed in her head: "Don’t run. Get him."

Su Miaoyi was stunned.

This was the first time she had ever heard a voice speaking to her so clearly inside her own mind.

It wasn’t the usual invasive method of feeding her knowledge or forcing her to speak.

More terrifyingly, her body had obediently stopped right there.

"If I don’t run, I’m dead! He’s a killer—he’ll gouge out my eyes and cut off my hands!" Su Miaoyi exclaimed.

Liu Fan was already behind her, the weapon in his hand swinging down toward her.

Su Miaoyi easily sidestepped it and turned to face him.

The cold voice in her head resounded once more: "Beat him up."

Su Miaoyi stared at Liu Fan without moving.

Liu Fan, for his part, seemed not to have expected her to dodge so effortlessly and appeared to be calculating something.

"You can take him," the voice in her head sounded again.

It was icy and even a little cocky.

Liu Fan raised the hammer in his hand and lunged.

Su Miaoyi’s eyes narrowed. As he closed in, she raised her hand and caught the arm he was swinging down.

While he was still too shocked to react, she gripped his arm, yanked him backward, and drove her knee into his abdomen.

Liu Fan let out a muffled grunt.

Su Miaoyi squeezed his arm hard. His hand lost its strength, and the hammer clattered to the ground.

But Liu Fan reacted quickly, brandishing a scalpel in his other hand and stabbing at her.

Su Miaoyi blocked the attack.

He had held the hammer in his left hand and the scalpel in his right.

Su Miaoyi could clearly feel the immense strength in his right arm.

She deflected his hand, grabbed his wrist, and applied pressure. The scalpel fell to the ground. Then, she twisted his arm back.

With Liu Fan’s arm twisted behind his back, Su Miaoyi slammed him against a wall.

Instinctively, she reached for her lower back.

She found nothing there.

Su Miaoyi’s cold expression flickered with a slight frown. Then, she yanked the drawstring out of the man’s hoodie and used it to bind his hands behind him.

Liu Fan struggled for a moment.

Su Miaoyi pressed him harder against the wall, her voice emotionless and cold. "Stay still."

"Are you a cop?" Liu Fan asked.

Su Miaoyi froze. The coldness in her eyes vanished, replaced by confusion.

She asked inside her head, ’Are you a police officer?’

The cold wind swirled fallen leaves. After the gust passed, all was silent.

Su Miaoyi asked again, ’Who are you?’

Still, there was no response.

’Are you still there?’

Silence.

It was as if what had just happened had been nothing but a hallucination...

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