I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 62: Chapter 60: Psychological Trauma

The others exchanged a look, listening to what Su Miaoyi was saying.

Qi Feng still didn’t know about Su Miaoyi’s "Special Ability," and Chu Xingrou knew even less.

From their time together, Qi Feng knew Su Miaoyi was impressive—a sharp investigator with excellent combat skills.

But... he couldn’t shake the feeling that their conversations were sometimes a little unhinged.

They would suddenly say the most random, inexplicable things.

Take now, for instance. Weren’t they in the middle of an autopsy? Why bring up a factory building all of a sudden?

Chu Xingrou, squatting in the corner, said, "Is the factory building very large? Is there anything around it?"

Everyone looked over at her.

Chu Xingrou’s face was pale from vomiting.

Zhuang Yanzheng had just suggested she go rest outside, but she insisted on staying to power through it.

Su Miaoyi thought for a moment. "There was an echo when he shouted. It was very dark inside, with only moonlight filtering through the windows."

She fell silent, recalling everything she had seen.

The victim had been terrified, and sharing his perspective also meant sharing his emotions.

So even though she saw the surroundings, she didn’t really process them.

Su Miaoyi recalled the surrounding darkness. There had been things in the darkness. After a moment, she said, "It’s a lumber mill. There’s a lot of timber all around. It must have been abandoned for a long time—it smells strongly of dust."

"A lumber mill?" Chu Xingrou thought for a moment, then took out her phone and opened a map.

The phone screen wasn’t very big. As soon as she opened the map, countless markers of various colors were all clustered together.

After she manually zoomed in, the markers spread out.

She walked over to Su Miaoyi to show them the map.

The others were all a little stunned.

"This place, and this place, and this place." Chu Xingrou zoomed the map in and out and rotated its orientation.

She was clearly very familiar with the area, finding the three locations with remarkable speed.

"They’re all abandoned lumber mills, with no residential areas nearby," Chu Xingrou said.

Just then, Zhuang Yanzheng received a phone call.

The victim’s parents had arrived.

The victim’s identity was confirmed quickly, and his family was contacted immediately afterward.

After hanging up, Zhuang Yanzheng looked at Yan Cheng. "I’ll go meet the family. As for you..."

He trailed off, his gaze falling on the body on the autopsy table.

In this state, no matter what Yan Cheng did, the victim’s parents wouldn’t be able to handle seeing the body.

"You go ahead," Yan Cheng said. "I’ll finish photographing the wounds and... do my best."

Chu Xingrou and Qi Feng left with Zhuang Yanzheng.

Su Miaoyi first went to look at the mascot costume on the floor, then followed them out.

"Qi Feng, you and Chu Xingrou take some people and check out each of those three lumber mills," Zhuang Yanzheng said as he walked toward the office building.

"Alright." The two of them responded in unison.

Zhuang Yanzheng glanced back at Chu Xingrou.

Chu Xingrou immediately said, "I’m fine. I’m better now, I don’t feel like throwing up anymore."

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded and said nothing more.

Qi Feng and Chu Xingrou trotted off.

Su Miaoyi hurried a few steps to catch up with Zhuang Yanzheng. "The killer was wearing a mascot costume—a bear, the same kind as the victim’s. That’s why I couldn’t see his face; I only heard his voice. It was a man. He sounded young, maybe between twenty-five and thirty. As for his height... with the bear head on, he looked to be around six-foot-one, with a medium build."

"Could it be the same mascot costume that was on the victim?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

"I don’t think so." Su Miaoyi kept pace with him. "The factory was very dusty, so the killer’s costume got very dirty. I just took a look at the costume from the autopsy room when I came out. Aside from blood and some dirt on the back, there was no dust."

The dirt was from the dump.

"The victim was terrified," Su Miaoyi said. "He kept begging the killer not to kill him, saying his family was rich and he could give the killer money if he just let him live. The killer said, ’Does being rich mean you can do whatever you want? Money isn’t everything. At the very least... money can’t buy your life.’"

Su Miaoyi repeated this sentence to Zhuang Yanzheng verbatim, even mimicking the tone and the emphasis on each word.

Zhuang Yanzheng frowned, silent for two seconds before asking, "What are your thoughts on that sentence?"

"It sounds like the victim had paid his way out of death before," Su Miaoyi said, looking at Zhuang Yanzheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded. "I’m going to meet the family first. Why don’t you go wait in the sketch studio for a bit."

"Okay."

The two of them entered the office building together.

Zhuang Yanzheng went to the reception room.

Su Miaoyi went to the sketch studio.

Lu Zhishen was sitting on the sofa, drawing something on a sketchpad.

Su Miaoyi didn’t look at it, sitting down across from him. "It seems like you have a heavy workload too. Every time I come here, you’re always drawing."

Lu Zhishen was curled up on the sofa.

His hair had gotten a little long. It was tied back, but the bangs in front fell over his eyes.

He turned the sketchpad around to show Su Miaoyi.

Su Miaoyi took a look.

It was completely different from his usual style.

There was the shape of a face on it, but it had no facial features.

Or rather, the features were so distorted she couldn’t make out where they were at all.

Lu Zhishen’s hands were usually very steady.

But with this drawing, she could tell his hand had been shaking.

And many parts were messy and chaotic.

Lu Zhishen turned the drawing back toward himself.

"I’ve been trying to draw it for over a decade, and I still can’t get it right." Lu Zhishen sighed softly, sinking into the sofa.

Su Miaoyi looked up at him.

In that instant, she felt that beneath Lu Zhishen’s calm, indifferent exterior, he was completely broken.

"The man who killed my parents... I saw him. But after I woke up from being unconscious for a day and a night, I couldn’t remember his face, no matter how I tried." Lu Zhishen’s voice was flat, devoid of any emotional inflection.

It was as if he had broken down so many times that he no longer had the energy for any emotional highs or lows.

’Such severe psychological trauma.’

Over a decade.

Lu Zhishen had only been a teenager back then.

That must be why Lu Zhishen had been so eager to know how she solved cases.

And why he’d asked if she could "see" anything from him.

"Have you seen a psychologist?" Su Miaoyi asked.

Lu Zhishen nodded. "I’ve been seeing one for a long time."

"Have you tried hypnosis?" Su Miaoyi asked again.

"I have. It didn’t work," Lu Zhishen said. "And the process was unpleasant. The doctor eventually advised me against trying it again."

Su Miaoyi nodded as well. "It really is unpleasant."

"Hm?" Lu Zhishen looked at her, confused for a moment. "You’ve tried it?"

Su Miaoyi met his gaze, realizing what she had just said. She, too, was confused for a second. "No."

’There I go again, saying things I shouldn’t.’

The two of them fell silent for a moment.

Before long, the sound of an ambulance siren started up outside.

Lu Zhishen glanced out the window. "The victim’s family couldn’t handle it, I suppose?"

Su Miaoyi also looked out the window, saying nothing.

After a little while longer, Zhuang Yanzheng sent her a message, telling her the victim’s family had consented to the autopsy.

Su Miaoyi said goodbye to Lu Zhishen and headed for the forensic center.

...

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