Chapter Six: The Murder Case from Ten Years Ago!

Nervous, I immediately shared my thoughts with Tang Jingjing. She instantly became energized, as if injected with adrenaline. "Hurry, hurry, lock onto their IP."

"No need," Li Xingchen replied. "The IP address is inside our own bureau."

"What do you mean?" Tang Jingjing and I asked in unison.

"It was me who posted it," Li Xingchen explained. "Hey, don’t hit me! I just wanted to tell you, this case isn’t simple. We should hand it over to the higher-ups! Our little temple can’t handle something of this scale. If you agree, I won’t bother running the DNA comparison. I’ll just go home and have a bath."

"You think the two female students were killed by the ghostly infant?" Tang Jingjing asked.

"Almost certainly," Li Xingchen replied with a strange expression.

"Get back to work," Tang Jingjing snapped, delivering a hard kick to Li Xingchen. "Even if it was a ghostly infant, you’d better get me its DNA."

"Ghosts don’t have DNA!" Li Xingchen shrieked.

I knew that DNA comparison required patience, and too many people would only get in the way, so I returned to my dormitory.

As expected, what you dwell on by day haunts your dreams at night.

In my dream, I stood in my pajamas in a secluded grove. An infant with an obscured face kept appearing—on the ground, in the treetops, even on my shoulder. All around, the sound of crying filled the air.

When I woke, I was drenched in cold sweat and hurried to take a shower.

The first thing I did upon arriving at the bureau was to head to the computer room. There, I found Li Xingchen asleep at the computer. The screen flashed a red “FAIL” over and over—clearly, the comparison had produced nothing.

I woke Li Xingchen.

Upon seeing me, he drowsily called out, "Brother-in-law, you’re here."

I frowned. "What brother-in-law? Don’t call me that."

"Alright." Li Xingchen yawned. "But you saw for yourself. There’s no match in the national DNA database. I’m guessing he was a homeless man."

I sighed. "This just makes things more complicated."

It didn’t add up. Why would the male corpse consume the uteruses of two female students for no reason? Maybe he was connected to them before his death. I went to the school to investigate, posting the man’s photo at the gate, but turned up nothing.

Their classmates all said the two girls were always kind, never made enemies. The only surprise was that they were a couple—what a pity.

Just then, Tang Jingjing called, sounding triumphant. She asked if I’d found anything.

Disappointed, I admitted I hadn’t, but teased from her tone that she must have made a breakthrough.

Tang Jingjing said no.

"Then why are you so happy?" I asked, curious.

"Because I finally finished my ten-thousand-word self-critique."

I was speechless.

She laughed. "Just kidding. Wait for me at the school—I’m on my way. I’ve got a lead." She hung up.

I waited at the school gate, smoking two cigarettes.

Tang Jingjing soon arrived, with Li Xingchen in tow.

I hurriedly asked her what the lead was.

Tang Jingjing explained that Li Xingchen had posted the photo of the male corpse on the school forum. Someone replied, claiming to recognize him. But when Li Xingchen pressed for details, that person seemed hesitant and deleted their reply.

Fortunately, Li Xingchen had already traced the IP—it was unmistakable.

Li Xingchen led us to the school’s computer room. Using the IP address, we found the computer station and, through surveillance footage, identified the user.

From there, things were straightforward. I went directly to the dean’s office. The director immediately recognized the person, saying, "He’s not a student here."

Tang Jingjing erupted. "Nonsense! If he’s not a student, how could he use the school’s computers?"

Honestly, with a temper like hers, how could she ever be a detective squad captain?

I quickly stopped her and said to the director, "Ignore her—she’s just been through a breakup, so her mood’s not great. But you’d better tell the truth, or if she smashes up your office, I won’t be responsible!"

Tang Jingjing shot me a look that could have eaten me alive.

The director quickly clarified, "He’s not a student; he’s one of our logistics managers."

"Logistics manager? Can you take us to see him?" I asked.

The director nervously asked if the man was in trouble.

I shook my head. "We just want to ask some questions."

On the way to the logistics office, the director told us about the man, whose name was Xu Cheng. He’d graduated from the school ten years ago. Because he’d performed well in the student council, he was hired directly after graduation. Later, someone accused him of harassing students, but with no evidence, the school, fearful of further incidents, transferred him to logistics.

We soon found Xu Cheng in the cafeteria, reading an e-book and chuckling to himself. Only when we approached did he notice us.

"Hey, Director, have a smoke," Xu Cheng offered, reaching for his cigarettes.

The director declined and said, "Xu Cheng, these three are from the city police. They want to ask you some questions—please cooperate."

Xu Cheng immediately turned pale. "Of course, of course, I’ll cooperate."

Tang Jingjing opened her notebook and pointed. "Look—do you recognize the man in this photo?"

A fine sheen of sweat appeared on Xu Cheng’s forehead. "Well… yes, I do."

"Tell us, who is he? How do you know him?" Tang Jingjing pressed.

"Honestly, I can’t be sure—it’s been so long," Xu Cheng recalled. "It was ten years ago…"

"Ten years ago?" The three of us latched onto that phrase.

"Yes, ten years," Xu Cheng said. "Back then, a girl died at this school."

"Was it the one who got pregnant by a professor?" I immediately asked.

"Yeah, that’s right!" Xu Cheng nodded. "It was a big scandal—murder, ghosts, all sorts of rumors. The school had no choice but to invite a Taoist to pick a site and build a temple in the grove. They hired two people for the construction, and the man in the photo looks a lot like one of the migrant workers."

"Damn, it really is connected to the murder from ten years ago," Tang Jingjing said, looking at me.

"Um, if I give you this clue, is there some kind of reward?" Xu Cheng ventured, but one glare from Tang Jingjing shut him up.

Afterward, the question haunted me: Why would this migrant worker eat the uteruses of two female students?

The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. Suddenly, I remembered something and quickly called Xia Feng. "When you examined the male corpse, did you find any external injuries?"

Xia Feng was silent for a moment before responding, "There were bruises on the back, some markings, even flesh gouged out with pliers. I believe the victim was tortured before death."

I nodded and hung up, then turned to Tang Jingjing. "It seems this migrant worker was also a victim."

"Why do you say that?" Tang Jingjing asked.

"Because he was tortured before he died. I suspect he didn’t want to eat those uteruses at all—he was forced to…" Even as I spoke, the thought turned my stomach.