Chapter Sixty-Five: Case Closed, Returning Home!

We quickly notified Xiao Li’s wife and son to come to the police station to identify the body.

When Xiao Li’s wife saw his corpse, she almost fainted from grief. Xiao Li’s son was named Li Xiwang—a child who embodied all of Xiao Li’s hopes.

Li Xiwang stood silently by, tears streaming down his face. He clenched his fists and stared at the body, motionless, not uttering a single cry.

Elder Lin said, “Child, if you want to cry, just let it out. Your father died unjustly.”

But the boy did not cry. Instead, he looked at Elder Lin calmly and asked, “Who killed my father?”

Elder Lin replied, “It was probably Director Huang. Maybe. We suspect he poisoned your father’s cigarettes. Before your father died, he was so weak he couldn’t brake the car, and could only watch as it plunged into the lake.”

The boy nodded thoughtfully.

Night fell. At one in the morning, Li Xiwang slipped out of his house, glancing furtively around. Seeing no one, he breathed a sigh of relief and walked on.

Soon, he arrived at Director Huang’s residence. He circled the building to make sure it was safe, then climbed into the second floor from a trash bin by the window. To avoid making noise, he took off his shoes and crept up the stairs.

He quickly found himself inside Director Huang’s home. Nimbly, he pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. Director Huang was still at the detention center; only his wife and child were home, so Li Xiwang wasn’t worried about being discovered.

He locked the door behind him and tiptoed through the living room into Huang Miaomiao’s room.

He didn’t turn on the lights—just stood before the bed, sneering coldly at Huang Miaomiao. He even slapped the boy twice, waking him up.

Startled, Huang Miaomiao exclaimed, “Why are you in my house?”

Li Xiwang said, “I just want to ask you—how did my father really die?”

Huang Miaomiao replied, “How would I know?”

Li Xiwang bared his teeth, voice fierce, “Let me tell you—it was your father who killed him.”

“Bullshit,” Huang Miaomiao retorted. “How did you get in? Get out of here!”

Li Xiwang sighed, walked to the window, and opened it. “Jump from here, and I’ll let you die quickly.”

Terrified, Huang Miaomiao screamed for help.

But it was too late. Li Xiwang lunged at him. He was a head taller than Huang Miaomiao, and easily pinned him down, dragging him to the window.

By the time he reached the window, Huang Miaomiao was limp with fear, incapable of uttering a single coherent word.

In the end, Li Xiwang pushed Huang Miaomiao out the window.

With a cold snort, Li Xiwang didn’t even glance back. He turned toward the master bedroom, intent on killing Director Huang’s wife as well.

But after taking a few steps, he sensed something was wrong—he hadn’t heard the sound of Huang Miaomiao hitting the ground.

Alarmed, he spun around and found a burly man standing at the window, studying him with a cold, mocking smile.

Li Xiwang realized at once that things had gone awry. Knowing he was no match for the man, he didn’t hesitate to make a break for the door.

But as soon as he opened it, he was stunned: the living room was brightly lit, and seven or eight police officers stood there, smirking at him.

He knew he’d fallen into a trap. Suddenly calm, he sneered, “Even as a ghost, I won’t let you off!”

I realized what he was about to do—he was preparing to bite his tongue and kill himself. Without hesitation, I lunged forward and grabbed him by the throat.

Li Xiwang pulled a dagger from his pocket and stabbed at my stomach.

The man at the window—Li Hong—rushed over. He’d been waiting on the balcony for this moment. Grabbing Li Xiwang, he slammed him against the wall like a rag doll, knocking him unconscious.

Only then did the other officers rush forward and handcuff him.

There was a knock at the door. An officer answered it—it was Huang Miaomiao, who had been scared out of his wits. He entered, trembling, with his father, Director Huang, behind him.

Earlier, when Huang Miaomiao was pushed out the window, Li Hong had caught him and taken him downstairs, where Director Huang had been waiting.

Director Huang glared at Li Xiwang, heartbroken. “Xiwang! I treated you like my own family, and you colluded with your father to frame me!”

He tried to rush at him, but was restrained by the officers. Director Huang’s wife emerged from the bedroom, clinging to her husband and sobbing. “You heartless man, you nearly scared me to death. We have to move—I want to live in that villa!”

Elder Lin chuckled, “Director, I didn’t know you had a villa.”

The woman realized she’d slipped and clamped a hand over her mouth. Director Huang forced a laugh. “Elder Lin, it’s under a friend’s name. Anyway, I plan to donate all my savings to the town school. Children nowadays need proper education. Who’d have thought a kid could become a murderer?”

Elder Lin nodded approvingly and glanced at the officers.

They, too, hurried to pledge their support. “I’ll donate too!”

Elder Lin smiled. “Good. I’ll send someone to verify. Of course, I won’t dictate how much you give.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

In the interrogation room, Elder Lin regarded the silent Li Xiwang and cleared his throat. “Speak. Why did you kill? You were all your father’s hope. Now, it seems his hope is shattered…”

Li Xiwang stared stubbornly at Elder Mo. “Please don’t mention my father again. He’s dead—let him rest. Everything was done by me, it has nothing to do with him.”

The truth finally surfaced.

Li Xiwang had raped the class beauty, Xiang’er, and Wang Dalong had found out.

Wang Dalong tried to blackmail Li Xiwang for an iPhone, but Li Xiwang refused. To him, Wang Dalong was just a bottom-feeder.

So he plotted and murdered Wang Dalong.

Wang Dalong had sexual perversions. Li Xiwang lured him out, gave him drugged instant noodles, and suggested they play an erotic asphyxiation game. Wang Dalong agreed, and Li Xiwang hanged him. The only question was how he’d managed to hang Wang Dalong so high.

Li Xiwang only sneered. “He was nothing but a worm. Killing him was easy.”

As for the cigarette butt at the scene, Li Xiwang had planted it on purpose. Knowing the police already suspected Director Huang, he decided to frame him further.

Lai San’er knew too much, so to escape justice, Li Xiwang killed him as well.

His methods were unusual. When Lai San’er asked for water, Li Xiwang gave him some—laced with silver nitrate.

He killed Xiang’er because she suspected him and confronted him. Li Xiwang confessed. Xiang’er, terrified, threatened to call the police. Li Xiwang said if she did, he’d kill her.

She tried to coerce him, saying she was pregnant and demanding he marry her when they were older. Li Xiwang hated being threatened—so he killed her.

“That’s not manslaughter anymore,” I said. “You killed Lai San’er and Xiang’er deliberately, didn’t you?”

“Are you a cop?” he snorted. “Get this straight—Lai San’er took my water, I didn’t offer it. Xiang’er jumped into the river herself because she was scared of that police dog.”

“She threatened to kill herself. I told her she couldn’t drown—she’d float. She needed to tie a stone to herself to sink.”

“She got angry and swore she’d do it. I told her to go ahead. She tied a stone on and jumped—never surfaced again. So I went home.”

As for the police dog, Lai San’er had taken it away; he was familiar with it.

I drew a sharp breath.

This boy, so young, was already so calculating, skilled in counter-investigation, adept at exploiting legal loopholes—none of it seemed like the mindset of a minor, but a precocious and unnerving maturity. Honestly, I could scarcely believe he’d done these things.

I looked at Elder Lin.

Elder Lin, heartbroken, rose and walked outside. I asked him what we should do next. He said, “Let’s go. There’s no point getting further entangled in this. Let their own people handle it.”

That was probably for the best. No use agonizing further—the murderer was identified, our task was done.

I immediately contacted Tang Jingjing and Li Hong to suggest that we withdraw from the case. Both were delighted, saying this ordeal had worn them out and they needed a break.

As we left the village, Elder Lin suggested we stop by the school. Li Hong led us around, and the school leaders personally received us.

After a brief inquiry into the teachers and resources, Elder Lin made a decision: he would donate money to the school.

I don’t know how much, but judging by Tang Jingjing’s astonished expression, it must have been a huge sum—she once told me Elder Lin was extremely wealthy.

After our return, we gave a brief report to Director Wang, who was very pleased with our work and told us to rest. The police station would report the details to him.

I decided to visit my hometown.

It had been two months since I’d last been home. I wondered how my parents were.

I wanted to surprise them, so I booked my train ticket without telling them. The house was just as I remembered—shady trees, winding paths, an old courtyard with white bricks and black tiles, exuding a timeless charm.

But when I arrived, I found a number of cars parked outside—police vehicles. I recognized one as belonging to a provincial department.

I wasn’t surprised. When I was a child, whenever those cars appeared, my father would be away on business for a month or two—no doubt called upon to help crack a major case.

But after he retired early, they rarely came, and not at all in recent years. Why were they here now?

A vague sense of foreboding crept over me. Could my father be about to return to action?

I went inside and found seven or eight people sitting in the living room—some in police uniforms with triple-star shoulder boards, some in plain clothes, even some in military attire. Every one of them exuded authority and presence—obviously people of considerable power.

I wanted to slip away and find my mother—my father never allowed outsiders present while discussing cases. The atmosphere was tense, as if there’d been a clash, my father butting heads with them.

Just as I was about to sneak off, someone approached. It was Director Wang! When did he get here? What was he doing at my house?

I looked at him, exasperated. “Director Wang, what brings you here?”

He smiled, “I’m here to discuss something with your father. But you know his temperament—he’s even more protective of his own than I am.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, puzzled.

“You’ll see soon enough. Just do me a favor and talk to your father for me.”

I nodded, resigned. “I’ll try.”

Director Wang led me back to the hall, and suddenly all eyes were on me. At that moment, I was the center of attention.