“Is that so.” Zhi Li spoke in a meaningful tone. Gong Zhu waved his left hand and glared at Zhi Li angrily. “What kind of police are you? Instead of catching the real murderer, all you do is make trouble for us. Can we leave now?”
“We haven’t questioned you yet. I heard you and your sister-in-law used to be lovers?”
“How did you know that? That was a long time ago. Don’t tell me after suspecting Xin He, you’re starting to suspect me too? Xin He and I are in the past. She’s only my sister-in-law now.”
After questioning them for a while, they gained no major leads. They claimed they had been watching television at home when Xue Fang died, but given their relationship, that alibi wasn’t particularly convincing. Everyone was exhausted. Chu Hao Yu collapsed against the back of his chair and rocked back and forth. “What do we do next?” No one answered. Ke Bu looked toward Zhi Li. He was holding the rope that had been used to hang the corpse at the crime scene, his face completely expressionless.
Ke Bu and Zhi Li went to a small restaurant in town to eat. Someone was peeking inside suspiciously through the entrance. Sharp-eyed Ke Bu immediately recognized him as the witness. He called him over. “Come eat with us.” The witness immediately began devouring the food without any politeness, as though he had never eaten in a restaurant before.
“You saw something else that night, didn’t you? Why didn’t you mention it during the day?” Ke Bu asked.
“I was afraid of offending someone and getting revenge taken on me. I’m just a farmer.”
“What did you see?”
“A ghost!!”
The moment the farmer said that word, Ke Bu felt a jolt run through him.
A ghost?!
Did such things really exist in this world?
The farmer swallowed two mouthfuls of food and continued. “A white shadow flashed past and went toward the right side of the woods. My legs went weak from fright.”
Not long after they returned to the police station, the door was pushed open. A beautiful woman carrying an exquisitely designed black-and-red notebook walked inside. She was fashionably dressed, and the pale brown scar running from her left eye to her forehead resembled a tattoo, making her appearance even more striking and beautiful.
(Zhang Luo deliberately raised his voice during this description and even cast a glance toward Su You Yan. Ke Bu could already guess that Zhang Luo’s name was probably recorded in that notebook. He was clearly trying hard to earn back some points.)
Su You Yan walked directly toward Zhi Li, opened the notebook, and spoke without caring about the surprised looks around her. “Xue Fang belonged to a cross-dressing club. The club chooses a different location every year to hold gatherings. This year, they chose this town. There was one gathering on the 6th of last month, and another on the day Xue Fang died.”
“That explains why Xue Fang came to a town where he had no relatives.”
Su You Yan nodded and continued, “On my way here, I investigated further. On the night of the 6th last month, someone reportedly saw a man and a woman behaving intimately in the woods. The witness didn’t see their faces clearly and assumed they were a married couple taking a walk, so they didn’t think much of it.”
“How long had Xue Fang been a member of the club?”
“Around ten years.”
Ke Bu listened carefully. He was beginning to suspect who the man and woman in the woods might have been. If Xue Fang had gone to attend a club gathering that night, wouldn’t that have given those two people the perfect opportunity to be alone together?
“There’s one more person who also went into the woods.”
“Who?” Ke Bu asked eagerly. Su You Yan was unbelievably good at gathering information. He had lived in this town for so long, yet his information network wasn’t even half as effective as hers.
Su You Yan turned toward another police officer.
“You.”
Everyone followed her gaze and stared in surprise at Ying Xiu Jie.
Ying Xiu Jie froze for a moment before shrugging. “So you found out about that too. Recently, rumors have been spreading among the villagers that there’s a ghost in those woods. I got curious and went to see whether ghosts really existed.”
“You scared me. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t think it had anything to do with the case. Didn’t seem worth mentioning.” Ying Xiu Jie smiled and looked back at Su You Yan. “And you are?”
“I’m Su You Yan, Zhi Li’s…” She trailed off.
Chu Hao Yu teased, “Girlfriend?”
For some reason, Ke Bu felt his stomach tighten. He looked at the two of them.
Su You Yan shook her head and asked Zhi Li instead, “Speaking of which, what am I to you?”
(It seemed that even Zhang Luo couldn’t continue making up this conversation. What exactly was Su You Yan to Zhi Li? No one could find the words to describe it. She existed independently, with her own personality. Sometimes she exposed Zhi Li’s flaws, yet at the same time depended on him and protected him like a treasured possession. Even Ke Bu found it strange. He couldn’t stand seeing Zhi Li with other girls, yet somehow felt it was perfectly natural for Zhi Li and Su You Yan to be together. There was no ambiguity between them, no romance, yet there existed a bond different from the one he shared with Zhi Li.)
Ke Bu’s mind was tangled in countless threads of the case. After secretly making another trip to the woods and returning, Zhi Li’s expression seemed subtly different from before. Had he figured something out? The rope, the insulin, the club, the crying widow, the furious younger brother, the ghost in the woods—something about it all felt wrong. Who exactly was the murderer?
“And that’s where the story ends,” Zhang Luo said.
“That’s it? There are hardly any clues.”
“It’s already obvious enough. Let’s begin.”
As soon as Zhang Luo finished speaking, everyone started pulling out money. What a despicable group of people.
Chu Hao Yu was the first to voice his opinion.
“According to detective stories, the person who seems most obviously guilty is usually not the killer. Zhou Xin He is definitely ruled out. How could a pregnant woman hang a grown man from a tree?”
“Don’t forget that what one person can’t do, two people can. Weren’t she and Gong Zhu secretly meeting in the woods while Xue Fang was away? Maybe Xue Fang came back unexpectedly, caught them, and they decided to kill him.”
Ke Bu tossed his money down.
“I’m betting Chu Hao Yu is the murderer. The name alone sounds like that of a perverted killer.”
“Please don’t let personal prejudice influence the investigation.”
“I have my reasons. Chu Hao Yu wearing long sleeves in the middle of summer is highly suspicious. Is he hiding injection marks from the insulin needle?”
“I’m betting on Gong Zhu. Haven’t any of you noticed that he never uses his right hand? Whether patting Zhou Xin He’s shoulder or slamming the table in anger, he always deliberately uses his left hand while keeping his right hand hidden.”
“The ghost in the woods could have been Zhou Xin He too. The story mentioned her taking out a white handkerchief.”
Accompanied by the rumbling sound of the train rolling along the tracks, everyone seemed to be discussing the case enthusiastically. After placing their bets, Zhang Luo looked up at Zhi Li in the upper bunk. “Zhi Li, who do you think the murderer is?”
Zhi Li twirled the pen in his hand and glanced at the pile of money before speaking unhurriedly. “The person who first discovered Xue Fang’s body.”
“Why?!” everyone asked almost in unison. Su You Yan turned a page in her book. Judging by her expression, she seemed to have already known the answer.
“He spread the rumor that the woods were haunted, making people afraid to approach them. The first two murders were discovered during the daytime, but Xue Fang’s body was discovered immediately that same night, which means something unusual happened. Perhaps he heard the voices of the other villagers and didn’t have time to escape, so he improvised. He said he was hurrying home through the woods when he saw the corpse, and that the face had been beaten so badly it frightened him. But in such darkness, without even a flashlight, how could he have clearly seen that the face was beaten beyond recognition? Insulin is normally used by diabetic patients, and symptoms of diabetes include excessive urination, excessive thirst, excessive drinking, excessive eating, and weight loss. The fact that he kept drinking water at the police station and eating constantly at the restaurant makes him even more suspicious. Furthermore, because striking someone involves action and reaction forces, and because the rope used to hang the corpse would certainly leave marks on the hands, the absence of injuries on his hands indicates that he must have worn gloves. He definitely hid those gloves somewhere in the woods. Since the crime scene remained sealed off, to prevent the gloves from being discovered, he deliberately told the police that a white figure had gone toward the right side of the woods. That means he must have hidden the gloves on the left side.”
As everyone listened to Zhi Li’s explanation, they suddenly felt enlightened. However, Ke Bu refused to give up and continued questioning. “What’s the motive for murder? Those two people don’t seem connected at all.”
“Perhaps the people in the woods on the 6th of last month weren’t Zhou Xin He and Gong Zhu, but the victim and the murderer. The murderer mistakenly believed Xue Fang was a woman, and the two began flirting. Later, after discovering Xue Fang was actually a man, because villagers in small towns tend to hold conservative values, he felt overwhelming shame, disgust, and anger, which led to murderous intent.”
“What about Chu Hao Yu? His behavior was pretty suspicious.”
“I’ve said too much already. I’m tired.” Zhi Li continued drawing.
Su You Yan turned another page in her book. “Chu Hao Yu deliberately wore long sleeves and kept his collar raised. Most likely, he had hickeys on his neck and body from being outside, which is why he argued with his wife and got kicked out of the house.”
“Wasn’t he supposed to be an honest man?! I never would have guessed it. No matter where he goes, Chu Hao Yu is still a scumbag!”
Ying Xiu Jie asked, “What about Gong Zhu and Zhou Xin He?”
“Zhou Xin He is very likely not carrying Xue Fang’s child. Xue Fang participated in the club for ten years. Their two children are thirteen and ten years old respectively. In the early stages, his cross-dressing may have simply been a hobby, but over time it could have developed into a desire for gender transition, wishing he were truly a woman. The fact that he was acting intimately with the murderer in the woods proves this. Under those circumstances, the possibility that he would suddenly sleep with his wife again after so many years and get her pregnant is very small. Xue Fang probably knew the child wasn’t his, which is why he called Gong Zhu over to help take care of Zhou Xin He. When Zhou Xin He took out that white handkerchief she kept closest to her body, the red marks on it were probably not decoration at all, but blood. Gong Zhu must have noticed that too. His right hand was probably injured and had been bandaged by Zhou Xin He using that precious handkerchief. That’s why he deliberately used only his left hand, so their relationship wouldn’t be exposed. That’s all, right?” Su You Yan spread out her hands.
Zhang Luo placed the money into Su You Yan’s hand.
“You’ve already won quite a lot, haven’t you? Let’s just treat that money as a shared activity fund for everyone when we go out.” Ke Bu pretended to offer a generous and cheerful suggestion.
“I’m not that familiar with everyone.” Su You Yan tucked the money into the black-and-red notebook.
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Futile Devices Scans 
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