They discussed until almost three in the morning, everyone yawning incessantly. After Zhong Xiaoyu shared nearly all the information she had gathered over the years, the group finally retreated to their rooms to sleep.
After a few hours of restless sleep, they reconvened at the hotel restaurant at eight in the morning, chatting while filling their stomachs.
Perhaps because her brain had finally rebooted, Guan Xia, peeling a hard-boiled egg, suddenly looked up at Zhong Xiaoyu sitting diagonally across from her. "It just occurred to me—you share the same surname as your uncle. Do you take after your mother's family name?"
Zhong Xiaoyu ate with the speed of a whirlwind. By the time Guan Xia had taken two sips of her porridge, Zhong Xiaoyu's bowls and plates were already empty.
Tossing the last piece of broccoli into her mouth, Zhong Xiaoyu replied, "My mom was fiercely independent. Probably because she grew up suffering from favoritism toward sons, she made it her life's mission to prove her worth—and she succeeded. A village girl who eventually became a school principal, she devoted her entire life to education. She couldn’t stand seeing anyone around her discriminate against daughters, so she led by example. I’ve carried her surname since birth, and I’m her only child."
Pang Le listened with admiration. "Your mom’s incredible. Instead of perpetuating the cycle of discrimination like some of my relatives—who went from victims to perpetrators after having daughters—she stood firmly against it. I’ll never understand those people."
"Brainwashing," Zhong Xiaoyu said dismissively. "And lack of education. My mom always said the more you read, the more you develop your own convictions and stick to them, making you less swayed by outside noise. That’s how I live now—whatever my dad’s relatives say, I treat it like hot air."
From then on, Pang Le and Zhong Xiaoyu bonded like kindred spirits, their conversation flowing effortlessly. Guan Xia, though quiet, listened intently. By the time everyone finished eating, she realized she’d overeaten.
As they left the hotel for the parking lot, Guan Xia noticed Xu Nian had finally put down his phone after a busy morning. "Where are we headed now? Straight to the police station handling the case?"
Xu Nian checked the time. "Director Ren just got back to me. The paperwork’s still processing, and coordinating with Tong’an District will take a while. Let’s head to the new crime scene first—an abandoned villa at the foot of a mountain. Serial killers often revisit their scenes. Maybe we’ll get lucky and run into someone."
At his words, everyone—including Ji An—subconsciously glanced at Guan Xia and Pang Le.
Wang Yu muttered under her breath, "With Guan Xia and Pang Le together, the odds are stacked. We might actually pull it off."
Fueled by this inexplicable hope, they split into two cars and sped toward the suburban crime scene.
Avoiding rush hour, they arrived in just over an hour. Bumping along the pothole-riddled, neglected road, Guan Xia leaped out as soon as Zhong Xiaoyu parked, soothing her queasy stomach while scanning the surroundings.
The area was part of a mountain range—a modest hill with gentle slopes. Though midsummer should have draped it in lush greenery, Guan Xia noticed a vast stretch of withered yellow behind the villas, dotted with charred trees and haphazardly dug-up soil, as if a major wildfire had swept through.
As she studied the scene, Ji An explained, "This is Xiaocui Peak. Its gentle terrain made it popular for camping and fishing, so a developer seized the chance six years ago. They bet on its secluded yet scenic location with steady foot traffic, but halfway through construction, a wildfire broke out. After extinguishing it, they uncovered a graveyard."
He pointed at the ugly yellow blotch marring the green landscape. "Those dug-up patches? That’s where the graves were. The fire started because someone didn’t fully put out their Qingming Festival offerings—a gust of wind spread the flames. Afterward, the graves were relocated."
Guan Xia thought the developer had spectacularly bad luck. Even before Ji An finished, she guessed the rest: the villas’ appeal lay in their pristine environment. Now, with the land scarred by fire and graves, buyers with any superstitions would steer clear unless desperate.
Sure enough, Ji An’s next words mirrored her thoughts.
After a brief survey, they trekked toward the overgrown, desolate villa complex.
The developer had clearly gone all-in. Unlike typical phased projects, this one was massive from the start. Though many structures were mere skeletons, the sprawl seemed endless—Guan Xia strained her eyes but couldn’t see where it ended.
Initially focused on the case, Pang Le eventually remarked, "Launching at this scale? The developer must’ve lost everything. Did they go bankrupt? I always assumed developers were shrewd—how’d they miss a graveyard? Didn’t they scout the land?"
"Old graves," Ji An clarified. "From the Republican era, abandoned when people fled. Later, descendants returned but found the mounds flattened, tombstones toppled, and shrubs overgrown. They just cleared weeds for Qingming visits, rarely coming otherwise."
Pang Le sighed. "Pure bad luck. A plot this big must’ve cost a fortune."
As they chatted, Guan Xia’s legs grew sore. Finally, they reached the crime scene.
Guan Xia noted the location—near the villas’ edge. An adult body couldn’t have been carried here manually; the killer must’ve used a vehicle.
Just as she analyzed this, footsteps echoed from the villa ahead—a single set.
Her blood ran cold. Instinct screamed the killer had returned. The others clearly thought the same.
Several people almost simultaneously sprang into action, sprinting toward the villa. Guan Xia reacted a beat slower, and by the time she caught up, she didn’t witness the expected scene of a group pinning someone down. Instead, Xu Nian was shaking hands with a middle-aged man of average height and slender build, exchanging pleasant words with a warm expression.
Guan Xia stood bewildered for a few seconds before piecing together the situation from their conversation. The man turned out to be a detective from the Tong’an District Bureau, assigned to the case. He had returned to the crime scene to search for overlooked clues and, on the off chance, see if the perpetrator might reappear.
After exchanging a few polite remarks, Jiang Yingyao asked curiously, "Captain Yang, why are you alone? Didn’t you bring anyone with you this time?"
The middle-aged detective, referred to as Captain Yang, replied, "I did bring someone. She’s upstairs on the second floor. She’s the type who gets deeply absorbed in her thoughts, and since I can’t sit still, I didn’t want to disturb her. So, I came down to wait here."
Hearing this, Guan Xia instinctively glanced toward the staircase leading to the second floor. Had Captain Yang not mentioned it, she would’ve assumed he was the only one in the villa. Despite their noisy entrance minutes ago, there had been no movement from upstairs.
Briefly distracted, Guan Xia refocused on the conversation between Xu Nian and Captain Yang.
Xu Nian asked, "Captain Yang, I’m not sure if you’ve received a call from Director Ren yet, but this time we—"
Captain Yang, though lean in build, was direct and decisive. He cut Xu Nian off before he could finish.
"We were informed last night," Captain Yang said with a smile. "And we’re more than happy to have you. Xu Nian, you have no idea—this case is a tangled mess. We’ve been desperate for manpower, so your arrival couldn’t have been better timed."
Everyone perked up at this. Xu Nian pressed eagerly, "How so? Are there multiple leads to follow?"
Captain Yang nodded. "This case is highly complex. There are seven confirmed victims, now eight with the latest, but we’re dealing with two killers."
The group was stunned. "Two killers?"
"Correct," Captain Yang confirmed. "And we have solid evidence suggesting they didn’t act together—they might not even know each other. In fact, the second killer was likely imitating the first."
This revelation took everyone by surprise. Jiang Yingyao asked, "Was the earlier case highly publicized? Before resolution, such cases are usually kept confidential—outsiders wouldn’t know the details unless they had inside access. Or was it reported in the news?"
He paused, thinking back. "I don’t recall anything. If a case this brutal had been reported, I’d definitely remember."
Captain Yang explained, "It didn’t make the news. Our Jianyang City Bureau acted quickly, suppressing the story before it could spread. But the dump site was so unusual that rumors still spread like wildfire."
Wang Yu asked, "Unusual? How so?"
"The haunted house of a newly built amusement park," Captain Yang said. "This was back in 2009. Jianyang had just secured investment to build a chain amusement park near the new mall and highway exit. To meet the National Day holiday rush, construction was rushed—many facilities were haphazardly set up. We later found that three-quarters of the installed surveillance cameras didn’t even work. No one knows how the killer transported the body inside, but it was discovered on opening day. Visitors had been there for hours before a med student noticed something off. Upon closer look, rigor mortis had already passed—that’s when the police were called."
Guan Xia, unfamiliar with the technical terms, was lost until Ji An leaned in to clarify, "Rigor mortis subsides after 24 hours post-death, meaning the haunted house wasn’t the primary crime scene."
Guan Xia nodded in understanding. From Captain Yang’s account, the killer must have been intimately familiar with the newly built park and had a specific motive—choosing a crowded, high-profile location like a haunted house on National Day to dump the body.
The mental image sent a chill down her spine. She imagined herself and Pang Le enjoying the park, only to hear screams and learn that the "prop" they’d just seen was a real corpse. She’d probably have nightmares for days.
Shaking off the disturbing thought, Guan Xia tuned back into the conversation, analyzing silently.
No wonder the case caused such an uproar. With so many eyewitnesses, the Jianyang Bureau’s quick suppression of the news was impressive. Add to that the heavy foot traffic in the haunted house—any evidence would’ve been obliterated, and with barely any working cameras, the killer wasn’t just brutal but cunning, even taunting the police.
Xu Nian and Captain Yang continued discussing the case.
Xu Nian asked, "Was this the first victim in the series?"
Captain Yang nodded. "Based on the wounds, the forensic team from the city bureau confirmed that all eight victims—including the one from two days ago—were killed by two separate perpetrators. The first killer was responsible for the 2009 ‘1001 Case,’ the 2012 ‘0501 Case,’ the 2015 ‘0404 Case,’ and the 2019 ‘0913 Case.’ The second killer emerged in 2017. Unlike the first, his killings followed no pattern—he murdered two that year in a crude but equally vicious imitation, then one in 2019, and another two days ago."
Hearing the word "pattern," Guan Xia caught on. She, Pang Le, and Zhong Xiaoyu immediately pulled out their phones to check the dates.
Zhong Xiaoyu, true to her armed police background, was faster. Before Guan Xia could even pull up 2019, Zhong Xiaoyu whispered, "Found it—September 13, 2019, was Mid-Autumn Festival."
Guan Xia mentally tallied: National Day, Labor Day, Qingming Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival. Talk about a pattern—specifically targeting holidays to ruin everyone’s mood.
Putting her phone away, Guan Xia listened intently as Wang Yu asked, "In 2009, the killer dumped the body in the haunted house. What about the other three?"
All ears, Guan Xia focused on Captain Yang’s reply:
"2012—a tourist attraction. 2015—near a temple. 2019—by the highway."
Guan Xia couldn't help but marvel inwardly—the remaining three dump sites were all places with exceptionally high foot traffic during holidays or locations of symbolic significance. Even the seemingly ordinary highway was a route most people would take to return home for Mid-Autumn Festival reunions.
Earlier, Guan Xia had only suspected it, but now she was absolutely certain: this killer was brazenly taunting the police.
