Chapter 9

“Where do you think you’re running?!” Su Yan pressed her knee harder against the struggling man beneath her, wincing slightly at his renewed screams. The suddenness of the situation had triggered her instincts, and it wasn’t until mid-leap that she remembered this wasn’t a battlefield. She barely managed to pull back from a lethal move, instead slamming him to the ground.

This was perhaps the first time since reincarnating into this body that she truly acknowledged the difference between police work and special forces operations. It still felt uncomfortably foreign.

“Coming, coming!” Lü Li and the others finally arrived after half a minute, taking custody of the suspect. When Lü Li got a clear look at the “heroic” woman’s face, he clapped his hands in recognition. “Isn’t this our girl Su Yan?”

Su Yan stepped off the suspect, watching as Lü Li’s team handcuffed him while rubbing her nose guiltily.

Jiang Li arrived from across the street, followed by a slightly winded Cai Chengji clutching a takeout bag. After exchanging casual greetings, Lü Li patted Su Yan’s shoulder approvingly. “Damn, your reflexes are impressive! Never would’ve guessed from your usual demeanor. Not bad at all.”

His praise was utterly genuine, his gaze almost paternal—a rarity in their male-dominated field. “I’ll make sure Team Leader Jiang properly mentors you. And if he doesn’t suit you, my team’s always open!”

“Whoa there, Deputy Team Leader Lü!” Cai Chengji laughed. “That’s some blatant poaching! Besides, aren’t we all part of the Special Task Force anyway?”

Lü Li, riding high on successfully apprehending the suspect in the 6.13 stabbing case, chuckled. “Jiang Dui, once you wrap up your Great Peace Village case, let’s hit up hotpot together, yeah?”

“Sure.” Jiang Li nodded toward the suspect being loaded into the police car. “As initially suspected—random targeting?”

“Exactly. No prior record either. Probably snapped under pressure and started stabbing random people—human garbage.” Lü Li clicked his tongue in disgust. “Easy catch, but tracking his movements through surveillance took forever. Today’s target was the pedestrian street. Luckily we’d stationed teams at key locations—the victim only sustained minor injuries.” The best possible outcome.

“Gotta process him now. You guys carry on.” With that, Lü Li boarded his vehicle, its siren fading into the distance.

Once alone, Jiang Li gave Su Yan an inscrutable look. “Let’s go. Back to the car.”

Cai Chengji shook his takeout bag. “Scared me half to death—didn’t even drop this when I ran over! Bet you’re hungry after that. Burgers in the car—eat all you want!”

“Hey!” Su Yan responded, tilting her head slightly as if sensing something. The three large characters of “Skysea Pavilion” glared under the sunlight, making her scratch her head in slight exasperation. She wondered if Zheng Hui had already left after failing to find her.

“Yan girl?” Cai Chengji stood by the crosswalk, calling out urgently as the light was about to turn green.

Though lost in thought, Su Yan had no intention of going up to check. At his call, she jogged over to catch up. The three of them crossed the street and piled into the black SUV, which soon merged into traffic and disappeared.

…

By the time they arrived at Xinghua Police Station, nearly half an hour had passed. Su Yan stuffed the last french fry into her mouth before following the other two out of the car. They then located the officer who had handled Zhang Liang’s case back then.

The officer, Kong Chenglin, had been a rookie eight years ago but was now a seasoned veteran.

Kong Chenglin pulled up Zhang Liang’s case file, and they all gathered in a small conference room. “The main person in charge of this case was actually my mentor, but he was later transferred to another station as its chief. The case was pretty straightforward. Zhang Liang was an enforcer for a bar within my jurisdiction. On the night of the incident, the victim and his friends got drunk and caused trouble at the bar. Zhang, along with several colleagues, accidentally inflicted severe injuries on the victim.”

“After the victim reported it to the police, we arrived at the scene, but Zhang Liang and the others had already fled. Fortunately, we responded quickly, and the bar hadn’t had time to destroy the surveillance footage from that night. So, determining the nature of the case wasn’t difficult. Later, when we apprehended Zhang Liang and the others, they confessed to the crime without hesitation. Zhang admitted to delivering the blows that caused the victim’s permanent injuries, so the court held him primarily responsible. If I remember correctly, he was sentenced to seven years in prison.”

“Did you arrest Zhang Liang at his rented place back then?” Jiang Li asked while flipping through the file.

“Yes, in a small apartment complex next to the bar. It was employee housing rented by the bar—a sixty-square-meter space crammed with about a dozen people!” Kong Chenglin struggled to recall the scene. “We first caught one of his colleagues, whose confession led us to Zhang Liang’s dormitory, where we successfully apprehended him.”

A dormitory?

This essentially ruled out the possibility that Zhang Liang had taken the victim back to his own residence to carry out the killing, change of clothes, and other aspects of the crime. Moreover, Xinghua Police Station’s jurisdiction was in Longxing District, far from the two dump sites in the Old City District and Changtai County.

Could it be that Zhang Liang had already developed a strong anti-surveillance awareness during his first crime? But this contradicted the “comfort zone” typically prioritized by serial killers… Jiang Li’s tightly furrowed brows didn’t relax in the slightest despite this seemingly plausible speculation.

After learning about the past assault case, Jiang Li led the other two back to the municipal bureau.

Upon returning to the Special Task Force office, he paced around the room a couple of times before grabbing the phone and rushing out. Su Yan craned her neck to watch the door sway from the impact but said nothing.

Cai Chengji, meanwhile, slumped into his chair with a groan. “Another sleepless night…”

At first, Su Yan didn’t quite understand what he meant. But when Jiang Li returned shortly after, he went straight to Cai Chengji and kicked him up: “Go gather the team. We’re heading to Great Peace Village.”

She found herself confusedly following them into the vehicles. Along with members of the Technical Brigade, they filled two police vans before driving out of the municipal bureau compound.

It was rush hour, and the city traffic was congested. During the stop-and-go journey, Su Yan finally got a clear look at the ‘search warrant’ Cai Chengji had taken from Jiang Li. By the time they reached Great Peace Village, it was already dark. The entire village lay quiet under the night sky, devoid of the city’s hustle and bustle, with only occasional barks from dogs breaking the silence.

After their vehicles entered the village, they hadn’t gone far when they spotted Xiang Yang waiting by the roadside. Jiang Li stopped the car to let him in.

Xiang Yang squeezed inside, bringing with him the crisp coolness characteristic of mountain nights: “The other two are keeping watch over there. I thought I’d come meet you. Team Leader Jiang, so we’re really going for it?!” His expression was excited, eager for action.

Jiang Li responded by stomping on the accelerator.

Before 8 p.m., the group parked their vehicles outside Zhang Liang’s house. Before they could approach the rather flimsy wooden gate, the inner door opened. Zhang Liang wheeled out slowly in his wheelchair, looking up at them calmly: “Officer Jiang, what brings you here so late at night…”

Jiang Li presented the freshly approved search warrant: “Mr. Zhang, please cooperate with the police investigation.”

Zhang Liang wore a resigned expression, offering a bitter smile as he opened the gate wider to let them through. Members of the Technical Brigade, following Jiang Li’s instructions, entered the desolate courtyard carrying various tools.

As Jiang Li and the others prepared to follow, Zhang Liang shook his head slightly and sighed: “This is probably why Sha Sha always wanted to protect me. She knew that if my criminal past came to light, this is exactly what would happen to me.”

He looked up directly at them: “Endless suspicion and investigations. You probably won’t believe this, but even when a chicken goes missing in the eastern part of the village, I’m the prime suspect.”

“Of course, I’ll do my best to cooperate with the police investigation. But you won’t find any useful evidence here, Officer Jiang. You’re wasting your time on an innocent man.”