The next day, all the information related to the case was gathered and closed.

Although the case had been concluded, they still knew very little about Chen Xuexian. They had insufficient understanding of her motives for her actions. Now that she was dead, they needed to visit her family to finalize the case, confirm the body, and collect her belongings.

Chen Xuexian’s parents had already passed away, and only one aunt remained in the family, living in Xin County. Lu Junchi managed to contact her, but she was unwilling to come over. She mentioned that Chen Xuexian had some things at her place and she was considering how to deal with them.

Upon hearing this, Su Hui suddenly raised his head and said, “Let me accompany you. It would be best to bring those things with us. Perhaps there might be some new clues among them.”

Lu Junchi responded, “It takes two hours to drive to Xin County. I was originally planning for you to have a half-day rest in the afternoon.”

Su Hui replied, “Let’s go together. I’m also curious about what makes this woman different.”

Chen Xuexian was both a victim and a key figure in this case, and studying her criminal psychology fell within Su Hui’s scope of work.

Although the true culprit had been found in that case, and Su Hui had analyzed all the processes, he was still very curious about the woman who was worth so many men fighting for her.

Furthermore, he wanted to figure out if he had ever known that woman…

Lu Junchi didn’t say anything further and nodded in agreement.

The two of them quickly finished their lunch and set off, finally arriving in Xin County at 2 o’clock in the afternoon.

The local police in Xin County had arranged for them to meet Chen Xuexian’s aunt, Chen Muhua. She was in her fifties and retired, initially refusing to talk about Chen Xuexian. However, she eventually gave in after some persuasion from the police officers.

Xin County was a small place where everyone knew each other, so it didn’t take long for her to agree.

The aunt lived in a slightly old residential house with only two rooms and one living room. It felt a bit cramped after a few people sat down.

At first, Chen Muhua was somewhat reserved and didn’t say much. However, seeing that the police officers who had come from the city were young and handsome, she gradually opened up and became talkative.

“I watched Chen Xuexian grow up. She didn’t have good luck. My brother was an alcoholic, and he started drinking when she was young. He often wouldn’t come home, and he would also physically abuse her and her mother. Sometimes when she had no one to take care of her, she would come to my place to have a meal.”

Su Hui listened attentively on the side, noting the presence of violence within the family and the absence of a father’s love…

“Her mother couldn’t handle everything alone. When she was a little girl, she would play alone in the yard. She liked to follow older children around. If a child from a certain family was good at fighting, she would stick to them like a little tail. But when that child was defeated by someone else, she would switch and follow the new victor.”

This kind of imitative behavior appears in the early childhood of many people. It’s actually a hidden behavior of seeking strength.

“It seems she’s not very sensitive to pain. Sometimes when someone bullied her, she wouldn’t cry or make a fuss,” Chen Muhua continued. “One time, my brother drove under the influence of alcohol and had an accident. He died. Around that time,

 Chen Xuexian also passed the teacher qualification exam and went to college. Her mother wanted to remarry and was eager for her to get married, so she introduced her to a man surnamed Li through a blind date. They had been in a romantic relationship. But just two years after her mother’s marriage, she fell ill and passed away.”

Lu Junchi asked, “What kind of work did she do?”

“She used to work as an extracurricular counselor in the county, similar to those evening classes. It was an unofficial position. But one day, parents reported her to the counseling center, claiming that she was present when two children were fighting, but she didn’t do anything to stop it.”

Su Hui continued summarizing. It seemed that Chen Xuexian had been indifferent to human conflicts in the past, even enjoying watching scenes of disputes, lacking basic empathy.

“Later, she found a job at a pet shop, but it didn’t last long,” Chen Muhua said.

Lu Junchi recalled the cabinet full of specimens and asked, “How did she feel about those small animals?”

“She seemed to like them,” Chen Muhua hesitated for a moment, then cautiously said, “But she didn’t stay long at the pet shop. The reason could be… well, Officer, I heard from others that some animals inexplicably died while she was working there, and the owner decided not to keep her.”

Su Hui recalled that she might have had some acts of animal cruelty.

At this point, Su Hui raised his head and asked Chen Muhua, “Auntie, did Chen Xuexian often talk to you about topics related to ‘love’? Not just limited to romantic love, but also possibly familial love…”

Chen Muhua widened her eyes and nodded repeatedly, “Yes, yes, yes! She always talked about love, who loves whom, who doesn’t love her, and how nobody loves her… She seemed to attach great importance to this matter when she felt her boyfriend didn’t love her. I felt like she was living in a dream, not in reality. She left because her boyfriend and friends fought for her. People in the town scolded her, accusing her of being unfaithful and lacking shame. After that incident, she couldn’t stay in this small county town anymore and chose to leave.”

Su Hui nodded, these pieces of information confirmed his speculation. Chen Xuexian couldn’t perceive the love that normal people could feel. She needed stronger stimuli.

The dispute between her boyfriend and friends might have been her initial attempt.

But such incidents were far from enough. Unable to receive love from her family, Chen Xuexian felt like she was living in a cage. When she made those butterfly specimens, she imagined herself as a butterfly, yearning for freedom.

Lu Junchi asked, “What else? Did she have any unusual behaviors or behaviors that differed from others?”

Chen Muhua thought for a moment and said, “She liked making specimens. I’ve been to her place, and she made many specimens, mostly butterflies… She seemed to have a special fondness for butterflies.”

Lu Junchi got to the point, “You mentioned earlier that she left behind some belongings?”

“Well, speaking of that, she left some things here when she was staying. I helped her pack up,” Chen Muhua said, getting up to search for the items. After a while, she pulled out a cardboard box. “Everything is here, but there’s nothing particularly valuable.”

Lu Junchi took out the items from the box one by one. There were frames with several butterfly specimens, a thin photo album containing old photos of Chen Xuexian from childhood to adulthood, and some paper documents.

Lu Junchi continued searching and found a stack of sticky notes in the box. He held them up to the sunlight and noticed some indentations on the paper. He borrowed a pencil from Chen Muhua and gently brushed it against the paper, revealing a line of words one by one.

Su Hui sat by the side, reading each word carefully.

“I’ve finally made a decision. I want to break free from the confines of the cage. I want to go and pursue those beautiful butterflies.”

This was probably what Chen Xuexian left behind when she left home.

Su Hui furrowed his brows, deep in thought.

He seemed to remember some images, fragments of memories. Although he couldn’t recall the specific details of those fragments, the images that appeared in his mind were of a beautiful woman sitting across from him, a woman he had only seen in photos and videos…

Two years ago, he did indeed meet this woman.

At the bottom of the box, there was a piece of stiff paper with slightly faded colors. Lu Junchi exerted some effort to separate the painting from the board.

The painting wasn’t large, about the size of an A4 paper. It depicted a woman with a butterfly tattoo on her back.

Ordinary people would probably find it a beautiful painting, but Su Hui and Lu Junchi were stunned. They were too familiar with the style of this painting.

The woman in the painting had slender eyebrows and eyes, not particularly beautiful but distinctive.

The name of the painting was written beneath it: “Tranquility,” dated four years ago.

The eerie colors, delicate brushstrokes, and vivid portrayal of the woman.

This was a painting by Fu Yunchu.

Since the deranged painter escaped last time, he had yet to be caught.

The woman in the painting resembled Chen Xuexian.

Considering the timeline, this painting was created long before Fu Yunchu started committing crimes. Could it be possible that the two of them knew each other?

But what were the chances that the perpetrator of one case and a person related to another case were acquainted?

How did they cross paths?

Was Chen Xuexian once a target of Fu Yunchu? How did she manage to escape?

Or was it Fu Yunchu who was once a target of Chen Xuexian?

What happened between them that compelled Fu Yunchu to paint this picture?

Only the parties involved could answer these questions.

Lu Junchi said, “Auntie, these things are quite helpful to us. Could you let us investigate them?”

Chen Muhua nodded, “I was originally planning to give them to her when she came back. But now that she’s passed away, I was thinking of throwing them away. If they’re useful to you, then take them.”

Later, Chen Muhua provided more details about her interactions with Chen Xuexian, and Lu Junchi recorded everything with a voice recorder, planning to organize it once they returned to Huadu.

The two of them started their journey back from Xin County in the afternoon, around three o’clock.

Su Hui felt a bit tired and reclined the seat, curling up his body. He hadn’t slept well this morning, so he was a bit drowsy now.

He claimed to be resting, but his mind kept pondering about these people and their affairs.

He was becoming more and more certain that he might know Chen Xuexian. But why did he come across her?

The fact that Chen Xuexian and Fu Yunchu knew each other also unsettled him.

Su Hui could feel his memories resurfacing. Lately, he frequently recalled certain images or snippets of conversations.

Lu Junchi drove onto the national highway, continuing their journey. Halfway through, he received a call from Qiao Ze. Initially, Su Hui listened to them discussing work, but suddenly Lu Junchi’s voice became serious.

“…Qiao Ze, something seems to be happening here. I’ll send you my location, can you check the surveillance cameras on the highway?” Lu Junchi said, hanging up the phone. He then turned the steering wheel and said to Su Hui, “Hold on tight, there are two cars tailing us closely. Something doesn’t feel right.”

This was the final stretch before entering Huadu, a challenging mountain road with cliffs on one side and mountains on the other.

Usually, vehicles would slow down and drive cautiously in this section, avoiding other cars. But in this environment, two cars suddenly approached from behind, maintaining their speed without slowing down.

The windows of those two cars were pitch-black, making it impossible to see inside from the outside. Lu Junchi keenly sensed that those two cars were probably targeting them.

Qiao Ze quickly received the location sent by Lu Junchi and used his access to cut into the surveillance cameras on the highway. This stretch of road had frequent accidents, so real-time monitoring had already been installed.

Upon seeing the situation, Qiao Ze frowned and said, “Captain Lu, let me quickly search for the vehicle information…” His fingers flew over the keyboard, and after inputting the license plate number, he said, “Both of those cars are using fake plates.”

Fake plates referred to cloned cars that were not registered but used the information of already registered vehicles.

Meanwhile, Lu Junchi was driving on the mountain road, with the two cars behind occasionally getting closer, attempting to sandwich his car.

He was driving fast, evading two attacks, wanting to get through this mountain road as quickly as possible.

“Qiao Ze, how much longer until we pass this section?” Lu Junchi calmly asked.

Qiao Ze opened the map and checked, “Three kilometers left!”

The car was moving at a high speed, while the other two cars remained by their side, looking for an opportunity to ram into their vehicle. The mountain road was narrow. Su Hui pressed his body tightly against the seat, reaching out to grab a handle beside him, trying to stabilize himself.

Taking advantage of a bend, one car overtook them and drove on the left side of their car, hugging the mountainside, intending to squeeze past them.

At this moment, they were on a bend with cars behind them. They couldn’t reduce their speed, or they would be directly hit by the car behind and fall off the cliff. There was another car beside them, and for a moment, their car was forced into a dead end.

“Hold on!” Lu Junchi’s expression turned grave as he firmly grasped the steering wheel.

The car scraped against the guardrail beside the cliff, emitting a piercing, sharp sound, even sparks flew, and Su Hui felt like his remaining ear was about to burst from the noise.

With a bang, the car behind collided with the rear of Lu Junchi’s car, causing the vehicle to surge forward abruptly.

Su Hui’s body leaned forward, but the seatbelt pulled him back into the seat.

This couldn’t go on like this. It was too passive. Lu Junchi did his best to stabilize the car, holding the steering wheel firmly with one hand while pulling out a gun with the other and handing it to Su Hui, saying, “Can you load the bullets?”

Su Hui couldn’t see the situation outside clearly; everything was blurry. He took the gun handed to him by Lu Junchi, his hand trembling as he removed the magazine. Although he hadn’t touched a gun for several years, loading bullets wasn’t a difficult task. He had learned it before and passed the assessment.

Memories from deep within Su Hui’s mind surged forward. He couldn’t see clearly, so he relied on his instincts and inserted the magazine with a click.

Lu Junchi took the gun back, rolled down the car window, and fired several shots at the car beside them. It was challenging to aim accurately while moving at high speed. One shot grazed the tire, while another shattered the car window.

Finally, Lu Junchi managed to see the person sitting inside the car.

Su Hui could sense that Lu Junchi’s body instantly tensed up. He coughed a few times and anxiously asked, “Who is the driver of that car?”

“It’s Fu Yunchu,” Lu Junchi said, showing no mercy. He directly bumped the car to the side, causing a harsh scraping sound as the two cars rubbed against each other. Then he turned the steering wheel forward, breaking free from the sandwiched position.

Upon hearing this news, Su Hui, who had always been indifferent, became a little nervous.

Why did this persistent serial killer appear everywhere?

Fu Yunchu was a wanted criminal, a fugitive. This lunatic was capable of anything. And where had Fu Yunchu been hiding all this time? Why did he show up here? Was he constantly monitoring their movements? Or was his hiding place coincidentally in Xinxian County?

The car driven by Fu Yunchu suddenly braked and moved backward, creating distance between their vehicles. However, the other car continued to follow them closely.

“Captain Lu, there’s a large truck coming ahead!” Qiao Ze exclaimed anxiously.

“Copy that!” There was a section with a missing guardrail. Lu Junchi turned the steering wheel, causing the car to tilt at a forty-five-degree angle, skillfully maneuvering through the gap between the truck and the cliff.

The car behind them wasn’t as fortunate. In an attempt to avoid the incoming truck, it crashed directly into the mountainside, producing a thunderous sound. As the truck passed by, it also collided with the rear of the car, rendering it useless.

“Captain Lu, just over a kilometer to go! And be careful, the remaining car is catching up,” Qiao Ze reported, watching the thrilling scene unfold and sweating profusely.

Lu Junchi glanced back. When they passed by earlier, there was an empty space next to them, and Fu Yunchu’s car had managed to retreat and hide there. Now, taking advantage of the absence of passing vehicles, it accelerated and closely followed behind.

The current angle made it difficult to shoot.

A startled cry from Qiao Ze came through the radio, “Captain Lu! Another bus is coming ahead!”

The mountain road ahead became even narrower. Only two vehicles could pass side by side, making accidents highly likely.

From a distance, Lu Junchi could also see the approaching bus. It was a long-distance coach, fully packed with passengers, unaware of the imminent danger.

Both sides were traveling at high speed, and based on their current pace, they would collide in the middle of the upcoming bend in twenty seconds!

Lu Junchi tightly gripped the steering wheel with both hands.

Fu Yunchu’s face twisted into a sinister expression. He suddenly accelerated, aiming to ram Lu Junchi’s car from behind and cause a collision with the bus. “Even if I die here today, none of you will escape! All of you will accompany me to the grave!”

The bus driver seemed to sense that something was wrong and repeatedly honked the horn, but it was too late to brake.

Lu Junchi’s palms sweated. He could have done everything possible to avoid Fu Yunchu’s impact, but in that case, Fu Yunchu’s car might collide with the bus…

With a cliff on one side and an abyss on the other, he had to make a decision in an instant.

Just as he hesitated, Su Hui’s hand suddenly grasped his own.

His hoarse voice sounded in Lu Junchi’s ear, “I believe in you.”

He entrusted the power to decide along with his own life to the man beside him. He trusted him.

Those words steadied Lu Junchi’s mind.

He pursed his lips, decisively hit the brakes, and there was a slight collision between the car’s rear and the car behind. Then, Lu Junchi stepped on the accelerator, moving forward a little before powerfully reversing and crashing into Fu Yunchu’s car.

Fu Yunchu’s car was instantly struck violently, producing a loud bang. It flew straight out, broke through the guardrail, and plummeted down the cliff.

At this moment, they were about to collide with the bus, but Lu Junchi turned the steering wheel toward the direction of the cliff. In his peripheral vision, he had noticed a large, slanted tree at the bend of the cliff. The car crashed through the guardrail, heading towards the tree. The bus brushed against their car as it passed, making a scraping sound.

The car shook violently. In the final moment, Lu Junchi undid his seatbelt, leaned forward, and embraced Su Hui, pressing him against his chest. His palm was firm and strong, as if exerting all his strength to protect the person in his arms. However, his voice trembled slightly, “Su Hui…”

“I like you.”

For Lu Junchi, at that moment, he no longer agonized over whether the person by his side was truly the Poet. He only knew that he liked this person and wanted him to live!

If only one person could survive, he hoped it would be him.

With a loud crash, the front of the car collided with the tree. Branches penetrated the window, piercing their bodies, but also halting the car’s descent. The car shook violently, squeezed, and the body began to deform. In the intense impact, it seemed as if their flesh and blood would be crushed into fragments.

Finally, everything came to a stop. The car was left hanging on the edge of the cliff…

Su Hui felt a sensation of dizziness, accompanied by a piercing ringing in his ears. He sensed warm blood dripping onto his face from Lu Junchi, flowing down his pale cheeks.

Su Hui opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but the subsequent effects of the impact caused intense pain in his chest and head. He felt as if he had fallen into an endless abyss, losing consciousness…