Translator: CinderTL
"At first, I thought it was just a piece of clothing," Yuan Xiaoyi said. "But as I got closer, I realized it was a corpse. The Old Professor was so terrified he nearly fainted. It took him a long time to calm down before he could finally get up and call the police."
"Do you know why her eyes were gouged out?" Jiang Cheng asked.
According to Yuan Xiaoyi's account, the drunken man and the victim were strangers. It seemed to be a crime of passion, driven by lust rather than premeditation. Logically, there was no reason to remove her eyes—it felt more like an act of revenge.
As if anticipating Jiang Cheng's question, Yuan Xiaoyi whispered, "I've heard rumors about that too. Some say the man was deeply superstitious. He believed his image would be imprinted in the victim's eyes, and he feared leaving evidence, so he gouged out Meng Yumian's eyes."
Jiang Cheng had never heard such an explanation before.
Stroking his chin, Jiang Cheng frowned slightly, appearing lost in thought. But Yuan Xiaoyi's gaze grew peculiar. She leaned closer to Jiang Cheng and whispered, "Senior, have you noticed something strange about this case too?"
Strange? It was riddled with inconsistencies.
Jiang Cheng was certain there were many hidden truths yet to be uncovered. These were questions that only Yuan Xiaoyi could answer for him.
"Xiaoyi, you're right," Jiang Cheng said, his voice serious. "There are too many inconsistencies here. Judging by the police's reaction, it's highly likely that the rumors have been deliberately altered. If certain details were to leak, they could cause widespread panic."
Hearing this, Yuan Xiaoyi's gaze toward Jiang Cheng deepened with trust. This man isn't just kind—he's also sharp and clear-headed. And above all... he's handsome, his eyes like a galaxy of stars.
Jiang Cheng had no time for pleasantries. He cut straight to the core of the issue: "First, according to your account, the drunk man first saw Meng Yumian on the sports field. That means she had already managed to escape the equipment room on her own. How did she do that?"
"You're right, Senior," Yuan Xiaoyi replied. Suddenly, she glanced nervously around before leaning closer to Jiang Cheng until their upper bodies were almost touching. In a hushed, mysterious tone, she whispered, "And besides that, there's something else you'd never believe."
"That drunk man is also suspicious. He couldn't possibly have assaulted Meng Yumian, let alone killed her!"
"Why?"
"Because... because he has a boyfriend," Yuan Xiaoyi whispered.
Jiang Cheng's eyes widened slightly at this revelation.
"He doesn't like women. In fact, he's terrified of them. Everyone around him knows this—it's been that way for years," Yuan Xiaoyi continued. "When this whole thing blew up, his boyfriend came too. He's a big, muscular guy who immediately started arguing with the police, demanding they release him and insisting there must be a mistake."
"And most importantly, Meng Yumian's autopsy report confirmed this. She hadn't been sexually assaulted."
As if to preempt another of Jiang Cheng's suspicions, Yuan Xiaoyi quickly added, "None of Meng Yumian's belongings were missing either. Her phone, wallet—everything was still there."
The case was growing increasingly bizarre. If not for lust or greed, what was the killer's motive?
Purely for the sake of killing?
For the thrill?
Jiang Cheng couldn't entirely dismiss this possibility. The killer seemed to harbor an aversion to women, possibly stemming from childhood trauma. This aversion might have even been the spark that ignited the entire tragedy.
After a moment's thought, Jiang Cheng said calmly, "Everyone harbors demons within, but that proves nothing."
Jiang Cheng's stance was clear: these points only suggested the killer's motive was unclear, but they certainly couldn't serve as evidence to exonerate the suspect.
He found it illogical to acquit the man based solely on these details.
Noticing Jiang Cheng's misunderstanding, Yuan Xiaoyi grew agitated. "Senior, please let me finish! These aren't the crucial evidence—they're just supporting details."
"The key is, this man simply didn't have the time to commit the crime!" Yuan Xiaoyi's voice rose with excitement.
"What do you mean?"
"Here's what happened: After interviewing the bartender at the bar where the drunken man had been drinking that night, the police reviewed surveillance footage from a nearby street corner. The footage showed him leaving the bar at 11:12 PM, staggering alone down the street toward the school."
"The same camera then captured him returning from the school direction at 11:29 PM. He continued walking for a bit before suddenly collapsing under a streetlight, where he remained until dawn when a shopkeeper found him."
"So he was only out of surveillance for seventeen minutes," Jiang Cheng mused. "That's surprisingly short to commit such a crime."
"Senior," Yuan Xiaoyi interjected, "the spot where the man disappeared from the surveillance footage is quite a distance from the school."
She emphasized, "And the school's athletic field is surrounded by a three-meter-high wall topped with spikes. Even the students from the Physical Education Institute have to be careful climbing over it. How could a drunk man possibly manage that?"
"Plus, it rained that night, but there were no footprints around the wall or nearby—only at the crime scene."
"I heard the police even tested it themselves. Even without factoring in the time to commit the crime, the fastest round trip takes fifteen minutes—and that's for a sober person."
Jiang Cheng was taken aback by the barrage of questions. He hadn't realized the case was so intricate. "Any updates from the police?"
"Despite all these inconsistencies, they did find conclusive evidence at the scene left by the drunk man—not just footprints, but irrefutable proof that directly links him to the crime."
"And the man himself confessed," Yuan Xiaoyi continued. "He said he vaguely remembered what happened that night. He admitted to touching the girl and recalled her struggling, but everything after that was a blur. He couldn't remember how he scaled the wall to get to the sports field, or how he got back."
Jiang Cheng understood. The man's memory stopped at the moment of physical contact with Meng Yumian; everything before and after that was a complete blank.
"It's as if an invisible hand teleported him from where he disappeared from the surveillance footage to the crime scene. Then it took Meng Yumian from the equipment room and threw her in front of him. After he killed her and gouged out her eyes, the hand teleported him back."
Jiang Cheng voiced his unsettling theory, a chill crawling up his spine. The idea was both bizarre and terrifying, as if this outlandish scenario might actually be the truth.
But soon, he noticed that Yuan Xiaoyi, who had been standing close beside him, had fallen silent.
He looked up and saw her staring at him with wide, frightened eyes, her pupils constricted and her lips trembling slightly.
A sudden sense of dread washed over him.
Sure enough, the next moment...
"Senior... how... how did you know?" Yuan Xiaoyi's face paled, her voice trembling with fear.
(End of the Chapter)
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