While one searched the living room and the other investigated the inner chamber separated by a curtain, Jiang Xin maintained a calm expression throughout. Yet Gu Yun's sharp gaze never once wavered from his face.
Cheng Hang rifled through the clothes in the wardrobe when a pale green object slipped out and fell. Startled, he reached out in haste to catch it. The item was small, bouncing lightly in his palm before falling to the floor with a crisp jingle that drew everyone's attention.
Picking it up with an awkward smile, Cheng Hang apologized, "Sorry, I dropped something of yours."
But the moment he saw what he held, his face changed dramatically. He stared in shock at Jiang Xin, who had just moments ago looked composed, now visibly pale and flustered. Jiang Xin's eyes widened in disbelief, fixed on the jade pendant in Cheng Hang's hand. His expression turned from pallor to a sickly green hue, his voice low and trembling, "Impossible… I clearly…"
Leaning lazily against the round table, Gu Yun's lips curved into a faint, enigmatic smile, but her tone was icy cold. "You clearly destroyed it. Then why does another piece remain? Isn't that right?"
Jiang Xin, staring dumbfounded at the cold, commanding woman, felt an inexplicable chill creep through his body. How could she possibly know? It was as if everything had unfolded just as she'd predicted—impossible! His fear and panic were written plainly on his face.
Lv Jin walked to Cheng Hang and took the pale green jade pendant. Carved into its surface was a plump, charming mandarin duck beside a lotus leaf, on which bloomed a lifelike balloon flower—identical to the pattern found on the paper!
Recalling how Gu Yun had relentlessly cornered Jiang Xin earlier, Lv Jin couldn't help but ask, "How are you so certain that he's the killer?"
Gu Yun didn't veil her reasoning. "First, when he learned of Wu Xu's pregnancy, he displayed visible fear. Most people would at most be shocked—but fear? That makes him suspicious. Second, his left middle and ring fingers are calloused from frequent writing—he's left-handed. Judging by the wound on Wu Xu's chest, the killer was likely a left-hander as well."
Cheng Hang stared at her in astonishment. She had only glanced at Jiang Xin briefly—yet deduced he was left-handed? Could she truly analyze and remember everything she saw? It was terrifying. Unbelievable.
"That still doesn't prove he's the murderer," a hoarse male voice countered with a dismissive snort, unimpressed by Gu Yun's deductions.
Meeting Ao Tian's icy gaze as he stood by the doorway, Gu Yun raised an eyebrow. Was that a challenge? She stepped toward him until they were nearly touching, her cold smile slicing the air. "But it proves he is suspicious. And something in his home led me to believe—he is the killer."
Though Gu Yun barely reached Ao Tian's chest, her proximity radiated an oppressive force. He instinctively stepped back. Unmoved by beauty, he suddenly found her radiant face dazzling.
Zhuo Qing narrowed her eyes slightly. Was that flash of astonishment on Ao Tian's face because of Gu Yun?
"What is it?" Cheng Hang didn't notice the charged atmosphere, focused solely on the truth.
Though Ao Tian had stepped back, the distance between them remained close. What was she planning? As he wondered, Gu Yun crouched beside Cheng Hang and Lv Jin, smiling faintly. "Don't you find this door bolt familiar?"
Cheng Hang hurried over, crouching to examine it. A moment later, his eyes lit up. "It's the same as the one in Miss Wu's room!"
"Look closer," Gu Yun nodded, pleased. "There's a faint groove, isn't there?"
Indeed, so shallow it could barely be seen.
"To make the scene look like a locked-room mystery, he had to re-latch the door from inside. So he practiced countless times in his own home, perfecting every detail. He anticipated the door being forced open—so he carved a groove to secure the rope, precisely where the bolt would break."
As she spoke, Gu Yun took the jade pendant from Lv Jin. Dangling it by its cord, she let it swing gently, her gaze locking onto Jiang Xin's vacant eyes.
"Jiang Xin, do you have anything left to say?"
The murder scene's jade pendant had turned up in his home. What defense could remain?
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Xin regained a trace of composure and asked hoarsely, "I clearly smashed the jade after leaving the room. Why is there still another piece?"
He had shattered the pendant and burned it with the bloodstained garments. How could it appear intact here?
"Because the one you destroyed was not the one Miss Wu originally gave you—it was hers. She purchased a pair of matching 'mandarin duck in water' pendants. Even if she gifted one to her lover, she would have kept the other. But we searched her room and found nothing. That means the killer took it. Why would the murderer take something from Wu Xu's body? Because he believed it was his! So he picked it up without thinking. The only one who could drug her drink unnoticed and take the pendant—was her lover. Did I say anything wrong, Jiang Xin?"
After hearing her, Jiang Xin let out a bitter laugh. So the pendants were a pair. He had believed the one he took was incriminating evidence left behind. Yet unknowingly, he had claimed the very proof of his crime. Fate, it seemed, was not without irony.
Covering his face, Jiang Xin sank to the floor—his confession clear.
Lv Jin's voice turned solemn. "Were the other three women also your victims? Why did you kill them?"
He sat silent for a long time. When he finally looked up, tears streamed down his youthful face.
"I didn't kill them. And I didn't want to kill Xu'er either. We truly loved each other. I promised her, once I achieved some success, I'd go to her father and ask for her hand. But then the Wu family suddenly demanded the wedding proceed, and she insisted I go to plead with her father immediately. Otherwise, she'd reveal we had already… become intimate. If the Wu family knew, they would never let me go. I didn't know she was pregnant. If I had, I would never…"
"You would have killed her regardless," Zhuo Qing interrupted coldly. "Because the one you love most—is yourself. She stood in the way of your future, so she had to die!"
Jiang Xin choked on his sobs, but Zhuo Qing remained unmoved. A man who could kill with his own hands—what right did he have to cry and speak of love? He was unworthy of Wu Xu, that pure and resolute balloon flower.
"No!" he growled, red-eyed like a wounded beast. "We were in love!"
Zhuo Qing sneered without mercy. "If you truly loved her, how could you bear to kill her? And to conceal the murder, you chose such a cruel method. This is the love you speak of?"
Such so-called love was despicably cheap.
In the prefect's study, the investigative team sat in silence around the long table. There was no relief of a case solved—only furrowed brows and heavy hearts.
Slumped over the table, Cheng Hang sighed, "We finally had a lead, thought the case was cracked—but it was just false hope."
Gu Yun shot him a glare, chiding with a smirk, "At least this case is resolved, and Wu Xu's justice has been served. One case at a time—dreaming too big only leads to failure. Did you find the files I asked for?"
At this, Cheng Hang brightened. "I did! I hadn't even noticed before, but over the past six years in Qiongyue, there's been more than one or two of these 'heart theft' cases. While not serial murders, some were solved and the culprits punished, but others remain cold cases. There are thirteen in total!"
He…