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Looking at the bruised and battered Lu Xiangyang, I wasn't sure what to think. I still needed to quickly inform Lu Xiangyang's family to prevent them from worrying. If it weren't for Lu Zhiqiu's situation, we wouldn't have known that Lu Xiangyang was missing. I couldn't help but wonder if this was fate, with Lu Zhiqiu still watching over his brother.
With this thought in mind, I said to Gu Chen, "You take care of Lu Xiangyang's situation. Contact his parents and report to the police as well. It seems likely that this Pyramid Scheme will just relocate."
Gu Chen nodded and then turned to Zhao Mingkun beside him. Gu Chen spoke, "I don't know what's going on here, but if Wu Meng loses even a hair, I won't let you off the hook. Do you understand?"
Zhao Mingkun snorted coldly, aiming his gun at me. "The necessary business is done. Let's go."
I felt a strange mix of emotions and said, "It's fine, Gu Chen. I'm safe for now. Don't worry; she still has use for me. By the way, since Lu Xiangyang has been found, I need you to look into someone. I'll send you some information about this person shortly. With Mary's help, we should be able to find this person's details quickly."
Gu Chen nodded but kept his gaze fixed on Zhao Mingkun.
Zhao Mingkun warned, "You'd better not move; you might have heard what kind of person I am."
"Killing without hesitation," Gu Chen replied.
"Exactly," Zhao Mingkun said. "So don't act rashly."
With that, Zhao Mingkun pulled me back. Gu Chen didn't know that Zhao Mingkun's gun was actually unloaded; otherwise, he would have charged at him already. As we retreated, Zhao Mingkun inserted the car key and revved the motorcycle before speeding away.
Just as I was contemplating something, Zhao Mingkun abruptly said, "I've already moved on; I'm not like you. After saving your girlfriend, we'll part ways for good and never see each other again."
At that moment, I felt the distance between her and me growing wider.
Back at Zhao Mingkun's new place, there was silence throughout the night. Perhaps when one hasn't experienced much, everything seems beautiful. But in reality, people are lonely and selfish. Ultimately, everyone loves only themselves.
I sent Gu Chen a text message telling him not to worry about me and asking him to look into someone's background.
If Lu Xiangyang wasn't the Murderer and if Gu Chen could find clues about this person, perhaps we could uncover who the current Murderer really was. Now, various clues were gradually forming a complete chain in my mind—this included the Murderer's methods of killing, their motives, and their patterns of murder.
Of course, there are some specific methods that I am not entirely clear about. For instance, how exactly did the Murderer manage to cause the deaths of the victims without being present at the scene? What clever techniques did the Murderer employ to accomplish this?
It felt as if we were standing at the threshold of the truth, just waiting for Gu Chen's key.
Yet even so, we still had no idea who killed Lu Zhiqiu seven years ago. Although many suspects among the thirteen had been ruled out, there were still quite a few left. Currently, the only ones we could definitively eliminate from suspicion were Luo Ding, Wang Yikai, and Yang Licheng. As for the others, we couldn't be sure if they had met Lu Zhiqiu; after all, it was a long night.
Secondly, Zhao Mingkun didn't wake me up early; I ended up sleeping until noon.
When I stepped out of the room, I saw Zhao Mingkun sitting outside in a daze. She stared blankly at the flower-patterned wall, seemingly lost in thought. The harsh sound of a horn and the noise of car engines came from outside, but Zhao Mingkun remained unmoved. It felt eerily quiet, as if she were the only person left in the world.
In her eyes, I saw loneliness and sorrow.
After a moment, Zhao Mingkun finally noticed me and said, "You're awake?"
I nodded.
Zhao Mingkun continued, "So what should we do today? We've already questioned all thirteen people once. Now, nine of them are dead—adding Hu Pei and Liu Ruijie makes eleven in total. There are still four who are temporarily safe: Zhang Xue, Zhao Pingjuan, Zhou Moli, and one more—Liang Mei—whom we still can't reach."
At this point, time had passed again, and I wondered how those three were doing now and if they were still alive.
I said to Zhao Mingkun, "Don't you have those three people's numbers? Why not check on their situation?"
Zhao Mingkun nodded.
We called each of the three individuals one by one, and fortunately, all three answered. This brought us some relief; after all, the Murderer's speed in killing was alarmingly fast—so fast that we could hardly react. During the calls, the three informed us that they would be leaving Dongxing City for another city today and would only return once the Murderer was caught.
The three chose different modes of transportation; some took planes while others took trains. It seemed unlikely that the Murderer could kill all three within such a short time frame. Clearly, these three were genuinely frightened; they had managed to wrap up their work and prepare to leave in just one afternoon.
After repeatedly reminding Zhao Mingkun about safety, I finally let him hang up the phone.
Just as Zhao Mingkun ended the call, my phone rang. To my surprise, it was Gu Chen calling.
"Is there news?" I asked.
Gu Chen replied, "Yes, remember that image of Head you gave me? I showed it to Mary, and she found a shadow of a person in that image."
"A shadow of a person?" I inquired.
"Yes," Gu Chen continued. "The quality of that image is too blurry, and it was taken at night, so with the naked eye, you can only see a head surrounded by indistinct shapes. However, when Mary used professional equipment to enlarge it without distortion, she noticed that in one corner of the photo, there was a figure hiding behind a pillar."
From that photo, it was clear that Lu Zhiqiu was already dead. The murderer stood on either side of the head and bent down to take the picture. At that moment, Lu Zhiqiu's head must have already been severed. But the question arose: why did the murderer take this photo? And how did this photo end up on Liang Mei's computer?
What connection did Liang Mei have with the incident from seven years ago?
With this thought in mind, I quickly asked, "Can you see who is hiding behind the pillar?"
Gu Chen responded, "No, Mary’s camera didn’t zoom in very closely. When taking this photo, it just happened to capture the lower half of a person hiding behind a nearby pillar. The photographer probably didn’t notice; that hiding spot wasn’t very good."
I frowned as a sudden thought crossed my mind.
We saw this photo on Hu Pei's swapped phone, but it wasn't clear. Clearly, it wasn't as sharp as the one we saw on Liang Mei's computer. Could it be that this photo was sent by the murderer seeking revenge against Liang Mei? Who swapped the phone and for what purpose?
Moreover, since the murderer captured the lower half of a person in the photo, is it possible that they later recognized this shadow? If they did see this figure, then it's likely they would seek out that person from back then for revenge.
Could it be that seven years ago, the murderer accidentally discovered this secret in the photo and decided to kill those thirteen people? If so, then one of those thirteen must be the murderer. Is it possible that the murderer who killed Lu Zhiqiu seven years ago is the same one who is now killing the remaining thirteen?
Murderer could not possibly have killed themselves, which means that Murderer must be one of the four people still alive. From the current perspective, the most likely candidate is Liang Mei.
A shadow in a photograph has made the case even more perplexing. Who took the photo, and who is the person hiding behind the pillar? Is there any connection between the Murderer from seven years ago and the current Murderer? I truly find it hard to understand.
"Alright!" I said. "You should continue having Mary investigate the person I told you about. If there’s any news, make sure to inform me immediately."
"Okay!" Gu Chen replied. "Just be careful."
"Understood!" I responded.
Zhao Mingkun looked at me and asked, "So, do you have any clues?"
I nodded and said, "Yes, Mary spotted a shadow in the photograph, but it's unclear who it is. Regardless of who the Murderer is, Liang Mei must know something about it. That photograph is the best evidence we have. It seems that Liang Mei chose to leave quickly after seeing this photo."
Zhao Mingkun shook his head and said, "Liang Mei was already planning to leave when she returned from the gathering. What exactly happened to her at that event? Did she attend just to find out who that person behind the pillar was? Since she doesn’t know who they are, could she have decided to kill everyone?"
I furrowed my brow; Zhao Mingkun had a point, but I sensed something was off. What exactly was wrong? Why did the Murderer take that photograph? It seemed entirely unnecessary.
Moreover, judging by the scene, it appeared that the Murderer acted on impulse rather than premeditation. After committing murder, one would expect them to feel anxious and eager to leave; taking a photo was certainly not an action one would take at such a moment.
This was all too strange.
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