Chapter 303: Chapter 301: It Is Certain There Are Two Murderers

Tian Ming’s body was bagged and carried away.

Beneath his body lay a pile of toppled corn stalks.

Duan Wenrui brushed the stalks aside to examine the ground. "Look!"

He shone his flashlight on the blood-soaked earth.

Lu Zhishen stepped closer for a look, while Chu Xingrou remained by Su Miaoyi’s side, not moving.

Half-buried in the dirt beneath the corn stalks was a mahjong tile.

Duan Wenrui pulled it out and inspected it. It was a Five Dots. "Including Wu An’s case, this makes the fifth one."

He checked the tile, but there were no fingerprints.

It was also too new, as if it had just been purchased.

"We need to check mahjong parlors to see if any are missing tiles, and also check places that sell mahjong sets," Lu Zhishen said.

Duan Wenrui immediately made the arrangements.

After another look around the area, Duan Wenrui asked, "Should we head back?"

Lu Zhishen replied, "You guys go first. We’re going to check the surroundings one more time."

He and Chu Xingrou had just noticed that Su Miaoyi had become unresponsive. She must have seen something, and since she hadn’t come to her senses yet, it was best not to move her.

"Expand the search area again?" Duan Wenrui asked.

They had already checked the immediate vicinity.

"Yeah, I feel like there are still some loose ends, so I want to take another look..." Before Lu Zhishen could finish his sentence, Su Miaoyi suddenly collapsed to her knees.

Chu Xingrou immediately caught Su Miaoyi.

But in that instant, Su Miaoyi couldn’t muster an ounce of strength; her entire body was dead weight, pulling her down.

Chu Xingrou’s grip only stopped her from hitting the ground. She tried to pull her upright, but the awkward angle made it difficult to get any leverage.

Fortunately, Lu Zhishen reacted quickly, grabbing Su Miaoyi’s arm to support her.

Together, they helped her up and got her back on her feet.

But Su Miaoyi still couldn’t find her strength. She felt pain all over—in her arms, her stomach, her thighs.

A piercing, bone-deep agony.

She swayed toward Lu Zhishen, then slumped against Chu Xingrou.

She rested her head directly on Chu Xingrou’s shoulder.

Chu Xingrou rubbed her arm, trying to ease her discomfort.

"What’s wrong? What happened? Are you not feeling well?" Duan Wenrui asked, his voice a mixture of surprise and concern.

"She’s fine," Lu Zhishen said.

That was all he said.

But Duan Wenrui just looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

Lu Zhishen felt his eyelid twitch. In the two seconds of silence that followed, the band holding his hair came loose.

’My brain must be running so fast it blew my hair tie,’ he thought wryly.

"Oh, it’s just an old issue of hers," Lu Zhishen started to fib. "It acts up occasionally. Nothing to worry about, she’ll be fine in a moment."

"Is that so?" Duan Wenrui glanced at Su Miaoyi. "Are you sure you’re all right? If you feel unwell, you have to tell us right away. It takes several hours to get to the city hospital from here. Don’t try to tough it out if you’re in pain."

Su Miaoyi had recovered slightly. She straightened up and looked at Duan Wenrui, her arm draped over Chu Xingrou’s shoulder. "I’m fine, it’s passing. Just an old problem. Don’t worry, Captain Duan."

"All right," Duan Wenrui replied. "Then I’ll take my men and expand the search area."

"Captain Duan, have your men search for the killer first," Su Miaoyi said.

"Huh?" Duan Wenrui didn’t quite understand what she meant.

"Re-check everyone based on the profile of the killer from Gao Hui’s case," Su Miaoyi said. "Tian Ming’s time of death was about six hours ago, and the nursery rhyme was played just over an hour ago. The killer is likely still in the village or at least in town. Focus the search on people from outside the village."

"Okay." Duan Wenrui didn’t ask too many questions. After she finished, he immediately got on the phone and ordered his team to start re-screening everyone.

"It was the killer from Gao Hui’s case?" Lu Zhishen asked in a low voice.

"Yes," Su Miaoyi confirmed. "Same masked figure in a black robe. The height matches, and the weight seemed about the same. The way he strangled and dragged him... I’m certain it’s the same person who killed Gao Hui."

She couldn’t describe the sensation.

But she shared an empathic connection with the dead.

The feeling of Gao Hui being dragged into the house was identical to Tian Ming being dragged into the cornfield. It was the same person.

Su Miaoyi thought about Tian Ming’s body.

His face had been slashed up, with the worst damage on the lower half, which was why she hadn’t seen any finger marks.

The killer had covered his mouth with immense force. Logically, that kind of pressure should have left marks on Tian Ming’s face.

After looking around the cornfield once more, they started walking back toward the village.

Zhao Yongliang was currently screening the villagers.

The police department and local stations had also sent officers to the other villages in town, with the respective village committees cooperating.

"So the nursery rhyme isn’t a warning, it’s played *after* the murder," Chu Xingrou said. "It was played the night Wan Shuang died. And tonight, it was played after Tian Ming died. The difference is, the rhyme for Wan Shuang was played at the convenience store, which wasn’t close to her home. Tonight, it was played right outside Tian Ming’s house."

"Do you think... the speaker outside Tian Ming’s house could have been placed there the night the rhyme was played at the convenience store?" Lu Zhishen said. "The patrols hadn’t started yet. It would have been easy to hide it in a haystack."

"It’s possible," Su Miaoyi said. "The killer would have had time. The player at the convenience store started instantly, with no delay. The killer could have turned it on, wiped their tracks, and left. The rhyme starts playing... the villagers wake up, get scared, try to locate the source, then call Tian Liu, who then calls the police, and we arrive. Then, while we’re deploying people to search the whole village, the killer would have had plenty of time to plant the other speaker and get away."

"Right. The killer knows the village very well. If they’re fast, they’d have more than enough time," Chu Xingrou said.

As they walked back to the village, Su Miaoyi said, "We previously speculated there might be two killers. After today, I’m certain there are two."

"How so?" Lu Zhishen asked.

"The person who killed Wu An was highly skilled with a knife and had a good understanding of human anatomy. But the person who killed Tian Ming today, while decisive, doesn’t know the human body. It was a frenzied mess of slashing and stabbing," Su Miaoyi explained. "When the knife was at Tian Ming’s chest, the killer clearly wanted to stab deeper. But the blade was stopped by bone twice, leaving only shallow wounds."

She paused for two seconds before adding, "They used to act alone. Could they be coordinating with each other this time?"

"One person kills, and the other plays the rhyme?" Lu Zhishen fell silent for a moment after saying this. "Is it possible the one playing the rhyme is one of Tian Ming’s neighbors? That way, after turning on the speaker, they wouldn’t have to go far—they could just slip straight home."

"But Captain Duan checked the neighbors right away and didn’t find anything unusual," Chu Xingrou said. "Could they be that good at hiding?"

"We need to place Tian Ming’s neighbors under heavy surveillance," Su Miaoyi said.

"The nursery rhyme played again, which means it’s still about punishing sins," Chu Xingrou said. "So what was Tian Ming’s sin? His gambling? His debts? Or his irresponsibility toward his family?"

"And why leave a mask at the scene this time? To make people believe even more strongly that this is the Sheep Horn God’s punishment? What’s the goal?"

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