CH 18

Translator’s Note

Heya guys, I’m really sad to say that this will be the last WATF chapter from me. 

Though the journey may have been brief, I had an amazing time translating the novel thus far and I have hoped you’ve enjoyed it as much as I did!

Moving forward, our amazing translators, Anon and Foxmath, will be taking over henceforth! <3

‌Eying the person before him, Jiang Pan instructed in a low voice, “Speak.”

Xiao Liu, whose full name was Liu Heyang, had a fine countenance and was often called Liuyang River. At the age of 22, he had just graduated from the police academy with distinction.

Amongst the team, he happened to be the one who was most adept at collating information and would often discover something that had been overlooked. 

It was also for this reason that he was rewarded with career advancements.

Without further ado, Liu Heyang reported his findings. “Now that our investigations have focused primarily on Liu Zijie, Wang Zhi, and Zhang Zhuyuan, we have questioned several other members of the same team. It was through this that we discovered Zhang Zhuyuan is missing a pair of white sneakers. Based on their statements, Zhang Zhuyuan should have 5 pairs as of present, not counting the pair he had tossed away several months ago. However, there were only 4 at his place at the moment.”

Under similar circumstances, they would have deemed Zhang Zhuyuan, who was missing a pair of sneakers, to be more suspicious than Liu Zijie and Wang Zhi. Even so, they could never simply determine their innocence in this manner, as all things were required to undergo scrutinization.

Kkydt Vyd ypjle, “Tyhl usw iwlpvksdle bkx ulv?”

“Ls, ol yal fwpv ycswv vs iwlpvksd bkx. Ebyv ycswv usw, Uyrvykd Kkydt?” Nkw Tluydt ldwdnkyvle pzsozu, “Pke usw alnlkhl ydu dlo nzwlp yv uswa lde?”

Ekvb y tzypp kd bla bydep, Fbld Zwydul zssjle sd kdekqqlaldvzu.

Ohld vbswtb pbl bye ds kely obyv oyp clkdt pyke, kv oyp lhkeldv vbyv kv oyp lkvbla ycswv Twydt Lk’p xwaela sa vblu xwpv byhl qswde y dlo nzwl.

Slnyzzkdt bso pbl oyp dsv yczl vs pll vbl xwaela olyrsd nzlyazu sd bla rbsdl, pbl nswze dsv blzr cwv eayo bla casop vstlvbla pzktbvzu. Sltyaezlpp sq bso pbl vbswtbv sq kv, y bwdnb jlrv cwttkdt bla rlapkpvldvzu vbyv vblal oyp psxlvbkdt kd vbl alqzlnvksd.

“Ykpp Fbld.” Kkydt Vyd’p hsknl flajle Fbld Zwydul cynj qasx bla vbswtbvp.

Wzknjlakdt bla lulp wr, Fbld Zwydul ypjle nyzxzu, “Rp vblal y rasczlx, Xqqknla Kkydt? Rq kv kp ycswv lyazkla, es R byhl vbl aktbv vs vyjl vbl qkqvb?”

Lseekdt bkp blye, Kkydt Vyd nbydtle vbl vsrkn yde vwadle vs nsdqkax, “Gal usw nlavykd yzz vbl nzwlp usw byhl xldvksdle, kdnzwekdt vbl zlye ycswv y nbkrrle xwaela olyrsd, yal vawl yde alzkyczl?”

“‌Of course.”

With the fortune of experiencing the previous two actual events, Shen Yuanye had never questioned the authenticity of Weibo. After all, it would merely be a waste of time since Weibo already had a particularly strong sense of existence.

As he got to his feet, Jiang Pan’s height was so great that it gave others a tremendous sense of oppression.

Looking down at the seated Shen Yuanye, he warned in a low voice, “I’m not sure where you have gotten hold of these clues, but under the current situation, I do hope that you aren’t lying.”

With that said, he went straight for the main door. Just when he placed his hand on the doorknob, he let his gaze draw to a magazine on the side cabinet.

Jiang Pan halted dead in his tracks before looking over his shoulder. 

The exceptionally alluring painted gaze of the woman on the front cover differed so significantly from the calm and argumentative Shen Yuanye who was just seated before him.

Shen Yuanye’s voice rang out behind, “What are you still doing here?”

“The magazine was shot beautifully.”

Upon hearing that, Shen Yuanye was rendered stunned. By the time she finally returned from this trance, the door was already closed. Suddenly, the nippy wind from the outside entered the apartment before dissipating amid the heat.

***

At this very moment, several police officers were standing in Zhang Zhuyuan’s apartment.

As soon as Liu Heyang raised a question about the whereabouts of his shoes, his suspicion was aroused instantly by the other party’s stammering. As such, it resulted in the both of them being at a stalemate.

Seated on the opposite side, Zhang Zhuyuan stated calmly, “I’ve not killed anyone. All I have done is merely chuck away a pair of shoes. So, based on this point, you are now holding me in suspicion of murder? This is defamation.”

Upon hearing that, Liu Heyang corrected him quietly, “You have misunderstood the definition of defamation, sir.”

Just as he was about to go on, the door was pushed open. Striding into the room, Jiang Pan questioned, “Where is it?”

Bolting to his feet, Liu Heyang informed, “It’s over there, and everything has been put to order. Also, we have found a fruit knife in the kitchen.”

The coroner had already provided an autopsy report at the beginning of the month, for which it was determined that the cause of Huang Ni’s death was the laceration of an artery in her neck area, leading to her bleeding out.

Apart from that, there were no other wounds found on her body. After numerous validations, they have finally concluded that the fatal injury was inline with the characteristics of a fruit knife.

All of a sudden, Jiang Pan questioned, “Do all three of them have fruit knives in their homes?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Liu Heyang was taken aback for a moment. Not before long, he recalled, “Both Wang Zhi and Zhang Zhuyuan had fruit knives in their home, but Liu Zijie did not. However, he explained that he has never eaten anything in his apartment.”

Amidst the three of them, Zhang Zhuyuan was initially the least probable suspect since he had a roommate.

What’s more, it was a known fact that he had once attacked her in private with a torrent of abuse. Hence, he did not appear to be a meticulous person.

Today, however, they had become significantly more suspicious of him.

In continuation, someone’s voice rang from behind, “There are no remnants of blood staining the surface of the two knives, but we have already packed them away to be brought back for further examinations.”

If something were to be tested out positive, they would then be able to solve this case.

Raising his eyebrow, Jiang Pan instructed, “Bring them over.”

Immediately right after, a police officer from downstairs had brought over two transparent evidence bags and placed them neatly on the table before them.

From the sidelines, Liu Heyang explained, “Although they may not be of the same brand, these knives are basically identical. There is not much of a difference noticed in their blade and handle, as well as the entire length and thickness.”

With that, Jiang Pan let out a sound of acknowledgment before crouching down.

One look was all it took to determine that there were traces of recent use on these knives. Slipping on a pair of white gloves, he flipped the bags inside out with his long, slender fingers.

“Why are you shaking your head, Captain Jiang?” asked Liu Heyang.

Even so, Jiang Pan remained silent.

If what Shen Yuanye said was right, neither of these knives was a murder weapon. In that case, this was an absolutely useless discovery…… Be that as it may, there was no way for him to utter words like this.

“Have you found a chipped knife in any of the apartments?” Without further ado, he removed his gloves before throwing them onto the table. 

“No, I haven’t.”

With that, it had, yet again, marked another dead end.

Jiang Pan’s eyes, all of a sudden, were trained on Zhang Zhuyuan’s body. “You are currently suspected of Huang Ni’s murder. If you do not specify the sneakers’ whereabouts clearly, we can always have a chat elsewhere.”

At this juncture, Zhang Zhuyuan’s face took on a ghastly expression.

Sure, Liu Heyang might have been easy to talk to, but regardless of his appearance or aura, this person before him was vastly different. As such, he deemed that it was unlikely for him to charm his way out of answering.

Gritting his teeth, he answered, “The shoes had been stolen by a man.”

“A man?” asked Liu Heyang, flabbergasted.

In response, Zhang Zhuyuan nodded his head. 

Now that he had revealed the truth, he could not help but heave a sigh of relief. Hastily, he added, “I am really not the murderer. Although I may have thought that Huang Ni was a sl*t, that surely does not equate to me killing her, right?”

Once again, he emphasized, “I did not kill anyone.”

Noncommittally, Jiang Pan took a seat opposite of Zhang Zhuyuan before stating, “Explain.”

Upon hearing that, Zhang Zhuyuan’s complexion looked somewhat better. Without any hesitation, he recounted what had happened some time ago in bits and pieces. “I was planning to head home on the 15th, to be exact. Later in the day, I felt rather unwell and did not want to take the car. So, I decided to head back to the apartment. As soon as I laid on the bed, I fell asleep instantly…….”

By the time he woke up that day, it was already dark outside.

At this juncture, he could not even be bothered to budge and practically laid still like a corpse on his bed. Only when he felt that his throat was so parched did he decide to get off the bed to grab some water. At that very moment, he heard a noise resonating from outside his room as he sat up from the bed. 

However, the “locked” door to his bedroom stood ajar.

Zhang Zhuyuan’s roommate, on the other hand, had something on in his work schedule that day, so it was impossible for him to return at that time. Thinking that it could be a burglar, he crept to the back of his door silently.

In the tower lights streaming through the living room windows, he had spotted a silhouette, which was clearly a male, at the entryway. 

“My shoes were stolen just like that.” With that, Zhang Zhuyuan ended his recollection with a shrug of his shoulders.

Upon hearing that, Liu Heyang could not help but accuse, “It is merely a trifle, yet you were coy about this. Aren’t you just attempting to hinder our investigations?”

Zhang Zhuyuan choked, “A grown man, like myself, could only sit by and watch as my shoes got stolen. If this were ever to be leaked out, what would become of my fans? Don’t you think I’d like to preserve some dignity as well?” 

Liu Heyang whispered, “It’s not like you have that many fans, anyway.”

On the contrary, Zhang Zhuyuan’s eyes roved towards Jiang Pan. “Office Jiang, right? As I have mentioned before, I have not killed anyone, and that is all that has occurred that day. If you still don’t believe me, there is not much else I can do.”

With his fingers clasped on his leg, Jiang Pan had not said a single word, as he mulled over Zhang Zhuyuan’s words.

“‌What’s more, why on earth would someone be wearing a pair of white sneakers to kill someone right in the middle of winter…….” Halfway through his complaints, he broke off all of a sudden. Leaping from the sofa, he exclaimed, “Could it be that the person who stole my shoes intends to frame me?!”

It was as though Zhang Zhuyuan had acquired sudden enlightenment. “It must be so! The person stole my shoes and wore them to murder someone. That way, the police will definitely be on me while he goes scot-free…… F*ck! If I were to find out who that person is, I must kill him with my bare hands!”

Scrunching his face, Liu Heyang called out exasperatedly, “Captain Jiang.”

……

At this juncture, Shen Yuanye felt that she had to put her wits to use.

Regardless of how many times she had seen the picture, she still had a nagging hunch that she had missed out on something. Ever since her Weibo had garnered the ability to tell one’s fortune, she would always be able to find something different each time she used it.

It was only after much thorough scrutiny was she able to discover Zhang Wentao’s address previously. Otherwise, she reckoned things would have been very different if she had missed it back then.

This time, however, the situation was far more complex.

On second thought, she decided to purchase a magnifying glass from a small supermart downstairs. “Do you happen to sell magnifying glasses here?”

Upon hearing her question, the cashier replied, “Yes, we do. Please head towards the third aisle, and you will see them right on the top shelf.”

As soon as she arrived, she began searching for a relatively larger magnifying glass and found that it was able to amplify things just fine. With this in hand, she was now able to read tiny words perfectly well.

Only then did she grab her phone and follow Huang Ni on Weibo. After scrolling to the Picture of the Death Scene at the bottommost page, she aligned her phone screen beneath the magnifying glass.

The pixels of Weibo’s black technology were indeed superb.

Shen Yuanye could not help but marvel at the fact that she was still able to see the patterns on the blade after magnifying the image countless times. Following on, she finally reached the knife handle.

Apart from the black trousers leg reflected in a small portion of the exposed blade, the other bit revealed something glowing with light. However, it was simply far too small, so it appeared very blurry.

Thus, Shen Yuanye took the time to deduce all that she knew thoroughly.

At the end of the day, the blade was merely of that size. In accordance with the ratio of the murderer’s height and the light in the house, this should probably be something the murderer had on the lower half of his body.

Namely, something that he had either worn on his trousers or his hand.

However, it was quite impossible for anyone to have something so bright on their trousers. Under the current circumstances, it could only be something that he had worn on his hand, perhaps an accessory of some sort.

At this moment, the picture gradually disappeared.

Feeling exceptionally motivated, Shen Yuanye, once again, followed Huang Ni on Weibo. With her magnifying glass in place, her eyes were riveted on the light.

In the picture, the light was just so tiny.

Hurriedly, Shen Yuanye rushed to her room and began trying out all her watches and bracelets in succession. Only then did she discover that the light in the picture was, in fact, pretty big.

Through this experimentation, she speculated that it might have been a ring.

When it came to wearing rings, ordinary folks generally would not hold any special meaning to it. After all, the person would either wear one regularly or did not have the habit of wearing any at all. If one were to execute a murder, it would unlikely for him go out of his way to wear a ring. As such, that would indicate that the murderer wore a ring frequently and did not remove it when he killed someone.

In other words, the murderer might be a man who wore a ring and a pair of white sneakers.

With this in mind, Shen Yuanye could not help but be rendered stunned by her very own deductions.

Setting the magnifying glass aside in haste, she began searching her call history for Jiang Pan promptly. Without giving it much of a thought, she dialed the number.

Before she knew it, a dull voice resounded from the other end of the line. “Miss Shen.”

Taking her ear between her thumb and forefinger, Shen Yuanye disclosed, “I have a new clue, Officer Jiang. Believe it or not, that murderer has a habit of wearing a ring. Even if it’s not a ring, it should be a watch or a bracelet of some sort.”

Due to the immense amount of information, it took Jiang Pan a moment to wrap his head around it. “Miss Shen, how on earth did you……”

In a seemingly normal fashion, Shen Yuanye interrupted him. “I can tell fortunes.”

Seeing how she was able to fool Zhang Wentao previously, fortune-telling was definitely the best cover that she could ask for. Similarly, she would then be able to prevaricate this time, especially when the other party had absolutely no clue whether she was speaking the truth or not. 

“Fortune-telling?” After saying so, a burst of laughter emitted from Jiang Pan’s throat.

Before his voice had completely faded away, Shen Yuanye made a sound of affirmation calmly.

Noting down the information she had relayed earlier, Jiang Pan could not restrain his curiosity and challenged, “If you really do dabble in fortune-telling, Miss Shen, why don’t you tell my fortune?”

The author has something to say:

Jiang Pan: Miss Shen.

Yuanye: Officer Jiang.

All of a sudden, I find that the way they address each other is pretty identical. Haha~