Replacing the Evil Way

Chapter 46: Serial Murder

Lin Heyu was touched on the waist by Cheng Zesheng.

Why would he touch there? Why did he touch the waist?

He Wei looked past him toward the kitchen. Cheng Zesheng was probably inside and might not have realized he had just encountered a stranger. After all, without He Wei’s explanation, Cheng Zesheng wouldn’t know there was a guest in the house.

Cheng Zesheng also came out from the kitchen and happened to be standing just to the right and behind Lin Heyu. He was wondering why He Wei was acting so strangely today—no words, no taking of things—was he throwing a tantrum?

Now, the three of them were positioned in an obtuse-angled triangle. He Wei and Lin Heyu couldn’t see Cheng Zesheng, and Cheng Zesheng couldn’t see the two people in the house either. However, it seemed that they were all aware of each other’s presence, and they stood there, none of them taking a step forward.

Finally, He Wei broke the silence and told Lin Heyu not to misunderstand. The ghosts in his house were very proper and would never “intentionally” do something like this.

“It really touched me,” Lin Heyu said calmly and innocently. A nearly 1.9-meter tall, wheat-skinned northern guy was now advocating for his not-so-valuable waist.

“Don’t worry, he definitely doesn’t know he touched you.”

Lin Heyu keenly perceived the hidden meaning in this statement: “He thought he was touching you?”

“…” He Wei quickly denied, “No.”

“Then who was it?”

“No one, it’s just that it wasn’t intentional.” He Wei changed the subject, “Aren’t you afraid?”

Lin Heyu shook his head. Perhaps because there were “mysterious friends” around him as well, he wasn’t surprised by what seemed like “haunting” phenomena. But what was even more bizarre about He Wei was that, even without the most basic conditions of sound being met, he could still make physical contact with others without their noticing.

What he didn’t know was that He Wei and Cheng Zesheng had indeed initially communicated through sound. However, as the infiltration of the two parallel worlds deepened, the nature of the node began to change. Now, they didn’t have to wait until midnight to hear each other’s voices. With a bit more attention, they could see each other for a few seconds and, if lucky, even touch each other.

Today, the node had developed a new magical state: they could directly interact with each other’s worlds without seeing or hearing them.

He Wei rubbed his temple, feeling that this node was like an emotionally unstable child. It would let them meet when it was in a good mood, not allow them to hear each other when it was not, and occasionally play some small pranks. The adorable moments were always so fleeting, which was quite distressing.

“It’s a small matter; don’t mind it,” Lin Heyu said, inserting his index finger into the ring pull and opening the cold cola. He returned to the sofa and sat down, leaving He Wei somewhat baffled. Wasn’t he the one who kept emphasizing that he had been touched inappropriately by a lecher? Why was he suddenly so nonchalant, as if it didn’t matter anymore?

Cheng Zesheng also didn’t know what had happened, so he shrugged and went to take a shower. Lin Heyu heard the sound of water coming from the bathroom, and his gaze became meaningful. He Wei remained unfazed, “He’s just clean, and he knows I’m a bit of a clean freak. That’s a good thing.”

Lin Heyu didn’t respond. After a while, he asked softly, “You two get along well?”

“Uh, it’s alright. He’s a good person.” He Wei opened a package on the table and took out some spicy chicken feet, “He often brings things back.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Lin Heyu nodded and then remembered something, “Does he know you have allergies?”

“He knows. He only buys things I can eat.”

“Yeah, he probably likes you.”

He Wei’s motion of picking up a chicken foot paused, and he reached out to touch Lin Heyu’s forehead, “Are you sick? You’re talking nonsense. He’s a guy, not a ghost from a romantic story.”

Lin Heyu fell silent again. After sitting for a while and realizing it wasn’t early, he said he should go back to the guest house and rest early. He had to conduct surveillance and apprehend people the next day.

He Wei walked him to the door. Just as the door closed, he heard wet footsteps behind him, and a damp mist spread. He turned around, only to bump right into Cheng Zesheng.

This time, it was a definite all-around collision. Cheng Zesheng was wearing shorts and had his upper body bare, drying his hair. Seeing the door open, he walked toward the entrance to take a look. Unexpectedly, he suddenly encountered someone and collided with them. Cheng Zesheng instinctively grabbed his arm, and only then did he realize it was He Wei.

“Did you go out?” Cheng Zesheng asked.

“No, I was sending a friend,” He Wei replied with a slight frown. Cheng Zesheng’s body carried the warmth of the bathroom’s steam along with the scent of shampoo, enveloping them both. They were almost pressed together, the proximity too close, close enough to make him feel uncomfortable all over, his heart and temples thudding.

Cheng Zesheng was momentarily taken aback, realizing that someone had come to the house. He immediately thought of the peculiar incident in the kitchen earlier. “Wasn’t the person I bumped into just now you?”

“Well, my friend.”

Cheng Zesheng’s other hand rested on He Wei’s waist, and he nonchalantly rubbed against it. It did seem like it wasn’t him—the touch was different. He Wei’s waist was softer and more flexible, and it felt better to the touch.

“…” He Wei lifted his elbow, freeing himself from Cheng Zesheng’s hand, and stepped back a pace. “He’s right.”

“What?” Just as Cheng Zesheng got distracted, He Wei disappeared.

What did your friend say? Say it before disappearing.

———

The series of murders in Haijing City occurred in October of last year and in April of this year. The victims were both women, aged 21 and 24. One was a student, the other a stand-in actress. Despite their clothes being intact upon death, autopsies revealed signs of s*xual assault, with letters written on their chests using lipstick—an “L” on one and a “V” on the other. Additionally, luxury brand items were found in their clothing and bags. As a result, this serial killer was dubbed as the “LV Killer.”

Leading the investigation was Lin Heyu, the chief of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Haijing City Public Security Bureau. Initially, this case wasn’t his. When the first murder occurred in October of last year, it hadn’t been reported by the sub-bureau, and the city bureau hadn’t received any information either. It wasn’t until the second murder in April of this year, with a similar modus operandi, that the two cases were linked and forwarded to the city bureau for handling.

Upon receiving the case files, Lin Heyu began re-evaluating the evidence based on the common characteristics of the two victims and the evidence collected from the crime scenes. Following the investigation, a suspect named Zhao Shen, a former KTV waiter, was identified. However, Zhao Shen had left his job by the end of April, and when the police arrived at his home, only his girlfriend was there, saying he had left in a hurry a week ago, taking a high-speed train to Shengzhou City.

Through investigation, it was discovered that Zhao Shen had a cousin named Zhao Yang living in Shengzhou City who sold tiles in a decorative materials market. The Division Captain speculated that Zhao Shen might have gone to seek refuge with his relative to evade police pursuit. As a result, Lin Heyu was dispatched with two colleagues to Shengzhou City, aiming to apprehend Zhao Shen as quickly as possible.

Zhao Shen had fled Haijing City at the end of April, and nearly ten days had passed since then. Based on the timeline, if he had gone to his cousin Zhao Yang, the two would have already met, arranged a place to stay, and settled in. He Wei led a team to follow Lin Heyu and conduct investigations near Zhao Yang’s home, and they also questioned Zhao Yang himself. The results were surprising:

Zhao Shen hadn’t come looking for him. He had indeed sent a message saying he was coming to Shengzhou City to visit and asking if he could stay at his place. Zhao Yang had readily agreed, even tidying up the room. However, days went by with no sign of Zhao Shen. His phone was off, and he never arrived. 

Lin Heyu immediately started reviewing the surveillance footage from the high-speed rail station. Amidst the bustling crowd, he spotted Zhao Shen leaving the station with a bag. However, once he left the square, his trail vanished. Hotels and accommodations now have strict management; even guesthouses require ID registration. After checking the records of various hotels, inns, and lodges in Shengzhou City, there was no record of Zhao Shen staying at any of them. There was a good chance he was staying with an acquaintance.

But who could this acquaintance be? A person who grew up in Haijing City, had only been to Shengzhou City a few times, and wasn’t familiar with the area. In his state of fleeing, who could he trust more than his cousin?

“Perhaps he guessed that the police would find Zhao Yang, so he didn’t dare to go to him,” Zou Bin suggested.

“If he had really thought of that, he wouldn’t have come to Shengzhou City,” He Wei said as he watched the surveillance footage, replaying it a few times. “He did send a message, indeed contacting someone, but not his cousin Zhao Yang.”

“Reporting to his girlfriend?” Yun Xiaoxiao guessed.

Lin Heyu denied that assumption because after Zhao Shen’s escape, the mobile phones of his parents, including his girlfriend, were all monitored, and they hadn’t received any messages from Zhao Shen to this day.

“Did you check the taxi companies?” He Wei asked.

“We’re in the process of checking. It happened to coincide with the May Day holiday rush, and the passenger flow was exceptionally high, so the investigation will take some time,” Hu Songkai said.

Lin Heyu stared at the surveillance footage. The high-speed rail station wasn’t a new one; it was the old “Shengzhou Station,” the first to be constructed in Shengzhou City. The surveillance equipment here wasn’t as advanced or abundant as at the later-built South Station. The cameras’ positions weren’t as extensive. Zhao Shen’s final appearance in the footage was when he left the square carrying a small brown luggage bag. The cameras at the exits hadn’t captured his image, indicating he might have gone straight to the basement floor to hail a taxi or been picked up by someone.

“So, are you saying we have to investigate all the vehicles that entered and exited the train station that day?” Chongzhen exclaimed in surprise. “How long will that take? It’ll be next month before we’re done with all of them, right?”

“If we don’t have a specific target, this kind of investigation would indeed be time-consuming and exhausting, and there’s no guarantee of results.” He Wei mused, stroking his chin as he meticulously reviewed the footage frame by frame. After Zhao Shen exited the station, he followed the crowd to the square, holding his phone in one hand and incessantly typing with his thumb, as if texting. When he reached the exit of the square, he suddenly raised his phone, shook it a couple of times, and then walked out of the camera’s view, disappearing.

He Wei rewound the footage and watched it again, freezing the frame on that scene. He asked, “What do modern people fear the most when going out?”

“Forgetting their wallet?”

“Losing their keys?”

Lin Heyu was momentarily stunned, then immediately instructed Wen Huaibei to lead a team to check the shops around the square.

He Wei chuckled, “You’re quick to react.”

Lin Heyu didn’t take pleasure in his praise, as this detail had been spotted by those poisonous eyes of He Wei first. His insight was too terrifying; back in college, He Wei’s perceptiveness had impressed Lin Heyu, and over the years, it had become even more uncanny and frightening.

“I’ll think of it next time.” Lin Heyu said.

The colleagues in the office were still puzzled. Why did he suddenly go check the shops? What were these two talking about?

Yun Xiaoxiao was curious and asked, “Captain, what’s going on?”

“Once you figure out the answer to what modern people fear the most when going out, you’ll understand.”

“I’m most afraid of forgetting my phone…” Yun Xiaoxiao mumbled.

Chong Zhen had a sudden realization and slapped his thigh, “His phone must have run out of battery!”

“Huh?” Zou Bin was still lost. How did they deduce that his phone had run out of battery?

Hu Songkai wore a knowing expression as if to say, “Can’t you see? We couldn’t see it either. We have to ask the sharp-eyed Lao He.”

Lin Heyu, who had been silent, pointed at the screen. “His phone’s screen is black. It’s turned off automatically.”