Chapter 8: Only Those Who Have Killed Can Have Such a Reaction

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S City East District Police Station.
Inside a conference room.
Everyone looked exhausted, having stayed up all night. Some were clearly struggling to keep going, but the weight on their shoulders left no one daring to rest.
“Xiao Wang, give us a brief rundown of the situation.”
Wen Ke usually smoked, but hesitated this time and instead reached for a cup of coffee.
The colleague whose name was called stepped to the front of the room. On the screen above, details of the early morning villa murder case were playing.
“Victim: Zhuo Yan.”
“Female, 29 years old.”
“Occupation: Chinese language teacher at Mingzhi Elementary School in S City.”
“According to the forensic examiner’s rough estimate, the time of death was between 9:30 p.m. and midnight last night. It was a fatal blow; there were no signs of struggle at the scene.”
The PPT on the wall displayed the woman’s information comprehensively.
“Have we checked the victim’s social network?”
Wen Ke turned to another colleague.
The colleague nodded, “After investigation, the victim’s social ties were very clean. Apart from colleagues and students at the school, she had almost no other daily contacts.”
“The victim’s parents died in a car accident three years ago, and since she wasn’t a local of S City, we have yet to contact any relatives.”
Such a clean background?
Wen Ke frowned.
Still deep in thought, a colleague pulled a sheet from the files and handed it to Wen Ke: “However, I found that the victim had an ex-boyfriend. They broke up six months ago. His name is Zhuang Dong, and he was also a teacher at Mingzhi Elementary.”
Wen Ke rubbed her temples. “Get in touch with him and bring him to the station for questioning.”
The colleague looked awkward. “Captain Wen, this man can’t come back anytime soon. He’s out of town. He resigned from Mingzhi Elementary six months ago due to a job transfer.”
“I checked his recent entries and exits; he hasn’t returned to S City even once since leaving.”
The case had stalled again.
Wen Ke knew that with a murder case like this, rushing was futile; impatience only led to mistakes.
“There’s one more thing,” the colleague added.
“The victim hadn’t been to work for half a month. According to the school staff, she took a month off, citing health issues requiring rest and medical treatment.”
Wen Ke jotted notes, extracting all the key details.
Finally, tapping the table lightly with her pen, she looked at Xiao Wang next to the PPT: “What about the villa owner’s information?”
At her prompt, Xiao Wang pressed the remote, and the PPT switched to the next slide.
“The homeowner of Villa #14 is An Shi.”

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“A renowned psychologist.”
“Male, 54 years old.”
“However, he’s been missing for a week now.”
Wen Ke suddenly straightened, her expression grave. “Missing for a whole week?”
Xiao Wang nodded, “An Shi has no friends or relatives here in S City. The person who reported him missing a week ago was the villa’s cleaning lady.”
Wen Ke said nothing, staring at An Shi’s photo on the screen, lost in thought.
What connection could there be between a well-off 54-year-old psychologist and a 29-year-old Chinese teacher with a simple social circle?
No one disturbed Wen Ke’s silence.
After a long pause, she finally asked, “Any other information?”
Xiao Wang shook his head, “We’re trying to get the surveillance footage from the villa district manager for last night. Also, fingerprint comparison on the murder weapon will take about a day.”
That was all the progress so far.
Wen Ke nodded in understanding. “Alright, dismissed for now. Rest if you can; the real battle is just beginning.”
After everyone left, Wen Ke sat alone, studying the key points she had circled.
Her mind involuntarily flashed to Lu Yuan’s face from that morning.
She rummaged through her briefcase and pulled out Lu Yuan’s statement from yesterday, reading every word carefully.
She had a strong feeling that the middle-aged man Lu Yuan mentioned was An Shi.
If this guess was correct, it meant that the missing An Shi had found Lu Yuan and clashed with him.
With this in mind, Wen Ke saved An Shi’s photo to her phone and hurriedly left the station, driving to Lu Yuan’s psychology clinic.
Meanwhile, inside the psychology clinic.
Lu Yuan had the sofa removed, making the space noticeably more open.
He sat in a chair, dazed, fragments of last night’s dream flickering through his mind. He tried not to recall it, but the moment he closed his eyes, the images flooded back.
More importantly, Lu Yuan was now afraid to sleep.
He feared that once asleep, he would be pulled back into that eerie world again.
He looked down at his hands, which were clean, but in a daze, he saw them covered in blood.
The woman’s dying expression appeared before him once more.
Suddenly, Lu Yuan staggered toward the bathroom, turning on the tap and scrubbing his hands repeatedly. His hands were clean, yet seemed soiled with filth.
His spirit was unsteady, and his steps wobbled.
He knew he was ill.
As a psychologist, Lu Yuan understood clearly that he was exhibiting early signs of mental illness—mania and schizophrenia.

Page 3 of 3
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Outside, Wen Ke waited quietly.
After a long while with no answer, a bad feeling crept into her mind. Just as she was about to kick the door open, it suddenly swung open.
Wen Ke’s raised leg froze awkwardly in mid-air.
But when she saw Lu Yuan’s condition, her embarrassment vanished instantly. “What happened to you?”
Lu Yuan’s face was pale, his eyes vacant. Water droplets still dripped from his face and hands, as if he had just been caught in a downpour.
Seeing Wen Ke clearly, he stepped aside. “Captain Wen, what brings you here?”
Wen Ke stepped inside, casually supporting Lu Yuan, then paused: “Where did your clinic’s sofa go?”
“I sold it.”
Lu Yuan coughed a few times.
Sold it?
Wen Ke’s expression turned strange.
Lu Yuan explained, “My clinic’s business is poor. With so few patients, I couldn’t make ends meet, so I had to sell some furniture to get by.”
Wen Ke didn’t press further and helped Lu Yuan sit down. “You’re a top graduate from a prestigious university. Even with few patients, you shouldn’t have fallen on such hard times.”
Lu Yuan said nothing, instead looking up at Wen Ke weakly: “Captain Wen, what do you need from me?”
Wen Ke pulled out her phone and showed him An Shi’s photo. “The middle-aged man you mentioned yesterday… is this him?”
In an instant, Wen Ke saw Lu Yuan’s expression change dramatically, as if he had seen something terrifying.
He didn’t want to see this face.
Whenever he saw it, he recalled the memories of killing someone while wearing that face last night.
Lu Yuan gripped Wen Ke’s wrist tightly, the force enough to make her frown. Such a reaction was something only killers with some lingering conscience displayed.
Fear.
Avoidance.
Even a suffocating sense of dread.
Such genuine emotion could not be faked unless experienced firsthand.
Wen Ke’s gaze sharpened instantly. Hearing Lu Yuan confess to murder now, she believed him at least eighty percent.