Ba ethnic group's bewitching charm - the executioner - Chapter 49
The sudden change surprised everyone, except Yang Zheng. Yang Zheng suddenly broke free from Liu Hongzhong, rushed forward, and kicked the household registration policeman hard in the face, sending him sprawling backward.
"Go to hell! I really don't understand why I didn't kill you!"
The police officer struggled to sit up, blood already trickling from the corner of his mouth: "You've killed someone, you're a murderer."
The room fell silent immediately, and all eyes turned to Yang Zheng. Yang Zheng stared blankly at the police officer in charge of household registration; though anger still lingered in his eyes, it had lost all its offensive power.
Yes, he was a murderer. He killed his friend Robin, as well as another strange person.
He was no different from the household registration police.
He slowly turned around, his eyes filled with deep despair as he passed Yang Mei. Although he no longer wanted to hide his feelings for Yang Mei, he still had to harden his heart and send her here. Yang Mei had disagreed with his decision, which was why they had argued. Yang Zheng knew he was right; to love her was to leave her, and only in this way could he protect her from harm.
"I don't really want to leave you, just temporarily. If we're alone together, that fragrance might reappear at any time, and we'll fall asleep again. I really don't want to wake up and find that I've hurt you." Yang Zheng's heart ached as he said these words.
The past vividly resurfaced before his eyes; the girl he once deeply loved had gone to a cold and dark world.
"You are the murderer!" the police officer shouted loudly behind him.
Yang Zheng trembled slightly, but continued walking slowly out of the room. Yang Mei was emotional, turned to face the wall, her shoulders shaking, clearly crying silently.
Ma Nan and Liu Hongzhong looked at each other, wanting to go up and comfort Yang Mei, but they didn't know what to say.
Just then, Liu Hongzhong suddenly patted Ma Nan on the shoulder, gesturing for him to look at the television hanging in the corner. An image appeared on the television, seemingly out of nowhere, showing one of the eight rooms in the room. In the center of the room was a man tied to a chair, his head covered by a black cloth bag. At that moment, another masked man slowly walked up behind him, holding a hammer and a chisel.
Death happened in an instant; the masked man ended a life in a flash.
Ma Nan immediately recognized it as the punishment of "scraping the top of the head" mentioned in the newspaper.
The scene continued, and what happened next was completely unexpected. The man wearing the executioner's mask actually removed his own mask and untied the cloth bag from the victim's head.
Although the footage was not very clear, everyone present immediately recognized the murderer as Yang Zheng.
"I knew he was the murderer! He's the one who brought us here!" the police officer shouted, his gaze sweeping over Yang Mei, Liu Hongzhong, and Ma Nan, as if trying to gain their support.
“But look at his expression at the end, he seemed shocked and desperate. That’s not the look a serial killer should have,” Ma Nan said seriously.
"What does it matter? He killed someone, we all saw it. He was wearing a mask, he was the detective!"
"What if he kills us all too?" the timid Liu Hongzhong asked hesitantly.
"He brought us here to kill us. If you don't want to die, there's only one way," the police officer said, glaring at Liu Hongzhong, enunciating each word clearly, "We'll kill him before he kills us!"
Liu Hongzhong stared wide-eyed, unable to process what had just happened. Meanwhile, Yang Mei suddenly turned around and stared at the police officer in charge of household registration.
"Killing him makes you murderers too!"
“But we can’t just sit here and wait for him to kill us all.” The police officer in charge of household registration was clearly also very agitated.
"At least I know he wasn't the one who killed Zhao Sihai!" Yang Mei shouted. "I was with Zhao Sihai the whole time he died, we were never apart for a moment!"
The police officer in charge of household registration was speechless for a moment before finally managing to say, "But he really did kill someone, and he was even wearing the detective's mask."
"That's because the real detective threatened him that if he didn't kill someone, he would keep me locked in the same room with you!" Yang Mei was already in tears, and the sorrow in her eyes was like a sharp sword, piercing straight into the body of the household registration policeman.
The police officer's eyes darted around, hesitant to meet Yang Mei's gaze. He took a step back, slumped against the wall, and sat down on the floor without uttering a word. Yang Mei, meanwhile, stopped looking at anyone in the room and turned to leave.
"Where are you going?" Ma Nan hurried over to her.
"Go find Yang Zheng. Even if he doesn't want to stay with me, I don't want to see any of you."
Ma Nan paused for a moment, then said, "Why doesn't Yang Zheng want to stay with you? I can tell he actually cares about you a lot, otherwise he wouldn't have killed someone for you."
"This is none of your business," Yang Mei said coldly, then walked out the door.
Ma Nan seemed unaccustomed to arguing with women. He hesitated for a moment, watching Yang Mei's retreating figure, but still followed her out the door. In the corridor, Ma Nan rushed in front of Yang Mei and lowered his voice: "Yang Zheng likes you, but if he's going to push you onto us, the only answer I can think of is that he's hiding some secrets we don't know."
“What does this have to do with you?” Yang Mei said.
“Perhaps it has something to do with all of us.” Ma Nan frowned. “The real killer brought us all here not just to kill us. I suspect there must be some other conspiracy behind this.”
Yang Mei paused for a moment, then remained silent.
“We are all in the same boat now. The only way to survive is to work together. I believe that even if Yang Zheng really did kill someone, he is definitely not the real mastermind behind it all.”
Yang Mei's expression softened a bit: "So what do you want to do now?"
“It’s dangerous for anyone to be alone these days, whether it’s you or Yang Zheng,” Ma Nan said after thinking for a moment. “I have an idea. Since Yang Zheng doesn’t want to be alone with you, why don’t I go with you to Yang Zheng’s place? That way, the rest of us can look after each other.”
Yang Mei was still hesitant: "I just don't know if Yang Zheng is willing."
"But at least we can give it a try, right? You wouldn't want Yang Zheng to be alone in the room and become the murderer's next target, would you?"
Yang Mei stared blankly at Ma Nan, seemingly trying to discern his true intentions. But in the end, she let out a soft sigh, lowered her head, and walked forward with Ma Nan.
In this situation, why would she want to be alone in a cold room? Even if she were to die, dying with the man she loved would be better than dying alone.
Chapter 30
When Qin Ge returned to the criminal investigation team, He Lan had already placed a document on his desk.
Li Jianjun confessed to selling the photos to the administrators of the murder group, and that the transaction was completed via online banking transfer. Later, in front of Qin Ge, Li Jianjun logged into online banking and downloaded the historical transaction details.
Once the detailed accounts were printed out, it didn't take much effort to find out the specific time of the transaction with the criminal investigator.
The online bill didn't include the recipient's card number, but that's no longer a problem. A while ago, there was a case at the bank, and Qin Ge, while handling the case, interacted with several of the bank's executives. He had a good personal relationship with two of them; after the case was over, they would even meet up for meals and chats.
If it were a strictly official matter, the other party's card number would not be available until the next workday. However, Qin Ge simply made a phone call to a senior executive at the bank, and half an hour later, not only the other party's card number but also a copy of the cardholder's ID card were faxed to the criminal investigation team.