The Amber Part 3
Sheng Yao and Su Junzi questioned a round in the prison, and heard that this buddy—Amber Killer, Wu Ju—had actually been rather popular before death. There really were a few people who visited him when he was waiting for his death penalty. And even people who sent things over.
They included Wu Ju"s biological mother—but this old lady had already pa.s.sed away last year. Wu Ju"s younger brother with the same mother but different father was called Wu Zhida. Yang Man and An Yining efficiently called the local police and found out that Wu Zhida was still living in the old residence of the Wu family, unmarried. After his mother died, he lived alone.
There were also a few crazy arts students who heard of Wu Ju"s extreme "artsy" behaviour. They felt that although it was a little disgusting, he can still be considered as a forerunner, so they attempted to come over to visit this perverse murderer. But because they dressed up far too Mars-like, they were blocked outside the door by the conservative indigenous Earthian prison officers.
Other than that, they heard the prison officer responsible for guarding Wu Ju back then say that someone sent over a basket of flowers anonymously. Because the source was unclear, it was confiscated. After that, it was left unsettled.
The prison was one of the easiest places to investigate. Visitors were all recorded down in detail. Sheng Yao and Su Junzi didn"t expend much effort to obtain the names and I.D. numbers of those art students. They pa.s.sed it to An Yining and Yang Man to investigate. Seeing that there was nothing else new, they returned to the bureau.
The car was just driven to the entrance when Sheng Yao saw a woman standing at the main entrance, her side profile facing them. She looked rather young, but she was wearing black clothes that made her seem completely old-fashioned.
He thought this woman was a little familiar to his eyes, so he shot two more looks at her. It was right then that the woman heard the sound and turned her head around.
This was a woman who can be considered very pretty, but for some reason, that pair of eyes on her young, pale face was filled with a depressing air of death. The contrast made her seem a little like she wasn"t alive. Sheng Yao was startled and drew down the window. "It"s you?"
Su Junzi looked at her carefully beside him and also found her a little familiar, but he didn"t manage to tell who she was. "Sheng Yao, who is this lady?"
"You don"t remember? Three years ago, when we caught the Amber Killer, the only lucky survivor—the lady who would have lost her life if we arrived a little later—is called…" Sheng Yao paused peculiarly for a moment. Not being able to recall the name of such a pretty lady was very impolite and made him feel a little awkward.
Luckily, the lady said it out herself. "I"m called Jin Qiu, Inspector Sheng, Inspector Su."
Once Su Junzi looked, sure enough it was her. Except that when Jin Qiu was saved back then, she was already terribly tormented by that degenerate. Her cheeks were even hollowed inwards, with wounds all over her body. Right now, her air seemed to be a little better, although it seemed like the shadow of the trauma was still shrouding her, as though it"ll never depart. But at least, her complexion right now was more suitable to face people, and her figure was also a little fatter. It was no wonder that he couldn"t recognize her in the beginning.
Su Junzi hurriedly got off the car, letting Sheng Yao park first while he led Jin Qiu in.
Internally, they vaguely understood the reason why Jin Qiu came. Before this case was transferred to them, An Yining mentioned that on the very day the warehouse of corpses was discovered, media who were on the job intervened. Honestly, the reporters" job integrity could still be improved. They didn"t enter the scene and didn"t see the corpses. They didn"t even know a d.a.m.n thing. But while the police were careless in their speech and slipped out one or two keywords, such as "gla.s.s tanks" or "Amber Killer" or something, they made up a bunch of nonsense chaotically.
What "Visitor from h.e.l.l Has Returned to the Human Realm" and, "Every Young Man and Woman in This City are in Danger Now"? This reporter friend might be a newcomer, impatient to be noticed by people. They might as well go write a horror story. At the very least, their ability in creating a horror atmosphere was excellent.
Although Mo Cong immediately broke the media"s antennas afterwards, a vague truth would only signify to double the terror. So in the outside world, the legend about the dead Amber Killer had instead become even more mysterious.
Jin Qiu was originally an ordinary university graduate. When she was harmed by that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, she had only just submitted her thesis and still hadn"t entered society.
Just like a flower, she was forcefully plucked from the stem before she could even bloom.
Afterwards, although she fortunately survived, she would probably carry the scars from that incident for her entire life. This Jin Qiu standing in front of them right now—a young lady of twenty-plus years old—was instead like an old woman. When she spoke, she often went off in a daze. Both of her hands were fastened together, on edge, her face disorientated, reminding people of the blank-faced Aunt Xianglin as penned under Lu Xun[1].
Su Junzi"s heart was full of sympathy and he led her to the office. He asked for a small bag of milk powder from An Yining, boiling it in hot water for her.
Jin Qiu"s hands were holding the cup of hot milk and she sat there with her head slightly lowered.
The four formed a circle as they sat beside her, each of them careful and not even daring to exhale loudly, fearful of scaring this girl. Even Yang Man restrained herself a lot more.
Su Junzi asked her gently, "Jin Qiu, why did you come? Did something happen?"
Jin Qiu shook her head, biting her lower lip.
Su Junzi attempted to ask another question, "Was it because you saw those nonsensical news?"
Jin Qiu began to quiver. It took a long time before she asked with a hoa.r.s.e voice, "Inspector Su, is it true?"
Su Junzi thought for a bit and decided to avoid the heavy matters and admit the trivial ones. "We do have a case on our hands but it"s definitely not done by that person. He has already been dead for many years now."
When he said the word "dead", Jin Qiu suddenly raised her head, the eyes that weren"t too quick-witted looked at Su Junzi fixedly. "Inspector Su, do you believe that ghosts exist in this world?"
Su Junzi thought mentally, Even if ghosts existed, I"m not afraid either. If someone like you stick out your tongue and put on a white dress, then you"ll really be remarkably like a ghost.
At this time, An Yining sat closer, taking Jin Qiu"s hand. This girl seemed like she hadn"t been in the sunlight often. Her fingers were pale and thin, so terrifyingly cold. They were both people similar in age, so An Yining"s heart ached a little. She said lightly, "No such thing at all. How can ghosts exist in this world? We are all atheists. Moreover, even if there are really ghosts, there are also all kinds of G.o.ds in Heaven, you know. They won"t allow these degenerates to come out and harm the human realm."
One of Jin Qiu"s hands was held, so she began to pinch at her clothes. It took a while before she said with a lowered, hoa.r.s.e voice, "Do you guys know? When I saw the t.i.tle on the newspaper, I was frozen in fear. Everyday, in these two days, I dreamed that… that person came back. I dreamed that I was like those girls, dreamed that… I…" She fiercely pulled back her own hand from An Yining, holding her face.
"Jin Qiu, don"t let your imagination run wild." An Yining comforted her.
"I"m not, my imagination isn"t running wild!" Jin Qiu violently put down her hands, two eyes reddened as she looked at An Yining. "Inspector An, last night, after I woke up from the nightmare and was shocked awake from my bed, I went out to drink some water and then I saw, I saw…"
Her voice was increasingly lowered. "I saw someone standing on the balcony! I screamed and woke up my family. They rushed into my room but that person had already disappeared. They found a shoe print there! Really, believe me, if it wasn"t for this, I won"t come to the police station! I didn"t go crazy, I didn"t go crazy!"
Yang Man took out a notebook from beside her, beginning to record her words. She asked, "How big was the shoeprint?"
JIn Qiu began to sob softly, "Around size for… forty-one or forty-two…"
The few people present shared a glance—the Amber Killer, Wu Ju, wore size forty-two.
Yang Man stood up. "I"m going to inform Leader Shen."
Su Junzi told Jin Qiu, "I"ll bring you back home. We"ll send people to protect you. Rest a.s.sured."
JIn Qiu silently stood up with him. When she heard these words, she lightly shook her head. "You guys can"t protect me. He came back. None of you can protect me."
This child had already been scared into nagging repeatedly. Yang Man"s heart was mulling over it. Why don"t they let Jiang Hu take a look at her? Only to hear Jin Qiu laughed dismally, "I have to die sooner or later. I"m telling you guys these before I die because I hope that it"ll be of help to you. Really, I don"t feel upset. Actually in these few years, there was not much difference between me being alive or dead."
Su Jinzi silently sighed, calling someone to guard Jin Qiu in her way back.
An Yining waited for the person to leave before letting out a sigh. "This is really so d.a.m.n pitiful. I think the girl has already gone mad."
Once she raised his head, Sheng Yao was looked at her with a false smile. An Yining said, "What do you want?"
Sheng Yao smiled suggestively, "Angelic jiejie, you look so adorable when you curse. Looking at you made my heart soften all over."
An Yining rolled her eyes. "b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You have nothing better to do now, do you?"
Sheng Yao laughed as he jumped up, picking up his jacket to drape over himself. "I"m going to meet those few art teenagers. Beauty An, if you don"t have plans, wait for me at night to have dinner together?"
"Sure. I"ll skin you, eat your flesh and drink your blood." An Yining laughed eerily.
The old forensic investigator finally managed to fulfill his wish, obtaining the permission to investigate the corpses. They"d also more or less seen the scene. Shen Yexi received Yang Man"s phone call, turning his head around to tell Jiang Hu, "Jin Qiu came. She said that there was a man with shoe size forty-two standing on her family"s balcony last night."
Jiang Hu startled. "Who"s Jin Qiu?"
"A victim whom we saved from the crazy Wu Ju back then." Shen Yexi said, "For something like this, the person who committed the crime will always remember it more clearly than the victim."
Jiang Hu thought for a while. "But in the court trial for the Amber Killer back then, the witnesses that appeared did not include this person."
What would you know? Shen Yexi nagged a little internally but didn"t voice it out. He thought for a bit and said, "At that time, her mental state and physical body had suffered rather heavy injuries. She was in the hospital and was still in treatment. And she was also in a blur, so it seemed like she really wasn"t a witness in court—size forty-two, how really nauseating. Let"s go, we"ll also head to their family to pray respects. To the legendary footprint left by the perverse serial killer.."
Pay respects?
Jiang Hu followed along as he thought. Wasn"t that phrase used on phrases such as "commend the martyrs of the dead"? He truly didn"t have language apt.i.tude after all, so he misremembered?
Translator Note:
[1]: Aunt Xianglin (祥林嫂) is the main character of one of Lu Xun"s cla.s.sic short stories, Blessing (祝福)