Chapter 242: A Small Twist

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Xiang Wan had wanted to say that out loud.

But when she thought that Zhang Lu was still alive, she swallowed those words.

Even though Zhang Lu had framed her, now that it was actually linked to a murder case, she no longer felt that this was a simple case.

“I’m unable to interrogate her.” Bai Muchuan’s eyes darkened. “This is Xi City.”

“But didn’t you say that the detectives in Xi City wanted you to assist them?”

“Yeah, they wanted me to assist as the case’s related to you.” By now, Bai Muchuan did not want to keep it from her anymore. “Zhang Lu insisted that you’re the one who did that to her. Hence, after getting you out of the police station, we have to wait for their investigations on your whereabouts when the four of them died and if you have the time and motive to do so…”

“!”

That also meant that when she was brought out of the police station, the case was not over at all.

Bai Muchuan had somehow become her guarantor and had to cooperate with them by staying there for one more day.

Hmph! “So what are their findings? Did I come to Xi City to kill people? Why would I come here to kill some strangers? Did they think I’m crazy?”

“The four of them are not strangers.”

Bai Muchuan’s eyes darkened a little, a dazzling glint flashed past his eyes.

“Xiang Wan, the four girls who died, you do know them.”

“…”

Four… girls that I know?

Xiang Wan felt a chill rose up her spine as she looked at him in shock. “Could it be…”

At this moment, she had more or less guessed who were the four girls.

That digit four as well as the four grayed-out avatars in QQ.

“It’s them?”

The four ex-moderators of her reader chat group who no longer showed up in QQ.

“Yes.” Bai Muchuan nodded his head. “I got ahold of the exact information.”

That felt like a bolt from the blue. Xiang Wan was thunderstruck by the news.

When a guess became a reality, she suddenly had a notion that all these cases happened around her. She was as though entrapped in a heavy fog that she could not get out of…

“Bai Muchuan, why did I feel that I’m being targeted?”

“Maybe I’m the one being targeted?” Bai Muchuan chuckled and ruffled her hair. “You have me, don’t be afraid.”

“Hm,” said Xiang Wan but she was stiff like metal. Bai Muchuan embraced her as he puffed a sigh. “Well, we’ve experienced a lot of things in a few months that many others won’t even get to experience in their lifetime. In fact, God values us.”

“…”

Full marks for this consolation.

Xiang Wan looked up at him in his embrace.

“I have a feeling,” she blurted.

“What is it?”

“Do you think it’s because I’m together with you?”

“Mm?” Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow as he did not understand.

“Well, in the past, we didn’t know each other and all seemed well. But after getting to know each other, things just keep happening. The period after you left Jin City and went back to the Capital, Jin City was peaceful without any major case… the moment when I come to look for you, things started happening again…”

Now that she mentioned it, it really did seem to be the case!

“That’s bullsh*t!” Bai Muchuan would not listen.

He lowered his head, his lips brushing against Xiang Wan’s face lightly.

“Don’t be paranoid. Life should be challenging, isn’t it? Otherwise, what’s the meaning of living?”

“… You’re really broad-minded.”

When Bai Muchuan saw her smiling face, his mood was somewhat relieved.

“I’ve thought it over. This case will be the first major case of Serious Crime Division One.”

“Eh? You want to take over the case?” Xiang Wan was slightly surprised.

“Yes. That’s the only way I can interrogate Zhang Lu and get more details of the case…”

The case was not under him. He had no right to intervene with how the Xi City police would solve the case.

Xiang Wan nodded her head heavily. “I support you! But firstly, we must find out why that crazy Zhang Lu is so bent on framing me…”

…

About half an hour later, Xiang Wan found out the reason.

The two of them was having breakfast at the restaurant of the hotel where she browsed her reviews and comments page and accidentally saw some new comments that were just posted. A reader asked why she wanted to hurt Zhang Lu and if it was because she was jealous of Zi Tan? The reader also asked why she chose to keep quiet even when it was such a huge matter?”

“Xiang Gongzi, come out and explain if you have guts!”

“Zhang Lu has said so much, come out and tell us if it’s the truth!”

“Don’t play dumb anymore! You’re disgusting.”

“Will you die just by saying something?”

“Could it be that she’s already dead or someone in her family died?”

Some comments were really vicious.

That made Xiang Wan sullen as well as puzzled.

Why has this got to do with Zi Tan again?

She remembered that when she browsed through her reviews and comments page last night, there were no such comments…

These comments had alerted her.

She put down her chopsticks and decided to check for more information at Wen Quan Forum.

The moment she went there, she nearly explode in anger.

She did not know that Zhang Lu’s incident had created such an uproar.

As Zhang Lu had claimed that she had been arrested by the police, due to her regular update last night, this part of the claim was ill-founded.

Hence, countless people asked her to respond to Zhang Lu’s thread in the forum. They wanted her to clarify if what Zhang Lu claimed was true or not.

This is ridiculous!

Hmph! Xiang Wan gritted her teeth.

But if matters had come to such a state, why did her reviews and comments page only contain a few such comments?

Xiang Wan was confused for a few seconds, and then she took a look at Bai Muchuan who was quietly eating his breakfast before lowering her head to message Fang Yuanyuan.

“Hey, you have been deleting comments at my reviews and comments page?”

Fang Yuanyuan did not reply.

At this hour, she was most probably still asleep.

Xiang Wan heaved a sigh.

Actually, there was no need for her to ask. Without a doubt, it must be Fang Yuanyuan.

Xiang Wan opened QQ as she wanted to check out how her reader chat group was responding to the case.

She saw a few messages by Yuan Qianqian: “I’ve asked for those abusive comments over at your reviews and comments page to be deleted.”

“Don’t think too much over this. You don’t need to bother with them, either. Just concentrate on writing your story.”

“The few of us will take turns to keep watch and ensure no moron would be able to come to ‘Murder The Dream Guy’ to leave such remarks! You can be rest assured as we’ll be there.”

Yuan Qianqian was the one who chose the remaining moderators of Xiang Wan’s reader chat group.

At this juncture, she felt fortunate to have them helping her.

Otherwise, even if Xiang Wan had 100 mouths, she would not be able to handle the one-sided public opinion.

Xiang Wan replied to her, expressing her gratitude.

“When are we returning to the Capital?” she asked Bai Muchuan.

Bai Muchuan consoled her, “After this, we’ll pick your luggage and return to the Capital.”

If he wanted Serious Crime Division One to take over this case, he had to return to the Capital to settle the procedures and paperwork involved and then come back here again to do the handover. The procedures were complicated and solving a case required time. Even though Xiang Wan knew all these, she was restless with anxiety and did not want to wait any longer.

“Then we better hurry up and finish this.”

Bai Muchuan: “Even if you eat faster, we still need to wait for the plane.”

“…”

“Xiang Wan.” He looked at her with an reassuring gaze. “Some matters couldn’t be rushed.”

“Mm…” Xiang Wan took a bite of a piece of cake quietly as she tried to calm herself down. “It’s mainly because I feel very uneasy, I keep feeling that something will happen… Bai Muchuan, you know my sixth sense has always been accurate…”

Of course, Bai Muchuan believed in Xiang Wan.

Before their flight to the Capital took off, he specially made a call to the Criminal Investigation Unit of Xi City to ensure that they protect and closely monitor the witnesses and suspects related to the case…

In the end, before they got their luggage when their flight landed in the Capital, Bai Muchuan received a call.

Zhang Lu died.

She died in the bed after getting breakfast in the hotel she was staying at.

She had died in the same manner as those four girls.

It was exactly the same as what she did to herself on the plane.

Both of her hands were tied at her back, her mouth was gagged, and her bra strap was wound around her neck—she died of suffocation.

Bai Muchuan took a glance at Xiang Wan. He was so furious that he clenched his fist tightly as he inquired in a stern tone to the caller. “How about the two men that I sent over last night?”

Eh? The two men last night?

Xiang Wan was looking at the baggage carousel when she turned to glance at Bai Muchuan.

Bai Muchuan was not looking at her. It was not sure what he was talking on the phone and he seemed to be really furious.

“Enough, you don’t need to explain to me. I’m not your immediate superior.”

And he disconnected the call.

A few seconds later, he calmed down and looked at Xiang Wan.

“Your hunch is right…”

“Zhang Lu… she’s dead?”

“Hm.”

Xiang Wan gasped and met his gaze in mid-air.

“Earlier on, you mentioned last night? What happened?”

Bai Muchuan: “…”

“After leaving my room,” Xiang Wan narrowed her eyes as she asked, “you did not immediately get another room, right?”

“If the two men who stalked us appeared at the Food Street,” explained Bai Muchuan, “I expect them to appear at the hotel as well.”

However, the hotel they stayed at had excellent security. There were surveillance cameras everywhere. Even if the two men had some evil intents, they might not be able to get in or escape successfully.

“So, right from the start, you only wanted to get one room for the purpose of waiting for them to come?”

“Yeah.” Bai Muchuan did not deny.

“But after waiting for a long time in my room, nothing happened and you decided to take the initiative instead? So, you went out of the hotel to draw them out, caught them, and hand them over to the Xi City Police?”

Bai Muchuan’s eyes flashed slightly.

He had not told her anything about this, yet her deduction was very close to the mark.

Aye! He patted her head again. “Little Xiang Wan, you’re really smart.”

Xiang Wan pushed his hand away. “That also mean the reasons you gave for doing nothing in my room was not what you claimed?”

Bai Muchuan: “…”

Xiang Wan snorted. “Say something, is that the case?”

Bai Muchuan was at a loss. “Is it that you really want me to do something in your room?”

Xiang Wan stared at him indignantly. “Stop that! Don’t think of skirting around the topic!”

“Fine,” chuckled Bai Muchuan. “Truth is half of each, both motives are valid.”

This cunning fellow!

In fact, Xiang Wan already felt a bit strange that he insisted to get only one room yet left her room later so as to get another room. Such inconsistencies might not be a big deal for others, but it was weird when it happened on Bai Muchuan.

He had always done things in a proper manner and thought things over beforehand. Never had she seen him do things out of a whim…

Xiang Wan puffed a faint sigh. “Did the two come clean?”

Bai Muchuan nodded. “They only said they wanted to seek revenge against me. That’s all.”

Thinking of the earlier phone call, Xiang Wan’s eyebrows crinkled together. “How ’bout now? What happened to them?”

Bai Muchuan shook his head. “They’ve been released.”

The two men did not commit any major crime and had denied flatly on stalking them. The Xi City police felt that the two of them had not caused any harm and they did not have sufficient evidence to nail them. It was difficult to keep them for long in the police station.

D*rn.

They were too crafty.

Xiang Wan was exasperated.

“Last question. Are the two of them related to the case?”

“This is what we need to find out.” Bai Muchuan put his arm around her shoulder to comfort her. “Look, our luggage’s here.”

…

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