Sweeping Mouse Ridge – Chapter Seven : 5

On the subway, Huyan Yun received a call from Ma Xiaozhong, who said he and Guo Xiaofen were on their way to his house and wanted to “check things out,” adding that Fengchong and Tianying were also coming. Huyan Yun and Li Ziyong quickened their pace, running and stumbling at transfer stations, and bumped into Guo and Ma when they reached their building.

“Guo, are you alright?” Huyan Yun asked Guo Xiaofen. She didn’t answer directly, but everyone understood he was asking about the danger and tragedy of the previous night.

Guo Xiaofen’s reaction was somewhat slow; her beautiful eyes were vacant, and after a long while, she whispered, “It’s nothing.”

Ma Xiaozhong pointed to his head behind him, implying to Huyan Yun that the girl was quite frightened.

Huyan Yun’s expression immediately darkened.

After entering the room, Huyan Yun first recounted his investigation of Sun Jinghua with Li Ziyong, speaking slowly and intently, looking into Guo Xiaofen’s eyes the entire time, as if speaking only to her. But Guo Xiaofen remained dazed, as if she hadn’t yet awakened from a hazy dream.

After he finished speaking, it was Guo Xiaofen’s turn to talk about her and Ma Xiaozhong’s investigation of Liu Yan. She couldn’t remember Liu Yan’s name at all, so Ma Xiaozhong quickly took over and recounted the story. Huyan Yun wasn’t paying attention, just staring worriedly at Guo Xiaofen.

In contrast, Li Ziyong listened intently, completely absorbed. When he heard Little Dong describe Zhou Liping as “upright,” he didn’t show his usual disgust. Instead, his brows furrowed deeply, as if he were wringing out a wet towel, filled with pain and confusion.

“Huyan, Yongzi, I’m done,” said Ma Xiaozhong. “What are your thoughts?”

Li Ziyong said directly, “Little Guo, are you going to Province A to find Dong Yue? I want to go with you.”

Huyan Yun was somewhat surprised because for a long time—a full ten years—Zhou Liping had been a fixed and entrenched “evil” in Li Ziyong’s mind. For many people, once this fixed and entrenched image was formed, the reasons behind the formation of “evil” were neither worth exploring nor worth the time and effort to investigate.

But Li Ziyong’s words now indicated a loosening of his fixed mindset. Although he was no longer a police officer and couldn’t personally interrogate the imprisoned Zhou Liping, he wanted to try to understand Zhou Liping through others. This suggested that recent investigations had made Li Ziyong doubt the conclusion that Zhou Liping was the real culprit behind the Western Suburbs Serial Murders.

Guo Xiaofen, usually quick-witted and intelligent, seems bewildered at this moment. She didn’t seem to know whether to go to Province A and appeared completely clueless about her own location. Ma Xiaozhong was cunning; he knew Li Ziyong wasn’t dating yet and was worried that taking care of Guo Xiaofen along the way might cause problems.

So he said decisively, “Yongzi, we definitely have to go to Province A, but look at Guo’s condition now. It’s better if someone she knows is with her to take care of her. Let’s each do our part. You partner with Huyan, and I’ll go to Province A with Guo to find Dong Yue. I’ll protect her.”

Li Ziyong, unaware of his cunning, nodded and said, “Okay then.”

Just then, someone knocked on the outer door. Huyan Yun opened it to find Lin Fengchong and Chu Tianying together. Both were dressed in plain clothes, and perhaps due to the autumn chill, the cold emanating from them made Huyan Yun sneeze.

“Are you alright?” Chu Tianying asked. “It’s gotten colder lately. You’re always out and about; you need to take care of yourself.”

Lin Fengchong, however, didn’t bother with pleasantries with Huyan Yun. He went straight to Guo Xiaofen and asked, “Little Guo, how are you feeling? Boss Du asked me to come and visit you.”

“What good are greetings!” Ma Xiaozhong said with a sidelong glance. “Instead of wasting that time, why don’t you hurry up and catch the person who killed Yue Shao?”

Lin Fengchong, being kind and honest, wasn’t good at arguing, so he just stared at him silently. Chu Tianying smoothed things over for him: “Police Chief, as you know, Chief Lin and his team have been working day and night on the Sweeping Mouse Ridge case, not letting any clue slip by. The case is getting bigger and bigger, and we are clearly running out of manpower and resources. We all know who did what to Yue Shao, but we just can’t spare any more manpower to investigate. After all, this is such a big city, with so many cases waiting to be solved every day—”

Ma Xiaozhong interrupted him bluntly, saying, “Knowing the case is getting bigger, you should pull back. Put the trivial matters aside and focus on the important ones. You aren’t fishing; you’re catching tigers. With fishing, the finer the mesh, the bigger the net, the more you catch. Catching tigers is the opposite; running all over the mountain is useless, exhausting you for nothing. You have to drive the tiger into a ditch, a pit. It’s about ‘pulling it back,’ not ‘releasing it’!”

The relationship between Chu Tianying and Ma Xiaozhong was quite special. Back when Chu Tianying was demoted and “exiled” to the Wangyue Garden police station, Ma Xiaozhong not only took him in but also took care of him in every way. At first, Chu Tianying looked down on this “Police Chief” who had long worked at the grassroots level.

But as time went on, he discovered that this short, stout man far surpassed him in terms of case-handling experience and understanding of human nature. He couldn’t help but admire him more and more, and the two gradually became close brothers. Later, Chu Tianying was repromoted to head of the crime scene investigation section of the municipal bureau’s criminal investigation department, but his respect and friendship for Ma Xiaozhong remained unchanged.

Now, after listening to Ma Xiaozhong’s words, he thought about it more and more and found it made sense. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to him: “Police Chief, then tell me, what should be accepted, and what should be released?”

“I’m not in the Special Task Force group, so I don’t know the full situation and shouldn’t speak recklessly,” said Ma Xiaozhong. “After investigating for so long, there’s only one conclusion: the most suspicious person, Zhou Liping, may not be a bad person, while the murdered Xing Qisheng was a complete bastard. Remember this in all major cases: the perpetrator may be a bad person, or they may be a good person, but the ‘root of evil’… He must be a bad guy.

“So don’t waste too much energy on Zhou Liping; focus on investigating Xing Qisheng. Investigate him thoroughly, from top to bottom, inside and out. In my opinion, to find out the truth about the Sweeping Mouse Ridge Case, investigating the dead is more important than investigating the living. Little Guo was in danger last night, almost lost her life, but she also brought back the most important information. You can’t let her work be in vain.”

Lin Fengchong nodded. “I reported to Boss Du: Tao Bing implied that Cui Yucui seems to know the inside story of Xing Qisheng’s death…” He hesitated, then continued, “But right now, Chai Yongjin and his team disagree with Police Chief Ma. They believe the ropes binding Zhou Liping should be tightened, while the Love Charity Foundation line is left unchecked. However, we can’t figure out how Zhou Liping managed to kill and burn the body at Sweeping Mouse Ridge at 10:30 and then arrive at Xingyu Road at 11:00 in just half an hour. So, even Chai Yongjin and his team can’t definitively say that Zhou Liping committed the crime, and just now—”

Huyan Yun, who had been silent all along, suddenly interrupted him: “Fengchong, you misunderstood Old Ma. He told you to focus your investigation on Xing Qisheng, not to find out who the real culprit was in the Sweeping Mouse Ridge Case, but to uncover the truth behind it. Based on the existing evidence, even if I knew how Zhou Liping got from Sweeping Mouse Ridge to Xingyu Road in just half an hour, we still wouldn’t know the whole truth of the case…”

Lin Fengchong sighed, “I don’t know what’s wrong with Boss Du now. He’s so timid, like he’s afraid this case will implicate him or implicate someone else—” He suddenly noticed that Ma Xiaozhong, Chu Tianying, and Li Ziyong all looked off. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Fengchong, are you stuffing cotton in your ears?” Chu Tianying couldn’t help but shout, “Didn’t you hear Huyan say that he knows how Zhou Liping got from Sweeping Mouse Ridge to Xingyu Road in just half an hour!”

“Ah?!” Lin Fengchong’s eyes widened in surprise.

Undoubtedly, throughout the investigation of the Sweeping Mouse Ridge Case, one of the biggest mysteries remained: how did Zhou Liping manage to get from Sweeping Mouse Ridge to Xingyu Road in just half an hour?

Zhou Liping had consistently maintained that he drove to Sweeping Mouse Ridge around 10:00 p.m., was dismissed by Xing Qisheng, and then ran to Xingyu Road to meet Li Ziyong and got in a fight…

If he was the real culprit, then since the 110 emergency call was received at 10:30 p.m. that night, and the call recording showed that the caller was Xing Qisheng. Even if Xing Qisheng was immediately murdered and his body burned, Zhou Liping would have left the nursery where the tunnel ventilation shaft was located after 10:30 p.m.

During a meticulous screening, police found no records of taxis or ride-hailing services that had passed through the Sweeping Mouse Ridge area that night picking up passengers and taking them to Xingyu Road. Given the relatively remote location of Sweeping Mouse Ridge, unlicensed taxis were extremely rare, and Zhou Liping’s phone hadn’t used any apps like Mobike on the night of the incident…

All of this ruled out the possibility that he could have traveled from Sweeping Mouse Ridge to Xingyu Road in just half an hour, thus ruling out the possibility that he was the perpetrator.

This question, which had caused the Special Task Force considerable headaches and which they deliberately avoided during subsequent interrogations of Zhou Liping, was surprisingly answered by Huyan Yun?

Although Li Ziyong had been astonished by Huyan Yun’s deductive reasoning skills after he pointed out the location of the black Spire in front of Chai Yongjin, he still couldn’t believe that this baby-faced man could solve a problem that had baffled countless detectives in a “two-hit combo”: “Huyan, tell me, how did Zhou Liping accomplish that ‘impossible mission’?”

“I admit that every criminal case often has unexpected ‘plot points’ that more or less influence the final outcome, such as a robber being seen by a passerby when removing their hood, or someone suddenly entering the house halfway through a theft, etc., but these are mostly passive rather than active. The more experienced a criminal is, the more they prefer to commit crimes methodically according to a predetermined plan, never adding unnecessary complications.”

At this point, Huyan Yun turned his gaze to Li Ziyong. “And Zhou Liping’s challenge to a fight is different; this is a classic case of ‘unexpected complications,’ so there must be a purpose behind it. What that purpose was, I didn’t know at first, but I was certain it was related to the ‘evidence’ he needed to exonerate himself. It wasn’t until I saw your gray Jetta and learned from Little Guo and Old Ma’s visit to the city’s No. 1 Prison that Zhou Liping had studied car repair that I understood. Zhou Liping’s purpose in challenging you to a fight was simple: he wanted you to help him turn the ‘impossible’ into the ‘possible’—”

“How…how did I help him?” Li Ziyong was still completely bewildered.

“Do you remember, last time I went to your house, I noticed that Sweeping Mouse Ridge wasn’t far to the northwest of your house? You said your house was very close to Sweeping Mouse Ridge, and if you ran fast, it would only take about six or seven minutes to get there?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“On the night of the incident, what time did Zhou Liping call your cell phone?”

“Around 10:40 p.m….”

“Was his first question if you were home?”

“Yes.”

“Do you drive to and from work every day?”

“Yes, except for days with traffic restrictions.”

“I get it!” Ma Xiaozhong’s eyes lit up immediately.

Chu Tianying slapped his thigh: “I get it too!”

“You…you get what?” Li Ziyong was still completely baffled.

Chu Tianying analyzed on his fingers: “Zhou Liping called your cell phone at 10:40, exactly ten minutes after 10:30. It only takes Sweeping Mouse Ridge six or seven minutes to run from your house. When he asked if you were home, he was actually asking if your car was home. Don’t you understand?”

Li Ziyong suddenly realized, “You mean… Zhou Liping hid in my car beforehand?”

“To be precise, it was the trunk,” said Huyan Yun. “I checked the trunk of your Jetta. There were traces of something being laid out inside. I suspect that Zhou Liping, to avoid leaving any evidence, tore off a piece of plastic or something on the way, pried open the trunk, laid it out, lay down inside, and then closed the trunk door. After you drove off, he used his phone’s GPS to locate the car. When the car reached Xingyu Road, after you got out, he climbed out of the trunk, threw away the plastic sheet, and ran to the agreed-upon location. That way, he completed this ‘timetable trick’ without leaving any trace in just half an hour.”

After hearing this reasoning, Li Ziyong’s face showed no joy at finally being able to “get rid of Zhou Liping,” but rather some frustration: “So, it was him after all…”

Everyone was confused by his thinking and exchanged bewildered glances.

For a moment, the room was utterly silent. Then, a sigh suddenly broke the silence.

Looking around, no one expected that the sigh came from Lin Fengchong. His expression was strange, neither smiling nor crying.

“What’s wrong, Fengchong?” Huyan Yun sensed something was amiss.

“Huyan, I’ve always admired your reasoning immensely.” After gritting his teeth for a long time, Lin Fengchong finally uttered the next sentence, “But today, your reasoning…is truly wrong!”

Huyan Yun was utterly shocked. This arrogant baby-faced man always carefully considered his reasoning before presenting it, then basked in the applause of admiration. He never imagined that someone would dare to point out the error of his reasoning—especially from the utterly unremarkable Lin Fengchong, a perpetual supporting character in every situation! In his haste, he lost his composure and asked loudly, “What did I say wrong?!”

“I was halfway through what I was saying when you interrupted me… uh, I said ‘just now,’ and then you criticized me for misunderstanding Old Ma’s words…”

Huyan Yun frowned: “Okay, continue. What happened ‘just now’?”

“Just now—” Lin Fengchong said, “Before coming here, the Special Task Force interrogated Zhou Liping. He admitted to concealing a very important fact and produced irrefutable evidence proving that it was absolutely impossible for him to have gotten into the trunk of Li Ziyong’s Jetta around 10:40 and followed the car to Xingyu Road…”

Suddenly, Zhou Liping’s face appeared before his eyes.

That thin, bluish-black, expressionless face.

No one could fathom his thoughts, and he seemed to stand right opposite him, face to face, his triangular eyes, thick with what appeared to be mud, radiating a chaotic yet icy light…

He had already guessed his reasoning and already anticipated his next move… even the entire game.

Huyan Yun feigned composure, but even he could hear a tremor in his voice: “What ‘ironclad evidence’ did he produce?”

Lin Fengchong slowly said, “He said that he was commissioned by Xing Qisheng to come to Love Hospital morgue before eleven o’clock that night and put Zhang Chunyang’s body, which was in the morgue, into freezer number ‘T E 3.'”