Diary of a Criminal Investigator

Of course, Lan Bingyu had only sparred with members of the action team; he had never fought with others, such as Lu Chuan.

With the system support, Lu Chuan might not necessarily lose to Lan Bingyu.

But as a retired special forces soldier, Lan Bingyu’s strength was undoubtedly formidable.

The living room wasn’t large, measuring about twenty square meters; on the western wall, there was a recently placed memorial tablet that caught Zhang Hui’s eye.

"Beloved Wife Ye Xiaohui’s Memorial Tablet"

Ye Xiaohui... is dead?

Upon entering the living room, Qiao Hongshan did not invite Zhang Hui and Lan Bingyu to sit, nor did he guard against the possibility that Lan Bingyu might attack him.

He took incense from alongside the memorial tablet, lit it over the candle, and inserted it into a white porcelain bowl filled with millet under the tablet.

"Mr. Qiao... if you don’t mind, may I offer incense too?"

Zhang Hui walked up to Qiao Hongshan, signaling to Lan Bingyu, who had wanted to protect him just now, not to act.

Qiao Hongshan turned around, nodded, and passed three incense sticks to Zhang Hui.

Following Qiao Hongshan’s prior order, Zhang Hui inserted the lit incense sticks into the white porcelain bowl, stepped back two steps, and bowed.

"Ms. Ye, have a good journey."

After three bows, Zhang Hui turned to face Qiao Hongshan: "Mr. Qiao... my condolences."

"Thank you."

Gratitude was evident in Qiao Hongshan’s eyes.

Ye Xiaohui had been dead for a week, but not many had offered incense to her.

Even when Ye Xiaohui’s biological parents came over, Qiao Hongshan drove them away.

Those people... didn’t dare to say anything.

They sold their daughter for money back then, yet had the face to come and offer incense now?

Zhang Hui did not know these details, but he could see the gratitude in Qiao Hongshan’s eyes.

"Bingyu, you should offer incense too."

Lan Bingyu nodded; whatever the master instructed, she would do.

"Mr. Qiao, my condolences."

"Thank you."

Afterwards, the three sat in the living room, and the atmosphere was momentarily silent.

Upon seeing Ye Xiaohui’s memorial tablet, Zhang Hui understood why Qiao Hongshan had committed murder the day before yesterday.

With Ye Xiaohui’s death, he was unburdened, or perhaps it was simply for revenge.

The murderer... it should indeed be him.

"On which day did Ms. Ye pass away?"

"It’s been seven days; today marks the seventh day."

Looking at the photo of Ye Xiaohui on the memorial tablet, Qiao Hongshan’s eyes were full of affection.

"Xiaohui’s family came by, I chased them away; you’re the first outsiders to offer incense to Xiaohui."

Clearly, in Qiao Hongshan’s eyes, Xiaohui’s family was even less than an outsider like Zhang Hui.

Even though Zhang Hui was there to arrest him, Qiao Hongshan still showed goodwill.

"I heard... Ye Xiaohui was in a vegetative state, was there no chance of recovery?"

Qiao Hongshan shook his head: "After being rescued from the water that day, too much time had passed, her brain was oxygen-deprived, part of it necrotized, nothing could be done."

"If well cared for by doctors, she might last a year and a half; the person couldn’t be saved."

Obviously, Qiao Hongshan took very good care of Ye Xiaohui, as she passed away two years later.

Zhang Hui sighed: "Was it worth it?"

The reason Qiao Hongshan didn’t kill Zhang Xiaofeng back then was probably to take care of Ye Xiaohui.

So after Ye Xiaohui’s death, he killed Zhang Xiaofeng without delay.

"It’s not about whether it was worth it; when Xiaohui became a vegetable back then, I was as good as dead."

Qiao Hongshan lit a cigarette for himself: "These two years are two extra years I lived, and two extra years Zhang lived."

"And your family..."

"I’m an orphan, no family, Xiaohui was my family."

Exhaling a smoke ring, Qiao Hongshan looked at Xiaohui’s photo through the mist: "She’s gone, and so is my home."

Zhang Hui did not press Qiao Hongshan about the murder process, there was no need now.

The footprints...

Also needed no collection, though Qiao Hongshan hadn’t admitted it directly, it was a tacit acknowledgment that he had indeed killed Zhang Xiaofeng.

"Do I leave with you now?"

Zhang Hui nodded: "Yes, it’s time to go."

"Alright, let me make a last bowl of hand-pulled noodles for Xiaohui; she used to love the noodles I made."

"Unfortunately, after that, she couldn’t eat them anymore, only receiving nutritional fluids every day."

Zhang Hui did not refuse Qiao Hongshan’s request, nor did he oversee him in the kitchen.

Half an hour later, a steaming bowl of hand-pulled noodles was placed on the offering table under the memorial tablet.

Unlike regular offering tables with fruits, under Ye Xiaohui’s memorial tablet there were no apples but rice crackers, no buns but a bowl of hand-pulled noodles, a portion of spicy hot pot, a bag of potato chips, and a bottle of AD calcium milk.

"These were all Xiaohui’s favorite foods, I have prepared them all for her."

After opening the packaging and arranging each offering neatly, Qiao Hongshan changed into a suit.

Tall and robust, Qiao Hongshan looked somewhat mismatched in the slightly small suit.

"Officer Zhang, how is this outfit?"

"Xiaohui bought it for me, it’s the first suit I ever had."

"Mm," Zhang Hui nodded: "You look quite dashing."

This was Lan Bingyu’s first case with Zhang Hui, yet she felt a sourness in her eyes, making it hard to see clearly.

After the incident, Lan Bingyu had been to the scene and seen Zhang Xiaofeng’s human skin.

At that time, Lan Bingyu wondered what kind of person could be so deranged as to skin someone alive.

It seemed like the work of a demon!

However, after hearing the conversation between Zhang Hui and Qiao Hongshan and learning of Ye Xiaohui’s ordeal, Lan Bingyu no longer viewed Qiao Hongshan as a demon.

Especially after seeing the snacks on the offering table under her tablet, she suddenly felt an ache in her nose.

When the three returned to the Haizhou City Criminal Investigation Team, it was already six in the evening, the sky was dim, and the sun was almost setting.

In the interrogation room, Qiao Hongshan confessed without reservation to the murder of Zhang Xiaofeng.

When Zhang Xiaofeng was with Wang Qianqian, it was actually Qiao Hongshan texting under Ye Xiaohui’s account on WeChat.

The excuse to lure him out was simple: claiming that Ye Xiaohui had just woken up, and their child from back then... was not dead.

After capturing Zhang Xiaofeng, Qiao Hongshan used sedatives from his small pharmacy to knock him out, poured dilute sulfuric acid to destroy his vocal cords.

Then he took Zhang Xiaofeng to the lumber mill, skinned and killed him.

The reason for choosing the square timber storage was that Zhang Xiaofeng had raped Ye Xiaohui there years ago.

He wanted him to atone for Xiao Hui there!

The interrogation ended quickly.

Qiao Hongshan called Zhang Hui back.

"Officer Zhang... do you think people really have an afterlife? Does the underworld really exist after death?"

"I told Xiaohui to take her time, to wait for me."

"Actually, I wanted to turn myself in, but I heard surrendering means not getting the death penalty, so I waited for you to catch me."

"I’ve confessed everything, the death penalty... should be soon, right?"