Chapter 14 : Corpse in a Dangerous Building
Chapter 14: Corpse in a Dangerous Building
“Found him. Follow me.”
Zhang Haiyang’s voice suddenly rang out, interrupting their conversation.
Old Zhong hurriedly tossed the cigarette butt in his hand onto the ground, then crushed it hard under his toe before quickly following behind Shen Qingzhou, who was already walking ahead.
Zhang Haiyang led at the front, glancing down at his phone, a trace of pride in his tone as he said, “Although Zhou Minghan’s phone is switched off, we can still locate his position…”
“If you can monitor Zhou Minghan’s phone, then when he received the access key Old Zhong sent, could you intercept that as well?” Shen Qingzhou suddenly asked.
Zhang Haiyang’s steps halted abruptly as he turned his head sharply to look at him. What met his gaze, however, was Shen Qingzhou’s calm and indifferent face, as if that question had merely been asked casually.
In the next instant, the seriousness on Zhang Haiyang’s face vanished, replaced by a smooth smile. “Brother Shen, are you suspecting that we wanted to pocket that money and secretly transfer it away?”
Before Shen Qingzhou could respond, Old Zhong’s heart tightened, and he hurriedly tried to smooth things over. “No, no, that’s not possible. A transfer can’t be done with just an access key. You also need the account and login password.”
So the access key was the payment password, not the login password.
“I see. My apologies, I misunderstood you.” Shen Qingzhou said to Zhang Haiyang.
Zhang Haiyang chuckled. “Brother Shen, you’re still young. Be more careful with your words in the future.”
Shen Qingzhou did not reply. He simply took a drag of his cigarette and flicked the butt toward the mottled, abandoned wall across from them.
Old Zhong’s heart instantly rose to his throat, afraid that Zhang Haiyang might anger Shen Qingzhou, and quickly changed the subject. “Alright, Old Zhang, enough nonsense. Finding the person is what matters.”
Zhang Haiyang glanced at Old Zhong, said nothing more, checked the phone’s location again, and strode forward.
Along the way, the three of them fell silent, weaving through the abandoned factory area and residential blocks, until they finally stopped in front of an old apartment building.
It was a typical Khrushchyovka-style building, bearing a strong Soviet aesthetic. Only five stories tall, its structure was symmetrical, its façade almost rigidly simple. The blocky buildings looked like metal boxes pieced together.
This had once been the most common type of staff dormitory for third-line factories, once filled with workers. Now, it was nothing but desolation.
Trash littered the ground in front of the building. Waist-high weeds sprouted through cracks in the cement. Many window frames had been stripped bare, leaving dark, hollow openings that exuded an indescribable sense of decay.
“He’s hiding in here.” Zhang Haiyang put away his phone.
Even the most precise positioning could only narrow it down this far. The rest, they would have to search themselves.
“Let’s split into two groups.” Old Zhong glanced at the building and said.
There were two entrances—Unit 1 and Unit 2. Splitting up would be faster and would better prevent the target from escaping upon hearing movement.
“I’ll take Unit 1.” Before his words had fully fallen, Shen Qingzhou had already stepped into the entrance on the left.
However, he did not immediately go up the stairs. Instead, his gaze fell on the dust covering the steps.
If Zhou Minghan was truly hiding here, there would definitely be footprints left on the stairs from his movements.
Sure enough, one look revealed something.
A clear trail had been brushed through the accumulated dust on the steps, extending upward—obviously left by someone walking.
Without hesitation, Shen Qingzhou followed the trail quickly up to the third floor. The footprints stopped precisely at the landing of the third floor.
The answer was self-evident—Zhou Minghan was hiding on this floor.
Without further thought, Shen Qingzhou stepped into the dim corridor.
There were no lights in the hallway. Only faint light seeped in through the completely exposed window openings on both sides. Following the windows, he peered into each room one by one.
Finally, outside the window of Room 304, he stopped.
Through the broken window, he could clearly see a person lying on the cement floor of the living room.
Without even pushing the door open, Shen Qingzhou had already determined that the person was dead.
Because his nose caught the smell of blood and a faint trace of decay—the scent he was most familiar with.
Shen Qingzhou did not choose to enter immediately. Instead, he opened his mouth and called out, “Old Zhong, over here.”
Though the building had two units, the exterior corridor was only separated by a thin concrete wall. One could easily climb over by stepping on the parapet.
“Found him?” Old Zhong’s delighted voice sounded from downstairs in the adjacent unit.
“Mm. Come over and you’ll see.” Shen Qingzhou replied.
Old Zhong and Zhang Haiyang quickly came over. Seeing Shen Qingzhou standing alone at the door of Room 304, a bad premonition rose in their hearts.
“Where is he?” Old Zhong asked.
“Over there.” Shen Qingzhou gestured with his eyes.
Only then did Old Zhong and Zhang Haiyang look inside. On the floor, a person lay prone.
Both men were experienced. They did not immediately push the door open, but instead stood by the window to look inside. The room was dim, and they could not see clearly from the window.
“What’s wrong with him?” Old Zhong asked.
“He’s dead.” Shen Qingzhou said.
“How do you know?” Zhang Haiyang questioned. “Maybe he’s just injured.”
“Then go in and take a look.” Shen Qingzhou chuckled lightly.
“Enough, stop arguing. Old Zhang, call the police. You should have some connections, right?”
Since Shen Qingzhou said the man was dead, then he was definitely dead.
They had come to find Zhou Minghan just to collect a debt—perfectly legal. Now that a death had occurred, they had to notify the police. None of them wanted trouble.
At those words, Zhang Haiyang took his phone and stepped aside to make a call. People in their line of work always had some connections with the police.
Only after he stepped away did Old Zhong continue asking, “Did you notice anything?”
His expression was somewhat grim. The money was not recovered, and the person was dead. Shen Qingzhou had spent half a year on this matter—he would definitely need to give him an explanation.
If it were anyone else, he would have simply denied responsibility. After all, the fault was not entirely his. But Shen Qingzhou’s account… he truly did not dare to default on it.
Shen Qingzhou did not answer the question. Instead, he said, “Give me Zhou Minghan’s home address.”
“Alright, I’ll send it to you in a bit.” Old Zhong quickly replied.
But Old Zhong already knew the answer—Zhou Minghan’s soul was not here.
Because someone had died, the police arrived unusually quickly. Shen Qingzhou and the others were also taken to the station to give statements.
And then, Shen Qingzhou once again met Chang Shengli.
“One day without seeing you, and you cause something this big?” Chang Shengli slapped the file bag onto the table.
“Hey, hey—Uncle Chang, you can’t say that. This has nothing to do with me.”
“At the station, address me as Officer Chang.”
“Alright, Officer Chang.” Shen Qingzhou immediately complied.
“Tell me—what exactly happened?” Chang Shengli sat down across from him.
This matter couldn’t be concealed, so Shen Qingzhou recounted the entire sequence of events.
“I was wondering why I hadn’t seen you for half a year. Turns out you were busy with this. But you got one thing wrong.”
“What?”
“The corpse you found today is not Zhou Minghan.” Chang Shengli said.
“What?” Shen Qingzhou was shocked. “Then who is he?”
“He came from Yangcheng. His profession was a debt collector.” Chang Shengli said.
“A debt collector?” Shen Qingzhou seemed to think of something.