Could this be just a coincidence?
"Jiang Celang, I thought he was a good person," He Wanwan exclaimed in shock. "Could he be planning to kill us? Like what happened to Zhao Che! He seemed wealthy and polite..."
"A person's aesthetics, wealth, morality, intelligence, and knowledge are completely unrelated domains. Let's be cautious around him for now. We don't know his intentions for approaching us," Meng Lan said, but she didn't show any hostile attitude.
Jiang Celang was currently her only source of information about the hidden world, and she didn't want to categorize him as an enemy. But Meng Lan was well aware that with energy being a limited resource, it would inevitably attract more people to vie for it.
"What should we do?" He Wanwan was so anxious she couldn't even eat.
"What can we do? It's much safer here than your rented place. Let's stay here for now. Besides, after May Day, you'll have to go back to school," Meng Lan said. "Avoiding the situation isn't a solution."
"I-I'm not going back to school. I'm in my final year, waiting for my internship and thesis defense," He Wanwan blushed. "I was originally working as an assistant on a documentary crew, but the funding for the production fell through, so I had to come back home. I'll work hard to find a job. I won't freeload off you!"
"No problem, your stay here won't cost much. It's convenient to have you help me clean the place anyway," Meng Lan finished eating and stood up.
"Hey, Lan Lan, aren't you also in your final year? The competition must be fierce in your finance department. Have you found a job?" He Wanwan asked curiously. Everyone was currently scrambling to find jobs, and campus recruitment was extremely crowded. With the economy downturn, it was extremely difficult to find well-paying jobs with good benefits!
"I don't like serving others, and I'm not fit for any job," Meng Lan tidied up the table casually, smiling at He Wanwan's surprise. "I'm unemployed and plan to stay that way for the rest of my life. That's my career plan."
"T-then how do you make money?" He Wanwan asked.
"I invest in stocks and financial management," Meng Lan said.
The night was unusually quiet. Although Meng Lan wasn't a warm person, He Wanwan didn't feel any sense of alienation. It was as if she had known Meng Lan for a long time, like they were childhood friends.
But someone was not calm.
When Gu Ye returned to the meeting room, it was already nine o'clock in the evening. The responsible personnel from the local police station and the investigating police officers were seated inside. The head of the neighboring district's major crimes unit was currently explaining the details of the murder case.
"The suspect is Li Yi, male, 45 years old. He confided to friends a week ago that someone was secretly following him. Even after staying with a friend, he still felt uneasy. Three days ago, he strangled his friend to death at home and went on the run. He was caught today," the unit head projected Li Yi's photo onto the screen. He looked like an ordinary middle-aged man, tall and thin, with dark circles under his eyes, possibly a result of long-term malnutrition.
"We found him hiding in an abandoned warehouse in the south of the city, crouched inside a wooden crate. There were traces of the suspect's excrement inside the crate, indicating that he hadn't left the crate for the past two days," the unit head continued.
"He wasn't afraid of the police, as if he was hiding from someone, but Li Yi couldn't describe it clearly to us. He visibly relaxed when he saw the police and asked for protection," the unit head explained further.
Gu Ye asked, "Where is the suspect now?"
"Unfortunately, Li Yi had a sudden mental breakdown while being transported and tried to grab the steering wheel, causing the police car to collide with a utility pole, resulting in his death on the spot. Three officers were injured and are currently in the hospital," the unit head replied.
"The reason for linking Li Yi's case with Liu Ming's is because both mentioned being tracked secretly and no traces of tracking were found. Both gradually developed mental disorders within a week of discovering they were being followed, but no traces of drugs were found in their bodies. Before his death, Li Yi told our officers that he was being watched by a pair of blood-red eyes and that there was a faceless person living under his bed," the unit head added.
Gu Ye added, "Liu Ming also mentioned to us that he saw a faceless person at midnight. While he was showering, the faceless person appeared in the mirror and grabbed his neck, pulling him into the mirror. He also mentioned that fresh blood mixed with muscle tissue flowed out of the water pipes in his bathroom. However, investigations showed that none of these events actually occurred."
The two cases seemed unrelated, but the victims' descriptions were similar. They might have undergone some kind of subconscious hypnosis, leading them to see illusions, kill their friends, or the drugs injected into them caused irreversible nerve damage.
"Both Liu Ming and Li Yi had a strong will to survive. Liu Ming kept trying to save himself, which doesn't seem like someone who would commit suicide. Li Yi killed his friend because he believed his friend posed a threat to him," the unit head concluded. "We'll investigate both cases together and closely monitor any suspicious drug trafficking in the market. If anyone reports being tracked or other threats, we'll investigate and take appropriate action."
"Understood."
"Meeting adjourned."
The heavy burden fell on the head of Gu Ye, the head of the serious crime unit. All investigative means had been exhausted, but no clues had been found yet.
"Has there been any breakthrough in Liu Ming's social connections?" Gu Ye inquired.
"Liu Ming's last contact was with Jiang Celang, a sociology lecturer at Northern University. Boss, have you heard of him? He was the one who almost stood us up last month when he analyzed conditioned reflexes in mental patients. It doesn't seem relevant, but we've already made contact with him, and we'll be questioning him tomorrow morning," the colleague said.
He remembered that man, although they had no personal relationship.
Gu Ye speculated that Jiang Celang might bring some surprising information to him based on his intuition.
But wait, wasn't Northern University the alma mater of Meng Lan?
Could this be just a coincidence?
He had a vague feeling that the situation wasn't revolving around Zhao Che, but rather around Meng Lan.
Meng Lan was always straightforward, not one to hide things. Whatever made her keep silent must be significant. He instructed his colleague to gather Jiang Celang's itinerary for the past three days, hoping to find a breakthrough.
Liu Ming died on May 4th.
His last phone call was on May 3rd with Jiang Celang, lasting 1 minute and 15 seconds.
By overlapping Jiang Celang's recent mobile signal locations with Liu Ming's route, Gu Ye discovered that the two had met on May 1st. After that, Liu Ming didn't leave his home until his death.
Jiang Celang had been shuttling between the university teaching building, office, a hotel-style apartment on Finance Street, and a supermarket since May 1st. On the evening of May 3rd, he drove along the Fourth Ring Road to a suburban park before heading to the Third People's Hospital.
"What was he doing at the hospital?" Gu Ye asked.
"I just called the hospital. At the time, Jiang Celang was with two women and a man named Zhang Yichi. Zhang is currently hospitalized with minor injuries to his arm caused by a fruit knife. It's said to be a suicide attempt, and he hasn't received any threats. Despite sounding unbelievable, he doesn't seem to be lying. The two women accompanying him are He Wanwan and Meng Lan," the colleague reported.
Gu Ye suddenly put down the materials in his hand, furrowing his brows. "What did you say, Meng Lan?"
"Yes, boss. We'll get in touch with Miss Meng Lan when we return."
"I'll handle this matter myself."
The next day at ten o'clock, Gu Ye finally met Jiang Celang as he wished.
The man was dressed casually, with an indifferent expression as if he didn't think being summoned by the police was a big deal. His hands were in his pockets, and a carefree smile always hung on his lips.
Walking in against the sunlight, his slender figure looked exceptionally handsome in the halo of light, as if he were born from the light itself, attracting everyone's attention the moment he entered. His eyes were like black agate, shining with a bright and warm light.
"Captain Gu, nice to meet you. It's the first time we've met under these circumstances. I'm used to coming in as a consultant or lecturer. It feels a bit strange to be questioned about a case all of a sudden," Jiang Celang said. He was acquainted with the chief of the police station and occasionally dealt with issues related to suspected mental patients and also delivered lectures at the university.
"I'm sorry for making you come all this way," Gu Ye said with a smile, "but we do have some questions that we need your help with."
"I'm all ears."
The two sat in the reception room, and the atmosphere was unusually harmonious.
Jiang Celang played with the mouth of the Evian mineral water bottle in his hand with his slender fingers, causing the water inside to sway back and forth, reflecting the brilliant light outside the window.
He had been smiling all along, but his smile was entirely different from Gu Ye's passionate and clear-cut demeanor.
Gu Ye handed Jiang Celang Liu Ming's information. "This is our victim, who reported being followed two weeks ago, but we didn't find any suspicious individuals. Liu Ming committed suicide at home yesterday. We checked his chat records and found that you were his last contact. Do you know Liu Ming?"
"Do you need to ask if it's a suicide?" Jiang Celang replied.
"It's just part of the job. My apologies."
Jiang Cehang leaned back on the sofa, his hands crossed on his lap. He said, "I wasn't very close to Liu Ming. We met during an offline horror game event and added each other on WeChat. On May 1st, he asked if he could stay at my place for a night. I'm sorry, but I refused. I was busy working on a project and didn't have the energy to take care of guests. I never imagined it would be his last request."
"Okay, one more question that requires your assistance. Where were you on the morning of May 4th, yesterday?"
"I was at home, didn't go out. You can check the surveillance cameras," Jiang Cehang said. "You don't suspect me of killing him, do you?"
"We're just following protocol, trying to understand the reasons behind his suicide," Gu Ye replied, his professionalism evident. He wasn't the naive rookie cop that Meng Lan saw.
"One last question, do you know Meng Lan?" Gu Ye stared firmly into Jiang Cehang's eyes, searching for any clues in his facial expressions.
Jiang Cehang admitted truthfully, "Yes, of course. I was her teacher last semester, she's a good student. Gu Ye, is it possible that my student is somehow connected to this person's suicide?"
"No," Gu Ye denied firmly.