Volume 1: The Mysterious Driver
He was kneeling in a pool of blood, desperately trying to wake a quickly stiffening corpse when he was alerted by the sudden sound of footsteps.
He picked up the pistol from the pool of blood and pointed it at the person coming towards him, screaming, "I'll kill you!"
No matter how many times he pressed the trigger, the rounds didn't budge. The approaching figure mockingly spoke, "Haha, what a scene! The Great Detective Song Lang, actually killing his superior and partner with his very own hands! I can't wait to see the headlines in the newspapers tomorrow!"
Rage welled up in Song Lang's chest, ready to erupt at a moment's notice. He threw down his gun and rushed towards the criminal that had cornered him. Before Song Lang could even get within reaching distance, the other party suddenly pulled out an iron pipe from behind them and smashed it against Song Lang's head. Song Lang dropped to the ground, fresh blood drenching his temples.
The mysterious person dropped the iron pipe onto the floor, the sound crisp and piercing to the ear.
"Listen up, from now on, the Great Detective Song Lang will disappear forever. If I so much as get a whiff of your trail after this, I will hunt you down and strip you of everything that you cherish once more!" The unknown figure then laughed and disappeared into the darkness...
Chen Shi jolted awake. In the rear-view mirror, he saw a face that was drenched in sweat, and he felt like his appearance resembled that of a stranger. Even though he would gladly trade his entire life to forget his past, that blood-stained, tainted night would repeatedly appear in his dreams, tormenting him.
He took out a pack of cigarettes from the glove box and shook it, only to find that the packet was already empty, so he threw it back into the glovebox with annoyance.
Damn, I've worked up a sweat again. Although it was the beginning of Autumn, ol' Autumn was truly unforgiving. When the seasons are changing, if you don't pay attention to the changes in weather, you'll catch a cold. Us drivers are in a profession where we don't have the freedom and luxury to stay in bed for a couple of days.
He glanced at the clock and noticed that it was already two in the morning, almost time to return home and take a hot shower before getting some sleep.
There was a beep from Chen Shi's phone, notifying him of a new request. The passenger who ordered his services was a kilometer away.
He looked at the passenger's desired destination and noticed that it was en-route to his house. Getting to return home while also making enough money to buy some skewers, why not? He clicked to confirm the order in a practiced manner, then started the car.
A feminine figure emerged in front of the headlights, so Chen Si vainly ran a hand through his messy hair that was all over the place.
A pair of slender and beautiful snow-white legs elegantly stepped towards the back seat and opened the door. The beauty bent down to enter, and Chen Shi's eyes watched her through the rear-view mirror, glancing down... Hmm, she's at least a D.
"Where are we going, beautiful?"
"Don't speak such useless drivel. Didn't the order already say that we need to go to the Feng ZhiLin Hotel?!"
The beauty bluntly complained.
After the car started, the beauty took out a pack of cigarettes from her bag. Chen Shi extended two fingers towards her, and discourteously declared, "Come on, I forgot to buy cigarettes, and the craving is really hard to bear."
The only answer he got was the disdainful look that she shot at him before the beauty rolled her eyes and put the cigarettes back.
"I'll say!" Chen Shi continued to make conversation when there was nothing more to be said, "You're going to the hotel alone late into the night, and your boyfriend isn't coming to pick you up? That's too irresponsible!"
"I'm just going to see a friend!"
"Ah, the classic go-to answer. In the night, it wouldn't be good if you were to encounter a bad person".
"A bad person?" The beauty sneered, "It's not like the words "bad guy" is going to be written on their faces!"
"That's not necessarily true. I'm not bullshitting you, if there truly were a murderer that came into my car, I would be able to tell nine times out of ten what their true disposition was."
"Oh? Why don't you tell me what a murderer looks like then?"
"Oh, murderers? They generally have shifty eyes, have an alert demeanor, and are especially sensitive and irritable. Often, they will avoid talking about their circumstances."
The beauty snorted, "You make it sound like you have prior experience with this."
Feeling as if they've been chatting for some time now, Chen Shi thickened his skin and asked, "Let's add each other on WeChat, beautiful!"
"Say what?"
"Just trying to get to know you, why are you acting so guarded?"
"Sorry, I don't feel like there's a need to get to know people like you."
"Alright, alright, pretend I didn't say anything," Chen Shi skilfully retracted his advancing troops[1].
After some silence, the beauty pulled out a phone from her bag and glanced at Chen Shi using the rear-view mirror. Then she typed out a message on her phone. "Honey, this driver won't stop talking. So irritating!"
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"On the morning of September 11th, around a hundred meters from the bridge on Xi Anfu Road, a female body was found next to the river. The deceased was around 25 years old, possessed a slender frame, and had an aesthetically pleasing face. The clothes of the deceased were damaged and torn, and rope marks were left on her neck. The preliminary report prepared by the coroner identified that the cause of death was strangulation from behind. The woman also had sexual activity prior to her death. We then found the satchel that the deceased was carrying around three hundred meters downstream. It contained her ID, phone, and other personal items. Upon investigation, it can be confirmed that the 1,000 Yuan[2] of cash that the deceased was carrying has been taken. The mobile phone could not be turned on after getting soaked in the river. After it was repaired, the last two messages sent by the deceased to her boyfriend were uncovered. The first message was as follows, "Honey, this driver won't stop talking. So irritating!" The second message found stated, "Just got off, and I think there's someone following me." The police visited the deceased's boyfriend, who confirmed that he had received the two aforementioned texts. Currently, we are trying to contact the Wang Yueche [3] platform to investigate the personal situation of the driver.
After the Captain of the Criminal Investigation Unit, Lin Qiupu, used a calm tone to read out the case details, those that were silently listening to his speech began to stir.
"Is it another Wang Yueche driver murder case?"
"Is the quality of Wang Yueche drivers so bad nowadays? I think this shady platform that allows such drivers to be employed should just be banned."
"Don't blindly jump to conclusions just yet. Currently, there is no evidence to indicate that the murderer is the driver."
"Using the time of death to infer, the incident happened around three in the morning, and the traffic around the bridge was scarce, so the likelihood of the murderer being the driver is very high!"
Lin Qiupu knocked his hand down on the table a few times, and his subordinates immediately quieted down. Lin Qiupu continued, "Wang Yueche, rape, murder, and a young female. Less than a month after the last Wang Yueche homicide, I did not expect that these words would once again appear in a case file. Once the case is exposed to the public, there will be an enormous social impact, so the superiors are placing great importance and special attention on this case. They've ordered us to solve this case as soon as possible. I will hold off the pressure from the higher-ups and the media. The case will be investigated as normal. As such, all vacations over the next two days are canceled. If you usually sleep for seven hours, you'll sleep for five hours now. Fight for results within the next forty-eight hours! Does everyone have confidence that they will be able to bring about results?"
Typically, these words would be very harsh and strict. However, when they came from Lin Qiupu, they brought with them a compelling and calm aura. Many female police officers who watched the cool and collected Lin Qiupu make his speech had stars in their eyes[4].
As for the male officers, they could only look on at their lovesick female colleagues and sigh. Comparing yourself to others will lead to the death of any joy in your life.
"We have confidence!" The members of the unit answered in harmony.
"Good, then I'll assign the tasks. Xiao Qi, take people to re-examine the areas of the crime scene..."
The officers left the meeting room in quick succession. Lin Qiupu was packing up the case files when he suddenly noticed a gaze behind him. His hands paused briefly, then carried on organizing his materials. Without turning his head around, he asked, "You're still not leaving?"
"Why do you always assign me to irrelevant and unimportant tasks like surveying the deceased's interpersonal relationships?!" The female officer asked with an aggressive tone.
"Irrelevant and unimportant? To me, nothing is irrelevant and unimportant. Every task is a necessary component of the investigation. You only need to obey the order!"
"Hmph, what you say sure sounds good. It's the same thing every time. All the dangerous and difficult tasks never get assigned to me. Will I always be the clueless little girl who will never grow up in your eyes? Lin Qiupu, I stayed at the police academy for four years to become a successful police officer, not to just come out and leisurely experience life!"
Lin Qiupu finally turned around, meeting her eyes full of questions. His expression softened. "Sister, I..."
"Captain Lin!" The female officer suddenly raised her voice, "Is it appropriate to address someone in such an intimate manner within the station?"
She walked to the door and stopped in her tracks briefly, "Brother, I will make you recognize my merits through the contributions I make in this case!"
Watching her back as she left, Lin Qiupu's face showed a bitter smile.
1. A Chinese saying that describes people who are well versed in halting their advances when things go awry.
2. 1,000 Chinese Yuan is about 140 USD.