“I once hurt Xiaohua too,” Ran Jingjing exhaled heavily.
As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately caught everyone’s attention.
They were curious about what Ran Jingjing, who always fiercely defended Xiaohua, had done to hurt Su Xiaohua.
Ran Jingjing licked her dry lips. “Thinking back, Xiaohua once reached out to me for help.”
“I remember she asked me a question in a storytelling manner. She said her friend was experiencing sexual harassment and asked me how to handle it.”
Wang Tou: ‘How did you respond?'”
“I said to let her friend report it to the police.”
Wang Tou: “That’s a flawless response.”
Ran Jingjing shook her head. “Then Xiaohua continued, she said her friend was afraid to report for various reasons and asked what to do.”
“I happened to be studying legal topics at the time, and it happened to mention that not resisting is aiding and abetting. Young and arrogant, I interrupted her arrogantly and said her friend was a coward. I even advised her to leave this friend quickly. If it were me, I would never be friends with such a coward.”
“Later, when something happened to Xiaohua, I realized that the ‘friend’ she mentioned was actually herself.”
“Then I understood why Xiaohua’s expression was so unnatural. After that question, she distanced herself from me for a while and rarely spoke to me.”
“It was my arrogance and indifference that blocked Xiaohua’s cry for help. If I had known she was talking about herself, I would never have answered like that.”
“It was my fault.”
“Officer Wang, can you remember anything?” After finishing her statement, Ran Jingjing hugged the box in her arms and looked at Wang Tou.
Wang Tou shook his head, then looked around, seeming to recall something. “I am a police officer.”
“In my career, I encounter many cases every year. Some cases are solved, but many remain unsolved. When a case remains unsolved and the victim does not get justice, we feel guilty and blame ourselves when we face the grieving eyes of the victim’s family.”
“If we had tried harder, been more meticulous, acted faster back then, could we have solved the case? Could we have caught the perpetrator?”
“To be honest, that’s my only regret towards Xiaohua. It’s been ten years, and I still haven’t caught the culprit.”
After he spoke, everyone’s gaze fell on Bai Lixin.
Everyone present knew each other, but why did this strange young man appear here?
“I don’t know Su Xiaohua, I should just be an innocent bystander who got inadvertently involved,” Bai Lixin pointed at Xiao Xin in Mrs. Shen’s arms, “just like Xiao Xin came in with Mrs. Shen, I got caught up because I happened to take the same taxi as Ran Jingjing.”
This explanation seemed quite reasonable, at least no one pointed out any flaws in it.
Now everyone had said what they had thought of, but it seemed they still had no clue.
Crime and punishment.
Repentance.
What exactly did they mean?
Was such repentance enough?
Was it enough to dispel the resentment in the heart of “Xiaohua’s ghost”?
“If everyone who harmed Xiaohua is here,” amid everyone’s confusion, the strange young man spoke again, “then is there a possibility that the person who caused Xiaohua’s disappearance ten years ago is also here?”
There were gasps in the room.
When he said this, his expression was very calm, as if he was saying “the weather is nice today”. However, upon closer thought, everyone felt a chill down their spines.
A person who might have killed Xiaohua ten years ago, and even cruelly sawed off Xiaohua’s leg, wasn’t that a ruthless murderer?
A vicious murderer was hiding among them, how could they not be afraid?
Everyone instinctively looked at the only police officer present.
Fortunately, there was a police officer here, which relieved much of their tension.
Li Chongming: “Maybe not. Su Hong, Shen Shukuang, Cao Ji’an, and Cao Jiyun have all died; those are four people already. Maybe the murderer is among them?”
“Back then, Cao Ji’an was arrested, and he was sentenced. Isn’t that a closed case?”
“No!” Ran Jingjing argued excitedly, “Cao Ji’an is not the real murderer. The real murderer is someone else.”
At this point, she no longer had any plans to hide it, so she told her what happened when Xiaohua called her for help and said goodbye, and she rushed to the scene of the crime.
However, she concealed the part about Xiaohua’s head, only saying that someone knocked her unconscious later.
Wang Tou challenged her first, “Why didn’t you tell the police about this clue?”
Ran Jingjing hesitated.
Wang Tou pressed on, “Did you not trust the police? Or is there another hidden motive?”
Ran Jingjing: “…”
Wang Tou looked at Ran Jingjing, his gaze turning accusatory. “Why do I always feel like you’ve been hiding something important?”
His gaze fell on the box that Ran Jingjing was protecting like a treasure. The mud and rust on the box were very conspicuous. He asked, “What’s inside the box you’re holding?
The lawyer and the police officer clashed, and in the end, the lawyer conceded defeat.
Wang Tou’s barrage of questions overwhelmed Ran Jingjing, catching her off guard and successfully drawing everyone’s attention to the box in her arms.
“Yes, what’s in that box? You had such a good relationship with Xiaohua; she would never harm you. Is there some kind of secret magic weapon in there?” Zhang Li’s eyes gleamed green with curiosity as she gazed longingly at the box in Ran Jingjing’s arms, eager to take a closer look.
Noticing Zhang Li’s intent, Ran Jingjing clutched the box tighter.
But this action only piqued everyone’s curiosity about the box even more.
The three people on the sofa exchanged glances and suddenly lunged at Ran Jingjing.
They moved quickly and with surprising strength.
Wang Tou tried to stop them, but he was still unwell. Against three people, he was ultimately overpowered.
In the chaotic struggle, the box was forcefully slapped by someone and it flew into the air.
The metal box drew an arc as it soared. At its peak, it suddenly opened and the lifelike head of a beautiful woman appeared in everyone’s sight without warning.
No one expected that Ran Jingjing had been holding a head all along. Everyone was stunned, and the previously frantic room fell silent once more.
It was really one shock after another. Bai Lixin, who was watching from the side, feared that these people might lose their sanity before “Xiaohua” could complete her revenge.
Seizing the moment while everyone was dazed, Ran Jingjing swiftly leaped forward and caught the head just as it was about to hit the ground, holding it securely in her arms.
In that instant, Bai Lixin saw a look of relief and calmness in Ran Jingjing’s eyes.
Zhang Li stumbled backward in terror and fell to the ground. Her trembling finger pointed at the head in Ran Jingjing’s arms, her pupils dilated as if she had seen a ghost. “Su…Su Xiaohua, it’s Su Xiaohua!”
Su Xiaohua—they all knew her.
Without Zhang Li’s reminder, they also recognized that it was Su Xiaohua’s head.
But why was Su Xiaohua’s head in Ran Jingjing’s box?
Such a vivid head still resembled the young and beautiful Su Xiaohua from ten years ago.
This was beyond scientific explanation and their worldview was crumbling bit by bit tonight.
Finally, Zhang Li couldn’t bear the blow anymore and ran into the kitchen screaming madly.
Wang Tou wanted to follow to check on Zhang Li, but Mrs. Shen grabbed him.
Mrs. Shen didn’t rush out but her expression was no better. She clung tightly to Wang Tou’s sleeve, “Offi…Officer Wang, you can’t leave! She’s the killer, Ran Jingjing is the killer! Arrest her quickly!”
Ran Jingjing held Su Xiaohua’s head, carefully tidied her disheveled hair and placed it back into the box.
She stood up and recounted the events of ten years ago once more, but this time, she didn’t hide the matter of Xiaohua’s head.
At this point, the only thing Ran Jingjing still kept to herself was that “everyone here was a facet of Xiaohua’s personality.”
A muffled sound suddenly came from the kitchen, followed by the noise of dishes breaking.
“Zhang Li, what’s wrong?!” Mrs. Shen called towards the kitchen, but there was no response.
Li Chongming swallowed hard, his eyes glancing at the box in Ran Jingjing’s arms. Summoning his courage, he looked towards the kitchen, “I’ll go see what’s going on.”
Everyone watched as Li Chongming walked into the kitchen.
A few seconds later, Li Chongming screamed and stumbled out of the kitchen with a horrified expression. “Dead, she’s dead! Zhang Li is dead!”
The air was thick with fear and the presence of death.
Cao Jiyun’s body in the hall was not yet stiff, and now a second body had appeared.
Wang Tou pulled his sleeve free and quickly rushed into the kitchen.
Seeing Wang Tou leave, Mrs. Shen followed without hesitation.
Everywhere was dangerous, and everywhere reeked of death.
With a body and a head in the hall, Mrs. Shen now only trusted Wang Tou.
Bai Lixin glanced towards the rattan chair; Xiao Xin had fallen asleep at some point, unaware of everything happening around her.
He exchanged a look with Ran Jingjing and went towards the kitchen.
Inside the kitchen, the place was a mess.
Pots and bowls were scattered everywhere, and near a broken frosted ceramic bowl lay a wooden plate.
Zhang Li was lying amidst the mess, face-up, her mouth wide open, her pupils contracted, her expression filled with terror. Her skin had taken on a faint bluish hue, as if she had been scared to death by something.
No one dared not enter; only Wang Tou stepped inside.
He first lowered his head to carefully examine Zhang Li’s body, then looked around at the mess.
Soon, he seemed to notice something, and he reached into the sink and started feeling around.
At the door, everyone held their breath, watching Wang Tou’s actions and anxiously awaiting the unknown truth.
Maybe because they had experienced multiple shocks in succession, their expressions did not only show fear, but also showed numbness.
In just half an hour, one person died after another. They didn’t know who would be next or when it would be their turn.
Confusion, shock and fear struck them like daggers cutting into their souls, like a form of slow, torturous punishment.
A few seconds later, Wang Tou pulled his hand from behind the sink, revealing a severed finger.
A short, small toe—a woman’s pinky toe…
