Chapter 135: Unveiling Luo Sumei

I gave Gu Chen’s shoulder a reassuring pat. He tucked that half of the newspaper into the pocket of his down jacket and signaled for me not to worry. Only then did we finally slow down, waiting for the rest to catch up. Seeing that Li Danan hadn’t come after us set my mind at ease. His behavior back in the bathroom had been more than a little suspicious.

The others gathered around. Guan Zengbin asked, “What was with you two rushing off so fast?”

I cleared my throat, looked at everyone crowding around and said, “Let’s head over to the field. Out here, anyone can see us from a mile away.”

We moved to the edge of the village. Only then did I continue, “No need to drag uninvolved people into this. I think it’s best that only we know what’s going on. The Village Chief probably hinted at some of this when he called you over, but let me make it official: you’re here to help catch the killer.”

“Catch the killer?” Erxiao chimed in. He just couldn’t keep quiet. “Now that sounds good! But let me be clear, this isn’t gonna turn out like last time, right? That mission sounded impressive, keeping an eye out for strangers, but a whole day went by and I didn’t see a soul. My eyeballs nearly dried out just staring. And that night, I barely slept! Kept waking up to check if I’d missed anyone wandering by…”

I quickly cut him off and said, “From what we’ve seen these past three days, the killer always dumps the bodies when it’s snowing hard. And lately, it’s only snowed at night — perfect cover for them.”

The Village Chief picked up where I left off. “So, after talking it over with a few folks, we figured the best way’s to lie in wait. The moment the killer tries anything at night, we pounce. Looks like it won’t snow tonight, but starting tomorrow we’ll have a little fun with it.”

The others nodded in agreement.

Gu Chen glanced back toward the village. “There’s only one road in or out. Me, Wu Meng, Captain Zhou, Old Xia and Erxiao — let’s each take up positions on different rooftops, keep watch from above. If anyone’s wandering the village in the middle of the night, they’re definitely our suspect.”

Everyone nodded.

Guan Zengbin piped up, “Hey, why can’t I join in? I want to see too!”

I ruffled her hair and said, “Why’s a little girl like you getting mixed up in this? If anyone can’t hold out, you can catch some sleep in the second half of the night. Heavy snow takes time to cover tracks. After 3 AM, the killer probably won’t show — lots of villagers are up by five.”

The Village Chief agreed. “If it snows, we keep watch. If not, just stay at home. And bring any spare quilts or blankets from home to line the rooftops. That way if it does snow, we won’t freeze up there.”

With our plan set, Erxiao moved in with Old Xia for the next few days.

Night fell and hunger got the best of us. The Village Chief’s wife whipped up a huge spread. She patted her chest and swore everything was homegrown and homemade. We tore into the food, barely thinking about those dumplings anymore.

Gu Chen shook his head, chewing slowly. “When you’re hungry, you stop caring what you eat. Even those dumplings go down if you’re desperate enough. See me at lunch earlier? I barely hesitated. Threw up, picked up my chopsticks, and kept eating.”

The more Gu Chen talked, the more disgusting it sounded, but this time, none of us could even care.

We devoured everything, the table cleared in no time. After saying goodnight to the Village Chief and his wife, we headed back ‘home’ to sleep.

Walking down the country lane with full stomachs, we couldn’t stop burping.

Suddenly, a text tone rang out. It wasn’t any of us — it was Captain Zhou’s phone. We all stopped and looked at him. You had to know, Captain Zhou’s phone might as well be a paperweight. Even spam texts don’t bother him.

But tonight, someone actually messaged him. Captain Zhou pulled out his phone and checked. Beneath the yellow glow of the streetlamp, we could clearly see his face twist — panic, then a flicker of sadness, then plain confusion. We leaned in for a look and realized the message was from Luo Sumei.

Luo Sumei, or Xiaomei as Gu Chen called her, was Captain Zhou’s girlfriend. It had been over a week since she’d last contacted him. Why send him a message now? Was she trying to patch things up, or put a final end to it?

Even we dimwits knew better than to read someone else’s texts, so we quietly drifted ahead, leaving some space for Captain Zhou.

We’d gone maybe ten meters when Captain Zhou suddenly called out, “Wu Meng, Gu Chen, wait! There’s something wrong with this message!”

We spun around to find Captain Zhou frowning so hard his whole face was scrunched up. He looked like something awful had happened.

We hurried back. Captain Zhou handed me his phone to read the message. As we passed it around, panic and unease stained every face. A quick glance told me even in the frigid night, sweat was breaking out on Captain Zhou’s brow.

It had to be one hell of a shock to make someone sweat in subzero weather.

The message read:

Captain Zhou, has it been a long time since you saw Xiaomei? I’m a bit confused – you’ve been together for over two years, right? But did you ever know that on Luo Sumei’s left little toe there’s a black mole?

Guan Zengbin mumbled, “When we were examining that severed leg, nobody looked closer than me. There was a black mole on that toe, plain as day.”

“But that doesn’t prove the victim was Luo Sumei,” Gu Chen pressed. “Captain Zhou, does she really have a mole on her toe?”

Captain Zhou stood there lost, a forty-year-old man suddenly stripped of all composure, looking like a little boy who didn’t know what to do. He stammered, “I—I never checked that closely, but… yeah, she does have a black mole on her foot.”

“If that’s a match…” Suddenly, Captain Zhou collapsed onto the snowy ground. He said, “Then it’s Luo Sumei. She’s the one. She’s my girlfriend. But it doesn’t make sense. It can’t be true.”

Gu Chen and Guan Zengbin rushed to lift him up.

Watching him sit there in the snow, I felt a strange chill run through me.

I asked, “Captain Zhou, is that really Luo Sumei’s number?”

He nodded. “Yeah. That’s her number.”

While keeping an eye on him, I texted Mary, sending her the phone number and asking her to look up Luo Sumei’s details and whereabouts. Just as I put my phone away, I thought better of it and sent her another message.

So the victim was actually Luo Sumei — Captain Zhou’s girlfriend. She hadn’t contacted him for a week. Had she been held somewhere all that time? Judging by the estimated time of death, Luo Sumei died around midday three days ago, but we only confirmed her identity now.

It was a tough truth to swallow. All this time, the victim we’d been desperate to identify turned out to be Captain Zhou’s girlfriend. Just a leg and an arm couldn’t have given it away, so maybe it was normal he hadn’t recognized them. Until now, he’d kept his emotions in check — if it were me, I might’ve broken down already.

Could the killer have a grudge against Captain Zhou? Was this all about revenge?

It was very possible.

In Yumu City, any murder case would bring Captain Zhou to investigate. What kind of blow could be crueler than discovering midway through a case that the victim is your own girlfriend?

Besides, the killer had no idea whether we finished those dumplings or not.

That thought made my stomach churn; I couldn’t help but vomit onto the ground.

Right after, Guan Zengbin and Captain Zhou both started retching too.

I figured they had all understood what the killer meant by this.

Only Gu Chen stayed put, clearly not following why we were suddenly all throwing up. Sometimes, being slow on the uptake really does save you from a lot of pain.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Captain Zhou vomiting uncontrollably, tears streaming down his face.

Tonight would be a sleepless one for Captain Zhou.

Silently, I wondered — just what kind of hatred could drive someone to torment Captain Zhou like this?

In ancient times, they spoke of three great grudges: losing your country, your father, your wife. The killer didn’t take Captain Zhou’s life but chose a far crueler path. Did Captain Zhou kill someone’s father? Or did he steal someone’s wife?

I guess only Captain Zhou knows the real answer.

Gu Chen said, “It’s freezing. Let’s finish this talk back inside. If I catch that killer, I’ll grind him to dust.”

With that, the others helped Captain Zhou forward.

Through my tears, I saw even Captain Zhou’s tears were freezing on his face. That was how heartbroken he was.

I fell in at the back, tugging at my hair in frustration. The more we dug, the messier this case became, the more tangled with new faces at every turn.

What hidden grudges, what secrets were still lurking behind all this?