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That night, Zhu Dapeng was drinking at the tavern until four in the morning. Completely drunk, he collapsed onto the table and fell asleep. It was Zhu Fan, his wife, who helped him out of the tavern. To save time, Zhu Fan chose to take the abandoned path that cut through the graveyard.
As they walked along the path outside the back window of their home near the graveyard, Zhu Dapeng slowly began to wake up from his drunken stupor. He mumbled repeatedly, "I'm not going tomorrow; I don't want that job! I want to quit! Where's the alcohol? Where's the alcohol?"
Zhu Fan said nothing, struggling to support the inebriated Zhu Dapeng as they moved forward. Suddenly, they stumbled over some wild grass underfoot, and Zhu Dapeng immediately lashed out, "You filthy woman, are you trying to kill me?"
Zhu Fan attempted to help him up, but Zhu Dapeng grabbed her hair and yanked her forward. Zhu Fan screamed in pain and fell onto the grass. Zhu Dapeng climbed up while holding her head down, kneeling on her back with one hand gripping her hair and the other hand delivering slap after slap across her face.
"Are you trying to kill me? You filthy woman! Filthy woman!"
Fueled by alcohol, Zhu Dapeng continued to hit and curse at Zhu Fan.
Zhu Fan struggled desperately beneath him, crying out in anguish.
At that moment, Zhu Peng, who had been lying fully clothed on his bed and was still awake, heard his mother's cries. He got up and pushed open the door.
Zhu Peng circled around to the back of their house. In the bright moonlight, he vaguely saw his father attacking and berating his mother in the distance by the graveyard.
Just as Zhu Dapeng was beating his wife with fervor, a gun was pressed against his head.
Zhu Dapeng looked up to see that it was Zhu Peng holding the gun.
"Father, I won't let you hit my mother!" Zhu Peng shouted.
Seeing the gun pointed at him snapped Zhu Dapeng partially out of his drunken state. "Peng, where did you get that gun? Give it to me!"
As Zhu Dapeng reached for the gun, Zhu Peng quickly dodged away. "No! If you hit my mother again, I'll shoot you!"
This statement enraged Zhu Dapeng. He charged forward and slapped Zhu Peng hard enough to knock him down. "You've gone too far; how dare you point that thing at your father?"
As Zhu Dapeng lunged towards Zhu Peng again, Zhu Fan wrapped her arms around his leg. In response, Zhu Dapeng turned and kicked her arm fiercely with his other foot.
Zhu Dapeng cursed at Zhu Fan, "You filthy bitch, let go of me!"
Zhu Fan endured the pain and shouted to Zhu Peng, "Peng, run!"
Peng was stunned; his arms trembled as he pointed the gun at Zhu Dapeng.
Zhu Dapeng bent down, pried Zhu Fan's hands apart, and threw him aside. He turned around and grabbed Zhu Peng's arm, pressing the gun against his own chest, shouting at Zhu Peng, "Do you want to kill your father? Do you dare? Huh? Are you a man? Were you raised by your father and mother?"
With his other hand, Zhu Dapeng kept slapping Zhu Peng's face, causing Zhu Peng to scream in pain and terror. Zhu Fan shouted from the side, "Zhu Dapeng, are you crazy? He's your son! Do you want to kill him? Zhu Dapeng!"
Zhu Fan got up and pulled hard on Zhu Dapeng's arm. At that moment, there was a muffled bang, and blood spurted from the back of Zhu Dapeng's heart.
The three of them fell silent. Zhu Dapeng lowered his head; the gun in Zhu Peng's hand was still smoking.
Zhu Dapeng looked at Zhu Peng in shock, then at Zhu Fan, and involuntarily took two steps back before collapsing.
Zhu Fan recounted the events to the police and all the neighbors present. At that moment, a police officer who had gone to search for guns at Zhu Dapeng's house came out holding a handgun and handed it to the chief.
The chief examined the handgun and then asked Zhu Peng, "Zhu Peng, where did you get this gun?"
Zhu Peng replied, "I stole it from my father's bedroom."
Tao Ziwen asked Zhu Fan, "To cover up the murder, you called your brother and the two of you staged a crime scene?"
"Yes."
Tao Ziwen then asked the butcher shop owner, Fan Ming, "You started slaughtering pigs at five in the morning; was that pig's blood meant to fake a crime scene?"
Fan Ming nodded.
After Zhu Dapeng was killed by Zhu Peng, Zhu Fan panicked. The first person he thought of was his own brother, Fan Ming.
To help his sister and nephew, Fan Ming slaughtered an old sow at five o'clock in the morning and collected the pig's blood in a basin.
Fan Ming carried Zhu Dapeng's body to Zhu Dapeng's bedroom, using pig blood obtained from slaughtering pigs and an iron rod to create the illusion that Zhu Dapeng had been stabbed and bled to death. He also pried open the window from the inside with a crowbar.
To leave no traces of their crime, Zhu Fan cleaned up the crime scene, erasing any footprints and fingerprints left by Fan Ming. He also wiped away the bloodstains that had dripped on the stairs and outside during the process of transporting the body. They believed they had created a perfect crime scene; even if it were discovered by the police, they would only trace it back to Zhu Fan and Fan Ming, without implicating Zhu Peng. However, their plan ultimately failed. They did not anticipate that Tao Ziwen would see through the case so clearly.
Fan Ming said to Tao Ziwen, "When you came to my shop and looked at that iron rod, thinking it was the murder weapon, I thought you suspected me then. They are a pair of orphans; you only needed to catch me, but I didn't expect you to investigate so deeply!"
Now, there remained one unanswered question. Wang Zhiyuan couldn't hold back any longer and asked Zhu Peng, "How did your arm get broken? Was it really your father who broke it?"
Zhu Peng was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Mother Zhu Fan for help, and then Zhu Fan glanced at his brother Fan Ming. Fan Ming sighed and said, "Yes, it was indeed his father who broke it. His arm was broken when he killed his father!"
Under the scorching sun, the sheriff was already exhausted. Seeing that the details of the case had been clearly stated, he said, "This case is already clear; does it really matter who broke the child's arm? Hurry up and take them away! There are other cases waiting for us at the station! Fellow villagers, the truth behind Zhu Dapeng's mysterious murder has been revealed; please step aside as we take the suspects back to the police station!"
The tavern owner spoke up first: "Sheriff, will all three of them be sentenced to death?"
The sheriff just wanted to wrap things up quickly and replied nonsensically, "No! Zhu Peng is still a child. Although his mother and uncle committed serious crimes by harboring him, considering family ties, it's understandable. So they will receive lighter sentences!"
The crowd began to murmur among themselves. The sheriff and Wang Junpeng got into the police car, followed by Tao Ziwen, Wang Zhiyuan, other officers, and the prisoners they were detaining.
As Zhu Fan, Fan Ming, and Zhu Peng passed by an old woman, she squeezed through and tightly held their hands, advising them: "You are all unfortunate souls! So is Fan Ming. Don't worry; when it's time for trial, I will bring fellow villagers to court to plead for you. It's now the Republic era; I believe justice will protect you!"
Zhu Fan bowed and said, "Thank you, Li Granny!"
The old woman nodded. Under police custody, Zhu Fan eventually released her hand and continued walking forward.
Seeing this scene, Tao Ziwen finally showed a relieved smile.
Wang Zhiyuan asked Tao Ziwen, "The tavern owner said that Zhu Dapeng always favored Zhu Peng. Do you believe that Zhu Peng's arm was broken by Zhu Dapeng? Why do I always feel like it was either Zhu Dapeng's wife or Fan Ming who broke Zhu Peng's arm? Do you feel that way too?"
Tao Ziwen reiterated what the sheriff had just said: "Didn't the sheriff just say this case is closed? Does it really matter who broke Zhu Peng's arm?"
"Don't you like digging deep into everything? I'm just curious and want to discuss this with you!"
Tao Ziwen ignored him and continued walking forward with the group. Wang Zhiyuan followed behind him.
As the police escorted the suspect away from Zhu Dapeng's house, the crowd gathered outside gradually dispersed.
Buildings lined both sides of the street. Pedestrians filled the street, and a double-decker tram traveled along the tracks. The tram stopped at a station, and Guo Zhiqian got off with a bag of items, walking into a tall apartment building by the roadside.
Guo Zhiqian's home was inside this apartment building.
He took the old-fashioned gated elevator to his floor, whistling as he pulled out his keys and walked toward his room. He stopped at his door, unlocked it with his key, and pushed the door open.
The living room of Guo Zhiqian's home was small, furnished in an extremely simple and understated manner. The only photo hanging on the wall was of Guo Zhiqian alone.
Guo Zhiqian walked straight to one of the rooms, knocked on the door, and called out, "I brought you some food from Shanghai. Do you want some..."
As soon as he knocked, the door slowly opened. Guo Zhiqian simply pushed the door open and walked in.
The room was empty, and the window opposite the door was open.
Guo Zhiqian felt disappointed. Then he noticed a note left on the coffee table. He walked over and picked up the note.
It was a message from Cheng Yuyao left for him when she left: "Mr. Guo, thank you very much for coming to my aid in a time of crisis. Although you did not unveil my identity, I believe you must know who I am. I am feeling much better now, but I worry that Mother and my sister might be anxious waiting at home, so I left without saying goodbye.
"I am still dressed in my night clothes; I thought it would be inconvenient to walk out openly, so I left through your window. I hope you don't mind?
"I hope we can meet again at the café! Cheng Yuyao."
Guo Zhiqian looked at the note and smiled knowingly before placing it back on the table and walking over to close the window.
To avoid crowds, Cheng Yuyao had been leaping across rooftops. When she returned home, she knocked on the door using a predetermined signal: three quick knocks followed by one slow knock.
At that moment, Cheng Shuhua was sitting cross-legged in front of a smoke-filled altar, devoutly chanting scriptures and praying for Cheng Yuyao. When she heard the knocking sound, she hurried over to open the door.
Outside the door stood Cheng Yuyao, dressed in a dark outfit.
Seeing Cheng Yuyao return safely, Cheng Shuhua felt an indescribable joy, but her words carried a tone of reproach: "Cheng Yuyao, where have you been all morning? I sent your sister to the port to look for you, and she couldn't find you. Do you know how worried your sister and I were about you?"
Cheng Yuyao quickly replied, "I'm sorry, Mom."
Cheng Shuhua reminded her, "From now on, regardless of whether your mission is completed or not, you must come home as soon as possible, understand?"
"Yes! Mom, where's my sister?"
"She went to the café. You should change your clothes and go too!"
"Okay."
Cheng Yuyao walked into her room when Cheng Shuhua suddenly asked, "I heard from Yuwan that you were saved by a masked person last night. Is it the same person? What is his identity? Is he an enemy or a friend?"
Cheng Yuyao had taken off half of her dark outfit and paused upon hearing her mother's question. "If he were an enemy, he wouldn't keep saving us over and over again!"
Cheng Shuhua responded from outside, "Until we find out his intentions for saving us, we can't jump to conclusions."
"I understand!" Cheng Yuyao looked at herself in the mirror and felt an inexplicable melancholy.
Guo Zhuanghuai was dressed in a dark outfit similar to that of the Thorned Rose, hiding on the rooftop and observing the bustling crowd in the commercial street below. Finally, he focused his gaze on a mother and child.
On both sides of the commercial street were vendors with various stalls selling all kinds of goods. The colorful merchandise was dazzling. The sounds of bargaining filled the air.
The mother held her child's hand as they looked around. The child was captivated by a ceramic figurine at a roadside toy stall and tugged at his mother to buy it.
The mother coaxed her child, "If we buy this, we'll go home afterward, okay?"
"Okay!" the child cheerfully agreed.
The Mother walked forward with her child, carrying a Ceramic Figurine.
Guo Zhuanghuai covered his face with a towel, leaving only his eyes visible, as he tracked them from the rooftop.
The mother and child turned a corner ahead and entered an alley. Guo Zhuanghuai quickly followed.
It was a narrow, deserted alley.
The child played with the ceramic figurine while the Mother pulled him along. Suddenly, Guo Zhuanghuai leaped down from the rooftop, swooping down like an eagle catching its prey, and grabbed the child's shoulder, lifting him up and flying back to the rooftop. Accompanied by the Mother's scream, the child's ceramic figurine fell to the ground and shattered.
Guo Zhuanghuai stood on the rooftop holding the child, who kept calling out for Mom.
The Mother cried out to Guo Zhuanghuai, "Don't take my child! Give me back my child! Please, give me back my child!"
Guo Zhuanghuai threw a dart to the ground and disappeared from the Mother's sight with the child. The Mother picked up the dart from the ground—the tail of the dart resembled a rosebud...
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