Chapter 106: The Truth Comes to Light

In the cold interrogation room, Chen Zhiming sat with his head lowered, his face expressionless, lost in thought. Sitting across from him were Guo Zile and Song Changfeng, tasked with conducting the interrogation.

After going through the formal procedures, Song Changfeng asked him to truthfully explain the details of his crimes. Chen Zhiming looked up, his face full of innocence, and asked, “What crimes? Officers, I should be asking you—why did you arrest me?”

Guo Zile nearly laughed at that. “You stuck your hands out for the cuffs when we arrested you. And now you’re saying you don’t know why we brought you in? Don’t you think it’s a little late for that?”

Chen Zhiming replied, “You weren’t in uniform. I thought I’d offended someone. It wasn’t until you pulled out the handcuffs that I realized you were police. I figured you had something to ask me, so I cooperated. I really don’t know why you arrested me. If you’re saying I committed a crime, do you have any proof?”

Seeing his feigned ignorance, Guo Zile’s expression darkened. “Chen Youde already told us everything about you. You really think you can keep hiding the fact that you ran off with the money?”

Hearing that, Chen Zhiming felt a wave of relief. So it was about that. He put on a bitter expression and said, “Officers, when I first worked under him, I had no idea he was running a loan shark operation! After a few jobs, I started to feel uneasy. I didn’t want to keep doing it, but if I tried to back out, they wouldn’t have let me go. That’s why I ran. The two hundred thousand-plus is still in my account—I haven’t touched a cent!”

“Oh, so now you’re the victim?” Guo Zile snorted. “I heard he trusted you a lot. Gave you the cars that were used as collateral, handed you all that money. You must’ve made quite a contribution, huh?”

Chen Zhiming gave a wry smile. “I thought it was a legitimate company at first, so I worked hard. But once I found out the truth, it was too late to get out. I’m willing to confess everything I know and ask for leniency.”

With that, Chen Zhiming laid out everything he’d done over the past few months. Guo Zile typed away at the keyboard, filling up five full pages before he finished recording the statement.

“That’s all?” Song Changfeng flipped through the printed pages and raised an eyebrow.

Chen Zhiming shook his head. “I’ve said everything. There’s nothing else.”

“Alright then, take a look at this statement. If everything looks correct, sign and press your fingerprint¹.” Guo Zile pushed over a pen and the ink pad.

Chen Zhiming skimmed through the pages quickly, then signed and pressed his fingerprint on each one. When he was done, he asked, “So, can I leave now?”

“Leave? What’s the rush? There’s still one more thing,” Song Changfeng said, glancing at him as he took back the statement and handed it to Guo Zile to file away.

Chen Zhiming immediately grew alert. “What else is there?”

Song Changfeng stared at him without expression, then let out a cold laugh and asked, “You really don’t know what I’m talking about?”

Chen Zhiming locked eyes with him, trying to gauge whether this was a bluff. “Officer, why don’t you just tell me? I honestly don’t know what else this could be about.”

Song Changfeng said, “Where were you around 2 p.m. on June 17th?”

Chen Zhiming’s pupils contracted sharply. That date was seared into his memory. But he quickly forced himself to stay calm, silently reassuring himself that the police couldn’t have any evidence.

“I was at work. Why? Did something happen that day?”

“Anyone who can vouch for you?”

“No one. But believe me or not, I was at the office that day.”

“You sure? Then do you recognize this?” Song Changfeng pulled out a sealed evidence bag containing a bloodstained scrap of shirt fabric.

Chen Zhiming’s eyes widened the moment he saw it. He instinctively glanced at his sleeve and suddenly remembered—he’d been bitten by a stray dog that day during a scuffle. After getting into his car, he’d quickly changed out of the white shirt and hadn’t even checked it. He never imagined a piece of the sleeve had been torn off. Realizing this, his heart sank. The composure he’d been clinging to crumbled. No wonder they’d taken his blood sample when he was arrested. He’d thought they were testing for drug use, but now it was clear—they were running a DNA test.

“…I recognize it.”

“That’s strange. This was found at the crime scene. If you were at the office all day, how did your shirt end up there?”

Chen Zhiming: “…”

“You’re not saying anything, so I’ll take that as you having nothing to say. But even if you keep trying to deny it, it won’t matter. The DNA test results will be out in an hour or two. Once the evidence is in, you won’t be able to talk your way out of this. You might as well come clean now and tell us everything. What do you say?”

Chen Zhiming stayed silent for a long time. Finally, his voice hoarse, he slowly recounted the entire incident.

That morning, he had seen Zhong Xiaoxuan walk into the Letaotao Foot Massage Parlor with two men. Over an hour later, she came out beaming, looking completely pleased with herself. Chen Zhiming thought back to when they were dating—she’d always claimed she was out meeting clients for work, but now he realized she’d been fooling around in places like that. Her performance at work had been bought with her body! He was furious. In a moment of rage, he called Zhong Xiaoxuan into his car and took her to the landfill, where he killed her.

“So you’re saying it was a spur-of-the-moment decision to commit the crime?” Song Changfeng asked.

Chen Zhiming nodded. “I didn’t plan to kill her. I just wanted to talk her out of doing those things. But she kept provoking me with her words, and then I just… After I killed her, I was terrified, so I went into hiding.”

He looked utterly remorseful, even his eyes were red.

Song Changfeng and Guo Zile exchanged a glance. They didn’t believe it was nearly that simple.

“Why did you take her to the landfill? If it was a crime of passion², the location should’ve been random,” Song Changfeng said, scrutinizing Chen Zhiming with a sharp gaze.

Chen Zhiming didn’t show the slightest panic. “I hadn’t planned to kill her. When we were near that area, she got out of the car. I followed her, we started arguing… and then it happened.”

Guo Zile slid a sheet of paper across the table. At the top, in bold letters, were the words “Autopsy Report.”

“Zhong Xiaoxuan’s fatal wound was a stab to the neck. Besides that, her face had multiple cuts, and there were binding marks on her wrists and ankles. That doesn’t quite match your story, does it?” Guo Zile looked at him with mocking eyes. Did he really think they’d been wasting their time the past few days?

For a brief moment, panic flickered across Chen Zhiming’s face, but he quickly reverted to a downcast expression.

“After we argued, I lost control and hit her. She started screaming that she’d call the police. I couldn’t let her leave, so I grabbed some rope from the car, tied her up, and took her into the landfill.”

Guo Zile nearly laughed in disbelief. So now they were just making things up as they went? Whatever they said, he’d just spin a story to match?

“Then why did you slash her face?”

A flash of hatred passed through Chen Zhiming’s eyes, and his expression suddenly seemed far more genuine. “She used that face to fool man after man. Just seeing it made me furious!”

“After you killed her, where did you go?” Song Changfeng asked.

Chen Zhiming wasn’t sure how much evidence the police had, so he hesitated before replying, “It wasn’t until after she died that I realized what I’d done. I was terrified. I drove off immediately. I kept driving and driving. When I finally ran out of gas, I realized I’d left Anyang. I didn’t dare stop. After refueling, I kept going until I was too exhausted to continue.”

“Is this you?” Guo Zile slid over another sheet of paper. It was a surveillance still from a hospital. In the image, Chen Zhiming was wearing a mask, his face completely covered.

Chen Zhiming’s mouth twitched. “…Yes, it’s me.”

“That doesn’t match what you just said, does it? After killing her, you went to a hospital and got a rabies vaccine. You even used someone else’s identity to do it. Why lie?”

“I… I was bitten by a dog before I left the house. I didn’t think it was important, so I didn’t mention it.”

“If it wasn’t important, then where did the physical evidence come from? Testing showed not only your blood on the item, but also bite marks from an animal. And based on the crime scene, the ground and surrounding objects were in complete disarray, clearly indicating a struggle. That doesn’t line up with your story about being bitten before leaving the house,” Song Changfeng said coolly, exposing the lie.

Chen Zhiming’s eyes darted around as he tried to come up with another excuse. “That was because—”

“Enough! Stop spinning lies!” Song Changfeng cut him off sternly. “You’re trying to pass this off as a crime of passion to lessen your sentence, but based on our investigation, this was clearly premeditated. Do we really have to lay out every piece of evidence in front of you before you’ll tell the truth?”

Chen Zhiming lowered his head again and said nothing. When he finally looked up, the kindness and innocence from before were gone. His entire demeanor had turned dark and brooding.

“She deserves to die!”

The first words out of his mouth sent a chill down everyone’s spine. The murderous intent in his voice was completely unfiltered. As he spoke, Song Changfeng and Guo Zile heard a version of events that was completely different from what they’d just been told.

It turned out that a week before the incident, Zhong Xiaoxuan had already run into Chen Zhiming. It happened at an ATM at a local bank. Chen Zhiming was transferring money to an account when he turned around and saw Zhong Xiaoxuan standing behind him. They hadn’t seen each other in over a year. Since their breakup, Zhong Xiaoxuan had become even more radiant. Seeing her like that, Chen Zhiming naturally felt a renewed longing and went up to strike up a conversation.

Out of courtesy, Zhong Xiaoxuan responded briefly. Although their breakup had been messy, so much time had passed that there was no need to hold a grudge.

What Zhong Xiaoxuan didn’t realize was that some people never change their ways. Her polite response was taken by Chen Zhiming as a sign that she still had feelings for him, and he started entertaining thoughts of getting back together. After re-adding her on WeChat, he began bombarding her with messages, which quickly became overwhelming. But Chen Zhiming wasn’t the same person he used to be. From the bits and pieces he let slip, Zhong Xiaoxuan realized he seemed to have gotten involved with a group of loan sharks and was now doing shady work for them.

As a salesperson, Zhong Xiaoxuan had dealt with all kinds of people and knew these types were not to be trifled with. She didn’t want to fall back into the suffocating life she once had, so she firmly rejected Chen Zhiming and deleted him from her WeChat again.

Unwilling to give up, Chen Zhiming started calling her incessantly. Zhong Xiaoxuan couldn’t turn off her phone, so she reluctantly agreed to meet him in person to clear things up.

That morning, Zhong Xiaoxuan had accompanied a client to the Letaotao Foot Massage Parlor. After wrapping up the business, she stepped out and saw Chen Zhiming’s car parked near an alley. With a sigh, she walked over and gestured for him to speak quickly, saying she had to get back to the office.

But instead of the eager attitude he’d shown before, Chen Zhiming opened with mockery. He sneered that she was nothing but a whore, no wonder she looked down on him. Said she must’ve found herself some rich sugar daddy. He even accused her of using her body to close deals back in the day, which explained why she always came back late from drinking with clients. Zhong Xiaoxuan, humiliated and furious, reached for the door to get out of the car.

During their struggle, she slapped him across the face. That slap sparked a dark impulse in him. He’d gone out of his way to wear the white shirt she liked most, trying to win her over, and this was how she repaid him? She was cheating on him right under his nose! In a fit of rage, he grabbed a vial of knockout spray from the car and used it on her. Once she passed out, he assaulted her.

When Zhong Xiaoxuan woke up, she broke down in tears and threatened to call the police. She also said she’d expose Chen Zhiming’s involvement in loan sharking and drug trafficking, making sure he’d rot in prison for the rest of his life.

Panic and desperation surged in Chen Zhiming. Realizing he couldn’t calm her down, he made a snap decision and tied her up using tools from the car. But then what? If he let her go, she’d definitely go to the police. Even if he cleaned up all the evidence, once the cops started digging, they’d uncover everything. He couldn’t let her leave alive.

With his mind made up, Chen Zhiming began plotting his next move. That’s when he remembered the garbage dump near his home. It had an incinerator. If he killed Zhong Xiaoxuan and burned her body there, no one would ever find out.

He also remembered that the dump’s owner had borrowed money from De Ge. So while Huang Tianbo was busy gambling, he found his car and took the key to the dump, then made a copy. After that, he avoided surveillance cameras along certain roads and brought Zhong Xiaoxuan to the site.

He had planned to finish things quickly. But just as he was about to act, a stray dog suddenly appeared and ruined everything. The sound of the gate startled him, and his first instinct was to flee.

After driving away, Chen Zhiming was filled with regret. He should’ve stayed and finished the job. That damned dog had survived and was barking like crazy, which would definitely draw attention. Thinking about the crazed dog and the bite marks on his hand, Chen Zhiming suddenly panicked about rabies. He quickly searched for the nearest hospital offering vaccinations and drove there. But getting vaccinated required an ID. Paranoid and guilty, Chen Zhiming didn’t dare use his real identity. So he picked one from a recent loan applicant and used that information to register.

That night, he didn’t dare go home. He stayed in his car, eyes locked on his phone, terrified someone might come to arrest him. It wasn’t until the next morning, when no one had shown up, that he finally breathed a little easier.

But soon after, he saw people in the group chat talking about a police raid at the Letaotao Foot Massage Parlor. Panic surged through him, and that was when his life on the run began…

Translator’s Notes