Chapter 69: Calm

Inside the screening room, everyone felt a chill run down their spines at Qiong Cang’s narrative.

Several psychologists turned their full attention to Ding Xihua, wanting to conduct a deep analysis of this character who was highly likely antisocial and naturally lacked emotion and responsibility. Unfortunately, there were few shots of him, and since Qiong Cang had avoided interrogating him, he had barely spoken a couple of sentences.

Xie Qimeng hesitated for a long time before asking, “Why is she so convinced that Ding Xihua isn’t innocent?”

Hearing this, several technicians looked up, sharing the same confusion. They felt Ding Xihua had behaved perfectly throughout. He was obedient, sensible, shy, and showed just a hint of nervousness. If this was all an act, his acting skills were terrifyingly good.

Qiong Cang said there was something off about Ding Xihua’s eyes, but they couldn’t see it either.

“Intuition,” He Chuanzhou said. “Or experience.”

Xie Qimeng felt that something like “intuition” was truly too mysterious, and it shouldn’t even be called experience.

He Chuanzhou had been sitting for a long time, but her posture remained perfectly upright, and her voice was deep and powerful. “If Shen Sui were truly the murderer, she would have been planning this murder from the moment she met Hong Jun. She stole Hong Jun’s sleeping pills, investigated his work details, and even went so far as to have her own son help her dispose of the body. If so, she should hate Ding Tao to the extreme.”

“Criminals like her are usually stubborn and refuse to admit they are in the wrong. Once exposed, she should at least try to justify herself with something like ‘Ding Tao deserved to die’ or ‘that man forced me to do it.’ Yet, from the moment she confessed to the crime, she has done nothing but try to exonerate Ding Xihua, without saying a single bad word about Ding Tao. I don’t see any resentment toward Ding Tao in her, nor the extreme obsession to kill him at all costs.”

Enlightened by her explanation, everyone suddenly understood.

It was true. No wonder Shen Sui had always given them a strange feeling. She lacked the ruthless aura of a murderer, and they couldn’t find a logical motive for the crime.

“As for where Ding Xihua’s suspicious points lie…” He Chuanzhou paused and pointed at Fang Qi. “When you first met Ding Xihua, what was your evaluation of him?”

Fang Qi answered without a second thought, “Taciturn, obedient, logical, and extremely calm.”

A technician raised his hand to ask, “Why extremely calm?”

Fang Qi explained, “His father passed away, yet he stood by his mother’s side like a pillar of support. Although his expression seemed sad, he never lost his composure. You have to realize he is just a student in his early twenties. Facing something like this, panicking is the normal reaction. After meeting Qiong Cang, he calmly listened to her question Shen Sui the entire time. Even when the two of them seemed on the verge of a conflict, he didn’t interrupt or chime in. His answers were standard and measured, his voice steady, and he didn’t proactively ask about his father’s cause of death or the progress of the investigation. That’s why I say he is extremely calm.”

The others nodded in understanding.

“Being extremely calm isn’t a negative trait,” Fang Qi said. “It’s just that I don’t believe an extremely calm person would make the mistake of disposing of his father’s body just because his mother coerced him.”

He Chuanzhou asked, “If it were you, and your mother forced you to dispose of your father’s body, would you agree? And after disposing of the body, could you calmly return to your dorm, wash your clothes, destroy the evidence, and then wait for the police to show up while pretending to be grief-stricken, putting on this show together with your mother?”

Fang Qi added, “To be precise, it wasn’t a corpse. Ding Tao was still alive at the time. I don’t believe that with Ding Xihua’s intelligence, he wouldn’t have noticed that.”

Let alone thinking deeply about it, just the thought of it made everyone shudder.

Looking back now, Ding Xihua’s performance this morning was indeed far too “calm.”

He Chuanzhou said, “I believe Ding Xihua is emotionally cold and shallow. Even after living with his family for decades, he doesn’t really understand familial affection. He plays the role of a good student and a dutiful son based on what he has learned, but in reality, he doesn’t feel much inside. Perhaps he has some attachment to his parents, but he is ultimately self-centered. He likes a glamorous life where he is looked up to. Once someone encroaches on his personal interests, he will eliminate them.”

People like this are terrifying. On the surface, they appear gentle, honest, approachable, and even like a nice guy, but no one knows when their madness will show. Every single word they say to you could be a lie.

A psychological evaluator asked, “If Shen Sui insists that she is the mastermind, doesn’t that mean there’s no other evidence to implicate Ding Xihua? How did you convict him in the end?”

He Chuanzhou tilted her chin, gesturing for everyone to keep watching the Instance.

·

By this time, Qiong Cang had already arrived at C University. The one who drove her there was that dramatic, high-energy young officer.

He had chattered to Qiong Cang the entire way, to the point that she couldn’t even hear clearly when she was on the phone with He Jueyun.

The two parked by the side of the road and went to the designated spot to meet up with He Jueyun.

He Jueyun was still on the phone with a colleague asking for information. Seeing their figures appear, he waved his hand to signal them.

The young officer jogged over eagerly, waving his arms in response, and shouted, “Brother He, we meet again! I’ll be tagging along with you guys to investigate the case today!”

He Jueyun stared at him for three seconds, hung up the phone, and handed over a bagged necklace. “Important evidence. Take it back for testing.”

The young officer, who had been about to pull out his tools to show how diligent he was, took the item on reflex and muttered blankly, “Huh?”

He Jueyun dismissed him ruthlessly. “You can go now.”

The young officer: “…” How could such a cruel man exist in this world?

Ignoring the NPC’s suddenly downcast expression, He Jueyun turned to Qiong Cang and asked, “Well? Where do you want to start investigating?”

Qiong Cang said without hesitation, “Let’s check out Ding Xihua’s previous rental apartment. We need to find out why he suddenly moved out.”

He Jueyun raised a hand and pointed. “I’ve asked around. It’s in that residential area right across from the east gate of the living zone.”

The two of them walked off as they spoke, leaving the young officer behind with a look of utter grievance.

The apartment Ding Xihua used to rent was a sublet. Rentals near the school were in high demand, and someone else had already taken it.

The two tried to get information from the security guard, but because of the high turnover of residents in the area, the guard had no memory of Ding Xihua.

He Jueyun led the way, bringing Qiong Cang deeper into the residential complex. As they walked, he explained, “His counselor and roommates don’t know why he suddenly moved back either. In their eyes, Ding Xihua is a well-off, decent-looking guy with excellent grades and a great temper. In short, it’s almost entirely positive feedback.”

Qiong Cang asked, “Does he have a girlfriend?”

“No,” He Jueyun said. “Ding Xihua was often pursued by girls at school, but he didn’t have a girlfriend. He claimed he wanted to focus on his studies for the time being.”

Qiong Cang remarked, “Single guys tend to be more popular.”

This sounded a bit like a conspiracy theory. He Jueyun couldn’t help but ask, “Are you overthinking things?”

“Maybe,” Qiong Cang said. “We’ll know once we look into it.”

As they spoke, they arrived at the door of the apartment Ding Xihua used to rent.

Qiong Cang paused to observe for a moment, then went over and knocked on the neighbor’s door.

Sanyao made things convenient for the Players in this regard. As long as it was a minor NPC, they would always answer the door, and someone would always be home.

A middle-aged man wearing loungewear pajamas opened the door. He poked his head through the crack and asked warily, “Who are you?”

Qiong Cang flashed her ID and asked, “Have you lived here long?”

The man’s attitude softened significantly. He unlatched the security screen door and stepped out to talk.

“Yeah.”

“Do you know why the previous tenant next door moved out?”

“No idea,” the man said. “He was a student, right?”

Qiong Cang nodded. “Yes.”

“He was a nice kid, always bringing me fruit,” the man said with a chuckle. “I guess something came up, so he moved out.”

His demeanor suggested he knew something but was hesitant to speak.

“Please,” Qiong Cang said. “This is very important.”

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment before recounting, “Well, right before he moved out, a girl came by with her dad. They had a huge argument. It started out here in the hallway, but then the boy brought them inside.”

He quickly waved his hands to clarify. “I wasn’t eavesdropping on purpose, mind you. The soundproofing in this building is terrible. They were shouting so loud, I couldn’t help but hear.”

He Jueyun asked, “What were they saying?”

“Something about paying them back,” the man said, sounding unsure. “Maybe the girl got pregnant, or sick. Her dad wanted the boy to pay him millions. Kids these days are so reckless, you know? They don’t use protection, and they don’t even check a girl’s family background before dating. Sounds like extortion to me, doesn’t it?”

He Jueyun pulled out a notepad and pen. “Do you remember what they looked like? Or what they were wearing? Any specific date and time?”

“I do. It was only a little over a month ago. Maybe the seventeenth or eighteenth,” the man recalled. “The girl had long hair and was wearing a blue dress. Her dad was dressed very simply, like a manual laborer. Eventually, the three of them left together. I don’t know where they went.”

Noting down the descriptions, the two immediately went to the security office for the surveillance footage. Unfortunately, the complex only kept its recordings for a month, and the footage they needed had already been overwritten. Data recovery would be too much of a hassle, so after a moment’s thought, Qiong Cang headed to a nearby bank instead.

Bank surveillance footage was typically kept for one to two months. When Qiong Cang went in to inquire, she found that this bank’s retention policy was exactly two months.

The two searched through the footage by date. Sure enough, they spotted Ding Xihua on the screen, with the other two walking right beside him.