The body had been dumped here last night or even today.
Why?
This question was predicated on whether the scoundrel had truly died from an accidental fall.
The possibility of that was miniscule.
Was it a premeditated murder? If so, where had his body been before? Why dump him on the first floor at this specific time?
Nan Yue carefully observed the expressions of everyone present.
There was surprise, fear, curiosity, indifference, and even the burning gaze of those fueled by gossip.
The tenants of the dilapidated building were all there. Xie Hui hid behind Uncle Zhong, her face somewhat pale.
Yao He looked like she was about to faint, so Yang Xufeng escorted her upstairs.
The Mute still wore that exaggerated smile. The people around him still kept their distance; they didn't like him either.
His eyes were somewhat cold, showing little interest.
Wu Gang had left with the Oasis Community security team. Su Xiaoxi and the others hadn't arrived yet; those three likely wouldn't be back for a while.
Wu Ming's expression was solemn, his thoughts unreadable.
Granny Li had only appeared when the people from Oasis Community arrived and had long since returned home without staying to watch the commotion.
A-Wang the locksmith had been in the crowd gossiping the whole time, while Old Wu shook his head and sighed, lamenting the scoundrel's poor luck.
Everyone... seemed quite normal.
Of course, there was another possibility: the killer wasn't in the dilapidated building, but everyone in the building was his prey.
Then this pollution world was a world driven by "fear."
But why dump the scoundrel's body here at this time?
And then there was the missing female resident from Oasis Community; Nan Yue couldn't help but feel it was related to what her studio was investigating.
It felt like a diversion.
Something else wasn't quite right.
...
A day ago.
Song Ya was walking her dog in Oasis Community. Her dog was a white West Highland Terrier. Her newlywed husband was away on a business trip, and she was bored.
The environment in Oasis Community was quite good, and she was very satisfied with it, but her husband was not.
Because across the street behind the community, there were several demolition buildings.
She heard that these buildings were supposed to be demolished when Oasis Community was built, but work stopped after someone died, and the issue remained unresolved to this day.
Song Ya came from an average background, so she could better empathize with the hardships of ordinary people. She often advised her husband not to care too much; no one could choose their birth, and as long as one's heart was good, it was enough.
Her husband always said she thought too simply.
Thinking that her husband would be back tomorrow, Song Ya took her dog for a walk around the fruit and vegetable supermarket. As she was returning to Oasis Community, an apple rolled out and tumbled outside the community gates.
That was how she saw that person.
The person was sitting on the road not far from the community. Wearing a hat, it was impossible to tell if they were male or female, but they seemed injured.
There were very few people on the road at this time, and even fewer in the demolition area across the street; many shops had already pulled down their shutters to go home and rest.
The weather was too hot.
"Are you okay?"
Song Ya called out from across the community's back gate.
The person didn't seem to move.
Song Ya hesitated for a moment but decided to go over and check. If it was serious, she would call the police; after all, it was a life.
She walked over. The person was curled into a ball on the ground, and she couldn't see what kind of injury they had.
They were leaning against a tree, head lowered, as the massive canopy shrouded them in shadow.
"Are you okay?"
The other person looked up, and only then did she see that they were wearing a black mask, revealing only a pair of bloodshot, crazed, and ferocious eyes.
...
Su Xiaoxi recognized Song Ya's dog; she had a good impression of this resident.
She wasn't high and mighty like the others and was quite polite to them.
Su Xiaoxi was surprised to see the dog run into the property management center by itself, and she was even more shocked when she later found Song Ya's bag and groceries on the street behind the community.
She had hesitated; after all, her own dilapidated building was only a few steps away.
She knew this place should have ceased to exist long ago, but she still needed a cheap place to stay for now.
Su Xiaoxi only hesitated for a second before calling the police, and later she followed them to the demolition area to watch the commotion.
She was shocked when a body that had been dead for days was found on the first floor, but she also felt relieved that Song Ya wasn't found there.
At least it had nothing to do with the demolition area.
That was what she thought at the time.
By the time she and Mu Qing finished work, it was already the next day. Dragging their exhausted bodies back to the demolition area, they had half a day off and needed to catch up on sleep.
The sound of several people talking came from behind the building. There was an earthen pit where construction had stopped halfway through; it was also used for dumping trash, and normally no one went there.
The two of them approached cautiously, only to find several of the newly moved-in tenants there.
They had jumped into the pit and seemed to be looking at something.
Su Xiaoxi curiously peeked over and then slumped to the ground.
She didn't see anything specific, but she saw a pattern.
A pattern from Song Ya's clothes.
...
Nan Yue glanced back and gave Chi Yu and Zhu Xi Ning a look. The two of them went over and led Su Xiaoxi and Mu Qing away.
"When did you find this body?"
There was another person in the pit, a man with a pale face but still wearing that exaggerated smile.
Although the Mute still had that stiff smile on his face, his eyes were full of panic. He gestured for a long time before remembering he could type on his phone, and he hurriedly pulled it out.
The Mute worked as a helper at a welfare home. The pay wasn't much, just enough to get by. He had to travel across most of the city to get there, so he woke up quite early.
When that scoundrel was still around, he had affected everyone. Discovering he was dead today, the Mute didn't have much of an opinion and had gone back to rest early.
When he left for work this morning, the demolition area was very quiet; everyone was finally tired after watching the commotion for half the night.
He was going to throw out some trash. He didn't dare go to the first floor, so he thought of the earthen pit behind the building.
And then he found Song Ya.
He ran back to his room in a panic. Gu Xiang Kai heard the commotion and caught him to ask, which was how they found out.
The Mute was very frantic; he couldn't speak to call the police, and deep down, he didn't want to call them either.
He didn't have many places to go; this was the only place that could accommodate him. Everyone else thought he was a monster, but here he could find some peace.
He hesitated, and Nan Yue had no such intention either.
She crouched down to look at Song Ya's body. The corpse was mutilated beyond recognition; her face had been slashed until nothing could be seen.
But when the people from Oasis Community came looking for her last night, they had a photo, and the clothes she was wearing were these exact ones.
The killer had murdered Song Ya and then dumped her behind their building.
But...
Nan Yue looked at Song Ya's head. There was a large hole in her skull, a criminal characteristic that the bodies unearthed from the construction site didn't have.
Song Ya's body wasn't wrapped in plastic sheeting either; many details didn't match up.
"Her brain is gone."
Jiang Siyan helped Nan Yue up. "I don't know how it was removed. It looks a bit crude; just a hole broken into the head, and then..."
Jiang Siyan trailed off, rarely failing to finish his sentence.
Rate on N.U.
