The mute was currently working at a welfare home; Nan Yue checked the welfare home's official website and indeed found him listed there.
Nan Yue planned to visit that welfare home in the afternoon.
She found Xie Hui on the school's forum; her grades had been quite good, so her sudden withdrawal from school had sparked some discussion.
Most people said it was a pity, but one comment from a certain ID was very interesting.
LittleLittleLittleFish: Don't feel sorry for her; someone like her is too dangerous and shouldn't have come to school.
She only left that one sentence and said nothing more; Nan Yue sent her a private message only to find that the account had already been deleted.
After some thought, she sent a message to Gu Xiang Kai, asking him to go to the welfare home while she planned to check out Xie Hui's school.
In the afternoon, she arrived at Xie Hui's school and actually managed to see the person in charge with her official press card.
It seemed the Federation government recognized the profession of a reporter.
The person in charge was a woman in her forties named Ms. Li, who still had some recollection of Xie Hui.
"Her? Her grades were good, so it was a bit of a pity, but..."
Seeing that she had more to say, Nan Yue continued to press her, and Ms. Li fell silent for a moment. "That girl was a bit strange."
"Her grades were good, but she didn't get along well with her roommates."
Nan Yue nodded; she had expected this, as no one would likely want to be too close to someone with Xie Hui's perverse hobbies.
"A roommate once lost something and accused her; not long after, that girl fell down the stairs right after showering and broke her leg."
Nan Yue raised an eyebrow. "Did she steal the items?"
Ms. Li sighed. "They were found in her wardrobe."
"Some things in a girls' dormitory are hard to explain."
"Was that girl's fall related to Xie Hui?"
Ms. Li gave a bitter smile. "No one saw anything, and nothing appeared on the surveillance footage, but lubricant had indeed been smeared on her slippers."
"Oh right, our school has stray cats and a Stray Cat Association; for a while, the corpses of stray cats were constantly appearing."
Nan Yue looked at Ms. Li. "Did the torture and killings stop after Xie Hui dropped out?"
Ms. Li let out a long breath. "Yes."
"The girl who fell down the stairs was the vice president of the Stray Cat Association."
Nan Yue had asked enough; she wasn't in the best state herself right now, but she could still hold on.
"One more thing, could the school help me check this ID? It was used on the campus network."
Director Li took it and looked, then had a staff member look it up; it was a girl who was in the same grade as Xie Hui at the time.
"Our school has contact information for all graduates, but it will take some time to reach her; I'll let you know when there's news."
Nan Yue thanked her and left.
Jiang Siyan called Nan Yue, saying that Xie Hui had invited them to dinner tomorrow night.
During this time, Xie Hui had been intentionally or unintentionally contacting several men on the same floor; with time running out, if Xie Hui hadn't reached out to them, Nan Yue might have had to go looking for her.
While Nan Yue and the others were busy, Yin Qian and Chi Yu were already waiting at Xie Hui's house for dinner.
Xie Hui had originally invited Yin Qian, and when Chi Yu appeared, she acted somewhat surprised and embarrassed.
Chi Yu didn't call her out, feeling a bit curious—could the face-slasher really be Xie Hui?
Xie Hui had a petite build; it seemed unlikely she could have taken Shi Xiaojie away quietly—could Uncle Zhong be involved too?
While the two sat in the room, they listened to Xie Hui's previous radio recordings.
Every piece of content was about couples, and the subject matter likely came from her neighbors.
The most recent episode seemed to be about Yao He and her partner; in Xie Hui's eyes, the couple's relationship was quite good, though they would argue over trivial matters.
On the radio, Xie Hui was a gentle and understanding sister, with no sign of her behavior of casting a wide net to test her neighbors' boyfriends.
And just across the hallway, Yao He and Yang Xufeng were still arguing.
Since moving here, they, who rarely quarreled, had begun to have verbal disputes almost every day.
Yang Xufeng himself didn't know what was wrong; he clearly felt for Yao He and didn't want her to work hard.
But lately, whenever he returned, he always felt that Yao He was just idling at home, her cooking wasn't good, and she was even looking for trouble, accusing him of having something going on with Xie Hui.
Heaven knows, wasn't he tired enough already?
Yao He sat on the sofa wiping away tears, no longer even wanting to argue.
"If you're going to be this unreasonable every day, we really need to spend some time apart to cool off."
Yang Xufeng threw out these words and left the house; Yao He didn't chase after him, sitting blankly in the room.
Ding
Her phone vibrated; after opening it, Yao He was somewhat surprised.
Why would he send her a message?
After a moment's hesitation, she gripped her phone tightly.
At midnight, Yang Xufeng still hadn't returned; he had even taken the bike.
He was likely out taking orders; it was easy to earn money at this time, but Yang Xufeng usually didn't take night orders because he worried about her.
Yao He didn't care about him; she opened the door and went out.
Tap, tap, tap.
Only the sound of her footsteps echoed in the hallway as she walked into that empty church.
There was a confessional inside; she lifted the black cloth and sat in, but there was no one else yet.
She held her phone, waiting nervously.
After a while, someone arrived.
The black cloth was lifted; she looked at the newcomer. "What is it you asked me here to tell me?"
...
At three in the morning, Yang Xufeng finally returned; he didn't turn on the light, seeing Yao He sitting on the sofa in the darkness without saying a word.
Yang Xufeng's raised hand dropped again; he sat down beside Yao He.
"Honey, I've thought about it seriously; you're right, since moving here, I really have changed."
Yang Xufeng rubbed his face. "Let's move out and start over; regardless of the reason, it all started when we came here, so we'll be fine once we leave."
Yang Xufeng smiled. "Once we leave here, I won't have to worry about you all the time, and our lives will get better and better."
After speaking for a long time, Yao He didn't answer; Yang Xufeng tilted his head, noticing the silhouette seemed a bit different from Yao He.
Just as he felt a hint of confusion, a round object was shoved into his hands, wrapped in slippery plastic wrap.
"What is this?"
He held the object up to look closer; in the darkness, he saw a pair of terrified and desperate eyes.
In his hands was Yao He's severed head.
...
Wu Ming hadn't returned all last night; Wu Gang still hadn't been found, and he was going crazy.
Wu Gang was his younger brother; the two of them were in a shady business, but he would never leave like this without saying a word.
Wu Ming had wondered if he'd been caught, but after asking everyone in the underworld, there was no news, and no one had notified him.
He always felt it was the mute.
For some reason, he was just very wary of this man; it wasn't because of his smile—having traveled far and wide with such a background, he wouldn't think someone was a problem just because of their looks.
But if he were truly asked why, he couldn't say.
He was waiting; he would wait for the mute to go out so he could go into his room and look; Wu Gang's whereabouts was the only thing he needed to know right now.
The mute followed a regular routine, leaving at nine every morning.
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