After hanging up the phone, Yu Xiu’s dark silhouette standing before the corpse waved his hands and gestured wildly for a long while.
Jiang Yan silently translated Yu Xiu's Word, “You just said that, aren’t you afraid Mo Cheng will report you? Reporting you doesn’t matter. You acted in self-defense. But what if I get dragged into it?If I get arrested and detained for investigation, it’ll damage Yan Yan’s reputation even more.”
Hearing that, Jiang Yan countered, “Don’t worry about that. With how you look right now, you won’t be sent to the detention center. The Academy of Sciences is your true destination.”
Jian Hou then looked as if he had figured it all out, slumping onto the sofa with a resigned expression.
“Can we even hide it?”
“We can’t leave for now. Mo Cheng is the best person to help us. Even if we manage to hide the matter about this property manager for the time being, with Mo Cheng’s connections and abilities, we’ll need his help later on anyway.”
“He’s a smart man. He’ll notice something sooner or later.”
“Instead of waiting for him to find out on his own and start suspecting us, we might as well tell him directly. Who knows, he might even help us with this.”
“Besides, it was self-defense. And…”
Jian Hou paused, then gave Jiang Yan a mysterious smile. “Think about that guy’s family background. You think his hands are clean?”
Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow slightly.
Mo Cheng’s family background.
Speaking of it, excluding the immeasurable fortune Yu Xiu brought into his life after marriage, if one only compared their parents’ businesses, Mo Cheng’s family was far wealthier than his and Jian Hou’s, nearly on par with Tao Shi's family.
His family mainly dealt in electrical appliances, computers, and other smart home and high-tech electronic industries, with business reaching all over the world.
Before, Jiang Yan only knew that his family dealt with computers.
Until after Jiang Yan married Yu Xiu, during one gathering Jian Hou insisted on holding at Jiang Yan’s house, a group of friends was drinking there, and Mo Cheng, half drunk, accidentally entered Yu Xiu’s “entertainment room.”
The room full of animal specimens and human remains made him freeze on the spot.
Jiang Yan was a bit nervous at the time, mainly afraid Mo Cheng would think badly of Yu Xiu.
Just as he was hesitating about whether to explain that Yu Xiu merely liked corpses and didn’t actually kill people or poach animals, and that all those items were legally purchased, Mo Cheng patted Yu Xiu’s shoulder with hazy eyes and laughed.
“Brother, nice taste. If I’d known you were into this, you should’ve come to me.”
Jiang Yan froze.
The next day, Mo Cheng actually discussed business with Yu Xiu, and afterward, it became much easier for Yu Xiu to buy such things.
Later, after asking Jian Hou, Jiang Yan learned that although Mo Cheng’s family now sold computers, his great-grandfather had made his fortune overseas through illicit means. The following three generations had worked hard to clean the family name, and only by his father’s time did their business appear to be that of a legitimate computer company.
Soon after, Mo Cheng drove Yu Xiu’s limited edition sports car to Jiang Yan’s house.
At that time, Yu Xiu had very sensibly returned to Jiang Yan’s body. After all, a corpse might not surprise Mo Cheng, but something that wasn’t human was better kept hidden.
Sure enough, upon entering, Mo Cheng merely glanced at the corpse with indifference and joked.
“You’re just leaving him out here like this? Why not set up a mourning hall while you’re at it?”
“I acted in self-defense.” Jian Hou hurriedly explained. “That bastard tried to kill Yan Yan. I hit his head in a panic, I didn’t think…”
“I know, I know.” Mo Cheng waved his hand dismissively. “You? Who wouldn’t dare kill a chicken? You actually killed someone?”
Then he circled the corpse, observing carefully. “You wore gloves when moving him, right?”
“We did,” Jiang Yan replied.
He knew Mo Cheng was asking if they had left fingerprints, though Yu Xiu didn’t even possess such human traits.
Hearing that, Mo Cheng said nothing more. He sat on the sofa, laid out several documents on the coffee table, and began speaking slowly.
“Qian Yelin, male, forty-eight, married, one son currently in college.”
“His hometown is Changshan County. He attended a technical college and, after graduation, settled in S City where he’s lived for over twenty years.”
As he spoke, he casually picked up a soda from the table, opened it, and looked at Jiang Yan.
“Your guesses were right. He’s indeed connected to your family and he is a victim’s relative, but not from the serial murder case Yu Xiu was involved in. Rather…”
“The ceramic factory explosion forty years ago.”
Jiang Yan and Jian Hou both froze.
“Forty years ago, your grandfather’s ceramic factory had an explosion. Did you know that?”
Jiang Yan frowned slightly. “I heard adults mention it when I was little.”
He had heard his mother and grandfather talk about how their family’s ceramic factory had an accident.
But the details were vague, and it was clear they didn’t want to talk much about it.
Still, Jiang Yan could guess from their tone that it likely had something to do with his grandmother. As for the rest, he didn’t know.
Jian Hou asked curiously, “A ceramic factory can explode?”
“In theory, it’s not easy for one to explode. But it did, and the scale was big, thirty-three deaths.” Mo Cheng replied. “The official investigation concluded it was a dust explosion. Why there was so much flammable dust in a ceramic factory was never fully explained, but given how long ago it was, the report sounded reasonable enough.”
“What’s certain is that this property manager’s parents were among those thirty-three who died.”
Jiang Yan frowned. “So he wanted to kill me to avenge his parents?”
“Didn’t your family compensate them?” Jian Hou asked.
Jiang Yan had no idea, so Mo Cheng added, “They were compensated generously. In fact, the factory director, Jiang Jiafu, even set up a special fund. Not only did he provide legal compensation, but he also raised the victims’ children until they married and had families of their own.”
“Even so, losing one’s parents, money can’t fix that,” Jiang Yan said.
Jian Hou and Mo Cheng both froze for a moment, surprised that such words came from the usually expressionless Jiang Yan.
“But I’m curious,” Jiang Yan continued. “His parents died forty years ago. My parents have lived in this villa for nearly ten years. He’s been the property manager the whole time, so why didn’t he act before now?”
“In fact, if he really wanted to kill me, he had plenty of better chances. Why choose to come here today, in full view of all the cameras, and stab me, when there was no way to get away with it?”
Jiang Yan felt it made no sense.
Besides, if it was about revenge on behalf of his grandfather’s wrongdoings, he shouldn’t just kill Jiang Yan. He should also target his grandfather’s only daughter, Jiang Yan’s mother.
“Maybe because he didn’t know before.”
“Didn’t know?”
“Yes. He probably didn’t know about you or your mother’s connection to your grandfather,” Mo Cheng said. “As far as I know, your family doesn’t stay in close contact. For example, we’ve known each other for years, yet I never knew who your grandparents were, and you’ve never mentioned them.”
“I used to think they must’ve passed away early, which was why you never talked about them. But today, I found out your grandmother is still alive.”
“His grandmother is still alive?!” Jian Hou exclaimed.
Jiang Yan was stunned.
His grandmother was alive?
His grandmother was alive?
No, wasn’t she already…
In his mind, hazy images of a funeral surfaced and vanished, leaving him unsure whose funeral it was.
His grandmother’s?
His grandfather’s? His paternal grandmother’s?
Grandmother… grandmother…
“Grandmother is in Qingtai Nursing Home in Dr City. Yan Yan, if you miss her, we can visit often.”
Jiang Yan froze slightly. He couldn’t remember who had said that. Maybe his mother?
Then his grandmother really might still be alive?
Grandmother…
Blue data chains flickered again in Jiang Yan’s eyes. Mo Cheng suddenly interrupted, “Jiang Yan, you…”
Jiang Yan snapped back to awareness, his gaze clear. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” Mo Cheng said.
But Jiang Yan could see the complicated look in his eyes, as if Mo Cheng was seeing something, or someone, through him.
Jiang Yan was puzzled and wanted to ask, but finally gave up.
Perhaps it was just an illusion the instance had given him.
He pushed the thought aside.
“How come your family never contacted your grandmother all these years?” Jian Hou asked.
Their families were close, their mothers like sisters. Yet even Jian Hou’s family had no idea Jiang Yan’s grandmother was still alive.
“My mother and grandmother don’t get along,” Jiang Yan explained.
In his memory, his mother and grandmother never had a normal conversation, either silent or quarreling fiercely.
Memories about his grandmother began surfacing vaguely in his mind, all covered in a strange mist that made it impossible to see clearly.
“Maybe your mother was trying to protect you,” Mo Cheng said.
“You asked why the property manager hadn’t come for you before. I think it’s because he didn’t know. Even during my investigation, I had to submit several separate requests before I found that your mother and grandmother were related.”
“It’s obvious someone made an effort to hide that, either your grandfather or your mother.”
“Just like your family’s surnames. You’re Jiang, your father is Jiang, but your grandparents are Li and Zhao, while your mother is Li, and your grandfather is Jiang.”
Jian Hou frowned. “Hey, I never noticed before, but your family’s surnames really are weird.”
Jiang Yan said, “I just realized it today too.”
Mo Cheng didn’t seem too surprised. He continued, “So this property manager most likely didn’t know before that his parents’ deaths were related to your family. As for why he knows now…”
He picked up a tablet, opened a social app, and handed it to Jiang Yan after tapping into a trending post.
When Jiang Yan saw the article, his eyes widened in shock.
Mo Cheng said quietly, “Because of Yu Xiu’s suspected serial murder case, all your and Yu Xiu’s information has been dug up by netizens and made public online.”
Jian Hou leaned over to look and was utterly dumbfounded.
“What? Your ancestors included generals and shamans? And a foreigner?”
“This is my first time hearing about it,” Jiang Yan said, stunned.
The article detailed everything about him, even that he had dropped his milk bottle at four and a half years old, and even cited the source, his kindergarten teacher.
“They should’ve gone into intelligence work,” Jian Hou exclaimed. “Isn’t this illegal?”
“The law doesn’t punish the masses,” Mo Cheng replied. “Besides, right now everyone believes Yu Xiu is the serial killer, and since you’re his wife and your family once caused an explosion, people now see you as his accomplice.”
“So this kind of behavior would be illegal for others, but in your case, they call it an act of justice.”
Jiang Yan scrolled down. The top comment questioned whether leaking personal data was inappropriate, but the replies below all read:
[When his husband was killing people, did he think it was inappropriate? When his grandfather’s factory exploded, did they think production safety was inappropriate?]
[Exactly. When their family hurt others, they didn’t think it was wrong. Now netizens expose their crimes, and that’s wrong?]
[Besides, neither of those two demons has been punished. They haven’t even been detained or questioned.]
[If the system can’t deliver justice, the victims will take it themselves.]
[…]
Jian Hou was horrified. “These people are insane.”
Jiang Yan, however, remained calm. “I actually think they have a point. The only issue is…”
“I might not be the killer.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Mo Cheng said. “Even if the investigation proves you innocent, some people will apologize. But others will insist your family bought your way out with money and power.”
“Of course, that’s because things like that really do happen.”
“So, what the truth actually is doesn’t matter. Who the killer is only matters to the victims and the falsely accused.”
Jiang Yan: “...”
Jian Hou: “...”
After a moment of silence, Mo Cheng stood up. “If one victim’s family has come forward, others will too. Your home isn’t safe. Come to mine.”
“What about the body? Just leave it like this?” Jian Hou hesitated.
“Don’t worry,” Mo Cheng said. “Once the players find all the clues, the instance will automatically recycle the NPC corpse.”
Jiang Yan: “?!!!”
Jian Hou: “?!!!”
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