Chapter 7: Enigmatic and Unfathomable

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Xie Huaili remained calm and composed, his eyes glinting with interest as he glanced over: "Then how about you?"

The middle-aged man's face stiffened. He glanced at the gruesome corpse and took a step back, suddenly falling silent.

In matters of expertise, Xie Huaili was clearly at ease. He lifted the victim’s clothing, carefully examining the back, then the shape of the wounds, and finally the pupils. He spoke slowly:

“The deceased is male, aged between twenty-eight and thirty. Since there are no livor mortis marks on the body surface, it’s estimated that the time of death is less than half an hour.”

Livor mortis appears on the body surface after half an hour of death and is a reliable way to estimate time of death.

The police officers nearby nodded repeatedly, jotting down notes.

Jiang Yao’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. She had called the police twenty minutes earlier. The murderous assailant had knocked on her door no more than five minutes before that.

In other words, the killer left her place and then went to the victim’s location.

Of course, another possibility couldn’t be ruled out—that there was more than one assailant, a group working together: one creating a distraction by knocking, the other carrying out the attack.

Xie Huaili’s gaze settled on the wound in the victim’s abdomen as he continued analyzing, “Cause of death is a fatal abdominal wound, diamond-shaped, about 2 cm wide, deep cavity with subcutaneous hemorrhaging.”

He straightened up, eyebrows slightly raised. “This suggests a sharp-edged weapon. Common household sharp tools fit this description—like a fruit knife.”

The police exchanged grave looks and signaled their colleagues to begin door-to-door searches.

“In the past half hour, did anyone hear any unusual noises? What was everyone doing?”

The young woman from the couple looked pale. “I think I heard knocking, maybe a delivery person, but I didn’t know whose door it was…”

The young man quickly nodded in agreement. “Yes, yes. My girlfriend even wanted to open the door to check, but I felt something was off and stopped her.”

The middle-aged man muttered, “Now that you say it, I heard it too! Didn’t know whose door was being knocked on. No one opened for ages, it was so noisy!”

“That was my door,” Jiang Yao said coolly, casting a sideways glance at the middle-aged man.

Everyone turned to look at her. The police suddenly realized, “Ms. Jiang, I remember you were the one who called. Could you explain what happened?”

Jiang Yao now understood—she was likely the primary target of the killer. When she didn’t fall for the ruse, the assailant turned their attention to the man in apartment 608 instead.

“I was resting at home when I suddenly got a delivery notification…”

She concisely recounted the sequence of events.

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“That person even pretended to be my friend. When I didn’t fall for it, they left in a rage.”

Ji Yuanyuan, hearing this, pointed at herself in surprise, blinking curiously. “How did you recognize it wasn’t me?”

She shivered at the thought. If the imposter had pretended to be Jiang Yao and asked her to open the door, she might have just run to open it without hesitation.

Jiang Yao paused, then asked, “What would your reaction be if I asked to borrow fifty thousand yuan?”

Without a second thought, Ji Yuanyuan answered, “I’d definitely lend it. If you’re asking, you must be in trouble! Besides, fifty thousand is nothing—it's less than half a month’s living expenses for me!”

Everyone was speechless.

What kind of living costs ten thousand a month?

Jiang Yao was unsurprised: “She didn’t lend it to me.”

Ji Yuanyuan immediately bristled indignantly. “That’s so stingy! And she still has the nerve to impersonate me?”

Jiang Yao’s eyes softened with a hint of pity. She had said it before—people as clueless as Ji Yuanyuan were hard to find even with a lantern.

The middle-aged man sneered sourly, “Hey, young lady, if you’d opened the door, maybe the guy in 608 wouldn’t have died. Looks like he got dragged into this because of you!”

That remark was classic.

It sounded as if the killer murdered because of Jiang Yao.

Xiang Yu’s expression turned cold, her words sharp: “If you’re so kind-hearted, why don’t you go die for him?”

She was usually taciturn around strangers but always spoke with piercing precision.

The middle-aged man was instantly rattled, nervously rolling up his sleeves. “Hey, little girl, how can you talk like that? Am I wrong? Why else would the killer target her?”

A textbook example of victim-blaming.

Jiang Yao sneered, half-smiling: “Uncle, since you’re so empathetic toward the killer, could it be that you are him?”

“You—you’re slandering me!” The man’s face flushed red with anger. He took two heavy breaths and stepped forward.

A tall figure blocked his way. Xie Huaili was a head taller, looking down on the man with a relaxed expression but a glint of menace in his eyes: “What, can’t argue and now want to get physical?”

This man was clearly a bully who preyed on the weak. Seeing Xie Huaili’s imposing stature, a flicker of fear crept into his heart.

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At this moment, the police officer stepped forward: “Keep it professional—this is serious business!”

The man’s wife came up and pulled at his arm: “Don’t cause trouble.”

He impatiently shrugged her hand off, muttering, “Only because of the police’s presence am I not making a scene!”

Xie Huaili let out a faint, ambiguous chuckle.

“Captain, we have a discovery.”

A policeman approached holding a wrench and a toolbox. “Found these in apartment 601.”

Everyone looked over, stunned.

The toolbox was filled with various knives, hammers, pliers, and other tools. Among the knives were several types—scalpels, chisels, files—far beyond typical household tools.

The policeman frowned. “Who lives in 601?”

“That’s me,” Jiang Yao answered calmly.

All eyes, suspicious and uncertain, focused on her.

The young man from the couple questioned, “Why do you have these things at home?”

Jiang Yao shrugged, showing no hint of nervousness. “I’m a cultural relic restorer. These are common tools for restoration work. You can verify that if you want.”

The police officer remained skeptical. “Why do you keep a wrench by your door?”

“For self-defense,” she replied logically. “I didn’t know if the killer would break in, so I prepared defensive tools in advance. Is there a problem with that?”

Her answer was reasonable, forcing the police to temporarily drop their doubts.

The middle-aged man couldn’t help but sneer sarcastically, “Who’s to say you’re telling the truth?”

Jiang Yao, who had been ignoring him, suddenly narrowed her eyes and looked at him. “To kill a grown man without any resistance, either he was caught off guard by someone familiar, or the attacker had overwhelming strength. So it’s very likely the attacker is also male.”

The man felt a chill down his spine. “What do you mean by that? Are you accusing me?!”

Jiang Yao twisted her lips slightly. “Shouldn’t I? After all, you have a history of domestic violence.”