[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-chasing-the-criminal-case":3,"chapter-chasing-the-criminal-case-chasing-the-criminal-case-chapter-227":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Chasing the Criminal Case",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2328995,4554,"Chapter 227: The Rainy Night Butcher","chasing-the-criminal-case-chapter-227",227,"\u003Cp>September in Zizhen City is always shrouded in endless autumn rain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Changzheng stood before the window of the Municipal Public Security Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Brigade, gazing through the glass at the drizzling rain outside. Raindrops traced winding paths down the pane, refracting the distant neon lights into distorted glows. He instinctively rubbed his chin, where short gray-white stubble had grown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since his master Lu Haoxuan died in the “Supreme Divine Cult” case back in 2010, three years had passed, and he had risen from head of the Jiangdong Branch Criminal Investigation Team to commander of the Municipal Criminal Investigation Brigade. Yet his professional advancement had changed nothing in his life; over these years, he had grown older, and those stubbles made him appear even more weathered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Captain Gu, the crime scene report is ready!” His assistant and disciple Luo Fei pushed the door open, holding a stack of papers still warm from the printer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Changzheng took the report, his gaze halting at the “victim’s identity” field: Xia Fei, 23, pediatric nurse at Zizhen City First People’s Hospital. Time of death: between 1:00 and 3:00 a.m. on September 23. Location: a small roadside park in Huayuan Community, Jiangnan District. No weapon found. No signs of struggle. But the cause of death filled him with rage: seven stab wounds to the abdomen and stomach; more cruelly, the abdominal cavity had been ripped open, both eyes gouged out, and worst of all—the victim’s genitalia had been cut off and taken by the killer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forensic expert Zheng wrote in the conclusion: the victim was raped after death, then had her genital organs severed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the third similar case this month. The previous two were Yang Xiaoli, a textile factory worker, on September 3, and Xiao Hualing, an electronics factory worker, on September 13. Three crime scenes, three different locations—but the modus operandi was identical. Gu Changzheng’s right hand tapped the desk unconsciously. Aside from their similar ages—all around twenty—they had no discernible social connections.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What about surveillance?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“All the crime scenes are in old residential areas—cameras were either broken or blind spots,” Luo Fei sighed. “But this time we have a witness: a night-shift taxi driver. He says around 2 a.m., he saw a man in a gray hoodie walking out of the garden where the body was later found.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gray hoodie?” Gu Changzheng snapped his head up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes. The driver said the man walked slowly, like he was strolling. But because it was drizzling, he found him odd and took a second look. Still, the hood covered most of his face—he couldn’t make out his features.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let’s go to the scene!” Gu Changzheng grabbed his coat and stood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sky still drizzled. The crime scene was one of over a hundred pocket parks built in Zizhen City in recent years. The victim, Xia Fei, had been found with a pair of underwear stuffed in her mouth, naked and lying on her back beneath a camphor tree. These trees grew everywhere in Zizhen, each pruned to no more than three meters tall, with broad, evergreen canopies. Beneath it lay a thick lawn of zoysia grass, still bearing the impression of a human body. Beneath the grass lay vast patches of dark red...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because it rained and the crime occurred on grass, no usable footprints were collected. The perimeter was paved with porous bricks and gravel—already poor at retaining prints—and the rain had washed away any trace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Changzheng crouched where the body lay, mentally reconstructing the scene: the early morning city street, nearly empty, yet in the silent night, if someone had screamed for help, someone must have heard. Yet interviews revealed no one had heard any cry for help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A healthy, mentally sound adult woman, attacked by a criminal, didn’t even have time to scream. Did the killer know her? Or did he subdue her instantly, leaving no chance to cry out? Or had he planned to kill first... then...?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he thought, his eyes never stopped moving. Suddenly, he leaned forward, reaching toward the grass near the tree’s roots. His hand halted mid-air. Without turning, he called: “Luo Fei—gloves!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind him, Luo Fei replied, “Got it!” and immediately pulled out a pair of gloves. Gu Changzheng pinched a cigarette butt from the grass with two fingers. The mark suggested it had been recently discarded. “Send it to the lab immediately. This cigarette butt may be the killer’s.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ding ling ling—” Gu Changzheng’s phone rang suddenly—it was the bureau.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Captain Gu!” Gao Ye’s voice came urgent through the line: “We just received a report—a second female body found in Xingong Community, Fenghuang District...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Changzheng gripped his phone, knuckles white. The rain had grown heavier, as if trying to drown the entire city. He knew—the battle with the demon had only just begun.\u003C\u002Fp>",803,"2026-06-20T19:35:31.675Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e640eb980ec20e8efd24dd9c9c37052404e50a1d3586dd6f92acd22c7c7968ce","chasing-the-criminal-case-chapter-228","chasing-the-criminal-case-chapter-226",276,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fchasing-the-criminal-case-cover.jpg"]