Chapter 2209: Love Trapped in the Cycle of Fate 08

Xu Yi even ran back to the 7th floor, taking from his own room 701 the whiteboard paper that could stick to the wall via static electricity, eager to try analyzing the clues.

He mainly listened to Jin Chen and Shao Huai's analysis.

Xu Yi, meanwhile, held the whiteboard marker, ready to jot down anything useful he heard.

Upon hearing about time rewinding, Xu Yi couldn't help but let his imagination run wild.

"What if we've fallen into a time rift? The killer actually has countless connections with all four of us, and this special coin is the Main Gate to that time rift!"

From that sentence on, Xu Yi's imagination could not be reined in.

The more they listened, the more the three people felt it was absurd: "……"

Xie Guan propped his head up, and the aura emanating from his whole body grew colder.

Jin Chen kicked Shao Huai's foot again, saying, "Go pull Xu Yi back."

Shao Huai's face was smeared with the guess linking time, the murder case, and wormholes; still dazed, he couldn't help but push the straw of the yogurt he'd just inserted into Xu Yi's mouth.

Xu Yi startled, then instinctively sucked on it.

"Sorry, are my thoughts too strange?"

"Humble." Jin Chen said.

It's more than just strange.

It's downright uncanny beyond measure.

Shao Huai: "Well… maybe a few points are somewhat similar, by the way, may I ask what your profession is?"

Xu Yi immediately puffed out his chest: "I graduated in funeral services, aspiring to be a screenwriter's pet medical assistant."

Shao Huai: "……" What a rich life experience.

"Alright, let's continue with the main topic."

Jin Chen tapped the wall, picked up a pen, wrote a few strokes on the whiteboard, and roughly drew a more abstract diagram.

"Last night I chased the suspected killer, who had the following traits: preliminarily male, skilled, but possibly injured left leg, and……"

Jin Chen paused, gesturing at his own neck: "Under the raincoat, the exposed skin was all black hair."

"... Huh??"

Shao Huai exclaimed in shock, "Could it be a monster? Damn, or maybe in this scorching heat he deliberately… wore a wolf-fur scarf around his neck?"

But it was obvious no one could answer that question.

"Besides, we need to check Song Gong's place later." Shao Huai couldn't help but scratch the back of his neck, "I saw him off into his room last night, then kept watch there, so how did the killer take him away?"

Xu Yi immediately guessed: "Could there be… a secret passage in his room?"

The ever-silent Xie Guan finally spoke.

"The corpse is almost identical to the previous one, except……"

Xie Guan's breath hitched, then he quickly regained composure, almost unnoticed: "Song Gong's left hand clutched a rain-soaked document contract that had been signed."

Xu Yi nodded, "Yeah, seems like… what? A real estate sale contract, really hard to make out."

After he said that, Xie Guan lifted his eyes to look at Jin Chen and Shao Huai separately, trying to discern something.

Fortunately, both of their attentions were on the murder case, so they didn't indulge in wild speculation.

"I think," Jin Chen, acting as if he hadn't noticed Xie Guan's gaze, capped the pen and handed it to Xu Yi, who had lived in this building longer.

"We need to first figure out all the residents of this building to facilitate tracking down the killer later."

"Oh…… let me think, there aren't many people living here."

Xu Yi simply drew a rectangle on the whiteboard, then added a few grids to indicate floors and residents.

"This building has only 8 floors plus a rooftop; as far as I know, the 8th floor has no residents, it seems a fairly serious murder case occurred earlier at 80……2?"

"Going down, I live in 701, 704 is a retired teacher, 705 houses the lovely older sister Xu Meiling, a luxury brand counter clerk at a nearby mall."

"607 is where the deceased Song Gong lives, 603 is a mother‑daughter pair…… possibly a single‑parent family, Aunt Fang and Duoduo."

Xu Yi paused, then drew a line between the 607 and 603 boxes with his pen, and looked toward Xie Guan.

"Xie Guan, you work at the convenience store; have you noticed any… connection between these two households?"

Xie Guan nodded, uttering an assent.

Shao Huai recalled what Xie Guan said yesterday, "Brother Xie, regarding this person Song Gong, do you perhaps know anything else?"

Xie Guan fell silent again.

Jin Chen turned sideways, half-embracing Xie Guan's somewhat stiff shoulder, and whispered, "It's fine, brother's here; no one can bully you."

Xie Guan lifted his eyes to him, not taking offense at the self‑designation, "I haven't been bullied by him; you didn't believe me yesterday."

Jin Chen: "…… Who made you look like a Little Pitiful One who's been exploited."

Xie Guan didn't struggle, seemingly drawing warmth from the embrace of his shoulder, and recalled past events.

"Song Gong had a habit of theft, using the money he stole… to support Aunt Fang and Duoduo, who lack a steady income."

"Ah?"

Xu Yi was obviously unaware as well, "I only thought they were on good terms…… how do you know he stole?"

"Song Gong had staked out my place."

Xie Guan lowered his gaze, his voice soft and cold, "My home had no lights on; he thought I wasn't in and broke into the bedroom…"

Shao Huai: "You were asleep then, and you just happened to walk right into it?"

"I was attempting suicide, and Song Gong snatched the knife and sleeping pills from me."

Shao Huai: "……"

"Fuck."

"Fuck!!!"

Shao Huai jumped to his feet, about to speak, when Jin Chen glared at him.

Shao Huai held his breath, then sat back down, his chest heaving a few times. Xu Yi, startled, had no choice but to pour Shao Huai a cup of water, fearing he might pass out.

Jin Chen, however, remained calm.

"It's fine," Jin Chen tapped Xie Guan's head with his finger, his voice casual.

"From now on I'm watching you; if you can kill yourself right under my nose, then you've got skill."

Xie Guan: "……"

There was no embarrassing or shameful reaction, and he let out a sigh of relief.

【Detected Villain Heartthrob Value +5, total now 8!】

Jin Chen rubbed Xie Guan's head, silently glanced at Xu Yi, then looked toward the whiteboard.

Now isn't the time to talk about Xie Guan.

"... Oh, I... I'll continue!"

Xu Yi quickly changed the subject, then began labeling room numbers in the cubicles on the 5th floor.

"More people live on the 5th floor; 501 is Chen Xiaofei, who also works at the convenience store, and seems to be on the same shift as Xie Guan."

"503 is a limping courier."

"How lame? Is it obvious?" Shao Huai asked immediately.

Xu Yi nodded. "It's pretty noticeable; his gait differs from ordinary people's, and he can't walk very fast."

"505 is Zhao Chunmei and her husband, who was paralyzed in a car accident; 508 is Granny Chen. They have a grudge and often argue; Granny Chen likes to burn paper offerings in the middle of the night… I don't know the reason, and I didn't dare ask."

Then there's the 4th floor.

404 is occupied by Uncle Chen; 407 is occupied by a strong man who had a dispute with Xu Yi, moved in just two months ago, likes to keep cats, and has a terrible temper.

Only those two households are on the 3rd floor, so Xu Yi skipped straight there.

"On the 2nd floor, 202 is occupied by a middle-aged couple; Uncle Wang drives a funeral car, and sometimes when I'm late for work at the pet clinic, I'll catch a ride with him in the morning; Aunt Li does hourly housekeeping work and often gets home late."

Jin Chen's gaze fell on the 202 cubicle, and his mind flashed back to a raincoat made of material similar to a body bag.