Chapter 16: Scumbag

This graffiti, a spherical body with two heads, two sets of arms and legs.

Those two heads, one male and one female, both wore eerie smiles, as if they were alive.

"Hiss, what on earth does this mean?" Wu Shanqiu stared at the strange drawing and rubbed her arm, "My goosebumps are standing up!"

"I remember, the fingerprint was lifted from the gasoline drum they discarded at the scene." Qi Fei looked at the weeds beneath the low wall, as if he had returned to the time of the crime, then his gaze shifted to the gas station not far away, "The gas station has surveillance. The Lanhe police checked all the vehicles that entered and exited before Yang Jinhan was murdered, and the drivers' fingerprints did not match the one found at the scene."

"Just like in the case of Zhu Ming'en, the killer is very cautious, good at disguising, and the only evidence left behind is that one fingerprint," Wu Shanqiu said.

Her words reminded Qi Fei, and he muttered thoughtfully: "The only one?"

As he spoke, Qi Fei stretched out his hands and looked at his own fingers.

"Brother Fei, what are you looking at?" Wu Shanqiu asked, feeling strange as she watched from the side.

"A person has ten fingers. Why do you think both crime scenes only yielded one identical fingerprint?" Qi Fei asked.

Wu Shanqiu seemed inspired upon hearing this: "That is indeed a bit strange. At the time, when the fingerprint was collected from Xiao Lu's lunch box, I was a bit puzzled. A normal person wouldn't hold a lunch box like that. Logically speaking..." Wu Shanqiu made a gesture of holding something, "It's impossible to only leave this fingerprint. Furthermore, the appearance of this finger on the lid of the box is also very strange; no one would hold it like that."

"It seems we cannot rule out the possibility that it was left intentionally to mislead us. This person has a meticulous mind and likes to manipulate people; he seems to enjoy this feeling," Qi Fei said, "We have truly encountered a difficult opponent."

"Even the fingerprint is part of the plan? That is too terrifying," Wu Shanqiu thought, feeling a chill.

"If it weren't for this fingerprint, we couldn't have linked Zhu Ming'en's death to Yang Jinhan's case, and we wouldn't be in Lanhe right now. This killer seems to want us to know something," Qi Fei looked at the monster graffiti again, "It's very strange, why would Yang Jinhan come to this deserted corner alone?"

"There is a restroom right by the gas station; there was absolutely no need to walk to this place," Wu Shanqiu agreed.

"Or, he had an appointment to meet someone here," Qi Fei said, "Gu Ruyun said that during the time they were arguing about divorce, Yang Jinhan started returning to Lanhe frequently. There must be a reason for this." As he spoke, his gaze fell on an inconspicuous iron can in the withered grass.

This can was discarded right below the monster graffiti. Qi Fei picked it up and saw it was a black paint can.

There was only this one piece of graffiti on the wall; what this paint can meant was self-evident.

However, the police had no reason to pay attention to this pattern on the wall at the time, because it had no connection to Yang Jinhan.

"Spray paint cans are flammable and explosive items and have a traceability management system. Hurry and check where this batch of spray cans was sold last year; see if there is any way to find some clues!"

This was their first harvest since arriving in Lanhe, and it seemed like a good start.

They soon arrived at the place where Yang Jinhan used to run a homestay.

Continuing the good luck from the gas station, the homestay that Yang Jinhan had sold was still in operation.

A woman who looked like the proprietress saw Qi Fei and the others and, thinking they were guests checking in, greeted them enthusiastically.

When Qi Fei and the others stated their purpose and asked about information related to Yang Jinhan, the proprietress asked blankly: "We have a lot of guests here; I don't remember this person, but I can help you check the registration information."

Wu Shanqiu was puzzled: "Didn't you buy this shop from Yang Jinhan?"

The proprietress looked surprised: "This house has belonged to our family for generations; it has nothing to do with the person you are talking about. If you don't believe me, I can show you the property deed!"

Seeing the other party speak so definitively, Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu were not that surprised.

Yang Jinhan was full of lies to Gu Ruyun, so it was not strange that he lied to her about the homestay.

Just in case, Qi Fei took out a photo of Yang Jinhan and showed it to the homestay proprietress. The moment she saw the photo, her expression changed immediately.

She then looked at Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu with suspicion: "You said this person's name is Yang Jinhan?"

"Isn't it?" Qi Fei asked back.

The proprietress's attitude changed drastically, and she said through gritted teeth: "I will never forget this person. Liang Ming, the person who caused my sister's death. He has been missing for a long time. So, you found him?"

"This person is already dead, didn't you know?" Wu Shanqiu asked.

Hearing this, just like the reaction of the Gu family, the proprietress's joy was undisguised. She pulled them to a tea table nearby: "Tell me quickly, how did he die?"

Upon learning how Yang Jinhan died, complex emotions flashed in the proprietress's eyes, and then she muttered sadly to herself: "Served him right, served him right! My sister's spirit in heaven has made him get his retribution!"

She then looked at the two suspicious people and said: "You don't need to doubt me; we were also searching the world for this person. It's good that he's dead."

"It sounds like you hold quite a grudge against him?" Wu Shanqiu chimed in.

"Of course!" the proprietress said immediately, "Oh, by the way, my name is Yao Beibei, and my sister's name was Yao Leilei. This homestay was originally run by my sister. After she passed away, I didn't want this place she once loved to close down, so I took it over."

"What was the relationship between Yang Jinhan, or Liang Ming, and your sister?" Qi Fei asked.

"Liang Ming was my sister's husband. They met in this homestay. Liang Ming was originally just a traveler who used sweet talk on Leilei and eventually stayed long-term. This person's background was unknown. We all opposed their marriage, but Leilei was like she had been fed a love potion and insisted on being with him. This man had no outstanding qualities, but he was completely submissive to Leilei. We thought as long as he was good to Leilei, everything else didn't matter. Who knew that after they got married, this person stopped pretending entirely. He would beat and kick Leilei at every turn, and she ended up in the hospital several times. We urged Leilei to divorce him, but Leilei couldn't handle Liang Ming's snot-nosed, tearful apologies and would soften her heart.

Later, Leilei got pregnant, but this Liang Ming still wouldn't change his ways and beat my poor sister until she had a miscarriage. That was what made Leilei determined to divorce him. The lawyer was already hired, but who knew that the accident would happen."

"What accident?" Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu looked at each other, seemingly having guessed something.