Chapter 197: Chapter 168: Arrival_2
"Move fast! Don’t let him suspect us." Song Yan, Yang Xiao, and the others gradually retreated before slipping back to the teaching building when no one was paying attention.
Only then did Yang Xiao and his group realize they hadn’t seen Pei Qiuyu for a while, "Where’s Pei Qiuyu?"
Lu Ji looked around belatedly, "Haven’t seen her; she might be too embarrassed to show her face after the fallout with us."
A thought struck Song Yan; although Lu Ji seemed carefree, he was actually very meticulous, and his words were well-chosen. His phrase "the fallout with us" naturally included himself in the small clique of Yang Xiao, Yu Mi, and himself, as if he were one of them.
But there were no immediate conflicts of interest with Lu Ji, and if they could collaborate, the mission would only go more smoothly.
"Brother Lu Ji, what do you make of today’s events?" Song Yan asked casually.
"It’s simple; the ’Ghost’ came for Sun Shengnan. Unfortunately, he killed a counterfeit," Lu Ji shrugged, "That Sun Shengnan is quite cunning, and what’s more troublesome is that her double died in the town. Who knows how she might use this to play the media to her advantage."
"If the double died in the town, wouldn’t this scare off the real Sun Shengnan? If the Ghost doesn’t get a chance to eliminate Sun Shengnan, then our mission would just..." Yu Mi’s real worry was this point.
In that case, if Sun Shengnan didn’t appear, the truth would never come to light, and their mission would be deemed a failure.
"Damn, could protecting Sun Shengnan’s double also be part of our mission?" Yu Mi was quick on the uptake, learning to think critically.
After thinking for a moment, Yang Xiao dismissed her concern, "Don’t overthink it; that’s unlikely."
A light returned to Yu Mi’s dim eyes, "You mean we still have a chance?"
"That should be the case. The mission wouldn’t set us up for a certain failure. Think about it; even if we were given another chance, could we really save that fake Sun Shengnan?"
"Unless one of us is willing to make a sacrifice and reveal the Ghost’s identity before everyone," Yang Xiao continued.
"Moreover, we need to consider things from Sun Shengnan’s perspective. I’ve read her articles and roughly understood her experiences over the years from the internet."
"From her initial burst of fame, doing interviews, accepting invitations, and giving talks, to benefiting from both fame and wealth. But after the initial boon, her lack of substantial talent became apparent."
"She has no genuine knowledge or skill, only shouting radical and empty slogans. Gradually, as her popularity faded, she was exposed for numerous scandals, including inciting conflicts between genders, creating a persona of a ’strong independent woman’ to climb the social ladder. It was revealed she had had three marriages, affairs during marriage, extortion, and after divorce, she refused to take custody of her daughters but fought fiercely for custody of her son."
"All in all, her recent years have not been kind, with her popularity, attention, and income all having sharply decreased. That’s why she’s heavily invested in this movie, hoping to leverage a comeback by reheating old news; this is her only chance."
Having said so much, Yu Mi still didn’t quite understand, and she just wanted to know the conclusion, "So what? What are you trying to say?"
Yang Xiao sighed, "I’m saying that given this woman’s ruthlessness and ambition, she definitely won’t give up this opportunity. Don’t think that a few deaths would deter her. Isn’t the death of her double a perfect publicity stunt?"
"A double unjustly slain, when will justice be served under the veil of night? If equality is a lie, I am willing to fulfill my promise with my broken body."
Yang Xiao chuckled, "How’s that for a headline? Does it have the flavor of Sun Shengnan?"
Yu Mi’s mouth agape, it took her a while before she could blurt out, "Mad, completely mad."
No sooner had the words left her mouth than a series of hurried footsteps approached. Several police officers quickly entered, and the leader, flashing a badge, said, "Please cooperate with us for an inquiry."
"Us?" Lu Ji was somewhat surprised; after all, there were so many other people outside, any one of whom would know more than they did.
But Song Yan was beginning to see through it; these people had come with a clear target—it was as if they were coming specifically for them.
Before Song Yan could open his mouth, they heard Yang Xiao say, "Officer, did a woman tell you something?"
The next second, Song Yan and his two companions frowned, immediately thinking of Pei Qiuyu.
The leading officer, whose temples were already graying, simply looked up at Yang Xiao calmly and asked back, "Why do you say that?"
"It’s nothing much, just that we offended that woman over some matters, and I didn’t expect her to use this as a means of revenge against us," Yang Xiao said with a candid attitude.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m just making a simple inquiry, don’t be nervous," the officer said, pointing to a nearby classroom. They followed suit and walked over.
After closing the door, the officer signaled an assistant officer to take notes and then began to ask, "You were near the scene all this time, but left in a hurry after the doctor came for the emergency, why was that?"
"Speaking of leaving in a hurry is an exaggeration, we still had our own business to attend to," Yang Xiao replied.
"You all knew the two victims, right?"
"Wouldn’t say we knew them, we’re actors from a drama troupe, and that Tang Ya Ling was pretending to be our investor. We only found out just now, it was that female assistant who told us, and she is upstairs," Yang Xiao explained.
"And the other person? Nie Hexiang, you’re quite familiar with her, aren’t you?"
"She is also an actress hired by the drama troupe, the second female lead while I’m the male lead, we have scenes together," Yang Xiao said truthfully.
"When was the last time you saw her?" the officer suddenly asked.
At the same time, Yang Xiao keenly noticed the officer’s eyes sharpen, and the assistant officer beside him lifted the pen, ready to record.
Immediately, Yang Xiao had a clear understanding; the previous questions were inconsequential, but this question was key.
"The last time was not long ago, I can’t remember the exact time, roughly an hour or so," he said.
"Did you see each other yesterday?"
"We did." Yang Xiao quickly recounted the events that occurred at the school the previous night, of course, omitting the part where a ghost appeared.
The officer kept a regular expression but continued probing, "So you’re saying that Nie Hexiang disappeared suddenly after the last time you were alone with her, is that correct?"
Yang Xiao immediately clarified as those words seemed loaded with implication, "Nie Hexiang is a local here, she studied in this place before, she is much more familiar with it than I am. For her to shake me off under the cover of night was very simple. Moreover, I wasn’t the last person to see her last night; our director sent someone to look for her after she disappeared, and they did find her, if I’m not mistaken, near her old house."
"You’re lying! You killed her under the cover of darkness! To escape blame, you staged today’s falling incident and even brought so many people to give you an alibi!" the officer who had remained calm until now suddenly raised his voice, the ferocity in his gaze frightening Yu Mi.
Faced with the officer’s questioning, Yang Xiao just sighed, "Officer, there’s no need for pretense, I don’t understand what you’re saying."
"Alright, then explain to me why a recently deceased person would exhibit livor mortis? And according to the forensic doctor’s preliminary determination, Nie Hexiang’s time of death coincides precisely with the time you were alone with her? And also just during that time, the victim disappeared without reason?"
At the tense moment when it seemed swords were drawn, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a female officer rushed in, "Captain Zhang, take a look at this."
The chief officer walked over, and the female officer held up her smartphone, which displayed a blurry video. According to the timestamp in the bottom left corner, the video was shot this morning.
The camera shook wildly, seemingly during a test shot, and after a few seconds, a familiar face appeared on the screen.
Captain Zhang’s eyes widened in shock—it was Nie Hexiang.
