Chapter 103: Chapter 102 Tell Xiaoyu, I Love Her【Fifth Update, Please Subscribe!】_1
Cui Guanglin laughed, his face smeared with snot and tears, which he wiped away with his sleeve before slowly raising his head, a strange smile on his face.
"You truly surprise me, to ask such a critical question, the day the bodies were found. That was uncontrollable, but the day of the killings in February is always my birthday, of course! It’s also ’his’ birthday."
"As for August, take a guess? If you guess right, I’ll tell you how many people I’ve killed. If you don’t, then you’ll have to investigate slowly. I won’t say anything more. How about it, do you dare?"
Zhou Ning smiled. Once he had asked the question, Zhou Ning had the answer in his heart. He had seen Cui Guanglin’s household registration and had also checked his parents’ registration, and he had noted this detail at that time.
"August 2nd is Cui Guangxu’s birthday."
Cui Guanglin nodded, still smiling, but his lips were trembling.
Zhou Ning sighed, not out of pity for him, but rather because he felt that his parents really lacked responsibility towards Cui Guanglin. If they had shown a little more care, many people would not have died because of him.
"I am two years older than Cui Guangxu, to be precise, eighteen months older. They immediately wanted a healthy child after giving birth to such a freak like me. It’s as if I never existed in their lives, so this day is very important to me."
Having said that, Cui Guanglin paused and looked at Zhou Ning.
"You haven’t told me yet, how did you come to suspect me?"
"There are many reasons, the length of the fingers, control over tides and terrains, the DNA remains inside the victims, and of course, the look in your eyes when you left after the banquet that day. Your gaze was completely different from before. When I saw your file retrieved from the provincial city, naturally you became a key subject of investigation."
"Finger length?"
"The scratches inside the victims’ bodies."
Cui Guanglin realized, seeming to have found the answer, easing the confusion in his heart.
"I didn’t expect that. You really surprise me. However, I didn’t want to hurt Xiaoyu; it was ’he’ who wanted to control Xiaoyu, but I stopped him."
Zhou Ning believed this statement.
After all, he had the ability to harm Xiaoyu, but he spent three hours in his dormitory, and had even knocked over a bottle of sulfuric acid, obviously struggling with himself, with multiple personalities vying for control. If ’he’ had been in charge all along, the whole school would have suffered.
"I know, and I believe it. If ’he’ were to be let loose, I dare not think of the consequences. Alright, I’ve answered your question, now it’s your turn to talk about the twelve victims, isn’t it?"
Cui Guanglin nodded.
"I kept souvenirs from them, do you know what souvenirs? If you guess right, I’ll continue confessing, how about that?"
Zhou Ning paused, noting that no part of the victims was missing. There was also no mention of any losses in the previous Red Coat serial killings. Could it be hair?
Zhou Ning immediately dismissed the idea. ’He’, the personality Cui Guanglin had released, was the most evil one he possessed, and hair didn’t fit his perverted behavior.
Pushing up his glasses, the transparent screen in front of Zhou Ning lit up, displaying the skeletons and faces of the twelve victims. All the damage seemed to have no link, except for the fact that their fingerprints had been cut out.
Zhou Ning’s movement paused. The fingertips were cut off and preserved. This was not easy, but for him, fingerprints were the easiest to obtain and could serve as a memento. As a teacher, a notebook was something he always carried around, so could it be a notebook with blood-stained fingerprints?
"Blood fingerprints. Before the victims died, you dipped their blood and took their fingerprints. Then you cut off their fingertips. As for preservation, I think it’s kept in a notebook, right?"
Xu Dayuan crossed his arms, his knuckles white with tension. He could feel his own nervousness, for Cui Guanglin had said that if you guessed correctly, he would confess proactively. The temptation was too strong. Seeing Zhou Ning finish, he quickly looked at Cui Guanglin too.
Cui Guanglin nodded, letting out a long sigh.
"Heh, you really guessed right, I really didn’t expect that. You’ve researched me so thoroughly. There’s a file bag under the spare tire in my car, inside is a notebook, with detailed information about these girls, and of course, their blood fingerprints."
Then, Cui Guanglin began to recount, this time without any tricks. Zhou Ning composed a text message and sent it to Liu Yongxin. After all, they were searching Cui Guanglin’s vehicle and had focused on the old car that had been sold. At this moment, finding the notebook Cui Guanglin mentioned in the car was most crucial.
Clicking to send the message, Zhou Ning then listened intently to Cui Guanglin’s narrative.
Starting with the first victim, Xu Li, to the twelfth, Cheng Chunyan.
Time, place, method, what they said, how they begged for mercy, how they admitted to seducing him—only Cheng Chunyan’s was missing from his story.
After the narrative ended, Xu Dayuan’s crossed arms relaxed, and his excitement was palpable. Zhou Ning, however, was puzzled, because Cheng Chunyan was different from the previous ones, and the date was also not the regular February 24th.
"Why did you choose Cheng Chunyan, and why kill her on March 9th? Before, weren’t the victims randomly selected? Why is this one different?"
Cui Guanglin fell silent for so long that Zhou Ning thought he wouldn’t give a reason. It wasn’t until then that Cui Guanglin finally looked up.
"I thought I had ’him’ under control," Cui Guanglin began. "On February 24th, after having dinner with Xiaoyu and seeing her home, I got back close to midnight. But when they returned, they said they wanted to arrange a marriage for me and even proposed meeting with Xiaoyu’s parents for dinner."
Despite his best effort to hide it, I knew what they were really after. Before the Spring Festival, I had received a call from the demolition office. That’s why I couldn’t hold back that day and went out to look for someone again.
On March 2nd, I went to the old house for what was said to be the final measurement before demolition. Hilarious, isn’t it? All for this money, they actually came back from Ying City to care about me—to care! They brought me chocolate, the first and only time they ever bought me sweets.
So ’he’ came back out again. I looked for days until I saw that woman. When I saw her alone, I lay down by the side of the road, cut my finger, smeared blood on my face, and when she stopped to call 120 for help...
I bound her hands with a belt and dragged her to the seaside. What happened next, you already know. I beat her, I tortured her, I asked her if I was a man. Watching her tremble until she stopped moving, I stabbed her lower body with a knife. I thought the high tide would wash her away. I didn’t expect you to find her so quickly."
Zhou Ning sighed deeply and turned to look at Xu Dayuan, who was already gesturing to the police officer responsible for recording. The officer had been typing frantically, but they had finished and printed out the confession.
Xu Dayuan read it over and handed the confession to Zhou Ning. He knew that Cui Guanglin was so forthcoming because Zhou Ning was there; with anyone else, he wouldn’t have been as willing.
Zhou Ning placed the confession in front of Cui Guanglin.
"Take a look to see if it has been recorded correctly. If there’s no problem, you can sign it."
Cui Guanglin didn’t bother to read it, just signed his name and pressed his fingerprint onto the document. Then, holding the pen, he looked up.
"Can I see Xiaoyu?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"Before the trial, aside from your appointed lawyer, you can’t see anyone. As for after the trial, it’s up to Xiaoyu’s wishes. I will convey your message."
Cui Guanglin nodded, let go of the confession, and watched as Zhou Ning turned to leave. Cui Guanglin called out to Zhou Ning.
"Tell Zhou Xiaoyu that I love her and never meant to hurt her!"
Zhou Ning’s steps didn’t falter; he continued straight out the door. Such emotions from people like him were too terrifying. Even if it was true love, what did it matter?
Zhou Ning didn’t go to the interrogation room next door but instead punched in a code to exit the building, stepping outside into the cold wind, looking up at the evening sky.
He breathed heavily and then crouched down. Mr. Zhao came running out and patted Zhou Ning on the shoulder.
"You alright, buddy?"
Zhou Ning shook his head and took out his phone to call Liu Yongxin.
"Master, did you find anything there?"
"We found it. It’s been recorded in great detail. This has to go to forensics later. We’re on our way to the criminal police team now and will be there in ten minutes. Also, Doctor Lu went back to the city first. We’ve got the liquid from those bottles analyzed—it’s perfluoroisopropyl alcohol, complicated stuff.
But you can think of it as some kind of drug he invented himself: fast to recover from and leaves no trace. Really impressive stuff. To use Doctor Lu’s words, it’s patentable, more powerful than those breathing anesthetics. Did Cui Guanglin confess?"
Zhou Ning gave a brief account. Solving the Red Dress Serial Murder Case from Case 3.10 was a stroke of luck for them. Liu Yongxin also let out a sigh of relief after hearing it.
"Alright, I’ve got to go. I’ll be there soon; we’ll talk when we meet."
After hanging up, Zhou Ning accepted a cigarette from Mr. Zhao. The two stood in the yard, quietly smoking. Just as the cigarette stubs were extinguished, a police car roared up, and Liu Yongxin quickly got out, followed by Liu Changhai and the others.
Everyone’s faces were marked with excitement; after all, the case was close to being cracked.
Liu Yongxin approached Zhou Ning, stared at him for a while, and patted his arm.
"Don’t look so grim. You should be relieved. Xiaoyu’s not in too deep. This is the notebook Cui Guanglin was talking about."
Saying that, Liu Yongxin handed him a notebook. Zhou Ning, with gloved hands, flipped through it to find blood fingerprints spaced a few pages apart, with names, ages, weights, and heights carefully noted beside them.
"Let’s send this to forensics, Master. But what reaction can we expect from the city bureau?"
Just then, a voice rang in Zhou Ning’s ear: Ding! Congratulations, host, on completing the selective mission. Would you like to submit it now?
