Chapter Sixty-Two: The Intersecting Point of the Eerie and the Real

“What kind of bizarre descriptive term is that…” Beside Chen Qing, Jiang Wan’s complexion had recovered somewhat.

With the arrival of Chen Qing and Jiang Wan, several police officers emerged from the side door. Their figures had grown somewhat out of shape, clearly having been off the front lines for years. The man in the lead looked pale, as if he had spent the entire night awake.

“You’ve arrived?” He looked at Jiang Wan, nodded in greeting, and paid Chen Qing no mind, heading further inside.

“That’s Xie Hongbo, head of the Major Crimes Unit. He just rushed back from the capital,” Jiang Wan leaned down and whispered the background of the people present into Chen Qing’s ear.

In summary, there were two factions currently gathered in the police station: one believed the extraordinary truly existed and required special authority to be handled by appointed individuals; the other believed that even if the extraordinary did exist, it should be managed uniformly by the police, rejecting the notion of so-called civilian specialists.

Xie Hongbo was one of the representatives of the latter faction.

“Describe the case,” he said.

After entering the hall, Xie Hongbo frowned as he looked at the corpse hanging from the ceiling fan. He turned to another man beside him, who appeared to be his subordinate.

“According to surveillance records, the victim’s actions were consistent with suicide. However, the motive is unclear.

Last night at eleven o’clock, the victim arrived to review work documents. After examining the report authored by Comrade Jiang Wan, he committed suicide at forty-three minutes past midnight.”

“What about the others? Weren’t there two more deaths?” He frowned, clearly displeased.

“Yes… At ten o’clock last night, Comrade Xue Tonghua took his own life at home. His wife and child in the same apartment noticed nothing unusual at the time. Comrade Fu Pengxing died accidentally in the bathroom at ten fourteen.

Investigations show that the sequence of deaths matches the order in which they reviewed Comrade Jiang Wan’s report. Before Xue Tonghua died, he texted Fu Pengxing and Qi Botao, mentioning that they should check Jiang Wan’s report.”

Xie Hongbo’s expression grew strange as he frowned. “Did they see the message?”

“Apparently, yes. Qi Botao replied with an ‘ok.’”

“Where’s the file?”

“It was—”

He paused. At that moment, someone emerged from the depths of the office, opposite the crime scene. Carefully avoiding the blood on the floor, they walked over to Jiang Wan.

“It’s been sealed by me.” He nodded at Jiang Wan, then shifted his gaze to Chen Qing.

“So this is your team member? Truly a hero among the young.” He smiled, reached out to shake Chen Qing’s hand, and introduced himself, “I am Jiang Hongyun, head of the Special Case Unit, Jiang Wan’s superior. If you don’t mind, you can call me Brother Jiang.”

His face was lined, yet he remained clean-cut and energetic. His physique was robust, clearly not yet retired from active duty.

Chen Qing glanced at his hand, noting the thick calluses at the base of his thumb—a man of action.

“He’s… our direct superior. The funding for cleaning up after you came from Brother Jiang’s approval,” Jiang Wan explained, sensing Chen Qing’s curiosity.

After listening, Chen Qing was intrigued but refrained from questioning further at that moment.

Once the introductions were done, Xie Hongbo interrupted curtly, “That’s enough. Where’s the file?”

He stretched out his hand toward Jiang Hongyun. But upon seeing his gesture, Jiang Hongyun turned instead to Chen Qing and asked, “Can the file be brought out for review?”

As Chen Qing hesitated, Xie Hongbo spoke coldly, “Since when do I need approval from an outsider to examine evidence?”

Jiang Hongyun smiled and shook his head, but his gaze was sharp. “You’re right, you don’t. But you must understand: three people are already dead, and the only thing they have in common is reading that file. If any other colleagues are harmed, who will take responsibility for the consequences?

We don’t even know why they killed themselves. How many more must die before you realize your mistake?”

His voice grew louder, and by the end, all traces of a smile had vanished from his face. He stared at the man before him, his eyes filled with disgust and complicated emotions.

Hearing Jiang Hongyun’s words, Xie Hongbo’s lips trembled, his face grew paler, but he merely snorted coldly and offered no rebuttal.

As the atmosphere grew heavier, Chen Qing sighed, drawing everyone’s attention. He asked, “Where is Jiang Wan’s file kept? I’ll take a look.”

Jiang Hongyun frowned and asked, “Is it safe for you? Do you need any emergency measures? Can we watch?”

Chen Qing thought for a moment, then shook his head, seemingly unconcerned. “It shouldn’t be dangerous for me… As for you, better wait.”

After Chen Qing spoke, Jiang Hongyun immediately turned to Jiang Wan, and seeing her nod in reply, his expression grew tenser.

“Go then… The file is in the interrogation room. We’ll stay outside. If anything happens to you… I’ll risk my life to get you out.”

He stared into Chen Qing’s eyes, his tone utterly earnest, which made Chen Qing smile. “Don’t worry. It’s not that serious…”

Three or four minutes later, Jiang Wan led Chen Qing to the interrogation room.

Inside, the left wall was dominated by a large one-way mirror. Above it, a speaker was connected to the monitoring room behind the glass.

A third of the interrogation room was separated by another iron door. Outside the door was where officers usually sat during interrogations. Beyond it, in the enclosed space, was where suspects were kept.

Jiang Wan opened the lock, and inside was a chair with handcuffs attached. On the chair lay the file created two days ago.

Chen Qing stepped forward alone, and immediately Jiang Wan locked the iron door behind him. He turned back in surprise, only to see a hint of helplessness on Jiang Wan’s face.

“This is for your protection.”

As he wondered, a voice came through the speaker above his head: “If you lose control in the interrogation room, it offers the greatest protection. Before you open the file…”

He paused for a moment before continuing, “I hope you’ll use the handcuffs to restrain yourself. It’s for your sake, and for everyone else’s.”

Chen Qing shook his head as he listened. Unsure if his voice could be heard, he spoke toward the one-way glass, “No need for all that trouble. I’ll just read it directly.”