Seeing Crime Scenes in My Sleep

Chapter 23: Chapter 23: A Step Too Late

Lu Yuanji saw his opening, raised the axe in his hands, and swung it at the back of Lu Xingye’s head.

The next second, a sharp pain shot through his abdomen, and then he was sent flying by a powerful kick.

Seeing this, Zhao Shuo, who had just arrived, quickly pulled out his handcuffs and slapped them on the man.

Zhou Tiancheng strode in. "Xingye, are you guys okay?"

Lu Xingye looked at Jiang Li, then shook his head. "We’re fine. Jiang Li was quick on her feet."

Zhou Tiancheng’s expression froze. He looked at Lu Yuanji, who was lying on the ground outside. "You mean Jiang Li was the one who kicked him?"

Lu Xingye met his gaze and nodded.

’I was just about to make a move myself, but before I could do anything, Jiang Li had already sent him flying with a kick.’

Meeting their gazes, Jiang Li scratched her head, embarrassed. "Heh heh... Just a reflex."

She was just as stunned as they were.

Zhou Tiancheng had already gotten a rough idea of Jiang Li’s situation from Zhao Shuo, so he didn’t know what to say other than to nod.

"Let’s check the scene first."

Zhou Tiancheng was still looking for a light switch, but in the next second, Jiang Li had already turned on a lamp. It wasn’t very bright.

As the light flickered on, everything in the warehouse came into full view.

"Damn it, that animal!"

Zhou Tiancheng couldn’t stop himself from cursing as he looked at the dismembered limbs.

Jiang Li stared at the scene before her in shock, tears welling in her eyes. "I’m sorry. It’s all my fault for being late."

’If only I’d woken up sooner, if I’d brought Zhou Tiancheng and the others here earlier... maybe the little boy wouldn’t have died.’

Lu Xingye stepped forward to comfort her. "You’ve already done so much. If it weren’t for you, there might have been more victims."

Zhou Tiancheng quickly called the police station. Ten to twenty minutes later, the area was cordoned off with police tape.

Zhao Shuo was in charge of restraining Lu Yuanji.

"Damn it! I knew those influencers were nothing but trouble!"

Realizing he was exposed, Lu Yuanji cursed out loud. If he hadn’t agreed to the influencer’s visit back then, perhaps the police would never have targeted him.

"Shut up!" Zhao Shuo roared, then looked at his colleague. "Go get the duct tape from the car and seal his mouth!"

The commotion quickly alerted the nearby residents, who crowded around.

"Hey, isn’t this Lu Yuanji’s warehouse? Officer, what did Lu Yuanji do?"

With a stone-cold face, Zhao Shuo said nothing. He wouldn’t utter a single word until the investigation was concluded.

Soon, Lu Yuanji’s wife, Han Yanmei, heard the commotion and ran over. When she saw Lu Yuanji being pinned down, her entire body went stiff. She was about to run, but when she turned, she bumped right into Ji Qinghe and Qin Shu, who had just arrived.

Ji Qinghe sized up Han Yanmei. "What is your relationship to Lu Yuanji?"

"I... I don’t..." Before Han Yanmei could finish, a bystander in the crowd shouted, "She’s Lu Yuanji’s wife!"

Han Yanmei tried to make a run for it, but she was caught.

Qin Shu put on her gloves and walked inside. Seeing Jiang Li there, she gave her a faint smile before getting into work mode.

Jiang Li looked around. "That’s strange."

"What’s wrong?"

Ji Qinghe came to her side.

She pointed to an empty spot. "The jar I told you about was here, but it’s gone now. I was going to ask Forensic Doctor Qin to see what was inside."

Ji Qinghe’s thoughts immediately went to Han Yanmei. She turned, went outside, and asked the woman, "Where is the jar?"

Shock flashed in both Lu Yuanji’s and Han Yanmei’s eyes when they heard Ji Qinghe mention the jar so specifically.

"You... how did you know?"

Han Yanmei mumbled this, only to be shot a harsh glare by Lu Yuanji. ’Damn woman, did she just confess without even being pressed?’

"Speak!"

Han Yanmei looked at Lu Yuanji, her lips trembling as she said, "I took it to sell it."

Ji Qinghe’s expression grew serious. She quickly had someone contact the local police station to check the surveillance footage and see who it was sold to.

The surrounding onlookers were completely baffled.

Ji Qinghe walked up to them. "Has anyone here bought ’lychee wine’ from Lu Yuanji? It’s not safe. If you have, please turn it in as soon as possible."

The crowd looked at each other in confusion. Some shook their heads, while others had never even heard of this lychee wine.

Just then, a woman raised her hand. "My... my mother-in-law just bought a jar a few days ago."

Ji Qinghe looked at the woman who had spoken. "Could I trouble you to go home and get it?"

"No trouble, no trouble at all! I’ll go get it right now!"

A pleased expression appeared on the woman’s face. That stuff had been bought by her mother-in-law. God knows where she’d heard it, but someone had claimed drinking it would help with fertility, so she’d spent five hundred and eighty on a single jar.

After bringing it home, her mother-in-law had insisted she drink it. But the jar let out a foul stench the moment it was opened, smelling nothing like lychee.

Her mother-in-law had been stubborn, insisting it was "specially cured" and even quoting the proverb "good medicine tastes bitter" to prove it was a good thing.

Now, she could finally be rid of that cursed stuff. Thankfully, she hadn’t drunk any.

The woman’s home was nearby, and she soon came running back, holding the jar.

"Officer, here. It’s been opened, but nothing has been drunk from it."

"Thank you. We need to take this back to the station as evidence."

"Yes, yes, of course. Thank you, thank you."

’Good riddance. Otherwise, I would have been the one suffering.’

Ji Qinghe had the local police station put out a notice: anyone who had bought meat or wine from Lu Yuanji was to turn it in immediately.

Ji Qinghe took the jar into the warehouse and handed it to Qin Shu.

Qin Shu changed into a new pair of gloves, took the jar, opened it, and after just one sniff, was nearly overcome by the stench.

"This..."

Qin Shu frowned, took a spoon from her toolbox, and the moment she scooped something out, her expression grew even darker.

"These are eyeballs. A person only has two. It looks like Lu Yuanji has killed many people."

Ji Qinghe felt a sudden urge to go outside and put a bullet in Lu Yuanji.

Jiang Li looked at the collected remains, the boy’s pleas for mercy still ringing in her head.

Ji Qinghe looked at Jiang Li, walked over, and crouched down beside her.

"Officer Ji, in the dream, he kept begging me, begging me not to kill him, kneeling and kowtowing to me."

Ji Qinghe’s breath hitched. She hugged her tightly. "Jiang Li, that wasn’t you. You don’t have to feel guilty."

A wave of anguish washed over Jiang Li. "Why could I only watch helplessly as they were being killed? I didn’t even have the power to help them escape."

"Jiang Li, it’s not your fault. You’ve already done so well. There’s no need to take on blame that doesn’t belong to you. What we need to do now is make the criminal face the judgment of the law!"

Ji Qinghe’s words helped Jiang Li gradually regain some of her composure. She turned to look at her.

"Officer Ji, Lu Yuanji might be a cook at a school. He lured that child from school... with a chicken drumstick a day..."

A chicken drumstick a day had cost an innocent life.

"Okay. We’ll investigate all of this."

Jiang Li nodded.

Finally, worried she was too distraught, Ji Qinghe had her wait in the car.

Just as Jiang Li got in the car, her phone vibrated with countless new messages.

She glanced at it. They were all from Qiao Siyuan.

[Jiang Li, where are you? I’ll come pick you up.]

[Jiang Li, answer me! Your landlord said you moved out the same day. What hotel are you at now?]