Seeing Crime Scenes in My Sleep

Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Stitched Monster

Qiao Siyuan was so furious he was speechless for a long time. The pots, pans, bowls, and plates were all smashed. How the hell were they supposed to eat?!

Qiao Siyuan glanced back at Jiang Li, and his blood boiled. After fuming for a moment, he could only grit his teeth and stomach it.

Qiao Siyuan had no choice but to pull out his phone and order takeout. While waiting for the food, he also called a cleaning service.

He went back to his room to change his clothes, but when he opened the door, he thought he’d stumbled into a garbage dump.

His clothes, bedsheets, and duvet cover had all been cut to shreds and tossed on the floor.

Qiao Siyuan’s vision went black, and he collapsed.

Hearing a faint THUMP, Jiang Li looked up. She put her phone away, got up, and knelt beside Qiao Siyuan.

She searched him for a moment and pulled out a key.

She went to Qiao Siyuan’s study, let herself in, and sat down at his computer. It took her several attempts before she successfully entered the password and unlocked it.

Looking at the folders on the screen, she took out her phone, copying the data before deleting it.

She also uncovered plenty of things Qiao Siyuan had done behind the scenes. ’But this still isn’t enough,’ she thought.

Jiang Li got up and walked out of the study. Seeing that Qiao Siyuan still hadn’t woken up, she strode over, yanked him up by the collar, and delivered a series of sharp slaps to his face. SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

"Hiss!"

Qiao Siyuan was jolted awake by the pain. He looked up at Jiang Li looming over him, his pupils dilating. The next second, he let out a piercing scream.

"AHHHH!"

Terrified, Qiao Siyuan scrambled back several steps, smacking his head hard against the wall. The impact left his head ringing.

Qiao Siyuan scrambled to his feet. "Jiang Li, what are you doing? Do you have any idea how scary that was? You could give someone a heart attack!"

’Damn it, for a second there I thought she was going to kill me.’

Jiang Li spared Qiao Siyuan a glance, then turned, opened the takeout containers, and started eating by herself. She was absolutely starving.

Qiao Siyuan stared at Jiang Li’s back, his breathing ragged.

’Shit! I never should have brought her back here. This is terrifying!’

Qiao Siyuan looked at Jiang Li eating her takeout, then back at the wreckage of his room. He couldn’t care about anything else; he just scrambled up and ran outside.

Jiang Li watched Qiao Siyuan flee, then looked away and continued eating her food.

"Mom! Mom! Mom!!"

Qiao Siyuan reached the door of the new apartment, his heart still pounding with fear as he hammered on it. A large lump was swelling on his forehead, and all the color had drained from his face.

Chen Xiufang threw on some clothes and hurried to open the door. "What’s wrong? It’s the middle of the night."

"Mom, I can’t do it! That Jiang Li is a complete psycho! I... I’m afraid she’s going to kill me if I stay there any longer!"

Qiao Siyuan came inside, shivering, and collapsed onto the sofa. The more he thought about what had happened, the more terrified he grew.

’If I’d woken up just a little bit later... would Jiang Li have really...?’

Chen Xiufang saw that Qiao Siyuan, who had been perfectly fine when he left, was now a complete, terrified wreck.

"What on earth happened?"

Qiao Siyuan explained how the apartment had been trashed and how he’d been attacked. "Mom, let’s just call it off. We have to find another way."

"When I’m with her, it feels like there’s a knife at my throat. I’m constantly on edge. It’s only been one day, and I already feel like I’m going insane."

"Are you sure... that was really Jiang Li?" Chen Xiufang stared at Qiao Siyuan in disbelief.

’She smashed everything in the house?’

’Is this the same Jiang Li I remember?’

"It’s true, Mom. Would I lie to you?"

Wu Xueyan emerged, wrapped in a blanket. She frowned at Qiao Siyuan’s wretched state, clearly also finding it hard to believe that the lunatic he was describing was Jiang Li.

"But didn’t you say Jiang Li was the perfect target because she has no family or friends?"

Chen Xiufang looked at Qiao Siyuan, disagreeing with his idea of finding someone else. "Si Yuan, think it through. Jiang Li is mentally ill, and she has no family or friends.

"When the time comes, even if she dies, no one will care. She’s the absolute best choice.

"You say you want to switch? To who?

"Who else is like Jiang Li, with no friends or family? Who else keeps to themselves, is mentally ill, and could die without anyone raising an eyebrow!"

"Si Yuan, you need to think about the baby in Xue Yan’s belly! If she gets too far along in her pregnancy, this won’t work anymore!"

Wu Xueyan caressed her stomach. The doctor had told her this might be her last chance to have a baby; another abortion could leave her unable to conceive again.

’This will be my last child!’

"Si Yuan, please, can you just put up with it a little longer for our baby?"

Qiao Siyuan, unaware that Wu Xueyan had previous abortions, said, "Xue Yan, can’t we just have another one later?

"The doctor said he’s a super-male."

Wu Xueyan strode forward and slapped him right across the face. "Qiao Siyuan, are you even human? How can you talk about your own precious son that way?"

"Hey, hey, what’s all this now? Little Xue, don’t be angry. Si Yuan was just frightened by Jiang Li. It’s alright, I’ll go back with him tomorrow.

"I refuse to believe we can’t handle that little slut!"

...

After finishing her meal, Jiang Li got up, opened the door, and left.

A neighbor was taken aback to see a young woman emerge from Qiao Siyuan’s apartment. Seeing her cold expression, however, they didn’t approach to say hello.

Once outside, Jiang Li began to wander around the neighborhood.

"Here, kitty, kitty..."

Jiang Li walked into a park where she saw a girl with her hair in a Taoist-style topknot fastened with a wooden hairpin. The girl was looking at something in her hand as she searched for something.

’That’s weird. It should be right around here. Why can’t I find it?’

Wu Ming glanced around, confused, and her eyes met Jiang Li’s.

"Hi, have you seen a little black kitten around here? About three months old?"

Jiang Li pursed her lips and shook her head. She glanced curiously at the device in the girl’s hand and noticed the camera hanging around her neck. ’Looks like she’s a streamer.’

[Tch, I knew it. This is fake. She can’t even find it.]

[Seriously, I don’t get what that rich client was thinking. Spending ten thousand yuan to find a cat? You could just buy a new one for that price.]

Wu Ming glanced at the live comments, her brow furrowed. "It has to be nearby. I’ll keep looking."

Seeing the girl’s determined pout, Jiang Li said, "I can help you look."

Wu Ming looked at her gratefully, pressing her palms together. "Thank you so much, you’re a lifesaver!"

Jiang Li scanned the surroundings, then walked toward a patch of bushes. She could hear a very faint meow mixed in with the chirping of insects.

She parted the foliage and saw a small black cat lying in the grass, barely breathing.

"Over here," Jiang Li called out, looking back.

Wu Ming immediately ran over and pulled up a picture of the cat on her phone. "It looks like this is it. I’ll contact the client right now."

As she spoke, Wu Ming ended her livestream and shone a flashlight on the animal. The black cat’s cries were feeble, and its chest rose and fell almost imperceptibly.

"The poor thing must have been picked on by the local strays."

Looking at the cat’s condition, Jiang Li’s mind involuntarily flashed to the dream she’d had of a pig’s body with a human head.

Wu Ming took out a blanket she was carrying, stepped into the bushes, and wrapped up the cat.

Jiang Li glanced over, feeling that something was off. "Wait, doesn’t the fur’s length and color seem a bit wrong?"

Hearing this, Wu Ming looked down quizzically at the kitten in the blanket. As she stared, still confused, a long, thin, black tail suddenly poked out.

"That’s... isn’t that a rat’s tail?!"