Chapter 009: Bait

"Mei Jinjv!"

"Mei Jinjv?"

Wu Anxun’s face darkened at the name, and he paused in surprise.

"Why her?"

Director Wang, belly protruding, couldn’t help but gape.

"Who is this Mei Jinjv? Is she famous?" Su Jingxing, observing from the side, couldn’t resist asking in a low voice.

"Of course she’s famous," Wang blurted out. "Mei Jinjv is one of the three golden flowers of our little town—beauty, figure, she’s got it all. Every man desires her!"

"And then she died," Gu Bo added quietly.

Wang fell silent.

Indeed, sometimes being too beautiful can be a curse.

"She… she might not be dead yet," Wang swallowed hard, forcing the words out. "She’s only missing for now. Maybe someone else died."

But he was only fooling himself.

Yes, self-deception described Director Wang perfectly at that moment.

Su Jingxing and Gu Bo couldn’t be bothered to argue.

……

"Mei Jinjv?" Wu Anxun, after his brief daze, regained composure and spoke in a low, steady voice, "When did Mei Jinjv disappear? Who was the last person to see her?"

"Three nights ago," answered one of the investigators. "As for the last person to see her…"

He paused, turning to look at Zhou Hongsong, who stood in the corner, his expression odd. "According to several eyewitnesses, the last person to see Mei Jinjv was Supervisor Zhou. That night, quite a few people saw him chasing after her down the path behind the amusement park. They both vanished there."

At once, everyone present turned their heads in unison to stare at Zhou Hongsong.

"I…" Zhou Hongsong started to say something.

Wu Anxun raised his hand, cutting him off with a shout, "You killed Mei Jinjv and buried her body in the woods, didn’t you?"

"No, I didn’t! That’s not true!" Zhou Hongsong denied, his protest coming in a rapid rush. He jumped up, shouting, "How could I possibly kill her? You all know I’ve been pursuing her—why would I hurt her?"

"Hmph, that’s not hard to explain," Wang sneered, feigning certainty. "You couldn’t win her over, so you grew resentful. After she rejected you yet again, you flew into a rage and did away with her!"

"That’s not true! You’re lying!" Zhou’s face flushed, and he defended himself with all his might. "Yes, I followed her home that night, but I left soon after—she drove me away. I have no idea what happened next! I’ve been looking for her these past few days as well!"

Hmm?

Su Jingxing’s eyes lit up.

There was something off about Zhou’s words. According to him, he already knew Mei Jinjv was missing, so why hadn’t he told anyone before now?

Su Jingxing didn’t know whether Mei Jinjv lived with her parents and friends or alone. But either way, someone as beautiful as her would surely be missed after three days of absence. Yet the whole town had heard nothing—how odd!

Su Jingxing wasn’t the only one to notice; Wu Anxun realized it at the same moment.

With a flash, Wu Anxun darted forward, seizing Zhou Hongsong by the collar and lifting him effortlessly into the air.

"Speak! How did you harm Mei Jinjv?" Wu Anxun demanded, voice cold and furious.

"It… wasn’t me… I didn’t…" Zhou Hongsong gasped for breath, clawing at Wu’s arm in desperation.

"You think staying silent means I can’t deal with you?" Wu Anxun sneered.

"Um, Brother Wu, are you sure this bastard really killed her?" Wang asked, unable to hold back. "We don’t even know if Mei Jinjv is dead yet!"

He’d been trying to trick Zhou before.

"That’s right," an investigator chimed in. "Mei Jinjv hasn’t been seen these days, but she was supposedly spotted in town—wait!"

He suddenly froze, eyes darting as he recalled something. "No, the only person who claimed to see her in town was Supervisor Zhou! Everyone else only knew she was around from what he said!"

"What… what does that mean?" Wang was confused.

"It’s simple," Gu Bo said, staring intently at Zhou, astonished. "Mei Jinjv disappeared three days ago, but Supervisor Zhou intentionally told everyone she was still in town!"

"So everyone just assumed she was holed up at home, not going out for a while, and didn’t worry."

"And if people thought she was still around, they had no reason to suspect anything happened to her."

"If I’m not mistaken, Mei Jinjv often stayed in as well, didn’t she?"

"Yes, that’s right," the investigator confirmed with a nod.

Director Wang, suddenly catching on, stared at Zhou with mounting anger. "You bastard, still trying to talk your way out of it! Tell us why you killed Mei Jinjv!"

"I… I didn’t…" Zhou’s face was scarlet as he struggled to break free.

With a thud, Wu Anxun tossed him to the ground without expression.

"Bleed him, then take him into the mountains," Wu ordered.

Zhou, about to scream, choked down his cry at Wu’s words, gasping and sweating as he trembled, begging, "No… please, don’t…"

Wu paid him no mind.

With a wave, two security officers hurried over, hauled Zhou up, and began dragging him away.

Wu Anxun followed, leading the rest of the heavily armed team out with broad strides.

Director Wang and his group watched in silence, mouths working but no words coming.

"Is Captain Wu always this forceful and domineering?" Su Jingxing asked quietly.

"Why else would I be so afraid of him?" Wang managed a wry smile. He sighed, wiped his face, and cursed bitterly, "It’s all Zhou Hongsong’s fault. This time we’re all doomed because of that bastard!"

"Come on, everyone, follow me!" Wang waved, his face set in tragic determination, and led his staff after Wu Anxun with his belly held high.

Su Jingxing glanced at the pale, terrified, yet grimly resolute staff, puzzled. "Are they all heading out to hunt the corpse puppet?"

"They don’t have to," Gu Bo shrugged. "Wu is using Zhou as bait to lure the corpse puppet. If the plan works and the monster is killed, Wu and Wang can get through this without being punished—at worst, they’ll be transferred. The rest won’t be rewarded, but they won’t be blamed either. But anyone who doesn’t go will definitely be held to account later."

"I’m not sure I understand," Su Jingxing admitted.

"No matter," Gu Bo laughed. "You’re not in the bureaucracy anyway. Normally, a murder case has nothing to do with the lower ranks, but corpse puppets are different."

"Once one appears, anyone even remotely involved gets dragged in."

"Enough of that. They’re going off to hunt the corpse puppet—"

"Shall we go and see for ourselves?"