Chapter 204: Confession

Chapter 204: Confession

"How's the investigation going?"

After the car had driven for some distance, Captain Yue Lingchuan finally spoke up.

The detectives in the back seat began to report one after another: "We didn't find any children's items in the villa, which doesn't match their claim of bringing their relatives' children over to play."

"I did find a few strands of hair, both long and short, in the gaps behind the sofa and under the legs of the dining table. We can't yet confirm if they belong to the Liang family."

Even if they confirmed that some of the hair did not belong to the Liang family, they couldn't do much about it.

Because they still had no idea who those children were, leaving them with no way to verify.

Captain Yue Lingchuan, looking ahead, said calmly, "Liang Shiming has always been cautious. If he really left any clues at his home after all this time, that would be strange."

Upon hearing this, the detectives in the back were puzzled: "But Captain Yue, if that's the case, what was the point of our visit today? Aren't we afraid of alerting him?"

Captain Yue Lingchuan chuckled, "Alerting him?"

"Do you think Liang Shiming doesn't know we're investigating Xia Tingyi's death?"

The young detective in the back was taken aback, then fell silent.

The car stopped outside the headquarters building. Captain Yue Lingchuan turned to look at the back seat: "Alright, let's head back. Wait for further instructions."

The others nodded in agreement. The car doors opened and closed, and soon the spacious interior of the car fell quiet.

Shen Qingye hadn't spoken throughout the journey, only gazing out the window, her profile tense.

Yue Lingchuan didn't rush to drive away but instead parked under the shade of a tree, leaning back in his seat and turning his head to look at her.

Perhaps due to the excessive silence in the car, after a long while, Shen Qingye finally sensed something amiss and turned around, somewhat belatedly, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Yue Lingchuan casually asked, "I was just watching you think. Did you find anything at the Liang family's place?"

Shen Qingye was about to speak, but as she opened her mouth, she suddenly noticed the man's actions.

His distinct fingers tapped the steering wheel intermittently, his face slightly puzzled, yet his eyes were dark, as if he was anxious about something.

Shen Qingye finally came to her senses, her eyes slowly narrowing.

"What do you mean?" she asked calmly.

Yue Lingchuan paused in his movements, then said nonchalantly, "What do I mean by what?"

He wore an earnest expression, his voice bewildered, "About this case, do you have any other—uh!"

Shen Qingye, with a blank face, directly grabbed both sides of his cheeks, her tone warning, "Try talking to me like that again."

Yue Lingchuan's mouth was pulled out of shape, he made a few muffled sounds, seeing it was no use to speak, he gave up, lowering his eyebrows and looking down at the girl in front of him.

He had sharp, almost aggressive features, though usually approachable, they weren't obvious. But now, as he quietly gazed at her, this feeling became particularly evident.

Shen Qingye, however, showed no signs of panic under his gaze; instead, she tightened her grip, pulling his face even more out of shape.

Feeling helpless inside, Yue Lingchuan suddenly grabbed Shen Qingye's waist, taking advantage of her surprise to pull her onto his lap.

The space in the driver's seat was somewhat cramped, and Shen Qingye, caught off guard by his sudden move, widened her eyes, straddling his thighs, her hands instinctively gripping his shoulders.

Yue Lingchuan laughed, his chest rising and falling. "That obvious?"

Shen Qingye quickly regained her composure and couldn't help but pout at his words. "I should be the one asking you that."

Yue Lingchuan chuckled. "Actually, it's not that obvious..."

He looked at her. "It's just that every time we work on a case, I'm always by your side. The first few times, I could say it was your sharp instincts and talent, but every single time... Sometimes I can't help but wonder if heaven is holding a spoon to feed you."

Shen Qingye couldn't help but laugh. Yue Lingchuan gently rubbed her earlobe and continued, "Especially this time, you almost pinpointed Lin Xiaowei's water cup with perfect accuracy, and the tech team managed to extract Xia Tingyi's fingerprints from it without any trouble—this is when I started to suspect something."

"So—" Yue Lingchuan lifted his gaze to meet hers, his expression serious. "Can you tell me now?"

Shen Qingye blinked, remaining silent.

After a long moment, Yue Lingchuan let out a short laugh, about to speak when a finger was placed over his lips. "Shh."

Shen Qingye whispered, leaning close to him. "Let me tell you a secret, I can hear the sounds from the crime scene."

"Wha...t?" Yue Lingchuan blinked, his confusion genuine this time.

Shen Qingye counted off on her fingers. "The first time you took me on a call, Zhou Meihua's pearl hair clip; in Cai Chengyong's case, the chopping board hidden in the cellar; and in Yuan Zhenghao's case, the TV at the death scene..."

She said, "I can hear their voices."

Yue Lingchuan stared at her, his brows furrowed tightly, speechless for a long while.

Shen Qingye raised an eyebrow. "Can't accept it?"

"No," Yue Lingchuan replied immediately. "Just give me a moment to process."

He slowly stroked his chin: "When you say you can hear the sounds from the crime scene, do you mean that you can hear everything there speaking?"

Shen Qingye corrected him: "Just one thing."

Yue Lingchuan recalled carefully and suddenly said: "The small stone you keep in your office—"

Shen Qingye nodded: "It's the stone from the scene where Huang Wenqiang killed two people after arriving in Pingjiang."

"It saw the murderer’s face, which is why I was able to recognize Huang Wenqiang so quickly when we first met."

Her tone was calm, as if it were no big deal, making Yue Lingchuan somewhat doubt himself.

Seeing this, Shen Qingye couldn't help but ask curiously: "So, what did you think at first?"

Yue Lingchuan paused, seeming a bit embarrassed: "I thought maybe you could see the victims' spirits or communicate with them... like in that TV drama that aired in Hong Kong recently..."

Shen Qingye tilted her head: "Your imagination is wilder than I thought."

Yue Lingchuan sighed, and Shen Qingye pressed on: "So, you had your suspicions early on. Was your suggestion to visit the Liang family also a way to test me?"

Yue Lingchuan hesitated for a moment before nodding honestly: "There was some testing involved—of course, more importantly, it was to show my stance to Liang Shiming."

After all, the case must come first.

Shen Qingye let out a light hum, her fingers threading through his hair, a smile playing at the corners of her eyes: "So now that you know, what do you think?"

Yue Lingchuan lifted his gaze, gazing intently at her face, then leaned forward and kissed her chin.

Shen Qingye was taken aback.

Yue Lingchuan slowly moved up along her jawline, tracing her cheek and the tip of her nose before finally landing on her lips.

"I'm so glad you're willing to tell me..."

Amidst the entwined kiss, the muffled words were swallowed by both. Shen Qingye paused for a moment, then her eyebrows arched as she opened her lips, sinking into the intimate embrace.

After a long while, they parted, breathless. Only then did Yue Lingchuan ask, "So, what did you hear at the Liang family's place?"

He had noticed that after leaving the Liang family, Shen Qingye's mood had been rather off.

At his words, Shen Qingye's expression gradually turned cold, her eyes icy.

Yue Lingchuan rarely saw her like this; his hand, which was stroking her hair, paused. "It's serious?"

Shen Qingye closed her eyes and spoke in a low voice, "Voices."

"Everywhere, just voices."

The spacious interior of the jeep fell silent.

Yue Lingchuan asked, "You said earlier that at a crime scene, you can only hear one thing's sound."

Shen Qingye nodded, her voice strained, "Yes."

Then these myriad voices—

"In that villa, more than one life has been lost."

Shen Qingye spoke quietly, and Yue Lingchuan's hand, hanging by his side, clenched tightly.

More than one life...

"Are they all children?" he asked.

Shen Qingye replied, "Most likely."

"I talked to a few things and they said Liang Shiming often brings different children back, mostly between five and eight years old. And he changes the children frequently, at most once a month, definitely."

"The children all look good, fair-skinned, and very obedient and well-behaved."

"...But Liang Shiming has some unusual tastes. He not only likes children but also plays very roughly. Several children couldn't take it and died on the spot. Some managed to survive but were taken away by someone else."

Yue Lingchuan seized on the key point and asked, "Who?"

Shen Qingye perked up, "They said the person is fat, bald, with a big belly, seems to have a good temper, always smiling, and is about half a head shorter than Liang Shiming."

"Whenever those children are brought in or taken away, it's always that person who comes."

"Liang Shiming calls him... Xiao Chai."

"Chai?" Yue Lingchuan thought for a moment but couldn't recall anyone in the circle with the surname Chai.

The two exchanged a glance, both having their own thoughts.