PD -Chapter 77 Return to the Scene

The police naturally trusted what they saw in the surveillance footage and the physical evidence left at the scene. But Xiao Xiao insisted that her younger brother did not kill anyone, because he had been with her that night.

So Xiao Xiao began asking around everywhere, trying to find a way to clear her brother of suspicion. Later, perhaps driven by desperation, she sent emails to everyone she knew, hoping to find someone willing to help investigate the truth.

When Liu Xiaopeng received the email, he immediately felt something was off… because when he had dated Xiao Xiao in the past, he had also gotten quite familiar with her younger brother…

So he didn’t believe Xiao Ming could have done such a thing either, and decided to investigate it himself.

As I listened to Liu Xiaopeng’s account, I couldn’t help but feel that this matter should still be handled by the police. It wasn’t something ordinary people like us should be interfering with.

Moreover, what I was most concerned about right now was investigating the conspiracy involving the Ghost King and Lucifer, and finding a way to save Tang Shanshan.

I sighed and looked at Liu Xiaopeng.

“Sorry, Xiaopeng. I’ve sworn that I must save Tang Shanshan. I’m afraid I can’t help much with this case. I’ll give you a few days off…”

My meaning was very clear—I was telling him that this matter was beyond my ability.

And right now, I had to focus all my attention on saving Tang Shanshan. If he wanted to investigate, he would have to do it on his own.

“Brother Han, don’t you think it’s strange?” Liu Xiaopeng didn’t respond to me directly. Instead, he continued on his own. “You also said that to find Sister Shanshan, we have to trace all the supernatural incidents controlled by the Ghost King and Lucifer. Doesn’t this case—where Xiao Xiao’s brother is in two places at once—fit exactly what we’re looking for?”

I bit my lip and, after a moment of hesitation, still expressed my thoughts.

“Xiaopeng, the police rely on evidence. All the evidence points to her brother. Just their family’s alibi alone isn’t enough to be convincing.”

“You mean Xiao Xiao is lying?” Liu Xiaopeng frowned, looking at me.

I could sense a hint of anger in him. I stepped back slightly, not wanting to argue, and turned my attention back to the computer where I was checking information about that antique shop transaction.

“Fine. I’ll investigate it myself!” Liu Xiaopeng sighed, then turned and walked toward the door.

“Xiaopeng, wait!” Zhu Zhu stood up and called him back, then leaned toward me and signaled me with her eyes.

“Brother Xiaopeng is right. This case is indeed suspicious. I think we should look into it,” Zhu Zhu said, nudging me.

I hesitated for a moment and realized I might indeed have spoken too harshly. Liu Xiaopeng had been loyal to me all this time, and not only that, he had even saved my life a couple of days ago. It was unreasonable for me to ignore his situation.

Earlier, I had indeed been overwhelmed by thoughts of Tang Shanshan… “concern leads to confusion”—that was probably exactly what this was. Thinking about it now, I regretted what I had said to Liu Xiaopeng.

“Sorry,” I called out to stop him. “Zhu Zhu is right. Let’s investigate this together.”

Liu Xiaopeng froze for a moment, then finally turned back.

An hour later, Liu Xiaopeng brought us to Xiao Xiao’s home.

Xiao Xiao was a pretty and gentle-looking girl. She was visibly shocked when she saw Liu Xiaopeng, clearly not expecting him to actually come.

Liu Xiaopeng briefly introduced us, and Xiao Xiao let us into the house. Her parents were not home at the moment; it seemed they had gone out looking for a lawyer because of her brother’s case.

“Can you tell us in detail what exactly happened with Xiao Ming?” Liu Xiaopeng asked as he sat on the sofa.

The Xiao Ming he referred to was Xiao Xiao’s younger brother.

Xiao Xiao sighed and sat down, tears streaming down her face as she spoke.

What she described was largely consistent with what Liu Xiaopeng had learned from the emails.

“It couldn’t have been Xiao Ming who killed that girl… unless there are two Xiao Mings in this world,” Xiao Xiao said, wiping her tears.

“But… the surveillance footage the police have can’t be explained. The person in the video really looks exactly like Xiao Ming.”

As she spoke, Xiao Xiao took out her phone. On it was a photo of a surveillance screen. In the image, a young man wearing a black hoodie was walking into a residential complex.

“Don’t panic. I know what kind of person Xiao Ming is. I don’t believe he would do something like that,” Liu Xiaopeng said, handing her tissues to comfort her.

“Crying won’t help now. We need to find evidence to prove Xiao Ming’s innocence,” I added.

“So what should we do?” Xiao Xiao sniffed, trying to hold back her tears.

“Maybe… we should first take a look at the crime scene. We might find some clues,” Liu Xiaopeng said after thinking for a while, though he didn’t sound very certain.

“But… the scene has already been sealed. Ordinary people aren’t allowed in,” Xiao Xiao shook her head.

“If we can’t go inside, we can at least check around outside. We still have to take a look,” I said, standing up.

So we all drove to the somewhat old residential complex.

The victim’s home was in Building 3, Unit 1, on the first floor.

When we arrived, we immediately saw the police seal on the door. After thinking for a moment, Liu Xiaopeng and I walked around to the side of the building.

Since it was a ground-floor unit, we could vaguely see inside through the window.

I pressed myself close to the security bars and looked through the glass. The floor inside was covered in bloodstains, and in the center of the room, on a chair, lay a tangled rope stained with blood—it was a horrifying sight.

Xiao Xiao seemed to be seeing a crime scene for the first time and covered her mouth, her eyes reddening.

I sighed and stopped looking inside, as there was nothing more to be seen. I asked Liu Xiaopeng to take out the EMF detector and reach it through the bars. The readings immediately spiked, and the device emitted a piercing alarm.

My heart sank. This case—we really had to investigate it to the end.

“What is that?” Xiao Xiao asked, looking at the device in Liu Xiaopeng’s hand.

Before Liu Xiaopeng could answer, a series of loud growls suddenly came from nearby, startling us and forcing us to step back.

Following the growls, a large black-furred dog rushed out from another unit, stood at the entrance, and stared at us, barking fiercely.