PD -Chapter 80 The Terrifying Repeat Offender

I called out to Liu Xiaopeng and continued moving forward. Following the location where the human skin had been found, we went deeper into the sewer tunnel. On the wall, we discovered more scraping marks, along with several bloody handprints.

We traced the marks all the way forward inside the sewer, trying to determine the escape route of whatever it was. After walking about three hundred meters, a beam of light suddenly shone down from above.

We looked up and saw another manhole. The cover above it had clearly been moved—left improperly in place, allowing light to leak through.

Liu Xiaopeng and I exchanged a glance. It seemed we were thinking the same thing. That thing most likely climbed out from here.

We immediately stood beneath the manhole, but realized there was no way we could climb up with bare hands. I pulled out my phone to check the GPS and found that we were currently beside a newly developed campus next to the residential area—a brand-new high-end housing complex that had only just been handed over.

I sent the location to Zhu Zhu and told them to bring a rope so they could pull us up.

About five minutes later, the manhole cover was pushed open by Zhu Zhu and Xiao Xiao working together, and a rope was thrown down.

Liu Xiaopeng and I climbed up one after another. Only then did we realize we were fortunate—the manhole was located deep inside the residential complex, and it was lunchtime, so no one had noticed our unusual appearance.

I was honestly surprised at how Zhu Zhu had managed to convince the security staff to let her in so quickly.

But the answer dealt another blow to my pride.

The Zhu family’s company was actually the developer of this entire residential complex.

Right now, Liu Xiaopeng and I were reeking of sewer stench. All we wanted was to clean ourselves up as quickly as possible. Fortunately, Zhu Zhu suggested we go to the property management office directly to wash up.

We didn’t refuse. After all, walking around covered in that smell was unpleasant for everyone, including ourselves.

We followed Zhu Zhu through the luxury residential area with extremely complete facilities. After quite a while, we finally reached the property management building.

I couldn’t help but be amazed—the office building looked almost like two connected villas. It truly deserved its reputation as a high-end luxury community. Compared to the shabby old neighborhood from earlier, it felt like heaven and earth separated by a single road.

We entered the building, preparing to use the shower facilities to clean ourselves up. But as soon as we stepped inside, something felt wrong.

Almost all the staff inside were rushing out in a panic, as if something major had happened.

I frowned and grabbed a young man who was running past me, asking what was going on.

The moment he smelled the strange odor coming from Liu Xiaopeng and me, he immediately frowned, pinched his nose, and shook off my hand, asking who we were and why we were there.

Zhu Zhu was about to explain when someone suddenly called out, “Miss Zhu!”

We turned around and saw a middle-aged man in a suit walking over with a shocked expression.

“Miss Zhu, what brings you here?” the man asked.

“Oh, Manager Cui,” Zhu Zhu smiled, “I’m here with some friends to take care of something. These two of my friends… just had a bit of an accident, so they came here to clean up.”

Manager Cui looked at us suspiciously. Clearly, he had also smelled the stench on us—but he was far more restrained than the young staff member earlier. He only frowned slightly, then immediately led us toward the washing area.

“Manager Cui, why is everyone so rushed? What happened?” I asked while following him.

He sighed, looking hesitant, as though he didn’t want to tell outsiders.

“Manager Cui, just tell them,” Zhu Zhu said. “They’re my friends.”

With the young miss’s words, he finally stopped holding back. Looking troubled, he said:

“There’s been a murder in Building 3. It was reported early this morning. The police are here now, asking us to fully cooperate with the investigation. Everyone in the property office is busy because of it.”

“But Miss Zhu, don’t worry. We’re all trying our best—cooperating with the investigation while also trying to minimize the impact on the community.”

Zhu Zhu clearly wasn’t concerned about the “impact” and instead asked about the details of the case—the same question we all wanted answered.

“The female owner of a unit in Building 3 died. Her husband reported it this morning. But strangely, the home surveillance footage recorded the entire incident—the killer was her husband. However, the husband keeps denying it, saying he wasn’t home last night and only discovered his wife’s death when he returned this morning.”

“The scene… was truly horrific. What a tragedy,” Manager Cui sighed.

We all froze almost instantly upon hearing this.

This case was nearly identical to what had happened to Xiao Xiao’s younger brother. I hadn’t expected what we feared would happen so quickly.

That cunning thing was indeed a repeat offender who had tasted success. At this rate, its crimes would only become more frequent.

“Manager Cui, can you get access to that surveillance footage?” I had completely forgotten about showering and hurried after him.

He glanced again at Zhu Zhu before replying. Only after she nodded did he finally speak:

“The surveillance system was installed by the homeowner, so we normally don’t have access. But since the police asked us to assist, we used our office equipment to retrieve the footage. The data was later deleted—but it can still be recovered.”

“Then take us to see it!” Zhu Zhu said immediately.

Manager Cui hesitated. Recovering deleted data without authorization carried risk for him.

But with the Zhu family’s young miss present, refusing her might cost him his job.

After a brief internal struggle, he gritted his teeth and led us into the office, turned on a computer, recovered the surveillance file, and clicked play.

The footage showed 8:00 PM last night.

Inside the room, a beautiful woman in silk pajamas was lying on the sofa watching TV. Then she seemed to hear a knock at the door and immediately got up to open it. A well-dressed middle-aged man carrying a briefcase walked in. The two acted intimately—hugging and talking as soon as he entered. It was obvious they were husband and wife.

After entering, they sat on the sofa. The woman poured her husband a glass of red wine and poured herself a glass of plain water. Then she took out a small medicine box, apparently needing to take medication for some health condition.

But the man suddenly snatched the woman’s glass away, casually poured out her water, and replaced it with red wine instead.

The woman clearly looked surprised, her expression darkening. The two began to argue over this, and the argument quickly escalated.

And then—an utterly shocking scene occurred.