SFTD -Chapter 283 The Disappearing Evidence (Final)

Ji Cheng’an lit a cigarette and took several deep drags. As he exhaled rings of smoke, he let out a long sigh. Neither Zhou Hai nor Huang Zhongsheng interrupted him.

He was finally ready to talk.

Sure enough, Ji Cheng’an continued:

“What you just analyzed was basically correct. I’d liked Chengxue for a long time. Before I enlisted in the army, she promised she’d wait for me for three years.

But only three months after I left, her mother introduced her to another boyfriend. How could Chengxue resist that kind of temptation? I really couldn’t understand it. She was only eighteen—was there really such a rush?

On Saturday, December 4th, I called Chengxue. A man answered. I gave my name, and he said he was Chengxue’s boyfriend, Li Zhongzhi. Do you know how I felt then?

The word you used earlier was perfect—I felt cheated on. I couldn’t accept it. No matter what, I needed an answer.

That’s why I planned the fake leave and returned to Mocheng. I wanted to ask Chengxue out, but I was afraid she wouldn’t come, so I waited for her at the residential complex instead. Who would’ve thought I’d see Li Zhongzhi coming to meet her? They agreed to have dinner at her house that night. I hid inside the apartment entrance and heard everything clearly.

I changed my plan on the spot. Just like you said, I spent the entire afternoon preparing everything I needed. Then I hid on the rooftop of Building Sixteen until I saw Li Zhongzhi enter Room 201 before finally going downstairs.

There were guests there, and for the sake of appearances they wouldn’t openly fall out with me.

I ate dinner at my uncle’s place with them. When I saw Li Zhongzhi had gotten drunk, I escorted him downstairs to Room 101. Chengxue came down with me and helped settle him in.

After that, we had a huge argument. I still refused to give up and followed Chengxue back upstairs.

Then my aunt smashed me over the head and drove me out. She called me a stray they’d picked up and said I was delusional for having feelings like that—like a toad lusting after swan meat. She said their Chengxue was destined for a life of comfort and could never suffer alongside someone like me.

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t even treat the wound on my head. I just placed Li Zhongzhi’s towel properly and left.

Just like you guessed, I had soaked that towel in ether solution and draped it wet over the radiator. Chengxue was washing dishes at the time, Ji Chenglong was watching TV, and my uncle and aunt never came out. With conditions that favorable, of course I had to prepare something special for them.

At ten that night, I changed into Li Zhongzhi’s clothes and drugged him unconscious. Then I knocked on every door from the first floor to the seventh floor. Not a single household in Unit One of Building Sixteen answered.

I pried open the door to Room 201, and nobody from the Ji family came out. That’s when I knew it had worked.

After entering, I first went into Chengxue’s room, gagged her, and tied her to the end of the bed. Then I covered my own mouth and nose and quickly opened all the windows for ventilation.

After that, I took my backpack into the master bedroom. By the time I finished tying up my uncle and aunt, they were gradually waking up. When my aunt saw me standing there, she immediately started cursing and tried to get up and hit me again, but she couldn’t move at all. Laughing, I walked over and taped their mouths shut.

The moment I put the tape on, I realized it was an excellent method, so I wrapped my aunt’s entire head in tape—her mouth, nose, eyes, even her messy hair.

My uncle kept groaning and struggling, trying to get up, but his body wouldn’t obey him. Right in front of him, I stepped on my aunt’s back and told him to behave.

He rolled over trying to kick me, but he had no strength. That made me angry too, so I stabbed him twice in the shoulder. Then I casually asked where he kept the family’s money. He glanced toward the wardrobe and mumbled something.

I tore the tape off his mouth. He begged me with great difficulty, asking me to spare his two children.

But how could that be possible? I came for revenge. If I spared the children, what kind of revenge would that be?

So I refused. I taped his entire face shut too. I watched the two of them struggle like dying fish until eventually they stiffened and stopped moving completely.

And suddenly, I felt excited.

You don’t understand that feeling. I got aroused right there.

At that moment, the bedroom door suddenly opened, and the curtains fluttered. Barefoot, Ji Chenglong pushed the door open sleepily and peeked inside. I was surprised he hadn’t been drugged unconscious. But when he saw me and his parents on the bed, he turned and ran in terror.

I caught him in the living room and slit his throat with one stroke.

Afterward, I went back into the master bedroom, took a condom from the bedside drawer, and went into Chengxue’s room.

I had to have her. Even if I died the next second, she could only belong to me.

After violently forcing myself on her, I cut her carotid artery.

There wasn’t the pain or heartbreak I’d imagined. I just watched the blood slowly flow out—off the bed and onto the floor. I stared blankly at her corpse for a very long time.

Later, I packed up all the cash and valuables in the apartment. But the rope wouldn’t fit in the bag anymore. I wanted to throw it out the living room window, but just as I opened it, a woman across the way happened to be leaning at her own window, so I pulled back.

I thought about a lot of things then. But I wasn’t afraid of her seeing my face, because everything I was wearing belonged to Li Zhongzhi.

After thinking that through, I abandoned the rope and left.

I waited until a car arrived and picked up the woman from Building Eighteen before sneaking over and smashing up their apartment completely. Partly as a threat, partly as a warning.

Then early the next morning, I fled back to Langfang.

It’s been five years. I thought once the Ji family of four died, the case would disappear with them. But it never did. Every single night, it feels like I’m still living in that day, replaying every detail over and over again.”

Huang Zhongsheng looked him over.

“What did you do with the money and valuables?”

“I only took out ten thousand yuan. The rest I buried beside the water meter pit near Unit One of Building Sixteen in Zhongcun Residential Complex. Back then it was still dirt ground. Now it’s all covered in cement.”

“I’m surprised you let Li Zhongzhi live.”

Ji Cheng’an smiled faintly.

“When the incident happened, he didn’t even dare make a sound. Afterward, he dared even less, because he couldn’t explain anything. He was drunk out of his mind and couldn’t remember what he’d done. He probably didn’t even know whether he’d killed someone himself.”

Faced with someone like this, it was hard to say whether he was clever or simply foolish.

Zhou Hai nodded toward Huang Zhongsheng and walked straight out. The remaining procedural matters no longer required his involvement. He glanced at his phone—it was already close to midnight.

Xu Biao and the others came out from the neighboring room. Zhang Chao looked like he wanted to explain something, but Zhou Hai waved him off.

“You don’t need to explain anything to me. And don’t burden yourself too much psychologically. Ji Cheng’an only took advantage of your kindness. You’re a good police officer. Take your team and assist Captain Huang with the rest of the work. I’m tired. I’m going back to rest.”

Every word Zhang Chao wanted to say stuck in his throat.

Zhou Hai left with Xu Biao and the others. Watching their backs disappear into the distance, Zhang Chao suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to cry.

Group Leader Zhou’s usual sternness could make people’s scalps go numb, but when things truly mattered, he was the one who could offer the greatest comfort.

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Chao turned and walked toward the conference room.