Chapter 234: The Haunted House

What did Xiao Yu uncover by simulating the criminal’s mindset? Why did he say the criminals were hiding in Bencheng?

It was all because of the suspect, Peng Junlong.

Think about it from a normal perspective.

Why did Second Brother and Third Brother bring Peng Junlong along in the first place? And why would they let him know about the three hideouts?

Wasn’t that strange?

If they were trying to recruit him, it would make sense.

But the problem was, Second Brother and Third Brother played around with Peng Junlong for so long without ever recruiting him. Then they just suddenly cut ties, no contact at all.

Were they fools?

Weren’t they worried that one day Peng Junlong might get caught and give them up?

After thinking it through, Xiao Yu came to only one conclusion.

Second Brother and Third Brother wanted Peng Junlong to know about these places. Maybe they even anticipated he’d get into trouble someday. Perhaps the whole villa murder and setup was orchestrated by Second Brother and Third Brother on purpose. 

To prevent their own crimes from being exposed one day, they threw out… a piece of bait.

And what was this bait meant for?

To have Peng Junlong lead the police to those three criminal hideouts. One on the island, and two in other provinces.

What can we learn from this?

They were deliberately diverting the police’s attention away from Bencheng. They didn’t even care about those three hideouts being exposed. Their ultimate goal was to make the authorities overlook Bencheng entirely.

And they succeeded.

From the moment Xiao Yu took over the case—

From Yu Shaoyang turning himself in, to Wang Mei’s murder, the villa, Peng Junlong, the island, the second hideout… all the clues were pointing outside.

The police and National Security were led away from Bincheng.

This was a classic case of hiding in plain sight.

“The whole case started in Bencheng.” As Xiao Yu walked out of the airport exit, his expression was cold. 

“Second Brother Li Haibo and Third Brother Zheng Hao are both locals. This detail was completely overlooked by everyone—even I forgot about it. We were too focused on the things they wanted us to see. Finding the second hideout has already cost us a lot of time. If we keep chasing down the third hideout, we’ll waste even more. I can already imagine that after Peng Junlong got caught, they must have gotten wind of it. By then, they were already in hiding. It’s very likely they’ve planned to flee the country. There’s no place left for them here. And if they haven’t fled, they’ll be hiding somewhere no ordinary person would ever think to look.”

‘Somewhere no one would think of?’

Wang Dong frowned. ‘What kind of place could that be?’

Outside the airport, the Criminal Investigation Brigade’s police cars were already waiting.

Xiao Yu and the others quickly got into the car.

“There’s one more thing,” Xiao Yu said, his tone cold. “Why are there only Second Brother and Third Brother? Doesn’t that seem strange? Where’s the First Brother? No top dog, yet there’s a Second and Third?”

“Wait, you mean…” Wang Dong’s eyes widened.

“Exactly. That’s what worries me the most,” Xiao Yu nodded. “What if Second Brother and Third Brother are just small fry?”

“That would be a big problem.” Wang Dong’s voice deepened.

“Actually, if that’s the case, it makes things simpler,” Xiao Yu shook his head.

“What do you mean?” Wang Dong looked puzzled.

“If that’s true, then there’s only one goal here…” Xiao Yu sneered, “Money.”

Using twisted, brutal, and murderous methods… just to make money.

That much was clear.

‘Second Brother Li Haibo and Third Brother Zheng Hao are obviously a couple of sick perverts. But if there’s really a boss behind them…’

Xiao Yu still couldn’t quite piece together what kind of person that might be, because he had nothing to go on—no crime scene, no clues to analyze.

“First, we need to find Second Brother Li Haibo and Third Brother Zheng Hao.” Xiao Yu gave the order, “Issue a city-wide wanted notice, offer a reward, put up public notices, use Sky Eye surveillance, and focus the search on all major docks.”

For regular people, hiding out in the city wasn’t exactly easy.

They were not spies or secret agents. They didn’t have access to advanced disguise techniques. At most, they might try to change their appearance with some makeup or a disguise.

But even with that, there were always traces.

Things like body type, physique, and general appearance—those couldn’t be completely hidden.

Plus, Second Brother had a colorful dragon tattoo on his back.

The police offered a reward—because, let’s face it, money can motivate people to do just about anything.

Then, on the fourth day, the police received a tip.

A citizen reported that they saw someone with what looked like a colorful dragon tattoo faintly visible through the back of a T-shirt at a barbecue stand in an amusement park.

Since the person was wearing a T-shirt, it wasn’t possible to clearly see if it was the colorful dragon tattoo they were looking for. But there was something else suspicious: the two people eating the barbecue. They were clearly two men in their thirties, but both of them were wearing makeup.

These days, men wearing makeup wasn’t exactly shocking.

BB cream, eyebrow shaping, and even eyeshadow, and lipstick.

But here’s the catch—both men were quite muscular.

You didn’t usually see buff guys in their thirties wearing makeup, unless maybe they were celebrities or performers.

Xiao Yu and Wang Dong rushed to the scene as soon as they could.

At the amusement park in a tourist area.

They spoke with the informant. Then, questioned the owner of the barbecue stall. They showed them some photos to help identify the men. And finally, it was confirmed—it was indeed Second Brother Li Haibo and Third Brother Zheng Hao.

“I really didn’t expect this.” Xiao Yu looked at the amusement park ahead. “They’re hiding here?”

Yeah, who would’ve thought? Two criminals actually hiding in a place like an amusement park?

“Should we shut it down?”

Wang Dong glanced at the amusement park, his face cold.

“No need.” Xiao Yu began walking towards the park. “Just have our people guard the entrances and exits.”

“Got it.”

Wang Dong followed without hesitation. At this point, he had a bit of blind faith in his younger colleague.

Sure, it made him seem a little less cool. But, honestly, who cared about that?

***

Everyone knew that in amusement parks, many attractions were outsourced. It saved on construction, maintenance, and staffing costs, while the park still collected money.

Why wouldn’t they?

Xiao Yu and Wang Dong spent half a day searching through the amusement park. Finally, they found themselves standing in front of the haunted house, staring at the locked door.

A haunted house?

These days, most haunted houses in big amusement parks were rarely open. When they were, it was usually just for adults.

This particular haunted house had been closed for years.

The park management didn’t seem to care. As long as the fees were paid, he didn’t mind whether it stayed open or not.

Could this be the place?

If the criminals were hiding here, how did they lock the door from the outside?

There was a gap in the door—just big enough to slip an arm through and lock it from the outside. Plus, Xiao Yu could still smell the scent of a person lingering on the lock.

If the haunted house had really been closed for years, the smell would’ve faded by now.

There was definitely someone inside.

Under Wang Dong’s shocked gaze, Xiao Yu casually picked the lock.

As they stepped into the haunted house, it was pitch black inside. The darkness had an eerie, unsettling feeling to it. Even for guys like Xiao Yu and Wang Dong, who had nerves of steel, their muscles instinctively tensed the moment they entered.