Chapter 400: A Case from Five Years Ago 

Is it illegal to lie to the police?

If it doesn’t involve a case, then not really. But if it’s related to a criminal investigation, and you lie on purpose?

At best, you’ll be detained. At worst, you’ll go to prison.

So what happens when you lie to a national security agent? And the case in question involves national security?

You don’t even want to imagine the consequences.

Zhou Xin’s body trembled.

She still didn’t know exactly what the repercussions of her lie would be, but the moment she realized the man before her was with National Security, she nearly pissed herself.

“I’ll ask you one more time.” Xiao Yu’s gaze was ice cold as he stared straight at the woman handcuffed to the interrogation chair. “Do you know Che Yu?”

“I-I do!” Zhou Xin stammered.

“What’s your relationship with him?” Xiao Yu pressed further.

“We…” Zhou Xin opened her mouth, then lowered her head. “He’s… the lover I keep on the side.”

Calling him a lover wasn’t wrong because Zhou Xin was married with a husband and a three-year-old child.

Through questioning, Xiao Yu learned that Che Yu had joined the Muay Thai gym about a year and a half ago. Eventually, he and Zhou Xin got involved in an improper relationship.

It was clear that Che Yu saw Zhou Xin as his “auntie,” and Zhou Xin treated Che Yu like a young “puppy.”

When people get lonely—one with a husband, the other unable to find a girlfriend—this kind of thing happens.

“You’ve been lovers for over a year. I assume you know him pretty well by now?” Xiao Yu’s tone remained frosty. “Has he ever seemed off? Like, showing signs of violent tendencies?”

“Violence?” Zhou Xin looked bewildered. “What kind of joke is that? He’s just a college student, how could he possibly…”

She froze mid-sentence. Something had just occurred to her.

Xiao Yu’s expression didn’t change, but he kept his eyes locked on hers, waiting to see what she’d say.

“Half a year ago, he did seem… more irritable.” Zhou Xin hesitated. “He’d lose his temper easily. He liked playing violent video games.”

No signs of deception in her expression. She wasn’t lying.

Xiao Yu nodded. “Anything else?”

“I think… someone might’ve pissed him off back then, made him angry about something.” Zhou Xin shook her head. “It’s a bit hazy, but I remember he used to mutter a lot about… something called the Plate Spirit.”

“The Plate Spirit?” Xiao Yu was stunned. “You’re sure you remember that right?”

Six months ago, Che Yu already knew about the group filming the Plate Spirit video?

Something this bizarre—happening right in front of him—left even Xiao Yu shaken.

“I’m pretty sure,” Zhou Xin said firmly. “He mentioned it a few times during that period. I asked what it was, but he never told me. Oh, right, he also said there was some haunted house. Said one day he’d take me there to ‘have fun.’”

Plate Spirit… haunted house…

Xiao Yu’s expression stiffened, heart slowly sinking.

A chilling question rose in his mind.

The murder scene in the Plate Spirit case was that very same haunted house from five years ago. Back then, a gruesome murder had taken place there. And he’d completely overlooked it.

***

Scene of the Plate Spirit killings. The haunted house.

“Five years ago, there was a family annihilation case here,” a Group Two agent stood holding a tablet, reading from the archived case file to the two team leaders. “Well, technically not quite a full ‘family annihilation.’ It was officially categorized as a murder-suicide.

“According to J City police records, the victims were a family of three: husband, wife, and child. The father was 38, the mother 37, and the child just 13. When the police arrived on scene, the wife and child’s deaths were particularly strange. They were both dressed in tight-fitting red clothing. Their hands were hung from ceiling beams. Their feet were tied together, each with a weight tied to them.

“But the cause of death was disembowelment. Their abdomens were slit open. Internal organs had spilled from their chests. Massive blood loss followed. As for the father, his death was just as bizarre. His feet were chopped off, his left hand severed, and his right hand—still gripping a kitchen knife—was buried deep in his own neck. After investigation, the police concluded the husband had killed his wife and child in a brutal frenzy, then mutilated and killed himself.

“Motive: unknown. According to neighbors, the family had always been harmonious, friendly, even well-liked. No one could believe the father would do something so monstrous. Since then, the neighbors claimed that at night, they often heard crying… screaming… Strange sounds that terrified them into moving away. The house has been left vacant ever since.”

After finishing the report, the agent turned to the two group leaders. “We’ve gone through the case file again. So far, no signs of anything suspicious.”

“Vacant?” Xiao Yu asked.

“After the case was closed, the property was handed over to the victim’s family,” the agent explained. “But no one wanted to live in it. Eventually, the wife’s parents took ownership, but they never moved in. The place remained unused.

“That said, a few years back, someone did call the police, claiming they heard crying and screaming again. Officers came to investigate several times, including late-night stakeouts. They suspected someone was deliberately trying to spook people, but nothing ever turned up. Since then, no more strange noises. But everyone in the neighborhood still knows—this is a murder house. No one goes near it.”

After hearing the full report, Wang Dong glanced at Xiao Yu, who was still deep in thought.

“You think this might be connected to the case five years ago?”

“I don’t know,” Xiao Yu shook his head. “But we need to look into it. That case from five years ago. There were a lot of inconsistencies even back then.”

Too much time had passed.

Whether the two cases were truly related could only be confirmed through an investigation. 

But something else now stood out.

The suspect, Che Yu, had vanished.

No ID activity.

No travel records.

Not a single bank transaction.

It was as if he somehow knew the police and National Security were after him and had gone into hiding.

“The key still lies with Che Yu.” Wang Dong rubbed his temple. “I have a feeling if we can find him, this case will be solved.”

Suddenly, his phone rang.

He answered.

In less than a minute, his face darkened. When he hung up, he turned grimly to Xiao Yu.

“Che Yu’s body has been found.”

“His body?” Xiao Yu murmured. “It’s over… The trail just went cold.”