"After Xiaoman disappeared, Zhou Zhi’s emotions have been very unstable. She told me later that staying here would always remind her of Xiaoman, so she left."
Listening to Sun Qian’s words, Luo Fei could basically confirm that Xiaoman’s disappearance was likely related to Zhou Zhi.
"What is Xiaoman’s real name?" Luo Fei inquired.
"Her name is Yu Xiaoman, from Hangcheng." Sun Qian replied.
"How did she disappear?" Luo Fei continued to ask.
"I remember at the time Xiaoman said she was going home to see her parents and even asked the manager for leave, so we all thought Xiaoman had gone back to her hometown. It wasn’t until more than a week later, when Xiaoman still hadn’t returned to work, that the manager asked me to call Xiaoman and tell her to come back to work."
"That’s when I called Xiaoman, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t get through to her phone. So I found our manager, and from there I got the contact number for Xiaoman’s family and made the call."
"It was Xiaoman’s father who answered the phone. He told me Xiaoman hadn’t gone home at all. That’s when I realized something might have happened to Xiaoman. I told the manager and Zhou Zhi about this, and then we reported it to the police. Later, the police came to investigate but couldn’t find Xiaoman. To this day, there’s still no news about Xiaoman, and we don’t know if she’s alive or dead?" Sun Qian answered.
Luo Fei then asked, "Besides you and Zhou Zhi, who else was Yu Xiaoman close to?"
Sun Qian thought for a moment and said, "Besides me and Zhou Zhi, she was close with Yang Cheng, Wu Peng, and a few others. Xiaoman got to know Yang Cheng and Wu Peng because of Zhou Zhi, and they became quite familiar over time."
Luo Fei then carefully inquired about some specific details regarding Yu Xiaoman’s disappearance.
After nearly half an hour of questioning, Luo Fei left the KTV once he had asked everything he wanted to know.
He took a cab to Yuanxiang Real Estate Company.
According to Sun Qian, those who were close to Yu Xiaoman besides her and Zhou Zhi included Yang Cheng, Wu Peng, Zhuang Hai, and Sun Xiaoqiang.
Luo Fei asked about the situations of Wu Peng, Zhuang Hai, and Sun Xiaoqiang, and Sun Qian said that over the years, they had basically lost touch. Just recently, she chatted with Wu Peng on WeChat and found out Wu Peng was working in sales at Yuanxiang Real Estate Company. However, she was not aware of the situations of Zhuang Hai and Sun Xiaoqiang.
Luo Fei told the receptionist he was looking for Wu Peng and was informed that Wu Peng was showing a client a house and asked Luo Fei to wait.
After waiting for about an hour, he was told Wu Peng had already gone home.
Having obtained Wu Peng’s home address, Luo Fei promptly took a cab to Wu Peng’s house.
Scenic Garden District.
"What do you want?" As Luo Fei approached the entrance of the district, a security guard in his fifties stared at Luo Fei vigilantly.
"Police, I’m looking for Wu Peng at Building 10, Unit 625." Luo Fei frowned slightly and showed his credentials.
"Oh, it’s the police, I’m sorry." The security guard glanced at Luo Fei’s credentials, and his facial expression underwent a complete 180-degree change, quickly opening the door for Luo Fei.
Luo Fei did not bother arguing and entered the complex.
Arriving at Unit 625 of Building 10, he rang the doorbell directly.
Soon, the door was opened.
The person who opened the door was an ordinary-looking, somewhat plump woman, likely Wu Peng’s wife.
"Who are you looking for?" The woman looked at Luo Fei in confusion.
"Hello! I’m a police officer, and I’d like to speak with Mr. Wu about some matters. Is Mr. Wu home?" Luo Fei showed his credentials to the woman, speaking politely.
"He’s home, officer, please come in!" Knowing Luo Fei was a police officer, the woman immediately invited Luo Fei into the house.
The apartment wasn’t very large but was tidily arranged, appearing warm and cozy. In the center of the living room, a boy about one year old was sitting in a stroller.
"Who is it, dear?" A deep voice came, and a tall, somewhat simple-looking man walked over from the bathroom area.
This should be Wu Peng, but at the moment of seeing Wu Peng, Luo Fei’s expression turned grim.
Above Wu Peng’s head, the same fierce human-shaped figure was looming.
"It’s the officer; they want to ask you some questions?" The woman spoke to the man and then walked towards the kitchen.
"Officer, are you looking for me?" Wu Peng asked seeing Luo Fei in the living room.
Luo Fei nodded, "Yes, I’m looking for you."
"What do you need from me?" Wu Peng asked puzzledly.
Luo Fei responded, "I want to know about Zhou Zhi and Yang Cheng. Those two were caught red-handed by our police while extorting people using the honeytrap scheme in Ningjiang County."
Initially, Luo Fei wanted to ask Wu Peng about Yu Xiaoman, but upon seeing the vicious human figure above Wu Peng’s head, he understood that Wu Peng was most likely involved in Yu Xiaoman’s disappearance case.
However, there was no substantial evidence at this point, and Luo Fei didn’t want to alert them unnecessarily, or else Wu Peng might flee in fear, which would be a huge loss.
"Officer, I haven’t been in touch with Zhou Zhi and Yang Cheng for several years. To be honest, I don’t know much about their current situation." Wu Peng hesitated and said.
"Ah!" A scream suddenly came from the kitchen.
"What happened, dear?" Wu Peng quickly walked towards the kitchen, with Luo Fei following suit.
When Wu Peng and Luo Fei reached the kitchen door.
"It’s nothing, just that I saw a cockroach crawl out of the dishwashing sink, it startled me." The woman was clutching her chest, looking visibly shaken.
"Look at you, getting scared by a single cockroach. We thought something happened to you." Wu Peng said, a bit speechless.
However, at this moment, Luo Fei’s gaze was fixed intently on the kitchen wall behind the dishwashing sink, where thick black mist was emanating.
Considering Luo Fei’s knowledge of the Eye of Sin, the presence of black mist indicated a problem, especially if the mist was this thick. This wall surely had a significant issue. Moreover, there was a faint stench, unmistakably the smell of decay that Luo Fei recognized.
Connecting this to the fact that Yu Xiaoman had been missing for so long, with no sign of her alive or dead, a conclusion was forming: after being killed, Yu Xiaoman was hidden behind the kitchen wall.
"Officer, shall we return to the living room?" Wu Peng suggested to Luo Fei.
Luo Fei nodded and returned to the living room without showing any concern.
He inquired about the addresses of Zhuang Hai and Sun Xiaoqiang, and after asking a few more non-committal questions, he left.
After leaving the complex, Luo Fei followed Wu Peng’s given addresses and successfully located Zhuang Hai and Sun Xiaoqiang. As Luo Fei expected, there were black mist and gruesome human-like figures above both their heads.
Having confirmed that Zhuang Hai and Sun Xiaoqiang were also perpetrators, Luo Fei took out his mobile phone and called Yang Su.
He reported the situation to Yang Su, intentionally skipping over the part about the supernatural ability. Luo Fei informed Yang Su that he had discovered a murder case involving multiple perpetrators and suspected that Zhou Zhi and Yang Cheng were involved.
Luo Fei did not plan to notify the local police immediately; he intended to wait for colleagues from Ningjiang County to arrive before alerting the local authorities and then proceed with the arrests.
From the current situation, it seemed Zhou Zhi, Yang Cheng, Wu Peng, Zhuang Hai, and Sun Xiaoqiang were all involved in Yu Xiaoman’s case. Therefore, when moving in for the arrests, Wu Peng, Zhuang Hai, and Sun Xiaoqiang should all be apprehended simultaneously, without giving them any chance to escape.
The next morning, just after eight o’clock, Zhao Donglai personally led the first and second teams to Ningyang City.
Zhao Donglai now had complete trust in Luo Fei. When he heard that there was a murder case related to Zhou Zhi and Yang Cheng here and that there were three other suspects, he brought his team over immediately.
After notifying the local police and with their cooperation, the locations of Zhuang Hai and Sun Xiaoqiang were pinpointed.
At two o’clock in the morning, the apprehension operation began.
Zhao Donglai, Luo Fei, and two local officers went to arrest Wu Peng.
Yang Su led the team to arrest Zhuang Hai, while the second team was responsible for arresting Sun Xiaoqiang.