It rained all night, and Wu Shuang barely slept. She was very tired, but whenever she closed her eyes, she saw those unfocused pupils. She couldn't quite remember how she ended up in bed; she just remembered that she shouldn't have left Mu Rongyun alone at that moment. The pain of a stabbed heart lingered inside her. She just held him like that until he fell asleep.

After the rain cleared, today turned out to be a beautiful day. At nine in the morning, Director Zhao appeared at the door on time. After changing her clothes, Wu Shuang went with him to the entrance of the police station.

"Uh, Wu's team, is the other person not up yet?" When Director Zhao asked this, Wu Shuang felt that calling him sleazy might not be enough; do people become so dirty-minded at this age? Do middle-aged men, due to their dysfunction, seek some psychological comfort from others?

"Get in my car, we're going to the crime scene now." Wu Shuang didn't wake up Mu Rongyun, nor did she answer his question. The man, after getting a cold shoulder, obediently got into the car without making another sound. The woman beside him, however, looked even gloomier. Director Zhao misinterpreted Wu Shuang's bad mood as frustration at unmet desires, not expecting that such a handsome guy could be not very good in that aspect.

Even during the day, the brick kiln factory looked like it was night inside. From the outside, it was impossible to see inside; the glass windows were covered with thick layers of webs, occasionally marked with traces of drawn ghost faces, suggesting kids often came here to play.

Director Zhao directly led Wu Shuang to a low flat house, which looked like a residence a few meters away from an arched house.

"Back then, we followed the instructions on that paper and found Ah San here." Director Zhao pointed to a room and said to the side-facing Wu Shuang, then he pushed the door open. The room was piled with many sundries, different from what Wu Shuang had imagined. "Originally, there was a pile of firewood here for the kiln. This place is poor; they couldn't afford a lot of coal, so they mixed some branches with it." Director Zhao explained, as if fearing Wu Shuang might not understand.

"The body was dismembered. How did you find the other body parts?" Below where Director Zhao pointed, there was a large bloodstain indicating where the torso and head should have been found.

"When I discovered the dismembered body, I immediately called all available police officers to conduct a full-scale search here, digging three feet under to finally piece together Ah San." At this point, Director Zhao forced a sob, as if feeling sorry for Ah San.

"Where were the other body parts found?" Wu Shuang asked, using her phone to take photos of the traces on the ground. She noted the lack of blood splatters on the wall, which seemed unusual.

After marking it as the first suspicious point in her notebook, she followed Director Zhao to the back of the house. "We found his hands and feet in these earthen jars; his thighs and arms were found in that outhouse." Director Zhao seemed reluctant to approach the outhouse, merely pointing in its direction.

Ignoring him, Wu Shuang photographed and saved the discovery site. "Has no one checked the brick kiln over there? Part of Ah San's body is still missing."

"We couldn't get in there; there's no key." Explained Director Zhao, looking at the house with a black chimney. "This brick kiln is privately owned. It's long out of business, brick making is rare now due to industrialization. Semi-handcrafted like this can't keep up with the times."

Wu Shuang nodded, the man was quite talkative, grabbing every chance to speak. Luckily, he wasn't someone who could talk all day long around the globe, just staying on one point. Wu Shuang naturally didn't bother to stop him since speaking was his nature.

"Can we find the owner? I'd like to take a look inside."

"That might be difficult; the brick kiln has been closed for many years. I heard the owner moved to Hong Kong." Director Zhao rubbed his hands, gazing at the black chimney, his eyes emitting a dull light.

"Are you familiar with Ah San?" Upon hearing this, Director Zhao shrunk his neck, gave a startled sound, and nodded.

"Not quite close, just ran into him at places often, sort of a nodding acquaintance."

"Is it that chicken shop you took us to last time?" The brick kiln factory wasn't large. Wu Shuang began walking around the premise. This wasn't the crime scene, no large splatters of blood, which she didn't mention to Director Zhao. He chuckled dryly, keeping his involvement in prostitution discreet. "Do you know which woman was recently closest to Ah San?"

"I'm really not sure about this; Ah San had no stable partners. If I must say with whom, that woman hasn't been around for a long time. Probably around three months ago, she ran off with a wealthy man."

"What's her name?"

"Her nickname was Xiao Zhu, about twenty-two, a pretty girl from Hunan." Talking about women, Director Zhao's nature showed through again. "But, Team Wu, what are you looking for here?" Watching Wu Shuang circumnavigate the factory, his legs began to ache. He hadn't walked this much in a while, now his legs were trembling, and he leaned against the wall searching for a place to sit.

"You don't need to follow me; I'll look by myself." Wu Shuang glanced at him, then gazed over the open space. This spot seemed rather large for a brick kiln.

"No, no, I'll accompany you." Director Zhao waved him off, but he remained leaning against the wall, not intending to stand up.

"Let's rest. Tell me about Ah San; as the director here, you should know him somewhat."

"This…" Director Zhao hesitated, his flickering gaze wavering.

"Director, is there something you're not telling?" Director Zhao's demeanor caused suspicion. "Is there something you're hiding related to this?"

Hearing such an accusation, Director Zhao jumped up excitedly. "Nonsense, how could I be associated with him?"

"Then why are you being so evasive?"

"This…" Director Zhao sighed at Wu Shuang's determined face, tossing the cigarette butt in his hand to the ground and stamping it out fiercely. "Alas! I was the last person to see Ah San." He plopped down on the ground, wiping the corners of his eyes with his palm, an expression of apparent agony crossing his face. (To be continued. If you enjoyed this piece, feel free to vote for it or submit monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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