Criminal Investigation Notes

Extra 12

164.

Su Hui’s words struck a chord within Yan Xiaorui’s vulnerability.

As parents, everyone hopes their children will do better, and no one wants their child to grow up and become a complete villain.

Yan Xiaorui realized that if her child was still alive, if he was taken by those people, he might end up on the same path.

He would become a criminal, disown his mother, harm other girls, and inflict the pain he suffered on others.

The young girl lowered her head and cried for a while. Su Hui waited patiently for her emotions to calm down.

Even though time was of the essence, he didn’t pressure her or rush her.

Haste makes waste. If they wanted to get information from Yan Xiaorui, they first needed to gain her trust.

Finally, Yan Xiaorui began to confess and recount her experiences.

“Five years ago, in the winter, I was walking alone from my grandma’s house back to mine. I met a teenager, around my age, asking for directions. He led me to a van on the side of the road. Later, a middle-aged man came out of the van and pulled me into it. The two of them tied me up… I screamed for help, but they hit me, even choked me… I was terrified, afraid they would kill me.”

“After about twenty minutes in the car, I was taken to a warehouse. Then they blindfolded me and took me to a small room, underground. There was already another girl in the room.”

“What’s her name?” Su Hui asked.

“Her name is Qi Kexin.”

Su Hui nodded. He remembered that was the girl Yao Fei was searching for.

Her parents had been searching for her for seven years, spending countless money, their desperation turning their hair white. But they hadn’t found her.

“Later, I was kept there. Whenever they needed me, they would take me out of the cell. The young one called the older man ‘dad.’ I also saw two other men, they seemed to be related.”

Family crime. Su Hui recalled the notorious Alexander family in Scotland.

“The younger one, he lived in the warehouse, watching us every day, preventing us from escaping. They threatened us with death…”

After a few years, discussing these events still felt like opening fresh wounds to Yan Xiaorui. Every word felt like prying open old scars.

She used to naively believe time would heal everything.

But now she realized these experiences were branded into her life, like scars that couldn’t be erased.

Avoidance wouldn’t solve her problems. She had to accept and confront her fragmented self to move forward.

“Later, another girl was brought into the room. Her name is Tan Li.”

“That place was a warehouse in a funeral supply shop. I don’t know which one exactly, but the warehouse was large and filled with things.”

Everything matched Su Hui’s deductions, but she only remembered that it was a warehouse related to a funeral supply shop. She didn’t know the exact location. So after being questioned by the police yesterday, she came to Mourning Street today, hoping to find that man and learn about her child’s whereabouts.

“In the cell, we had no freedom, no basic necessities. We had a chance to go up and take a bath, wash our clothes once a week. That was our brief moment of freedom.”

“We were like their captive slaves, given only water, instant noodles, and steamed buns. If they were in a good mood, they’d give us some fruits and medicine. If they were unhappy, they’d beat and curse us, even burn us with cigarette butts.”

Su Hui asked, “Have you ever been outside? Did you notice any landmarks nearby? Or did you hear any distinctive sounds?”

Yan Xiaorui shook her head, “During those three years, I never went outside. I only looked outside a few times when they let us out. I remember the surroundings were very empty, no distinctive features. The entrance was a large empty space with a few trees. Once, I tried to escape. I was almost at the door when they caught me and beat my legs severely. I had to stay in bed for almost a month before I could walk again. Another time, I secretly took his phone and tried to send a distress message, but I didn’t know how to operate it, and I was caught quickly.”

Su Hui asked, “How were you released?”

“Two years later, I found out I was pregnant. A few months later, I gave birth to a boy in that cell. A few days after he was born, he was taken away. I begged for a long time before they blindfolded me and left me on the street. A kind passerby took me home.”

Yan Xiaorui cried as she recounted her whole story.

Every word was filled with pain.

According to her information, records of all the funeral supply shops in Huadu were pulled up.

Yan Xiaorui identified them one by one. When she saw a photo, her trembling finger pointed at the man in the picture.

“It’s him.”

Even though she didn’t know his name, she would never forget the face of that demon.

Seeing him made her sick to her stomach, causing her physical revulsion.

She suffered from insomnia, took piles of pills to no effect.

To this day, the sinister face of that man would still appear in her dreams.

The police quickly confirmed the man to be a 54-year-old middle-aged man named Xie Jianbai.

He had a significant funeral supply business in Nancheng. Whenever someone died nearby, they would buy from him.

Subsequently, more information was retrieved…

In that enclosed room, there was no day or night.

When food dropped down again, it meant another day had passed.

In that confined space, the line between life and death seemed less clear.

He Jiaojiao lay on the ground, staring at the ceiling blankly.

She felt like she was floating on the sea, sometimes on the verge of being overwhelmed by despair, unable to breathe.

Then a wave came, lifting her body. She could feel her heart beating, blood flowing, and a new hope igniting.

She didn’t want to die, but she also didn’t want to live like this.

She was still young.

Wasn’t there another way?

Qi Kexin took another pill. She lay on the bed, her gaze fixed, whispering to herself, “I want to go home.”

Initially, she had been emotionally numb, living aimlessly. But He Jiaojiao’s arrival had rekindled her yearning for freedom.

She didn’t want to stay here, rotting away like these worn-out blankets.josei

Was this her life? Like a flower waiting to wither before it bloomed.

“Don’t talk about it,” Tan Li raised her head and said. “Who wouldn’t want that?”

He Jiaojiao asked, “Has anyone ever escaped from here?”

Tan Li replied, “I know of only one person who managed to escape from here, and it was a woman.”

He Jiaojiao’s eyes flickered, “How did she escape?”

Tan Li explained, “Because she gave birth to a son. She left the child behind and managed to get out.”

Pointing to a lime-stained platform nearby, she continued, “She gave birth right there, with that old man helping her deliver. She was in so much pain, but the man wouldn’t let her see a doctor. He said that even kittens and puppies were born this way, claiming he had delivered babies before. She almost died in childbirth; I had to cut the umbilical cord for her in the end.”

At that time, both He Jiaojiao and Qi Kexin were in a corner, cowering, eyes filled with fear, listening to the agonizing screams of Yan Xiaorui.

The woman was weak, losing a lot of blood. Cold sweat drenched her clothes and bedding. She looked as if she had just been pulled out of water.

Then the cry of a baby followed, sealing her fate.

She was lucky; it was a boy.

Tan Li remembered the old man letting out a hearty laugh at that moment, his wrinkles accentuating his face.

That scene imprinted on her mind, and even after a long time, she couldn’t forget it.

Giving birth here was like passing through the gates of hell. If a girl was born, she would be strangled and thrown into the well below. Boys would be taken out and raised.

“Why didn’t she report to the police?” He Jiaojiao asked.

If that girl had reported to the police, the Hell House might not have existed, and she wouldn’t have been abducted.

“She’s free now. She probably wouldn’t care about us anymore,” Qi Kexin said, bowing her head. “People are selfish…”

Tan Li said, “As a hostage, they think she’s already tamed, so they’re comfortable letting her go. But that’s just my guess. They might be worse and kill her.”

So, even escaping seemed hopeless.

“I want to go home,” Qi Kexin said again. She had a fever, her eyes vacant, both hands pressed against her belly. A tear trickled down her cheek and into her hair bun. “But I can’t give birth anymore…”

Perhaps she would spend her entire life here.

Tan Li said, “Go home? Stop dreaming.” She grinned, “I’d rather die now than continue this. Death would be a release.”

Suddenly, He Jiaojiao wiped her tears, lifted her head, and lowered her voice, “I have a way to get home.” She turned to Qi Kexin, “Can you still open that door?”

Tan Li chimed in, “I can also open that door. But the outside of the storage has three locks, and that man lives out there. He’s always watching, and we can’t escape.”

“My plan is either to live or die,” He Jiaojiao licked her lips, “Do you want to hear it?”

Both Tan Li and Qi Kexin fell silent for a moment.

After a pause, Qi Kexin said, “I’m willing.”

Tan Li also added, “Tell us. Even if we die, it’s better than being imprisoned here forever.”

If they weren’t even afraid of death, what else was there to fear?

He Jiaojiao took something from her pocket, a small item hanging from a keychain.

It was something she had acquired in her rebellious phase, trying to fit in with the boys by smoking. Eventually, she realized she didn’t even like the smell of cigarettes and hung it on her keychain. The old man never thought she would carry something like this, so he never searched her or took it away.

He Jiaojiao scratched the oddly shaped item, and a small flame ignited in her palm.

“This is called a ‘Matchstick of Ten Thousand Uses,'” He Jiaojiao whispered. She looked at the small flame in her hand as if it held a glimmer of hope.

“They can’t watch us 24/7. Last time I went out, I noticed there’s a funeral supplies warehouse upstairs. Most of the supplies are made of paper and are inflammable. We can climb up there, hide at the door, ignite the items inside, and it will quickly draw their attention. If they open the door to put out the fire, we might be able to escape in the chaos.”

She licked her slightly chapped lips and extinguished the flame, “That’s the ideal scenario. But there’s another possibility: the three of us could die in that fire. Or if we manage to escape and they catch us, they might get angry and kill us.”

This was a gamble; their young lives were the stakes. If they won, they would gain their freedom; if they lost, they would die.

The three of them exchanged glances; they knew this plan was worth a try.

He Jiaojiao said, “This time, will you two sell me to that man again?”

She raised her chin, slightly challenging the other two women.

She knew that without their help, this plan wouldn’t work.

Qi Kexin sighed, “Dying in a fire might be better than staying imprisoned here.”

Tan Li smiled and looked up, “Just imagine all those men’s things being burned. They’ll be devastated. Even if we die here, the fire can destroy this hellish place forever.”

She smiled at the two in front of her, “This time, let’s make a pact. No one should betray us. If someone does, they deserve to be killed by the others. Even if we get out in the future, they’ll be cursed.”

Qi Kexin said softly, “Even if we die, the police and firefighters will find out about the human remains here. They might bring them to justice.”

If ghosts truly existed in this world, she wished to become a vengeful spirit, haunting those who had thrown them into this hell.

The girls reached a unanimous decision.

He Jiaojiao placed her hand in front of her. Qi Kexin’s skeletal hand covered it, and finally, Tan Li came forward and slapped the stack.

He Jiaojiao said, “If everyone’s in agreement, we’ll act tonight.”

They were willing to risk everything, even their lives, to seize a chance to escape and survive.