"Husband?" Officer Xiao Qin was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted and ran in the direction the shopkeeper pointed.
When Zhao Yan had asked him to follow Qian Chuntao, he had investigated this person. Qian Chuntao had been in the mental hospital for so long, she couldn't possibly have a husband.
Just as Officer Xiao Qin ran out for a dozen seconds, the shopkeeper, trembling, walked towards the kitchen. "Big brother, I did as you said and got rid of him. Can you let my daughter go now?"
A man, his hat pulled low, covered a woman's mouth with one hand.
The woman wore an apron. She had graduated from college less than half a year ago and was looking for a job. During this time, with nothing else to do, she would help her father sell lamb noodle soup.
The shop only had more customers in the morning and in the evening, from 7 PM to past 10 PM.
She had planned to close the shop if there were no customers in another half hour.
Who would have thought she would encounter such a thing.
A dagger was pressed against her abdomen, slowly moving upwards.
She trembled uncontrollably with fear, like a startled cat.
The man helped her stand up and even patted the dust off her clothes.
"Sorry for the disturbance today," the man said, pulling his hat down even lower.
The shopkeeper forced a stiff smile.
Just as he was about to say something, before the words could leave his mouth, there was a bang.
The shopkeeper felt a sharp pain in his forehead. He pointed at the man in front of him in terror.
The man's face was expressionless, and he held the iron ladle used for the lamb soup in his hand.
The immense impact made the shopkeeper dizzy. He staggered back several steps, hitting a table. The chopsticks on the table fell to the ground.
The man rubbed his wrist and gave a look to someone behind him.
Qian Chuntao, hiding behind, gripped the woman's arm tightly, her hand clamped over her mouth.
The man walked directly to the shop entrance and pulled down the door curtain.
He turned and smashed the shopkeeper with the ladle, again and again, until the shopkeeper could no longer move.
The man turned and walked towards the kitchen, then crouched down, stroking the woman's trembling face, a smile appearing.
Qian Chuntao said fearfully, "Is that enough? She looks only twenty-four."
The woman looked at the shopkeeper lying on the ground, tears streaming down her face.
"She saw me," the man said softly.
Hearing this, Qian Chuntao's eyelids twitched, and she slowly loosened her grip.
As the man raised the ladle, Qian Chuntao grabbed his hand.
"I'll do it," Qian Chuntao said.
The man handed the ladle to Qian Chuntao, then moved behind her, tightly covering the woman's mouth.
Qian Chuntao looked at the woman coldly and struck her head with the ladle, again and again.
Blood splattered onto the man's face, and his eyes became more excited.
Qian Chuntao stared intently, and suddenly, she smiled too.
Officer Xiao Qin kept chasing forward. When he saw it was a dead end, he was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized something and ran back frantically.
Before he could reach the shop, there was a bang – the sound of a gas explosion.
The rolling shutter door of the lamb noodle soup shop was blown off, and shards of glass scattered on the ground.
He covered his mouth, staring in shock at the lamb noodle soup shop before him.
The deafening explosion made his ears ring.
He quickly took out his phone and dialed the fire department.
He tore off a corner of his clothes, not caring about anything else, urinated on it, and used the cloth to cover his mouth and nose.
Officer Xiao Qin, disregarding the flames, rushed into the lamb noodle soup shop.
He walked quickly towards the shopkeeper lying in the middle and placed his ear against the shopkeeper's chest.
Finding no signs of life, he punched the ground fiercely. Why hadn't he discovered this sooner?
He stood up, intending to carry the shopkeeper's body out.
Suddenly, there was a faint thud from the bathroom door.
Hearing the sound, Officer Xiao Qin froze and immediately sprinted towards the bathroom.
Seeing that the bathroom door was tightly shut, Officer Xiao Qin shouted, "Quick, get away!"
After saying this, he took a few steps back, then quickly charged forward and rammed the door with his shoulder.
"Bang!"
The door was kicked open, and a blood-covered woman extended her hand.
Officer Xiao Qin helped the woman up, put her on his back, and carried her out of the shop.
The fire trucks arrived at the scene quickly.
Officer Xiao Qin tapped his phone repeatedly.
After Zhao Yan finished her interview, her phone vibrated.
She handed her phone to Wu Jiaxin.
Wu Jiaxin glanced at it and said, "Sister Zhao, it's from Officer Qin."
"What did he say?" Zhao Yan asked urgently.
"He just sent a location on WeChat, nothing else."
Zhao Yan immediately understood and said urgently, "Boss Lin, quickly take me to this place."
Lin Xihang took the phone and nodded. "Then let's go."
Lin Xihang drove as fast as he could, his driving skills were excellent, and he was sure to get quite a few traffic tickets.
Arriving as quickly as possible, Zhao Yan got out of the car.
An ambulance was parked by the roadside, lifting a woman into the vehicle.
"Sister Zhao, Officer Jiang and Officer Xiao Qin are all here," Wu Jiaxin said to Zhao Yan.
Seeing Zhao Yan get out of the car, Officer Xiao Qin said guiltily, "Miss Zhao, I've failed your trust."
Hearing this, Zhao Yan knew they had escaped.
"Miss Zhao, you should have discussed this with me. Why didn't you tell me about this?" Jiang Yu said sternly.
This was a major clue.
What angered him was that Officer Xiao Qin hadn't told him either, acting alone.
He was known as a lone wolf, but compared to him, these two were the real lone wolves.
Zhao Yan had intended for Officer Xiao Qin to impersonate the killer and then guide Qian Chuntao, making her desperate enough to cooperate with them.
But she hadn't expected the killer to follow them.
Most importantly, she worried that the more people there were, the more suspicious Qian Chuntao would become.
"This explosion destroyed all the surveillance footage."
Just as the atmosphere became tense, a doctor came out of the ambulance and said to them, "The patient wants to speak with you."
Everyone looked towards the ambulance and hurried over.
Officer Xiao Qin immediately leaned close to the woman's mouth, excitedly saying, "She saw the killer's face."
The others' expressions changed in surprise.
Officer Xiao Qin listened intently and nodded.
"The killer has narrow eyes, a flat nose, a mole on his chin, and thin lips."
Zhao Yan opened her bag, took out paper and a pen, and began to sketch the killer's face in her mind based on the girl's description.
She drew quickly.
Time was pressing, so she only managed a rough sketch.
After finishing, she straightened the drawing.
"Is it him?" Zhao Yan asked the girl.
The girl nodded slightly.
The other officers looked at the sketch.
Officer Xiao Qin's eyes widened. "It's him!"