"What? I killed someone? And someone saw me kill someone? When?" Ye Huohuo was shocked by Liu Keqiang's words. She hadn't done anything, so how could someone have seen her kill someone?
"You'd better come over now, or we'll send people to fetch you." Liu Keqiang's words were quite polite; for anyone else, they would have already sent the police to pick her up.
At this moment, someone snatched the phone from the other end. "Sister-in-law, hurry up and come over! I've already spoken with Captain Liu. As long as you can clarify the matter and find evidence to prove your innocence, they'll let you go!"
Li Mochen?
Why was he there too? Ye Huohuo understood after a brief thought. It must have been Li Mochen who had vouched for her, which was why, despite having witnesses, they were only asking her to come in for questioning.
Since they were being courteous, she couldn't afford to be impolite.
"Alright, I'll be there right away!" Ye Huohuo agreed readily.
She rubbed her face to make herself feel more alert, got out of bed, and took a quick shower. Although it had only been a little over a day, the wounds on her body had already healed considerably.
It was strange, really. Ye Huohuo was clearly subjected to a "sha-blocking goldfish formation," experiencing five misfortunes daily, living on the edge, and constantly sustaining injuries, big and small. Yet, her body was more robust than an ordinary person's, and she always recovered much faster than others after getting hurt.
Take her current injuries, for instance. For an ordinary person, it would take at least ten days for wounds to heal to the point of being able to move freely. But Ye Huohuo, after just over a day of rest, found her wounds almost healed, enough for her to take a bath.
Yesterday, due to the heart-devouring technique, she had been covered in a cold sweat, feeling as if she had been washed in water. Her clothes felt sticky and uncomfortable. She felt much better after a lukewarm shower.
Her clothes from yesterday were covered in dirt and blood, and riddled with holes, so Li Mohan had already thrown them away.
She found a black tracksuit from the wardrobe. Although she didn't particularly like it, she had to admit that black suited her better. At least, when she was injured and bleeding, it wouldn't be as gruesome to look at.
An hour later, Ye Huohuo arrived at the City Bureau's Criminal Investigation Unit.
She had seen Liu Keqiang just yesterday, and she was surprised to see him again in just over a day.
However, last time Ye Huohuo was the complainant, and this time she was a suspect with a witness against her.
Her identity had changed, and with it, many things. Fortunately, thanks to Li Mochen's connection and her previous assistance to the police in solving a case, she wasn't directly taken to the interrogation room. Instead, in the interview room, Liu Keqiang, along with Officer Xiao Wang, began taking Ye Huohuo's statement.
"Name!"
Xiao Wang, in a professional tone, started with her name.
Ye Huohuo looked up at Liu Keqiang. Seeing his stern expression, devoid of the initial mildness, made her feel a little uncomfortable. She almost said, "Don't you already know my name?"
But then she thought, this was his job, and it wasn't directed at her personally. It was just a matter of name, age, and other basic introductions; there was no need to make things difficult for him or isolate herself.
Taking a deep breath, she answered every question.
Seeing Ye Huohuo's cooperation, Liu Keqiang's stern expression softened slightly. After Xiao Wang finished with the basic information, he finally got to the main issue.
"Where were you and what were you doing the afternoon before yesterday, between two and four o'clock?"
Ye Huohuo was initially taken aback by the timeframe. "The afternoon before yesterday?"
Then she slowly recalled. She had slept almost the entire day yesterday. The day before yesterday... wasn't that the day she went to find Chen Jiaming?
Between two and four in the afternoon? At that time...
She remembered. It was when she and Li Mohan were having a spat, and she had gone to a corner outside the residential complex to grieve alone. Why were they asking about that time? Could it be that someone had seen her kill someone during that period?
"I was outside Chen Jiaming's residential complex at that time yesterday," Ye Huohuo replied truthfully.
"Is there anyone who can verify that?" Liu Keqiang remained serious.
Ye Huohuo's brow twitched. A bad feeling suddenly arose in her heart. "I was in a hidden corner on an external staircase outside the complex. No one could see me." After thinking for a moment, she added, "There shouldn't be any surveillance there. What exactly happened? You just said someone saw me kill someone; who did I kill?"
"Someone saw you kill a student from Haicheng University in the grove outside the university gates around two o'clock the afternoon before yesterday. According to the forensic examination, the student's time of death was between two and four in the afternoon."
"What?" Ye Huohuo was so agitated that she almost stood up. She stopped halfway and calmly sat back down. "Someone saw me kill someone? And a student from Haicheng University? I don't know anyone at Haicheng University except Li Mochen, so why would I go there to kill someone? Besides, I wasn't even near there, so how could I have killed them?"
"You knew the victim!" Liu Keqiang's words stunned Ye Huohuo.
"I knew them? Who?"
"You argued with her the morning before yesterday."
"Ah?" A haughty girl's image immediately flashed through Ye Huohuo's mind. Could it be...
Indeed, Liu Keqiang's words soon confirmed Ye Huohuo's guess. The person who had died was Bai Wei, the girl who had argued with Ye Huohuo at Haicheng University the day before yesterday.
That girl, dressed in a white dress, had arrogantly called Ye Huohuo a "little psychic." Who would have thought she would now be a cold corpse?
Ye Huohuo couldn't help but feel a sense of desolation, not only for the young life but also for herself. In the vastness of time, who could foresee what would happen tomorrow?
Every day she felt like she was dancing on the edge of a knife, perhaps never to see the rising sun again.
While Ye Huohuo was lost in thought, Liu Keqiang, after a brief deliberation, asked her for more details.
"You said you weren't near Haicheng University, but no one can prove it. You said you were outside Chen Jiaming's complex, and again, no one can prove it. This is a murder case, so you'd better think carefully. Is there anyone who can prove you were there? Tell us your exact location then, and we can see if we can find surveillance footage proving you were there the entire time."
Ye Huohuo's heart sank bit by bit. She felt as if she had fallen into an invisible net, with an unseen hand slowly closing in on her.
How could it be such a coincidence that someone was killed precisely when she was alone?
She knew she hadn't killed anyone, but someone claimed to have seen her do it. This was clearly a frame-up. Who was it? Who could predict her actions and set up this inescapable situation for her?
Thinking this, Ye Huohuo felt a chill run down her spine. This wasn't caused by any malevolent energy; it was a genuine chill from the depths of her heart.
It was easy to dodge an open attack but hard to guard against a hidden dart, especially when the one hiding in the shadows was a master.
She described her exact location at the time, but as she had expected, there was no surveillance there. There was a camera at the entrance of a small supermarket, but it had broken down that day.
Upon hearing the investigation results, Ye Huohuo's lips curved into a helpless, bitter smile.
"The situation is very unfavorable for you now. The forensic department's results are also out. Several strands of hair found near the deceased have been identified as yours. With both human and physical evidence against you, do you have any explanation?" Liu Keqiang's attitude had now become quite stern.
Evidence? Ye Huohuo felt she could do nothing but offer a bitter smile. She seemed truly unable to provide any favorable evidence; she was already pinned down by the so-called evidence.
Could she escape this predicament? For the first time, Ye Huohuo felt a sense of powerlessness. She could still put up a fight against ghosts, but against humans, she felt helpless.