Ling Lie changing into women’s clothing wasn’t really to mesmerize Ji Chenjiao—

After Dan Jin was detained, Dan Jing was also placed under police protection and was receiving counseling from a psychologist. But from beginning to end, she refused to open her heart to the psychologist. Even when facing Xi Wan, a person of the same gender, she seemed somewhat fearful.

Xi Wan returned from the psychologist’s office empty-handed and sighed on a bench in the hallway. Ling Lie dangled a bag of milk tea in front of her.

“Mr. Ling.” Although she was now very familiar with Ling Lie, Xi Wan still liked to call him that. It seemed to have become a tacit understanding between them.

“Ms. Xi, why the sigh? It’s not like you.” Ling Lie handed the milk tea to Xi Wan. “My treat.”

Xi Wan smiled. “Thank you.”

After a few sips, Xi Wan said, “A girl like Dan Jing, who has been hurt, is very repulsed by men. I thought she wouldn’t be repulsed by me and would say something, but the way she looks at me seems the same as how she looks at men.”

Ling Lie said, “I’ll go see her in a bit.”

Xi Wan shook her head. “The doctor said her current state is not suitable for facing men.”

“But she accepted a gift from me.”

“Hmm?”

Ling Lie told her about the carrot clip. Xi Wan was a little surprised. “Why isn’t she repulsed by you?”

Ling Lie: “Ms. Xi, have you noticed that sometimes you appear too righteous, too assertive.”

Xi Wan: “How did this turn to me?” The moment she said it, she realized it herself. “You mean, this quality of mine makes Dan Jing feel afraid?”

As a detective in the Major Crimes Unit, Xi Wan often had to erase her softer side, and the police naturally represent justice and righteousness. In her early years, when she went out on calls with colleagues, she was often ignored and looked down upon because of her gender. She gradually learned to work like a man, to muster up that kind of aura.

Now, others wouldn’t ignore her gender, but it was also true that no one would say “that’s just a female cop” when facing her anymore.

Sometimes, when facing female witnesses, she would deliberately show a gentle and empathetic side after mentally preparing herself. But years of a tough-as-nails life made it difficult for her to be truly “soft” like when she first put on the police uniform.

“I understand what you mean.” Xi Wan was a bit helpless. “In Dan Jing’s eyes, there’s no difference between me, the Chief, and Brother Liang. The gentleness I show her is more like a top-down pity, not an equal gaze. But…”

Xi Wan wanted to say that she didn’t regret this change. If she hadn’t gone through this change, she probably wouldn’t have been able to stand firm in the Major Crimes Unit.

“I’m not blaming you, Ms. Xi. On the contrary, I admire and understand you.” Ling Lie shed the mischievousness he showed with Ji Chenjiao, his tone becoming gentle. “You don’t need to reflect on it. Everyone has their own burden to carry.”

The hallway was quiet for a moment. Xi Wan finished her milk tea. Ling Lie said, “Dan Jing feels that when she faces me, she doesn’t have to look up.”

Xi Wan stood up and extended a hand to Ling Lie. “Mr. Ling, although I’m not sure how you can make her ignore the sense of pressure from you, I think you might indeed be the breakthrough to open her heart.”

Ling Lie took Xi Wan’s hand and used the leverage to stand up. Xi Wan added, “I feel very comfortable talking to you. Maybe Dan Jing feels comfortable too.”

Ling Lie smiled and performed a gentleman’s bow. “My honor.”

Xi Wan and Ling Lie went to the psychological intervention room together. After knocking, Xi Wan stepped back, and Ling Lie walked in.

Hearing the noise, Dan Jing subconsciously shrank back in her chair, but seeing it was Ling Lie, she actually curved her lips into a smile.

Ling Lie observed Dan Jing. If he had to use a color to describe her, it would be grey. She was only twenty-six, a bright and youthful age. Many girls her age would dye their hair and do their nails, dressing brightly and attractively even in the bleak winter, let alone now in the most vibrant summer.

But she was wearing the same drab clothes as the day he first saw her, and her sneakers were stained with dirt. The only bright color on her entire body was that carrot clip.

Ling Lie walked over and waved a greeting. “Jingjing.”

Dan Jing also waved. “Carrot.”

“My name isn’t Carrot, it’s Ling Lie.” Ling Lie wrote his name on a piece of paper. “Forget it, I’ll call you by your nickname, and you can call me by mine.”

“What’s your nickname?”

“Doudou.”

Dan Jing’s eyes brightened slightly. She said cautiously, “Strange name.”

Ling Lie said, “You like the carrot clip?”

Dan Jing nodded. “It’s pretty.”

“Then shall we go buy more clips?”

But Dan Jing looked out the window, her eyes empty.

“I’ll go change my clothes. If you think it looks good, we’ll go shopping,” Ling Lie said. “Okay?”

Dan Jing thought for a long time before nodding.

Half an hour later, Ling Lie appeared before Dan Jing with two buns on his head, wearing a drum-playing kung fu robe, embroidered cloth shoes on his feet, and lipstick.

Dan Jing’s mouth fell open in surprise, the most vivid expression to appear on her face for the first time.

“Shall we go?” Ling Lie said. “Let’s go for a walk!”

Dan Jing came out from the corner. “Where are we going?”

“Hmm… Where does Jingjing want to go?”

Dan Jing’s gaze fell on Ling Lie’s embroidered cloth shoes. She said softly, “Want to, look at shoes.”

A clue suddenly flashed in Ling Lie’s mind. When the killer murdered Wang Hongqiang, they were wearing high heels. Committing a crime in high heels was very unwise. The previous analysis had already concluded—the killer did it deliberately to make the police think the perpetrator was a woman.

Ling Lie said, “Okay, let’s go buy shoes!”

Of course, Xi Wan couldn’t let Ling Lie take Dan Jing to the mall alone. She and two other female officers followed behind in plain clothes to handle any emergencies.

Ling Lie bought two skewers of candied strawberries on the roadside, eating one himself and handing the other to Dan Jing. “Here!”

At first, Dan Jing didn’t dare to take it, so he ate it in front of her to show her. “Super sweet!”

Dan Jing curved her lips again and took it, her voice very low. “Thank you, Doudou.”

Most physical shopping malls were deserted nowadays, and it was a weekday afternoon, so there were even fewer customers. Ling Lie led Dan Jing in front, attracting the gazes of almost every salesperson in the mall.

This floor was all women’s shoes. At first, Ling Lie took Dan Jing to look at cloth shoes with a strong ethnic style. Although Dan Jing stopped in front of every specialty shop, she never tried any on.

There were few cloth shoe specialty shops, and soon they arrived at the mainstream women’s shoe section, filled with a dazzling array of leather shoes—flats, high heels, thigh-high boots, boat shoes, everything imaginable.

At this point, Dan Jing began to reach out and touch the shoes. The ones she stared at the longest were almost all high heels. But when Ling Lie asked if she wanted to try them on, she always shook her head timidly.

Dan Jing stopped again in front of a pair of five-centimeter heels, wanting to pick them up, but her outstretched hand retracted.

Ling Lie saw the problem at a glance. Among the shoes they had looked at, this pair of high heels was the most ordinary. They were dark brown, with an old-fashioned style and a circle of small rhinestones, suitable for an elderly woman.

How could a twenty-six-year-old like Dan Jing be interested in such shoes?

The salesperson enthusiastically introduced, “This pair of shoes sells very well. Are you buying them for an elder in your family? Don’t be fooled by the heel; this kind of chunky heel is very comfortable to walk in…”

Before the salesperson could finish, Ling Lie asked, “Are you picking them for yourself?”

Dan Jing began to tremble and mumbled, “I, I like this pair.”

Ling Lie took the pair of shoes and examined them carefully, his mind rapidly going over the model Xi Wan had created based on the footprints.

The high heels worn by the killer were also five centimeters high, with a similar thickness. The difference was that that was a size 42 large-sized shoe.

Dan Jing had mental problems, so her aesthetic sense couldn’t be judged by normal standards. For her to pick this pair out of so many shoes might mean she had seen a similar or identical pair elsewhere. In her consciousness, she had identified this as beautiful, as what she wanted!

Ling Lie immediately had the salesperson write up the bill. Dan Jing tugged at his sleeve. “Doudou, are we really buying them?”

“If Jingjing likes them, of course we’ll buy them.” Ling Lie switched to the tone he used to coax children at the kindergarten. “Jingjing, have you seen this pair of shoes somewhere else?”

Dan Jing remained silent.

Ling Lie: “Good friends share beautiful things they find, right? Didn’t I just share a skewer of candied strawberries with you?”

Dan Jing hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded.

“I really like this pair of shoes too, but I can’t wear the same ones as you, or people will laugh at me. So I want to know, where did you find such pretty shoes? Are there any similar ones?”

Dan Jing said, “You wear, looks good.”

This was a bit nonsensical. Ling Lie thought for a moment and said with some uncertainty, “Because I’m taller than Jingjing?”

Dan Jing fell silent again.

Ling Lie brought out the candied strawberries again. “Jingjing, are the strawberries sweet? Are we good friends?”

“Yes, yes.” Dan Jing stammered. “Brother wear, looks good. I’m short, bad, broken.”

An image quickly formed in Ling Lie’s mind—Dan Jing had seen Dan Jin wearing high heels and women’s clothing. In her perception, which was detached from society, Dan Jin’s attire signified beauty. For some reason, she had obtained the high heels without Dan Jin’s knowledge, but the shoes were too big, and she couldn’t wear them at all. In her attempt, the shoes broke.

Then where were these shoes?

Ling Lie immediately said, “I can repair shoes. Jingjing, where are these shoes now?”

Dan Jing looked at him disbelievingly.

“Really.” Ling Lie stuck out his right foot. “Look, you can’t find another pair of cloth shoes like this anywhere because I made them myself. If I can make them, can’t I repair them?”

Dan Jing was half-convinced. Ling Lie suddenly narrowed his eyes. “The shoes are broken, Jingjing is very scared, right? Once they’re repaired, Jingjing can take them back.”

Dan Jing’s face turned pale, as if recalling some painful memory. After a long while, she finally relented. “Can you really help me fix them?”

Ling Lie smiled. “I can do anything.”

After hearing Ling Lie’s words, Ji Chenjiao could no longer focus on Ling Lie’s attire. The police car headed towards the northern suburbs, passed Rongxin Street, passed the Dan family’s old house, and finally stopped at the Citizens’ Park in the northern suburbs.

The park was small, with some fitness equipment installed on the concrete ground in the middle. It was surrounded by a ring of woods. Children played games in the woods, and adults rarely went in.

Dan Jing squatted under a tree, looking up at Ling Lie.

Ling Lie: “The shoes are under here?”

Dan Jing: “Mmm.”

The team members immediately began digging. It wasn’t long before they saw a cardboard box. The box lid was opened, and inside was a pair of size 42 high heels!

But the heel of the left shoe was broken. The moment Dan Jing saw it, she took several steps back, shaking her head and saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

Ling Lie asked, “Who gave you these shoes?”

Dan Jing whimpered, “They’re my brother’s. My brother didn’t want them anymore, so I picked them up. But, but I was clumsy and broke them.”

Ling Lie raised an eyebrow at Ji Chenjiao. Ji Chenjiao continued to dig and found a plastic bag under the cardboard box, containing a stained chiffon dress.

The dress was a large size, and the stains on it were easily identifiable as dried blood.

While Xi Wan was examining the shoes and the dress, Ling Lie gently coaxed out the story of how they came to be buried in the ground.

One day this spring, while habitually hiding in the closet, Dan Jing accidentally saw her brother put on a dress and high heels.

She had never worn high heels, and wearing a dress felt like something from a past life. For many years, she had worn grey and black clothes and had dreamed of herself in brightly colored dresses.

But she knew she couldn’t. She was ugly and stupid. If she wore pretty clothes, she would be humiliated for being an “ugly person making a fuss.”

She no longer knew what was beautiful. In her eyes, her brother’s attire was beautiful.

A few days later, her brother came back in the middle of the night, wearing that same outfit again. The lights in the house were off. She saw her brother change out of the clothes, stuff them into a bag, and hurry out.

She watched from the window and saw her brother throw the bag into the garbage pile.

Their community didn’t have proper trash cans. All household garbage was thrown onto a flat piece of ground, and a garbage truck would come every morning to collect and dispose of it.

She didn’t understand why her brother would throw away such beautiful clothes and shoes. If she picked them up, and her brother wanted them back one day, she could return them to him, and he would surely praise her.

Before dawn, she quietly went out and retrieved the bag before the garbage truck arrived, hiding it in her closet.

Her brother was rarely home. When her mother went out to buy groceries, she put on the dress and high heels. They were too big. The collar kept slipping off her shoulders, and the shoes were even harder to wear. Just a few steps in, she twisted her ankle, and the heel snapped.

The pain was secondary; breaking a pair of exquisite shoes terrified her. When her mother came back and asked what was wrong with her foot, she said she had fallen while going downstairs.

A week later, when she could walk properly again, she quickly buried the shoes and dress under the tree.

Xi Wan completed her analysis and gave her report—Dan Jin’s and Dan Jing’s fingerprints were detected on the high heels. The soles had traces of Wang Hongqiang’s blood and soil components from the crime scene. The bloodstains on the dress also belonged to Wang Hongqiang.

Dan Jing did not have the capability to commit the crime. The only one who could have killed Wang Hongqiang was Dan Jin, disguised as a woman.

Faced with the physical evidence, Dan Jin fell into a long silence, then gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I thought they had been disposed of long ago. How did you find them?”

Ji Chenjiao saw a hint of resignation in Dan Jin’s eyes, as if everything had finally come to a close.

“Your sister hid them.”

Dan Jin’s cheeks twitched in surprise. A moment later, he shook his head bitterly. “I shouldn’t have brought them home.”

Ji Chenjiao asked, “Do you admit that you killed Wang Hongqiang?”

Dan Jin finally confessed. “Yes.”

“Wei Xuyan and Deng Zian?”

“Them too.”

“What about Jaco?”

“I…”

Ji Chenjiao asked again, “What about Jaco?”

“I don’t know!”

“You don’t know?”

“I wanted to kill him! He has the most influence. I followed him, but, but I lost him!”

Dan Jin recounted his motive and the process of his crimes. The process of getting to know Deng Zian was the same as he had said last time.

But after discovering that Deng Zian was now living well, taking pleasure in “hunting,” and had completely forgotten about hurting a girl in technical school, Dan Jin had his first murderous thought.

Why was this world so unfair? The wrongdoer of the past received no punishment, while the victim was trapped in long-term mental torment, and the victim’s family could not live like a normal family either.

Dan Jing couldn’t move on, and he had given up a bright future for his sister. Meanwhile, the perpetrator was only getting worse, using more vicious methods to harm more people like his sister.

And in this city, there were many other despicable scumbags like Deng Zian.

He wanted to avenge his sister.

But he couldn’t just kill Deng Zian.

If only Deng Zian died, the police would easily investigate Deng Zian’s entire history and soon learn that Deng Zian had caused a girl to drop out of school.

He had to hide a drop of water in the ocean, hide one evil deed within another.

He was avenging his dear sister.

He was protecting the countless innocent women in this city who were being “hunted” by demons!

A plan formed in his mind. He began searching for the “ocean” in the hidden sections of the forum. Wang Hongqiang, who had committed the most evil deeds, was his first target, followed by Wei Xuyan, who had been posting frequently recently.

In addition, he also made a backup list, which overlapped with the top few names on the police’s list.

What was rather unexpected was that he discovered a “celebrity” among these people. He noted down Jaco, thinking he might be useful later.

Perhaps because he worked in a meat processing plant, he had no fear of meat or blood. Before killing Wang Hongqiang, he went to Huazai County to observe Wang Hongqiang for a month, figuring out the places he liked to go when “hunting,” and purchased a dress and high heels.

Large-sized high heels were not easy to buy. He didn’t dare to go to the mall, nor did he dare to shop online. In the end, he bought them at a second-hand market.

They were not good-looking, not in a fashionable style, but fortunately, the heel was not too thin, so even a man could move freely in them.

With everything ready, he came to Dongliu Street in Huazai County.

As expected, Wang Hongqiang took the bait. Seeing a tall, slender silhouette in the night, he stuck to it like a mad dog.

He pretended to be panicked and ran towards the east. Wang Hongqiang knew that area was just abandoned old factories and chased even more excitedly.

He hid in a factory building and found the murder weapon he had hidden beforehand.

Wang Hongqiang had no sense of the approaching danger. A person like him, long accustomed to being a shadow around women, how could he be afraid of a “woman”?

“I see you, my good little sister. Come on out.”

Wang Hongqiang grinned menacingly, searching around the empty factory building.

Dan Jin walked out of the darkness, appearing like a ghost behind Wang Hongqiang. Wang Hongqiang saw a tall shadow, but it was too late. The moment he turned, the weapon had already swung down viciously.

Blood and brain matter soiled Dan Jin’s dress.

After killing Wang Hongqiang, Dan Jin threw him into the dry pool and used a lighter he had prepared to set his clothes on fire. The flames licked at Wang Hongqiang’s face and limbs, burning away any remaining traces. But because there were no accelerants like gasoline, the fire did not burn out of control.

Dan Jin found sand and a water pipe and easily extinguished the fire. The sand also conveniently buried Wang Hongqiang. Afterward, he threw the abandoned dolls from the factory into the pool, cleaned everything up, and returned home.

On the way, he had hesitated about whether to throw away the dress and high heels. But he wasn’t sure if he would use the method of disguising as a woman to lure “Ling Lies” again in the future. Large-sized high heels were hard to come by. If he threw them away and had to buy them again, it would be troublesome if he attracted attention.

He brought them home. After calming down, he still felt keeping them was a liability, so he threw them into the garbage pile downstairs.

That garbage pile was the safest place. A truck would come every morning to transport the garbage, and it would be disposed of that same afternoon.

And Wang Hongqiang’s body might not be discovered for a year or three. The evidence of his crime would naturally disappear.

The second target was actually Wei Xuyan. But Dan Jin couldn’t find a way to get close to him like he did with Deng Zian. He was more cautious and suspicious than Deng and Wang, and he didn’t like to “hunt” with others. Plus, he was more active in the bustling downtown area of the main city, not as easy to kill as Wang Hongqiang.

After following him a few times, Dan Jin decided to kill Deng Zian first.

Deng Zian was too easy to fool. Dan Jin told him that the new internet district on the west side of the city operated on a three-shift system, and many women got off work in the middle of the night. Without a car and trying to save money, they would cut through the abandoned fields behind the park to take the night bus.

Deng Zian’s eyes lit up with excitement, and he immediately wanted to go with Dan Jin.

Dan Jin told him the location and said he had something to do and would be a little late. Deng Zian arrived outside the park a little after eleven at night and skillfully hid in the fields. But he didn’t wait for a woman; he waited for a butcher’s knife.

Dan Jin slit his throat and buried him in a pre-dug pit, compacting it with grass and rocks.

The new internet district was in a remote location. This piece of land was planned for the park but was not used during construction, so it had been left abandoned. The white-collar workers were busy with work and, apart from rushing for the night bus, would never go into the fields. After Deng Zian’s girlfriend reported him missing, the police investigation did not extend to the new internet district. So the body has not been found to this day.

Ji Chenjiao immediately ordered Xi Wan to take people to search.

Dan Jin let out a dry laugh and continued.

With two lives on his hands, his fear was gradually disappearing. The thrill of punishment and revenge gave him the most comfortable experience of his life.

He had to kill more!

Not only kill, but also let the public know what these people had done!

Wang Hongqiang and Deng Zian were ordinary people with limited influence, but Jaco was different. He was an internet celebrity streamer.

Killing this streamer and exposing what “Xu Pineapple” had done would surely cause an uproar in public opinion. People would strongly condemn the evil act of “hunting.”

“Actually, Jaco didn’t deserve to die. He was much kinder than Wang Hongqiang and the others.” Dan Jin shrugged. “But what could I do? He had great influence. Unfortunately, he still got away!”

Speaking of Wei Xuyan, Dan Jin said, “Wei Xuyan was not easy to deal with, but I found that he had too many enemies. Someone wanted him dead more than I did. So I just borrowed that person’s hand.”

The person Wei Xuyan spoke of was Zhong Cheng.

During that time, Zhong Cheng was practically revolving around Wei Xuyan, either cornering him at his company or lurking in places Wei Xuyan might pass.

Dan Jin switched from following Wei Xuyan to following Zhong Cheng, and finally got his chance at Shenggui Bridge.

But to his surprise, Wei Xuyan had brought a sharp awl, intending to provoke the foolish Zhong Cheng, lure him into attacking, and then kill him in self-defense.

Zhong Cheng fought desperately and eventually escaped. But Wei Xuyan, after falling, couldn’t get up in time.

Dan Jin approached silently, picked up the awl Wei Xuyan had dropped, and a beer bottle, which was even more lethal than the awl. The moment Wei Xuyan was about to turn, he plunged the broken end of the beer bottle into the back of Wei Xuyan’s neck.

This blow did not injure an artery. Wei Xuyan turned around in terror, and he stabbed again.

Wei Xuyan clutched his neck, his eyes as wide as bronze bells, completely unable to speak. He used Wei Xuyan’s own awl to force him to the riverbank, plunged it into his body, and delivered the fatal blow.

Wei Xuyan fell into the water, his struggles drowned out by the sounds of laughter and fireworks. The river surface soon became calm.

Dan Jin looked at the bloodstains on the ground and his own footprints.

He should have cleaned them up, but after killing three people in a row, he no longer needed to use fire to eliminate traces like the first time.

“Skill breeds courage.” He knew that before dawn, the cleaners would clear away all his traces for him.

“I never thought that while I was avenging my little sister, it would be my little sister who would bring about my downfall.” There was no hint of remorse in Dan Jin’s eyes. He was as calm as if he were giving a year-end debriefing report.