Chapter 162

Chapter 162

Qiu Ziyu pressed on. “Did Wen Miao make this gesture often?”

Nan Mu did not understand the question. In fact, aside from that photograph, Wen Miao had never struck such a pose in front of him.

Then again, most people only made that gesture for a camera.

“No.” Confusion showed on Nan Mu’s face as he stared at Qiu Ziyu. “Why are you suddenly asking?”

“Didn’t I say the scene looked familiar?” Qiu Ziyu pointed to Wen Miao in the painting. “I just remembered where I’ve seen it.”

“Where?”

“In the case file for Wen Miao’s murder. In one of the crime-scene photographs the Criminal Investigation Division took to preserve evidence, Wen Miao was making the exact same gesture.”

Nan Mu frowned. What Qiu Ziyu was saying sounded too fantastical to believe.

He rubbed between his brows and tried to recall the crime-scene photographs he had seen before. Yet no matter how hard he searched his memory, he could not remember Wen Miao making such a gesture.

In the past, he would never have doubted his own memory.

Now, however, he could not be sure whether the gesture had truly been absent from the photographs, or whether the aftereffects of time travel had caused him to forget certain details.

If Wen Miao had been posed in such a strange way, surely it would have left a lasting impression on him. Yet he had no memory of it at all…

Had he really forgotten?

Still skeptical, he asked, “Are you sure?”

“Of course I am!” Qiu Ziyu said with absolute conviction. “Everyone who saw that photograph thought the scene was eerie. I thought so too. There’s no way I’d misremember something that striking. She definitely made the gesture. If you don’t believe me, we can go look right now.”

===

Qiu Ziyu and Nan Mu went together to the archive room at the Public Security Department.

Qiu Ziyu made a call to request the key, then retrieved a stack of records related to Wen Miao’s murder.

He removed the crime-scene photographs taken by the Criminal Investigation Division from the file envelope. As he handed them over, he could not help worrying. “Don’t you get dizzy at the sight of blood? Are you sure you want to look at these yourself?”

Nan Mu nodded firmly.

Qiu Ziyu had no choice but to hand him the photographs, grumbling as he did, “I already looked for you and told you it was there. But you still insist on seeing it yourself…”

The Wen Miao in the photograph looked no different from the woman in Nan Mu’s memory, except that every trace of life had left her.

She lay on a hospital bed, her white dress covered in patches of vivid red blood. They resembled scarlet flowers blooming across the white fabric-beautiful, yet steeped in desolation and tragedy.

Her skull had been brutally cut open. At the sight of that gruesome image, Nan Mu’s heart cramped with pain. It felt as though a boulder had settled on his chest, crushing the breath from him.

Even so, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to keep looking. His eyes remained fixed on the photograph without wavering for a single second.

This time, Wen Miao had died in a hospital, but the method resembled the one used in her first death. Once again, her skull had been opened.

It appeared that Xu Lei had been the one to do it this time.

Boundless despair swept through Nan Mu, leaving him helpless and defeated. He had returned to the past time and again in hopes of changing Wen Miao’s fate, only for every attempt to end in failure.

The last time, he had at least changed the manner of her death. But this time…

Everything had returned to the beginning.

Seeing how pale Nan Mu had become, Qiu Ziyu raised a hand and patted his friend’s shoulder.

Nan Mu gathered himself and began studying the photographs more closely.

Wen Miao’s left hand was indeed forming a V sign. Unlike in the painting, however, her arm hung at her side, looking painfully forlorn. She bore no resemblance to the vibrant woman in the portrait, who seemed forever filled with limitless strength and hope.
Why had Wen Miao made that gesture at such a moment?

Nan Mu stared hard at her left hand, as if it might offer him some revelation.

He suddenly remembered what she had told him.

“Nan Mu, I look forward to seeing you again in ten years.”

“Trust me. I won’t throw my life away. I promise I’ll make every decision with care.”

A golden flash seemed to streak through his mind.

He remembered sending Wen Miao to his secret lounge when he was trying to protect Cheng Jiamin.

Could Wen Miao have seen this painting there? Had she copied the exact pose from the portrait in order to tell him something?

Nan Mu spun around and sprinted for the door.

“Where are you going?” His sudden movement startled Qiu Ziyu. Qiu Ziyu wanted to chase after him, but first had to return the photographs and documents to the envelope and toss it to the archive clerk.

“Please put this away for me. Thanks!”

He called over his shoulder as he chased Nan Mu and rushed out of the Public Security Department like a gust of wind.

The officers bustling through the building could not resist teasing him when they saw his frantic departure.

“That Qiu! Always tearing around like a whirlwind. You’d think the Public Security Department was his squad’s personal base.”

“That’s just Captain Qiu’s personality. Surely you know that by now? His entire team has been frantic lately because of Wen Tangtang.”

…

Nan Mu and Qiu Ziyu hurried back to the apartment. They stood before the painting on the easel, hoping to draw some kind of inspiration from it.

Yet they stared from afternoon until evening without finding the slightest clue. The hope and excitement in their eyes gradually gave way to confusion and bewilderment.

What could it mean?

Qiu Ziyu rubbed his growling stomach and glanced at Nan Mu.

Ever since returning to the apartment that afternoon, Nan Mu had sat on the cold floor, deep in thought, trying to uncover the secret hidden in the painting. He had not moved an inch. His grave, contemplative pose could have rivaled the famous statue of The Thinker.

Qiu Ziyu could not stand it any longer. He shifted position and sighed. “No matter how hard I think, I just can’t figure it out.”

Nan Mu, who had ignored every movement Qiu Ziyu made until now, finally spared him a glance. “If you’re hungry, go eat.”

Qiu Ziyu froze.

He truly was hungry, but now that Nan Mu had pointed it out, he felt embarrassed. He fidgeted for a while, then made an obvious attempt to cover it up. “Do you think maybe Wen Miao wasn’t the one who made that gesture? What if Xu Lei posed her hand?”

Xu Lei?

Nan Mu gave a cold laugh. “Impossible. Why would Xu Lei do that? Killers who leave messages at a crime scene generally want to show off their ability or deliberately taunt the police. Xu Lei wasn’t that kind of person. His ultimate purpose in killing Wen Miao wasn’t to satisfy some urge to murder. He was different from those killers. All he wanted was what was inside Wen Miao’s head.”

“True.” Qiu Ziyu nodded in agreement. “He had no reason to pose her after killing her, much less taunt the police.”

So Wen Miao must have made the gesture herself.

But why would she have done it just before her death?

Was it merely a coincidence, or a dying message she had left behind?

The night breeze drifted through the room, making the painting on the easel sway gently. The gesture seemed more mysterious and eerie than ever.