chapter 12

Brother Liu’s words truly startled both Meng Yifan and me.

Now we already know who Li Xiumei is-she’s the mummified corpse that was dug out from the wall.

But what we didn’t expect was that, when she was alive… she was actually a murderer, and not just any murderer, but one involved in a major case.

A woman, the perpetrator of a Massacre Case?

“Fifteen years ago, that case caused a sensation. It even made the news.”

Brother Liu looked at us and said, “The Qindao Mass Murder Case. I wonder if you’ve heard of it.”

Meng Yifan and I exchanged glances and both shook our heads.

Fifteen years ago, we were only eleven. Kids wouldn’t pay attention to things like that, and back then the internet wasn’t even developed.

“That case was strange, too. It started with a conflict between tenants and their landlord.”

“And the tenants were a young couple. Just over a rent issue, they murdered the landlord’s entire family of four.”

“At the scene, three bodies were found. Only the landlord couple’s five-year-old daughter was missing. To this day, the police haven’t found any trace of the little girl-no one knows if she’s dead or alive.”

Halfway through the meal, with the drinks just starting, Brother Liu slowly began telling us about that massacre.

Fifteen years ago, in Qindao, a young couple rented a house. But the outrageous part was, from the moment they moved in, they never paid rent.

The reason was simple: they had no money. They were from the countryside, had just found jobs, hadn’t received their salaries yet, and said they’d pay the landlord once they got paid.

Under such circumstances, almost no one would rent to them.

But the landlord was kind-hearted. Seeing the young couple were from the countryside, he let them move in temporarily.

A month passed quickly. The landlord came to collect rent as scheduled. Logically, after a month of work, the couple should have money for rent.

But the couple made up another excuse, saying their elderly family member was sick, and all their wages had been sent home for medical treatment. They asked the landlord to give them another month.

To be honest, the landlord was almost unbelievably kind-he actually believed them again.

Over the next few months, the couple came up with all sorts of excuses. In short, they never paid rent and lived in the house for free for half a year.

Even the kindest landlord would sense something was wrong. He felt he’d been played by the couple.

So, he stopped listening to any more excuses and had a big argument with the couple, demanding they pay the six months’ rent, or he’d call the police.

The couple, seeing they couldn’t fool him anymore and afraid of the landlord reporting them, immediately agreed to pay the rent-but said it would have to wait until the next day.

The landlord wasn’t in a rush for one day, so he didn’t say more and planned to collect the rent the next day.

But the next day, the landlord had errands to run, so he sent his wife to collect the rent instead.

Unexpectedly, the couple were like demons reincarnated. They had already planned the bloody crime the night before.

When the landlord’s wife found the couple, they immediately tied her up.

When the landlord saw his wife hadn’t returned for a long time, he sent his eldest son to check.

The eldest son went, and just like his mother, never came back.

Feeling something was wrong, the landlord went himself.

The whole family, just like the story of the Calabash Brothers rescuing their grandfather, went one after another, all sending themselves into the devil’s den.

In just a few hours, three out of four family members were tied up.
It seemed that the young couple had long been prepared to wipe out the entire family. So they went to the landlord’s house and lured the landlord’s five-year-old daughter to their home as well.

After tying up the landlord’s family, the couple ransacked the house, taking all the cash and valuables.

In the end, a shocking bloodbath occurred. The landlord, his wife, and his eldest son all died in the young couple’s home. Afterwards, the police found the bodies of these three people at the scene, but the body of the five-year-old daughter was nowhere to be found.

“As for the whereabouts of that little girl, there is still no definitive conclusion to this day, because she’s neither been found alive nor has her body been discovered.”

Brother Liu sighed and said, “Some say the little girl is dead, that she died somewhere outside and her body was buried who knows where. Others say the girl is still alive, that she was abducted by the couple.”

“That’s the entire story of the Massacre Case fifteen years ago. If you search online now, you can still find news reports about it.”

Meng Yifan and I were left utterly speechless after hearing this.

This case was truly bizarre. But what was even stranger was how the landlord’s family could have been so naive. Did they have no sense of self-protection at all?

It seems that one really can’t be too kind-hearted. As the saying goes, ‘Do no harm to others,’ but you must also guard against being harmed.

“So that mummified corpse, Li Xiumei, she was one of the perpetrators of the Massacre Case fifteen years ago?” Meng Yifan asked.

Brother Liu nodded. “This Li Xiumei was called Li Yujiao at the time of the crime. After committing the crime, she and her man fled and changed her name to Li Xiumei.”

“The police have been searching for this couple for fifteen years, but it turns out Li Xiumei had already died fifteen years ago.”

I felt a chill run down my spine as I listened.

I had thought Li Xiumei was a victim, murdered and hidden in the wall for so many years-a pitiful soul.

But unexpectedly, she turned out to be a monster.

It seemed that not long after committing that bloody crime, she herself was murdered. I suspect the one who killed her was her man.

But there was still something I didn’t understand, so I asked Brother Liu, “Who was the original owner of the house where her body was found? Did the owner not know there was a corpse in the house? Could the owner be the murderer?”

Brother Liu sighed, “The investigation is still ongoing. We’ve checked all the previous owners. There have been three owners in total. The most recent one is surnamed Hu-you know him, and he’s almost certainly not a suspect. The second owner, based on my experience, is also unlikely.”

“The biggest suspect is the first owner. Just a few hours ago, we summoned him for questioning, but so far, there’s no concrete evidence proving he killed Li Xiumei.”

Actually, who killed Li Xiumei originally had little to do with Meng Yifan and me. But now, it’s very likely that Li Xiumei’s vengeful spirit is haunting us, so I have to get to the bottom of this. Anyone connected to this case, I need to know about.

So I asked again, “What’s the name of the first owner?”

Brother Liu thought for a moment and said, “I think he has the same surname as you. His name is… Chen Guowen.”

The moment I heard that name, my scalp tingled and my eyes widened.

Meng Yifan reacted the same way-the wine glass in his hand dropped straight onto the table.

Chen Guowen… We both knew that name all too well.

Because my dad is Chen Guowen…