Miss Forensics – Chapter 105

Volume Two: Second Scroll

Confrontation

“Miss Pei, will you inject it yourself, or shall we do it for you?”

In order not to cause trouble for Ji Jingxing, Song Yuhang moved back to her own home. Since Xiao Wei had not yet recovered, Mother Song stayed there to take care of her. This way, Song Yuhang lived alone, which was much safer for them all.

As soon as Song Yuhang entered the door, her eyes were stung by the sight of a photo frame placed next to the memorial portraits of her father and brother. She put her things down, walked over, and picked it up as if wanting to smash it, but ultimately, she couldn’t bring herself to be so ruthless. Her eyes slowly reddened, and she hugged the frame to her chest, rubbing her own cheek against the cold face in the picture.

A long time later, she placed the photo frame back, perfectly straight, and lit three sticks of incense¹ for the woman with a smile like a blooming flower.

A bracelet placed before the incense table caught her eye. Wasn’t this her mother’s?

Song Yuhang picked it up and caressed it, a faint smile appearing on her lips before she slowly placed it back.

During the three days she spent waiting for the official notice, she hadn’t been idle. She tidied up her room, transforming the bedroom into a darkroom similar to the one in the attic of Lin Yan’s villa.

The single bed was pushed to the far corner, clearing a wall to hang a whiteboard for writing. She bought thickened, light-blocking curtains to facilitate developing photos in a dark, lightless environment, which also made her feel a sense of security.

Other than the necessary desk, chair, and wardrobe, she had almost completely emptied the bedroom, leaving only a few dolls on the bed that Lin Yan had once hugged.

She would sit in this dark environment for an entire day. When hungry, she would order takeout or make instant noodles, casually shoveling a few mouthfuls. Most of the time, she had no appetite, and the meal containers would sit on the floor, untouched.

The few jin² she had painstakingly gained back in the hospital were quickly lost again, and she became visibly thinner to the naked eye.

Whenever Song Yuhang thought of something, she would add a note to the whiteboard. She spent three days organizing her thoughts, and after three days, the timeline on the whiteboard was already clear and distinct.

The initial starting point for this series of cases was the 1994 “Fenyang Pier Dismemberment Case.”

Victim: Chen Chunan.

Related Person: Lin Yan.

Perpetrator: Unknown.

This “Unknown” individual already possessed a certain level of skill at the time of the crime. Lin Yan had said that dismembering a body wasn’t like killing a chicken; it required a certain amount of physical strength and proficient technique.

If “he” was a psychopathic serial killer, the police had not received any reports of similar cases in the fourteen years since.

Song Yuhang stared at the photo without a face, lost in thought.

Why is he acting so strange today?

A psychopathic serial killer would never easily give up killing, a method used for “pleasure.”

Unless he had some compelling reason. Starting a family and having children? Studies? Work? Too preoccupied?

After all, in this world, eating is a problem everyone needs to solve, and murderers are no exception.

Song Yuhang, holding a pen, rested her head against the whiteboard.

Then why would this person kill a high school student with a simple social circle and no known enemies?

Was it a spur-of-the-moment act, or…

Was she silenced?

The fine hairs on her back stood on end.

Song Yuhang gripped the pen tightly. This was the most logical explanation she could come up with at the moment, and it would also explain the various obstacles she and Lin Yan had encountered later in their investigation.

Someone did not want this case to see the light of day.

And then there was the matter of falling into the sea.

The killer had already obtained the USB drive, yet still wanted to eradicate them completely. Moreover, “he” had only trapped Lin Yan. “He” knew she would drive that car, so from the very beginning, there was only one target.

That was to have her die.

In all her years of investigating cases, Song Yuhang had offended countless people, both openly and secretly. The number of people who wanted her dead was also innumerable, but those who could manipulate people’s minds to this extent were few and far between.

Lin Yan was not a careless person. For “him” to be able to tamper with a car from a dealership under Lin Yan’s name meant that “he” at least knew Lin Yan.

Furthermore, “he” was able to accurately kidnap Mother Song, Xiao Wei, and Ji Jingxing. Ji Jingxing was abducted while on the phone with her, involving violent contact. On the day of their incident, Mother Song and Xiao Wei were at a temple fair, a place crowded and chaotic. Her family members all understood the law, and from a young age, they had instilled in their children the idea of “not going with strangers.” Therefore, Xiao Wei would not easily go with someone she didn’t know. And if the other party used force, a child’s loud crying would inevitably attract the attention of others.

And according to Fang Xin, an eyewitness saw a man holding Xiao Wei, and Xiao Wei was holding a stick of tanghulu.

Therefore, Xiao Wei knew this person!

Lin Yan also knew him.

Perhaps… she knew him too.

Song Yuhang hesitated, but still wrote down several names on the whiteboard, circling them heavily with a red pen.

Just as she finished writing, her phone rang in the room. During her time off, she rarely received calls, so hearing the ringtone sparked a strange sense of excitement.

By the time she fumbled around and found her phone under the bed, the other party had already hung up.

Song Yuhang looked at the screen and saw it was a number from the Municipal Bureau. Feeling a little disappointed, she dialed it back. The person on the other end informed her to come to the bureau to pack her things, as the notice for her transfer had been issued.

“Okay, I understand.” Song Yuhang hung up the phone, let out a self-deprecating laugh, and got up to grab her keys and leave.

When she arrived at the bureau, she first went to the office to get the red-headed document³. Before she could even read it herself, the news of her demotion and transfer had already spread on its own.

Duan Cheng: “Captain Song, human traffickers deserve to die. I think you did the right thing. If it were me, I’d want to kick him a few times too. Don’t be sad. Chief Feng also said the transfer is only temporary. Maybe after spending some time at the grassroots level, you’ll be back.”

Fang Xin also wanted to speak: “Captain Song…”

Song Yuhang leaned her hand on the doorframe and turned around with a smile. “I’m fine. You all go out first. Let me pack my things alone for a while.”

The group looked like they wanted to say more but still obediently retreated.

As they walked away, Fang Xin pinched him. “It’s all your fault. You just had to mention the pot that isn’t boiling⁴.”

The office wasn’t large, and there wasn’t much to pack. She only took a few books on criminal investigation, a fountain pen, two notebooks, and a laptop.

She glanced around the room, as if she could still see the charming forensic examiner pushing someone down on the sofa, straddling her, and reaching out to loosen her tie.

“So, Officer Song, tell me, would binding the hands, covering the mouth, or blindfolding be better?”

A warmth filled Song Yuhang’s eyes. Actually, what I want to take with me the most are the memories.

She turned and walked out with the cardboard box. She still had to make a trip to the Technical Investigation office.

Lin Yan’s desk was even cleaner than she had imagined. The framed ID photo on the desk was polished to a shine.

Seeing her arrive, Duan Cheng put down his work and ran over.

“Captain Song, we wipe Lin-jie’s desk every day, just thinking—”

If only she could come back.

The corners of Song Yuhang’s lips curved into a somewhat bitter smile. “Thank you all.”

“No, no, we were colleagues after all. Let us help you pack,” Fang Xin said, her eyes also turning red.

Zheng Chengrui also looked up from his computer to look at her.

“You guys are busy. I can do it myself.”

Song Yuhang politely declined their offer.

Duan Cheng wanted to say more, but Fang Xin pulled him into the lab.

The vast Technical Investigation office suddenly became very quiet. Even the sound of typing on keyboards stopped.

Everyone tacitly gave her space to mourn Lin Yan alone.

Song Yuhang tidied up the messy books on her desk one by one and placed them in the cardboard box. She didn’t even spare the sticky notes on the computer monitor, which bore her handwriting.

Lin Yan always seemed to remind herself of small things.

“Don’t forget to add sugar to the coffee, it’ll be bitter.”

“Let’s go for a drink after work.”

“A new hot pot restaurant opened downtown, let’s go tomorrow.”

…

And some random complaints.

“First day at work, met a crazy woman.”

“What to do when your boss is an old cadre?”

“Song Yuhang is a big idiot, hmph!!!”

It was followed by a series of angry little emoticons.

Song Yuhang could no longer remember what had made her so angry, but looking at this line of text, she could almost see her frowning, pouting, arrogant, and stomping her foot. She couldn’t help but smile through her tears, gently placing the note into the box.

After clearing the desktop, she pulled open her drawer. The things inside were much more miscellaneous than she had imagined.

There were a few medicine bottles. The sight of them felt like a knife twisting in her heart. She picked them up and put them in the box.

There were also some small hairpins, hair ties, rubber bands, coffee packets, face masks…

These small things, so full of the smoke and fire of a human life, almost instantly brought tears to her eyes.

Song Yuhang picked them up one by one, not even letting go of a paperclip in the crack of the drawer.

When the drawer was pulled all the way out, a brocade box rolled out. She picked it up and opened it. It was the meritorious service medal she had given to Lin Yan, the one Lin Yan had scornfully dismissed.

It had been preserved extremely well, without a speck of dust or a single scratch.

She caressed the golden national emblem on it, and tears rolled down her cheeks. She wiped them away with the back of her hand, sniffled, and placed it in the box.

Finally, she placed the photo frame from her desk face down on top of everything.

Song Yuhang walked out, holding the box.

The others in Technical Investigation all stood up.

“Captain Song.”

“Captain Song.”

“Captain Song.”

…

She looked back. Duan Cheng raised his hand to his temple in a salute, and the others followed suit.

She turned around, stood at attention, and holding the box with one hand, she bid them farewell in the same manner.

Duan Cheng’s eyes grew warm. “Captain Song, even if we don’t work together anymore, we can still have hot pot together, right?”

Fang Xin: “Exactly! If Captain Song hadn’t taught me step-by-step, my shooting skills wouldn’t have improved so quickly.”

Zheng Chengrui: “Captain Song, if you need any help in the future, just ask.”

The others.

“Captain Song, we’re all in Jiangcheng City anyway. Let’s get together more often when you have time. Don’t forget us.”

Song Yuhang smiled. “How could I? Thank you all.”

“Also, you’re welcome to ask me out for a meal anytime. We… are friends.”

No matter what, she would never forget this period of striving and fighting alongside the people from Technical Investigation, and the days of living and dying together with Lin Yan.

As Song Yuhang walked out with the box, she never expected to run into him in the hallway.

Zhao Junfeng must have been at the Municipal Bureau to guide work. A large group of people, both men and women, surrounded him, with Feng Jianguo following by his side.

The group walked past her, and Zhao Junfeng stopped.

Song Yuhang gave a slight nod as a greeting, but unexpectedly, he spoke.

“All of you, go eat and rest. We’ll have a meeting in the main conference room at two in the afternoon, sharp.”

Zhao Junfeng ordered, and the others scattered like birds and beasts.

Feng Jianguo glanced at Song Yuhang.

“Director Zhao…”

Zhao Junfeng patted his shoulder. “I know. She was in the wrong on this matter, it’s not your fault. Go on, get to your work.”

Since he had said so, Feng Jianguo could only leave for the time being.

The other group was large, and Song Yuhang didn’t want to fight for the path with a superior, so she waited until everyone had passed before continuing forward.

Zhao Junfeng called out to her, “What, you don’t even greet your master when you see him now?”

Song Yuhang turned back. “It’s inconvenient to salute while holding things. You are wearing a police uniform, and we are in the Municipal Bureau. I should address you as Director.”

“Director.” Musing on these two words, a trace of melancholy appeared in Zhao Junfeng’s cloudy eyes.

“Forget it. I know all about your situation. This is an internal affair of your Jiangcheng Municipal Bureau, so it’s not my place to interfere. Don’t worry, once this blows over, I’ll find an excuse to transfer you back.”

Song Yuhang lowered her head, staring at the surface of his leather shoes, which were polished so brightly they could reflect a person’s image.

“That won’t be necessary. It’s not like I haven’t worked at the grassroots level before.”

She turned to leave, but Zhao Junfeng spoke again.

“I also heard about what happened to Lin Yan. You…” The other day in the provincial capital, he had said many divisive things when he brought up Lin Yan, probably never imagining that one day she would truly be gone.

“Restrain your grief.”

Restrain my grief, again with the restraining of grief. Everyone tells me to restrain my grief.

But no one tells me how exactly this grief is to be restrained.

Song Yuhang twitched her lips. “As long as the killer is not brought to justice, I can’t eat or sleep in peace.”

Zhao Junfeng was taken aback. She was already walking away.

Recalling her final, sarcastic smile and the cold glint in her eyes, the old man’s lips gradually tightened, his expression unreadable.

---

After being helped across the border by a kind-hearted villager, the woman traveled north, travel-worn and dusty. Just as she exited the train station, she was knocked unconscious by people who had been lying in wait nearby.

Pei Jinhong didn’t resist. In her current physical state, she couldn’t resist anyway. She might as well resign herself to fate.

She woke up in a wooden cabin. Outside the door, she could hear the chirping of birds and insects; she was likely in the suburbs.

Pei Jinhong rolled over to make herself more comfortable.

Not long after she lay down, the door creaked open, and someone walked in.

She heard several voices arguing.

“You have to let me take her back to Myanmar.”

“On what grounds? This is Wang-ge’s woman.”

“I say we just kill her on the spot. Who knows if she’s turned to the cops.”

…

The first person who spoke stood with his back to her. He was tall and burly, wearing a camouflage shirt and combat boots. Judging by his accent, he wasn’t from the mainland.

The second was a man with sharp, monkey-like features.

Pei Jinhong narrowed her eyes slightly. Information about him quickly surfaced in her mind.

Liu Zhi, Wang Qiang’s number one enforcer. According to reliable intelligence, he had some ambiguous feelings for Pei Jinhong.

This person can be used.

She quickly made a judgment in her mind.

As for the third person who spoke, she narrowed her eyes and studied his face, only to find that his name was not in any of the intelligence she had.

Pei Jinhong’s heart skipped a beat.

From the tone of his voice, he clearly knew her, but she didn’t know him. This could easily expose her.

She had to quickly come up with a countermeasure.

Before she could deliberate for too long, the door sounded again.

“Wang-ge, Wang-ge.”

Several men went to greet him.

The man in camouflage also took a step back.

Wang Qiang grunted an “en,” and a subordinate handed him a cigar and struck a match.

He took it and took a few hard puffs.

“How is she, is she awake?”

This was meant as a question, but the man in camouflage strode over, grabbed her by the hair, dragged her a few meters, and threw her to the ground.

“Wang-ge is asking you a question.”

Now, Pei Jinhong had to be awake even if she wasn’t.

The moment she “woke up,” her eyes were red, on the verge of tears. She scrambled over and hugged Wang Qiang’s leg, her lips trembling, her whole body shaking as she looked at the man in camouflage.

“Wang-ge, Wang-ge, save me! Someone wants to kill me!”

Her attitude of avoiding him like the plague instead aroused suspicion among Wang Qiang’s men.

Liu Zhi was instantly filled with righteous indignation. With a shua, he pulled the gun from his waist and loaded a bullet.

“Who?! Who wants to kill Dasao?!⁵ I’ll be the first to disagree!”

Seeing that their side had made the first move, the man in camouflage’s subordinates were not to be outdone. They all pulled out their weapons and pointed them at each other.

The smell of gunpowder filled the air, ready to ignite at any moment.

Pei Jinhong sobbed, watching the man in camouflage’s face turn shades of green and white.

“Boss Wang wouldn’t turn on us for a woman, would he?”

Wang Qiang toyed with a lighter, gently lifting her chin.

Pei Jinhong’s face was still bruised, and the corners of her eyes were red, which made the beauty mark by her eyebrow seem even more vivid.

She seemed to have lost more weight, and her eyes were brimming with tears.

For some reason, Wang Qiang felt an indescribable strangeness looking at this face.

His fingernail gently traced over the beauty mark, rubbing it back and forth as if confirming something.

Intelligence showed that not many people had seen Pei Jinhong’s true face. Every time she appeared before her subordinates, she would wear a veiled hat, the black gauze obscuring most of her features.

This was why she had the opportunity to impersonate her. However, Wang Qiang was different. Wang Qiang was someone who had been intimate with her.

She refused to believe that Pei Jinhong would f#cking wear a veil to bed.

This was a moment of life or death, but also a chance for rebirth from a desperate situation.

It all depended on how she could make Wang Qiang believe that she was “Pei Jinhong.” By the same token, as long as she gained Wang Qiang’s trust, the others wouldn’t be a problem.

The woman met his gaze without flinching, her eyes large and beautiful, filled with sorrow.

She was like a flower gradually blooming in his palm.

Pei Jinhong sobbed uncontrollably. “Wang-ge, I was seventeen when I started following you. Back then, you said you would definitely give me a good life, let me live well… I believed you. I was willing to do whatever you asked. I don’t want to put you in a difficult position either. I was ambushed before I even got off the boat coming back from northern Myanmar. I don’t know who wants to kill me…”

As she spoke, her gaze couldn’t help but dart behind her.

“It could be a double-cross, or it could be the police, it’s hard to say. But if it’s the police, then who leaked the information…”

“And who is so eager to take my life?”

Pei Jinhong’s soft words landed gently.

Wang Qiang’s body jolted.

She had already wiped her tears, and suddenly threw herself towards the muzzle of Liu Zhi’s gun, shutting her eyes tightly.

“Wang-ge, Jinhong will repay your kindness in the next life!”

“Don’t!” In the end, Wang Qiang was moved by their past relationship and pulled her back.

Pei Jinhong knelt on the ground, weeping softly.

Wang Qiang helped her up, coaxing her in a gentle voice, “Alright, always threatening to die at the drop of a hat. You’ve been with me for so long, if you have something to say, just say it properly.”

The woman crying in his arms secretly rolled her eyes. Damn it, the intel only said Pei Jinhong met him when she was seventeen, it didn’t mention the things he said! This was truly a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.

Could it be… this is the essential script for a scumbag?

The woman nodded internally. Looks like it.

The short man next to Liu Zhi, the one who had initially suggested killing her, spoke in a snide tone.

“Dasao and Big Brother share a deep bond, but even so, it’s hard to clear the suspicion of turning to the cops, right? What we do is murder and arson. We don’t want to get a bullet for it. Don’t you all agree?”

Wang Qiang’s men looked at each other, a hint of doubt in their eyes.

Liu Zhi cursed loudly, “I’ll shove your mother’s dog farts! Isn’t it just because Dasao told you off once, telling you to stay away from her people, that you’ve held a grudge? I’m telling you, Zhao Tiezhu⁶, you have a small belly and chicken intestines⁷, you’re not a real man!”

That one sentence contained a lot of information.

Pei Jinhong silently memorized the man’s name and also learned that he’d had a conflict with “her.” In that case, it would inevitably affect her future actions.

She calculated in her mind, a ruthless glint flashing in her eyes.

If I can’t win him over, then I can only…

Find a way to get rid of him.

The other man’s face flushed red, and he shot back insults just as fiercely.

For a moment, vulgar language filled the air, generally revolving around human genitalia and the other’s ancestors for eighteen generations.

And through it all, Pei Jinhong maintained a timid, submissive demeanor.

Perhaps growing impatient with the noise, the man in camouflage made a gesture, and his subordinates carried in a box from outside.

He exchanged a look with Wang Qiang. Wang Qiang glanced at her and released the arm around her waist.

Pei Jinhong’s heart sank.

“In that case, I’ve heard that ‘Golden Pheasant’ is also a heroine among women, a master at testing poison. Please.”

The box was opened, revealing a full row of glass vials filled with a blue liquid.

Wang Qiang looked at her without speaking, a silent approval.

Everyone fell silent, looking at her face with uncertainty. The subordinates brought by the man in camouflage tightened their grip on their guns, their muzzles aimed at her.

The atmosphere instantly tensed up. Even Liu Zhi stopped talking.

Her throat was a little dry. She swallowed.

“This is…”

The man in camouflage smiled, removed the top row of the box, revealing the syringes underneath.

The liquid inside them was thicker and more viscous than the vials above, clearly a high-purity drug.

The man in camouflage took one, stood up, walked over to her, and handed it to her. “Miss Pei, will you inject it yourself, or shall we do it for you?”

---

LP: ​I’m getting the vibe that… Lin Ge… to Chunan… (。≖ˇ​ｪˇ≖｡)

Re-translated on July 21, 2025

---

---