Miss Forensics – Chapter 88

Volume One: First Scroll

Evasion

I was scared to death.

Southwestern border region.

A certain tropical rainforest.

Leather boots creaked on the wooden floor of the attic, and the lightbulb overhead swayed slightly as tireless insects crashed against it.

“Go, Go, come here.” Someone used broken English to push a group of girls through the jungle.

The branches swayed. The short girl walking at the very back tugged on the clothes of a girl of similar age in front of her.

“Didn’t they say they were taking us to Southeast Asia to strike it rich? How did we end up—”

Before she could finish, the entire group came to a halt. The leader loudly silenced their whispers, and then the group was led into a room.

“From today on, you’ll live here. Starting tomorrow, Kuba¹ will arrange work for you. As long as you do well and can satisfy the clients, earning over ten thousand a month won’t be a problem.”

The room wasn’t large. It had a wooden structure and was furnished with a few simple bunk beds. The man the leader called Kuba walked in. He was tall and burly, with the typical facial features of a Southeast Asian. In his hand, he held a dark leather whip, and his greedy, snake-like gaze swept over each of the frightened girls.

He nodded in satisfaction and said a few things to the leader in what sounded like Burmese².

A relieved smile appeared on the leader’s face, and he walked out with him.

The wooden door closed.

Two burly men now stood guard at the entrance.

It was the same girl who had spoken earlier who placed her luggage on a bed. “Fangfang³, where are you sleeping?”

“The top bunk, I guess.”

“Alright.”

The girl’s bed was near the door. While taking things out of her worn-out cloth bag, she peeked through the crack of the door.

Kuba took out a stack of money and handed it to the person who had brought them there.

The leader licked his thumb and counted the bills, muttering something in Burmese, a hint of dissatisfaction on his face.

The man named Kuba’s expression changed. He pulled out his whip and roared something. The leader jumped in fright and fell silent, nodding obsequiously.

Finally, he was led away by several men in black.

A growing unease filled the girl’s heart.

She fumbled for the PHS phone⁴ in her bag, stunned. Just as she was about to call home to tell them she was safe, that man Kuba returned with several others. She subconsciously stuffed the phone into her bedding.

With a wave of Kuba’s hand, several men in black started rummaging through their bags.

The girl instinctively tried to grab her bag back but was shoved onto the bed.

Several burly men stared at her like ravenous wolves.

She didn’t dare to move. Her limbs felt weak, and she silently accepted their violation.

Only after they had ransacked every backpack and thrown everyone’s passports and ID cards into a burlap sack did Kuba stop. He said in broken Chinese, “Work, don’t need these. Earn money, don’t need these. Behave, and you will be given money.”

With that, he closed the door again, leaving a room full of girls staring at each other, their souls yet to return to their bodies.

On the top bunk was her companion, a sister from the same village.

“Forget it, let’s just sleep. As long as I can earn money, I’m willing to do anything.”

The girl lay down uneasily. The bedding was damp, carrying a foul, fishy smell unique to the tropical rainforest—or perhaps left behind by the previous occupant.

She couldn’t sleep.

The others were the same, tossing and turning.

In the silent night, only the creaking of the bed frames could be heard.

Finally, someone couldn’t help but speak.

“How old are you all?”

After a long pause, she heard someone from the opposite bed say, “Eighteen. You?”

The girl who asked the question replied, “Twenty-one. You should call me Jie.”

Someone in the room chuckled softly, and the girls gradually started to open up.

“I’m twenty. I ran away after a fight with my family.”

“I just turned nineteen. I want to earn some money for my younger brother’s schooling.”

“I’m twenty-five. I should be the oldest among you all, right?”

“What about you?” The topic turned to her.

The girl stammered, “Fif… fifteen…”

“You don’t look it.”

The girl had a beautiful face, with two braided pigtails and large, lively eyes. Her figure was well-developed, not gaunt like a typical fifteen-year-old girl.

She was a child bride⁵ and was already the mother of a one-year-old child.

This was a common occurrence in her village.

Unable to bear her husband’s beatings, she had begged her fellow villager, who was planning to leave for work, to take her along.

The days of travel had exhausted the girls, and gradually, no one spoke anymore.

Someone started snoring.

The girl lifted her quilt and got out of bed. Her companion on the top bunk poked her head out. “What are you doing?”

“Can’t sleep. Going to the toilet.”

The companion gestured with her chin toward a copper basin in the middle of the room. “There’s a basin there.”

“Never mind, it’s too embarrassing.”

The girl’s face burned. She retrieved her phone from under her pillow, clutched it in her hand, and headed out.

Even though she had left home on impulse, her heart was still tied to her child.

She wanted to call the kid’s dad, just to hear her child’s voice.

Her companion lay back down.

The girl gently pushed the door open. The guards at the entrance were gone.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. A few bonfires flickered in the jungle, and lights were on in several wooden huts not far away.

She followed the stairs, planning to find a quiet spot with a signal to call home.

Every wooden house here seemed identical. Along the way, peeking through the cracks in the doors, she saw many houses occupied by girls just like them.

The same dead silence. No one was speaking.

The girl swallowed hard. The hallway had come to an end, and a wooden house in front of her was lit.

She had to pass it to get to the stairs leading down to the jungle.

She placed her embroidered cloth shoes down with extreme lightness.

The men inside the room let out excited shouts. That man Kuba was also there. She didn’t dare to look, her scalp tingling, until a woman’s blood-curdling scream pierced the night sky.

She whipped her head around to look. Through the crack in the door, one of the woman’s eyes was staring fixedly at her, her head bloody and her clothes in disarray.

“Help… help me!”

In her terror, she stumbled and crashed into the railing. The wooden house emitted a teeth-grinding sound.

Torches lit up in the jungle.

Someone was running toward her.

The wooden door creaked open.

The girl turned to run but was yanked back and thrown heavily to the ground.

Her phone flew out of her hand, landing next to a walking cane.

A man bent down and picked it up.

“What’s your name?” He had a gentle face. Perhaps due to his age, he looked exceptionally kind.

The girl answered, trembling, “Li… Lili⁶.”

“Not bad.” The man studied the phone, then used his cane to lift her face. “Send her home to see her family.”

A flicker of joy appeared in the girl’s heart, but her smile froze on her face. Kuba, bare-chested, raised a wooden club high and smashed it down on the back of her head.

Blood splattered everywhere.

The girl instantly went still.

He had to be ruthless. He was the one who led the search of the rooms; if the girl didn’t die, he would be the one to die.

Blood splattered onto the lightbulb.

The shadow on the wall cast Kuba’s burly figure. A dark trail of blood marked the path where he dragged the body, stretching all the way down the stairs.

A short while later, a seven or eight-year-old child came with a bucket of water to scrub the floor.

The branches in the jungle swayed. With a plop and a splash of water, all sin was erased without a trace.

---

“Hello, one standard room.” Lin Yan took out her ID card and handed it over. While waiting to check in, her fingertips tapped idly on the counter as she discreetly observed what was behind her with her peripheral vision.

There were security cameras in the hotel lobby. The person following her hadn’t come inside.

Lin Yan whistled, gave the female receptionist a wink, and took the room card to head upstairs.

“A standard room, thank you.” Song Yuhang pulled money from her wallet and handed it over. Taking the change and the room card, she also went upstairs.

Fifteen minutes later, in the darkness of the night, a second-floor window quietly opened a crack. The alley below was empty.

An agile figure climbed down the water pipe with her bare hands and disappeared into the darkness.

When Lin Yan arrived at the agreed-upon location, Song Yuhang was already waiting.

Seeing her run over, she finally let out a long breath and went to meet her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Lin Yan shook her head. “It took some effort, but I finally shook them.”

The long run and climb had left her slightly out of breath. Song Yuhang’s heart ached. She pulled her along the base of a wall, avoiding the blind spots of the road surveillance, and entered a small inn.

The proprietress was slumped in a chair. Seeing someone enter, she lazily raised an eyebrow. “ID.”

Song Yuhang directly pulled out double the room price in cash and placed it on the counter.

The proprietress sat up, counted the money with a wide grin, and tossed them a set of keys.

“Straight ahead, up the stairs, and turn left.”

Just like that, the two of them used double the money to check into an unregistered inn⁷ that didn’t require identity registration.

To perfect their cover story and shake off their pursuers, Song Yuhang had deliberately left surveillance footage of herself and Lin Yan on the main street before checking into a large hotel. This type of hotel typically registers with the Ministry of Public Security, so anyone, with a simple check, could find out when and where she had checked in.

This applied to both the police and the unknown forces following them.

Lin Yan had followed the same plan. Her only worry was that separating would put Song Yuhang in danger.

But at that time, Lin Yan had gripped her hand, insisting they separate, and said in a low voice, “You have one copy of the evidence, and I have the other. They won’t make a rash move until they figure out who has it. Sticking together is the real danger. We separate.”

With that, she had resolutely pulled her hand from her grasp.

It wasn’t until this moment, after entering the room and locking the door behind them, tightly embracing the person in her arms, that Song Yuhang felt the heart that had been caught in her throat finally settle back into her stomach.

Lin Yan buried her face in her neck and hugged her back.

As long as their feelings for each other were confirmed, she never held back her affection.

“Were you worried about me?”

Song Yuhang cupped her face, looking into her pupils where her own reflection could be seen.

She gave a bitter smile. “What else? I was scared to death.”

Lin Yan stood on her tiptoes, and Song Yuhang naturally wouldn’t let go of this opportunity she initiated.

---

“Because for most of us, just living already takes all our strength. So we study hard just to be able to live a better life, to change our own lives, to be able to buy the things we want, and to be able to pursue the person we like.”

“Success isn’t just about studying, but studying is indeed a shortcut to success. It doesn’t require you to pay any capital; it only requires you to work hard, and then work harder. Xiao Zhou, your teacher doesn’t want you to drop out of school. You have to keep going.”

Around noon, the teams regrouped for a brief case analysis meeting.

First was Zheng Chengrui: “I’ve checked the computer used by the deceased, Ding Xue, before her death. Nothing unusual, but when I checked her commonly used communication tools, I found traces of deleted chat records.”

Song Yuhang propped her chin on her hand, leaning against the chair. “With whom? When can they be recovered?”

A photo was enlarged on the screen. It was of a slightly overweight man wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a suit.

“The current principal of Jiangcheng City No. 1 High School, Ge Jun.”

Song Yuhang understood immediately. “This Ge Jun went on a business trip to the provincial capital on Friday, the day of the incident. He’s a potential suspect. Send someone to contact the provincial department and invite him back for tea.”

Zhang Jinhai paused, holding his teacup. “I’m afraid that’s not appropriate. After all, he’s the principal of a key municipal high school and a Deputy to the People’s Congress⁸. We should wait until the chat logs are recovered and we have conclusive evidence.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Song Yuhang. She showed no reaction, merely twirling the pen in her hand with a placid expression.

---

“Sh#t.” Song Yuhang cursed under her breath. Watching her float into the bathroom, her belly full of anger with nowhere to vent, she pulled a cigarette from her pocket and went to the window to smoke.

Peeking through the curtains, she saw that their location was perfect, directly opposite the dessert shop, offering a full view of its main entrance and courtyard.

The street was quiet, with only the occasional bark of a dog. In other words, if there was even the slightest movement from across the street, they would definitely hear it.

Song Yuhang took a flashlight from her backpack, pulled the window open a crack, and shined the beam onto the glass of the single-story building.

Guo Xiaoguang saw the spot of light on the floor and got up to turn on the electric lamp.

It flashed once and was quickly turned off.

This was their prearranged signal to confirm each other’s safety.

The knot in Song Yuhang’s chest finally loosened completely.

Lin Yan came out of the shower, drying her hair. Song Yuhang glanced over inadvertently and saw that she hadn’t tied her bathrobe. She instantly flew into a rage, lunging over and throwing a quilt over her, covering her up completely.

“You, behave yourself.”

Lin Yan struggled but was held down on the bed with a towel for a good rubbing. When her hair was mostly dry, Song Yuhang finally got up to take a shower.

The moment she left, Lin Yan emerged with a head of messy hair, threw the wet towel at her back, and shot her the middle finger.

Song Yuhang poked her head out of the bathroom. “That—”

Lin Yan immediately pulled the covers back over herself and lay down.

Song Yuhang chuckled, blew a cheerful whistle, and closed the bathroom door.

You little rascal, as if I can’t handle you.

After rushing about all day, Lin Yan was genuinely tired. She covered her mouth with her hand in a yawn and looked up at her. “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

Song Yuhang’s hair was still slightly damp from her shower, slicked back behind her ears. She propped herself up on one arm, lying on her side to face her.

“No, I have to keep an ear out for any movement from across the street.”

Lin Yan snuggled into her arms, wrapped her arms around her waist, and mumbled, “Then I’ll sleep first. I’ll take over if I wake up in the middle of the night.”

“Go to sleep.” Song Yuhang lovingly brushed a stray strand of hair from her cheek to behind her ear, her kiss landing gently on her forehead.

To let her sleep more soundly, she used one arm as a pillow for her and gently patted her back with the other, with no intention of letting her wake up during the night.

She slept dreamlessly, woken in the early morning by the sound of the rolling shutter door across the street being pulled up.

Guo Xiaoguang poked his head out cautiously. The sky had not yet fully brightened, and there were few pedestrians on the long street. He looked around before helping his mother out as well. He carried a huge travel bag on his back and dragged a suitcase in his hand. He quickly locked the door and hurried away with Guo Yuezhen.

The car Lin Yan had arranged was parked at the intersection.

Only after seeing them get into the car safely did Lin Yan, sleepy-eyed, fall back onto the bed.

“Ah, it’s still early. Let’s sleep a little more, just a little more.”

Song Yuhang chuckled, tickling her. “Weren’t you making such a fuss last night? Hmm?”

“Hahaha, stop—hey!”

While they were playing around, another affair was also drawing to a close.

A man stood before a full-length mirror, buttoning his shirt. Compared to Lin Youyuan, he was young and vigorous, without a shred of excess fat on his body. Even waking up in the morning, he was refreshed and energetic, his hair impeccably styled.

He seemed to have a habit of getting his hair cut regularly, never letting his hair or beard grow wild.

This meticulousness in his lifestyle was also destined to make him rigid in bed.

The woman was somewhat insatiable. She got out of bed barefoot and wrapped her arms around his waist.

The man’s hand, which was shaving, froze. He looked down, his voice still gentle and soft, even as his mind was already contemplating: what kind of specimen would this hand make?

“What is it?”

The woman’s hand slid down along his pelvic triangle. “When are you going to give me this? I want…”

The man pressed her hand down, turned around, and smiled. “Didn’t I tell you? We’ll talk after you get his will.”

“But—” The woman frowned, shaking his arm and whining coquettishly.

“Things are already like that, the company is about to collapse, and he still won’t give in. What can I do?”

The man gave a meaningful smile, lifted her hand, and kissed it lightly. “Well, that depends on your abilities.”

---

Guo Xiaoguang finally breathed a sigh of relief after getting into the minivan. He helped his mother sit down and fastened her seatbelt.

The driver in the front seat, wearing sunglasses, turned his head. “Mr. Guo?”

Guo Xiaoguang nodded and handed over a business card. “Miss Lin asked me to find you.”

The man looked down at the card for a moment, and a strange smile suddenly appeared at the corners of his lips.

Not good! Guo Xiaoguang’s heart skipped a beat as he inwardly thought. He pushed on the car door, but it didn’t budge. When he looked up again, a gun was pressed against his forehead.

“Son, Xiaoguang, Xiaoguang, what’s wrong?” The old woman heard the commotion and reached out, fumbling.

Guo Xiaoguang gripped his mother’s hand, his own slick with cold sweat. He swallowed hard. “It’s nothing, Mom. This big brother is just chatting with me.”

A slight smile appeared on the man’s face. He knows what’s good for him.

He holstered the gun and started the car. “Let’s go. My boss wants to see you. Don’t keep him waiting.”

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LP: Re-translated on June 17, 2025

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