Chapter 115: The Decade-Old Case

"Hello. You probably only know my name, so let me introduce myself first," Guo Yanzhi said after sitting down, hesitating for a long time before he could speak. "My name is Guo Yanzhi. I hold a doctorate in criminal psychology from Guangzhou Police University, and I currently serve as a teaching assistant there."

"If you studied criminal psychology, why didn't you become a police officer?" Xia Yubing asked, puzzled.

"That leads to what I’m about to say. I suffer from severe avoidant personality disorder. In layman’s terms, I have social anxiety. I am terrified of talking to people." As he spoke, Guo Yanzhi nervously rubbed his hands together, his palms already slick with sweat.

"Then how do you manage to teach students as a teaching assistant?"

Guo Yanzhi explained, "When I stand on the podium, I just stick to my lecture. I don’t care if anyone is listening, and I never take questions from students. As long as the delivery is routine and ends as soon as I finish, I can just barely manage it."

"That’s not quite right..." Lu Feng shook his head. "The day Zhou Fuqu invited you to the barbecue party, you went."

"Let me explain. Fuqu was my desk mate in high school. Throughout those three years, she was practically the only person I spoke to. I know she only made me her friend out of pity. As for the party, I originally wasn't going to go, but after I found out Wang Huawen would be there, I called Fuqu to tell her I was coming." Guo Yanzhi kept his eyes fixed on the water glass in front of him, as if speaking to the glass rather than to Lu Feng and Xia Yubing.

Lu Feng sensed that Guo Yanzhi had more to say, so he listened in silence.

"When I was a senior in high school, something happened to my younger sister. She was strangled in a storage room near the school playground... The killer was never found. That day, during gym class, I saw Wang Huawen coming out of that storage room. When I testified in court, the lawyer knew about my mental condition and kept pressuring me. I couldn't get the words out..."

At this point, Guo Yanzhi’s hands trembled as he took off his glasses. He continued, "The following week, Wang Huawen left to study abroad. It was only three months before the college entrance exams; he didn't even take them, he just left."

Guo Yanzhi’s expression grew indignant. "So, I’ve always suspected that Wang Huawen raped my sister and then killed her. Back then, I heard that Wang Huawen’s father was a very powerful man, with a rank higher than the police chief. I didn't believe it. I had originally wanted to study computer science, but after the entrance exams, I applied to the police academy. I studied while investigating my sister's case, but I never made any progress. Because Wang Huawen had been abroad for so many years, I was helpless—until last month, when he returned."

"I heard he was going to the party Fuqu was hosting, so I went. That day, I actually knew I shouldn't have eaten so many skewers, and it wasn't that I was seduced by those two models. It was my social anxiety; I just wanted them to go away. They wouldn't leave unless I ate the skewers, so I had no choice but to keep eating." Guo Yanzhi pulled out a handkerchief to wipe away his tears, then began cleaning his glasses, his hands still shaking.

Lu Feng was surprised; the truth was far beyond what he had expected.

"Then what is your intention in coming to me?" Lu Feng asked.

"I haven't finished... let me finish. If I get interrupted, I won't know how to continue... After Wang Huawen returned to the country, I followed him whenever I had the chance, hoping to find a clue. Perhaps my sister was watching over me, because one day I discovered him drinking with a thug. I looked at the guy and felt he looked familiar. After I ran a check on him, I realized he was a classmate from high school. We weren't in the same class, and I barely even knew the people in my own class, so I wasn't familiar with him. But I remember clearly that during gym class that day, he and another boy were guarding the door of the storage room, not even letting other boys in to smoke. They looked like they were keeping watch..."

As he listened, Lu Feng’s brow began to furrow.

Guo Yanzhi kept wiping his lenses with his handkerchief, cleaning the left one, then the right, then repeating the process. "I started investigating that thug and found out that after Wang Huawen went abroad that year, this guy also transferred schools, and his family immediately bought a house in the city. The same thing happened with the other boy who had been standing watch; after transferring, his family suddenly had enough money to open a small supermarket. I suspected someone had paid them off. When you add in the fact that they transferred schools so close to the exams, and Wang Huawen’s sudden departure, I became more and more convinced that my sister’s death was linked to him."

Looking at Guo Yanzhi’s anxious, almost pathological demeanor, Lu Feng believed his story, but that was all—he simply believed it.

"Why tell me all this? Do you want me to help you find evidence?" Lu Feng asked.

"That won't be necessary. In fact, I’ve already found all the evidence I could. My major is criminal investigation, and I have university classmates working in the police force and the prosecutor's office. I’ve gathered everything, but it’s a decade-old case, and it’s very difficult to reopen it now. I’ve submitted materials to the police anonymously several times, but there’s been no response." Guo Yanzhi sighed. "I can guess why. Wang Huawen’s father is the Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, who oversees the police, the procuratorate, and the courts. My files never even reached the right desks. That’s why I chose to submit them anonymously. Still, I was suspected, and the office director at my university even pulled me in for a talk."

"So what do you want to do? What is the point of coming to us?" Lu Feng asked.

A flash of ruthlessness suddenly crossed Guo Yanzhi’s slightly chubby face. He pressed his thumb against the lens he was holding, popping it right out of the frame. "I want to avenge my sister. If the police won't handle it, I’ll do it myself!"

Lu Feng and Xia Yubing exchanged a look, both frowning as they stared at Guo Yanzhi.

Since Guo Yanzhi’s research specialty was criminal psychology, he knew exactly what they were thinking. He answered directly, "I know what you're thinking. Yes, I suspect you’ll find a way to kill Wang Huawen, and I also know that you two are the ones who likely killed Ye Wuhua. You don’t need to be surprised; I’m not guessing based on intuition. In fact, the night Su Muyu was taken to the bar, I was tailing Wang Huawen. After Ms. Xia entered Wang Huawen’s room, I was listening at the door for a while. So, I know you have impressive skills, and that one of you must have killed Ye Wuhua."

Lu Feng glanced at Xia Yubing, who shrugged, indicating she hadn't noticed him.

"I studied criminal investigation solely to avenge my sister. That’s why, in school, I was top of my class in every subject except combat, and I was recommended for graduate studies. I’m not good at fighting, but I am a professional at tailing. It’s no surprise you didn't notice me."

"I am truly sorry to hear about what you've gone through," Lu Feng said. "But I still have to ask: why tell me this? What do you want?"

"I know Wang Huawen has bodyguards now, and I just found out he’s booked a flight to the United States in three days. I’ve waited ten years; I absolutely cannot wait another ten. I must avenge my sister before he escapes again," Guo Yanzhi said, gritting his teeth.