Chapter 292: Must the Dead Be the Wicked?

Chen Shi didn’t hesitate. He used his shoulder to force the door open. Inside, the room was in disarray, and on the bed lay a middle-aged man covered in blood, with a half-empty beverage bottle on the nearby table.

Behind him, a scream rang out—it was the audio shop owner from earlier.

Chen Shi flashed his consultant badge, “Don’t worry, I’m with the police.”

“A murder, huh?”

“Just stay put for now.”

“Oh come on, you’re not suspecting me, are you? We’re neighbors, even if there’s competition, I wouldn’t resort to this…”

“I’m not suspecting you, just want to get the facts straight.”

Chen Shi had already called the station. He asked the owner, “Do you know this person?”

“Xu Nianqiang, yeah.”

“What do you know about him?”

“Everyone on this street calls him Teacher Xu. I heard he used to be a school teacher. He was a kind man, always smiling, especially good with kids. Neighbor Sister Li’s child even got math tutoring from him; praised him for being a good teacher and a good person. I used to ask him why he didn’t keep teaching—think about those summer and winter breaks, but he said it didn’t pay well and he wanted to start his own business.”

“And his personal connections?”

“Excellent, always smiling at everyone…”

“That’s not what I meant. I’m asking who he knew, does he have family?”

“I heard he’s divorced, the kids went with their mom. In his fifties and living alone, he used to jog every morning. I was wondering why he hadn’t opened up shop today, turns out this happened… tsk tsk, officer, who would do this?”

“Did you see any suspicious people entering his place today?”

“No.”

Unnoticed, a crowd of onlookers had gathered behind the owner. An elderly lady said, “I saw a man knocking on his door this morning. Teacher Xu opened it, they talked for a bit, then he let him in.”

Chen Shi showed a photo of Wang Sunxu on his phone, “Was it him?”

“I didn’t see his face, but he was about this tall, dressed in black, carrying a bag.”

It was undoubtedly Wang Sunxu. Perhaps Xu Nianqiang himself hadn’t expected that he was opening his door to a grim reaper.

Chen Shi told the crowd to disperse and went back inside, shutting the door. He checked the body; the estimated time of death was about ten hours ago. What shocked Chen Shi was the extent of the blood; the white shirt was almost pink, riddled with numerous stabs.

The fury and frenzy Wang Sunxu must have felt during the murder were palpable, even more uncontrolled than when he had killed those who had previously bullied him.

Chen Shi picked up the bottle from the table, unscrewed the cap, and sneered, “The old trick of murder by bottle cap, still playing this game after the west mirror trick was exposed?”

Looking around the room, Chen Shi saw shelves full of classic literature and weight training equipment. The bathroom was immaculately clean, even the grout between the tiles was spotless.

It was evident that Xu was a disciplined and cultured man.

In the middle of the bookshelf, he found two leather-bound notebooks. The first was filled with newspaper clippings, all of them student essays published in the paper, invariably from the Thirty-Seventh Middle School and all recommended by Xu Nianqiang.

The second notebook was even more surprising, detailing many students’ birthdays, hobbies, and family backgrounds. It appeared to have been maintained over many years. Among the earliest entries was Wang Sunxu’s name, noting, “January 14, 1990, comes from a peculiar family background. His brother, Wang Sunman, is a convicted felon. The boy is inherently self-conscious, tends to act tough, likes are unclear, strong-willed and stubborn, the main issue is escaping his brother’s shadow.”

Chen Shi took photos with his phone for later visits to these students who might have been classmates with Wang Sunxu.

Glancing back at the brutally disfigured corpse, it was hard to see anything but a good teacher. Could it be that he was hiding some dark secrets?

Just then, police sirens wailed outside. Chen Shi opened the door to see Lin Dongxue and Peng Sijue arriving together, with Peng saying, “Two cases at once, we’re spread thin.”

“No worries, the space is small, one person should manage.”

“You take the photos.” Peng handed over a camera.

“I’ll do it. He’s inexperienced,” said Lin Dongxue.

Learning the victim was Xu Nianqiang shocked Lin Dongxue, who repeatedly confirmed with Chen Shi, “Are you sure it’s