Chapter 680: Killer Partners

The truth came so suddenly that even Lin Dongxue was surprised. However, upon reflection, it made sense that it was Shufen Chu who had mentioned 39 was Ma Xiang. There was no actual evidence besides her words, misleading everyone.

According to the previous assumptions, 39 and the killer “Yi Zhi” were partners. Could they actually be a couple of thieves?

Chen Shi looked at Shufen Chu and asked calmly, “I have one question for you. Are you a woman?”

“What… do you mean?” Ai Ying and the others were completely baffled.

Shufen Chu pressed her lips tightly together, then said after a long pause, “I never thought someone would figure it out in my lifetime. Did you guess it, or did I give myself away?”

“A bit of both.”

Pointing to Chang Juan’s seat, Shufen Chu said, “Let me sit there and slowly answer your questions. Also, please release Chang Juan. I killed Ma Xiang.”

“No, Ma Xiang wasn’t killed by her,” Chang Juan interjected.

“Enough, there’s no need to lie in front of the police at this point,” Shufen Chu sighed, finally looking relieved after being exposed. “Chang Juan, you did well. I promised to avenge you, and I did. Ma Xiang deserved to die, and now I will face legal punishment.”

Chang Juan frowned, seeming a bit unwilling.

“I don’t quite understand,” Ai Ying said. “How can Shufen be 39? Then who is 22?”

“She is both 39 and 22. It’s easy to play two characters online. She’s the real mastermind,” Chen Shi explained.

Lin Dongxue asked the others to leave the room for a moment. Shufen Chu sat down in the interrogation chair, and Chen Shi asked if she wanted tea. She replied blandly, “Give me a cigarette.”

“Aren’t you suffering from lung cancer?” Chen Shi asked tentatively.

Shufen Chu’s eyes widened slightly, “It doesn’t matter. I don’t have many days left anyway.”

“It’s better not to smoke. I’ll get you some water.”

Holding the cup, Shufen Chu said, “I can tell you what really happened that night. I initially planned to use Chang Juan to guide the police to catch Ma Xiang without revealing myself. However, I realized it was too difficult. Ma Xiang gradually became suspicious, and your police curiosity made it hard for me. My plan couldn’t be carried out, but I promised Chang Juan to avenge her. So, that night, I tricked Ma Xiang into the abandoned villa, telling him I found the loose end he wanted to eliminate.

“When they met, Chang Juan was very emotional and questioned why he killed her parents. Ma Xiang didn’t answer and prepared to attack her. I caught him off guard and stabbed him. He fell and asked why…”

Chen Shi asked, “We also want to know why.”

Shufen Chu sighed, “You could say it was the repentance of a terminally ill killer or my love for Chang Juan, hoping to compensate her somehow.”

“If your goal was to kill Ma Xiang, why did Ai Ying receive your message?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“I didn’t send him a message. He must have tracked Chang Juan’s phone with some app. When he arrived, he contacted me and said the police were with him. Thanks to his message, I wasn’t caught by you. I quickly instructed Chang Juan and left, meeting you three on the way.”

Lin Dongxue was stunned, recalling Shufen Chu indeed being at the resort at the time, not suspecting her at all.

“What did you tell Chang Juan?”

“‘Take the blame on yourself. I’ll protect you.’ I told her. I hold 61% of her shares, so she must obey me unconditionally. You already know she’s a ‘living puppet,’ so even if she seems suspicious, you wouldn’t doubt her. Besides, I trust your investigation skills.”

“Why go through all this trouble if you wanted to help Chang Juan and had a terminal illness?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“Because I can’t be caught yet. I have things to take care of. I wrote a confession letter that will be sent to the police when I die. Chang Juan will be fine. This time, only the bad guys will die.”

“What is your relationship with Ma Xiang?” Chen Shi asked.

“First, to answer your previous question, I used to be a man. Ten years ago, something happened, forcing me to live as a woman. My old name was Shuxiong Chu, and I was Ma Xiang’s partner in crime. It sounds cool, but we were like the bumbling crooks in ‘Crazy Stone,’ with mediocre skills, always hoping to strike it rich. Our biggest hit was a contract to kill the Chang family of three, with the client paying handsomely to ensure it was clean.

“We acted when they were out, only to find the little girl didn’t go with them. But we proceeded anyway. Ma Xiang, that pervert, got excited, and I tried to calm him, but he didn’t listen. He raped Chang Juan’s mother, Shen Yan, while tying Chang Qing as a spectator. It was sickening… I couldn’t bear it.

“After his disgusting urge was satisfied, he killed the couple, and we staged the scene and left. Later, the client’s men found us, taking us somewhere. I had a bad feeling… Sure enough, the client knew what we did and wanted to deal with us. I was desperate. It was all Ma Xiang’s doing, but I had to suffer too. We were beaten severely. We begged for mercy, and the client said we liked to play, so we should play there. He forced us to get intimate in front of everyone.

“To survive, we had to pretend, but nothing happened because we weren’t gay. Even if we were, we couldn’t perform under those conditions. The client got impatient and… castrated me, forcing Ma Xiang to…”

Shufen Chu’s face twitched as she struggled to continue, “Then he forced Ma Xiang to rape me…”

Finally breaking down, Shufen Chu covered her face, sobbing, “It’s been ten years, but I can’t forget. It’s an eternal nightmare. I couldn’t be a man anymore, nor a eunuch, so I took hormone shots and lived as a woman. Ma Xiang couldn’t perform after that. Though he committed those rapes and murders, he needed a special tool. We got married… It sounds funny, but it was just nominal. At our age, not having a family would arouse suspicion, but we couldn’t have a normal family.”

Silence enveloped the interrogation room, suffocating everyone. After a minute, Chen Shi asked, “Who was the client, and why did he want Chang Juan’s parents killed?”

“I don’t know his name or why he wanted them dead. I only know the contact person was called Zhou Tiannan.”