Chapter 768: The Little Girl’s True Identity

On the way back to the police station, Chen Shi suddenly said, “That girl isn’t Han Meng.”

“What?” Lin Dongxue was startled. “I thought so too. Captain Peng examined her; she’s just an ordinary little girl. Han Meng couldn’t be that age.”

Chen Shi stared at his reflection in the rearview mirror and said, “She said in the interrogation room that a person can’t tell if they’re dreaming, just like now. Even though you all say this is reality, it might not be.”

“Hey, are you still not fully recovered?” Lin Dongxue asked nervously.

Chen Shi smiled and shook his head. “Don’t worry. Listen to my analysis. We were all hypnotized. If this girl did it, her cryptic words should have affected me, but they didn’t. This proves she’s not the hypnotist. She’s here to divert attention. Han Meng wants to kill all her classmates. Only three died today. I think the suspect has more planned. After Xiaodong’s incident last night, the surveillance was interrupted, and these people were hypnotized last night. It’s that woman; she is Han Meng! Yes, the age matches!”

“Then who is this little girl?”

“If my guess is right, she’s Han Meng’s biological daughter. It’s quite possible for a daughter to resemble her mother at that age.”

“That’s uncanny!”

After arriving at this conclusion, Chen Shi couldn’t wait any longer. He swung the steering wheel and headed straight for the old house.

The alley was still quiet, with few people around. Xu Xiaodong’s car was still parked there. Lin Dongxue knocked on the window, and Xu Xiaodong, who was listening to music, took off his headphones, surprised. “Why are you here?”

“Has anyone come out of the house today?” Chen Shi asked.

“No, that woman has been upstairs watching TV. Look, you can see her back from the second-floor window.”

“Let’s go check it out!”

“Are we just going to knock on the door?”

“We have a legitimate reason,” Chen Shi said, looking at Lin Dongxue.

“Since the little girl is suspected of murder, it’s legitimate to investigate her family,” she confirmed.

The three approached the old house. Lin Dongxue was about to knock when Chen Shi gestured for her to stop. He took out his tools and picked the lock. The first floor was as cold and empty as ever, but the big iron cage was empty.

Xu Xiaodong was surprised. “I didn’t see that man come out!”

“Let’s check downstairs!” Chen Shi suggested.

They went upstairs to find the “mistress” watching TV from the back. It was Liu Tao, dressed in women’s clothes and wearing a wig. Startled by their sudden intrusion, he asked, “Who let you up here?”

“Why are you pretending to be your wife? Where is she?” Chen Shi demanded.

“I don’t know! I don’t know!” Liu Tao cradled his head, trembling.

“Who is your wife? Is she Han Meng?” Chen Shi pressed.

Liu Tao’s eyes widened, and he mechanically denied, “I don’t know, I know nothing!”

Realizing they wouldn’t get more from him, Chen Shi pulled Lin Dongxue aside. “Where did the people who attended the gathering go?”

“The hypnotized ones are temporarily detained. The others left.”

“Contact them and find out.”

Chen Shi dialed the class president’s number but couldn’t get through. He had a bad feeling. “Track their phone numbers!”

Lin Dongxue notified the bureau to trace the numbers, but they couldn’t locate any of them.

“Maybe the detained ones know where they went,” Lin Dongxue suggested.

“Let’s hurry back!”

They rushed back to the station, which was nearly full with Han Meng’s former classmates. Lin Dongxue questioned one of the men. “Did the class president mention where you’d go after the gathering?”

The man, playing solitaire in his cell, looked up with a grin. “Not telling you!”

“They think they’re still dreaming, just like you did,” Lin Dongxue whispered.

“I wasn’t this childish in my dream…” Chen Shi used a coaxing tone. “Do you want some food? Tell us, and we’ll buy you something good.”

The man glanced at Lin Dongxue. “Tell me her measurements.”

“Cut it out!” Lin Dongxue snapped. “Forget it, let’s ask someone else!”

“Fine, fine, I’ll talk…” The man relented. “The class president chartered a bus. We were supposed to visit our old school after the gathering and stay there overnight… I mean, tomorrow night, because I’m still dreaming, hehe!”

“License plate number!”

“Who remembers plate numbers? I can’t do that!”

They asked a few others but got no answers. Finally, they called the charter company and found out the information.

The police checked the traffic control system, spending nearly three hours tracking the bus. It left the hotel at noon, took several routes, and was now parked near an abandoned factory on the outskirts.

Lin Dongxue said, “Isn’t it strange? After what happened this morning, they’d still follow the plan to visit the old school?”

“The bus indeed kept moving after the gathering ‘ended.’ It might be a decoy, like the little girl, a distraction. Let’s not rush in blindly. The three of us will go check it out first,” Chen Shi decided.

They drove there and found the abandoned bus by the roadside at dusk. The bus was empty. Chen Shi checked it; it was clean, as if no one had been on it except the driver.

Considering potential dangers, Lin Dongxue and Xu Xiaodong carried their guns. They entered the nearby factory, overgrown with s and filled with abandoned machinery. Inside, it was pitch dark.

Suddenly, gunshots echoed, startling Lin Dongxue and Chen Shi. They ran toward the sound, finding Xu Xiaodong standing in an old workshop, staring ahead, his gun smoking. “Something jumped out. I got scared and fired!”

“Don’t shoot recklessly!” Lin Dongxue scolded.

“Did I… hit someone?” Xu Xiaodong worried.

Chen Shi saw a knife and a trail of blood on the ground. “You reacted quickly. That person probably meant to harm you.”

Xu Xiaodong swallowed nervously.

They followed the blood trail, which gradually faded, ending in a corner. Lin Dongxue and Xu Xiaodong aimed their guns at the noise, which sounded like an animal.

Exchanging puzzled looks, Chen Shi asked, “Got any food?”

“I have an unfinished pack of biscuits,” Xu Xiaodong said.

Chen Shi tossed the biscuits on the ground and signaled them to retreat. The hidden creature, thinking they had left, emerged, lured by the biscuits. At first glance, it looked like an alien but turned out to be a hairless monkey. Despite a gunshot wound to its shoulder, it couldn’t resist the food.

“Look at its hands!” Chen Shi pointed.

Lin Dongxue noticed sutures on the monkey’s wrists. Its hands looked peculiar—like two human hands!