The Same Fate Awaits All Sins Chapter 5

Malice – 05

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"Are there any pictures of Zhang Bin?" Gu Yanta reached for his cigarette pack.

"Yes, I'll bring it up right away."

Just as Chen Chen finished speaking, a loud bang resounded as the portable projector in Gu Yanta's hand hurled itself dramatically towards the floor, shattering into pieces.

"Boss!!! That's already the third one this month!" Chen Chen wailed.

"Ahem... just blame it on my 'divine right hand,'" Gu Yanta tried to cover up. "Chen Chen, put it back together first, see if it's still usable, this thing's quality is awful."

Jiang Ziyu and Ma Qin looked unfazed, clearly accustomed to the spectacle.

As Chen Chen was busy reassembling the projector, Liang Shan entered through the door.

"Boss, Wei Liang's psychiatric evaluation is out. The specialists have preliminarily confirmed that he's suffered from chronic autistic depression and schizophrenia for years. In his current state, he's also experiencing severe post-traumatic stress disorder from shock. Given his mental state, he's almost certainly incapable of committing the crime in this case and will likely struggle to cooperate with the investigation," Liang Shan reported, glancing at the evaluation report in his hands.

"Impressive, Old Gu, where'd you manage to find specialists at this hour?" Jiang Ziyu remarked.

"Ai, all thanks to Old Lin, without him, we wouldn't have managed so quickly," Gu Yanta said. "I owe Old Lin another favour. Today's actually his fiancée's birthday, but here they are, he's off shovelling a corpse and she's doing a psychiatric assessment for a suspect. It may be Old Lin's duty, but his fiancée helped us out voluntarily, we'll definitely have to thank them properly once the case is closed."

Chen Chen fixed the projector, and Zhang Bin's photo popped up on the screen. As expected, he looked remarkably similar to Wei Liang.

During his "life", Zhang Bin had worked as an electrician in a shopping mall for several years, which explained why Wei Liang, despite having no work history, was able to secure a job as a repairman at the property company so easily.

"Alright, now that we have a new target, focus the investigation on Zhang Bin and look into the accident from a year ago. Find out how he managed to 'come back from the dead,'" Gu Yanta said, waving away the smoke in front of him. "Everyone go home and get some rest. We'll sharpen our tools before chopping wood, we'll focus on the investigation tomorrow morning. Meeting adjourned!"

At six a.m., Gu Yanta stumbled at the bathroom door. "Fuck!" he muttered, instinctively bracing himself against the door with his elbow.

Following yesterday's stubbed toe, his elbow had now heroically sustained its own blow. Gu Yanta slapped a large band-aid over it and finally headed out the door.

He was staring at his jianbing with five extra eggs, lost in thought, when a tall figure appeared in the breakfast shop. It was Lu Zheng!

"Captain Gu, how's your foot doing?" Lu Zheng maintained his usual calm tone.

"Scared the hell out of me! You little devil! What a coincidence! What are you doing here?" Gu Yanta grabbed his jianbing and soy milk, took a bite, and mumbled, "What do you want to eat? Big Brother will treat you!"

After yesterday's unusual burst of nerves, Gu Yanta felt much more at ease, and he spoke more casually with Lu Zheng.

"Thank you, Captain Gu, but I've already eaten," Lu Zheng replied.

"Do you live nearby?" Gu Yanta asked.

"No, I actually came here specifically to wait for Captain Gu."

"Wait for me? You're here to gather intel again, aren't you? The investigation's still ongoing, so I can't disclose any details!" Gu Yanta continued, "Hang on! How did you know where I live? You dare to stalk the captain of the criminal investigation team?!"

"I... I didn't!"

"You're still quibbling, why else would you be here blocking my path so early in the morning" Gu Yanta felt a faint satisfaction as he said "blocking."

"I noticed the unfinished breakfast bag on your desk yesterday. This chain only has one branch in the district where the city bureau is," Lu Zheng replied, glancing at Gu Yanta's injured elbow. "Captain Gu, injured again?"

"What do you mean, 'again'? And how did you know that my foot was injured? Do you have nothing better to do than stare at handsome guys all day?" Gu Yanta spoke while eating, too busy to worry about appearances as he needed to get to the bureau and sort things out.

"Sorry, Captain Gu, it's just a professional habit. You know I studied psychology, so I subconsciously observe people. Yesterday, I noticed one of your shoes was a size bigger than the other, and you were limping a bit now and then. I guessed you might have injured a toe, and judging by your elbow today, this seems to be a frequent occurrence." Lu Zheng took a bottle of medicine from his bag and handed it to Gu Yanta. "Captain Gu, you must already know my family's in the pharmaceutical business, although I've been in management in recent years, but we still keep the family's traditional remedies. This one's specifically for bruises and sprains, give it a try."

"What's this? Trying to bribe an officer? Alright, I'll accept it in the spirit of your filial piety, but I still can't share details of the case. Don't worry, I'll keep your family updated if there's any news." Gu Yanta laughed heartily as he opened the door and got into the driver's seat of his beat-up Jeep. "Need a lift?"

"No need, Captain Gu, I drove here," Lu Zheng pointed.

Following Lu Zheng's finger, Gu Yanta spotted a black Bentley and teased, "Rich kids are different, huh? Quite a mature choice for someone as young as you."

"Ah... I don't really care much about cars, I just use whatever my brother gives me," Lu Zheng replied earnestly, though his tone remained calm. "I heard that practising knitting can help improve clumsiness. Apologies, Captain Gu, I don't mean to offend, I just didn't know how else to put it, it's just a suggestion."

"Knitting... You little devil, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" Gu Yanta shut his car door with a thud. "Alright, I'm off! Goodbye!"

Lu Zheng watched as the battered Jeep turned out of the intersection, then turned around, got into his car and headed towards the Haibei campus of Yuchuan University.

City bureau.

"The autopsy report is out. This puddle of sludge makes up about two-thirds of the entire body, the rest is likely stuck under the wheels of the trucks," Lin Feiyu said, looking exhausted. "Luckily, there was half a skull left, and an analysis of the remaining hair confirms a paternal relationship with Wei Liang. We can identify the victim as Zhang Bin. Additionally, the hair tested positive for drugs, confirming he used drugs before his death."

"Zhang Bin used drugs? Could that have something to do with him being found in the middle of nowhere with valuable items on him in the dead of night?" Jiang Ziyu wondered.

"It's very likely, and it probably ties into his faked death in the car accident a year ago," Ma Qin agreed.

"Right now these are just speculations, the details remain to be verified," Gu Yanta said, taking a drag and recalling Lu Zheng's analysis of the crime scene yesterday. "Old Jiang, take a team to investigate the people around Zhang Bin and his staged accident. Ma Qin and Liang Shan, coordinate with the narcotics team next door to check Zhang Bin's drug connections. Chen Chen and I will investigate the social circle of the victim, Lu Yu, to see if there might be any other suspects."

"Yes, sir!"

"Boss, didn't we already look into Lu Yu's social circle yesterday? Are there other doubts?" Chen Chen asked, puzzled.

"I'm not sure, but my intuition tells me Zhang Bin wasn't the killer, and his death wasn't a straightforward accident. It might also be connected to the Lu Yu case."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: November 14, 2024 by Angel

Edited: November 30, 2024 by Angel & Soojin