Chapter 32

Chapter 32: The Tragic Joy (32)

The email that appeared on Sui Xing's computer was anonymous, sent from overseas, and routed through a complex set of proxies, making it difficult to pinpoint the sender's location. The email contained an encrypted attachment, with the name "0730" in the file name.

"0730? July 30th?" Haishu's heart raced. "Can you open it?"

Sui Xing brought up the task frame, with the code flashing through rapidly. "Decrypting now, Captain Haishu, I have a strong feeling about this!"

Haishu said, "This email is related to the Moonrise Villa, and the sender is connected to the pinhole camera in Guang Yongguo's office!"

Sui Xing’s fingers trembled slightly with excitement, and Haishu paced restlessly behind her. Half an hour later, Sui Xing managed to open the encrypted video.

It was an 80-minute video. When first opened, the image was still, but upon closer inspection, it became clear that no one had passed in front of the camera. Haishu, who had been in almost every corner of the Moonrise Villa, recognized it as being near the side door of the main building.

At 3 minutes and 5 seconds, the image moved. Two men in suits walked by, one of them turning around, seemingly waiting for someone. At 3 minutes and 23 seconds, a girl dressed in a short-sleeved sports set with a crossbody bag walked into the frame. Her hair was down, and she looked around nervously.

Haishu whispered, "Liu Xiang."

The time on the video clearly showed it was 2 PM on July 30th. Liu Xiang had exited the subway and completed the payment at 10:30 AM. Although her whereabouts during the three hours in between were unclear, her appearance at the Moonrise Villa matched the police’s earlier speculation.

The suited man spoke to Liu Xiang, who smiled awkwardly and followed him into the villa.

Then there was a long blank period. The video had been edited, with parts fast-forwarded. At 3:50 PM, Guang Yongguo and three other middle-aged men, who had previously been questioned, appeared. They were chatting and laughing, looking like they were heading to a banquet.

The scene shifted to the villa’s interior, showing a nine-frame grid with calm hallways, empty lounges, neat bedrooms, and a steamy artificial hot spring…

In the middle frame, Liu Xiang reappeared, now wearing a white lace robe. The time displayed was 5 PM.

"Not a robe," Sui Xing clenched her fist. "To many, that’s a princess dress."

Liu Xiang’s hair had also been styled differently—her long straight hair curled and held in place with a small hairpin. A light makeup look made her appear like an innocent doll. She stood alone in a European-style room, holding a fancy brand-name bag, but her face was filled with fear.

In other frames, Guang Yongguo and the others appeared. They sat in a Zen-style tea room, sipping expensive tea and playing with tea sets.

"This is..." Haishu paused the video and zoomed in. Guang Yongguo and the others were gathered around a table full of tea sets, with a flowing stream of water, artificial rocks, pavilions, and various tea pets to play with. Tea lovers often display such sets at home or in the office to show off their elegance.

Haishu, though not an expert in tea, immediately noticed that among those tea pets were things that clearly weren’t normal tea ornaments.

They were holding them, like they were rolling a string of prayer beads, their faces showing a disgusting greed.

Sui Xing said, "These people... they all have psychological issues, right?"

Haishu clicked the mouse, and the video continued. By now, it was 9:13 PM. The scene shifted back to the original setting. Guang Yongguo and the others appeared again, their buttons all fastened to the top, as if nothing had happened, yet their faces were full of satisfaction.

Another scene showed Liu Xiang with her head wet, wearing a bathrobe, standing in a different room—not the European-style room, but one that was narrower, with only a table and chairs visible.

She stood motionless for a long time, expressionless, and though there were no visible injuries, she gave the impression that the events of the past few hours had killed her inside. The figure standing there was nothing more than a shell.

At the end of the 80-minute video, at 11:06 PM, Liu Xiang followed the suited man out of the villa, looking like a wandering soul. She wore the same clothes as when she arrived in the afternoon, but her entire demeanor was hollow.

The video ended, and Sui Xing slammed the table in frustration. The video, in fact, did not contain any overtly invasive images; it had even been edited somewhat abstractly, but as a female police officer, Haishu could easily imagine what Liu Xiang had gone through.

"Kids like Liu Xiang are too easy to control. They don’t worry about her speaking out at all. A little threat, combined with money, is enough to keep her silent and keep getting into their cars," Haishu’s mind flashed with fragmented images—Liu Xiang returning to her empty dormitory during the holiday, repeatedly thinking of those disgusting events, unable to break free. How would they warn her?

"We have your photos, do you dare speak out? We’ll send them to your classmates, to your sister. You want to oppose us? Dream on, you’re just a poor student who has no tuition unless you work. Is this money enough? Be good, be obedient, you don’t want to make things harder for your sister, do you?"

Even if someone exposed them, it wouldn’t help because they hadn’t committed any substantial violation. Liu Xiang’s later autopsy report proved that.

Haishu suddenly understood the issue that had troubled her earlier. The Moonrise Villa was different from Gong Zhao. Its clients were generally over 50 years old. They didn’t crave possession of a particular boy or girl, and they didn’t even have the ability to do so, making their actions even more vile.

The video still needed further authentication, and Haishu consulted Qiao Heng. After watching it, Qiao Heng was equally shocked and cursed these people as shameless.

"Someone is watching the Moonrise Villa. They probably don’t genuinely want to help the police. Guang Yongguo has big problems behind him," Haishu said. "But this video came at the right time. Guang Yongguo denied ever meeting Liu Xiang before; let’s see what he says now."

Qiao Heng, however, said, "But as you said earlier, the person who sent this video might not necessarily want to help us. So what’s their goal in doing this... leading the police by the nose?"

Haishu said, "It’s a trap."

Qiao Heng asked, "Then should we take the bait?"

After a moment of silence, Haishu said, "This video can make Guang Yongguo admit that Liu Xiang once 'worked' at the Moonrise Villa, leading to her suicide, which then connects to the missing university student case. Captain Qiao, since someone has provided this clue, I have no reason to let it go."

Qiao Heng stood up. "Every step must be cautious. We’re now standing on the edge of a trap. The pinhole camera and this email are both too suspicious."

Haishu nodded. "I understand."

The video played in the interrogation room, and the moment Liu Xiang appeared, Guang Yongguo’s expression twisted into a grotesque grimace. Seeing the tea set on the table, his breathing became rapid and loud, like a water buffalo.

Haishu said, "Factory Director Guang, do you have anything to say?"

Guang Yongguo said in shock, "Who, who sent you this video?"

Haishu said, "Right now, I’m the one asking you questions. Didn’t you say you’ve never seen Liu Xiang? Then why is she in the villa?"

The appearance of this video was a fatal shock to Guang Yongguo. He must have already cleaned up all surveillance, confident that the police would never obtain any video or audio footage, just as he was confident that the police’s search of the villa had yielded no results.

So, when he saw the video, he became flustered. Haishu deliberately avoided asking "what happened that day" or similar questions, as if she already knew the details.

"The Moonrise Villa serves people of your age. You use various means to find girls like Liu Xiang—young, beautiful, poor, and simple. The amusement park is the most convenient place for you to hunt your prey. Once you deceive them into the villa, you essentially control them."

Guang Yongguo trembled in his chair. Haishu had never seen him so panicked. She continued, "I’m giving you a chance. Currently, I don’t have many ‘special guests’ in my possession. You need to cooperate with the investigation."

Guang Yongguo stopped shaking and quietly looked into Haishu’s eyes. "Liu Xiang’s death can’t be blamed on me. Everything that happened at the Moonrise Villa was based on the principle of consent."

Haishu furrowed her brows.

"I admit, Liu Xiang did work at the villa for a period of time, but the villa paid her appropriately, and no guests harmed her," Guang Yongguo slowly said. "I regret her suicide, but nowadays, university students are too fragile. They can’t handle stress and often lose hope. Liu Xiang should take responsibility for her choices; she was an adult."

Haishu said, "So you admit the Moonrise Villa indeed offered illegal services to its guests?"

Guang Yongguo lowered his head and was silent. After a long pause, he bitterly shook his head. "But I didn’t kill anyone. The suicide of Liu Xiang and the disappearance of Xue—whatever, none of that has anything to do with me."

Guang Yongguo provided a list of clients and a "tea girl list"—they referred to Liu Xiang and the others as "tea girls," meaning they were objects to be casually played with. The Criminal Investigation Team immediately took action, arresting people and verifying their statements. The "tea girls" were mostly young women who had recently turned 18, with a few males.

They said they had no idea that they were going to the villa to provide those services. They thought they would only be serving tea, at most accompanying someone for drinks. Desperate for money, they rushed to put themselves out there, even fearing that others might steal their opportunity. But when they were sent to those guests, they realized it was not as they had imagined. Regret came too late. Some adapted well, others were tortured, but the generous pay and power intimidation made them choose silence and obedience.

During the inquiry, some mentioned that certain guests were particularly cruel, and living people no longer satisfied them.

Haishu immediately asked, "Did someone die from being abused?"

This wasn’t news. There had been more than one person who had died from Gong Zhao’s abuse.

The "tea girls" shook their heads, explaining that they had only heard rumors, but the "tea girls" they knew were all alive and well. The guests preferred people who were already dead when brought before them.

Sui Xing threw her headphones down, feeling a chill down her spine.

The implicated wealthy guests had all been detained, and everyone denied ever having touched a corpse. Haishu continued to interrogate Guang Yongguo, who remained silent.

Haishu sent Sui Xing to meet Guang Jun to probe whether he knew about Guang Yongguo’s activities at the Moonrise Villa. Guang Jun looked confused. "Moonrise Villa? What does that have to do with me? How long will I be sentenced? I don’t want to stay in this damn place!"

When Guang Jun’s mother, Lu Xu, learned of Guang Yongguo’s actions, she responded far more calmly than expected, completely unlike her reaction when she first found out about her son’s crime.

"I’m not surprised by anything he does. He’s just that kind of person—craving power, enjoying controlling others, filthy."

The Guang family provided no useful leads. Haishu then took a team to the Moonrise Villa again. This time, they searched outside the villa; the large forest surrounding it had not been searched yet. Guang Yongguo’s silence made the "tea girls'" statements seem credible. Perhaps some of the victims had indeed been insulted after their death, and the forest might hold the secret.

Mountain searches require a large amount of police force and time. Haishu requested the help of the police dog team, and Qiao Heng sent additional support from the Criminal Investigation Team’s third unit. During the search, Haishu contacted Guang Yongguo, who was detained at the city bureau, to have him watch the ongoing search.

Guang Yongguo’s face was cold as he clenched his lips, trembling.

Haishu said, "Factory Director Guang, are you afraid?"

Guang Yongguo didn’t answer.

Haishu’s expression became stern. "I will dig out all your secrets, one by one."

By evening, during the mountain search, police dogs discovered something unusual in the southern part of the Moonrise Villa. After excavation, they uncovered twelve corpses!

Wen Xu arrived and conducted an on-site inspection of the remains. A preliminary judgment showed the time of death varied, with the earliest body already reduced to bones, and the most recent death not more than a year ago.

The corpses were immediately sent to the city bureau for detailed autopsy and identification. One of the remains, based on the bone structure, appeared to be an underage girl. The other five remains, aged between 40 and 50 (three males and two females), were buried in the same pit (Pit A) and had died about ten years ago.

The other six bodies were spread across different pits but very close to each other, essentially in the same area (Pit B). Among them, five were female and one male, aged between 20 and 25, with numerous cuts and formalin residue on their bodies.

They had not been buried immediately after death, but had undergone multiple dissections, being repeatedly cut open, stitched, and left unrecognizable.

Of the twelve bodies, DNA matching from Pit A yielded no results. However, the identities of the five bodies from Pit B were confirmed. Four were not from Huiyong City, and their families or friends had reported them missing, with DNA information already registered with the local police.

What shocked Haishu the most was the body numbered 7. She had died over ten years ago and had turned into a skeleton.

"Could it be her!"

It was Xu Qiao!

This result left everyone speechless. After Xu Qiao’s disappearance, the district police had spent considerable time searching for her but found nothing. Yin Canxi had spent years investigating, eventually discovering that Xu Qiao’s disappearance was connected to Guang Jun. She had found Xu Qiao's shoes and personal items, which led the police to Zhou Ping Town.

Under the pressure of Wan Zeyu's death, Guang Jun confessed to pushing Xu Qiao off a cliff. They even went to confirm her death. However, the police couldn't find Xu Qiao’s body at the location he provided. There wasn't even the substance left behind from natural decomposition.

Either Guang Jun was lying, or someone had taken Xu Qiao’s body after they left.

Haishu asked, "Is it Guang Yongguo? Did he take the body?"

Some broken clues connected together. The Guang family had high expectations for Guang Jun. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent him to a key school after he graduated from middle school. When his college entrance exam results weren’t good, they still spent money to send him to university. He had completely adapted to city life, and with Guang Yongguo’s connections, he could easily arrange a bright job for him in the city.

But Guang Yongguo forced Guang Jun to return to Zhou Ping Town, to live under his watch.

Because he knew Guang Jun was a useless fool, one who even failed at murder. Letting such a person roam outside of his sight would eventually bring trouble to himself.

Then whose remains were in Pit A? And who killed the bodies in Pit B that had been dissected?

Haishu re-interrogated the key employees of Moonrise Villa. Previously, they had been tight-lipped like Guang Yongguo, but when they saw the skeletons, they panicked. One person spoke up, and then everyone confessed.

"I didn’t kill anyone, I don’t know who they are! They were already dead when they were brought to us, already dissected and rotting! Uncle Guang told me to take them, and Uncle Guang told me to bury them! I’m just doing my job for money!"

"I... I arranged their posthumous appearances, changed their clothes, but I don’t know anything else! I didn’t dissect them! I was just responsible for making them look pretty, like merchandise!"

The common point in these testimonies was that they didn’t know when the bodies in Pit A were buried. The bodies in Pit B were sent to the villa, where they were dissected and broken apart, but that didn’t matter. The chemicals and stitches could make them whole again, and for some people, the bodies with scars were even more enticing. After being "decorated," these bodies became the villa's selling point. After a while, when they lost their market value, they were buried in pits to decay. They were clear on what happened to the bodies after they arrived at the villa, but no one knew who sent them.

One bodyguard even revealed the guests who had gotten close to the corpses, at least two people. After interrogation, the two no longer acted arrogantly and admitted to having "appreciated" the corpses at Moonrise Villa.

"It was recommended by Guang Yongguo. I don’t know who the dead person is or how he got the body. I didn’t kill anyone!"

Haishu stared at the stiff Guang Yongguo. "Do you have anything else to say?"

After a long pause, Guang Yongguo suddenly laughed. "You’re quite capable. After Gong Zhao, that little fool, got into trouble, I became a turtle hiding in its shell. Yet, here you are, this... this woman, you still managed to find me."

His tone made Haishu feel uncomfortable, but the interrogation had to continue.

"Why did Xu Qiao’s body end up in your hands?"

Guang Yongguo coughed roughly from his throat. "Why did it end up in my hands? Of course, it’s because Guang Jun is a fool!"

Long before Guang Jun had even finished high school, Guang Yongguo had already noticed that he wasn’t quite right. It was common for boys his age to have thoughts about their female classmates, but Guang Jun hid it so deeply, appearing especially gloomy. The class teacher once mentioned that Guang Jun often asked for leave on weekends. He was very meticulous, and Guang Yongguo immediately thought that Guang Jun must be doing something dishonorable.

Guang Jun never realized that while he was greedily eyeing Xu Qiao, there were even darker eyes watching him.

Guang Yongguo knew that his son was eyeing Xu Qiao but did nothing to stop it. Later, after Guang Jun entered university, he began to associate with the worst people in that third-rate school, and with the addition of Wan Zeyu, a natural-born killer, the things he had once only dared to imagine slowly became things he dared to think and do.

Haishu said, "A murderer? You knew how Wan Jiayong died, didn’t you?"

Guang Yongguo sneered. "The seed of a murderer is still a murderer. Wan Zeyu is just the next step up."

Haishu said, "Wasn't Wan Jiayong one of the people you collaborated with most closely back then? Did you know the origins of the bones in the furnace?"

Guang Yongguo fell silent. Half a minute later, he said, "I guessed it was them. They probably guessed I had figured it out too. For many years, we maintained a delicate balance, until we both seemed to have forgotten about it."

From Guang Yongguo’s expression, Haishu quickly thought of a possibility. "Did they eventually realize you were a future problem and try to eliminate you? Wan Zeyu knew what his father had done, didn’t he? Did you tell Wan Zeyu?"

Guang Yongguo shrugged. "At least before I made a move, they hadn’t done anything."

His gaze revealed no attempt to conceal his malice and pleasure. "I misspoke. I didn’t make a move; I just indulged that demon son of his, who was eager to rise to power. Controlling a little brat who hadn’t even grown a full beard is much easier than controlling two old men close to my age."

Haishu said, "Was it your idea for Wan Zeyu to encourage Guang Jun to kill Xu Qiao?"

"What does that have to do with me?" Guang Yongguo defended himself. "It was just a kids’ game. I didn’t know what they were doing before Guang Jun locked Xu Qiao up in the house."

"But the body was in your hands."

"I told you, I was just cleaning up after my useless son."

Back then, Xingchen Amusement Park was still under construction, and Moonrise Villa was already being planned. Guang Yongguo used his connections to make himself and the Gray Tribe the actual managers of Moonrise Villa, while Guang Jun and Wan Zeyu planned to kill Xu Qiao and throw her body in Bai Lin Village, which was not far from the amusement park.

Guang Yongguo had been monitoring Guang Jun ever since his high school days, knowing his every move. If Xu Qiao's body were found, it would eventually lead back to the Guang family. Even if they were lucky enough to escape detection, the amusement park and the villa would still be affected. So, after Guang Jun and Wan Zeyu left, Guang Yongguo moved Xu Qiao's body into the car and transported it to the planned Moonrise Villa.

Originally, he had only planned to dispose of the body properly, but looking at the familiar face and the body full of scars, Guang Yongguo suddenly experienced a strange, unprecedented sensation.

He had long lost interest in his sharp-tongued wife, Lu Xu, and didn’t care about the beautiful women others sent him. His life seemed to be only about the pursuit of money and power, and nothing else could stir his emotions.

But at that moment, he found himself feeling young again. The deathly aura on the woman fascinated him, the blood and the scars stimulated him. Because of Guang Jun, he had often seen Xu Qiao’s beautiful face, but now that face was bruised and disfigured, her neck twisted at an odd angle, yet strangely fitting his aesthetic.

A lower soul within him awoke.

"There are all kinds of people in this world. Some like the living, and some are obsessed with the dead." Guang Yongguo squinted his eyes, seemingly still immersed in the joy of embracing the corpse. "That’s why my villa also offers this service. As long as you have the money, you can get a beautiful corpse."

Guang Yongguo hired a professional embalmer, someone who was also obsessed with corpses. They turned the bodies into commodities. This was the highest standard and most mysterious service in Moonrise Villa, with a strict selection of clients. For many years, no one outside the circle had noticed.

A single corpse could be used for a long time. The villa originally had special ice coffins to store bodies, but after Gong Zhao was caught, Guang Yongguo, being cautious, temporarily moved the relevant equipment.

Haishu thought about the bodies in Pit B and felt uneasy. "You say you didn’t kill anyone. So, where did the bodies come from?"

Guang Yongguo closed his mouth, the fire in his eyes slowly extinguishing. "I don’t know."

Haishu felt like she was hearing a joke. "You’re the owner of Moonrise Villa. You use corpses for transactions, and now you say you don’t know where the bodies came from?"

"Someone delivered the bodies to the villa and told me. I just used them." After a long while, Guang Yongguo finally spat out these words. "Also, the body in the other pit wasn’t buried by me."

This sounded like a fairytale, and Haishu was incredulous. "The body appeared in the villa, and your first reaction wasn’t to call the police? You just used it when told?"

A trace of fear appeared in Guang Yongguo’s eyes, and he answered evasively, "I had to deal with the body."

Haishu pressed, "Why?"

Guang Yongguo seemed like he had been paused, lowering his head and refusing to answer Haishu’s question.