After staying up half the night, Lu Yan was still groggy when she woke up in the morning.
Auntie Liu was nowhere to be seen, but the refrigerator was stocked with fresh ingredients.
It was still early, so she took out eggs and noodles and made two bowls of noodles.
Just as she placed the bowls on the dining table, Jiang Chengyi arrived in the dining room. He still seemed angry, but his expression wasn’t as terrible as the night before.
She looked at him openly.
That morning, she had wanted to ask her ICU colleagues about Liu Yulie’s condition, but worried about arousing suspicion since she had been at the scene, she ultimately didn’t.
After holding back the whole way, when they entered the elevator, she finally couldn’t resist asking: “How is Liu Yulie?”
For morphine overdose cases like Liu Yulie’s, quick recovery was possible with timely antagonist medication and supportive care, especially since she had stayed by Liu Yulie’s side, preventing complications from respiratory depression.
“She’s awake,” he said, staring at the elevator door.
She felt relieved but puzzled. Given how ruthlessly the killer had dealt with Ding Jing, there were many more direct ways to silence Liu Yulie. Why choose such a roundabout method?
After thinking for a while, she began to doubt whether Liu Yulie really knew any crucial information, and increasingly believed Jiang Chengyi’s statement about the killer deliberately provoking them.
At First Affiliated Hospital, Jiang Chengyi unusually didn’t abandon her but instead parked the car and took the elevator with her.
“Are you going to the ICU?” she asked after some consideration.
He responded irritably: “I’m accompanying you to your department. The killer is acting more frequently, and the police can’t guarantee your safety during work hours. If you don’t want to be next, you’d better take some time off.”
Lu Yan was stunned.
As if prior arrangements had been made, as soon as they reached the department, Lu Yan saw Director Yu standing outside his office.
Seeing them arrive, Director Yu said to Lu Yan: “Go inside first for the handover. I need to speak with Officer Jiang.”
Lu Yan nodded silently and turned to enter the main office.
When she came out after the handover, Jiang Chengyi was gone, replaced by the young officer called Xiao Zhou from the night before.
Director Yu called Lu Yan over: “Go to the medical affairs office to file a report. I’m approving two weeks of leave for you.”
Hearing this, envious glances immediately came from surrounding colleagues. Lu Yan didn’t know whether to be happy or troubled. She walked to a quiet spot with Director Yu before saying with a bitter smile: “Alright, thanks, boss.”
Director Yu maintained a stern expression: “Don’t idle at home during these two weeks. Finish writing what I asked you to do earlier. Also, I’ve submitted your name for next month’s National Young Anesthesiologists Case Competition. Use this time at home to prepare well and try to achieve a good ranking.”
Seeing Lu Yan nod obediently, he further admonished his student: “Don’t wander around. Although I still don’t understand why the killer is targeting young people, Wang Qianqian’s case has deeply pained everyone. Your teacher doesn’t want to see similar tragedies.”
The leave application process was complicated. Lu Yan went back and forth three times before completing all the procedures. Throughout this time, Officer Xiao Zhou stayed by her side.
After everything was settled, she entered the elevator and pressed the button for the ICU floor.
Just as she arrived, she saw Jiang Chengyi and two police officers coming out.
Old Qin sighed: “Even though she was that frightened, she didn’t provide any useful information. It seems this girl knows very little—no wonder the killer spared her. Damn it, I think this bastard is just playing with us.”
However, Jiang Chengyi seemed to have found some leads. He told Xiao Zhou to go rest, replaced him with another officer to continue guard duty, and at the parking lot said to Old Qin: “Dr. Yu returns today. You head back to the bureau first—I’m going to find another eyewitness.”
Both Old Qin and Lu Yan were startled: “Eyewitness?” How could there be an eyewitness with such a cunning killer?
Jiang Chengyi opened the car door: “Not certain, but I want to give it a try.”
The car drove onto the main street. It wasn’t yet noon and thick gray clouds hung motionless in the sky, threatening rain.
After watching outside for a while, though knowing Jiang Chengyi might not answer, Lu Yan still asked: “Did Liu Yulie say what ‘Winter Solstice’ refers to?”
Jiang Chengyi maintained a blank expression, and after a long while said: “In high school, was Tarot card reading popular among the girls?”
Lu Yan blinked—Tarot cards again.
“As far as I know, some played with them, but not many.” She thought for a moment, formed a guess, and tentatively asked, “Is ‘Winter Solstice’… related to Tarot cards?”
“It’s a website,” Jiang Chengyi seemed to want to get more information from Lu Yan about those years. “In high school, Ding Jing used money from her family to create a Tarot card divination website. Because she created it on Winter Solstice, she registered it under that name.”
Lu Yan was dumbfounded. Despite all her guessing, she never imagined ‘Winter Solstice’ referred to a website, much less that Ding Jing was its creator.
After hesitating, she pressed: “Don’t tell me this website could grant wishes.”
“Indeed it could,” Jiang Chengyi remained expressionless. “According to Liu Yulie, after creating the website, Ding Jing anonymously posted the URL on the school forum. Sure enough, after some time, girls started logging in to make wishes. But Ding Jing lost interest as she played with it and soon abandoned the website, never maintaining it again. Yet eight years later, someone was still operating this website under Ding Jing’s name.”
Lu Yan found it incredible: “Even so, why was Ding Jing so frightened at the mention of Winter Solstice?”
Jiang Chengyi was silent for a moment before saying coldly: “Liu Yulie always felt Deng Man’s death was connected to this website. When the website was first established, Ding Jing collected the wishes of girls who used it and amused herself with them.”
Lu Yan’s heart tightened: “Did Deng Man make a wish on the website?”
Jiang Chengyi: “You were so close to Deng Man—did she never mention this website to you?”
“She kept many secrets from me,” Lu Yan’s expression dulled.
Such as Deng Man’s inexplicable strange behavior back then, and even eight years later, she still couldn’t be certain who Deng Man had loved.
Jiang Chengyi snorted coldly: “While browsing the list of girls who made wishes, Liu Yulie discovered Deng Man’s name. She doesn’t know what wish Deng Man-made, only that after Deng Man’s suicide, Ding Jing was frightened for a long time, only recovering after going abroad. But just a month ago, Ding Jing suddenly became paranoid, always saying strange things were happening to her, and even claimed she’d seen Deng Man. Once while shopping, she desperately asked Liu Yulie if she believed in ghosts. Seeing Ding Jing so scared, Liu Yulie suspected Ding Jing was connected to Deng Man’s death.”
Lu Yan first heard the beginning part and laughed coldly inside: judging from Liu Yulie’s behavior, she definitely wasn’t as innocent in the past events as she claimed.
But hearing the last sentence, she was completely stunned: “What did you say? Ding Jing saw Deng Man recently?”
After several seconds, Jiang Chengyi responded: “What’s wrong?”
Lu Yan was too shocked to think clearly: “I also saw someone who looked like Deng Man a few days ago, the night my colleague Wang Qianqian died. I was called to the hospital for an emergency shift, and after running into her, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me and didn’t think much of it.”
Jiang Chengyi suddenly slammed on the brakes, pulling over to the roadside, his expression grave: “The night Wang Qianqian died? Are you sure you saw Deng Man?”
“I’m sure,” Lu Yan tried hard to recall that night’s circumstances. “Not only did that person’s walking style resemble Deng Man’s, but she was wearing a red coat that Deng Man used to love, and even had on the hairpin I gave to Deng Man.”
After pausing for a moment, her thoughts became clearer: “That’s right! Ever since running into that person that day, I’ve been encountering strange things! But I never imagined Ding Jing had also met this person.”
Jiang Chengyi frowned deeply: “You just briefly crossed paths with that person? Did she follow you to the hospital then?”
“No,” Lu Yan denied. “That person left quickly, but while she was still nearby, I received a phone call.”
Jiang Chengyi: “What was said in the call?”
The circumstances that night were so strange that Lu Yan still remembered clearly: “It was my colleague calling to tell me a surgery had been canceled and I didn’t need to go to the department yet.”
Jiang Chengyi grew more understanding: “On the phone? Did your colleague call you by name?”
Lu Yan slowly caught up to Jiang Chengyi’s line of thinking: “When I answered, I accidentally hit speakerphone. Because it was late at night, I was already a bit scared, and the phone was very loud, so I remember clearly. The call was from my senior colleague, who always called me Xiao Lu.”
Seeing Jiang Chengyi’s prolonged silence after she finished, she couldn’t help asking: “What’s going on? This person who looks like Deng Man… is she connected to what happened back then? And if this woman is the same person who’s been stalking me, what’s her purpose?”
The more incredible the speculation, the closer it often was to the truth. After thinking it through, she looked at Jiang Chengyi: “Don’t tell me this person is connected to Wang Qianqian’s murder, and I became her next target because I accidentally ran into her that night?”
The damned thing was, although the surroundings were dark then and that person might not have seen her clearly, the information leaked through that phone call meant the other party didn’t need to investigate—they could guess most of her information right there.
No wonder strange things started happening around her the very next day.
“No, this woman looks so much like Deng Man—even if she’s some relative of Deng Man’s who’s been holding a grudge about the past and killed Ding Jing because of it, Wang Qianqian had absolutely nothing to do with Deng Man. Why would she also become this woman’s target for revenge?”
“What revenge?” Jiang Chengyi started making a phone call. “This person’s actions have nothing to do with revenge—they’re an outright serial killer.”
Lu Yan’s expression changed.
Jiang Chengyi dialed the phone and asked her: “Yesterday you said you couldn’t find the Class of ’09 choir list. Think back—what year did you go to the school?”