145 Utterly Shameless

Just as she was about to fall asleep, An Xiaoning received a call from Mei Yangyang, who called to inform her that she had officially become Long Tianze's girlfriend.

Feeling happy for her, An Xiaoning advised her to get along well with him and avoid overthinking matters.

An Xiaoning heaved a sigh of joy, a smile forming on her face after she ended the call. It was great news, indeed.

Having gone to bed early, An Xiaoning woke up in the morning to find that it had been snowing heavily, evident from the snow-covered trees and buildings outside. Needless to say, the snow on the ground must have frozen as well.

Afraid of the cold, An Xiaoning put on a feathered coat and headed downstairs for breakfast, after which she decided to walk to the police station instead of driving.

It would be rather dangerous to drive on the snow-covered roads, given how slippery it was. Besides, there was no harm in getting some exercise by taking a stroll.

As soon as she exited the door, she stumbled upon Jin Qingyue, who was holding onto Shi Shaochuan's arm as they slowly made their way in.

From the looks of it, they were here for a visit.

"Is my brother in?"

Shaking her head, An Xiaoning answered, "No, he's gone overseas."

"Oh, I see," said Jin Qingyue, a tinge of disappointment in her voice. She then turned to look at Shi Shaochuan and said, "It seems we can only wait for my brother to return."

"Sure." Shi Shaochuan did not look at her and, instead, glared at An Xiaoning as he warned sternly, "Let me warn you, you'd better stay out of my family's matters in the future. Stay in your lane and mind your own business."

"Shi Shaochuan, you're really being too obnoxious. Let's just hope you don't come begging me for help on your knees in the future," An Xiaoning said sneeringly.

Just as she was about to leave after finishing her sentence, Shi Shaochuan turned around and yelled at her, "Why would I ever go on my knees to beg for your help? An Xiaoning, who do you think you are? I've already gotten someone to perform a ritual for Wang Fangfang, the kind that ensures she'll never reincarnate and that her soul would be destroyed."

"What!?!" An Xiaoning gasped in astonishment, the shock robbing her of her speech. She had no words to describe how horrible he was. "Shi Shaochuan, you were the one who killed her and the child she was carrying. You wanted her dead when she was alive. Now that she's already dead, you actually got someone to perform such a ritual to destroy her soul, causing her to never have the chance to reincarnate. Not only do you not feel a tinge of remorse for what you did, you've even resorted to such ruthless means. Shi Shaochuan, you're truly an imbecile. By the way, did you really think those rituals would actually work?" she continued.

"Just you wait and see. You'll know if it works or not in the meantime."

"Sure, I'll do just that." An Xiaoning glanced at the two of them condescendingly and said, "They often say, the onlookers see most of the game while the players are baffled. However, I think you're not in the least bit baffled at all, Sis-in-law. If he could subject a woman he once toyed with to such ruthless means, I'm very certain he would do it to you too. Shi Shaochuan, you're bound to bring upon destruction on yourself one day, for the sins you've committed. I shall see how you clean up this mess you've created."

She then proceeded to leave after giving them a piece of her mind.

"Let's leave," Shi Shaochuan said coldly with a humph.

"I think I'll give my brother a call," said Jin Qingyue.

Just as she was about to whip her phone out, Shi Shaochuan said, "I would much rather prefer for us to stay in my house than move into the same residence as your brother. Besides, my grandmother is going to be upset if we move out, leaving her with no one but herself at home. Alright, stop thinking about getting a new house, I'll redecorate my house and we'll take that as our bridal chamber."

"But your grandmother detests me," Jin Qingyue muttered under her breath.

"Then do your best to make her like you. Besides, it's not like you have to spend every waking moment with her anyway. You're making a mountain out of a molehill. Ever since I was young, Grandma had always doted on me and treated me well. Yueyue, don't behave that way, you'll make her upset," said Shi Shaochuan as he turned around and walked towards Jin Qingyue who was lagging behind.

Jin Qingyue gave in reluctantly, though she was absolutely against the idea.

An Xiaoning began walking slowly with both her hands in her pockets, feeling utterly disgusted at how shameless of a person Shi Shaochuan was while she recalled his words earlier.

Not only did he not reflect on his misdeeds and feel remorseful for what he had done, but he actually had the cheek to go on and commit such an atrocious act behind everyone's backs.

Upon arriving at the police station, she proceeded to inform Pan Zhenghui and the rest about this matter.

"So darned relentless and vicious, indeed!" Pan Zhenghui exclaimed angrily. "By the way, Xiaoning, why did you say that the rituals he had asked to be performed won't work?" he asked.

"It just won't. He actually thought everything was settled, how amusing. Well, I just pity the innocent victims of this matter," An Xiaoning said with a sigh.

"There's nothing we can do to help, we're not that free to check up on his family's wellbeing and poke our noses in their business every day. We get new orders every so often."

Just as Pan Zhenghui finished speaking, a policeman from the Serious Crimes Investigation Unit appeared at the door and said, "Chief, here's a case from a year ago, which will be handed over to you guys."

Pan Zhenghui took a look at the name written on the document envelope before handing it over to An Xiaoning. "I'm aware of this case, it involves the murder of a 17-year-old girl."

An Xiaoning opened the document and perused the information carefully, passing the pages she had finished reading over to Ma Jianguo. "This girl died in such a… I don't know how I should explain it. She's only 17, yet she had the guts to travel around the country all by herself," said An Xiaoning.

"That's where the case gets complicated. After receiving the report of this case last year, I made my way down to the crime scene personally. Her body was found floating on the surface of the sea, along the beach. She was stark naked at the time. We conducted some investigations at the scene and discovered that the murderer had buried her body beneath the sand and covered it up with stones, but it's not known why the corpse was exposed."

An Xiaoning continued to read the details of the report. "Nothing was found on the corpse, not even a single document of identification. After several investigations, her identity was revealed to be that of a foreigner who was here for a vacation and had stayed in an area where security was lax. The reason behind her murder is still unknown, with no further leads up to now."

"We even proceeded to search for clues from the online accounts which belonged to her when she was still alive, but we did not find anything amiss. This is a tough case. Since there were no surveillance cameras at the crime scene, there's little to no evidence at all. The chances of cracking this case are as good as none."

"Why would an underaged girl be so brave as to stay at a place where security was lax? And, why would her parents even allow her to travel alone at such a young age?"

"If I remember correctly, her parents are divorced and she had been living with her grandmother from a young age. Her grandmother had passed away a few years ago. Read on and you'll know the details. I really think we're going to have a hard time cracking this case," Ma Jianguo said with a sigh.

Clueless, An Xiaoning instructed, "Call her parents separately and ask about the details of her birth, including the date and exact time."

"Okay," Ma Jianguo instantly proceeded to do as instructed.

An Xiaoning picked up the teacup and took a few sips of hot tea, feeling rather flustered out of nowhere.

Why did she get that strange feeling again?

The last time she had felt that way was on the day she had met with the mishap.

Several moments later, An Xiaoning felt a sudden need to go home immediately.

"Team Leader, I've asked them. Here are her birth characters."

An Xiaoning took the piece of paper from his hand and said to him, "I have to make a trip home now, we'll discuss the details of this case over a video conference."

She picked up a pen and began writing down a series of numbers on a piece of paper before handing it to him. "This is my account number. Add me."

Noticing that she seemed a little troubled, Ma Jianguo asked, "Are you alright, Team Leader?"