Midnight Bookstore

Panda Novel

Unfortunately at this moment, the Old Priest who was the best at understanding the Sacred Heart was not by his side. Otherwise, he would have taken out his phone to capture and leave a classic photo for the boss after witnessing the scene.

Blood splattered romance and luxury under the color of blood, the simplicity of the sofa matched with the indifference on the boss’s face. It was embellished with the shocked expressions of the few policemen beside him.

Zhou Ze missed the Old Priest a little now. He felt that he should urge Old Zhang to get the Old Priest out as soon as possible. Zhou Ze was a little surprised by the spurting of blood from the sofa but he did not jump up in fright. He was so scared that his face turned ashen.

This was nothing compared to the time he had seen the throne made of bones. Even Boss Zhou was not bothered to even pretend. Just like how Old Zhang was a little flustered about meeting an acquaintance. In reality, their DNA and fingerprints couldn’t be faked.

Officer Chen’s attention was initially on the blood on the ground, which then turned to Zhou Ze for a while. The scene made her scalp tingle, and even her heart sank. The key was that it happened all of a sudden, she was completely unprepared.

But the man in front of her was the one who sat on the sofa and caused all this to happen in the first place, acting as if nothing had happened. He even crossed his legs, it was as if he was trying to make a pose.

“What’s on the sofa?” Old Zhang approached immediately.

First, there was the abused girl who went missing. Then, there was the empty villa, the small room where the Buddha statue had been found and then there was the sofa. This villa gave people a sense of oppression and peculiarity. It became increasingly intense.

“Open it and you’ll know,” said Zhou Ze as he stood up and reached his hand to the bottom of the sofa. He felt around and then said, “This place has been opened. There’s a crack.”

“Can we open It?” Old Zhang asked Zhou Ze. At this moment, he did not look at Officer Chen.

When encountering such a strange thing, Old Zhang’s first reaction was to listen to Zhou Ze. After all, Zhou Ze was much more experienced than the police in this aspect.

“One, two, three!”

Officer Chen stood at the side and did not speak to stop them. She watched as the two men opened the sofa cushion.

The sofa was hollow inside, it was as if a part of it had been forcefully dugout, and inside… There was still a white plastic bag left, but it was already broken.

“Blood plasma.” Zhou Ze said.

“Except the thing that contains blood plasma is a little crude.”

As a surgeon, Zhou Ze was not unfamiliar with things like blood plasma. There had always been an irreconcilable contradiction between the medical blood used in the country and the stock in the blood bank. This contradiction involved all aspects. It was difficult to explain the specific reason and organization as a practitioner, let alone how to solve it.

Officer Chen knelt and put her face closer to the blood plasma on the ground.

Zhou Ze looked at this woman and subconsciously sniffed his nose.

“Very fresh blood,” Officer Chen said.

“Are you a zombie or am I a zombie?” Boss Zhou suddenly felt that with this female officer’s talent, it would be a pity if she didn’t become a zombie. It was boring and unchallenging to be a living person. It would be better to leave it to Yingying to do it. This way, Yingying wouldn’t be cold down there.

“I’ll call your city-wide police station and send someone over immediately. You guys, go and take care of the nearby entrances and exits. No outsiders are allowed to enter.”

A few of the policemen immediately nodded and ran out to make a call. Officer Chen stood up. “The three of us, let’s search this villa again.” Said Officer Chen as she glanced at both Old Zhang and Zhou Ze.

Then… Old Zhang and Officer Chen went up to the second floor whilst Zhou Ze’s assignment was to search the first floor.

“This woman, she has already begun to order me around.”

Boss Zhou felt that a challenging task like being a lookout was the place for him to display his professionalism. As for a search, it was troublesome.

He turned around and took another look at the dirty sofa, Zhou Ze suddenly felt that it was of the utmost importance to get the Old Priest cleared of suspicion and let him out. Normally… wasn’t this kind of lightning-related matter always handled by the Old Priest? Why was it his turn this time?

Zhou Ze casually entered the kitchen and opened the cupboard and refrigerator, but he didn’t find anything. He then left the kitchen and proceeded to investigate the bathroom again.

Because it was a townhouse, it was certainly much bigger than an ordinary apartment. There were three floors, but the actual area was not that big. Everything in the bathroom was tidy. It could even be described as spotless. The floor tiles were so clean that they could be used as a mirror.

Zhou Ze suddenly thought of something. Since the blood plasma could be stored in the sofa, then… the person who cleaned the room… was the original owner of the room.

Zhou Ze then opened the lid of the toilet tank. Because of the incident with the Ghost Jade, Boss Zhou had a deep obsession with the position in the bathroom. He found that there was nothing unusual with the lid of the water tank.

Zhou Ze decided to then turn around and walk out to the room where the few policemen had already searched earlier. There was no one in the room, and Zhou Ze felt that he wouldn’t be able to gain anything.

He… didn’t have the unlucky physique of a veteran, right?

Just as he reached the door of the bathroom, Zhou Ze stopped in his tracks again and turned around. As he looked at the toilet again. He hesitated for a moment and said self-deprecatingly, “I must be thinking too much.”

He walked back to the toilet and reached out to lift the toilet lid.

“Hehe.” Zhou Ze smiled.

Under the toilet lid… was the face of the silver-haired old woman, who was also facing Zhou Ze. It seemed like she was also smiling back at him…

“What’s the background of that boss surnamed Xu?” asked Officer Chen to Zhang Yanfeng as they both searched the second and third floors together.

“Huh?” Old Zhang was stunned. He didn’t expect Officer Chen to suddenly ask this question.

“Oh, he’s the owner of a bookstore. He owns the pharmacy and the bookstore next door.”

“So Rich?”

He opened two stores on South Street, the business of the pharmacy was quite good, but she had seen the operating room equipment inside. It was not something that a small pharmacy could afford.

Moreover… The bookstore next door was an unprofitable decision.

Old Zhang hesitated for a moment and organized his words before he re-described his boss in detail:

“He’s too lazy to do anything and doesn’t think about doing anything all day long. All he thinks about is lying there and basking in the sun.”

“His wife’s family is quite rich. She also runs a large private hospital in the city. He’s a visiting son-in-law who lives off his wife’s money.”

“Why do I feel that he’s not as bad as you say?” Officer Chen frowned.

She saw Zhou Ze walk out of the operating theater in a white coat. Especially when Zhou Ze faced that scene with indifference whilst sitting on the sofa earlier.

“That’s true. If you want to live off a woman and become a rich husband, you have to look at your ability right? Most people want to live like this and sell their man’s dignity. Others are too lazy to bother with you.”

As he said that, Zhang Yanfeng pushed open the bedroom door and noticed that there was a wedding photo hanging by the bedside. There was also a huge oil painting on the wall facing the bedside. The oil painting was of the countryside.

Although Old Zhang was a rough person and did not dabble in art, he also felt that this painting was quite good.

That’s right… with such a large oil painting hanging in the bedroom, the television cabinet could only be placed to the side. It seemed a little out of place, but that was not a big deal. Perhaps the owner liked this kind of style?

Zhang Yanfeng turned around and saw that Officer Chen was also observing the oil painting. He smiled and said, “You also think it’s Good?”

“The painting looks good, but in reality, it’s just an empty shell without a soul. It belongs to the type of apprentice who has a very solid foundation. This painting imitates the paintings of famous foreign artists. It’s full of artistry.”

“…” Old Zhang.

“The most important thing is, didn’t you notice?”

As she said that… Officer Chen took two steps forward and pressed her finger on the oil painting. She then looked at her hand and saw that there was paint on her finger.

“This painting has just been completed. It hasn’t been more than two days.” Said Officer Chen to Zhang Yanfeng as she took two steps back. “Take down the oil painting and have a look.”

Zhang Yanfeng nodded, tiptoed, and took down the oil painting. After the oil painting was taken down… the pale white color on the wall was revealed, this wall… was very different from the surrounding walls. It had just been painted.

“Are you using the oil painting as a cover?” Zhang Yanfeng asked.

“No.” Officer Chen pressed her forehead with one hand and said perceptively, “I have a very bad feeling now. This wall should hide… Well, you should know.” There was so much blood on the living room sofa… where did it come from?

“He spent so much effort on painting. It doesn’t seem like he’s trying to hide it, but rather it’s a form of satisfaction.”

“Just like what those performing artists do in the eyes of the secular world, it’s to pursue a form of satisfaction that belongs to his heart, even if what he’s doing doesn’t have any value or meaning.”

“In short, it’s like in a school classroom where they like to deliberately make some noise to attract attention. Even if their classmates call them idiots in their hearts, they still feel proud of themselves and think that they are retarded.”

When she said these words, Officer Chen was still serious. Even if swear words were coming out one after another, she would not give you the chance to feel disgusted that she was swearing.

“I have tools in the car. I’ll go down and get a tool.”

Zhang Yanfeng and Officer Chen went downstairs together. They planned to tear the wall open to take a look.

Just as they walked to the living room on the first floor… they saw Zhou Ze, who had just washed his face, and walked out of the bathroom. Boss Zhou was wiping his chin with a tissue.

“We found something up there. Later, do us a favor and join us to tear the wall open together.” Officer Chen said to Zhou Ze.

After all, Zhou Ze was not a police officer. If she wanted to ask him for help, she would not simply give orders as she did to her subordinates.

When he heard that he was going to do hard labor, Boss Zhou felt very sad. He was the boss of two large unlucrative businesses, why did he have to work as a decorator.

At that moment… Zhou Ze pointed to the bathroom behind him and said, “There’s a surprise in the toilet.”