Chapter 41: The Scapegoat

"What are you doing here?"

The woman arrived fashionably late. Upon seeing the gruesome sight on the bed, she let out a piercing scream, collapsed heavily onto her knees beside the mattress, and wailed in agony, "Niu Niu, what happened to you... Look at Mommy quickly..."

The instant the woman appeared, the wave of powerlessness in Qiu Yiyao's heart transformed into burning fury. Turning her head, she spotted a glass vase resting on the table by the window, snatched it up without a second thought, and rushed behind the woman, intending to smash it down upon her head. However, a large hand intercepted her.

"What are you doing?"

Bai Peiyu barked urgently. The woman whipped her head around. Upon catching sight of the vase in Qiu Yiyao's grasp, she gritted her teeth and surged to her feet. "So it was you who murdered my child! I'll make you pay with your life!"

Bai Peiyu stepped in front of the woman, blocking her path. "I've already called the police. Don't do anything rash."

"You're all in this together... You..."

The woman rolled her eyes back and collapsed unconscious without warning.

...

Twenty minutes later, the police finally arrived. When they pulled back the quilt covering the girl's head and caught sight of that small face, their brows knitted tightly together.

The young girl's eyes were wide open, and her face was marred by a series of bloody gashes slashed by a knife.

It was the same little girl from the railway station—that pretty little face and the mole beside her cheek left no room for doubt.

Qiu Yiyao averted her gaze, unable to bear the sight. Barely half a month had passed, and the once lively and energetic child had suddenly turned into a corpse. No one could ever accept such a tragedy.

The lead officer looked from Qiu Yiyao to the weeping woman nearby. "Which of you is the family member?"

Qiu Yiyao remained silent, merely raising a hand to point at the woman.

Suddenly, the woman lunged forward. "It was you! You harmed my child!"

The woman's hands viciously clamped around Qiu Yiyao's neck, her icy fingertips sending sharp pangs of pain across her skin. Fortunately, Bai Peiyu and the police managed to pull the woman away in the nick of time.

"Don't hold me back! She's the murderer! Arrest her right now!"

Rubbing the bruised and aching spot on her neck, Qiu Yiyao lowered her gaze to the woman's fingertips.

Manicured nails. Would a woman living in such a dilapidated place and environment, while raising two young children, possibly have the time to get a manicure?

Qiu Yiyao let out a cold laugh. "The criminal is crying thief first, but you are obviously the murderer. I'd only been here a few minutes, stepping into the room to find two children brutally slain. Aren't you a far more likely suspect than I am?"

"A tiger doesn't eat its own cubs! Those are my children, why would I kill them?"

The woman's voice was hoarse as she continued to struggle, desperate to lunge forward again.

Had it been before, Qiu Yiyao would never have believed that a mother could slaughter her own offspring. But the woman before her was a monster in human skin; is there anything she wouldn't do?

Observing the police officers standing around, Qiu Yiyao was certain this case would ultimately be swept under the rug. After all, survivors of the mountain landslide had simply been sent here as playthings for the townspeople. Who would care about who died, or how many perished?

She turned her gaze to Bai Peiyu standing beside her. He still wore an aloof, detached expression, staring indifferently at the child on the bed.

So, was this his deliberate warning to her? If she refused to obey, it wouldn't be long before the person lying on that bed would be her, right?

A sudden, agonizing pain gripped Qiu Yiyao's heart. The suffocating pressure made it impossible to breathe, turning her legs to jelly and nearly sending her collapsing to the ground.

Bai Peiyu hurriedly caught her. "Are you alright?"

Qiu Yiyao did not speak. She forced herself to stand straight, pressing a hand tightly against her chest, and walked toward the door.

"Why are you letting her leave? Grab her!" the woman shrieked at the top of her lungs, attempting to charge forward once more despite the officers' efforts to hold her back.

Bai Peiyu shoved her aside firmly.

"My baby..."

The woman slumped to the floor, weeping in absolute despair.

Qiu Yiyao looked back at her, then glanced at the cluster of police officers surrounding the room. A sudden smile touched her lips as she enunciated clearly, "You will pay the price. You most certainly will."

Qiu Yiyao silently vowed in her heart that as long as she remained alive, by any means necessary, she would make these beasts wearing human skin pay the price they deserved.

...

"What was your purpose in going to the victim's house?"

Seated across the table, the police officer held a pen and paper, his piercing gaze seemingly capable of reading the innermost thoughts of Qiu Yiyao's mind.

Staring down at the tabletop, Qiu Yiyao spoke softly, "I did not commit murder. You are entirely free to lift fingerprints from those two children to see if I ever touched them."

"We will naturally conduct those tests, but given the current situation, you must cooperate with us to clear yourself of suspicion."

"Is that so?"

Qiu Yiyao lifted her head, suddenly springing to her feet. Bracing her hands on the table, she leaned forward close to the interrogating officer and demanded, breaking entirely from her usual demeanor, "Haven't I cooperated enough? I merely wanted to check on those two pitiful children, only to walk in and witness such a horrific scene. Instead of comforting me or providing psychological counseling, you hauled me in here. Is that reasonable? Didn't your mayor claim that Yueli Town is a town filled with love? Hah, I see it's all a lie."

The officer remained expressionless. "You were the primary witness at the scene, so naturally, we had to bring you in for questioning."

"Questioning? Is that a word a public servant should use? I am not a criminal. Why am I being interrogated? Or do you realize you can't catch the real killer, so you need to find a scapegoat?"

"Of course not."

"If not, why am I locked up here? Have I violated any other laws?"

Qiu Yiyao brought her hand down heavily on the table. She knew that at this moment, showing any weakness or compromise was utterly useless. The identity of the killer was already painfully clear, but in this town, justice was not governed by the law. The ultimate outcome of this case would likely mirror Old Yu's fate: finding someone at random to take the fall.

She could not allow them to succeed.

"I want to see my friend."

Regardless of whether Bai Peiyu's act of bringing her to Old Yu's house was intentional or accidental, she had to force him to get her out of here. Because Qiu Yiyao knew that the mere fact they had brought her back from the woods and gone to such lengths to convince her everything was a dream meant she still possessed utility value; they did not want her dead just yet.

Furthermore, judging by Li Zhen's injuries, it was entirely possible that, just as she suspected, the townspeople were not entirely of one mind. Under such circumstances, she had no choice but to cling desperately to Bai Peiyu as her only straw of hope.

The officer remained silent, stood up, and walked out of the room. Moments later, he returned with Bai Peiyu trailing behind him.

"I'd like to speak with her for a moment."

Bai Peiyu still had his hands in his pockets, his tone indifferent.

"Fine. Talk some sense into her. If she really did it, she should confess right away and cooperate for a lenient sentence."

Every word uttered by the officer drilled into Qiu Yiyao's ears, confirming her suspicion that they intended to frame her as the scapegoat.

As the door clicked shut behind the officer, Qiu Yiyao stepped forward, grabbing Bai Peiyu's sleeve. Her eyes were red-rimmed as she choked out, "All of this is an illusion, a dream, right? Please save me, I don't want to go to jail, I don't want to die."

With that, she grabbed his hand and pulled it toward her own face. "Hurry, hit me awake."

Bai Peiyu jerked his hand free. "You will only wake up when you truly wish to. I cannot help you."

Looking directly into his eyes, Qiu Yiyao dropped her defenses for the first time. "I know you must have a way. Help me. If this continues, I'm going to break down. I still have my father to care for."

Covering her face, Qiu Yiyao began to sob quietly.

Bai Peiyu's greatest weakness was her tears, as he never knew how to comfort anyone.

"Stop crying."

At Bai Peiyu's sharp command, Qiu Yiyao instantly choked off her sobs.

"Bring your head closer, and I'll tell you how to wake up."