<h4>Chapter 1</h4>


    Meow, meow~


    As dawn broke, the sky gradually turned a pearly white, and the piercing sound of a cat''s cry echoed intermittently from next door.


    At first listen, it almost sounded like a baby wailing at the top of its lungs.


    Meow, meow~


    The sound grew increasingly shrill and miserable.


    Was it that annoying pregnant woman next door torturing a cat? But she didn''t even own a cat!


    Mu Mian got up and walked to the neighboring apartment. Just as she was about to knock, she noticed the door was ajar.


    "Ms. Li, please stop making noise, and kindly keep your cat quiet too!"


    There was no response, only the cat''s continued cries, mixed with the faint sound of sharp ws scratching against something. In the silent early morning, it felt somewhat spine-chilling.


    A familiar scent wafted faintly through the air.


    The metallic smell of fresh blood.


    "Is anyone there?"


    The voice echoed in the hallway.


    In the dim light filtering through the cream-coloredce curtains, she could see the pregnant woman lying on the wooden floor.


    The floor had already been stained a dark red with blood.


    Her expression was contorted, her body twisted in an unnatural position. Her mouth was tightly sealed with ck duct tape, and her hands were bound behind her back with rope.


    Meow, meow~


    The pitiful cat''s cries wereing from inside her round, slightly quivering belly.


    Her stomach bulged and pulsed, the centipede-like wound stitches on it trembling as something inside struggled to break free.


    Woo~ Woo~


    The wail of police sirens shattered the early morning tranquility of Ziweili Residential Area.


    Ziweili was a middle-ss neighborhood in the old town of Jiangzhou City. While property prices were quite high, the infrastructure was outdated. Some buildings didn''t even have elevators installed, let alone security cameras.


    Theplex was arranged with four units per building, two households per unit. The crime scene was in Room 541, Unit 3, Building 8.


    The closedyout of theplex meant there were no onlookers gathered at the crime scene. It was eerily quiet.


    Several police officers pushed open the door. The first thing they saw was the woman lying in a pool of blood. Her face was contorted, her bloodshot eyes bulging, as if she had endured immense suffering before death.


    The woman''s top was pulled up, revealing her cut-open belly. Her internal organs were fully exposed, as if savaged by a ferocious beast. The everted flesh was covered in scratch marks.


    Next to the corpsey a toolbox containing a full set of dissection instruments. The scissors and scalpel were stained with blood.


    The furniture and items in the room were neatly arranged, with no signs of a struggle.


    On the fabric sofa curled a small figure. Her entire body was scrunched up into a ball. She wore bloodstained stic gloves on her hands and a white fluffy pajama with SpongeBob SquarePants prints, spattered with blood stains. In her arms, she cradled a blood-covered kitten. On her feet were disposable shoe covers.


    Meow~


    Hearing the noise, the little cat with a notched ear struggled slightly and let out a cry.


    "Didn''t the caller say there was only one victim?" Zhang approached the sofa, about to check the "body" when suddenly, he found himself staring into a pair of jet-ck eyes.


    Zhang stumbled back several steps in fright. "Ah, it''se back to life!"


    The other officers rolled their eyes at him. "Zhang Xiaoqiang, what are you yelling about? Can''t you see that''s a living person?"


    Zhang watched in disbelief as the "corpse" sat up. Her movements were slow, pausing after each action as if she needed to gather strength for the next.


    Zhang asked confusedly, "Who are you?"


    She nced at them briefly before quickly averting her gaze, looking down at the cat in her arms. "Hello, I''m the one who called the police. My name is Mu Mian."


    All the officers present stared at Mu Mian in surprise.


    She looked like a high school student, with shoulder-length short hair and a small stature. Her skin was deathly pale, and her expression was nk. The blood-stained white pajamas made her look like a killer from a horror movie, and a mentally unstable one at that.


    "Miss Mu, you''re incredibly brave to sleep at a crime scene!" Zhang was utterly baffled. "What if the killer hade back? It''s too dangerous." Though she looked more like the killer herself.


    Mu Mian didn''t respond to him. She kept her head down and continued her statement mechanically:


    "This morning at 4:21 AM, I was awakened by the sound of my neighbor''s cat. At 4:35 AM, I came over to knock on my neighbor''s door—the victim''s door. The door wasn''t closed, so I nced inside and found my neighbor lying on the floor..."


    Her voice sounded like it was generated by AI, t and emotionless.


    Zhang couldn''t help whispering to Wang, who was crouched on the ground collecting footprints:


    "Wang, do you think she''s lying? Advisor Lin said that when witnesses or suspects recall case details, they usually follow emotional cues and start with the most important parts. But she''s narrating in chronological order, and with such precise times. It''s very likely she prepared this in advance."


    Wang nodded in agreement and whispered back, "I think her mental state is off too. Look, she can''t even make eye contact with us. She must be feeling guilty. We should take her back to the station and let Captain Fang''s team question her."


    Mu Mian seemed not to hear their whispered conversation and continued her mechanical narration of the events:


    "I heard the cat''s criesing from her stomach. At that time, the corpse still had some warmth—about 34.5°C. Within 10 hours after death, the body temperature drops by 1°C per hour. Although it''s early spring, we''re having a cold snap, and there''s no air conditioning in the room. So we need to use winter data, with a coefficient of about 0.7. Roughly estimated, her time of death should be between 3:30 and 4:00 AM..."


    Zhang pointed at the victim''s stomach, his mouth agape. "Wait, what did you say? Where did you say the cat''s cries wereing from?"


    Everyone present felt a chill run down their spines as they looked at the victim''s mutted abdomen, all thinking of something terrifying.


    "At 4:37 AM, I dialed the emergency number. At 4:39 AM, I put on gloves and used scissors to cut open the stitches on the victim''s stomach, rescuing this poor little kitten. I recorded the entire process on video. I tried my best to protect the crime scene. If you need it, I can send you the video."


    Finally finished, Mu Mian let out a sigh of relief.


    These people were so rude, constantly interrupting her. Fortunately, she had strong resistance to interference and was able to describe the course of events fluently and clearly.


    Meow~ The dirty little cat meowed loudly, as if agreeing with her words.


    Zhang repeated incredulously, "You''re saying the killer stuffed a cat into the victim''s stomach?"


    "Could it be that the killer, not satisfied with just murdering the victim, stuffed a cat inside to further desecrate the corpse?"


    Amidst their shock, those present began to discuss the killer''s motive.


    "It wasn''t to desecrate the corpse," Mu Mian corrected, looking at the victim. "She was still alive at that time."


    "Still alive?"


    "She''s right." Old Qin, the forensic expert, had already conducted a preliminary examination of the victim''s body.


    He exined, "The victim was about 8 months pregnant. The killer removed the fetus along with the centa from the victim''s womb, then stuffed a live animal into her uterus before stitching up her belly."


    Old Qin nced at Mu Mian and the kitten in her arms, then used tweezers to extract a cat hair from the victim''s abdominal cavity.


    "It must have been a cat. Look, most of the wounds on the inner abdomen show vital reaction, which proves the victim endured immense torture while still alive."


    Mu Mian nced at Old Qin, then quickly averted her gaze, muttering softly, "The cause of death was hypovolemic shock."


    "That''s correct." Old Qin suddenly felt that this Mu Mian looked familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before.


    Zhang eximed, "My God, how cruel can the killer be?"


    Mu Mian agreed, "Yes. But his killing method is very creative."


    Creative... Zhang felt a chill run down his spine. How deranged must the killer be to stuff a live cat into a pregnant woman''s belly?


    Zhang turned to Mu Mian and asked puzzledly, "What about the victim''s baby? When you cut open the victim''s stomach, didn''t you see the baby inside?"


    "The killer took it away," Mu Mian said, her eyelids drooping as she struggled against sleep. "Maybe they ate it, kept it as a souvenir, or threw it away. You should ask the killer about that."


    "How perverted!"


    "I''ve told you all the information I know," Mu Mian ced the cat in Zhang''s arms. "I need to go to work now. It''s my first day on the job, and I can''t bete."


    Zhang''s expression was somewhat troubled. "But you can''t leave now. You need toe back to the police station with us to give a statement."


    "Is it to the City Police Bureau?" she asked.


    "Yes."


    Mu Mian thought for a moment, then conceded, "Alright."


    Zhang had expected to have to "pressure" her a bit to get her to cooperate properly. He didn''t anticipate she would be so agreeable.


    "It''s on my way anyway," Mu Mian shed him a stiff smile, her tone carrying a hint of excitement.


    Zhang shuddered.


    This girl looked quite cute, but when she smiled, why was it so eerie? Her smile was rigid, resembling the forced grin of a puppet doll from a horror movie.


    Moreover, why did she seem so happy about going to the police station?