Seeing the crime scene flashbacks made me the darling of the police station.

Chapter 182 Why not tell the truth?
Cheng Jue and the other NPCs were the last to be asked.

Just as Su Miaoyi finished asking her question, Qi Feng came over: "Captain Zhuang wants you to go over and listen in."

Su Miaoyi immediately got up and went over.

As she approached the door of the east wing, she heard Cheng Jue's voice from inside.

She stood at the door without moving.

Zhuang Yanzheng asked, "You just said that after your part was finished filming, you went to the back of the main hall. You stayed there the whole time and didn't see Liu Nanmo and Xu Jinlan?"

“No,” Cheng Jue said.

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at him and said, "What you said needs to be signed. If you lie, you will be held legally responsible."

Cheng Jue lowered his gaze: "I really didn't see it."

Su Miaoyi listened outside for a few moments, then knocked on the door and came in.

Zhuang Yanzheng and the police officer next to him both looked towards the door.

Cheng Jue also looked over.

Su Miaoyi walked in, first glancing at Cheng Jue, then looking at Zhuang Yanzheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng told the policeman next to him to go out first.

Su Miaoyi walked to Zhuang Yanzheng's side.

Zhuang Yanzheng turned off the recorder: "He's not telling the truth."

“I’m telling the truth,” Cheng Jue said.

Su Miaoyi looked at him.

Cheng Jue stared at her for a few seconds, then his eyes slowly lowered.

At this moment, Zhuang Yanzheng felt the pressure from his older sister.

Su Miaoyi glanced at his notes.

In this episode, Cheng Jue plays the role of the young master of the Zhai family, the one who passed away unexpectedly.

He would occasionally show up and scare the five people recording the show.

Create a terrifying atmosphere.

Finally, the explanation for his identity was that it was a hallucination caused by the five people recording the show, which is why they saw the young master of the Zhai family.

He filmed two scenes today, so there shouldn't have been anything else for him.

But the director didn't let him leave.

He went to rest at the back of the main hall.

"What did you see?" Su Miaoyi asked, looking at the makeup on his face.

I don't know what kind of makeup she used, but even though my forehead was covered in sweat in this hot weather, my makeup didn't smudge.

Cheng Jue kept his head down.

"Why won't you say?" Su Miaoyi asked, puzzled.

Cheng Jue remained silent.

Su Miaoyi looked at him and said, "Cheng Jue, if you don't tell the truth, I'll have no choice but to take you back."

Cheng Jue looked up at her.

"Speak," Su Miaoyi said. "Hurry up, don't waste time."

“I saw Liu Nanmo hit Xu Jinlan,” Cheng Jue said.

Su Miaoyi frowned, then exchanged a glance with Zhuang Yanzheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng turned on the voice recorder.

“Because it was cooler behind the main hall, I went there to sit after I finished filming my part. Later, I heard someone coming over, but I didn’t want to talk, so I went to a corner,” Cheng Jue said. “Then I saw Liu Nanmo hitting Xu Jinlan.”

"There were all sorts of props scattered around the back of the main hall. After Liu Nanmo pulled Xu Jinlan to the back, he pressed her down onto the table. There was a broken whip next to her, and he used it to whip her."

"They probably wanted to avoid affecting the filming, so they only drew pictures of the areas where she was wearing clothes."

"Xu Jinlan must have injuries."

"What did they say?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

"Liu Nanmo pulled her to the back and hit her first. Xu Jinlan wanted to scream, but she didn't, and covered her mouth herself," Cheng Jue said.

Su Miaoyi was a little puzzled as to why she covered her mouth and didn't shout out.
"Liu Nanmo said he'd been coaxing her for an hour, telling her not to push her luck and not to do anything stupid. He told her either to obediently finish recording the show, or he'd kill her; getting a death certificate is a simple matter," Cheng Jue said. Su Miaoyi thought about the words she had heard on the screen.

Liu Nanmo was also comforting Xu Jinlan at the time, although his tone was somewhat perfunctory.

Could it be that at that time, Liu Nanmo thought he was still wearing a microphone?
It seems like Liu Nanmo has two faces, one in public and one in private.

"Did Xu Jinlan say anything?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

Cheng Jue shook his head: "No."

"What did you do?" Su Miaoyi asked.

Cheng Jue glanced at her.

Su Miaoyi looked at him with an expression that seemed to say she understood everything.

"I saw him hitting someone, so I went out and stopped him," Cheng Jue said, his head down.

"Did a conflict break out?" Su Miaoyi asked.

“No, not at all,” Cheng Jue said. “I snatched the whip from his hand. Then Liu Nanmo told me to mind my own business and watch my mouth, or he would kill me too, and that he would make me lose my job today.”

Su Miaoyi frowned.

He opens his mouth and says he's going to kill someone.

"And then?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

“After that, Xu Jinlan pushed me away and told me not to get involved in her affairs. I was angry, so I stayed far away from them,” Cheng Jue said. “About ten minutes later, I heard them filming in the main hall, and then not long after, I heard that someone had died.”

"Do you know Xu Jinlan?" Su Miaoyi asked him.

Moreover, judging from this, it's not just a simple acquaintance.

“We’re training together,” Cheng Jue said.

Su Miaoyi was taken aback: "Xu Jinlan is twenty-two years old. You're training together?"

“She always wanted to get into film school, but she always fell short, so she kept repeating her studies,” Cheng Jue said. “She didn’t get in this year’s entrance exam.”

Su Miaoyi nodded, then asked, "Then why didn't you answer?"

Cheng Jue remained silent.

Zhuang Yanzheng asked, "Do you think she killed her?"

“This isn’t the first time I’ve seen Xu Jinlan get beaten,” Cheng Jue said. “Last time I was recording a show, I passed by Liu Nanmo’s dressing room and saw him grab Xu Jinlan by the hair and drag her on the ground. He dragged her for a distance and then hit her on the back with a stool many times.”

“I tried to stop them that time, but I was pulled away by the people next to me.”

"Who pulled you?" Su Miaoyi asked.

“One of the NPCs we were with last time didn’t come this time,” Cheng Jue said. “Later I heard that Meng Yan had also been beaten by Liu Nanmo before. What’s the difference between his behavior and domestic violence?”

Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng were both looking at him.

“I think Xu Jinlan’s action of covering her mouth and not daring to scream when she was beaten was like a habitual action, as if she had been beaten many times before,” Cheng Jue said. “She didn’t dare to be angry, didn’t dare to speak out, and didn’t dare to leave.”

"Anyway, I feel like Xu Jinlan knows something. When Liu Nanmo said he would kill me, I just thought he was just saying that..." Cheng Jue glanced at Su Miaoyi and swallowed the word that was about to come out, "But Xu Jinlan's reaction was very much like... she believed that Liu Nanmo could kill her."

"Moreover, Liu Nanmo died in the coffin, with only Xu Jinlan inside with him. Xu Jinlan was also severely frightened afterward, and she couldn't speak when spoken to. Long-term oppression and mental breakdown can easily lead to some crazy actions," Cheng Jue judged.

"So what? If what you say is true, and she is the murderer, are you going to protect her?" Su Miaoyi asked softly.

"Shouldn't Liu Nanmo have died?" Cheng Jue asked.

“Whether he deserves to die will be decided by the law,” Su Miaoyi said. “Besides, everything you’ve said is just your speculation. You’ve heard it, you’ve heard it, you’ve heard it—is everything you hear true?”

“Then, if the murderer isn’t Xu Jinlan, then what I’ve said is meaningless, and it won’t make any difference whether I say it or not,” Cheng Jue said.

Hearing his words, Su Miaoyi stood up, took the notebook, and slapped him.

Cheng Jue shrank back after being hit, touched his head, looked at Su Miaoyi, and dared not speak.

Zhuang Yanzheng turned off the recording and pretended not to see it.

Su Miaoyi said, "If Xu Jinlan is the murderer, do you know that your actions are against the law? Did you leave your brain in the exam room and not bring it with you?"

"I just feel sorry for Xu Jinlan, and I also think Liu Nanmo deserves it," Cheng Jue said softly.

"If you go to jail because of this, won't your parents be pitiful? Won't your sister be pitiful?" Su Miaoyi was so angry that her heart ached.

Cheng Jue lowered his head and remained silent.
　One chapter today.

　　Three chapters tomorrow.

　　Goodnight everybody
　　(End of this chapter)