Netherworld Investigator

Chapter 206

The couple’s trial preparation work was handed over to Director Feng. That night, I slept soundly. In the morning, Xiaotao called me to the station, citing an urgent matter. Her tone sounded especially grave.

I thought that something had happened to the couple. Suspects had been known to swallow razor blades, wires and detergent after being arrested in order to avoid trial.

I made my way into the conference room only to face an onslaught of colorful ribbons. The perpetrators were Xiaotao and Bingxin, who were lying in ambush behind the door. The officers all cheered together, "The great Detective Song is here!" Someone even brought out an enormous cake.

The surprise came out of the blue and completely overwhelmed me. Because we had solved the case, everyone could go home for the New Year. Thus, Xiaotao proposed to hold a celebration to thank me for my huge contribution.

She placed a small party hat on my head and pulled me over to cut the cake. I asked, "It’s so early. Why are we eating cake?"

Xiaotao waved her hands. "Let’s have something else then. Bring out the pot!"

Like a magician performing a sleight of hand, the crowd brought out an induction cooker, a pot, some ingredients, and began to cook hot pot. I laughed, "We’re still in the public security bureau and there’s training going on downstairs. Do you have to be so unbridled?"

Xiaotao rightfully insisted, "Yes! We’re not going to do anything today except eat till we’re full, drink till we’re satisfied and sleep like babies. That’s an order!"

"Yes ma’am!" everyone shouted noisily.

I relaxed well the entire day. After enjoying the hot pot, Xiaotao and Bingxin went shopping for clothes while I went to an Internet cafe with several policemen to play League of Legends. It turned out that even the police played this game, though their gaming skills were rather poor. Despite being thrashed by the students on winter vacation, they were still very happy.

I had some errands to run in the afternoon. When I went back to the hotel to grab my things, I bumped into Xiaotao and Bingxin. Bingxin asked, "Would you like to watch a movie?"

"What’s so great about those terrible New Year movies? By the way, I’m going somewhere. Would you like to come along?"

I headed to the village to burn a few stacks of joss paper and recite the Song family mantra. I intended to make amends for frightening the poor ghost last night.

Bingxin placed her hand over her mouth in shock. "Song Yang-gege, you’re so kind... But was it really a ghost that followed us?"

I laughed. "The truth is mystical and we might not see the whole picture. In fact, I don’t know if it is."

Xiaotao mysteriously added, "Actually, we’ve seen ghosts before, as early as in our first case."

Bingxin asked excitedly, "Really? Tell me everything!"

When we arrived, the big stone covering the well had been removed, much to my surprise. I asked a villager about it, to which he replied that a master came two days ago, claiming to be a collector of yin objects. He explained that the well was haunted because the resentful spirit was attached to something inside.

Last night, it had been foggy when the master was conducting his ritual. Many villagers witnessed the female ghost in red emerge from the well with their own eyes. The master’s method was earth-shattering. He eventually subdued the ghost and fished up an ancient jade bracelet from the well.

The master didn’t ask for payment, only the jade bracelet. He maintained that this was the rule in their profession–the object must be relinquished to him.

I was shocked. Did such a profession really exist?

Since the ghost was gone, there was no need to burn the joss paper. Just as we were leaving the village, I noticed a parked car. It looked as if something had gone wrong. A middle-aged man of extraordinary temperament was changing components in the front. Next to the car was a vulgar looking, pockmarked man with a cigarette between his lips. He openly stared at Xiaotao’s chest and raised his eyebrows lecherously. Xiaotao returned his look with a glare.

At a glance, I could tell the man wasn’t decent folk. Just then, the middle-aged man finished repairing the car. He wiped the engine oil off his hands and complained, "Don’t you know to give me a hand? The only thing you know how to do is stare at beautiful girls. It’s so embarrassing to let you out of the house."

The pockmarked man laughed. "What do you mean by that? Didn’t I play my part last night?"

The middle-aged man dismissively said, "You’re one to talk! You drove that thing into the woods and almost hurt the innocent."

Xiaotao flashed her bagde and asked, "Hey you two, what are you doing here?"

The pockmarked man grinned. "Hey beautiful, I really couldn’t tell that you were an officer! My buddy and I are antique dealers who came to the countryside to collect antiques."

From his microexpressions, he seemed to be telling the truth.

Xiaotao pointed at the middle-aged man and asked sternly, "What’s an antique dealer doing carrying a knife?"

Around the middle aged man’s waist hung a pair of short knives. He clarified that it was for self-defense but Xiaotao insisted on examining them. The two knives were unusually sharp, one cold to the touch while the other was the exact opposite.

Xiaotao said, "Controlled weapons. I have to confiscate them!"

The middle-aged man hurriedly explained, "No! These knives are very important to me and I’ve never used them to hurt anyone."

Xiaotao shot me a look and quietly asked if he had lied.

I stared at the middle-aged man for a few seconds. He smiled and seemed to be observing me as well. This was the first time I had come across someone who wasn’t shocked by the color change in my pupils caused by the Cave Vision. A few seconds later, he laughed, "Your eyes certainly stand out from everyone else’s!"

This man had a strong aura but I couldn’t say what it was. I turned to Xiaotao, "He’s not lying. You can give the knives back to him!"

The middle-aged man took his knives and nodded appreciatively. "Thanks!"

When they were leaving, the pockmarked man was still staring at Xiaotao. The middle-aged man pinched his ear and chastised, "Keep looking. Just wait till I get back and tell your wife."

The pockmarked man gave a cry of innocence. "Can’t I just look?"

Xiaotao asked me, "What do you think these two do?"

I thought for a moment and speculated, "They don’t look like fugitives, yet they have that Jianghu spirit. Yet they don’t seem like ordinary antique dealers either." Suddenly, it occurred to me that the middle-aged man might be the master who had subdued the ghost.

But when I turned around, they were no longer there.

We went back the next day after handing over the interrogation and trial to the county bureau.

When we left, the mayor took me by the hand and thanked me profusely. Too embarrassed to admit the identity of his illegitimate daughter, the mayor simply said that we had eliminated evil for the people and he was duty-bound to help us if we needed anything in the future.

On the other hand, Director Feng looked rather conflicted. Although the case was solved, he was worried his position would be jeopardized once we reported the miscarriage of justice. There was no doubt that we would report the case, but I didn’t think he needed to worry. The unlucky man in question was definitely Dr. Qin.

Bingxin went home with me. Before we parted ways, Huang Xiaotao patted me on the shoulder with “extra” care. "Don’t you dare do anything out of line, or I’ll kill you!"

Bingxin made a face. "Song Yang-gege isn’t yours. Who says you’re in charge?"

I suggested, "If you’re worried, you’re welcome to join me for New Year’s!"

Xiaotao sighed, "I would love to but I still have a lot of work to do. Instant noodles taste so good on New Year’s Eve!"

I said, "By the way, let me take a look at the couple’s trial records."

Xiaotao nodded.

A few days later, I received a copy of the trial records that Xiaotao had sent by express. Written on it were the words: Burn after reading. Do not share this with anyone.

There were several aspects I hadn’t expected. As it turned out, Li Qin’s Dissociative Identity Disorder had basically recovered. She only suffered from mental instability and the occasional depression.

Once when she was busy in the kitchen, her sister put on her favorite red dress from her younger days and asked her with a smile. "Jie, do I look like a young you?"

Li Qin suddenly lost her cool. In her head, she saw her sister turn into her younger self and mock her with all sorts of vitriolic words. She emptied the pot of hot oil on her sister’s face. Her poor sister screamed and slipped to her death after bumping her head into a metal window frame.

At the time, Li Qin was terrified. After Zhang Qiang returned, she cried and offered to turn herself in. However, Zhang Qiang ended up dealing with the aftermath for her. Recalling the local folklore, Zhang Qiang threw his sister-in-law’s body near the village, making it look as if she had been killed by a ghost. Later on, it was proven that this trick couldn’t fool the police.

After the body was discovered, the police had visited and investigated them. Since the couple had always been on good terms with Li Qin’s sister, they didn’t suspect them. That was because it wasn’t murder at all.

The red dress had originally been hung in their store. In an attempt to prevent its disappearance from being noticed, Zhang Qiang quickly made the same one overnight. The red dress hung in the store for two years until it was purchased by Xiaotao.

From then on, Li Qin’s illness began to recur intermittently. The two personalities often quarreled with each other and very fiercely at that. The other personality would ridicule and insult her using abusive language, pushing Li Qin towards her breaking point.

One day, a customer in a red dress visited the store when it was already dark. Li Qin fancied her as her younger self and killed her. Being the loving husband he was, Zhang Qiang cleaned up her mess once again.

That incident prompted a brainwave, so he decided to simply pass himself off as a serial killer. The county police would never uncover the truth...

Zhang Qiang found that every time Li Qin killed a young girl dressed in red, her illness would improve for a period of time. So, he began catching the victims himself and let his wife do the rest. The third victim was a girl who came to them for help after being raped by Wu Mou. Unexpectedly, she had walked out of the frying pan and into the fire. Therefore, unlucky Wu Mou became the fall guy.

The couple gradually progressed from an accident to a path of no return, becoming skilled habitual murderers who learned various ways to obstruct the bureau’s investigation. From start to finish, Zhang Qiang had done it all for his wife, to improve her condition. He even murdered his buddy to protect his wife.

After reading the file, I couldn’t help but surmise that love was really a selfish thing!

1. The ubiquitous yin-yang symbol holds its roots in Taoism/Daoism, a Chinese religion and philosophy. The yin, the dark swirl, is associated with shadows, femininity, and the trough of a wave; the yang, the light swirl, represents brightness, passion and growth.