21 Verification

Wang Da’s panicked confession spread his tormented emotions like a cold wind sweeping through the area.

Sunlight, refracted through the glass, cast a bizarre and surreal glow upon the various faces present. It gave their expressions an eerily similar look of confusion and ethereal detachment, as if they were wearing painted masks and could not switch to their true countenances for the moment.

A detective approached, giving Wang Da a reassuring pat on the back before taking him to a police vehicle outside for questioning. Shortly after, several others stood up, fidgeting and indicating they had something to say.

The path from the villa’s living room to the parking area was barely a hundred paces long. In the thick shade, where the buzzing of insects never ceased, came the rhythmic rustling of leaves. The faint spark of courage Wang Da had just managed to muster was shattered, fragile and easily dispersed.

Pushed into the police car, Wang Da sat stiffly. After his mind had been ravaged by a succession of storms, he asked with a hidden agenda: "Who is the highest-ranking official you have here?"

Captain Feng, who had just pulled the car door open from the outside, was immediately amused by such a bold provocation. "What is it? Do we need to bring in a head of state just to be worthy of hearing your speech?"

Captain Feng was tall and robust. Although he lacked visibly defined, chiseled muscles, his sheer bulk carried an intangible sense of power. Standing by the door, he looked like a wall, blocking out most of the light.

He squeezed into the car and sat right next to Wang Da. The seat beneath them was clearly too narrow; every time he shifted, his elbow jabbed into Wang Da.

Wang Da felt as though half the air in the compartment had vanished. Yet, being of considerable size himself, no matter how he tried to dodge, he could not escape the skin-to-skin contact.

Captain Feng kept leaning toward him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder in a hostile manner. "Tell me, what level of high-ranking official do you need me to contact to meet with you?"

Wang Da shrank back. "No, no..."

Captain Feng let him go and gestured with his chin, signaling him to speak quickly.

After some hesitation, Wang Da’s stance shifted. He stammered, "I suspect the person who died is Xu Youxiang, a high school classmate of mine. He threatened me a while ago, saying that even if he died, he wouldn't let me go, and that he’d sacrifice his life to drag us down with him. He’s unemployed, has no wife, and is buried in debt. It’s perfectly normal for him to lose his mind and commit suicide."

He kept his head down, his gaze drifting, trying to gauge their expressions as discreetly as he could. Seeing that they remained unmoved and did not interrupt his narrative, his heart finally stopped its frantic, turbulent thumping as he rummaged through his memories to organize his words.

"He and Brother Liang—that is, Liang Yizheng—have had a conflict since high school. He mocked Brother Liang for being a cyclops, and they got into a fight. The classmates in our class then ostracized him."

"A while back, he came to cause trouble for Brother Liang again. Brother Liang asked me to help make a call, to arrange to meet him and talk things out, to clear up the misunderstanding. I did as I was told. I don’t know exactly what they talked about; I was just the middleman. The rest has nothing to do with me."

Captain Feng sneered, "If it has nothing to do with you, why are you so panicked? Are you afraid that if Xu Youxiang died, he’d pin it on you?"

Wang Da wailed, "Brother Liang is not someone to be trifled with; I’m just a pawn. If he bites Brother Liang, he might end up with no consequences, but if he bites me, he’ll strip a layer of skin off me. If he wants to die and his goal is to drag others down with him, wouldn't he naturally want to smear mud on me?"

Captain Feng let out a sharp, fierce shout, his demeanor as menacing as a Yama King: "Wang Da! Let me tell you, stop trying to play dumb with me! Who do you think you're fooling? If Liang Yizheng couldn't get him to come out, it means Xu Youxiang was avoiding him. If you called and he came out, does that mean you two are that close? Knowing they were at each other's throats, you couldn't guess what Liang Yizheng wanted to do when he asked you to call him? Are you claiming you're clean and that getting entangled with him is just bad luck?"

Wang Da hurriedly protested his innocence: "I didn't know at the time! If I had known he would commit suicide over this, how could I have made that call? Officer, you can look up Brother Liang’s reputation online. He’s a major influencer; he cares more about his face than we do. I was just trying to be a good person, letting everyone act like adults and resolve the conflict, which is why I agreed to do a small favor."

Captain Feng launched into a barrage of abuse: "A small favor? I think you’re legally illiterate! Did you get so carried away with your bootlicking that you lost your mind? Treating the police like dogs? Thinking that if you toss a bone, we’ll start licking your hand? If you want to go to jail, just say so!"

"Captain Feng, Captain Feng," the other detective interjected, trying to mediate. "If you keep yelling, he’s going to start crying."

Captain Feng reached out his hand. "Come on then, give me your phone. I’ll check it myself."

"Don't, don't, don't!" Wang Da turned his body to block him, resisting with all his might, and immediately surrendered. "I'll say it, I'll say it! I arranged the meeting, but Brother Liang didn't show up himself. He had a few of his brothers take Xu Youxiang out for drinks and cigarettes. After the meal, Xu Youxiang had some issues and was sent to the hospital for a stomach pump. After he was discharged a few days ago, he thought I had betrayed him, which is why he’s been giving me extra trouble."

"I asked what kind of grudge he had with Liang Yizheng! It’s been over a dozen years since high school graduation, and he’s still hounding him. Don't give me that nonsense about being ostracized—something else must have happened!"

Wang Da wailed shamelessly, "He blames Brother Liang for getting fired, blames Brother Liang for his girlfriend running away—anyway, whenever something goes wrong in his life, he thinks it’s Brother Liang’s responsibility. I think he has a persecution complex; there's nothing I can do about it."

Wang Da was a slippery, cowardly type, yet full of devious ideas. There wasn't much truth in his words; he was like a donkey that wouldn't move unless whipped, wasting time and driving Captain Feng into a fury.

After grinding away for more than half an hour, Captain Feng called a colleague to take over.

He returned to the hill behind the villa and stood outside the police cordon as the local officers came to report the situation.

The man was sweating profusely from the heat, his cheeks flushed. As he wiped his face, he said, "We’ve verified it; such a person does exist. Xu Youxiang was just discharged from the hospital last week. He had a surgery to remove part of his stomach, and someone else paid the medical bills. The statements from the others also name Xu Youxiang, because Wang Da had mentioned this to them a few days ago, saying Xu Youxiang wasn't in his right mind, that for years he’d been obsessed with opposing Liang Yizheng, not even resting when the man got married, and this time he hit a wall and probably couldn't walk away from it. He used the excuse of having evidence of Liang Yizheng’s crimes to lure him out. Afterward, he received a phone call from Xu Youxiang and kept making sarcastic remarks to provoke him, which is why he’s so scared of getting involved in a lawsuit."

He took a deep breath: "However, there’s a small surprise. The person who answered the phone was Xu Youxiang himself. He is extremely hostile toward the police. When I asked him what disputes he’d had with Liang Yizheng, he cursed me out and blocked my number."

Captain Feng: "..."

He scratched the back of his head: "So he's alive?"

"Yes. Liang Yizheng also reported a few names, saying both sides had conflicts of interest and that they might be targeting him. We checked, and none of them were it." The officer said, also laughing in frustration. "By his own standards, he has four or five people who want to die with him. He even lamented, looking pitiful, that he was too successful in his career and that people were jealous, and that the social climate of hating the rich is distorted and difficult. He also mentioned the leaders in your bureau, asking if our work has been hard to carry out in recent years."

Captain Feng raised a hand to signal him to stop, just as he saw the young officer leading Fang Qingzhou and Zhou Suirong toward them.

Captain Feng hadn't had the time to deal with them earlier. Now, filled with suspicion, he crossed his arms and stared at them, asking, "Who are you two? Your acting was pretty good."

The young officer joked cheerfully, "These two are our plants."

Unexpectedly, his colleague reacted as if his tail had been stepped on, nearly jumping on the spot and vehemently denying it: "Don't talk nonsense! Do you have any idea how poor our police station is? Arrange for a plant before responding to a call? They must be from the branch office, right?"

Captain Feng also said excitedly, "Stop talking nonsense! Do you know how many days we've been working overtime? We haven't even seen a shadow of overtime pay! If this gets out and others hear it, what if they say we're misusing funds? How are we supposed to keep living like this?"

The young officer, sprayed with spit, looked at the two bristling, irritable middle-aged men and said with a blank face, "...I was just making a joke."

The two glared, bickering endlessly as they reiterated, "Is this a matter for jokes? Comrade, cooperating with a police investigation is a duty. There is no financial reward, and there is no informant fee—the higher-ups won't approve it!"

The young officer turned his head and apologized to the two, "People of a certain age are like this. They're normal most of the time."

Fang Qingzhou didn't mind. Since she wasn't one to master the art of conversation, she asked directly, "Officer, has the identity of the deceased been confirmed?"

Captain Feng was stumped. Out of professional instinct, he went into a state of high alert toward her: "Why are you so concerned? You're not a reporter, are you?"

He scrutinized both their faces and judged, "You're influencers, aren't you?"

He waved his hand to shoo them away: "Chasing after any trend? Be careful about getting your accounts banned. Is your statement recorded? If so, go back early. If you have any questions, wait for the police to issue a formal announcement. In a place like this, please show some respect for the deceased."

Fang Qingzhou shoved her ID into his hand. Captain Feng took it subconsciously, glanced at it casually, and said, "You're from A City?"

"Yes. I..."

Captain Feng slapped the ID back at her, not giving her a chance to speak, and flatly refused: "Influencers from A City won't do either!"

Zhou Suirong gave a very faint laugh.

Captain Feng was deliberately blocking her; he didn't want to show a cold face to the comrade he had just cooperated with pleasantly, but he refused to reveal any details.

Fang Qingzhou tucked her ID back into her pocket and spoke slowly: "It seems you haven't confirmed the identity of the deceased yet. This suggests that no complete fingerprints were extracted from the body, no identification documents were found, and the facial features are equally difficult to recognize. There are many insects in the forest, and occasionally wild cats and dogs. This villa is in a remote location. Since the body has been damaged, the time of death is likely not today; it just hasn't been discovered until now. No wonder there are so many leaves on the body."

Captain Feng was silent for a moment, then grinned: "Keep guessing."

With a stern air of authority, he lectured her mercilessly: "Let me warn you: if you spread these baseless speculations, or fabricate story plots with added drama that cause a negative social impact, the police have the authority to place you under administrative detention."

Fang Qingzhou opened her mouth and let out a very rounded "Oh."

Watching the man opposite her begin to change his expression, Zhou Suirong reached out and tugged at Fang Qingzhou’s arm, asking, "Please, my leader, do you want to go sit at the branch office right now?"

Fang Qingzhou took her phone out of her pocket.

Captain Feng immediately straightened his back, radiating righteousness, and pointed to the body camera on his person to show he was not afraid of any distortion of facts by the lens.

Fang Qingzhou looked at him with a strange expression, switched to her work resume on the interface, and handed it over, saying: "You can search for my name online. I am not an influencer, and I have no conflict of interest with Liang Yizheng. I only arrived in B City yesterday and have no time to commit the crime."

Captain Feng took a look. The strange product of mixed Chinese and English on Fang Qingzhou's resume slid past his pupils.

But it just slid past smoothly. Captain Feng didn't understand it. After he looked away, not a single word remained in his cerebral cortex.

He suddenly remembered the inexplicable information sent from A City. At the time, he thought they were sleepwalking and couldn't write a report. Now, suddenly connecting the names, he gasped in shock and tested her, word by word: "Abnormal... Scientist?"

Fang Qingzhou: "??"

"..."

After her mental circuitry finished a rotation, it connected in a bizarre way: "If this is Officer Ji He’s description... the title she has for me should be 'Mad Scientist'."

Zhou Suirong: "..."

He lowered his head and whispered, "Are your character archetypes so profound?"

Fang Qingzhou turned her head to clarify: "She decided that unilaterally."

The afternoon sun was still somewhat scorching. After standing for only a short while, a layer of fine sweat broke out on Fang Qingzhou's forehead.

Zhou Suirong pulled her into his shadow and suggested, "Let's go talk in the car. It's safer to talk there."

Captain Feng cast a sideways glance at them, tutting at them. He had other calculations in mind; the way he looked at them now carried an appreciation for able-bodied laborers. He immediately straightened his face and said: "Alright, I'll give you ten minutes. We're very busy."