Netherworld Investigator

Xiaotao drove me back to college that night. The minute Dali saw that I was fine, he hugged me and cried, saying, “Dude! I thought they’d lock you up forever! It was terrifying seeing you get dragged away by the police today!”

He then asked me if I was hungry, then proceeded to make me a bowl of instant noodles. I kept staring at him until he asked me, “What’s the matter, dude? You fancy me? I would’ve seriously considered it if I was a girl.”

“Dali, are you sure you were with Professor Li backstage the whole time?” I asked him.

“Yeah, dude!” Dali nodded.

“What were you talking about?” I asked. 

“All sorts of stuff… We talked about…” Dali stumbled. “Um, now that you asked, I can’t really recall…”

It looked like Dali was hypnotized into believing that Professor Li had been there with him the whole time. It was a common occurrence that the person who was hypnotized wouldn’t remember what went on afterwards.

Still, I couldn’t begin to wrap my head around the motive behind Professor Li’s actions. Was she trying to exact revenge on Xiaotao? But why kill Zhang Yan and frame Shiwen then?

Early next morning, Xiaotao and Wang Yuanchao went to Professor Li’s place to question her, and Dali and I followed them. Although I’d been in this college for the past four years, I’d never set foot in the staff residential area where Professor Li lived. The area looked nice. Each staff member was given an apartment, and each unit was fully furnished with furniture and daily appliances. 

Dali told me that the rent for the staff apartment was only a thousand yuan per year. 

“What a life!” he remarked enviously. “Cheap rent, nice place to stay, and they’re only required to teach six classes a week! They’d have tons of spare time to play video games in their own apartment!”

“Is that all you ever think of?” I joked.

We finally arrived at Professor Li’s place. Xiaotao knocked on her door a few times, and not long after that Professor Li opened it. She was wearing a loose robe, but her exquisite curves were still visible underneath it. I could clearly hear Dali gasp.

Xiaotao was about to pull out her police badge, but Professor Li stopped her and shook her head. “No need for that, Officer Huang. I know who you are.”

Wang Yuanchao had investigated her relationship with Li Wenhai. It turned out that they were siblings. 

“In that case,” said Xiaotao, “I’ll get straight to the point. I’d like to hear your account of yesterday’s events.”

Professor Li invited us into her house. Just as I had predicted, she had a shrine for her parents in the living room, and another smaller one next to it which bore the name Li Wenhai. An incense was still burning in a metal bowl in front of the shrine. The bowl had collected quite an amount of incense ash.

I was wrong about her pet, though. It wasn’t a dog at all. 

“You have a pet fox?” asked Xiaotao.

“Yes, his name is Doudou. Come here, Doudou!” The fox was frightened though, and it stayed hidden behind the couch.

“Would you like some tea?” Professor Li asked.

“No, we won’t be long,” Xiaotao answered.

“Professor Li’s house smells so nice,” Dali whispered.

“Are you kidding me?” I responded. “It smells very strongly of fox dung!” I took note of the smell, which was something I’d never experienced before.

Professor Li casually pulled up a chair and sat down. She lit up a cigarette and started to slowly recount what happened yesterday. She insisted that she was chatting with Dali backstage all along and had nothing to do with the knife. She only found out what happened when she ran out to the front of the stage after hearing the commotion.

I watched her closely as she spoke with my Cave Vision. She made eye contact with me suddenly for a split second, and I noticed that the corner of her mouth lifted up slightly. For some reason, I shuddered with an inexplicable fear when those eyes of hers were fixed on me.

“You have a very keen eyesight, don’t you, Song Yang?” she asked me. “Were you observing my micro-expressions?” 

I froze. Did she notice my Cave Vision?

“Was Professor lying, then?” Xiaotao asked me.

I broke out in cold sweat, but still answered, “From what I’ve observed, she showed no signs of lying.”

It was possible that she knew how to act to keep her micro-expressions in check. She was an expert in psychology, after all. For the first time in my life, it felt like I was in a tough game of chess while facing her.

“Now you’ve seen that everything I say is true,” she said. “I also have a clear alibi that confirms that I wasn’t at the murder scene. You’re just suspicious of me because of your personal relationship with Song Yang. I think that sounds like malpractice and abuse of power, Officer Huang.”

“But you definitely touched the knife before!” I argued. “None of your fingerprints were found on it. That meant that you must’ve applied a layer of superglue on your fingers beforehand. Would you let us check your hands?”

She spread out her delicate hands and replied, “Please, go ahead!”

I scrutinized the fingers closely but found nothing. That wasn’t so surprising, though, since she could’ve washed all signs of the glue off before we came here.

“Would you show us your right eye?” asked Xiaotao.

“If you wish,” she replied. She then swept her hair behind her ear, revealing a bright turquoise eyeball. When I stared at it, it didn’t make me feel weird like I did last time. Still, the eye looked ‘alive’ somehow, not at all like an ordinary glass eye.

“What an unusual prosthetic eye!” remarked Xiaotao.

“I have an unusual taste,” replied Professor Li.

“Then why do you usually cover it up with your hair?” Xiaotao asked.

Professor Li interlaced her fingers and answered, “I wouldn’t want to alarm my students, would I?”

“How did you lose your eyesight?”

“I got sick when I was young,” she explained. “Which left my right eye blind. After that, I’ve always been using a prosthetic eye.”

The reason she gave was exactly the same as the one she’d given previously at the drama club. Only this time, I didn’t notice any signs of panic like I did before. I realized then that this woman had the ability to control her micro-expressions with ease.

When a person tried to recall past memories, they would unconsciously look down to the right. I noticed that Professor Li did this as she spoke, which could just mean that she was committed to her lies down the tiniest details!

Professor Li then covered her right eye with her hair and said, “I’ve answered all your questions and showed you everything you wanted to see. Is there anything else that I can do for you? If not, please leave. I need to prepare for my class tomorrow.”

Xiaotao was visibly annoyed. This trip turned out to be fruitless so far.

“What are you trying to do, Li Wenjia?” Xiaotao boldly asked. “Are you trying to avenge your brother?”

Professor Li laughed.

“Officer Huang,” she calmly replied, “it seems that you’ve made up your mind that I’m the murderer. I know the laws of our country enough to know that what you’re doing is illegal. Be careful, or I might sue you.”

“Go ahead!” yelled Xiaotao through gritted teeth. “But I’ll definitely expose your true nature! I swear it!”

Once we left Professor Li’s apartment, I suddenly noticed Xiaotao and Wang Yuanchao staring at me with a strange look in their eyes. 

“You don’t actually believe what she said, do you?” I asked them.

“I do believe that you’d never kill anyone,” answered Xiaotao. “But perhaps there’s a possibility that you were hypnotized.”

“That’s impossible,” I retorted. “If that’s the case, then it would be me who stabbed Zhang Yan, not Shiwen!”

“That makes sense,” Xiaotao nodded in agreement. “Still, all the evidence we have right now points to you. I worry that you might be charged with murder in court.”

“What?!” cried Dali in shock. “Dude, should you hire a lawyer now?”

“I’m not considering retreat before the battle has even begun!” I stated firmly. “Shiwen and I are both innocent, and I’ll definitely prove it!”

“Do you have any ideas for our next step at the moment, Song Yang?” asked Xiaotao.

To be honest, I didn’t know what to do myself. It was true that the most difficult case to solve was one that had no clear motive or plan. Shiwen’s murder of Zhang Yan was one such case. To make matters worse, there were hundreds of witnesses who saw the act of murder with their own eyes.

“Let me stay here to monitor her moves!” Wang Yuanchao suggested.

“Okay,” agreed Xiaotao. “But you must be careful.”