The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 1 Broth
When the forensic doctor pried open the fourth jar of wine, Qi Fei calmly watched the trainee police officer vomiting non-stop outside the cordon.

The rice wine, trapped underground for thirteen years, evaporated into an amber mist, swirling beneath the old persimmon tree, tinged with the stench of corpses. The villagers watching from outside the cordon suddenly fell silent. The cold wind rustled the dry branches, making a creaking sound like fingernails scratching against the pottery walls of a wine jar.

"Team!" Policewoman Wu Shanqiu rushed over, holding an evidence bag. Inside the transparent sealed bag was half a gold and jade earring. "It's the same one Chen Xiaojing wore in the missing person file! We found her!"

The sound of a woman humming echoed from the broken earthen wall. The woman in the purple cheongsam walked up to Qi Fei and frivolously brushed the police badge on his chest with her nails stained with balsam juice. "Do you believe me now?"

Qi Fei looked at her face, which was so delicate that it didn't look like a human's, and recalled the strange evening in the interrogation room three days ago.

……

The setting sun cast dark red bloodstains on the mottled tiles of the police station, and the tapping sound of high heels was like a second hand piercing Qi Fei's temple.

Qi Fei from the Nancheng Criminal Police Team had been waiting at the door of the interrogation room for a full hour. The victim's family insisted on inviting a "half-immortal" to help solve the case, which was a great insult to his career.

He was clearly getting impatient. "What's all this? We've been interrogating this guy for so long and he refuses to confess, and this charlatan can do it. Captain Liu, what a jerk! Should he agree to every request from the victim's family? This is a serious interference with the investigation!"

The policewoman Wu Shanqiu next to her warned, "Keep your voice down. I heard this woman is very difficult to deal with. Chen Xiaojing's family spent a lot of money to hire her."

As he was speaking, the woman was already in front of him. Qi Fei swallowed back the words he was about to complain. His eyes fell on the woman's hands. Her white hands were holding a bowl of soup, still steaming. It was a bowl of meat soup with a lot of rice wine. The aroma of wine and meat mixed together, it was hard not to be tempted.

"Tsk, just playing tricks." Qi Fei muttered in disdain.

Maybe she heard his muttering, but before she walked into the interrogation room, the woman suddenly glanced at Qi Fei. At that moment, Qi Fei clearly saw his face in her eyes, as if there was endless darkness in the woman's dark pupils.

The moment his mind went blank, the door of the interrogation room slammed shut.

"The family said they were going to find Zhong Kui. I thought it was an old man, but why is it this little girl?" Qi Fei muttered, trying to hide his panic awkwardly.

"It's so funny, Brother Fei, you must not have seen the visitor registration. It's the 'Zhong' of clock and the 'Kui' of sunflower." Wu Shanqiu said.

"Chen Xiaojing has been missing for thirteen years. We finally found the murderer, but he refused to reveal the location of the body. I understand the family's feelings. However, I am convinced that Captain Liu actually agreed to let this person of unknown origin be alone with the suspect." Qi Fei muttered.

"Alright, alright!" Wu Shanqiu pulled him by the arm as they headed towards the observation room. "I heard this Zhong Kui is psychic and can allow the dead to talk to the living. It's been rumored all over Sanwu Town. Our Captain Liu must have understood the situation before agreeing to the family's request. Brother Fei, aren't you curious about how she'll perform?"

Qi Fei followed Wu Shanqiu to the observation room with a bored look on his face, and stood in front of the one-way glass, watching everything in the interrogation room.

In the empty interrogation room, a man in his fifties was sitting at a table. He had an ordinary appearance and it was hard to associate him with a murderer.

Chen Xiaojing was Zhu Qi's lover, and all the evidence indicates that Zhu Qi murdered her. Sadly, thirteen years later, the body has never been found. Zhu Qi was finally apprehended this year, but he keeps changing the location of the body and refuses to tell the truth.

Qi Fei would never forget the fifth time they searched for the body, in the peach orchard near Zhu Qi's home. After digging all afternoon and finding nothing, he turned and saw Zhu Qi with that defiant smile on his face, mouthing four words to him silently. Qi Fei knew what they were—innocent until proven guilty. Zhu Qi was provoking him, and anger can make a person make mistakes—this Zhu Qi was truly a master at manipulating people's hearts.

At this time, in the interrogation room, Zhong Kui put the broth on the table and sat down opposite Zhu Qi, staring at him with his deer-like eyes.

A fugitive and a beautiful "half-immortal" faced each other. Fifteen minutes passed without the two speaking.

"What is she doing?" Qi Fei asked impatiently, his hands on his hips.

"Brother Fei, you're right, Zhong Kui is quite beautiful. If you didn't tell me, I would have thought she was a top star!" Wu Shanqiu said something off topic.

"Is this the point?!" Qi Fei glanced at her unhappily and said. At this moment, Wu Shanqiu suddenly poked his arm and said, "Quick, quick, she's moving!"

Zhong Kui pushed the broth in front of Zhu Qi and said weakly, "The soup is getting cold. Drink it quickly."

"Oh, why does this beauty sound like she's dying?" Wu Shanqiu sighed.

As soon as Zhong Kui opened his mouth, the atmosphere in the interrogation room immediately became weird and spooky, and even Qi Fei got goosebumps for no reason.

Zhu Qi looked at Zhong Kui suspiciously. The strong aroma of the soup made him swallow his saliva.

Zhong Kui glanced at Zhu Qi's sliding Adam's apple, raised the corners of her mouth slightly, casually lifted a bunch of her hair, began to braid it, and hummed a song to herself.

"What is she singing?" Wu Shanqiu asked in confusion.

Qi Fei remembered the tune: "It's an old song. I was only in junior high school when it became popular. You definitely haven't heard it."

Zhu Qi, who was in the interrogation room, suddenly changed his expression when he heard this. He stared at Zhong Kui, confusion and fear flashing in his eyes... as if too many emotions surged up in an instant.

Suddenly, she looked at Zhu Qi with her ethereal eyes and urged him, "Drink?"

These words seemed like a spell. Zhu Qi picked up the bowl with trembling hands and took a sip.

"Finish drinking!" Zhong Kui urged without waiting for him to put down the bowl.

After hearing this, Zhu Qi drank it in big gulps, as if he had to do as he was told due to a huge fear. Qi Fei didn't understand why Zhu Qi, who was so difficult to interrogate, seemed to have become a different person and obeyed Zhong Kui's orders.

After a while, the soup bowl in Zhu Qi's hand was empty.

Zhong Kui showed a charming smile, stood up, walked to Zhu Qi, bent down and whispered a few words in his ear.

The microphone could not pick up her voice. The people in the observation room could only see that as Zhong Kui's red lips moved slightly, Zhu Qi's face turned from pale to sallow, and then became sallow, as if in great pain. Then the whole person began to twitch, and suddenly with a "wow", all the broth he had just drunk was vomited out.

"Eh..." Wu Shanqiu couldn't help but cover her mouth and nose, even though she couldn't smell the unpleasant smell across the room.

Suddenly, Zhong Kui pointed her finger in the direction of the one-way glass. Everyone seemed to be controlled by her emotions. They became inexplicably nervous and even had the urge to take a step back.

She only said to Zhu Qi, "The police have patience with you, but I don't." After saying this, she turned around and prepared to walk out of the interrogation room.

Seeing that she was about to leave, Zhu Qi actually became anxious: "I'll tell you, I'll tell you!"

Zhong Kui turned around and looked down at Zhu Qi who was sitting on the chair: "Then say it out loud for them to hear."

"It's in my second uncle's backyard, in the southwest corner, underground..." Zhu Qi stuttered.

Qi Fei walked out of the observation room, stood at the door, and watched Zhong Kui walking towards him.

Zhong Kui walked right up to him, so close that Qi Fei almost backed away in embarrassment. "You can go dig up Chen Xiaojing's body now," she said firmly.

(End of this chapter)