The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 127 Terrified

Wu Chun thought it was perfectly normal: "How dare a driver rush the boss?" His knee banged against the table leg, spilling a few drops of water from the paper cup. "I waited until I was almost late for the last ferry before I finally forced myself to dial." His nails scratched the rim of the cup, leaving marks of varying depths. "When no one answered, I just..." The interrogation room's ceiling light suddenly flickered twice, and Wu Chun's pupils constricted. "The door wasn't locked, and there were snakes crawling all over the floor." His voice suddenly trembled. "Boss Huang was lying there, and the snakes had crawled up his trouser legs." As he spoke the last few words, Wu Chun's voice couldn't help but tremble. "I'll never forget this scene."

Qi Fei flipped open the autopsy report and pushed it over: "Don't tell me you just left Huang Daqiu there and ran away to hide?"

"I..." Wu Chun stammered, not knowing where to begin. "I ran to the river and vomited bile. Then... I saw the snake..." He spoke with his eyes wide open, the veins on his forehead throbbing visibly, as if he were back at the river again. "The snake followed me out of the Golden Snake Immortal's house. I turned around and saw it raised its head and spit out its tongue at me... They say the Golden Snake Immortal can control snakes, and this time I really believe it!"

"You just asked me why I didn't call the police. Even if I saw someone kill someone, you wouldn't believe me if I reported it!" Wu Chun stared at them blankly. "I was really scared!"

"Even if you saw it?" Qi Fei immediately caught the loophole in this statement.

At this point, Wu Chun had given up. His hoarse voice was like a rusty wire being pulled: "It's a snake, it's a snake!" he repeated.

"The deceased were all hacked to death by sharp weapons, not snakes." Qi Fei put down his pen, clasped his hands in front of his chest, and poured a bucket of cold water on Wu Chun.

Wu Chun leaned back dejectedly and said disappointedly, "I knew you wouldn't believe me."

Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu looked at each other, and Qi Fei continued to ask patiently: "So, tell me, how did the snake kill people?"

"I, I don't know, but after I saw Mr. Huang die, I heard a weird voice coming from the stairs, which didn't sound like a human voice. I looked up and saw a thick snake tail sticking out from the stairs. It was so thick!" Wu Chun gestured as he spoke.

Qi Fei was so angry that he laughed: "You know, the snakes we found at the scene were only as thick as a thumb, not as big as you said. Besides, can snakes talk?"

Wu Chun lamented, "I told you it was useless to call the police, but you wouldn't believe me."

"Since you said it spoke, what did it say?" he continued to ask.

Wu Chun really thought about it seriously: "I was so scared at the time. I think he said something like whoever lied to me would die. I'm not sure, but I'm sure he was talking."

"You can always tell the difference between male and female voices, right?"

Unexpectedly, Wu Chun still shook his head: "I really don't remember, that voice is the same as the voice of a monster, that kind of..." He even wanted to imitate that voice, but he clamped his throat and sounded androgynous, which made Wu Shanqiu next to him couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Liu Tong and Zhong Kui were watching the entire interrogation process next door.

Qi Fei came out and met them.

"This guy is clearly playing tricks on us. People at Huang Daqiu's company say he's moody and frequently fires drivers. Wu Chun hasn't been doing this job long either, so it's entirely possible he's displeased with Huang Daqiu and used the two pairs of shoes to create the illusion of a hasty escape," Qi Fei speculated. "He's not lying," Liu Tong and Zhong Kui unexpectedly said in unison.

"Huh?" Qi Fei looked at the two people in confusion.

Liu Tong looked at Zhong Kui and said, "Ladies first."

Zhong Kui leaned against the metal door frame of the observation room and raised his chin towards the one-way glass. "Nothing much, a typical sign of a traumatic flashback. His blinking frequency is normal, peaking at 37 blinks per minute, far higher than his baseline value when lying. His expression is also quite natural, and his various micro-expressions don't give any signs of lying. Unless he is a master of disguise, or he is telling the truth."

Qi Fei nodded slightly, then looked at Liu Tong: "Then why did you say he didn't lie, Captain Liu?"

Liu Tong smiled and said, "I don't have such sophisticated techniques. Of course, there is another very important basis. He had time to create two sets of shoe prints. He could have simply cancelled them and said he never went in. Huang Daqiu's phone was missing, so he could have said that Huang Daqiu asked him to go back on his own. It's easy to make up such an outrageous story. The police won't believe his own story."

Zhong Kui smiled and said, "As for the snake, post-traumatic stress disorder causes cognitive distortion, transforming concrete threats into surreal images - in layman's terms, it was terrified. I think he should be our valuable eyewitness. The so-called snake demon must have encountered the murderer. What's interesting is that the murderer was so immersed in venting his anger that he didn't even realize there was an uninvited guest downstairs."

Qi Fei said, "But what on earth did Huang Daqiu encounter that made him change his mind and decide to go to Jiangting Island?"

"According to Wu Chun, he made the request only after he got on the car. Our precious eyewitness may have the clues we are looking for!" said Zhong Kui.

Hearing this, the four people looked at Wu Chun who was still in the interrogation room.

Wu Chun looked at the people in front of him blankly and stammered, "I've said everything I need to say. What else do you want to know?"

"What did Huang Daqiu do in the car that made him suddenly change his mind and go to Jiangting Island?" Qi Fei returned to the interrogation position and asked.

"How would I know? I was driving in front. As drivers, we are supposed to neither look nor listen," said Wu Chun.

"What we have heard now is your one-sided statement. If Huang Daqiu's reason for going there is sufficient and it really has nothing to do with you, it can be regarded as an extra step for you to get rid of suspicion." Qi Fei said.

The cup in Wu Chun's hand had already gone cold. He swallowed and said, "I really don't remember."

The interrogation room's overhead light cut alternating stripes of light and dark across the blinds. The hem of Zhong Kui's dark purple skirt scraped against the stainless steel countertop with a subtle rustling sound. Her left hand, cufflinks undone, hovered before Wu Chun's eyes, its silver pendant swaying gently in the airflow from the central air conditioner.

Zhong Kui walked to Wu Chun and leaned over: "Look at this light spot. The prompt sound you heard at that time came from the back seat, right?" Her voice suddenly became as soft as hot spring water, and the pendant pinched between her index and middle fingers drew an ∞ trajectory.

(End of this chapter)