The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 19 Scars
Fu Liansheng didn't understand why they were suddenly interested in the paint can. He said, "This is for repainting the coffin. Any questions?"

"I think Xu Wei used it not only to touch up the paint." Qi Fei said as he weighed the jar.

As the car sped back to Nancheng, Wu Shanqiu looked at the message on her phone and said to Qi Fei, "Brother Fei, Lanhe has sent over the investigation results on Xu Wei. This guy was born and raised in Lanhe. He grew up in a well-off family. His parents died in a car accident the year he graduated from elementary school, leaving him an orphan. Because of his paranoid personality, he often had conflicts with his adopted relatives and lived with different families. As an adult, he lived on his own, but none of his jobs lasted long. This job at the funeral home is probably the one he's held the longest."

"What about him and Yao Leilei? Have you found any connections between them?" Qi Fei asked.

"Brother Fei, you're right, it's true!" Wu Shanqiu said with a hint of excitement, "Yao Leilei and this Xu Wei were classmates in junior high school. It seems that the two knew each other. However, I contacted other classmates and they said that they didn't have much interaction during their school years."

"Whether there's any connection or not, we'll find out when we go back and question this person. Don't notify anyone yet, so as not to alert the enemy."

"Aren't you afraid he'll run away?"

"He showed up at the scene that day. He seems to be extremely confident in himself. Running away will only increase his suspicion. He won't do that." Qi Fei said firmly.

In the garage on the second floor below ground in Nancheng, an inconspicuous old man hummed a song and walked towards the morgue with a key chain. No one ever looked at him twice, as if everyone's subconscious mind was avoiding this matter - most people don't like to face death, or anything related to death.

Amidst the silence, the sound of a key opening the door was heard, but it was quickly interrupted by a voice behind him: "Xu Wei!"

Qi Fei shouted.

The key continued to turn, but the old man seemed not to hear the sound. He continued to hum a little tune and prepared to enter the morgue.

"Don't move, or I'll shoot." Qi Fei's voice came again. As the footsteps increased, more police officers appeared. This was a roundup scene. Everything was arranged quietly and no one noticed.

With his back to everyone, the "old man"'s still young hands loosened the keys, suddenly took out something from his pocket, turned around and was about to shoot at Qi Fei and the others.

"Bang! Bang!" Gunshots rang out, and the old man fell to the ground. He twitched twice and then stopped moving. Only then did everyone see clearly that his hands were empty, with nothing in them.

Damn it! I got fooled! Qi Fei was secretly upset.

As he approached, the unnoticed old face, tilted upwards in the flashlight, revealed more details. Qi Fei peeled off the elaborate disguise, a mixture of silicone and makeup, bit by bit. Xu Wei's true face appeared before everyone's eyes, identical to the photograph, and just as lifeless. He applied the techniques he'd learned at the funeral home to himself, and died without a word, still in disguise.

A dried-up human finger was found on Xu Wei's body, and the traces of piano practice were vaguely visible, just like the scars left by time.

Xu Wei lived in the hospital's staff dormitory, which was spotlessly clean. However, under their pillow, they found a photo. It was a junior high school graduation photo. Yao Leilei stood in the center, while Xu Wei was at the edge of the back row. Yao Leilei stared at the camera with a bright smile, and Xu Wei stared at her, unnoticed.

Qi Fei held the photo, looked out the window at the warm winter sun, and couldn't help but hum a melody, which confused Wu Shanqiu, who was searching for evidence nearby: "Brother Fei, are you crazy?"

"Have you forgotten? Does this melody sound familiar?" Qi Fei reminded.

Wu Shanqiu pondered for a moment, then finally remembered: "It was the cello music I heard in the B&B."

"Yes, Yao Beibei said this was her sister's original song. Xu Wei was humming the same tune when he was arrested."

"Huh? I forgot about your tenth-grade piano proficiency, Brother Fei. Honestly, I hadn't noticed." "Well, it sounded familiar to me when I first heard it at the B&B. I just thought I'd heard a similar melody somewhere before. It wasn't until Xu Wei showed up humming the tune that I remembered it was the same tune. He'd actually hummed a few lines alongside when we were dealing with Zhu Mingen on set. Unfortunately, I thought he was just a weird old man at the time and didn't pay much attention to it."

Inside the police station, on Qi Fei's desk, a courier box lay quietly on the table.

Signed anonymously.

Qi Fei had a premonition of something, smiled to himself, then picked up the package and tore it open.

Inside was a small, exquisite wooden box and a card with the words "Zi, Xun, Chou, and Geng, the virtue of heaven is in your hands, it is a good time to meet friends" written neatly on the card.

This style, coupled with the sweet fragrance on the paper, is definitely Zhong Kui.

It seemed that she knew the murderer had been found.

In this respect, she is really a "magician". This implicit invitation came at the right time, and it actually made Qi Fei's gloomy mood caused by the case feel a little relieved. Only he himself knew the joy in his heart.

The wooden box was opened, and inside was the wind chime, the wind chime that Zhong Kui hung in the room in Zizai Mountain.

Qi Fei picked it up and couldn't help shaking it. The wind chimes made a crisp sound, jingling, and he suddenly felt as if the clouds and fog in his mind had cleared.

In an instant, all the memories of the mountains, those disappeared fragments, suddenly came back like a jigsaw puzzle.

It's an indescribable wonderful feeling.

He remembered! Zhong Kui's home.

There is no safer way than this. All external evidence has been destroyed, and he is the only one in the world who knows where Zhong Kui's home is.

He is the invitation itself.

Although Qi Fei didn't know why Zhong Kui kept his residence so secret, he still cooperated and didn't tell anyone. He took the Feng Shui compass and drove to Sanwu Town alone.

Compared with last time, finding Zhong Kui was much easier, because before he arrived, the big gray cat Luosha was already waiting at the intersection to lead him the way.

Successfully finding the murderer Xu Wei seemed to be a test for Zhong Kui, giving Qi Fei the privilege to find her.

Soon, the tempting aroma of food wafted out from the withered woods in winter, making Qi Fei swallow his saliva.

Unlike the cold and gloomy atmosphere last time, this time he was greeted by a sumptuous dinner, just like the one in Wong Tai Sin Temple, and also like the scenes in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio - it was getting dark, there were beautiful women and a lonely house in the mountains.

"Congratulations on solving the case, Qi Fei." Zhong Kui, wearing a light purple cheongsam and a warm but cold smile, invited him to take a seat and handed him a cup of hot rice wine...

(End of this chapter)