The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 206 Same Symptoms
“You all know what happened next. He forced me into that artificial cave. The cave was too small, and I couldn’t fit in at all. He kicked and shoved me, and I know all the skin on my body was scraped raw…” Su Jing sobbed as she spoke. “When the stone sealed the entrance to the cave, I thought I was going to die. Luckily, you came… Waaah…” As she spoke, she suddenly started coughing violently. The coughing sound was not entirely due to crying; it even had a whistling quality.

Seeing that the situation was getting worse, Zhong Kui immediately pressed the call button, and soon doctors and nurses arrived.

After a series of emergency treatments, the situation was stabilized.

Looking at Su Jing wearing the nebulizer mask, Qi Fei asked the doctor in confusion, "Didn't you say it was just a superficial injury? Why is she coughing so badly all of a sudden?"

The doctor looked at the report, seemingly puzzled: "The patient has severe respiratory damage, as well as bronchospasm and pulmonary edema... Wasn't she injured at the zoo?"

Upon hearing the words "pulmonary edema," Qi Fei felt they sounded familiar and immediately remembered, saying to Wu Shanqiu, "Isn't this the cause of Chen Hao's death?!"

“Oh right!” Wu Shanqiu also thought it was a coincidence. “They were both at the bird aviary and both had pulmonary edema.”

Qi Fei immediately grabbed the doctor's arm: "From Su Jing's condition, can you deduce what the cause might be?" Chen Hao was already dead when she was found, and the exact cause of the pulmonary edema could not be found, but Su Jing was still alive. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but get excited.

Sure enough, the doctor immediately said, "Based on our experience, her condition is acute respiratory damage caused by chlorine poisoning. We need to find out if the patient has been exposed to places with high concentrations of chlorine."

"Chlorine?" Qi Fei frowned. "The place where they had the accident was the aviary, which houses rare birds. There shouldn't be any harmful gas there, right?"

Zhong Kui, fiddling with her little copper knife, said, "You said it yourself, so why don't we ask the zoo?"
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The weather in Nancheng this spring has been great, with the sun so intense it felt like summer had arrived early.

At the bird sanctuary, Qi Fei returned with a team of people and encountered keeper Liu Binjie as soon as they arrived.

Liu Binjie, who had lost Xiao Hei, looked heartbroken. The first question he asked Qi Fei was, "Is there any news about Xiao Hei?"

Qi Fei was still hesitating when he heard Zhong Kui say without blinking, "No." Then she gave him a sharp look, probably telling him to shut up.

Liu Binjie murmured dejectedly, "If Xiao Hei is alright, it should have flown back by now..."

"No news is the best news," Zhong Kui said expressionlessly, which was probably the most indifferent way Qi Fei had ever seen someone offer comfort.

"So what brings you here this time?" Liu Binjie asked.

"Two people died and one was injured in your bird sanctuary. The cause of death is likely chlorine poisoning. We need to come back and investigate the scene again."

"Chlorine?" Liu Binjie looked puzzled. "How could we have chlorine here?"

“We also find it strange. If the concentration of chlorine gas is high enough to kill people, it doesn’t make sense that so many birds here are completely unharmed,” Qi Fei said as he walked inside.

Having visited the aviary so many times, he's almost gotten used to the smell of bird droppings here.

The birds seemed to recognize him; they weren't afraid when he approached, and just flew around and stopped as they pleased.

Liu Binjie didn't quite agree with Qi Fei's statement: "Well... that's not necessarily true. I'm quite familiar with birds. Actually, even though they're so much smaller than humans, the harm chlorine gas does to them might not be as severe as it does to humans. Birds' respiratory systems are completely different from ours; their lungs take up a much larger area in their bodies."

In other words, birds expel the toxic gas much faster than birds.

"Hmm~~~~" Zhong Kui said slowly after listening, "You mean, the reason that the birds are fine is not enough to prove that there is no chlorine in this aviary?" "This is also based on my understanding of birds. Birds have a very strong survival ability. In addition to their amazing respiratory system, their blood and liver detoxification abilities are also many times higher than ours." Liu Binjie became very excited when talking about birds.

"It seems you really like this profession," Zhong Kui said with a smile.

Liu Binjie couldn't help but sigh: "Yes, I really like birds, especially Xiao Hei. To me, it's definitely more than just a pet. If anything happens to Xiao Hei, I'll be very sad."

Qi Fei's group included people from a third-party testing agency. They inspected the bird aviary with their equipment but found no trace of excessive chlorine.

"So, where exactly did these two people get chlorine poisoning?" Upon hearing this result, Qi Fei felt that the investigation had hit another bottleneck.

Just as he was fretting, the cleaning ladies outside the bird pavilion started arguing again, which was quite inappropriate.

Upon hearing the familiar sounds of arguing, Zhong Kui's eyes flickered, and she gracefully walked towards the door.

It was the same two people as last time, just as expected.

Even the content of their arguments was almost identical.

"You're not my boss, so why are you watching me all the time? I know you're jealous that I got to manage the bird sanctuary. If you're so capable, go talk to the boss and we can switch!"

"Hmph! I don't care about your job, it's dirty and smelly! I just can't stand your laziness."

"Explain yourself clearly, how did I slack off?"

"Don't think I don't know. You stole the cleaning solution issued by the company and took it home, using cheap bleach to wash the floor. I saw it in the storage room!"

It looked like the two were about to start fighting again.

But then they saw that there was suddenly an extra person in the middle.

Zhong Kui had somehow ended up standing between the two of them.

She raised an eyebrow at the middle-aged woman who had been accused of stealing the cleaning fluid, and asked with a smile, "What's your name?"

Zhong Kui's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a strange sense of pressure. The old woman's arrogant demeanor inexplicably subsided, and she stammered, "Wang... Wang Jiefang..."

“Aunt Wang, right? I think you need to come with me to talk to the police.” Zhong Kui said, pursing her lips.

Upon hearing this, Wang Jiefang retorted confidently, "Miss, don't listen to that person's nonsense. I never steal anything from the company. I admit I used disinfectant because bird droppings on the ground are too hard to clean, and disinfectant washes them off quickly!"

Zhong Kui waited quietly for her to finish speaking, and then said slowly, "I believe you."

Wang Jiefang was stunned when she heard this: "Then, thank you."

“But I still have to take you to see the police.” Zhong Kui’s words took a complete 180-degree turn.