The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 304 Sunset Fence
“Everything just now was captured by the surveillance cameras. Chen Zhuo has been apprehended, and no one will replace the surveillance footage tonight,” Qi Fei said. “Song Yun, you have been arrested on suspicion of murdering Ma Ziqiang and Lin Yu.”

Having lost her mind, Song Yun was limp and was pulled up by Qi Fei and handcuffed.

As she passed Zhong Kui, she looked up and asked, "Could you please tell that boy named Lin Yu that I'm very sorry?"

Zhong Kui replied expressionlessly, "I can't help you. What I just did was just a trick to fool you, just like Xi He fooled you. We're just crazy people who like to play tricks on others, not gods or monsters."

Song Yun said in bewilderment, "It's possible that Mingming wrote out the entire letter Lin Yu gave me. I burned that letter, and besides Lin Yu and me, there couldn't possibly be a third person in the world who knows its contents."

Qi Fei answered for Zhong Kui: "It's very simple. He tore the letter he wrote to you out of the notepad, but the next page still has traces of the text. Based on what we already know about his interactions with the so-called Kong Xiaowen, it's not difficult to replicate the contents of the letter."

“Whether or not Lin Yu’s ghost exists, it doesn’t change the fact that you killed an innocent person. Even if you go to hell, you won’t be able to get rid of this guilt,” Zhong Kui said ruthlessly.
-
The setting sun shone through the narrow window, casting long shadows on the detention center's fence.

Chen Zhuo huddled in the corner, his eyes lifeless.

The sound of high heels approached, and the first sound made him tremble.

That filthy corner seemed to be his only source of security, and he shrank back even further, hoping that it would allow him to escape the person who was about to appear.

Zhong Kuiling's lithe figure moved in the light separated by the fence, and soon her porcelain doll-like face appeared in front of him.

"I've told you everything, why are you still coming to me?" Chen Zhuo buried his face in the shadows, not daring to look Zhong Kui in the eye.

"Are you afraid of me?" Zhong Kui's voice was as clear as a wind chime, yet for some reason it sent chills down one's spine. "Because I look a lot like that person?"

"No, no one in this world can be compared to God. I didn't say that," Chen Zhuo denied weakly.

"Well, I'm not here today to have these pointless arguments with you. Don't worry, I just want to confirm one small thing." Zhong Kui fiddled with her hair, glancing at Chen Zhuo as if casually. "About that T-shirt, you lied. It was actually Xi He who gave it to you, right?"

Chen Zhuo didn't answer directly, but just stared blankly at the slowly moving light and shadow on the ground, muttering, "Actually, after Ma Ziqiang died, I wasn't afraid at all. He defiled Weiwei and completely destroyed our family; he deserved to die. But ever since we killed Lin Yu, I haven't been able to sleep well. My God, Ma Ziqiang has turned us into such terrible people. We actually killed an innocent person to cover up our crimes."

At this moment, God appeared, dressed in white, so holy. He said that everyone in the world is suffering, including Lin Yu. We did not kill him, but helped him to be freed from this world full of suffering.

Looking back now, it seems like such an absurd statement, yet at the time I believed it wholeheartedly.

“It’s not surprising. People’s cognition tends to be self-serving. At that time, you were anxious about killing Lin Yu. Xi He just took advantage of your emotions and said what you wanted to believe.” Zhong Kui said dismissively.

“He said that the clothes had his blessing, and that if I wore them, they would purify my sins,” Chen Zhuo said.

"Let me guess, it's not just you, Song Yun and Wu Weiwei have also become followers of Xi He. So when we asked about the clothes that day, you were afraid that revealing Xi He would expose your secret connection and your crimes, so you made up a lie?" "Yes, when Weiwei was tricked by you, I knew we were finished. Now I understand, the liberation God spoke of was for me to accept punishment. To be honest, I feel much more at ease here than outside."

"I shouldn't have let hatred blind me. I should have called the police when Weiwei was being bullied by Ma Ziqiang, but..." At this point, Chen Zhuo's eyes widened suddenly, tears streaming down his face. He choked back sobs, saying, "But I knew that if I called the police, Weiwei and I would become a laughingstock. Just thinking about how my family, friends, and colleagues would look at me... I'd rather die, I really would rather die..."

“Yes, as you wish, you really are going to die.” Zhong Kui said calmly, standing up. “Well, it’s better to accept the punishment of justice than to die at Xi He’s hands. He certainly didn’t tell you when he was bewitching you that everyone who became his follower eventually died.”

He wasn't lying to you on this point; in his view, killing you was helping you escape from this world.

"Am I really going to die?" Chen Zhuo murmured, scratching his pale neck, leaving red marks.

"Now I realize that as long as I'm alive, even just feeling pain is good, right? Unfortunately, life is a one-way street, there's no turning back." Zhong Kui left, the light and shadow behind her dimming as the sun set, darkness gradually swallowing the path she had walked, and swallowing Chen Zhuo as well.

Outside the detention center, a thin old woman and a huge blue-gray cat stood side by side in the twilight.

Upon seeing Zhong Kui appear, Luo Sha stepped forward and affectionately rubbed her face against the hem of Zhong Kui's skirt, as if urging her to go home.

With unusual tenderness, Zhong Kui stroked Luocha's head: "Good child, let's go home."

When Qi Fei found out where Zhong Kui was and drove to the detention center, the entrance was already empty.

He stood forlornly in the darkness, horrified to discover that he could no longer recall the path to Zizai Mountain—Zhong Kui had somehow hypnotized him, erasing the only memory that led him to her residence.

A police car sped up nearby, and his cell phone vibrated violently in his pocket, urging him to answer the call.

"Brother Fei, Chen Zhuo is in trouble, where are you?" Wu Shanqiu's urgent voice came through the phone, but she quickly put it down because Qi Fei was standing right in front of her.

"Brother Fei, you've received the news too?" Wu Shanqiu was quite surprised to see Qi Fei at the detention center.

Qi Fei didn't ask any more questions and rushed into the detention center with her.

Under the stark white light, Chen Zhuo was curled up in a twisted position in the corner, his eyes wide open and his face contorted in a ferocious expression. His forehead was covered in blood, and he had been dead for some time.

"He died by violently banging his head against the wall during a shift change; it was suicide..." a police officer at the detention center said.

What Qi Fei saw was that he was still holding a yellow paper iris in his hand...