The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 317 Misguided Love
"The recipient of the flowers is Yi Luo?" Qi Fei blurted out.

The autumn wind outside rustled the trees, as if answering Qi Fei's question.

"Who else could it be?"

"Fate! Wu Xingzhou is Wu Chongyue's son, and Yi Luo was the baby girl Wu Chongyue sent away back then. They actually ended up together," Qi Fei couldn't help but sigh.

"Hmph, when did you start believing in fate? Of course, it sounds a bit strange coming from a fortune teller like me~" Zhong Kui paced around the small room. "The most interesting thing was Yi Luo's reaction when I met her. You know I'm an expert at observing people. Although she tried her best to look surprised, she may be an excellent dancer, but she's not a qualified theatrical performer. I'm pretty sure she knows about her background."

"You mean, Yi Luo and Wu Xingzhou's acquaintance wasn't accidental?" Qi Fei said, his mind racing. Recent events and people flashed through his mind, the constantly changing faces finally settling on Ge Ming. Some seemingly casual conversations from the past now seemed important. He murmured, "They played a game at the bar and switched their names. Ge Ming is Wu Xingzhou, Wu Xingzhou is Ge Ming..."

"Huh?" Zhong Kui didn't understand what he said for a moment.

“Ge Ming told me that the inspiration for this painting came from that time at the bar, but he hesitated to say exactly how he got the inspiration. If he met Yi Luo there, then everything makes sense. Yi Luo wanted to get close to Wu Xingzhou, but because of the bar, Ge Ming pretended to be Wu Xingzhou while playing a game…”
-
In the art studio, Ge Ming was speechless for a long time after listening to Qi Fei's reasoning.

Qi Fei pressed on: "You met that girl in the bar, dancing, desire... you fell in love with her, but in the end she fell into Wu Xingzhou's arms. Your hatred for Wu Xingzhou is not only because he won the gold medal in the competition first, but also because of the girl you admire behind this painting, right?"

Upon hearing this, Ge Ming suddenly looked at Qi Fei with emotion: "You actually understood my painting. I never expected a policeman to have such an understanding of art." As he spoke, he took a deep breath, "You're right, I met Yi Luo first, or rather, I was the first person Yi Luo liked."

I remember we were both drunk that day. On the bar stage, a dancer in a bright red dress performed an exotic dance. She wore a veil, and her alluring figure was like that of a goddess or a siren, her gaze so seductive as she looked at me. Ha, I'm just an ordinary-looking person, always the most inconspicuous one in a crowd, but this time, she didn't even look at my handsome classmate Wu Xingzhou, but kept staring at me. I thought it was fate, and my mind wandered. I thought it was just a hallucination from my drunkenness, but when I came out of the restroom, she happened to meet me. She called out the name we used in the game, Wu Xingzhou. I told her it was just a silly game, and my name was Ge Ming. She smiled and told me her name was Yi Luo, then gracefully left without even exchanging contact information. I thought it was just a fleeting encounter, but that flutter of emotion remained in my heart. I couldn't express it, only through drawing. That's the origin of that painting, my secret love for Yi Luo. That's how it is. I thought I would never see Yi Luo again, but unexpectedly, I saw Wu Xingzhou and her meeting at the school gate and leaving hand in hand.

I didn't tell anyone about this. The feeling of defeat was so overwhelming that just talking about it made me want to die! Ge Ming clenched his fist as he spoke.

Qi Fei frowned slightly: "You should know that the fact that Wu Xingzhou has a girlfriend is very important information in the investigation of his death, yet you didn't tell me last time. Moreover, since the inspiration for your painting came from Yi Luo, you should know that Wu Xingzhou's painting may not have been inspired by your draft, but rather by his relationship with Yi Luo."

"Impossible!" Ge Ming suddenly shouted excitedly, "I was the one who met Yi Luo first, I was the one who painted that picture first! He stole my love and my painting, he's a thief, he deserves it! But all of this has nothing to do with Yi Luo!"
-
At the police station in Sanwu Town, Qi Fei told Yi Luo about Wu Xingzhou's death.

"I didn't know he was dead..." Yi Luo's eyes were filled with tears, enough to soften any man's heart.

Unfortunately, she was facing Qi Fei, who was focused solely on solving the case. His question seemed rather unromantic: "Aren't you two in a relationship? You didn't even know Wu Xingzhou was in trouble?"

“He often disappears for a while, so I thought he was just looking for inspiration for his paintings this time…” Yi Luo murmured. “We checked the immigration records, and you and Wu Xingzhou went to India at the same time. Don’t tell me you didn’t go together,” Qi Fei continued to ask.

Yi Luo was a smart woman. Knowing that she couldn't deny it, she readily admitted, "Yes, I've been learning Indian dance recently, and he offered to accompany me on a trip to India for inspiration. So, does this have anything to do with his death?"

Qi Fei placed the Shiva statue in front of Yi Luo.

The moment Yi Luo saw the statue, her expression froze. In an instant, countless emotions seemed to surge up, leaving her at a loss for words.

"This is what Wu Xingzhou was holding in his arms when he died. You bought it from India, right?" Qi Fei asked.

"I don't know...he..." The appearance of this statue inexplicably disrupted Yi Luo's thoughts, and she stammered, "He..."

"You haven't even asked how he died. Aren't you curious?"

“I…I was so shocked…” she struggled to find the right words, “Where did you find him…”

"The first person to discover him in the Wu family ancestral hall was your birth mother, Wu Shulan," Qi Fei said, enunciating each word clearly, his gaze never leaving Yi Luo's beautiful face.

"It was her?" Yi Luo seemed surprised by the answer once again. "You mean, Wu Xingzhou died in the Wu family ancestral hall while holding this statue?"

"Yes."

Yi Luo's emotions became very strange; she would cry one moment and laugh the next, but she wouldn't say another word.

At this moment, Cai Ding suddenly rushed in looking flustered and whispered a few words in Qi Fei's ear.

"What?! Wu..." Qi Fei was about to speak when he looked at Yi Luo, who was losing control of her emotions, and quickly stopped talking. He stood up and pulled Cai Ding out of the room.