The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 45 The Non-Existent Mastermind
It was freezing cold, and Zhong Kui was walking in the vast fields with his hands in his pockets and a cat following behind him.

It was as if the busy police officers around him and the traffic in the distance did not exist.

Qi Fei looked at her back and suddenly felt his heart being pulled - what a lonely person she was, like an isolated island in a storm, looking so close, but never being able to get close.

……

The lights in the interrogation room were suddenly turned on. Zhuang Xueqing was unable to adapt for a moment. She avoided the glaring light and struggled to see the person opposite her.

Qi Fei's face appeared in her sight.

"I have already confessed the whole process of the murder, and you have almost finished the investigation. Let me rest!" Zhuang Xueqing said weakly.

Qi Fei's voice was unusually gentle: "I have another question to ask you. On the day Niu Yinzhu disappeared, she called Pan Ting before leaving and asked him why the person who was supposed to pick her up hadn't arrived yet. This person obviously couldn't be you, you two know each other. The person who finally picked her up must have been someone she didn't know, the kind who could make her mistakenly think it was someone sent by Pan Ting." Under the strong light, Qi Fei's pupils were as clear as a pool of water as he stared at Zhuang Xueqing's haggard face.

When asked this question, Zhuang Xueqing's originally gentle face suddenly revealed a gloomy expression, and then she grinned. This smile was so weird that it reminded Qi Fei of the face of the monster painted with blood.

She just smiled and made a "chuckle" sound, but didn't answer.

"Tell me, who is this person?" Qi Fei asked earnestly. The more Zhuang Xueqing asked this, the more eager he became.

"You know who he is." Zhuang Xueqing's voice was hoarse, as if it came from another world.

"Who?" Qi Fei leaned forward unconsciously, waiting impatiently for Zhuang Xueqing to give him an answer.

"He is your inner desire, the answer to your pain, and the antidote to this world." Zhuang Xueqing grinned, as if she had found relief when she said this.

After repeated interrogation, Zhuang Xueqing still did not give a name.

What Qi Fei can confirm is that his guess is correct. There is an accomplice or even the mastermind in Zhuang Xueqing's case. This person may be related to the deaths of Zhu Mingen and Yang Jinhan. Now the only one who knows about the existence of this person is Zhuang Xueqing. No matter what, he must get information about this person from Zhuang.

Then, Qi Fei's hopes were dashed. On the second day after Zhuang Xueqing was interrogated, Wu Shanqiu told him with a heavy face that Zhuang Xueqing was dead.

When Qi Fei heard the news, his heart felt empty. He couldn't deny that he felt sympathy for Zhuang Xueqing.

"How did he die?" he asked in a deep voice.

Wu Shanqiu showed him the surveillance video in the detention center.

In the video, moonlight shines through the silver fence.

Zhuang Xueqing knelt in front of the window, looking at the bright moon, muttering to herself, "I'll use my broken body to light a candle to illuminate your way." She repeated this over and over again. As it was already late at night, no one paid attention to her strange behavior, and finally she collapsed in the moonlight.

Outside the cell, the snow had cleared and spring wasn't far off. "The specific cause of Zhuang Xueqing's death still needs further confirmation, but based on the preliminary autopsy, it seems she was poisoned, the same poison Pan Ting was poisoned with." Zhuang Xueqing's words drew Qi Fei's attention back from the surveillance video.

"She should have been searched before being detained. How could she be allowed to bring poison in?" Qi Fei said in confusion.

"I'm afraid she took the opportunity to take the poison before being arrested. Xiao Tao said she might have given the drug a slow-release treatment, which is theoretically possible."

Qi Fei recalled Zhuang Xueqing's extremely haggard face during the interrogation. It seemed that something was wrong with her body at that time.

Qi Fei was really determined to die. He fell into silence, his eyes falling on the crystal ball on the table. He picked it up and tightened the spring. The music box emitted clear and pleasant music. In the crystal ball, the scarecrow standing in the rice field slowly turned with the music, with a sweet smile. In this little world, the years were peaceful.

Just like last time, the murderer was found, but there were more mysteries in Qi Fei's heart that needed to be solved.

The cabin in Zizai Mountain welcomed familiar guests.

"Before her death, Zhuang Xueqing submitted a large amount of evidence of Luo Yin and Feng Yi accepting bribes and violating regulations. We have transferred it to the economic investigation department. Unless something unexpected happens, both of them will inevitably go to jail. Your lucky bag did not protect Feng Yi from bad luck." Inside the wooden house, Qi Fei took the hot rice wine poured by Zhong Kui and said, outside the wooden house, snow was falling, and it seemed that they would not be able to go down the mountain today.

"She was struck by a fatal curse. It's a miracle that she survived. Aunt Feng even said she wanted to thank me! After all, Feng Yi saw with her own eyes that I saved her from Zhuang Xueqing's butcher knife." Zhong Kui said calmly.

"Although Feng's life was saved, he faces frostbite, amputation, and mental trauma. The rest of his life is ruined."

"It sounds like it's not much better than dying directly." Zhong Kui commented indifferently, lowered his head and took a sip of rice wine.

"The good news is that Li Jian has woken up. He was very sad to hear that Zhuang Xueqing had been arrested. He had been secretly in love with Zhuang Xueqing since college. Knowing that her family was in financial difficulty, he kindly introduced her to a job at Nancheng Investment, but he never expected this outcome. He admitted that he learned indirectly that the murderer had a medical background, and considering the grievances Zhuang had suffered in the group over the years, he knew she was likely the real murderer. He directed and acted out the drama of holding Feng Yi hostage to protect Zhuang Xueqing, and at that time he jumped with the determination to die for Zhuang Xueqing."

"Well, it seems everything is resolved." Zhong Kui said, still with that indifferent look on his face. He put a plum in his rice wine, picked it up and took a sip.

"Not entirely..." Qi Fei observed Zhong Kui carefully, "I haven't forgotten the mark painted at the entrance of Sanwu Town - that..." He stared at Zhong Kui's expression, fearing that he would suddenly change his face like last time.

This little thought did not escape Zhong Kui's eyes. She glanced at Qi Fei out of the corner of her eye and said, "Don't worry, I'm fine now. That ghost won't possess me again. Maybe Zhuang Xueqing knew Feng Yi often went back to his hometown and deliberately drew it on the way to Sanwu Town?"

"That map is drawn in the direction of leaving Sanwu Town, don't forget." Qi Fei would not accept Zhong Kui's excuse.

"It seems like you're becoming increasingly difficult to fool!" Zhong Kui smiled faintly. "But since you found Zhuang Xueqing, I think I should give you some rewards. For example, I'll tell you the secret of this pattern."

"Just like what you did after I found Xu Wei." Qi Fei immediately understood.

"That's right, just like the glass marbles you got when you were a child." Zhong Kui's words caught Qi Fei off guard.

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(End of this chapter)