The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 47 Xiaoyou's Sketchbook

"I remarried Fengsheng. Xiaoyou never understood why he had two fathers, so I asked him to call Fengsheng his new dad. It's only been two years, and I didn't expect..." She couldn't help sobbing as she spoke of her heartbreak. "I'm such a jinx! I was hoping to have someone to rely on..."

"You don't look like someone who would bring bad luck to your husband." Zhong Kui came to the side at some point and said it casually.

Qi Fei looked at her, not knowing whether this was Zhong Kui's true words or to comfort Lu Xiuxia.

Then, Zhong Kui glanced at the table beside her and said, "I just went to the kitchen. The water stains on the wine glass are still there. It seems that you like cleanliness very much. You washed all the dishes from yesterday this morning."

Hearing this, Lu Xiuxia didn't know how to respond for a moment. She opened her mouth slightly for a while before saying, "After I called the police, I saw that the house was so messy and I felt embarrassed... So I took the opportunity of you coming to clean up the leftover dishes from yesterday." Qi Fei cast a questioning look at her. According to what she had just said, she woke up to find that Yue Fengsheng was dead. According to the logic of normal people, it is impossible for them to have the mood to wash the dishes.

"Are you embarrassed, or are you afraid that we'll find out something?" His tone no longer had the sympathy he had at the beginning.

At this moment, Xiaoyou suddenly raised her head and said to Lu Xiuxia in a baby voice, "Mom, did the policeman get angry because I gave my new dad the obedient medicine?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiuxia immediately scolded him, "Children should not interrupt when adults are talking. The new father was drunk on his own, and Xiaoyou has nothing to do with it!"

But it was too late.

Qi Fei and Zhong Kui stared at her in unison, obviously believing the child's words more.

Zhong Kui bent down and said to Xiaoyou, "Do you like painting? Can I take you to paint?"

Xiaoyou became happy when she heard this and nodded vigorously.

Under Lu Xiuxia's uneasy gaze, Zhong Kui took Xiaoyou away from the scene.

Qi Fei said to Lv Xiuxia in front of him, "I'm afraid you have to come with us."

……

"Xiaoyou doesn't understand anything. He doesn't know that thing will harm his father!" As soon as she entered the interrogation room, Lu Xiuxia collapsed.

"What is it?" Qi Fei asked hurriedly.

"I, I don't know either. Late last night, Xiaoyou woke me up and told me that he put some obedient medicine in the new dad's wine glass, and the new dad fell asleep in the bathroom. When I went to check, I found that Fengsheng was not right, and he was motionless. I actually tried to lift his head up, but found that he was dead. My first thought was that Xiaoyou must be fine, so I hurried to wash the wine glass, but I didn't expect that you would still find it!" As she said that, she covered her face and cried.

Qi Fei was at a loss for words when he heard this. "Do you know that you've erased the most crucial evidence? Xiaoyou isn't criminally responsible yet. Even if he's discovered, we'll punish the person who instigated him, not Xiaoyou!"

After hearing this, Lu Xiuxia was stunned. She raised her head and stammered, "I, did I do something wrong? Will you arrest me? Xiaoyou can't live without me..."

As he was speaking, Qi Fei was called out. Zhong Kui was already waiting outside the door. She handed a picture album to Qi Fei.

"Xiaoyou said he ran out alone last night, and a guy called Uncle Long Legs gave him a packet of obedient pills. He said giving it to his new father would stop him from hitting people. When he came back, he saw his new father beating his mother again, so he poured the obedient pills into the wine glass on the table," Zhong Kui said. Qi Fei flipped through the graffiti in the album. Although it was abstract, he could vaguely see a larger stick figure beating a stick figure with long braids. He estimated that the former was Yue Fengsheng and the latter was Lü Xiuxia.

On another sheet of paper, an even smaller stick figure squatted on the ground, a mess of black crayon lines drawn in front of him.

Qi Fei asked in confusion: "What is this?"

"He said it was the Daddy-Long-Legs who gave him the obedient medicine." Zhong Kui said, "Xiaoyou is not very good at expressing himself yet, so I asked him to draw it."

“So abstract?”

"Well, it's just that abstract." Zhong Kui said, "But it's very likely that what Xiaoyou said is true. Turn the page."

Qi Fei flipped to the front page doubtfully. Xiaoyou really liked drawing. The drawing paper was full of all kinds of fantastic designs. Because she was young, all the characters looked like stick figures.

The recurring theme is the large stick figure beating up the other two stick figures, suggesting Yue Fengsheng frequently assaults Lü Xiuxia and Xiaoyou. Of course, much of the footage consists of ambiguous objects, some resembling bicycles, others toys, and even tools like wrenches, reminiscent of the world imagined by a young boy.

Among them, several patterns caught Qi Fei's attention. In the next picture, a stickman was pouring something into a cup, and in the next picture, an angry stickman turned into a smiling face.

He flipped back and re-examined the abstract black lines: "Did Xiaoyou know long ago that she was going to put drugs in Yue Fengsheng's wine glass?"

"Someone instilled this idea in him," Zhong Kui said coldly. "I tried to get him to describe what the so-called Daddy-Long-Legs looked like, and he said he was in an alley and only saw a dark-skinned Daddy-Long-Legs. I guess that's why he used this messy black mass of lines to represent Daddy-Long-Legs."

Qi Fei looked at it thoughtfully: "It seems that this is not the first time the child has seen this person."

"It's hard to say. At this stage, Xiaoyou can't distinguish between reality and imagination. Many children his age have an imaginary friend." Zhong Kui proposed a different idea. "The key is to know where he got the idea to drug Yue Fengsheng."

Back in the interrogation room, Qi Fei placed Xiaoyou's sketchbook in front of Lv Xiuxia. "Although we can't rule you out as a suspect at this point, you should thank your son for giving us key information about the suspect. He called him Daddy-Long-Legs, which at least suggests he's a male. He's very familiar with your family. Think about it, has Yue Fengsheng offended anyone that's worthy of suspicion?"

Lu Xiuxia thought for a long time and shook her head. "I sometimes hear Xiaoyou talking about Daddy-Long-Legs, and I thought he was a character from a cartoon. You said Fengsheng has offended many people, but there really isn't anyone like him."

"Does Lu Fengsheng often offend people?" Qi Fei asked.

Speaking of this, Lu Xiuxia wiped her nose and sighed deeply: "Alas! Fengsheng is good in every way except for his alcoholism. Once he drinks too much, he loses his temper with everyone. He's offended all the neighbors here."

……

When Qi Fei went downstairs, he saw Xiao You on the first floor of the police station, waiting for his mother to come out after questioning him. He was quietly drawing circles on a piece of paper with a paintbrush, not at all playful, as a four-year-old should be. Qi Fei couldn't help but feel pity for him. He walked over and said softly, "Xiao You, can you take me to that alley to have a look?"

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(End of this chapter)