Translator:
Atlas Studios
Editor:
Atlas Studios
She did not know in the beginning, so it meant that she knew he was still alive later on?
Xiang Wan stared at Kong Xinqiong who lowered her head dejectedly and felt her hair standing on end.
It was suddenly quiet inside the ward.
There were only Kong Xinqiong’s soft sobbing sounds which added to the sorrowful atmosphere.
She continued sobbing when suddenly, she laughed sarcastically.
He had fainted. I had a hard time getting him in… I was so scared that I couldn’t stop trembling. Even if I knew he was still alive, but how could I let him out? If he’s alive, he’ll beat me to death…
Perhaps Wu Hongliang had caused her too much misery that whenever his name was mentioned, her shoulders would shudder and her expression was a mixture of fear and agony.
… He deserved it. He killed a man and deserved death for that. Can’t blame me, I’m not to blame at all…
As she mumbled that to herself, her eyes were red and her lips were trembling non-stop.
All these years, maybe Kong Xinqiong had been using this to convince herself as she stayed in the same house with both Wu Hongliang’s corpse as well as a part of Tan Ziyang’s corpse. Maybe that was why she did not become mentally deranged by repeatedly consoling herself with that excuse.
Although she sounded weak and feeble, those who listened broke out in cold sweat.
Xiang Wan felt goosebumps all over with Kong Xinqiong’s description of the scene.
It was unthinkable that someone alive was sealed inside the wall, waiting for his death… It must have been devastating… And his wife who was outside, what kind of feeling did she go through?
Even though Wu Hongliang killed Tan Ziyang, he should have been punished by law—such a cruel death was too inhumane…
Hence, Xiang Wan couldn’t help thinking about Tang Yuanchu’s shout of ‘sht’ that night, and she looked at the Maocai in front of her which was bought from the famous restaurant that happened to have the word
toilet
in its name. She suddenly felt her stomach starting to churn.
She put down her chopsticks emotionlessly and tried very hard to suppress the feeling of nausea.
Bai Muchuan picked up a piece of potato gracefully.
Not eating anymore?
How could she still have appetite?
Geez, is that an evil look? He did it on purpose!
she concluded.
It must be on purpose!
Xiang Wan looked at him from the corner of her eye.
I’m full!
What a pity! There’s still so much food.
When Bai Muchuan received her peeved look, his lips curved into a smile and turned his head to the sobbing Kong Xinqiong.
Your story is well made-up!
He grunted,
You even managed to fool the idiots…
A made-up story?
Idiots?
Xiang Wan exchanged glances with Tang Yuanchu.
…
A confounded Kong Xinqiong lifted her teary eyes and looked at Bai Muchuan with a flicker of hatred.
… I… I didn’t.
Then tell us, how did you seal Wu Hongliang, who weighs 87 kilograms into the wall?
How did you know his weight?
Kong Xinqiong was shocked.
Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow.
You gotta be clear who’s asking who questions?
His cold tone and words made Kong Xinqiong nervous.
She was scared of the police. Otherwise, when Xiang Wan was taken away by Old Mr. Xu’s men, she wouldn’t have been so reluctant to report that to the police. She had never intended to get in any sort of link or relationship with the police.
Under Bai Muchuan’s cold, piercing gaze, Kong Xinqiong felt her scalp going numb and started to speak slowly,
He was very fat. As he had fainted, he was especially heavy… I just, dragged him in, bit by bit…
Drag?
Bai Muchuan sneered.
You’re only around 80 to 90 pounds, and you’re telling me you can drag a fat man who weighs at least 170 pounds into the wall and be able to seal him inside it? That’s not all. The crucial thing was, you still need to move away that huge five-door wardrobe. After you sealed up the wall, you need to move the wardrobe back. Don’t tell me your one year old kid could help you with that back then?
…
Kong Xinqiong could not say a word for a long time.
Only then did Xiang Wan and Tang Yuanchu notice the discovered flaws in Kong Xinqiong’s words.
That day when they noticed Wu Hongliang’s corpse, Tang Yuanchu and two other police officers had struggled so much to move the wardrobe aside… They were able in terms of physical strength, so how could a frail woman like her be able to do it?
It’s alright if you keep mum about it.
Bai Muchuan showed an idly smile as he looked at the silent Kong Xinqiong.
We don’t expect you to tell us anything useful in the first place. What we wanted to know, we’ll still find out.
Not sure if he was trying to threaten Kong Xinqiong, but nevertheless, he had put across each and every word clearly.
Kong Xinqiong curled her lips as tears flowed down her cheeks.
I… I put him inside a huge bag and put him under the bed. I engaged two movers to help me move the wardrobe… After I sealed the wall, and the paint was dry, I got them to move back the wardrobe.
Lies!
Bai Muchuan grunted,
When the wardrobe was being pushed back, the paint had not dried yet.
For this point, they had already affirmed it at the scene that night.
However, Kong Xinqiong obviously did not know about this. When she heard that, she appeared stunned and looked up at them.
Maybe it was not fully dried. The workers I engaged were purely in charge of moving the wardrobe. I’m the one who did the rest. They didn’t know anything. Detective, I’ve already told you so many things, why would I need to hide this?
She asked fervently.
However, Bai Muchuan did not say anything.
He seemed to be contemplating but also seemed to be scrutinizing her words.
If you don’t believe me, then so be it.
Kong Xinqiong closed her eyes.
I can do nothing about it either… No matter what, it will be a death sentence for me, I’m not afraid of anything anymore.
…
She’s not afraid of death, yet she’s afraid of letting others know about her secret?
The moment she fell silent, the entire ward also fell into silence.
With that, the interrogation went into a deadlock.
Xiang Wan glanced at Bai Muchuan as she intended to talk to Kong Xinqiong instead when he suddenly asked another question casually by ignoring what happened earlier,
Before Sun Shangli committed suicide, she came to your house once. What did you tell her?
This sudden question was totally out of the blue and caught Kong Xinqiong off guard.
You… you even know about this?
I’ve said before, there’s nothing that the police would not know.
Bai Muchuan was indeed an expert at interrogations by attacking the weak spots of the mind. His eyes were as if he knew everything, and that gaze landed on Kong Xinqiong. Coupled with that calm demeanor of his, Kong Xinqiong’s mental defense collapsed in no time.
Yes, Sun Shangli d-did look me up.
What did you both talk about?
She asked me about Tan Ziyang… During these six years, she had never given up searching for him.
Kong Xinqiong lowered her gaze to avoid looking at Bai Muchuan, her hands clenched onto the bed sheet.
She divorced with Huo Shan because of Tan Ziyang, yet he left without a word. Maybe she couldn’t understand why. She’s a stubborn woman…
Bai Muchuan said coldly,
Did you tell her the truth?
Kong Xinqiong was startled and shook her head.
How could I have told her?
If she had told her, the secret of many years would have been exposed.
I didn’t want to meet her at all, how could I have told her the truth? I told Sun Shangli that I’ve never met Tan Ziyang, but she didn’t believe me and asked if Tan Ziyang had already died… I told her I don’t know about that. She refused to accept my answer and fought with me over this. She said that it was me… it was me who started all these mess… She was enraged that day and started to hit me. I have no choice but to grab her hair…
After that, she wanted to hit you with the flowerpot on the balcony, but unfortunately, the flowerpot fell down to the ground and nearly hit a pedestrian. Both of you were so shocked and stopped fighting instead?
Bai Muchuan continued the topic and said all of these.
Am I right?
Kong Xinqiong was frozen on the spot.
Even Xiang Wan was staring at him in disbelief.
So, the scream that day was from both Sun Shangli and Kong Xinqiong who were fighting with each other.
And the flowerpot that nearly landed on her was also a result of their fight.
More importantly, when did Bai Muchuan know about this?
She glared at Bai Muchuan, her eyes full of doubt. Kong Xinqiong was similar to her as well. She was looking at Bai Muchuan in a daze and asked hesitantly,
Did that celebrity… Ye Lun tell you that?
That day, the one who accompanied Sun Shangli to look up Kong Xinqiong was Ye Lun.
On that day, she had asked Ye Lun to sit in the living room. Her child was doing his homework inside his room. She didn’t want her kid to hear all about these horrid stuff, so she talked to Sun Shangli at the balcony…
Nonetheless, even if Ye Lun knew they were quarreling, he shouldn’t have known all these details?
No.
Bai Muchuan smiled knowingly,
Sun Shangli’s the one who told me.
Ah?!
The deceased Sun Shangli?
That sentence made Xiang Wan flabbergasted.
Sun Shangli had died—she had sustained heavy injuries when she landed on the goddess statue and died in the hospital some hours later before daybreak.
This Bai Muchuan, what is he up to?
Xiang Wan thought.
She narrowed her eyes to size up Bai Muchuan. At that moment, she felt that everything about this man spelt mystery.
Bai Muchuan, however, did not bother to give an explanation. He sneered, stared at Kong Xinqiong and asked another question.
Think it over again. Did you really not tell Sun Shangli why Tan Ziyang died… And that his body was part of the wall at ‘The Palace’?
Kong Xinqiong hurriedly shook her head without even thinking about her answer.
… If I had told her, just by how much she hated me, she would have informed the police immediately… and not go to ‘The Palace’ to commit suicide.
This explanation was reasonable enough.
Xiang Wan and Bai Muchuan looked at each other for a moment.
But if it wasn’t Kong Xinqiong, who would it be?
Without waiting for them to speak, Kong Xinqiong continued,
In actual fact, I never knew that Wu Hongliang had minced and blended Tan Ziyang’s body… into the cement for making the wall of ‘The Palace’, I don’t even know it got sealed on the fifth floor…
You didn’t know?
Tang Yuanchu squinted his eyes and glared at her, unconvinced.
I didn’t know, I really didn’t know.
Kong Xinqiong shook her head and tried to explain herself desperately which caused her to pant slightly.
Her voice still sounded weak, but she spoke a lot.
Tan Ziyang died at my home. Wu Hongliang mutilated… him. In order to not get found out, he tried to take out the parts bit by bit everyday, and would use a black plastic bag to carry them. As to where he had brought them, I didn’t and daren’t ask.
How many times did he take out in total?
Bai Muchuan asked.
About three or four times… He didn’t take the rest of the parts out later but started to dig a wall at home… During that period, he would always hit me. I daren’t ask and daren’t interfere…
Bai Muchuan grunted a laugh and did not express an opinion.
Xiang Wan, however, felt that he was convinced of what Kong Xinqiong just said.
Therefore, after a short pause, she asked Kong Xinqiong,
Why did you commit suicide then?
Kong Xinqiong hung her head very, very low, as if she was really unwilling to face this question.
I don’t want to live anymore. Sun Shangli’s dead. Tan Ziyang’s death got found out… I know that the police would continue to investigate. Very soon, Wu Hongliang and me would be found out. I’m really terrified. I’m scared of the police, scared of going to jail… I’m not afraid of death, but I’m worried that if I die, no one would care for my child. So, I decided to bring him along with me.
She attempted suicide because she was afraid of punishment!
This seemed to make sense.
The cause and effect of the case was basically clear now.
There was just one more problem in Xiang Wan’s mind.
Who was the one who helped Kong Xinqiong seal the corpse onto the wall?
Kong Xinqiong had a reason to commit suicide. So, what about Sun Shangli?
Why did Sun Shangli have to die?
Sun Shangli had chosen the fifth floor suite where Tan Ziyang’s body was sealed and jumped down from there. Was that a coincidence or was it deliberate?
If it was on purpose, when Sun Shangli looked up Kong Xinqiong, she had not yet gotten a confirmation that Tan Ziyang had died. If Kong Xinqiong was not the one who told her, who was the one that told her about it?
Lastly, why didn’t she choose to make a police report but killed herself in such a manner instead?
…
…
When they left the hospital, the light from the sun was still strong.
Xiang Wan and Bai Muchuan stood at the entrance of the hospital, waiting for Tang Yuanchu to drive the car over.
The two of them stood side by side, their shadow was long as it was pulled by the sunlight…
Xiang Wan used her hand to block the glaring sunlight and squinted her eyes due to discomfort.
Bai Muchuan, is the case considered solved?
With his hands in his pockets, Bai Muchuan was looking cool. Not even the sunlight could penetrate his cold and cool aura.
What do you think?
He lowered his gaze to look at her as he said so.
In your profiling analysis, under the section of profiling of the characters, you’re actually close to the mark for Kong Xinqiong and Wu Hongliang. As for Sun Shangli’s suicide, as she was dead, we’re unable to ascertain it. But Huo Shan…
His cold face instantly turned severe as he asked Xiang Wan slowly.
Until now, do you still think that Huo Shan is just a land-jobber who’s very timid and daren’t commit a crime?
Xiang Wan kept quiet.
A long while later, she kicked the ground with her sole.
You’re preparing to interrogate Huo Shan again, right?
Hm?
Bai Muchuan smiled lazily.
You’ve reversed your thought?
You got it.
Xiang Wan lifted her head, her eyes seemed crystal clear due to the reflection of light.
It’s true that he’s selfish, timid and didn’t dare to take risks, but that only applies when his own interests are not affected. When his interests are involved, he will inevitably stake all his has! I should have known!
Bai Muchuan looked at her quietly.
When Tang Yuanchu drove the car over, Bai Muchuan’s hand slowly patted on her shoulder.
Go! Let’s interrogate Huo Shan.
