Netherworld Investigator

NEW NOVEL: First and foremost, I'm delighted to announce that our long-time veteran translator littleshanks has finally launched his new novel, Rise!  Rise is a novel about the esports scene in Shanghai, the competitive gaming capital of China. It follows the story of Lin Feng, a boy who has just moved to the city for his last year of high school. He's a passionate gamer and dreams of being the best professional League of Legends player in the world. The twist? He almost achieved his dream, but failed at the...

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We turned around, only to see Xu Zhipeng lying in a pool of blood, his body covered with glass shards, and a man standing next to him with a broken champagne bottle in his hand.

From a glance, I knew that this man was Lang Jun whom we were looking for. He looked much older than the photos taken two years ago. Although he was only forty years old, there were streaks of white along his temples.

"Police!” shouted Xiaotao, flashing her police badge. “Lay down your weapon!"

Madness smoldered in Lang Jun's narrowed eyes as he dragged Xu Zhipeng up from the ground and held the broken bottle against his throat. "Don't interfere! I'm going to kill this hypocrite!"

Xu Zhipeng immediately woke up from his unconsciousness with a fearful scream. "Lang-ge, let’s talk about this. Don't do anything rash! The police are here."

"You despicable bastard!” Lang Jun cursed through gritted teeth. “You fucked me over back then and killed my lover! I’ll make you pay for that today!"

"Listen to me, I never ordered them to kill her! My subordinates are to blame!” Xu Zhipeng blurted incoherently. “Weren’t you there that night?"

"Shut up!” roared Lang Jun. “When I arrived, she was already dead!"

With those words, Lang Jun punctured Xu Zhipeng's fat chin with the glass shards on the broken bottle, causing fresh blood to continuously ooze out of the wound. "Lang Jun, we’ve already investigated everything. He will be punished by law. Why lose your precious time and best years over this scumbag?"

"Precious time? Best years?” he sneered. “I’ve been a walking corpse ever since that night. All I do is fantasize slaughtering my enemy!"

At the sight of his enemy, fires of fury and hatred burned in his red-rimmed eyes. Lang Jun’s reason was almost overtaken by the rage. If Ding Xu were present at this time, perhaps he could persuade Lang Jun.

"Can you bring Ding Xu here?" I whispered to Xiaotao.

Xiaotao inhaled deeply, "It's too late, I'll go!"

"You?" I cried.

But I never got a reply. Eyes rolling to the back of her head, Xiaotao crashed to the ground, startling Dali. It was only then that I understood her plan. If Qiu Wanxia could attach her spirit to Ding Xu, then why couldn’t Xiaotao be similarly possessed? Xiaotao wanted to play Qiu Wanxia.

Holding Xiaotao in my arms, I repeatedly shouted her name. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and she looked around blankly. With eyes staring fixedly at Lang Jun, she cried, "Domineering-gege, is that you?"

Lang Jun gawked in wide-eyed disbelief, unable to get a word out of his lips. 

"There’s only one person in this world who would call me that,” he faltered. “You’re..."

"It was I who gave you the dream that night!" came Xiaotao’s mournful voice.

"It’s really you, Xiao Xia!” exclaimed Lang Jun. “Why have you possessed this woman?”

"Because I want to see you!" 

She slowly approached Lang Jun, whose surprise juxtaposed Xu Zhipeng's panic. Xiaotao's acting appeared more believable than Ding Xu’s, so compelling even I was almost convinced.

Lang Jun took a step backwards, grabbing Xu Zhipeng by the hair as he shouted for the guests to hear, "Xu Zhipeng, the heavens are watching! Confess your sins before Xiao Xia and these people!"

"I–I didn't kill anyone!" stammered Xu Zhipeng.

Lang Jun forcefully tugged at Xu Zhipeng’s hair drawing a loud cry of pain from the latter. "I'll do it! I will! Two years ago, I used the life of a girl to force Lang-ge to sign an equity transfer agreement and then left her in the wild. I never thought she would die!"

Upon hearing this, I froze, my intuition telling me something was wrong. Lang Jun’s sudden appearance and Xu Zhipeng’s voluntary confession was so coincidental and too good to be true.

Lang Jun tossed Xu Zhipeng back down, headed straight for Xiaotao and pulled her into his arms. I was worried he might lean in for a passionate kiss but Xiaotao was quick to react. She started convulsing all over and feigned confusion.

When she “regained consciousness,” she asked blankly, "What happened?" I caught her playful wink.

Xiaotao called in the police to deal with the aftermath. Lang Jun had resorted to violence so Xu Zhipeng confessed to the kidnapping and murder. Naturally, we had to take him in for questioning.

Before the police arrived, I interrogated Lang Jun myself. "What have you been doing for the past two years?"

"Just muddling along," he answered.

"Be specific!" I demanded.

He explained that he had been raising capital in the past two years to make a comeback but Xu Zhipeng had cut off all avenues, making it impossible for him to start over. Over the past two years, the thought of revenge had been brewing like a storm out at sea. A few days ago, he dreamed of the girl he loved, face rotting away with wriggling maggots as she spoke of her painful death. Thus, he decided to visit the place she was buried, only to run away in panic when he discovered someone else’s presence. 

These incidents fueled his confrontation with Xu Zhipeng. He swore he would get even today, no matter the circumstances. It was our presence at the dinner party that prevented a tragedy from playing out.

I expressed my desire to hear his side of the story so he began narrating the events that transpired two years ago. At the time, he was on the rise in his career and constantly busy with work. Out of the blue, a girl closely resembling his first love appeared in his life and called herself Xiao Xia.

With Xiao Xia by his side, he relived his old memories and led a loving, happy life together. He eventually fell for her but soon realized through Xiao Xia’s expressions and behavior that she was hiding something from him.

He hired someone to secretly investigate Xiao Xia and learned that she was actually a commercial spy Xu Zhipeng planted by his side. Lang Jun felt as if he had been taken for a ride. The first thing he did was question Xiao Xia about all this. When she broke down and admitted to the betrayal, he dumped her and even generously gave her two million yuan.

Aware of Xu Zhipeng's wild ambitions, he got his act together and prepared to impeach Xu Zhipeng’s authority at the next shareholders' meeting. However, Xu Zhipeng outsmarted him with a dirty move.

One night, Xu Zhipeng called him through video. The scene of several burly men molesting Xiao Xia unfolded before his eyes. Overcome with rage, Lang Jun cursed and yelled, asking him what he wanted.

Although Xiao Xia was only a replacement for Qiu Wanxia, he still had feelings for her. Xu Zhipeng wanted to take advantage of those feelings to force Lang Jun into transferring his shares to him.

Those shares represented ten years of Lang Jun’s hard work. Naturally, he didn’t agree at first! But Xu Zhipeng's men went as far as to stuff live hamsters into Xiao Xia's vagina before his eyes. Xiao Xia’s agonizing screams and sobs made Lang Jun waver and eventually sign the agreement.

Upon receiving the contract, Xu Zhipeng coldly left him with the words, "I’ve tossed her in some God-forsaken place. You should hurry if you want to save her! Wait any longer and she might be dead!"

Lang Jun drove all the way there, like a man about to lose his sanity.  But when he got there, Xiao Xia had already stopped breathing. She lay in a pit, body half-buried underneath the soil. Lang Jun fell apart at the seams and sat there, weeping for a long time. When the tears finally dried, he buried Xiao Xia himself.

"Why didn't you call the police?" I asked.

“That would be too easy on him!” he spat. “I know Xu Zhipeng would definitely find the best lawyer to exonerate himself. But it’s never too late for revenge! I’ll make him lose everything, even his reputation!"

"Did you know that Xiao Xia had Xu Zhipeng's ring in her hand before she died? She did this hoping that someone would bring her justice! But you gave up before you even started!" I accused.

"What?!" Lang Jun vehemently shook my shoulders.

"Anyway, the case is closed. There’s no point in rehashing the matter,” I sighed. “I wish you good luck!"

But as soon as I uttered the words, Lang Jun's lips curled up almost imperceptibly. I had a hunch that things were more complicated underneath the surface!

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