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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This was an old case, so the police weren’t in a hurry to solve it. But in view of Ding Xu's mental state, I thought it prudent to conduct an early interrogation, as soon as tonight itself.

After the scene was cleaned, Dali told me to hop into the car. "Let me help you save some gas,” I shamelessly uttered. “I'll take Xiaotao's car back."

“Throwing your buddy away like that when a woman comes along huh!” he lambasted. “What’s the point of the police giving you a car?!"

We arrived at the station at around 11 pm. During the journey, Ding Xu woke up and kicked up a huge fuss. The officers had to escort him off the vehicle in handcuffs. 

"Take the handcuffs off!” ordered Xiaotao. “He’s not a suspect."

"No, he may hurt himself,” I quickly stopped her. “Just leave it on for now."

"Check if there’s a clothing store nearby that’s still open,” I said, turning to Dali. “Get a dress and two mirrors."

"A dress?!” Dali exclaimed. “How much will that cost?!"

"There’s no need to spend money on this,” interrupted Xiaotao. “I have summer dresses that I want to donate. They’re in the trunk. I’ll get them for you."

Dali left to buy the mirrors while I headed straight to the interrogation room with Xiaotao.

At the moment, Ding Xu was making a fool out of himself, claiming that we violated his human rights and insisted on calling his own lawyer. Xiaotao watched him through the one-sided glass. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe such a thing actually exists!"

"We can’t be certain that he’s possessed by the victim,” I replied. “I’ll verify this later. Let's stabilize him first."

When we entered the interrogation room, Ding Xu glared at me with his chin haughtily raised. "I haven’t broken the law. Why should I be arrested?” he yelled. “I’m warning you, let me go now or I'll make you pay!"

I sneered at his words. Who did he think he was to make us pay?!

"Qiu Wanxia, I brought you some clothes,” I said. “I think you’ll like it."

When I placed the bag of clothes on the table, Ding Xu’s gaze seemed to relax as he picked up the clothes to look at them. Sure enough, girls couldn’t resist beautiful clothes, even after death. "Hmph, what sort of cheap clothing is this!” he mocked. “It’s so tacky! Doesn’t match my noble temperament at all!"

Xiaotao was smoldering under her stony expression but I motioned for her to calm down.

Ding Xu told us to leave the room so he could change into the dress. Xiaotao and I pretended to leave but we watched the whole process through the one-way mirror. "The way he’s putting on these clothes is just like a woman. Even the subconscious action of tucking his hair behind his ears isn’t a habit boys develop."

Ding Xu put on the stockings and the dress, staring at his own reflection like a little girl. "She must have been a beautiful woman before her death!" I remarked.

Right then, Dali came running into the room, only to be greeted by the sight of Ding Xu twirling around like a girl. "Fucking hell, my eyes!” he screamed.”I might’ve been blinded by that!"

Xiaotao asked what the mirrors were for, and I explained the folk ritual of detecting spirits called the ‘mirror within the mirror.’ The reflection of one mirror in the other supposedly revealed the true face beneath their disguise.

After all these incredible things happened, I might as well try a folk ritual to see if we could determine the authenticity of Ding Xu’s possession.

Xiaotao and I waited while an officer brought in the two mirrors. "Young lady, would you like to look in the mirror?" asked Xiaotao.

"Yes!" Ding Xu clapped his hands excitedly.

Xiaotao held up one mirror while I raised the other behind Ding Xu, paying special attention to the angle so Ding Xu wouldn’t notice my actions. However, I was disappointed to find that the man reflected in the mirror appeared completely normal.

I was suddenly interrupted from my thoughts by a loud noise–Xiaotao had accidentally dropped her mirror. "What are you doing?!” shouted Ding Xu. “I’ve not gotten a good look at myself!"

Handing Ding Xu the other mirror, I discreetly whispered to Xiaotao, "What did you see?"

"I think I saw a woman's face,” Xiaotao cried in horror. “She looked horrible. There were maggots all over her rotting face!"

"Are you sure?" I asked.

“It was a passing image,” Xiaotao rubbed her eyes and shook her head. "Maybe it's just my illusion. It’s been a while since I had a good night’s sleep so maybe my mind was influenced by your words."

When Ding Xu had enough of looking into the mirror, he returned to his seat, waiting while Xiaotao filled out a form and registered his personal information. "Qiu Wanxia,” I began. “We’ve already filed a case and we can’t stop our investigations just because you say so. Even if you don't cooperate with us, we will arrest the murderer, so you might as well come clean!"

“I highly doubt you’ll be able to do anything,” Ding Xu dismissed, looking at his hands.

As I had expected, he wasn’t willing to answer a single question related to the case, even questions he had answered before, either outright lying or avoiding the subject.

"Qiu Wanxia, what is it you want?" asked Xiaotao.

“Nothing at all,” Ding Xu said, folding his arms and staring us down like an eagle. “It's a rare opportunity for me to enter the world of the living once more. I just want to have fun shopping, eat yummy food, take a warm bath and sleep in a soft bed."

"Are you planning on occupying this body forever?!” she demanded.

"What does that have to do with me?” Ding Xu sneered. “It’s only after death that I’ve realized how important it is to be selfish. It's none of my business if he lives or dies."

Xiaotao stood up abruptly, sending the chair crashing to the ground. I thought she might get violent but to my surprise, she actually took out her wallet and removed all the cash inside–about 5,000 yuan. "Let’s make a deal, shall we?” Xiaotao announced, “I'll give you money to enjoy yourself for a few days but you can’t hurt the boy's body."

"5,000?” he scoffed. “That’s not even enough for a meal."

"I’ll give you more if it’s not enough!" Xiaotao exploded.

Ding Xu gladly accepted the money. "Nevermind, it's not easy for you policemen,” he sighed. “I’ll just have to watch my spending! Well, I’m off then!"

He blew me a kiss and walked to the door. "Don't try to run away,” warned Xiaotao. “You can call or text if you need anything."

"I got it,” laughed Ding Xu. “Jiejie, I can tell you have a good heart so here’s a little advice for you–quit your job and find a rich man to take care of you!"

After he left, Xiaotao snorted contemptuously, "I despise women who think they’re so great just because they’ve got a rich sugar daddy!"

I knew Xiaotao had a plan up her sleeve. Ding Xu wasn’t a suspect so detaining him any longer was useless, even counterproductive. "Are you going to assign officers to spy on him?" I asked.

"You guessed it!” she chuckled. “Anyway, he’s not willing to cooperate so we might as well give him the freedom he desires. If we’re lucky, he might reveal some clues and perhaps sneak off to meet his former lover."

"Brilliant idea!" I complimented.

After leaving the interrogation room, Xiaotao immediately assigned several officers to keep a constant eye on Ding Xu. They had to report back on his exact movements and the people he met up with.

For the time being, monitoring Ding Xu was a long-term operation. Meanwhile, I planned to have the skeleton examined again tomorrow. It was already well into the night so Dali and I returned to our dorms.

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