Chapter 23

She tilted up her face, gazed at him for two seconds, and said, “I just think both of these cases are connected to the Su Family, and they’re always the ones who benefit the most. It’s very suspicious.”

The Detective paused, his expression going cold.

Seeing the disbelief in his eyes, Wu Xiaojiu quickly added,

“We saw that Golden Phoebe Wood before, but the Su Family’s Eldest Daughter said it was something her grandfather earned through hard work when he was young. Now, looking back, it sounds like she’s trying to cover something up. Has the Police Station ever investigated the Su Family?”

The Detective shook his head.

“No. You can’t suspect them just because of a piece of wood. Do you have any more concrete evidence?”

As soon as Wu Xiaojiu heard this, he immediately tossed the Cloth Doll he was holding over.

The Detective took a closer look.

His eyes went wide with shock, but it was only for a moment. He shook his head again.

“Back then, the Su Family and the Bo Family fought bitterly over a project, but in the end the Wang Family took it. The Su Family poured everything into that project and ended up losing it all. If I were in charge of the Su Family, I’d probably want to kill both their families too.”

“Leaving the Curse Doll in the Bo Family’s Eldest Son’s room shows that the Su Family could get into the Bo Family’s house. That does make them seem more suspicious.

But the Police Station isn’t going to convict the Su Family just because of a broken doll. And as time passes, the case is turning into a cold case. It’s almost impossible to overturn it now.”

The Intern Police Officer said this, then suddenly got down from the bed and leaned close to Wu Xiaojiu.

“Hold on. I can tell you and Bo Suihan are unusually close-you seem really intimate. You’d come to such an unlucky place for him in the middle of the night. Are you two in that kind of relationship…?”

Wu Xiaojiu quickly shook his head, then nodded.

According to his current mission, he did want to develop that kind of relationship with Bo Suihan.

But he hadn’t succeeded yet.

You could say he was only halfway there.

“Let me warn you: even though the Su Family killed the entire Bo Family and Wang Family and are still at large, you can’t let yourself act rashly for love and turn the Su Family into the next Bo Family. The case has already passed the Statute of Limitations, so the Su Family can’t be punished by law…”

It sounded like advice, but the more Wu Xiaojiu listened, the more it seemed like he was being goaded.

Wu Xiaojiu looked up at the Detective in confusion.

All at once, he realized something was wrong.

Seriously wrong.

Wu Xiaojiu stared at the Detective’s moving lips, and suddenly saw the problem.

His face went pale.

Wu Xiaojiu let out a sharp gasp.

The room was hollow and still; the scent of blood seemed to linger in the house of the dead, and the flashlight’s beam was as pale as paper.

The light fell on the Detective’s face, who froze at Wu Xiaojiu’s sudden sound.

He slowly turned his head. Wu Xiaojiu saw that his face was utterly bloodless, his whole body looking paper-thin and fragile.

Especially in the beam of the flashlight, his pupils had shrunk to hollow dots, as if drawn on with a black pen.

“What is it? Did I say something wrong?”

He asked it as if he were making a statement.

The Detective forced a hideous smile, his gaze suddenly turning fierce.

Wu Xiaojiu shivered under that stare.

He forced a smile in return.

“No, you didn’t say anything wrong. I was just thinking, after the Su Family committed such monstrous crimes, how can they go unpunished like this? Isn’t there any way to get justice against them?”

“There’s no such thing as real empathy in this world. The only way to make your enemy feel your pain is to make them experience exactly what you’ve been through.”

The Detective said this, his tone full of certainty.

Wu Xiaojiu cautiously leaned forward, his voice tense.
“What do you mean?”

“Kill the entire Su Family as well! Take back the Golden Phoebe Wood for the Wu Family, and let Su Zhishi and Su Beizhi experience the pain of losing all their loved ones.”

At this point in the conversation,

Wu Xiaojiu’s mind was crystal clear.

Who is guilty now? Who is innocent? Who has been wronged?

Wu Xiaojiu knew it all.

He deliberately nodded, letting out a meaningful “oh.”

Then he glanced toward the black mist at the door, and turned his head back.

“But Detective, didn’t you just advise me not to do anything foolish?”

“Men are not made of wood and stone, who can be emotionless! I also deeply hate what the Su Family has done. Wu Xiaojiu, don’t worry! No matter how far you make the Su Family fall, I’ll do my best to cover for you!”

Wu Xiaojiu hissed, his face turning pale.

He forced a smile, lowered his head, and shook it.

“Detective, I’ve always trusted you, but now it seems you’ve been treating me like a fool.”

“How have I deceived you!”

The Detective grew anxious upon hearing this.

He slapped his thigh and stood up.

“How do you know Bo Suihan’s name? I remember that cold-faced weirdo barely spoke to you from beginning to end, didn’t he?”

With that one sentence,

he froze.

The Detective bent his head straight down.

His upper body hunched so that his head and neck formed a ninety-degree angle, his eyes sunken, staring dead at Wu Xiaojiu below.

“What did you say?”

“I said you have loopholes, and they’re too obvious. Didn’t you claim you’ve never been here before? Then why are you so familiar with everything,

and why have you been guiding me to suspect the Su Family all along? And why did you just happen to choose me and Bo Suihan to help you solve the case?

In fact, from beginning to end, you just wanted to watch the Wu Family, Bo Suihan, and the Su Family-these three tear each other apart, didn’t you?”

The Detective laughed and spread his hands,

his face full of disbelief.

“I just got back from overseas. I have no grudges with any of you. Why would I want to offend three major families and pit you all against each other? Am I that bored!”

Just as he finished speaking,

footsteps came from the door.

A tall figure emerged from the shadows.

Bo Suihan had one hand in his pocket, the corners of his eyes a little red and swollen, but his expression was calm.

He looked as if nothing mattered, speaking evenly:

“Because you are the youngest son of the Wang Family. Back then, you really did stab all the members of the Wang Family to death in prison.

But the authorities knew they had wronged the Wang Family and felt guilty, so they exchanged a death row inmate’s life for yours.”

“Wang Xiao, you must hate our Bo Family to death, don’t you?”

Bo Suihan took two steps forward, grabbed Wu Xiaojiu by the back of the neck, and shoved him behind himself.

“If I’m not mistaken, the Golden Phoebe Wood that the Su Family has was sold to them by you.”

Wang Xiao laughed.

In the darkness, his eyes were no longer gloomy, but shone with a fierce light.

He stared at those before him, grinding his teeth so hard they creaked.

After all that, Wang Xiao’s lips were already cracked and dry.

He looked almost crazed, suddenly laughing maniacally.

“Bo Suihan, do you know how much I hate you? These past ten years, because of you, I’ve squeezed into shabby rental rooms every day, brooding over that bloody vendetta.”

Wang Xiao pointed at Bo Suihan’s face.

His hatred made the veins bulge at his temples, his eyes bloodshot.

Tears unconsciously rolled from the corners of his eyes. As he laughed madly, his voice suddenly grew louder.

“But it doesn’t matter. You’ve seen through me, but you can’t see through him. He has returned, he knows you’re still alive.

He has committed another crime. You’re doomed to die, Bo Suihan!”