Chapter 1 The Policeman

Old Zhang arrived with a group of police officers. The old Taoist remained at the scene, staying with the girl.

The girl clearly relied on Zhou Ze more.

But Zhou Ze thought about it;

Was he going to face wave after wave of police officers taking statements with the girl, or sit in his car, reclining comfortably and smoking?

Zhou Ze chose the latter.

Yes,

Sometimes Boss Zhou even began to wonder if he was a little too detached.

Even occasional moments of inner softness and emotion

Couldn't last for very long.

At this moment,

Boss Zhou was sitting in his car,

Drinking an iced cola.

That's right,

He had even made a special trip to the small supermarket at the entrance to buy the drink.

The police had sealed off the scene and were busy with their work. This was a major case – four lives lost, far exceeding the scope of a simple abduction case.

The old Taoist was there, answering the police, his mouth dry from talking, making sure to clear his boss of any involvement.

With Old Zhang's cooperation, the police's attention didn't shift to Zhou Ze.

The villagers had surrounded the area several times over, watching and enjoying the spectacle.

A family annihilation,

An abduction case,

A mentally disabled son killing his entire family,

Wow!

Any one of these would have been enough to cause a huge stir in the village, even becoming a major talking point for villagers to brag about when communicating with others.

Especially since it was a triple whammy this time.

Zhou Ze could see the excited faces of the villagers,

Men and women alike, as if experiencing a collective orgasm.

Zhou Ze had always disliked this culture of gathering to watch the excitement.

Watching was fine if it was done with kind sighs and sympathy, but everyone had a smile on their face as if watching a human comedy, which was very annoying.

Shaking his head,

He felt his pocket.

His cigarettes were gone.

That hurt.

Just as Boss Zhou pushed open the car door, preparing to go to the supermarket to buy another pack of cigarettes,

He saw Wang Ke's car driving over.

Wang Ke saw Zhou Ze, stopped the car, and got out.

"Brother, you're here."

Zhou Ze greeted him.

Humans are such hypocritical creatures.

Zhou Ze, who had previously joked in his heart about how Wang Ke himself was very inspirational,

Now had a warm smile on his face.

"Yes, I'll go ahead."

Wang Ke glanced at Zhou Ze, then at the front. Although he knew that this matter must be related to Zhou Ze, he cleverly didn't ask Zhou Ze about it. Instead, he pushed his way through the crowd and walked inside.

He was going to see his "patient."

Old Zhang had specifically called Wang Ke.

In fact,

The police station wasn't without its own psychological consultants.

If it were normal circumstances, they wouldn't have asked Wang Ke to come.

Because Wang Ke was too expensive.

As a well-known psychological doctor in Shanghai circles, his consultation fee was still too high.

Old Zhang contacted Wang Ke through the bookstore's connections.

Wang Ke didn't hesitate at all, nor did he mention any conditions, and came directly.

Zhou Ze glanced over and found that the little loli and the little boy were also sitting in Wang Ke's car.

He walked over and knocked on the car window.

The little loli politely waved to Zhou Ze:

"Hello, Uncle!"

Well,

Lin Ke was sleeping.

Zhou Ze's gaze turned to the little boy next to her.

The little boy nodded slightly to Zhou Ze.

"Heh..." Zhou Ze smiled, "Licking to the end, with nothing to show for it."

The little boy shrugged.

For love,

Fearless.

"Get me his cigarettes."

The little boy turned around to the front, took out the cigarettes Wang Ke had put in the car's glove compartment, and handed them to Zhou Ze, while explaining:

"Wang Rui and I are taking piano lessons together now."

"Alright, learn it quickly and play it for me at the bookstore tonight. I want to hear *Symphony of Fate*."

"You like this piece?"

The little boy was a little surprised.

"No, it's just that when it comes to piano pieces, I can only remember Beethoven and the *Symphony of Fate* for now."

Zhou Ze was very honest.

With a "snap,"

He lit a cigarette.

Leaning against the hood of the car,

Not looking inside,

He lowered his head,

Silently blowing smoke rings.

The reason why he wasn't leaving now wasn't to wait for the old Taoist to go home together, but because a shiny bright one would definitely come looking for him.

Rather than waiting for himself to return to the bookstore, just lie down and pick up the newspaper when he came over in a hurry, it was better to wait for him to come over now.

Sure enough,

The shiny bright one came.

He walked along the light of the setting sun,

Seemingly wanting to blind the eyes of all criminals.

Zhou Ze suddenly smiled,

Smiling quite happily.

Old Zhang was a little confused and a little uneasy. He walked up to Zhou Ze, reached out, and took a cigarette from Zhou Ze. Then he lit it and smoked it quickly and heavily.

"Are you nervous?"

Zhou Ze asked.

Without waiting for Old Zhang to answer,

Zhou Ze continued:

"Don't be nervous."

Old Zhang pursed his lips, pointed behind him, and asked hesitantly:

"Boss, that family of four back there, was that your handiwork?"

Zhou Ze glanced at Old Zhang with some surprise and said, "Is that all you police have figured out?"

Old Zhang shook his head. "No, we have our own logical deduction. Some evidence at the scene also points to our deduction, but I think I still need to come and ask you."

"And then?"

Zhou Ze asked.

Old Zhang was stunned for a moment.

And then?

What then?

"If I tell you I did it, then what? What are you going to do?

I tell you, I killed the people, are you going to take out your handcuffs and arrest me?"

Old Zhang was silent.

"Or, are you going to use the power of the xiezhi (mythical unicorn-like creature) in your body to have a royal rumble with me?"

"This..." Old Zhang.

"But you still can't beat me, even if I don't call that one out, you still can't beat me, let alone that one is still awake, you know?"

"I know."

"And then, are you still willing to uphold your beliefs and resolutely attack me, to fight for a miracle, defeat me, and then arrest me, and bring me to justice?

But how are you going to get me to court?

How to judge me?

Judge,

A ghost constable?

Saying that I, incite ghosts to kill people?

After you bring me to justice, you come to the realization that you can't have both human sentiment and justice, and then, you harm yourself? Commit suicide?

Or,

Castrate yourself?

Or, you..."

"Boss!" Old Zhang suddenly interrupted Zhou Ze, while looking into Zhou Ze's eyes, and said, "Boss, if you really did this, I think you did the right thing."

This time it was Zhou Ze's turn to be stunned.

He pursed his lips,

Looked down,

Smiled,

Smiling and smiling, he stopped smiling,

He reached out and patted Old Zhang on the shoulder.

"Thank you, Old Zhang."

"I'm telling you the truth, I'm not as... as you imagine."

"Shut up!"

"..." Old Zhang.

Political correctness cannot be defiled in the slightest!

"You still have to arrest me if you have to, you still have to persist if you have to, even if it's a bit silly. You have to keep this amulet bright and shiny, held up high, understand?

Also,

I didn't kill them.

After I came here and pushed open the door,

The people inside,

Those who deserved to die were already dead."

Hearing this,

Old Zhang visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Tell me, what exactly happened? After I went in, I saw that idiot was 'pounding mochi' (slang for sexual intercourse)."

"Well, according to the preliminary investigation results, we have roughly reconstructed the case.

The hostess who lived there should have been killed by the male trafficker and the female trafficker together. It is very likely that there was some conflict between them.

Because those two traffickers were also murderers in another case, and they had also engaged in human trafficking with this family.

The family should have first taken them in and entertained them, and then they probably wanted them to leave, so as not to implicate themselves.

Then the conflict broke out.

The hostess, holding a kitchen knife, probably wanted to forcibly drive them away, but in the conflict, the kitchen knife was snatched away, and she was hacked to death.

The host was strangled to death with a rope, dying in the bathroom.

Judging from the traces at the scene, the deaths of the host and hostess should have been caused by the two traffickers working together.

Then, for some reason, a conflict broke out between them.

After all,

Having killed so many people within 24 hours, their own spirits had long been in an abnormal state.

Then the female trafficker was accidentally killed in the conflict."

"What about that idiot?" Zhou Ze asked.

"That idiot… the son of the host, had a conflict with the male trafficker in the end. I don't know if the male trafficker wanted to kill him to silence him or what, but he went to the inner room.

Then he was killed by the son of the host..."

"Burp..." Zhou Ze.

"Based on our preliminary investigation of the details of the crime scene, that's roughly what happened. No traces of other people were found at the scene, oh, except for this."

Old Zhang reached into his pocket,

Pinched out a cigarette butt,

And threw it on the ground.

He wasn't embarrassed to remind his boss not to smoke casually at the crime scene in the future.

"What about that girl, have you found her family?"

"The ambulance just arrived, and she's being examined. She'll be sent to the hospital later. Wang Ke is here too, and he's doing psychological treatment.

The girl's identity hasn't been determined yet. We're still searching the house, trying to find some of the girl's belongings.

However, Wang Ke just said that the girl wasn't mentally disabled from the beginning. Her current state should have been caused recently."

Zhou Ze pursed his lips. He had guessed this.

His own son is already an idiot,

So find another idiot to pair him with?

And finally give birth to a stupid grandson?

This old couple, they're not that stupid.

Having suffered this kind of torture, even people whose will was originally very firm would collapse, right? Moreover, the victim was just a young girl. How could she bear it?

Just then,

Old Zhang's phone rang.

He looked towards the crowd while answering the phone. The person calling should be there.

"Hello, okay, what? Okay, I understand."

Old Zhang put down the phone,

Bit his teeth,

Raised his head,

Looking at Zhou Ze.

"What's wrong?"

Zhou Ze asked.

Old Zhang clenched his fist,

And punched the hood of the car in front of him.

Well,

Wang Ke's car.

Zhou Ze didn't feel bad.

Smash it.

Smash it harder.

Old Zhang took a deep breath,

And exhaled heavily,

Looking at Zhou Ze with a somewhat absurd expression,

And said:

"The doctor said, the girl is likely pregnant..."