Way of the Evil Chapter 84

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The Judge 7

Jiang Hu looked at him, about to continue when Shen Yexi abruptly placed a finger on his lips, ordering him quietly, “Shh, I’ll call Sheng Yao and the others to investigate this privately later. But other than me, do not tell a third person for now.”

Jiang Hu blinked before he nodded. Shen Yexi’s serious expression suddenly gave him a very special feeling of being cared for.

“Promise me.” Shen Yexi was still worried.

Jiang Hu nodded again. Shen Yexi had just let go of him when an idea struck him. Peering outside the window, he found colleague Feng Ji still in the midst of dealing with his bodily needs, so he grabbed Jiang Hu’s shoulders, his free hand reaching to unbuckle his belt. Jiang Hu’s face instantly turned green before reddening. His eyes nearly popped out of his eye sockets. “What are you doing?!

He dared to fool around at the police station entrance in broad daylight?! Can’t this world be more harmonious[1]?

“I think I might as well tie you on my belt. Your credibility is long gone. I’m sure it is worth nothing at all.” Shen Yexi huffed.

Jiang Hu just rolled his eyes at him.

But the joking and suggestive expression vanished from Shen Yexi’s face. He released him and ruffled his hair in a soft sigh. “You unlucky rascal. Don’t you know I’ll be worried for you?”
Jiang Hu startled. Before he found the right words to say, Shen Yexi continued, “The two of us should stop hiding things too. You already know, right? That day Chief Mo made you stay to tell you, right?”

Jiang Hu was silent and nodded after a moment.

“When did you know?”

“That day you received a call,” Jiang Hu admitted honestly.

“Fuck,” Shen Yexi swore. But he shook his head and laughed too. “Why did I have to end up liking you? With a wife like this, I become rich, I won’t even be able to have a vibrant nightlife outside. I’ll be caught in the very first moment.”

It took Jiang Hu two seconds to understand what “vibrant nightlife” meant. Then, he flashed him a false smile. “Don’t worry. I won’t stop you. Sheng Yao said that we can part without hard feelings.”

“Get out!” Shen Yexi glared. “If you dare to talk about parting, laozi will break your legs… Sheng Yao, this bastard. I knew he will transmit some disagreeable ideas when he’s bored.”

“You were the one who mentioned a vibrant nightlife first.”

“You couldn’t tell I was joking? So not fun to tease.” Shen Yexi continued glaring.

Jiang Hu chuckled. “You can’t tell I was joking too? So not fun to tease.”

Shen Yexi choked, face faltering. He thought to himself, this kid would don a kind and courteous face with others; so why was he nasty with him?

Jiang Hu even added fuel to the fire by patting his head, leaving Shen Yexi feeling frustrated.

Upon spotting Feng Ji walk over through the window, Jiang Hu took back his hand calmly and sat upright. Shen Yexi helplessly glanced at him, and asked, “Then, what do you think are the chances that… that person is involved in this?”

“Very high. The signature, “Judgement”, is a characteristic of his crimes.”

Something flashed past Shen Yexi’s mind. He sharply grabbed Jiang Hu, the sudden action frightening Feng Ji who opened the door and was getting in the car. Shen Yexi said, “I’d have forgotten if you didn’t mention it. We have seen such a characteristic before—the word, Judgement, and the act of writing letters on the wall—Holy shit, I can’t believe I only remembered now!”

Jiang Hu was stupefied and mumbled, “You’re talking about Zheng Yujie?”

“Who’s Zheng Yujie?” Feng Ji asked.

“The perpetrator of bus explosions and a chain of family murders.” Shen Yexi slapped his temples. “We’re running back to the bureau. I can’t believe I forgot about this! The same crime characteristic actually appeared in two separate cases. If it was coincidental, it’s far too much of a coincidence!”

Shen Yexi turned on the police siren, and his car sped past eight whole traffic lights like an airplane. But Jiang Hu was not as agitated as him, and conversely became quiet. Of course he wouldn’t forget about Zheng Yujie’s case. It was that case when he felt a strong unease. That was why he did not refuse An Jie when he gave him a gun.

It was not that he never linked them together before. He just… felt some fear in his subconscious mind.

In Zheng Yujie’s case, the bus explosions and the family murders were not her first crime. Approximately half a year prior, she had killed two parents in the village she visited. If this had something to do with Ke Ruhui, exactly how long had he been plotting this?

He could feel a gigantic net, with himself smacked right in the middle, asphyxiating as if his throat had been seized.

At the beginning, Shen Yexi had asked why he came back to China. He dodged the question with a random excuse; that was not the truth. His grandfather was a bona fide Englishman, and his grandmother had migrated for many years too. A woman had to follow whomever she married. Since she married a British man, she switched to the British way. That deadbeat father who had never been reliable did not even need to be mentioned. He lived with blood on his blades. He stopped using Chinese characters for years, and could not even recognize all of them anymore..

In truth, that person who brought up the various cultures and uniqueness in China was Ke Ruhui.

In that year he had just become Ke Ruhui’s student.

Why did he return to China after all he had gone through? Why did he gain an extremely familiar and warm feeling upon hearing that An Jie had lived in this city?

Because back then, Ke Ruhui had brought him here for a whole month as a topic of cultural dimension.

Even his half-cooked knowledge of Chinese characters was trained from that time.

Jiang Hu gazed at the heavy traffic vanishing outside the window, cold beads of sweat forming on his back. He suddenly felt as though he was being watched, as if all these time, he had  been unknowingly walking on a path laid out by someone else.

But as if sensing something, Shen Yexi silently reached to pat the back of his hand. He turned to shoot him a look—Don’t let your imagination run wild.

Jiang Hu sucked in a deep breath, mustering up spirit to smile at Shen Yexi. He shook his head to indicate that he was fine.

Ke Ruhui left China with his parents when he was very young. So young that he suspected if this man even had any memory of this place. Yet, he found that Ke Ruhui had a strange obsession with Chinese culture, such that he even requested every graduate student under him to take Chinese language electives.

His office was akin to a display room of Chinese antiques.

Of course, this did not mean that Ke Ruhui had the gift to be a professor of Chinese national culture. It was due to his refusal to acknowledge his parents that he wanted to search for a justifiable foundation and mental support for himself. Knowing the age Ke Ruhui left China, Jiang Hu felt that he may not have learned Chinese then either, but he could analyze and lecture about the Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism to the yawning and befuddled Jiang Hu himself. Even when reciting those ancient texts, his practice was like that of the ancient scholars as well—memorizing the whole text he read.

Because of his schizophrenia, he did not acknowledge his extreme narcissism at all. But it was this refusal to acknowledge that made him need a sense of belonging.

But thinking about it now, since his student days, when he began to offer objections to the direction of his investigation, Ke Ruhui did not continue to debate with him despite failing in his persuasion. Instead, not long later, he brought him to China, and turned to another topic—why was that?

Did he begin his so-called “experiment” since then?

After knowing that Ke Ruhui had escaped with a faked suicide, his first thought was, where could this man go? The answer was too obvious.

Even when Shen Yexi reached the bureau, Jiang Hu was still a little baffled. He realized that he had underestimated this man’s calculative nature.

Once noon was over, the group who left in the morning had returned. Sheng Yao once again proved that his numerous connections were wider than gangs’ and his quick efficiency  exceeded a machine’s. His ability to dig for gossip and rumors could compete with that of tabloid reporters. A long name list was smacked on Shen Yexi’s table, and the back was labelled with their names, age, profession, identity number and address.

Shen Yexi picked it up and was surprised. “What’s this? Matchmaking institutions open for business?”

“You asked me to check it. Zhang Xiaoqian’s personal social network.” Sheng Yao spun on the swivel chair as if showing off. He knocked the table with a rollerball pen. “Enough to form a battalion. Tsk, even with my past record as comparison, this was really… Sigh. I suppose every generation will have their gifted individuals whose popularity could transcend a century’s worth. Oh, I am but ashamed of my inferiority.”

An Yining let out a cold laugh. “Yeah. This difference is why you’re still sitting here properly, while this officer had his certain part cut off and is now lying in the mortuary.”

Sheng Yao scratched his nose, blinking those peach blossom eyes miserably. “I’ve said that I’ve turned over a new leaf.”

Oh, what a source of calamity….

Jiang Hu came closer to look at the name list in Shen Yexi’s hands, finding a few good women mixed within the others who could be immediately detained. Then, he broke into laughter, “What a colorful nightlife.”

Under the table, Shen Yexi pinched his waist—you fake westerner, how dare you ridicule me.

Jiang Hu snickered quietly.

“A motive born from infidelity?” Meng Jiayi raised his head and asked in some disbelief.

Shen Yexi nodded. “I’m afraid that we can’t eliminate the possibility that it’s out of a personal motive.”

“Then… regarding the assumption that it’s a roaming serial killer organisation…” Wei Yu questioned.

“That possibility cannot be eliminated either.” Shen Yexi cleared his throat. “So, since we are running out of time, I suggest everyone be split into two teams—Junzi, Yining, Yang-jie and Captain Meng, Captain Wei, investigate with the assumption that they’re a serial killer. The rest of us will go with the assumption that it’s out of a personal motive. Everyone, push the tables together and put the shared documents in the center.”

Shen Yexi did not give any time for any objection, turning to Sheng Yao. “Immediately check which of these people had professional training in medical treatment. Jiang Hu, get Zhang Yujie’s case from last year with Captain Feng, and study it well—Captain Li, I’ll trouble you to come with me to find all the information related to anyone with personal connections with the victims. Yang-jie, go with Captain Wei to dig for any link between the victims. Even the smallest ones work too. Su-ge, together with Captain Meng, compare the shape of the bloody letters and the methods of killing. Do not miss any possible connection. Yining, get a map and expand from the location of the crime scene and check for any similar cases in the last three years—that includes any bloody words.”

Shen Yexi finished his speech within a single breath and struck his hands together “Time is tight, guys.”

As expected, some people were natural leaders…


The author has something to say:

Mn, this chapter is a little short… The main reason is because I’ve perished…

I want to change my sex! Even if I were to be a gay man, I don’t want to be a woman anymore. Wails… It hurts like hell = =

Translator Note:

[1] By harmonious world or society, here, it refers to having a world that is less lewd or sexual.

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