Murder the Dream Guy

That day was destined to be a busy day.

How big would an operation be to find evidence in a fish pond that was dated back to more than 20 years ago?

The Criminal Investigation Unit dispatched all manpower that could be spared to Kong Village.

The suspect, Old Kong, was once again escorted to the scene.

Pumping water, catching fish, digging mud… Such a huge operation drew countless numbers of onlookers.

There were those from Kong Village and the surrounding villages; they surrounded the entire police barricade tape.

However, when they heard that the police was looking for the wife of Old Kong in the fish pond, those who had fished or eaten the fish here… All of them expressed that their stomach didn’t feel good.

Xiang Wan was at the scene, too. Seeing how everyone worked from before the daybreak till the sun was high up in the sky—not even able to eat or drink—she empathized with them and felt that being a police officer sure wasn’t easy.

She went to the snack shop near the entrance of the village and bought mineral water for them. Everyone was given a bottle, and she even helped them to open it.

Everyone was delighted.

“Thank you, Teacher Xiang!”

“In future, the tedious task of opening bottles shouldl be our responsibility. Hahaha…”

Although they were perspiring all over, they did not forget to crack jokes.

Xiang Wan was amused by the enthusiasm her comrades displayed.

Shaking her head, she opened a bottle for herself and took a drink.

The bright sunlight pierced her eyes where she suddenly gave a quiver uncontrollably.

The weather was so hot and the water, too cold. As for the man who suddenly appeared in front of her, he had a gaze that was too gentle.

“Are you hungry?” Bai Muchuan studied her. “Want me to get Tang Yuanchu to bring you somewhere to grab a bite first…”

“It’s alright, no need for the trouble.” Xiang Wan was somewhat awkward. “Everyone’s so busy, I’m not that delicate.”

“It’s already meal time.” Bai Muchuan looked at the time and adjusted his white gloves. “I think it’s going to take a while more. Are you able to take it?”

Xiang Wan casually nodded her head and took a glance at the fish pond. The water had already been pumped out, and the fish were still jumping inside the big bamboo baskets beside the pond. “Found anything so far?”

“It has been over 20 years.” Bai Muchuan squinted his eyes. “It’s too far back in time that even if the body parts had not been digested, it would have decomposed…”

“So, what are we looking for then?”

There was a layer of mud on the bottom of the fish pond. Many of them were digging in there.

“Teeth, bones, and belongings.”

These things were the toughest as they would not be easily broken down by the microorganisms in the water.

Xiang Wan nodded her head and saw the beads of perspiration on his hairline. She suddenly felt some guilt. “Look, although I’m here, I’m unable to be of help at all. Do get to work, don’t worry about me…”

“Just keep your mouth shut!” Bai Muchuan gave her an unhappy look, his tone was as domineering but affectionate. “Who’s going to worry about you if I don’t. Wait for me!”

With that, he left.

Xiang Wan did not know why he wanted her to wait for him. So she stayed there quietly and waited for further instructions.

Soon enough, Bai Muchuan came back with a hand in his pocket, while the other hand was holding something mysteriously. He walked toward her and even turned back for a look before giving her a plastic bag with something inside.

“Take this and eat first. The snack shop here has hardly anything to eat while some food did not seem hygienic enough. I asked Tang Yuanchu to get the biscuits in the car for you. Eat this to fill your stomach first…”

Ah!

Xiang Wan was nonplussed by his act.

He had left in such a stern and fierce manner. She thought that he had some other instructions for her.

In the end, he actually went to get some food for her?

She looked at Bai Muchuan in a daze, forgetting to even move.

Bai Muchuan put the plastic bag of biscuits on her hands. “What are you waiting for? Take it!”

“Thank you!” Xiang Wan thought her hands felt a little moist from holding the biscuits.

The weather is too hot, s he thought inside her head.

What’s with the racing heartbeat?

She lowered her head as she looked at the biscuits with uneasiness while Bai Muchuan turned away from her.

Not too far away from them, Tang Yuanchu started to whine.

“No, boss, you can’t do this! We are here working so hard, why didn’t you give us some food? Didn’t you see how hungry I look now?”

“Rascal!” Bai Muchuan stared at him.

“What! The biscuits actually belonged to me?” Tang Yuanchu teased, “Tsk, tsk, tsk, indeed love is more important than brotherhood, huh…”

“What cr*p is that? If you’re a female, you’ll be the first to get food.”

“Nah, don’t bother to explain. It’s similar to how Mei Xin is not considered a female. Boss, we brothers can understand instantly…”

Understand what instantly? Everyone looked at Tang Yuanchu first, then Bai Muchuan and lastly, Xiang Wan. They seemed to understand and had a sly smile on their faces.

“You’ve shown so much affection that you are torturing us bachelors…” Tang Yuanchu laughed teasingly.

“Hey, hey, hey, who are the bachelors?” Everyone was unhappy and started to diss him.

“Everyone get to work!” Bai Muchuan took a look at the surface of the pond and surveyed everyone’s faces. “Brothers, work harder!” He encouraged them in a supportive tone. “After we finish this, I’ll give everyone a treat at Tanyoto restaurant!”

“…”

Everyone fell silent.

Their gazes were strange and seemed to be struggling with something.

Maybe only the fishes in the bamboo baskets understood for they seemed to be struggling with all their might.

“Boss!” At the center of the fish pond, Xie Hui’s face that had mud spilled on it was smiling radiantly. “I’ve found it, I’ve found it…”

It was a piece of bone that one could not ascertain the color clearly as it was covered in mud, glistening under the sun…

It was surely not something good, but to the police, they were acting as if they found a piece of treasure.

Everyone got excited, and a few of them focused to dig around the location as well and managed to discover a few more things…

Teeth and knuckles that had yet to decompose and more…

Cheng Zheng indeed lived up to his reputation as an expert in forensic biology. Without the help of any equipment, he could easily identify which were the dog bones, human bones, as well as which position of the bone they were in relation to the body.

One by one, the evidence were placed inside evidence bags.

Old Kong stared blankly into space; his gaze scattered, not sure what he was thinking about…

Over at the villagers who surrounded outside the police barricade tapes, they also realized what the police had found. They created a commotion, pointing and talking amongst themselves.

A layer of haze formed in Xiang Wan’s eyes. She was praying earnestly that there were no other deaths…

…

This trip was rewarding.

There were several tens of pounds of uneaten fish, a heap of human and dog bones, as well as several belongings.

Nevertheless, Xie Wanwan’s doll, which Xiang Wan was hoping to find, was not found.

When they returned to the office, lunch time had passed.

Everyone washed up before going to a nearby restaurant and ate there. Tang Yuanchu, who was the first one to arrive there, ordered braised fish with brown sauce as a prank as they had been digging in the smelly fish pond for the whole morning.

As a result, at the two tables of more than ten detectives, only Cheng Zheng was able to eat half of the fish calmly.

This was a feat!

Everyone looked at him with admiration, but he was expressionless throughout and left when he finished.

Xiang Wan watched his back view and suddenly had an uncontrollable urge to laugh.

This Cheng Zheng was even more doomed to a lonely life than her…

Everyday might jolly well be a horror movie for any girl who might be living with him in future?

“Stop daydreaming!” A big hand waved in front of her. Xiang Wan turned and saw Bai Muchuan’s seemingly displeased face.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“You won’t get full just by watching him.” Bai Muchuan pointed to the rice inside her bowl. “Finish it!”

“I can’t eat anymore!”

She had eaten two pieces of biscuits earlier on. As she was new to the police force, she was not used to their working lifestyle and did not have much appetite.

Bai Muchuan put on a cold face. “There’s still work to do in the afternoon. If you don’t eat, you won’t have enough energy to work later.”

Xiang Wan paused for a while. “What work?”

Bai Muchuan: “Interrogate Kong Guangming again.”

“I see…”

“You gotta eat.”

Xiang Wan pouted as somehow, she felt he was behaving like… her parent from a feudal family.

She kept quiet and ate slowly. When she thought of the case, the food tasted flavorless to her.

…

As there was a breakthrough to the case, Commissioner Wang called specially to convey his appreciation for all officers who had been working at the fish pond for half a day.

Bai Muchuan gave a simple update about the progress of the case to him, and then he brought Xiang Wan with him to the interrogation room.

By this point, Old Kong’s defensive mentality had collapsed. He basically spilled everything out.

“Kong Qingping is not my flesh and blood. I actually knew that a long time ago.” Old Kong still sat on that same wooden chair, hands being handcuffed and head slightly drooping. The first thing he told the police was the matter he cared most about.

Maybe the limits of his psychological endurance was broken, when he talked about the past, he was no longer agitated.

“The woman was not content with her life. She told me she was going to work in a restaurant, but refused to tell me which restaurant it was. Every time she came home, she had heavy makeup on her face. She did not look like someone who was working in a restaurant at all. The villagers were all talking behind me, saying that she was working as a prostitute.

“She stayed at home after she was pregnant with Kong Qingping. I was thinking, regardless of whether he was my own child or not, I would just take care of him. With my family background and situation, I would never get a good woman anyway. No matter what, she had never despised me because of my poor family background.

“Alas, humans are strange! Although I had thought so, yet I was unable to get over it. It had become a knot in my heart. That period after she gave birth, we quarreled every day. She had a bad temper as well, and she angered my mom so much so that she nearly jumped into the fish pond…

“It was not easy to survive that period. When the baby was a month old, she told me she wanted to leave me. She said that she couldn’t live with me anymore…

“We didn’t register our marriage. If she’s taking the baby away with her, I feel that I’ll never be able to see her again. So, of course, I couldn’t agree with that. That night, I drank a little more than usual. We quarreled and I beat her up… Never did I expect that she took it too hard and drank pesticide…

“It was in the middle of the night. I never thought that she would really end her life. When I woke up the next day, she was already dead with white foam all over her mouth…

“I was too scared and called for my mom… My mom told me that we couldn’t let anyone know that someone died in our family. Otherwise, I would get a death penalty… My mom told me to just tell everyone that she had ran away with her lover…

“That day, everything was a mess. The baby was crying as nobody fed him and I was totally clueless… Later on, my mom took out the butcher knife we used to slaughter pigs. We chopped her up into pieces, and cooked her. She told me we can feed her to the dog slowly and dispose her bones into the fish pond…

“The dog ate the meat… in less than two days, it died as well. So we put the dog as well as her remains into the fertilizer bag and sank them into the fish pond…

“Kong Qingping… I’ve always hated him. Whenever I see him, I would think of his mother, which is a torture to me. I’ve originally wanted to give him away to another family, but my mom said that the child was young and didn’t know anything. When he grew up, he would be like a real son anyway… I didn’t care about that. If she wanted to take care of him, then let her be…

“That’s how things went. All of you know what happened later on. Kong Qingping has no interest in learning and always liked to steal. If not for my mom who kept taking his side, I would have beaten him to death…”

Old Kong suddenly lifted his head again.

“I didn’t kill him. I didn’t. It’s he himself who wanted to fight with me and died by himself.”

Xiang Wan did not realize that her eyebrows had creased. “How did you both get into an argument that night?”

“He knew.” Old Kong’s pupils were dilated and he also seemed to be in disbelief as well. “That lad actually knew about it. How is it possible? I don’t understand, I can’t figure it out…”

“What did he know?” Xiang Wan tried to calm him down. “Talk slowly, there’s no hurry.”

Old Kong gave a gulp as his shoulders trembled. “During the afternoon that day, he suddenly came home with some dishes and asked me to get some alcohol back. He also told me he had something to talk to me… He didn’t look too good and I asked him what happened. He said he had stabbed someone and not sure if that person died…

“I realized that the way he looked at me is not quite right and I got wary.

“True enough, after taking a few sips of alcohol, he started to ask me what happened back then… He asked me if I killed his mom and stared at me viciously. He said that he would avenge his mom, that if killing one person is already murder, then killing two persons are also murder as well…”

As he said this, Old Kong’s wrinkled face looked like the old tree bark that lacked water and was crumpled up together. His expression became anxious. “It can’t be! No one should know about this… My mom has been dead for so many years. Kong Qingping was just a little kid, how would he be able to know all these?

“He kept asking me about it. He grabbed my clothes and wanted to hit me. Of course, I wouldn’t admit it and found an excuse to look for his mom’s letters. Then I hit him at the back of the head with a chair when he wasn’t looking. He was dazed for a moment and started to fight with me…”

Old Kong’s eyes seemed to get dim at that instant.

“I’ve always thought that this lad is a heartless scoundrel and felt that I’m done for… But when we fought, he still has some consideration toward me…”

“Whereas you went all out.” Bai Muchuan chimed in with an emotionless face like ice. “He treated you as a father, but you’ve never treated him as a son. You won the fight and tied him up…”

Old Kong was stunned for a moment and shook his head. His neck was stiff, and he looked terrified. “It’s not my fault. He brought back the ropes, the tape, as well as the dagger… I didn’t kill him…”

“You’re still insisting that you didn’t kill him?” Bai Muchuan gave a slam on the table, his expression full of hostility.

Xiang Wan glanced at him. She felt that he seemed to be overly sensitive toward the relationship between Old Kong and Kong Qingping. She coughed lightly to remind him before she asked Old Kong a question, “How did that fatal wound at his heart come about?”

“I tied up that lad on the bed. I thought he would behave and was preparing to leave… In the end, he actually took out a dagger. I heard noises and thought he wanted to kill me with that dagger and rushed to stop him. But I accidentally pushed him down…”

This statement was consistent to Cheng Zheng’s earlier deduction on the case of death.

Xiang Wan nodded her head. “And?”

Old Kong shook his head vehemently as if he was in a lot of pain. “I drank a lot that day, so my head was heavy and painful. I’ve heard him breathing and I didn’t know, I really didn’t know… I did not check on him but went out to continue drinking. Later on, all of you arrived…”

“…”

The interrogation room fell into silence.

For a while, only the clock ticking sounds on the wall could be heard inside the room.

“There’s something I think I need to inform you about it.”

Xiang Wan laid the document on the table slowly.

“Actually, Kong Qingping is truly your biological son.”

Old Kong suddenly opened his eyes big and wide and gazed at her motionlessly.

“Since you suspect that he was not your biological son, why didn’t you think of doing a DNA paternity test?”

Xiang Wan heaved a sigh as she felt sympathy for the father and son. However, Old Kong’s lack of education and ignorance made him unable to think like a normal person. He killed his wife, destroyed the corpse, and treated his son like a foe all his life. He was as if trapped in a cage, like a walking corpse, suffering from mania, heart palpitations, and mental disorder. As a result, he was put on long term medication so he could sleep at night…

“My biological son? Impossible, everyone in the village say he had big eyes and thick eyebrows, he’s totally unlike me. He didn’t look like me at all!” Old Kong blabbered on, his arms trembling. “I, can I have a look?”

Bai Muchuan exchanged glances with Tang Yuanchu.

Tang Yuanchu nodded his head and showed the document to him.

The document had specified very clearly.

Old Kong could not understand the statistical data but understood the last sentence:

“Based on the analysis, it is practically proven that Kong Guangming is the biological father of Kong Qingping.”

The entire room was quiet.

Only Old Kong slumped down heavily on his chair and was breathing heavily.

…

“Are you shocked? Do you think it’s cruel?”

Under the warm office desk light, Xiang Wan was writing her latest chapter: “Indeed it was really shocking and cruel. That was the most desperate face that Rong Xiaonuan had ever seen in her life. It was also the first time that she had realized that the deepest pain of a person was when one hurt the person dearest to them and was unable to make amends for it forever.”

After finishing her update, she did a check.

After uploading the chapter, Cheng Zheng came down to look for her.

“Going home?”

Xiang Wan saw the car keys that he was holding on his hand and hesitated for a while before she started to keep her laptop.

Coincidentally, Bai Muchuan came out of his office.

“Oh, you both are leaving?” He had directed this at Cheng Zheng.

Cheng Zheng nodded calmly at him.

“Mm,” acknowledged Bai Muchuan who called Xie Hui who was on duty that night and briefed him on some work. Next, he took his laptop bag and came out of the office. “Let’s go, give me a lift too since it’s on the way.” He totally did not consider himself an outsider.

Cheng Zheng: “…”

So embarrassing!

Everytime when she faced these two, she wished the ground would swallow her up.

However, both of them were very calm.

Cheng Zheng: “Where’s your car?”

Bai Muchuan: “I don’t feel like driving it.”

Cheng Zheng: “Let’s go!”

…

When three’s in a party, one of them is bound to get hurt.

Xiang Wan felt that she was the one who got hurt.

Throughout the journey home, the opposing aura of the two were as though clashing in the air.

It was pitiful of her as she felt she was on needles.

Just when they almost arrived at Bai Muchuan’s house, he suddenly said he didn’t want to go back home but wanted to go to Cheng Zheng’s place to discuss something with him…

An uninvited guest! Detective Little Bai said that solemnly without a tinge of guilt.

Cheng Zheng took it in without a word.

When they arrived at their neighborhood and went upstairs, he complained that Cheng Zheng’s home was too cold and not warm enough which affected his “Conan” logical thinking and insisted on going to Xiang Wan’s house instead…

What?!

She facepalmed in view of his pretense.

Xiang Wan knew he had deliberately done all of these because of her. Nonetheless, there was nothing she could do as he was her immediate superior. Moreover, he was at her doorstep already.

And so, he entered her house and changed into slippers. She poured him a glass of water and sat facing him on the sofa.

“So are you here to talk to me or to talk to Cheng Zheng?”

Bai Muchuan looked at the glass of water casually, giving it a gentle circular shake and lied on the sofa lazily. “He’s not as interesting as you.”

Hurhur!

Xiang Wan rolled her eyes at him. “You’re the one who’s interesting, your family are the ones who’s interesting. What do you want, just say it. I’m tired. I need to rest!”

She had thought that he would continue his act, but he actually put down the glass of water and had a serious expression on his face.

“For these three major cases, have you come to a conclusion about their common point?”

Xiang Wan paused for a while. “Their common point?”

Bai Muchuan squinted his eyes and looked at her. “All of them had secrets and died because of their secrets.”

His chilly gaze made Xiang Wan’s heart numb.

“So do you think the ‘manipulator’ we are talking about… does this person really exist?”

Bai Muchuan did not respond, while Xiang Wan suddenly thought of something. She switched on her laptop, walked over to him, and showed him that weird ID and his comment.

“Did you feel that this crazy reader did not seem to be purely a crazed reader?”

“…”

Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow and looked at her. “I’ll look into this.”

Didn’t he also say something similar the last time? In the end, they didn’t manage to find anything.

Xiang Wan snorted and took the laptop from his hands. “Well, finding the doll is more important for now,” chuckled Xiang Wan lazily.

“You care about it?” Bai Muchuan gave her an odd glance. “You do mind about it?”

Xiang Wan gave a casual reply. “I only care about the case.”

“You’re pretending!” Bai Muchuan suddenly stretched out his arm to grab Xiang Wan’s hand.

Xiang Wan was getting up from the sofa at that moment, and because of his pull, she immediately fell toward him as if she was throwing herself into his arms together with her laptop.

Sigh! “You silly woman.” Bai Muchuan’s mood instantly elevated and hugged her tightly. “You’re lucky to have met me or you would have fallen to your death.”

The last time under the osmanthus tree, as well as at the stairways…

She recalled all those times they were together while looking at his magnified face in front of her. She could feel his warm breath landing on her face.

Xiang Wan’s heart was in a disarray. She wished she could bite him to death.

“Let go of me!”

“Don’t mind that issue anymore, alright? I apologize.” As Bai Muchuan’s warm breathing landed on her face, his focused gaze was as if glistening. When accompanied by his casual smile, he was really charming. “Xiang Wan, besides hurting the person dearest to one and unable to make amends for it, there’s one more deepest pain in life… To miss out someone in one’s life.”

Well, he was really a fan of hers.

She had just updated her chapter before leaving the office and he had already read them?

Xiang Wan felt her scalp going numb as she felt the atmosphere was not quite right.

“Hello Detective Bai, can you say something decent and proper?”

“Hello, Miss Xiang, did you realize that even my hair also looked decent and proper?”

“Look, the problem between us is…”

“There’s no problem at all.” Bai Muchuan suddenly held the back of her head and looked into her eyes. He did not allow her to resist or struggle, but his breathing seem erratic. “Xiang Wan, life is too short, I don’t want to live in regret.”

…