Zhao Dapeng coldly swept his gaze across the room, not bothering to even say hello.
Turning to Mr. Zhao, he threatened, "You old fogey, don't you dare freeze my credit card!"
This young man wasn’t just rude, he hadn’t even received basic fostering!
Mr. Zhao shouted, "Dapeng, sit down! We need to talk to you!"
"Fuck that! You can sit if you want to!” dismissed Zhao Dapeng. “You said all I have to do is show up, so here I am. Give me money. I still have something to do later."
Mr. Zhao slammed the table and roared, "What is it that’s so important?! Aren’t you just fooling around with those friends of yours?"
"You’re not allowed to insult my friends!" yelled Zhao Dapeng, tit-for-tat.
Their father-son relationship had become so strained they had no way of communicating besides yelling. Xiaotao pulled down her shirt, deliberately revealing her cleavage. "Dapeng, I’d like to ask you about something," smiled Xiaotao.
The fierce, aggressive Zhao Dapeng suddenly crumbled like a kitten. Face red as a ripe tomato, he glanced away, too afraid to look at Xiaotao as he asked falteringly, "Who are you?"
Although he was from a wealthy family, Zhao Dapeng was perhaps more inept than Dali at dealing with girls, especially confident, glamorous ones like Xiaotao... In fact, Dali's emotional intelligence would leave him in the dust.
Xiaotao coaxed, "Dapeng, sit down. Don’t worry, I’ll explain it all to you."
"I’ll only stay for a while. I really do have something and the car is still parked downstairs!" Zhao Dapeng sat beside Xiaotao.
Xiaotao turned to me, "Song Yang, pour us a glass of water!" She blinked repeatedly.
Aware of her implication, I stood up, pretending to serve water while I locked the door.
As soon as I was seated once more, Xiaotao resumed her normal manner of speaking. Throwing her badge on the table, she said, "Look carefully, Young Master Zhao. We are the police. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t easy to meet with you."
Zhao Dapeng's pupils suddenly contracted, his Adam's apple rolling up and down his throat and his hands subconsciously clenched the sofa cushion. "A-are you looking for me?" he feigned composure.
"Where were you on the evening of July 12th?" Xiaotao demanded.
Mr. Zhao was taken aback. "Ms. Huang, didn't you say it wasn’t anything serious?"
"Please don't interrupt, Mr. Zhao. We suspect your son is related to a brutal criminal case!"
With widened eyes, Mr. Zhao covered his chest. Instead, Xiaotao raised two fingers, baiting Zhao Dapeng as she sneered, "Actually, it's two cases. Am I right?"
Under Xiaotao’s intimidation, a veil of acknowledgement swept across Zhao Dapeng’s face. Even the most common criminals I came into contact with had better mental resilience than this guy. His reaction basically confirmed his guilt, though I had no sympathy for the frightened boy at the thought of what he had done.
In a venomous outburst, Zhao Dapeng yelled, "Who gave you the right to investigate me? Do you have a search warrant?"
"Yes, come up with a search warrant!" echoed Mr. Zhao.
"And who was it who taught you to do this?" I sneered.
The little courage that Zhao Dapeng had mustered up immediately deflated like a balloon. "N-no!" he insisted.
"Answer the question,” huffed Xiaotao. “What were you doing and who were you with on the evening of July 12th and July 15th?"
"I don't know!" cried Zhao Dapeng.
"Do you really think there’s any use in lying at this point?" Xiaotao grabbed her handcuffs from the back and slammed them on the table.
"I... I really don't know," shivered Zhao Dapeng.
"Have you lost your memory? Or would like me to remind you what you were doing the night before last?" Xiaotao continued.
"I-I was drinking..." answered Zhao Dapeng.
"Where? With whom? At what time?"
Xiaotao's eyes pinned Zhao Dapeng to the sofa like fiery hot nails, leaving the latter in a panicky mess. I noticed the muscles in his shoulder twitch as if he were about to flip the table and flee for his life. Right then, I activated the Eyes of Yama. With a scream, Zhao Dapeng struggled to bury his face, overturning the sofa with his violent movements.
As soon as I turned off the Eyes of Yama, my eyes descended into a sheet of darkness. I quickly grabbed the milk I had prepared in advance and gulped down the entire bottle. "Arrest him first!" I said, waving my hand.
Our purpose of coming here was to take Zhao Dapeng away, even if it meant overstepping our authority. We had to rein in one of the four murderers first so the other three would be too afraid to act.
At the sight of those handcuffs, Mr. Zhao immediately stood up and blocked his son with his own body. "You have no right to arrest my son!” he spluttered. “What crime did he commit? Murder? Arson? I’ll call the lawyer now. "
"You can complain to my superiors. Do whatever you want but I must take him away!" asserted Xiaotao.
"This is illegal!" Mr. Zhao glared at us with eyes as big as saucers.
"If you knew what your son did, you’d think nothing of shooting him on the spot!" snorted Xiaotao.
Mr. Zhao stared at Xiaotao in a daze for some time before bursting into tears and embracing Zhao Dapeng. "Dapeng, what stupid things have you done? Why can’t you behave?" he cried. “Why do you want to be friends with those people? I know you’ve always been a good boy. It’s those friends of yours who’ve led you astray... "
Right then, Zhao Dapeng jumped up, pulled out a butterfly knife, and pressed it against Mr. Zhao's neck, the expression on his face turning grim and malevolent. "If you take another step, I’ll kill him!"
"Zhao Dapeng, are you even human for saying that?" Xiaotao wrinkled her brow.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Zhao continued to help his boy. "G-go now," he stuttered. “Or I’ll die and that’s on you!"
Xiaotao and I exchanged a triumphant smile. To begin with, we had no legal grounds to arrest Zhao Dapeng but now that was delivered right to the door. "I’ve run out of milk," I sighed.
"I'll go downstairs and buy more for you!" assured Xiaotao.
I stared at Zhao Dapeng and asked, "Where are your three friends?"
"What friends?” argued Zhao Dapeng. “I did it all alone."
"So, you admit to it?" I quipped.
Zhao Dapeng's eyes widened in shock, "You fucking wish! What have I done? Stop trying to trick me– Ahhh!"
As I activated the Eyes of Yama once more, Zhao Dapeng dropped the butterfly knife and held his head while screaming.
Xiaotao quickly walked over and handcuffed the wailing man. Zhao pointed at me, trembling, "Th-that man's eyes are terrifying! He’s not human!"
I thought to myself, You’re not human either!
When Zhao Dapeng was taken away, Mr. Zhao caught up to us and begged, "Officers, what just happened was voluntary participation on my behalf. It has nothing to do with my son. He’s my only son. Please, I beg you, let him go."
"It’s the parent’s fault for not educating the child!” I sighed. “You should reflect on yourself!"
Zhao Dapeng's age, figure and character were basically in line with my deductions. Using the most foolhardy guy on the team was the best approach to breaking through the case.
Wracked with pain from the side effects of the Eyes of Yama, I rushed to the nearest convenience store like a drug addict when the cravings hit. As soon as I paid for the milk, I drank the entire bottle and got into the car.
Xiaotao asked curiously, "Why are you so into milk lately?"
Catching one of the murderers put me in a good mood so I joked, "My body must still be growing!"
Xiaotao gently nudged me as a wicked smile rose to her lips. "You’re not growing. You just need more protein."