As soon as the words slipped from my lips, Song Xingchen knocked the manager to the ground and unleashed a series of powerful kicks. The man crawled on the ground, pulling out a dagger. However, his attempts were thwarted by Song Xingchen who kicked the dagger away and raised his foot up high, crashing down heavily on the manager’s crotch.
As Song Xingchen continued trampling on the manager’s genitals, banshee-like screaming filled the cellar. The driver grabbed my arm, urging, "Stop it! STOP! Don't hurt the client!"
"That’s enough!" I nodded.
When Song Xingchen moved his feet away, the manager lay there twitching, blood and white liquid flowing out between his legs. He was foaming at the mouth and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. It was then that I realized crushing a man’s genitals would render him unconscious.
Watching the pervert being tortured filled my heart with glee. "Let me have a go!" I said.
The driver tried to reach for his gun but Song Xingchen was a step ahead, slashing the Tang Sword in his direction and holding him back.
I walked up to the manager, patted him on the face and pinched till he regained consciousness. "What are you doing?" he cried.
"I’m making sure you’ll never kill again!" I sneered, flipping up his eyelids as I activated the Eyes of Yama. As if electrocuted by a high voltage, the manager struggled and convulsed, his deafening cries echoing throughout the cellar. I stared at him for half a minute, waiting till his screams died down. When I finally looked away, my vision was a sheet of black.
The mental trauma left the manager with a foolish expression on his face. He suddenly sat up, shrinking behind a barrel as he shouted nervously, "Who are you? Go away!"
Pulling his cell phone out from his pocket, I called one of the psychiatric hospitals and reported our location. "Help, there’s a mental patient here. Please come quickly!"
"Sir, please leave your name and contact information," came the voice from the other end of the line.
"It’s alright. I'm just a concerned citizen," I smiled.
Upon hanging up, I threw the phone into the manager's arms and waved at Song Xingchen, "It’s time for us to go!"
As we walked out of the winery, the driver threatened, "How dare you! I’m reporting this to the master. You and your friends are dead!"
"But I cleaned up after the client. I’ve completed the task," I retorted.
"The master said you’re not allowed to do anything without his permission!" the driver gritted his teeth in anger.
"He told you that but he never mentioned anything to me,” I chuckled. “If you want to report to him, go ahead!"
The driver looked as if he couldn't wait to eat me alive as he dialed for the Dog Trainer. After a brief conversation, he turned to me and said, "The master said you can go. But there will be a new task tomorrow and he will come to you."
I nodded to Song Xingchen, "Let's go!"
We hailed a cab and rushed back to the station. Bingxin was waiting at the entrance in a beautiful dress. "What is it?" I asked curiously.
"Let’s go shopping!" she giggled.
"You heartless little devil! How can you even think of shopping now?" I laughed.
"My dad banned me from participating in the case and gave me a holiday. There’s no point in worrying," she pouted as she hooked my arm with hers. "Come on then, let's go shopping!"
I thought to myself, Did I really overthink this? Perhaps Bingxin is just looking for some company to go shopping. Right then, she patted her pocket and looked meaningfully at me, "Oh, I don't have any money with me. Let’s go see my dad. I’ll ask him for my allowance."
I instantly understood that shopping was just a cover so I asked Song Xingchen to wait outside.
When we arrived at Sun Tiger’s office, the door was unlocked so we walked right in. Bingxin pretentiously blurted, "Where’s my dad?"
There were a few files lying around the office. It turned out to be a father-daughter collusion. Since they had decided to help, there was no need for me to be courteous. I closed the door and began looking through the documents.
There were autopsy reports, ballistic reports and interrogation files.
The autopsy report confirmed that the victim Qin Aonan was killed instantly by a bullet that penetrated the brain. There was something suspicious–his cell phone was on call the entire time. However, due to encryption, the caller couldn’t be found so the police didn’t know what was said during the call.
According to Wang Xuebing, he had heart disease. Because of running too fast, he felt pain in his chest and fell to his knees. Then, he heard a gunshot and looked up, only to see Xiaotao holding the gun with both hands, aimed forwards. Meanwhile, Qin Aonan had crumpled to the ground.
Wang Xuebing and Xiaotao had met only once and he didn't even know her name. Additionally, he was present at the scene during the shooting so his testimony held more weight than mine. He was currently detained on charges of assault and attempted murder.
The ballistics report was even more unfavorable to Xiaotao. The muzzle of her gun was smoking at the time which proved she fired the gun. Although she claimed to have fired into the sky, the bullet was never found.
The bullet that hit the victim’s head was proven to have been shot from Xiaotao's gun by the rifling test. Technically, this couldn't be faked.
I looked at the signature below of the appraiser Li Yonggang. "What’s the appraiser’s experience?"
Bingxin feigned surprise, "Oh, why are you peeking at my dad's files?"
"Are you still pretending? Tell me!" I chided.
"Professor Li is a famous ballistics expert in the province and he has never made a mistake."
"Has he traveled or taken a holiday recently?" I asked.
"That I don't know," admitted Bingxin.
I believed Xiaotao didn't kill anyone so there must be falsehood in one of the links, perhaps the ballistics expert. I suspected he was one of the Dog Trainer’s subordinates.
Picking up the photos of the deceased, I examined every nook and cranny and finally noticed something suspicious. The man’s eyes were turned to the left, yet common sense dictated that he should be looking the gunman in the eye in the face of a threat.
Who was on his left?
It was Wang Xuebing who had chased after him!
There was a second possibility–Wang Xuebing was lying. But he was a 60-year-old veteran whose daughter had been murdered. It stands to reason that he couldn't wait to eat the murderer's flesh and drink his blood. Why did he lie?
The current situation was extremely unfavorable to Xiaotao. Since our opponent was the Dog Trainer, I had to assume everyone was a suspect!
I sighed, "I wish I could check if Wang Xuebing is really the victim’s father." Naturally, my words were aimed at Bingxin, my little spy who kept in touch with Sun Tiger.
"Song Yang-gege, are you done? My dad will kill us when he comes back."
"I’m done! Let’s get out of here!"
I put the files away and left with Bingxin. "Let's get shaved ice!"
I guessed she was up to some trick so I agreed.
The three of us headed to a cafe. At a table in an inconspicuous corner sat Dali and Wang Yuanchao. "We meet again."
“Dude, is it true what Song Xingchen told us this morning? Someone was going to kill us?" asked Dali.
"It's true!" I nodded.
All of us sitting at this table weren’t allowed to participate in the case. As we exchanged information with each other, I revealed that I was currently dealing with the Dog Trainer and omitted the task he put me up to.
After receiving the soil sample, Bingxin promised she would find a laboratory to test it.
Wang Yuanchao tried every means possible to meet Xiaotao yesterday. Apparently, she was in good spirits. Although the interrogators went hard on her, she stuck to her guns, insisting she never shot Qin Aonan.
"Did Xiaotao notice anything unusual at the time?" I asked.
Upon further contemplation, Wang Yuanchao replied, "There was nothing distinctive at the scene. But she did mention a man in a mask bumping into her during the chase. At the time, the situation was chaotic so she didn't think much of it!"