Chapter 207 Interrogation

He didn’t get to finish speaking before I went up and gave him a fat beating. My heart said, who’s afraid of your sister? Whether she’s a zombie or an evil spirit, hurry up and bring her out so I can see. The tough days I’ve experienced before won’t be in vain.

When I was pounding on Lin Qizhong, I let out all my anger for having to deal with that Longzhi for a day and a half. He was crawling all over the floor, trying to get away, and Wang Meng was shocked to see me like this. He had never seen me display such a temper before, and was afraid to ask for a pay raise in the future.

After beating him for a long time, I still didn’t see his sister come out. I was tired, so I sat on the sofa and gasped for breath. Lin Qizhong’s face was covered with blood, and he leaned against the wall, constantly covering his nose.

In the past, I used to sympathize with this kind of person in moments like this, but now I looked at him with a sneer. People always seemed to be worthy of sympathy when they were in inferior positions, but when I was in an inferior position, how did he see me?

I lit a cigarette, and asked, “Where’s your sister?” I pointed to the bookshelf in the room: “Is she still in that box?”

Wang Meng kindly pulled out the box, and put it in front of me. I pointed to it and said: “Call her out. I want to meet her.”

“Don’t make me. Once my sister is out, you can’t run away.”

I shook off my coat, and showed him all the scars covering my body: “When you left me in the mountains, did you think I would be able to run away?”

“It was you who wanted to go. I didn’t say I wanted to stay there with you.” Lin Qizhong said.

“You knew that kind of thing was there, right?” I could feel the rage surging up again: “Did you want me to die?”

“I’m under no obligation to tell you anything.” Lin Qizhong found the glasses I had crushed on the ground: “I told you, if you wanted to go, you’d have to go by yourself. As for what would happen, it had nothing to do with me.”

I was both profoundly disgusted and nauseous. There were too many people like this in society, all willing to do such outrageous things. For me, if you were doing all of this because you were simply a demon seeking pleasure, then I at least wouldn’t feel like retching.

But this person was so despicable that he had the gall to argue that this had nothing to do with him, and didn’t even feel a hint of guilt. What a poor and lowly creature.

My disgust had reached its limit, but I relaxed instead.

The old lady wasn’t at home, and must have gone out to buy food. Even if she was an old lady, I still thought she must have something to do with this whole thing. People like Lin Qizhong had to be very good at lying, so there was no point in seriously discussing the problem with him. I used to make that foolish mistake too many times before.

Even though the old lady’s personality seemed questionable, and she had a deep dislike for her son, she still seemed to be a straightforward person. Lin Qizhong was her son, after all, and considering I had subdued the bastard, the old lady should be willing to tell the truth.

This period of time now was to let Lin Qizhong know where I stood, and to let him say the wrong thing under pressure.

I smoked a cigarette, and slapped the box in front of me: “So, I asked you to call your sister. But it has nothing to do with you even if you do.”

“You don’t understand how formidable she is.” Lin Qizhong smiled. “You say all this because you don’t understand how truly terrifying she is. You’ll regret it.”

I looked into Lin Qizhong’s eyes, and his face started twitching, as if he was a little out of control.

I sneered and reached for the lid of the box, while at the same time preparing to defend myself. If something really came out of the box, I wouldn’t be caught off guard.

At that moment, I saw a strange look flash through Lin Qizhong’s eyes.

It wasn’t fear or nervousness, but a kind of expectation and triumph.

I retracted my hand, and took a puff of my cigarette. The triumph and expectation in his eyes instantly disappeared, and he quickly wiped the emotions from his face.

This was a stratagem he had planned out for a long time, and also his way out.

He only mentioned his sister to goad me into taking out this box and opening it, but his purpose had nothing to do with his sister. He just wanted me to open the box.

What was inside?

Maybe it was a small-scale bomb, or some other destructive device.

You could really see a lot just by looking at the subtle changes in someone’s body and face. Fortunately, my rationality could now control my emotions; otherwise, I would have been tricked.

“You’re scared.” He continued to provoke me. Since I had been emotional just now, I hadn’t detected his indirect method, but now it was a bit too fake.

I ignored him, and continued smoking. He kept using words to try to goad me, but I remained indifferent, and just silently stroked the box. I pretended to open it several times, and every time, Lin Qizhong’s mood would change. Even if he hid it well, I was still able to tell from the sudden hitch in his breathing, and his tense body that almost all his attention was focused on this box.

After repeating this more than a dozen times, however, Lin Qizhong finally realized that I was playing with him, and his whole body slowly collapsed.

“Speak, what the hell is going on? Don’t lie to me, I’ll ask the old lady later.” I lit a cigarette, and threw it to him.

He picked it up, took a puff, and then looked up: “You can kill me. I’m screwed if I say it, anyways. But I don’t think you can kill me. Of course, I’m not positive, but I decided to make a bet. If you don’t have the guts to kill me, just go. You won’t learn anything, anyways.”

I took a deep breath, and told myself that my innocent appearance and bleeding heart had given me trouble again.

This man had a good eye; it was true that I couldn’t kill him. And the oppressive atmosphere method Black Glasses had taught me probably wouldn’t work either.

“I didn’t lie to you about what happened before. I only left some parts out.” Lin Qizhong said. “I can tell you that my sister wasn’t run over on the road. She died in the coal mine. At that time, the both of us escaped down the road to the coal mine, and found that they weren’t mining coal.”

If Lin Qizhong had seen the coal mine at that time, then he must have witnessed them excavating the snakes. These snakes needed to be preserved in an environment where human bodies were decaying, and the human oil in those jars was where they preserved them. The scene must have been very strange.

“How did your sister die?” I asked.

“She… I actually don’t know if she’s really dead. She might not be, but she’s definitely become something else.” Lin Qizhong said. “She fell into the coal mine, and when I pulled her out, she wasn’t breathing. She was covered in snakes, and when I carried her home, she still wasn’t breathing. But the next day, she started to move again, just like a snake—she was possessed by a snake.”

I listened silently, and immediately knew what was going on. I watched him take a hard drag of his cigarette, and then he continued, “You came back alive. You must have been to that coal mine, right?”

When I nodded, Lin Qizhong asked, “You saw the fox, right? If you’re alive, is that fox dead?”

I nodded again, and he said: “The fox wasn’t meant to keep people out of the coal mine; it was to keep those things in. Do you know how many people you’ve killed by coming back alive?”

“You’re the one that killed them.” I said lightly. He was still trying to provoke me, but it was useless. However, if what he said was true, then those hei feizi might not have been gathering around for us, but to deal with the chaotic situation near the coal mine.

“I can see you’re very interested in these things. How about we make a deal? I brought something out of that coal mine that might interest you. I’ll give it to you in exchange for my freedom, and if you promise not to ask me about anything else. Do we have a deal?”

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