Chapter Nine: Guilty Deeds

This might be one of the most ironic things in the world. For a charlatan to say something as materialistic as “There are no such things as ghosts in this world” was both laughable and exasperating—one hardly knew what to say.

“Alright, let’s go through this from the beginning,” Kang Ge smiled at Duan Yong, his demeanor relaxed as if chatting with an old friend. “I’m not saying you’re definitely involved in Xu Wenrui’s death, but facts are facts. He came to you for an ‘exorcism’ and ended up dead. Isn’t it reasonable for us to ask you a few questions?”

“Yes, yes! Of course! Ask away!” Duan Yong nodded reluctantly, a pained expression on his face.

“What was Xu Wenrui’s condition when he came to see you?” Yan Xue, seeing that he was generally cooperative, began her line of questioning.

“He was no different from most of my previous clients—believed he was possessed, lost his appetite, couldn’t sleep, plagued by nightmares, all jumpy and anxious!” Duan Yong, once he started, realized that now wasn’t the time to draw attention to how many people had been deceived by his tricks, so he quickly glossed over those details. “Honestly, if you ask me, all that ‘possessed’ talk is just a guilty conscience! You know the saying: a clear conscience fears no ghost knocking at the door.

When that Xu kid came with his grandmother, he was much like the others. He had nightmares every night, always dreaming of being chased by a female ghost who threatened him in some way. He was so terrified, he didn’t dare sleep, and felt as if the ghost was always lurking nearby, even during the day.

I’ve seen cases like this countless times, so I didn’t pay it much mind. I just asked him what the ghost looked like. He said she wore a white dress, stained with blood at the hem and all over her legs, leaving a trail of bloody footprints as she walked. He said the ghost would look at him and weep, never speaking, just reaching out her hands as if to drag him away. That’s why he was so scared.”

Duan Yong’s tone as he described Xu Wenrui’s “haunting” carried an unmistakable note of disdain.

“What, you have opinions about your clients?” Kang Ge picked up on this and raised an eyebrow.

“Not really, it’s just that I’ve seen so many like him,” Duan Yong replied, neither confirming nor denying Kang Ge’s observation. “There was one who claimed his dead father haunted him for money. A few questions later, it turned out he’d taken his father’s bank cards when he was alive, denied him proper medicine in the hospital, and after a poor recovery, never bought him any supplements. The old man died soon after.

Another told me he always saw an old woman’s bloody face staring at him from outside his window. Turned out years ago he’d been drinking, hit an old woman with his car, and fled the scene, never knowing if she lived or died.”

Realizing he’d already revealed too much about his swindling, Duan Yong quickly wrapped up, “So, usually these people have done something wrong. They won’t admit it out loud, but deep down their guilt eats at them. The guiltier they feel, the more they see what they fear most.”

“So in your opinion, Xu Wenrui’s ‘female ghost’ was a manifestation of his own guilt? Guilty of what, exactly?”

“Well! From my experience, probably something to do with ruining a young woman’s life—maybe at first he fooled around, then when it turned serious, he refused to take responsibility. Maybe the girl suffered some bloody misfortune because of him, and now he’s panicked!”

“Is that something you got out of him, or just professional speculation?”

“I’m just guessing! I didn’t get him to confess anything. Besides, if he’d admit to something like that, he wouldn’t be this haunted!” Duan Yong shrugged sheepishly. “That kid—fair-skinned, well-dressed, about twenty, said the ghost looked a certain way. Anyone would guess the same.”

Though his conclusion was purely subjective, for Yan Xue and Kang Ge, it was still a perspective worth considering.

“You make a point. So after that, what did you do to ‘exorcise’ him?” Kang Ge asked.

“There’s nothing much to say!” Duan Yong replied innocently. “As I said, just the usual yellow talisman paper, with charms on it—well, to be honest, I have a carved stamp I use with the best ink I can buy. They say you can drink it with no harm done!

The key is, I’m always careful. I clean the bowls with alcohol first—medical alcohol, not industrial. I know the latter is poisonous!”

Yan Xue was momentarily stunned by this. Kang Ge had gone out with Xu Wenrui’s grandparents at the time, but Yan Xue, who’d stayed to collect information from others, had learned from Xu Wenrui’s mother that her son was severely allergic to alcohol.

Xu Wenrui’s mother had wanted to stress that her son had excellent character—didn't smoke or gamble, and due to a hereditary and severe alcohol allergy, he never touched alcohol.

“How much alcohol did you use? You’d better tell the truth,” Yan Xue asked with a serious expression.

“I... I...” Under her stern gaze, Duan Yong hesitated, mumbling and unable to say how much alcohol he’d actually used for Xu Wenrui.

Kang Ge, watching closely, noticed from Yan Xue’s expression and posture that there was some important link here, but remained outwardly calm. “You wash the bowls with alcohol, pour in water, burn the talisman—after all that, it’s basically plain water! What sterilizing effect could it possibly have?”

Hearing this, Duan Yong was momentarily confused. He glanced at Yan Xue, hoping for some hint as to her reaction, but she remained impassive, her face showing a trace of doubt, making him wonder if he’d misunderstood her earlier.

“So this Xu kid, did he fall ill after drinking my charm water and die? That’s impossible! I’ve never changed my process, plenty of people drank it, no one ever had a problem! Honestly, I use the kind you can buy in any pharmacy, I don’t remember the exact concentration—seventy-something percent? The pharmacist said it’s best for disinfection. After making the charm water, I’d sneak in a little, plus some herbal decoction, just enough so it wouldn’t smell of alcohol. When they drank it, they’d feel warm for a bit, and I’d tell them it was the talisman water boosting their ‘yang energy’ so they wouldn’t see any more unclean things.”

Yan Xue stood up, signaled to Kang Ge, and left the interrogation room, letting her colleague Luo Wei take over. She headed straight to the forensic team and relayed the information to Dr. Zhang just as the toxicology report came in. With Yan Xue’s input, a conclusion was quickly reached.

“Xu Wenrui did not die of alcohol poisoning—that much is certain, as his bloodwork showed only trace amounts of alcohol, negligible at best. However, given his severe alcohol allergy, it explains the respiratory swelling that led to asphyxiation,” Dr. Zhang said to Yan Xue. “We found a toxin in his system, but not at levels high enough to be immediately fatal—it would need to accumulate further. But in this case, a person with a serious alcohol allergy drank water tainted with even a small amount of alcohol, triggering airway swelling. Combine that with previous poisoning symptoms, and the result was fatal asphyxiation.”