"So you got what I need?" I put my hands on my hips while swirling the strand of a straw in my mouth. Unbothered about the sketchy men, I wait for them to bring me to the profitable goods.
"Yeah, just down the stairs. You'll find what you need." The sticky looking man smirks, showing his dark teeth. I couldn't look at him for another second.
"Great, bring me to them."
"Not so fast. The money?"
"Ah? Yes." I gesture for my partner to show the case. "Li Xiao, give it to him."
As stiff as he always moved, Li Xiao opens the case to reveal thousands of silver nuggets worth.
The man chuckles creepily. "Men, let him fetch what he needs."
His crew of outlaws moves aside for me to walk through. Two of the men follow me down to the cool basement. Darkness wafts over the staircase. Flickering candlelight can be seen at the bottom.
My heart drops when I see what is down in the basement. Young girls chained to wooden poles, some of them bloodied with wounds from what looks like was received from a whip. They fearfully shuffle away as I get closer.
I slowly walk to the nearest girl. She begins to shake uncontrollably when I kneel down to talk to her.
"How old are you?"
"Four-- Fourteen..."
"How long you've been down here?"
"Three months?"
"They hurt you?"
Squeezing her eyes shut, she nods endlessly. Tears roll down her cheeks.
I stand up straight, still feeling the two men watching me from behind.
I yell as loud as I can, "Li Xiao! Release the Tiger!"
Loud crashes can be heard from the floor above. The two men become frazzled but immediately knew something was not right about this transaction. Before they could take me down, I elbow one of them in the stomach causing him to lean forward. Slamming his head down the ground, he couldn't stand back up. The other reaches for his blade to cut me open. I evade his strike and grab a hold of his right arm. Kneeing in the elbow, he drops the knife and cries out. I knock him unconscious and he falls to the ground.
The girls scream and cry during the fight. After the men were subdued, I tie them with rope I found in the basement.
"Don't worry, I'm an detective sent here to put these men in jail. I won't hurt you." I raise my hands to show the girls that I'm not going to harm them. They became quiet, a few still crying.
Pulling out the thick plaque, I wave it around. "See this is my badge."
"Young Lord, I've defeated the men and had our men arrested them." Li Xiao hurries to notify me.
"Li Xiao, it's Detective Wu."
"Yes. My apologies, Detective Wu."
"Whatever, help me unbind the girls."
"Yes."
It was a long process, but I helped the girls return home. Most of them didn't have a place to return to. They were either sold unwillingly by people they knew or kidnapped by slave traders. With the help of the ministry, I secured safe homes for the girls until they are independent to move on. Every time I looked at their faces, I'm reminded of her. I try not to think about it, only trying to survive on the notion of justice.
The criminals were arrested and soon will have their judgment day come.
"Detective Wu, Reaper has struck again," Li Xiao tells me as I lie resting on the daybed in my study.
I quickly sit up. "What?"
"Another prostitute was killed last night."
I scoff, "I knew the man they had in custody was not the serial killer. He's just a young, helpless man that the ministry wants to pin everything on."
Li Xiao crosses his arms and nods in agreement.
He was my father's henchman, but somehow came to serve me. After everything that happened, I found him staying around me more and more. I did find it suspicious at first. I mean was he keeping an eye on me for my father?
He told me it was because he felt sorry about Mu Dan. He had no fault in what happened to her, and yet he said he was to blame for not helping. I know that only I was the main reason Mu Dan died in such a way.
Did father miss having his loyal servant at his side? Definitely not. People like Li Xiao are replaceable in his eyes. He found another capable muscle man to do his bidding.
It was embarrassing how weak I was all those years ago. I begged Li Xiao to teach me martial arts. I wanted revenge. I couldn't take out my anger on the royal family, but could punish those who harmed Mu Dan. The two men were executed, the Lonesome Moon Pavilion burned down, and the Madame of it was imprisoned.
But nothing could bring her back to me.
Nothing.
I left the Imperial Academy to carry out my vengeance against scum like those who forced Mu Dan into places like Lonesome Moon Pavilion. I wanted to fight for those who could not stand up for themselves.
Of course, my father was displeased I didn't want to stay within the palace. He views officers of the law to be less than cockroaches. I don't care what he thinks. I wasn't going to live my life for him anymore.
Li Xiao and I decided to stake out the red light district that night. We're going to try to catch the Reaper in action. His usual pattern was to kill the victim in an outside setting. He would stuff their mouth with bundled up cloth. Death was always strangulation. We'd often warn the ladies working in brothels to not follow strange men outside of their establishments, but casualties still occurred.
"Okay, remember to stay close. When you hear me call your code name, you rush to detain the suspect."
Li Xiao says, "Yes, Detective Wu... May I ask why I'm Tiger?"
I look at him as if he's asked me the stupidest question. "I'm Dragon, you're Tiger. Dragon and Tiger. The two strongest beings known to mankind."
"But I wanted to be Dragon."
"Tiger is cool and concealed. You match Tiger well. Cold and collected, you really do unleash impeccable powers when fighting."
"Fine." He walks away down a different road before jumping up on a building's roof.
I yell after him, "Hey! If you see something, yell out Dragon! Do you hear me?!"
He doesn't respond and disappears into the night.
It isn't just me and Li Xiao out on patrol. My small team of investigators are looking for the infamous killer as well.
We need to find him and clear an innocent man's name.
Walking down a dark alley, I hear screams from a woman. I run toward the yelling and could detect the woman's screams becoming muffled as if someone was trying to cover her mouth.
"Bastard!" I pull out my sword to aim at the perpetrator.
He's masked. Plain brown robes, hair pulled up neatly into a bun with no decorative hair piece, slender fingers. No signs of panic in his demeanor. He pulls the woman close to him and holds a knife to her throat.
"What the--"
It's Lu Li!
I calmly say, "Let her go, and no one gets hurt."
He cuts into her neck enough to draw blood.
"Hey! Stop! I'm dropping my weapon." My sword clashes onto the ground.
He pushes Lu Li forcefully in my direction. I catch her as he makes a run for it.
"Li Xiao! Unleash the Tiger! He's getting away!"
I pull the stuffed cloth out of Lu Li's mouth. She is shaking and clinging to me.
I'm angry and proceed to lecture her. "What are you doing here?! What were you thinking to be wandering the red light district?! Are you stupid?!"
"Yi Huai, are you worried for me?" She suddenly smiles.
"What is wrong with you?"
"I overheard you saying you were going to be out here tonight. I wanted to help, and disguised myself as a prostitute in order to help you catch the Reaper."
"Look where that got you, almost dead!"
"But you got him..."
"No, I didn't. He's most likely going to escape because I couldn't run after him."
"You could have, but you chose to stay here with me."
"You're insane. How can you think to do something like this? Don't you worry about your son at all? Who's going to take care of him if you die?!"
Li Xiao comes running.
"Detective Wu!"
"What? Did you catch him?"
"No. He got away."
"Damn!"
"Is that... Madam?! What are you doing here?" Li Xiao is stunned.
"Being stupid that's what she is doing."
I help her stand. As she stands on her feet, her face becomes flushed. She was lucky I came in time or else the bastard would have killed her.
"Li Xiao, take her to the Wu Manor. The Reaper is spooked and won't make a kill tonight."
"Where are you going, Yi Huai?" Lu Li asks.
"I'm going home. My house. You go back to the Wu Manor."
For years I've lived apart from my family. I haven't made the effort to visit mother or father, keeping myself away from matters of the royal family. In a secluded cabin, I live by myself.
I like it that way.
No one bothers me. I live my days solving crimes, catching criminals and reading texts. Living how I want to for once.
Lu Li tries to interfere with my life much like how she did tonight. I'm fine with her as long as we don't have to be around each other often. She doesn't seem to understand this and thinks I mean for her to try harder.
Unbeknownst to me, I'd somehow acquired a son six years ago. I never made any efforts to raise the child with Lu Li. She took it upon herself to take him in from the streets, and act as a mother. He's about seven now and thinks of me as his father. He would often come visit me and linger. I'm sure this is all Lu Li's plan to persuade me in some way. I tolerate the child, but could care less about Lu Li.
In capital city, I'm hailed as:
"Hero Tiancai! It's Hero Tiancai!"
A crowd of people quickly forms, enclosing the space all around. My subordinates from the Ministry of Justice attempts to block the restless hands from reaching me.
Discussing with Li Xiao back at my home, I tell him of what I've been investigating and make plans for the next stake out.
"Did you interrogate her?" I ask him.
"You mean did I talk with Madam?"
"Yes. What did she say?"
"Madam said that the man approached her inside the Fengyu Restaurant, and talked with a very soft tone, almost as smooth as singing. His underlying eyes appeared red because of his pale skin. He looked sickly, but was extremely strong."
"Did he approach her with his face masked?"
"Yes. He said he was recovering from an illness."
"Why did she follow him outside?"
"She said he offered to walk her to her next destination because of all the scary news of Reaper."
"Turns out he was the scary thing."
Li Xiao stays quiet.
I say, "You know it's a good thing I got a good look at him. He's tall, pale, and his eyes had a malicious gaze. With all the talk of Reaper, he still manages to fool his victims to follow him, meaning he's manipulatively confident. Even when I caught him in the act, he didn't panic at all. He kills in the red light district, which is most definitely a comfortable hunting ground for him."
Drinking the last of my hot tea, I stare at Li Xiao. "Why aren't you saying anything?"
"I just think you weren't particularly kind to Madam that night."
"What?"
"She was really shaken up, but you didn't even comfort her."
"Well-- What was I supposed to do? I didn't ask her to put herself in danger."
"I know. It wasn't the smartest decision, but she did it for you."
"I never asked her to."
"Sometimes people do foolish things for the people they love."
"Li Xiao."
"Perhaps... You'll look forward to the future if you gave Madam a chance and raise your son together."
Li Xiao means well. But my heart won't allow it. I can't share my life with another person if not her.
"I will make plans to investigate Reaper."
"Don't do anything rash. I want to be here when you go after him."
"What? Who's giving the orders here?" I scoff. Li Xiao worries about me when he isn't there to save me last minute. Hurts my pride that he doesn't think I can take care of myself, honestly.
He doesn't say another word and we end the conversation when an intruder wobbles over.
"Father, please have some more tea." The small child is surprisingly active and hovers around me incessantly. I'm amaze he can walk with such short legs.
He's carrying a small tray with another cup of tea on top.
I allow him to set the cup down and retrieve the empty one from the table.
"Father, will you have time today to teach me?" The small child asks.
"Don't your grandfather hire the best teachers to read to you?" I sniff the aroma coming from the tea the boy brewed. It's not terrible.
The boy hesitates to answer, "Grandfather does."
"Then aren't you the one who is busy?"
The boy remains quiet. Stumbling back where he came from, I can feel Li Xiao disapprovingly glare at me.
"What?"
"Can't Young Lord be nicer?"
"I was being nice."
"He thinks of you as his father. He just wants to spend time with you."
"It's his mother who wants the upper hand. She thinks using him on me will make this marriage more than what it is."
"Even so, he is a child."
"All right, all right. You can leave. We both have a lot to do."
I never felt any sort of attachment to that child. How can I even begin to act as a father? My own father never showed me the affection as a father should have for his son. It mainly annoys me that Lu Li is using the child to interfere with my life.
My main objective is to arrest Reaper and stop him from killing anyone else.
For now, I have to narrow down potential suspects for Reaper. I'm sure he lives in the red light district or near there. I must investigate anyone who matches the appearance recorded from the last encounter.
I went to question the Madame of Whimsical Garden Pavilion, a popular brothel. Listing the description of Reaper, she was reluctant to say who came to mind. In the end, she told me that a young musician named Xue Meng was working a few nights performing for her. He's a talented zither musician and had an alluring singing voice.
I walk into a tavern on the northern quadrant of capital city. It's where our most affluent citizens like to spend their time. As people drink and eat their meals, I keep my eyes on the mysterious man on the stage. His elegant movements on the zither draws me to observe his fingers closely. The way they gracefully danced seems familiar.
Once he finishes his piece, I force a pleasant smile and begin conversation.
"Greetings, Young Lord. Your music is astounding."
He looks at me, mirroring a sly smile. "Not at all."
"May I ask are you the musician of this establishment?"
"I don't have a particular place where I play my music. This is just one of the many businesses that hires me."
"Would any of those places include the red light district?"
Picking up the zither, he suddenly stops. "Why do you ask?"
"As you know, Reaper has been committing heinous crimes in that district. Other detectives and I have been working to catch him before he strikes again."
"So you are a detective?"
"Yes. It would help me a great deal if you can answer some questions."
"Certainly, although I don't know how much help I will be."
This man isn't an average person. He oozes charisma and with a handsome face, he simply smiles and people willingly accommodates him. Without saying a word, the servers bring over wine and the finest dishes to our table, asking if he needs anything else. He only smiles and shakes his head.
The server leaves us, and I say, "They treat you very well."
"It's because I bring in most of their customers."
I look around at the peering customers. Most of them women of all ages.
"I see. I'm sorry I haven't even asked your name. I'm Detective Wu."
He pours wine in the two cups in front of us. "I'm called Xue Meng."
"Sir Xue Meng, how long have you worked as a musician?"
"I studied under my Master since I was a child."
"So you've always lived in capital city?"
"I grew up here. Left for awhile and came back about three years ago."
"Working as a musician in the red light district, have you ever came across anyone suspicious?"
"Those who visit the red light district are of depraved nature. I can't begin to point fingers."
"You are not entirely wrong... I happened to run into Reaper in the middle of committing another murder. Fortunately, the victim was unharmed."
Plastered on his face is that same unemotional smile. His eyes looking straight at me, completely dark and unreadable.
"You were close to capturing him then, Detective?" He asks.
"Not quite, he was wearing a mask at that time."
"I'm sure you're only going to get closer to catching him."
"I hope you're right. Say, Sir Xue Meng, you don't happen to also perform at Fengyu Restaurant, do you?"
About to drink his wine, he stops and sets the cup down.
"I do on occasions."
"Can you tell me of your whereabouts the fifteenth day of the month around midnight?"
"I was performing at Fengyu Restaurant."
"Where did you go after you performed?"
He sits back in his chair, his dark expression hiding what he's thinking.
I laugh awkwardly. "This is just routine questioning. We're trying to exclude anyone not involved."
In an instant, a smiles spreads on his face and the aura around him becomes light and cheerful.
"Of course, Detective Wu. I can tell you that after performing, I left for my room at the restaurant."
Nodding, I stand. "Thank you for answering my questions. I won't take up any more of your time."
The whole time conversing with him gave me a weird feeling.
Could he be the man I'm looking for?
~~~
For days I could not remove myself from bed.
Opening my eyes to suddenly realize that Mu Dan is dead has me spiraling down into bleak darkness.
Li Xiao knocks on the door. "Young Lord, are you awake?"
I have no strength to answer.
"Young Lord, I have matters to discuss about Xue Meng."
Right. I've asked Li Xiao to keep an eye on Xue Meng. If he doesn't do anything out of the norm and Reaper hasn't made a kill. It's possible that he's Reaper. If Reaper kills another victim while Xue Meng is being tailed then it's likely he is not.
My legs are heavy when I place them on the floor. Letting out a sigh, the empty feeling inside is still overwhelmingly burdensome.
"Come in," I tell him.
Li Xiao opens the door. The small amount of light is offensive to my eyes, and I immediately look away. Accustomed to the dark, the sunshine feels intrusive.
He notices my cowered stance from the sudden brightness and closes the door. Making his way to the front of my bed, he has a gloomy expression.
"Young Lord, are you all right?"
I let out a long exhale, "No."
"I understand it's the time of year when Miss Mu Dan passed."
He knows and yet he had to say it.
"What is it you wanted to tell me about Xue Meng?" I ask before he could say anymore about Mu Dan.
"Yes, Young Lord. I've been tracking him these few days. Nothing is out of the norm. However, there hasn't been any more killings. We need to find evidence that can tie him to the victims."
"Right. Remember he threatened to kill Lu Li with a dagger?"
"Yes, I remember you telling me about that."
"Have you been able to locate it in his possession?"
"No, I've secretly checked the different rooms he stays at for his performances. Fengyu Restaurant, Whimsical Garden Pavilion and another brothel. Has Young Lord found out anything about his past?"
"His mother was a prostitute of a substandard brothel in the red light district. He grew up in the brothel. That was how he learned to play music. His mother wasn't really the best parent, he was raised by the lead musician and he left capital city a few years after his mother died. I did learn of something unusual before his departure. Apparently a young girl was murdered in the brothel. Strangled. The culprit was never caught, but it's quite suspicious knowing that Xue Meng soon left the city after that incident."
"So Young Lord thinks he's back to murder more victims?"
"I suspect he may have gotten scared after the first kill and fled. Seeing that no one went after him, he's gotten bold."
We hear someone knock loudly on the door and with a distressed voice, the man from the outside reports, "Detective Wu! There's been another murder! It's Reaper!"
Li Xiao hurriedly rushes to the door while I quickly get dressed.
We run to the scene of the crime with hopes to conserve evidence. It's already mid morning. A small crowd of people try to peer over the shoulders of the officers barricading the deceased.
"Detective Wu." They all greet me in unison as I walk by with Li Xiao.
A young woman. Disheveled clothing, powdered face, blue lips, decorative flowers in her hair. There is bruising around her neck. Looks like she put up a fight to fend off her attacker.
"Li Xiao, you watched Xue Meng all night, didn't you?"
"Yes, Detective Wu. I watched him enter his room at Whimsical Garden Pavilion and didn't see anyone come out. Only this morning did I leave to come report to you."
Putting on my white gloves, I turn the dead woman's face towards me.
To Li Xiao, I say, "She's been stabbed three times. Look there's no blood anywhere near here."
"This isn't the murder scene," he confirms.
"Quickly, we have to look for it before someone contaminates evidence."
"Right. I'll have some officers search with me."
"I'll stay here."
Observing the body, I know the victim was killed elsewhere then brought here. It's reasonable to assume her feet and hands were bound postmortem. Same with the cloth stuffed in her mouth.
Li Xiao comes running, disturbing the equation forming in my head.
"Detective Wu, the murder scene isn't too far from here."
He takes off, and I follow after. To the others, I command them to stand guard of the body.
Down the alley, through an abandoned courtyard we find the pool of blood covering a portion of the cold ground.
"There was a struggle." I notice numerous markings on the dirt. The place had been abandoned for so long. Signs of a disturbance is hard to miss.
"Li Xiao, no one is to come through."
"Yes, Detective Wu." Li Xiao heads out to block anyone from entering.
Splatters of blood spilled from various spots. The victim was stabbed but the wound was not fatal. She tried to fight off the attacker. I see patches of loose hair over bloody footsteps.
Did this belong to the victim? Or murderer?
The murderer didn't wait for the victim to die from bleeding and would have tried to strangle her. Blood would have gotten all over him.
If there was a struggle, the murderer may have gotten injured or lost something amidst the fight.
Carefully inspecting the ground, my eyes fall on a string with a small jade. Clear gemlike stones cover the jade and delicate shapes form along the string. I've seen this somewhere.
Was it Fengyu Restaurant?
"Li Xiao, secure the area. I've got to check something out."
"Detective Wu! Where are you going?!"
I don't answer him as I run past. I need to find the murderer, and I knew exactly where to go.
I hurry inside Fengyu Restaurant, out of breath, looking completely insane. The customers stare suspiciously unable to stomach their food.
Rushing to the counter, I say, "I'm Detective Wu. I need to investigate all of your servers now."
The old man stutters, "Wha-- What? They're serving the customers right now."
"Do you want me to shut this whole place down?!"
"No-- No! Please. I'll bring them to you, but let's please do this out of my customers' view."
"No time. I'll look myself." I don't wait for the old man and start grabbing the arms of servers, observing everyone closely.
"Where's the female server?" I ask.
"Ah? Liu Que? She's not feeling well today."
"Where is she?"
Intimidated, the old man stammers, "She-- She has a room in the back behind the storage."
"Show me."
"Y-- Yes."
He leads me through the back courtyard to a small storage room with firewood stacked on the side. A small door exists on the other side of the storage, and he knocks.
"Ah Que? Are you in there? There's someone here who wants to talk to you."
The door slowly opens. A young girl's eyes darts back and forth from me to the old man.
"Liu Que, come with me to the Ministry of Justice. You're under arrest for murder," I order.
"M-- Murder?!" The old man turns around, shocked.
She opens the door and steps out. Her right hand is clumsily bandaged as blood seeps through. There are visible defensive wounds on her face and neck.
Tying her hands, I make her walk with me to the Ministry of Justice. She doesn't try to run nor plead innocence, just kept quiet the entire time.
Li Xiao and the other officers arrives at the ministry with the dead body. We're going to have the coroner do an autopsy to determine the details of the victim's death.
Liu Que is locked up, not uttering a word.
In my study at the ministry, Li Xiao asks, "Detective Wu, how did you know it was the server of Fengyu Restaurant that committed the crime?"
"I found this necklace at the crime scene. I remember it was that server who wore it the day I talked to Xue Meng. I asked her if it belonged to her, and the look on her face... complete anguish." I place the necklace in a paper envelope later to be submitted as evidence. "The restaurant owner affirmed that this necklace belonged to Liu Que."
"Will you interrogate her now?"
"She's confessed to the crimes. All of it."
"You mean she's confessing to be Reaper?"
"Yes."
Li Xiao shakes his head. "That can't be true."
"She's saying it is."
"Do you believe so?"
"No, I know she's not Reaper. However, for certain she murdered that woman yesterday. She's not innocent."
"You think she's trying to cover for someone?"
I nod. "We have to get her to disclose the real reason why she killed."
Liu Que is in a cell by herself, huddling on the ground.
As I get closer, she lifts her head.
"Liu Que, why did you kill the woman from last night?"
She doesn't speak.
"Did someone ask you to?"
She interjects, "No one... asked me to."
"Then what reason did you have to kill her?"
"She-- She deserved to die. She was a disgusting woman who slept with others for money..."
"Is that why you killed all the other six victims?"
Again, she allows silence to fill in her answers.
I go on to say, "You can't lie to me. I know you did not kill the other victims. The demonstration you showed on this woman differs vastly from how the other victims were killed. You're not strong enough to subdue the women to tie them up before strangling them to death. Thus, you tied up your victim after she had already died from her stab wounds. Tell me, why are you saying that you're Reaper when you're clearly not?"
"I am Reaper!" She shouts.
Smirking, I stare into her eyes. "You're not Reaper, but you know who Reaper is. Are you protecting him?"
"I'm not. I really am Reaper. You caught me. I was careless this time."
I kneel down to her level.
"Liu Que, you want to protect him because you love him, right?" In a softer tone, I try to appeal to her vulnerability. "You're willing to do anything for him, even kill for him."
She avoids looking at me directly.
"I think you're admirable for having the courage to do what it takes to help the one you love. You're at least capable of going through with it... unlike me."
Receiving no response, I sigh.
"Do you think he's going to stop killing women after you're put away? He won't. He's using you."
"No..." She finally talks.
"What?"
"I'm not being used."
Nodding, I don't buy a word she says. I open up the cell and grab her by the arm. Her hands chained by the metal brackets hinder her movements.
"Where are you taking me?" She tries to pull away.
I force her out towards the coroner's station. We enter the cool area, and I uncover the deceased victim for her to see.
She quickly covers her mouth. Unable to look at her murdered victim, she trembles uncontrollably.
"You killed her, Liu Que."
"I didn't-- I didn't mean to--"
"Her nails are filled with blood and skin from fighting for her life. As she lied bleeding to death, she must have pleaded with you to not kill her, but you didn't care."
"Please, stop."
"I don't understand your logic, but I do know that the killings will continue. Maybe not now, maybe another ten years from now Reaper will strike again. It's because you will give him the chance to murder again by admitting to the crimes you did not commit."
Liu Que covers her ears in attempt to drown out my voice.
"Liu Que, you don't believe these women really deserve to die, right? You don't really believe they should all be subjugated to this kind of end, do you?"
"No..." She sobs as she answers.
"I know you love him... but he's using you. He doesn't care about happens to you. He's only thinking about his own gain. You can stop him from killing another again."
"I can't."
"You can." I place my hand on her shoulder.
She continues to sob quietly. I lead her out of the coroner's room and back to her cell.
Locking her in, she turns and says, "He told me he loved me."
I quickly turn my attention to her. "Who?"
"I had to prove my love to him. He is the only person to ever show me any kind of warmth in my life. I wanted to protect him. But now I see, I'm only enabling his monstrous ways."
Wiping her tears, she whispers, "I knew he never loved me and that he was using me. I just wanted to believe we could be together after everything."
After a long day, I return to my study within the Ministry of Justice. Hearing Liu Que explain the truth in detail, I feel overwhelmed.
"Detective Wu, I have news about Xue Meng," Li Xiao comes in without warning.
"What is it?"
"He's gone. Supposedly, he's left capital city."
"His escape goat is captured, so naturally he's trying to distance himself as much as possible."
"Has Liu Que revealed anything to you?"
"For now we have her words against Xue Meng. We need evidence to convince the ministry that he is indeed Reaper. The dagger was found in Liu Que's posession, and now it can be argued that the dagger is hers."
"Then what should we do?"
"Find Xue Meng."
We searched all over capital city once more, nothing turned up. All the years Xue Meng spent outside of the city is a mystery. I suspect he went somewhere familiar and felt safest to him.
The only person who mattered somewhat to a psychopath like him would be the person who taught him music. The mentor from his mother's brothel retired to a small village up north of capital city. I made my way there with Li Xiao and a few officers.
"Xue Meng," I greet him sternly inside a pavilion with the views of a pond.
With his back turn, the sound of the soothing zither stops. "I knew you'd be on your way, Detective Wu."
"Come with me to the Ministry of Justice. You're under arrest."
He laughs, "For what?"
"For murder."
"I haven't killed anyone."
"We have your accomplice in custody who can attest to your crimes."
Xue Meng stands and turns around. His calm nature is unnervingly similar to that night when he tried to kill Lu Li.
"I'm tired of these games, Detective Wu. You don't have any evidence to accuse me so brazenly."
"Earring, jade ring, golden bracelet, hair pin, gem encrusted necklace. These are all trophies you took from the murdered victims."
Smiling, Xue Meng doesn't show concern.
"Liu Que found your hidden place behind the bookshelf while cleaning your room at Fengyu Restaurant. She didn't tell you, did she?"
Li Xiao runs across the bridge over to the pavilion. "Detective Wu, we've found the wooden box with each victim's items."
I say to Xue Meng, "This is my evidence. Now wouldn't you say I am justified to make the arrest?"
"I wouldn't have taken you as a corrupt officer. You really planted evidence in my home to accuse me?"
"Drop the act, Xue Meng. There's no one here to watch the play any longer."
The smile disappears from his face. A dark gloom glistens over his eyes.
"Just as well."
"Why did you do it?" I ask.
He laughs at my question, not his usual pretentious laugh. He genuinely found my words funny.
"I just couldn't control myself."
He's disgusting through and through.
"Your mother was a prostitute at the brothel you grew up in. Is this part of the reason why you targeted women who worked in the red light district?"
Xue Meng doesn't answer.
"You hated your mother for raising you in that environment. Your hatred of your mother didn't stem from the fact that she was a prostitute, but that she neglected you. So not only did you target women working at brothels, you specifically targeted those who were mothers. Tell me why did you attack the woman that night I almost caught you. You've never met her before, why did you try to kill her?"
"I saw her with her son that day."
He saw her with that kid?
As if entranced, he recollects what he saw. "He asked her why she wasn't going to have dinner with him that night. She told him she had to work. She let go of his hand and walked away. He stood there watching her, not moving an inch like he was waiting for her to turn around and not leave. But she never came back."
This triggered him to kill Lu Li?
"You're under arrest, Xue Meng. I will escort you to the Ministry of Justice."
I walk towards him, pulling out ropes to tie his arms. He stands still and appears meek. Suddenly, a hand reaches out. I see a dagger in his grip. Quickly aiming to stab me deep in the chest, he unexpectedly stops.
A long sword has punctured through his left abdomen. Li Xiao made the attack on him before he could kill me and mercilessly pulls his sword out of Xue Meng's flesh.
Xue Meng falters over, the dagger slipping through his fingers. I kick the blade away and kneel down to assess his injury.
"I know I'm a monster. I deserve to die cruelly. I manipulated Liu Que to kill for me, used her love for my maniacal desires. Killed all those woman because of my obsession," Xue Meng say as he holds back his voice from expressing pain.
Blood seeps through his lips and drips down his chin. He dies slowly, his blood spilling on the wooden pavilion floor.
The Reaper will no longer haunt the red light district.
Li Xiao and I continue to solve cases and protect the people of capital city. However, I knew that I would not be able to continue playing hero.
I cough on the white handkerchief and am no longer surprised to see blood staining the cloth. Li Xiao enters my study, and I hide the tainted cloth underneath the desk.
"Young Lord, Madam is here to see you."
I don't bother saying anything. Lu Li approaches my desk without being called in. Li Xiao leaves us and closes the door.
"Yi Huai, how are you doing? Is your sickness better?"
"I'm fine."
"You're looking rather pale... Maybe I should move here to take care of you."
"No need."
Disheartened, she bites her bottom lip.
"How is... Murong?" I ask while appearing to look busy with reading.
Lu Li smiles and with a perky voice says,"Murong is doing well. He's dedicating a lot to his studies."
"He shouldn't study so much. He should go out and play as well. He's a child."
"I'll relay that to him."
In silence, we don't say a word and only the sound of pages flipping from my text can be heard.
I clear my throat to mask the awkward request. "You needn't burden yourself to take care of me while I'm ill. Just send Murong to stay with me for awhile. You know how shrewd my father is. I realize I don't want Murong to be exposed to my father's abhorrent influence. I'll see to it that he receives proper teachings from me."
"He... He would love that."
Two years passed. My health continued to deteriorate. On my death bed, Murong's little hands held mine until the very end. I was sorry to leave him fatherless once again.
Of course, all I could think about was being reunited with Mu Dan.