Bai Yidao crouched on the floor, crying, begging to call his father—but no one paid him any mind.
Team Leader Liao sighed and ordered his men to take Bai back to the station. I held the "Wealth-Bringing Spirit Cat" statue, examining it carefully. I pressed my ear to it and lightly tapped its surface with my fingers. Inside, I could hear something—like a corpse.
But the statue wasn't big enough to contain a human body. It had to be a cat's corpse.
I told Huang Xiaotao about my discovery. She suggested, "Why don't we just open it and see?"
"No way. This thing is too strange. It's better not to disturb it." I wrapped the statue carefully and handed it to Team Leader Liao. "Liao, take it to a hospital and get an X-ray to see what's inside."
"All right, I'll send someone right away." Liao nodded.
We left the hotel. Because there were many people, we were wary of overloading the elevator. Liao, Wang Yuanchao, and Wang Dali took the first elevator down; Huang Xiaotao and I waited for the next one.
"What's the plan now? How do we prove this thing can kill? We can't exactly run a live experiment!" Huang Xiaotao asked.
I shook my head. "No need. Now that we have it, Yu Jun will definitely walk right into our trap."
...
"Are you sure?" Huang Xiaotao asked.
"About eighty percent confident." I replied.
She smiled. "Every time we investigate together, things just flow smoothly. Is it your sharp intuition, or are you just lucky?"
"Maybe I'm just handsome." I joked.
"Showoff!" Huang Xiaotao rolled her eyes.
Suddenly, we heard crying down the hall—a woman's voice, and it sounded familiar.
I followed the sound while Huang Xiaotao urged, "Hey, the elevator doors are open!"
"You go ahead."
But she followed me anyway. We returned to the hotel room where Bai Yidao was arrested. Luo Weiwei stood by the door, tears streaming down her face. Hearing our footsteps, she turned and asked, "Is Yidao really taken away?"
I nodded. "Yes."
"Will he go to jail?" she asked.
"With his father's connections, probably not. But I doubt he'll keep his job."
Suddenly, Luo Weiwei grabbed my hand, pleading, "Please help him. Yidao has his faults, but I know he's not a bad man. I don't want to see him end up like this."
I frowned. "No."
She clutched my hand tighter, begging, "Song Yang, I know you have powerful connections—even know the bureau chief. If you help Yidao, I'll do anything for you."
Then, shockingly, she pressed my hand against her chest—implying the 'anything' included more than just favors.
I immediately pulled away, stern. "Show some respect! Bai Yidao broke the law. In the eyes of the law, a cop is no different from a civilian. I can't help you."
I turned and left, while Luo Weiwei's sobs grew even more heartbroken.
Heading downstairs, I sighed, "If only I had known then what I know now..."
Huang Xiaotao gave me a strange look. I asked, "What's that look for?"
"Nothing. You refusing Luo Weiwei just now? That was really manly."
Her compliment made my face flush. "Not at all."
"By the way, didn't you say last night that when the case is closed, you'd treat me to a meal?"
"What about it?" I remembered she had rejected me before, which left me feeling down for a while.
"Dummy!" Huang Xiaotao smiled brightly. "I've thought it over. Work's been crazy lately; going out to relax is good. So, I'm officially accepting! But you better think hard about where to take me—I'm picky."
My heart leapt—was this a date?
At noon, the four of us went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. After eating, we headed to the police station. Team Leader Liao told us Bai Yidao was temporarily detained, and Luo Weiwei had taken leave due to stress. He asked what we should do next.
"Apply to the prosecutor's office for an arrest warrant. Get Yu Jun in custody."
Liao hesitated, "On what charges?"
"Destruction and fabrication of evidence. We have solid proof." I pulled out a plastic cup taken from Yu Jun that morning. "Send this to forensics. It has Yu Jun's fingerprints. Some other evidence should match."
Liao's face lit up. "Song Yang, you're meticulous. I'll handle it immediately."
I stopped him. "What about the cat statue?"
Liao smacked his forehead. "How could I forget? I already got the X-rays at a nearby hospital. There's a dead cat inside."
"Where is it now?" I asked.
"In evidence storage," he replied.
"Bring it out. I want a closer look." Excited, I urged him.
Liao led us to the evidence room. The "Wealth-Bringing Spirit Cat" sat on a shelf, wrapped in plastic. Its size reminded me of the lucky cat from our previous case—almost the same scale. That must be the real evidence Yu Jun swapped out.
I asked Liao to send the lucky cat for fingerprint analysis while I took the spirit cat to an empty conference room.
Huang Xiaotao asked, "You're not seriously going to test the dead cat inside, are you?"
"No, I want to see if there's anything unusual about this thing."
I sent Wang Dali to buy a few bells, half a catfish eel, a spray bottle, a bottle of strong liquor, and some threads, and to bring the bag I left in the hotel.
Half an hour later, Wang Dali returned, carrying a large bag in one hand and my bag in the other, grinning. "Song Yang, my skills are getting smoother, right?"
I praised him and began preparations.
I took out some herbal slices from the bag, putting them in the spray bottle, then added the liquor.
Huang Xiaotao asked what it was.
"Its wood chips from my special herb. I know you can't get this in a regular supermarket. It's for detecting blood stains—these chips change color when exposed to blood proteins."
The mixture started bubbling—the wood sap reacting with the alcohol.
I brought a basin, burned a few paper offerings before the spirit cat, clasped my hands, and respectfully said, "Great Spirit Cat, sorry to disturb your rest. Please accept this humble offering."
Wang Dali rolled his eyes. "A cat, and you're treating it like a deity?"
"It's no ordinary cat. It has a spirit—an avenging ghost, even. Respect it, and it respects you."
When the bubbling stopped, I unwrapped the plastic from the cat and lightly sprayed the liquid on its surface. The top of its head turned a purplish-red.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed a small, inconspicuous hole sealed with wax between its ears—probably where Yu Jun fed it blood.
Huang Xiaotao observed, "That's a lot of blood. Just as you guessed, Yu Jun really fed it with blood."
I said, "I don't know much about these things, but I can guess. When we met, Yu Jun looked exhausted. Feeding it his essence means the owner shares part of his life force. Human blood is a powerful spiritual medium."
As the alcohol evaporated, I sealed the plastic bag, cut open several eels, and poured their blood onto the bag to feed the spirit cat.
Originally, I wanted to use my own blood, but feared the statue might recognize its master—better to play it safe with eel blood.
Though it's a spirit now, the cat's nature craves raw flesh. The eel blood's scent should stimulate it.
I placed the spirit cat under the table and hung bells around the legs. We waited quietly.
Wang Dali said, "Nothing's happening."
"Be patient. Wait a little longer."
Suddenly, a clear tinkling sound came—the bells began swinging by themselves, even though there was no breeze...