Crimson Instinct

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*Xin Lei*

It was in the evening that we were getting to leave for Dongcheng, but before that, we had another thing to do.

Luo Zhiqiang led Bai Li, Liao Huifang, and me to Duan Deming's cell, where he was kept after we caught him in Tianjin Port. The door had a number of security codes and procedures to be done before it was opened, and Luo Zhiqiang did it all with utmost patience.

We entered and found Duan Deming locked up in his seat with his arms and legs shackled with the cuffs. In almost only forty-eight hours, he seemed like a whole different person. He seemed tired, he had lost a considerable amount of weight, and a light stubble was on his chin.

Duan Deming raised his head, and our gazes met.

"Heh! Look who is here. My so-called best partner. Oh yes, who also belongs to the IB. A spy!"

Luo Zhiqiang seemed unaffected.

Suddenly, Liao Huifang burst out in anger. "As if you were any honest cop! You were also just a spy for those pathetic culprits."

I nodded.

"Ooohhh...it's the little sister. How are you doing? And how is your sister? Oh, right, I forgot! Poor thing is no more in this world…" he sighed, "Haish, truly saddening."

"You…"

"But she did a noble job of providing enjoyment to so many distressed souls. Her death was so fascinating..." I gritted my teeth as a disgusting smirk laced on his lips.

"You bastard!" Liao Huifang almost jumped at him, but Luo Zhiqiang swiftly caught her arm. I, too, pulled her back and shook my head.

Her eyes teared up. "But…"

"No." Luo Zhiqiang gave a firm answer.

Duan Deming laughed. "Ahahaha! Poor little sister. Do you feel bad? Aww, your sister was truly pitiful. She loved me so much. She was so excited to introduce me to you. But what did she get? I must say, though, it was fun playing with your sister~"

Bastard…

I clenched my fingers into a fist, and I had this strong urge to punch him in the face. Break his teeth, break his nose, gauge his eyes out, everything!

Somebody could be this insensitive towards someone's feelings...

"I will kill you!" Liao Huifang yelled.

"There is no need, Liao Huifang."

Bai Li's calm voice came from my side. I looked at him, and he seemed to be unperturbed by his provocations.

Provocations…Yes, I knew that Duan Deming was saying this all on purpose just to rule us up. But I still felt a fire surge in me as he insulted Liao Chuntao. I remembered her eyes filled with hopelessness and despair and betrayal. At that memory, I wished to end Duan Deming's life!

Bai Li smiled. "Are you sure you found her death fascinating...or maybe you are just scared out of your wits?"

Duan Deming stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes at Bai Li.

"Scared of her? And we?"

"Yes, and particularly you."

He chuckled. "How so?"

"Because didn't her death remind you of your... wife's death?"

Duan Deming visibly froze.

I faintly smiled as I felt satisfied to see his mouth shut up.

"There was a video recorder we found in Natural Park, and in it, we saw all the victims and how your disgusting buddies killed them. But out of all those innocent people, only Liao Chuntao stood out as different. Do you know why?"

Silence.

"Xin Lei told me that when we were watching the video and when Liao Chuntao cursed you all at her last breath, she was specifically looking at your direction. Nobody's faces could be seen, but everybody agreed that they felt your figure tremble in the dark. You were actually scared of her, weren't you?"

"Heh! Who would be scared of a weak woman?"

"You, who had similarly killed your wife with your own hands."

Duan Deming glared at Bai Li. "What nonsense!"

Bai Li said, "We investigated you and found that your wife was mysteriously stabbed in your house. It was claimed that a thief broke in and killed her and stole all the money and jewelry in the house. He stole everything except your wife's diamond ring. Was the thief that stupid to forget the ring on her finger? But that led to nowhere. It was a simple robbery, and you, who were a cop, should have been able to find him out. But you didn't. How would you when there was no thief in the first place?"

Silence.

"You left the ring on her as a taunt, right? I can guess why. Because your wife was cheating on you. On the same day, there was another incident where a man died in an accident—the same thing. The driver who crashed into his car was not found because that driver was you. That man was your wife's lover. First, you killed him, and then perhaps before you killed her, you mocked her that you already knew everything, and her lover was dead by your hands. That ring was a taunt to her that even in her death, she was bound to you as your wife."

"That bitch dared to have an affair behind my back!" Duan Deming screamed and violently struggled, but the cuffs had him locked so he could flap like a dying fish in his place. "She deserved it!"

I glared at him and furiously typed. "Any woman would have done that! We found that her lover was a psychiatrist who was treating her. She was his patient. That's when they fell in love. But why do you think your wife had to visit him or a doctor for that matter in the first place! What brought her to that stage that she was so depressed and almost lifeless that she wished to seek treatment? From her medical records that he had, we read that you were doing domestic violence!"

My chest heaved up and down breathlessly as I typed again. "You were beating and torturing her every day, didn't you? She wanted a divorce, but you refused her and beat her even more. She was helpless to go to the cops, too, because you were one yourself! Why would even the law help her when you would abuse your power and obstruct justice?"

Luo Zhiqiang said, "You simply pinned the blame of her torture marks on that invisible thief saying that he would have beat her up before he killed her."

Duan Deming sneered. "She was my wife. I was allowed to do whatever I want to with her, and she should deal with it. But she didn't have any right to find another man when I was her husband. Who did she think she was to even utter about divorce?"

I watched him, speechless and dumbfounded. I felt so disgusted to know that men like him still existed in this world even when our 21st century had moved so forward with women's rights.

Bai Li said, "But she still scared you."

"She was just another weak and pathetic woman."

"But the power of words is never weak, Duan Deming."

He stiffened.

"She might have been physically unable to fight back against you, but she must have cursed you as she breathed her last. That was why you trembled when Liao Chuntao also bore her gaze into you. You found your wife in her. Their hateful gazes, coupled with their last words, stirred you and frightened you. You are not mocking Liao Chuntao because you want to laugh at her. That is just your defense mechanism to convince yourself that you are not affected by them."

"Shut up! Who is scared of those losers!?"

Duan Deming violently moved again.

I sneered and typed. "You are. Maybe you might be even thinking that your wife's ghost will haunt you one day. Maybe that fear alone will kill you one day."

Bai Li smiled. "That would be the best way to die, isn't it? But we didn't come here for just that. I think you can answer some questions of mine."

Duan Deming seemed not to pay attention as he was sweating a bit.

I raised my brow as he looked riled up.

He was really scared of them. Maybe he even believed it. Is that why he looked so thin and tired? Because of the fear?

"Duan Deming," Luo Zhiqiang called him.

"What?" He startled and looked irritated.

"It's not just you in the police force. Somebody from the Army is also with your gang in this, right?"

Duan Deming was quiet. He looked expressionless, but for a moment, I saw his eyebrow twitch.

He definitely knew something.

Bai Li asked, "Who is it from the Army that is with you?"

"I don't understand what you are talking about."

"Don't bother acting innocent. I figured out what exactly happened in the container terminal with Rodey that night. It was somebody else who shot Tan Ye and put the blame on me. Somebody was silently standing behind me, waiting for the right moment. I want to know who it was? Who shot Tan Ye and altered the autopsy report?"