Usually, Li Zhirui's temper was not the best, and tonight it was even worse. Gao Ming's attitude was like tossing sparks into dry tinder. He suddenly exploded, startling everyone listening, Yang Lei included, who rarely had the chance to see this side of his captain. Normally, Zhirui was known for having the steadiest hand in the DCI when it came to questioning criminals, but tonight his control snapped like a frayed rope.
Gao Ming finally looked up, a cold smile curling at the edge of his lips. He leaned back in his chair, voice dripping with mockery.
"My name is Gao Ming. I changed my identity."
Yang Lei exhaled heavily, spinning a pen through his fingers while rubbing his temple with the other hand. The clerk at the corner of the room shifted nervously, his eyes darting between the men as though the tension itself were a weight pressing down on his chest.
Yang Lei had already spent all his strength trying to stop Li Zhirui from beating the kid half to death.
"Gao Ming, born in 2001. Original name: Wu Hanlin. You changed it last year. You spent three years in a juvenile facility for the crime of… murder? Sentence reduced due to a mental condition." Yang Lei glanced up. "Do you still have it?"
Gao Ming turned his gaze toward the observation glass, smirked, then replied smoothly:
"I don't think so."
Yang Lei paused, then pressed on.
"Mr. Gao, did you kill Ms. Liu Meilin on the night of October twentieth?"
"Yes, I did."
"Why did you kill her?"
"Sir, it's like this." Gao Ming shifted comfortably, stretching out his legs. His tone was light, almost conversational, as though he were discussing the weather with an old friend.
"Ms. Liu came to me some months ago. She believed she was possessed and was looking for a medium to perform an exorcism. I had only started practicing the year before, so I was still green, just the basics. My Shifu was out of town, so I told her to wait. But she was impatient…"
The clerk froze, hands hovering over his keyboard. He wasn't alone in his disbelief; skepticism rippled through the room like a shiver. Yang Lei frowned but stayed quiet, listening.
"I consulted with my Shifu, who told me to observe the situation first. So, I booked another appointment and asked her to return. When she did, I examined her… and I really did find a malicious spirit inside her."
Li Zhirui laughed out loud, the sound cutting sharply through the room. Rubbish. He thought internally. However, Gao Ming ignored him, his voice steady.
"I told her only my master could perform the exorcism, but she refused to leave it at that. She came back again and again, restless, terrified, insisting the spirit wanted to kill her."
At that moment, Li Zhirui's phone rang, breaking the tension for a heartbeat. He stepped aside, pushing himself off the wall he had been leaning on and answering with clipped words, but his ear remained half-tuned to the interrogation.
"So, I had no choice," Gao Ming went on smoothly, "but to perform the exorcism myself."
Li Zhirui froze mid-step.
"Captain Li," the voice on the phone reported, "the suspect's fingerprints match those on the wallet found at the crime scene. The blood on it belongs to the victim."
Meanwhile, Gao Ming continued, his expression unnervingly serene.
"The exorcism was not easy. I was only a rookie, and it wasn't my place to attempt such a ritual. But after hours of struggle, I finally succeeded. She said she could no longer feel the spirit."
He paused deliberately, letting silence claw at everyone in the room. Detectives leaned forward, restless, half-convinced they were listening to a madman, half-afraid they weren't.
"Then what?"
Li Zhirui's voice thundered from the back.
"Then," Gao Ming said softly, "two days later, I lost control of my own body."
A chill swept the room. Even the most skeptical detectives stiffened; the superstitious ones felt the urge to bolt for the door.
"What do you mean by that?" Yang Lei pressed.
"The spirit that left her possessed me."
The room fell into suffocating silence.
"And then?"
"It made me follow her. Watch her. Study her every move. Until it decided the time had come to kill her. Its original intent was always her death. So, it used my body to complete it."
Yang Lei faltered, words sticking in his throat. Behind the glass, whispers stirred. This wasn't a crime scene confession; it was a script for some horror movie. There was only one word for it, as Li Zhirui would put it. Ridiculous.
"So what you're saying,"
Li Zhirui shot back, his tone biting, "Is that she was possessed, you performed an exorcism, the spirit left her, entered you, and then madeyou kill her?"
"Mmh." Gao Ming nodded, calm as ever.
"Do you take this place for a joke?" Zhirui's voice dropped to ice.
"You asked. I answered. Why is Captain Li so upset?" Gao Ming puckered his lips, feigning innocence, though his eyes glittered with provocation.
Yang Lei glanced at his captain. He could almost feel Li Zhirui's fists trembling with restraint. He sighed, forcing himself to keep the questioning on track.
"How did you kill her?"
"I stabbed her. I don't remember how many times."
"Seven," Zhirui growled. "You stabbed her seven times."
"Oh." Gao Ming's smile widened. "Then seven it is."
Even Yang Lei's self-control wavered; he wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk off the boy's face. Li Zhirui closed his eyes briefly, inhaled, then started.
"Hanlin,"
"Please," Gao Ming cut him off, his smile sharp. "Take note of my name. Gao Ming. It isn't that hard to remember."
Zhirui bit back his words, forcing himself to continue.
"Back then, you swore you'd change for the better. And now you've become… what? A Taoist exorcist? No, worse. A Taoist murderer." His tone was low, weighted with grief.
But Gao Ming only shrugged lightly, voice airy.
"I did change, but tell me, Detective, how can I control a ghost?"
His expression hovered between amusement and mockery, unapologetic to the core. It made Zhirui's blood boil; he wanted to pummel the arrogance out of him.
"Did you really kill her? Can you prove it?"
Gao Ming asked this time, his manner of speaking more gentle than his captain's.
Gao Ming chuckled, his amusement genuine now.
"Detective, aren't you making this too easy? If a murderer cannot prove he killed someone, does that mean he walks free?"
Zhirui: "…"
Yang Lei: "…"
The ugly twist of their expressions only delighted him further. He leaned back, enjoying himself.
"The murder weapon wasn't found at the scene. Did you take it?"
Yang Lei asked, struggling to keep his tone even.
Gao Ming tapped the table with a finger, pretending to think.
"Perhaps I took it. Perhaps I dropped it. Or perhaps… it doesn't exist. Either way, I don't have it now."
"Where is it? Think carefully," Yang Lei urged.
But Gao Ming's reply.
"Isn't that your job? I've already done the hardest part for you, finding the murderer. And you still want me to find the weapon, too? Wouldn't that mean my taxes are wasted?"
It was quite provocative. His tone was lazy, arrogant, and cutting.
"You little!" Li Zhirui lunged forward, but Yang Lei was ready this time, pulling him back before he struck.
In the end, restraint failed, and the higher-ups had to send officers to physically drag Li Zhirui from the room. Gao Ming only shook his head in amusement, watching the chaos he created.
And just before the door closed behind Zhirui, their eyes locked again. That same sinister smile stretched across Gao Ming's face as he pulled a single tile from the base of the tower he had built, sending the entire stack collapsing in a clatter across the table.